Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star And Others

With the Singer Sewing Company sponsoring Elvis’ upcoming one-man television special in December, the Colonel and RCA sanctioned a promotion that allowed Singer to sell a newly created budget-priced album exclusively in its stores for a period of three months after the broadcast. Except for the title track, none of the songs had previously been released. The material consisted of six movie leftovers, Elvis’ nimble delivery of “Too Much Monkey Business” (ably assisted by Jerry Reed), and “Tiger Man,” a Rufus Thomas original that Elvis had first attempted when he was on Sun (though no tape survives). The new version had been cut but then dropped from the special, with the more seasonally appropriate “Blue Christmas” taking its place. It was as fiery a performance as he had delivered in years and was restored to its place in the impromptu live concert at the heart of the show when the special was re-broadcast in August. RCA also put out the Singer Presents album on March 28, 1969 on its Camden budget label, and between the two versions, it sold half a million copies in the first year alone.