“I Will Be Home Again” | Elvis Presley

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Dec. 14: OK, the only thing country about this nearly 50-year-old record is its sittin’-around-the-parlor sound. What’s not country are its origins (a pop song from the late ’40s, recorded by the Golden Gate Quartet, a key black gospel vocal group) … its singer (Elvis may have started out as the Hillbilly Cat, but he’d moved far from his country roots) … its medium (on only an album, although the album in question is arguably the best single collection of songs Elvis Presley ever made) … its promotion (that album, Elvis Is Back!, was intended not for the screaming teens of the pre-Army Presley, but their pop-leaning older sisters and their parents).

But there is that sound, provided by Elvis’ voice and prominent acoustic guitar, by gentle Floyd Cramer piano, and by the background stylings of the Jordanaires. Oh, and by the guy who’s singing close harmony with Elvis throughout. That’s Charlie Hodge, who would have been 75 years old today. It’s his first of several appearances on record with his Army buddy Elvis.