Sixty-five years ago today, on October 15, 1961, Elvis walked into RCA Studio B in Nashville and cut a bright little love song called “Good Luck Charm.”
It had everything going for it. Wally Gold and Aaron Schroeder wrote it. The Jordanaires and Millie Kirkham sang behind him. And when it came out the next year, it shot all the way to the top.
Elvis singing “Good Luck Charm,” his big 1962 hit
Give it a listen first, because this is the one that climbed to No. 1. Try keeping your foot still through that bouncy beat.
“Good Luck Charm” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in America in April 1962, the week ending April 21, and it stayed there two weeks. In doing so it knocked a young TV actress named Shelley Fabares and her song “Johnny Angel” off the top spot. Over in the UK it did even better, sitting at No. 1 for five whole weeks.
Funny enough, Shelley Fabares didn’t stay a rival for long. She went on to star alongside Elvis in three movies, “Girl Happy,” “Spinout” and “Clambake.”
Want to hear what that song sounded like as it was coming together in the studio?
An early studio take of “Good Luck Charm” from the session
This fan-shared recording captures an early take, before all the polish. It’s a rare peek at Elvis finding the song in the room.
So here’s the part most folks don’t know. “Good Luck Charm” was a smash. But it turned out to be his last No. 1 in America for a long, long time.
How long would you guess? A year? Two?
Try about seven.
Elvis would not top the American chart again until a song you almost certainly know by heart, one that marked his roaring comeback at the end of the decade.
The 1969 comeback song that finally put Elvis back on top
This is the one. “Suspicious Minds,” from 1969. Turn it up and hear the sound of a king climbing back to No. 1 after all those years.
Seven years is a long wait for any singer, let alone the biggest name in music. The movies kept Elvis busy through the middle of the decade, and his hits on the US chart slowed down.
But he never stopped recording. And when he came back, he came back swinging.
Not bad for a man who once sang about needing a little good luck.