A Mess of Blues

"A Mess of Blues"
"A Mess of Blues"
Single by Status Quo
from the album Back to Back
Released	28 November 1983
Genre	Boogie rock
Length	3:22
Label	Vertigo
Songwriter(s)	Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman
Producer(s)	Status Quo
Status Quo singles chronology

"A Mess of Blues"
"A Mess of Blues"
Single by Elvis Presley
from the album Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4
A-side	"It's Now or Never"
B-side	"The Girl of My Best Friend" (UK)
Released	July 5, 1960
Recorded	March 20, 1960
Genre	Rock and roll, pop
Length	2:40
Label	RCA Victor
Songwriter(s)	Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman
Elvis Presley singles chronology
Elvis Presley UK singles chronology

"A Mess of Blues" is a song originally recorded by Elvis Presley for RCA Records in 1960, and written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. Although released as the B-side to "It's Now or Never", "A Mess of Blues" reached number 32 in the U.S. and number 2 in the UK independently.

The song was published by Elvis Presley Music, Inc.

The recording appeared on the 1968 RCA Victor compilation Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4.

Personnel[]

Sourced from Keith Flynn.^[1]

The Blue Moon Boys

Elvis Presley - lead vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
Scotty Moore - lead guitar
D. J. Fontana - drums

Additional musicians

Hank Garland - bass guitar
Bob Moore - double bass
Floyd Cramer - piano
Buddy Harman - drums
The Jordanaires - backing vocals

Status Quo cover[]

"A Mess of Blues" was covered by British rock band Status Quo in 1983. It was included on the album Back to Back^[2] from which it was the second UK single, reaching a peak position of No. 15.

Due to a printing error, several hundred copies of the picture sleeve for this release were printed with the front and rear photographs inter-changed.

Track listing[]

7" single[]

"A Mess of Blues" (D Pomus/M Shuman) (3.22)
"Big Man" (Lancaster/Green) (3.40)

12" single[]

"A Mess of Blues" (Extended version) (D Pomus/M Shuman) (4.48)
"Big Man" (Lancaster/Green) (3.40)
"Young Pretender" (Rossi/Frost) (3.32)

Other versions[]

The song has been recorded by Tom Jones and Jools Holland, Peter and Gordon, John Hiatt, Jeff Healey, Alexis Korner, Delbert McClinton, Lee Curtis and the All-Stars, Henry McCullough Blues Band, Scotty Moore and Paul Ansell, Robert Gordon and Chris Spedding with The Jordanaires, P.J. Proby, and Led Zeppelin as part of a medley.^[3]

Chart history[]

Elvis Presley

Chart (1960)	Peak position
Australia	11
Belgium	20
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)^[4]	6
Norway	4
UK	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[5]	32
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	84

Status Quo

Chart (1983)	Position
UK Singles Chart	15
Ireland	12

References[]

^ Keith Flynn. Recording Sessions.
^ "Status Quo discography". statusquo.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-02-25. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
^ Mess of Blues. Second Hand Songs.
^ Flavour of New Zealand, 27 October 1960
^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X

External links[]

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

[1] Keith Flynn. Recording Sessions.

[2] "Status Quo discography". statusquo.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-02-25. Retrieved 2010-01-04.

[3] Mess of Blues. Second Hand Songs.

[4] Flavour of New Zealand, 27 October 1960

[5] Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

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