Two new novelty re-issue 45’s from France, or should I say Belgium and Spain?
Continuing their worldwide hit-single and Extended Play re-issues, the French V.P.I. record label has re-issued a collectible single from Belgium: ‘Love Me Tender.’ And collectible it certainly is when I look at the £475 price tag at the Elvis Shop London.
Design
This single comes as close to the original 1957 version as it gets. If you pick the black version, the only difference is the color of the label on the vinyl; everything else is a 1-to-1 reproduction. There isn’t even a reference to the V.P.I. label, just RCA and Disel, the company that pressed the Belgian singles.
For fun, I picked the yellow vinyl, matching the font color on the cover. Housed in a cardboard cover and white paper inner sleeve, the label paid attention to the details.
Content
Elvis’ first movie didn’t get a full soundtrack album, just the four songs from the movie on single and Extended Play. Based on the ‘Aura Lee’ Civil War ballad, ‘Love Me Tender’ was a fan favorite from day one and topped the charts worldwide shortly after its release in 1956. Let’s be honest, following Elvis’ version, many covers followed, but few could stand in the shadow of his performance.
Being the “Rock and Roll rebel,” this song must have won over some of his female fans’ mothers, while the more upbeat country-themed songs like ‘Let Me,’ ‘Poor Boy,’ and ‘We’re Gonna Move’ probably appealed to the girls' fathers, making Elvis a household name.
Corazón de Madera
Together with the single above, we got a Spanish version of ‘Wooden Heart,’ titled ‘Corazón de Madera,’ from 1962. This marks the second re-issue of this song, following the release of the 1961 edition last year.
Design
When I reviewed that single, my only remark was that the label could have gone back to the first of the five different releases of this single as issued by RCA Spain in 1961 and 1962, but the label went the other way, picking the fifth version.
Looking at the design of this single, it surprised me how modern it looked, especially when compared to the other four editions, which have a typical sixties or even 1957 LP design.
Again, it’s a faithful reproduction, with only the catalogue number missing from the front. And if I have to be critical, the images could have been a bit sharper, but if that’s all I can find to critique…
Content
As for the music, I gave the B-side a few more spins than the title track, which is too folky for my taste. It always surprised me what a big hit ‘Wooden Heart’ was on this side of the Atlantic so shortly after the war. For the color, I picked the red vinyl, again, matching the cover.
Conclusion
These novelty records are fun additions to any collection and will look great playing on your record player or jukebox. I’m curious to see if the label will eventually release all the variations of the ‘Wooden Heart’ single to complete the collection.
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