Elvis Presley Inspired Patty Loveless to Do a Traditional Country Album
Elvis Presley is known as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, but his influence on country music is profound. Patty Loveless discussed how Elvis inspired her to make an album her brother and sister would have loved. Interestingly, the one single from the album is a cover of a George Jones classic.
Why Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, and others inspired a Patty Loveless album
In 2008, Loveless released an album called Sleepless Nights, which refers to itself as a “Traditional Country” album on its cover. During a 2008 interview with CMT, Loveless said the album was inspired by the musicians her older siblings, Roger and Dottie, played to her as a child.
“They would play those old records of Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, Connie Smith, Ray Price, Jim Reeves, and George Jones, of course, and Elvis and everybody else,” Loveless recalled. “At a very early age, I was exposed to that music and it was a very adult form of music. I didn’t know the difference. As the years went on, I learned a lot from those songs and at the age of 12, I started going out and singing with my brother.” Music was a big deal in the singer’s household, as her family didn’t own a television until she was 8.
For ‘Sleepless Nights’, Patty Loveless recorded 2 tracks Elvis Presley sang
The “I Try to Think About Elvis” singer discussed working on Sleepless Nights with country producer Emory Gordy Jr. “Emory and I got to talking and we said it would be kinda cool to make a record that Dottie, who passed away in 1996, and Roger would appreciate,” she said. “Maybe a record that they would have made if they’d had the opportunity. So Saguaro Road records came to us, and we mentioned this record and they gave us their blessing.”
The resulting album is all covers. One track is Loveless’ rendition of “There Goes My Everything,” a country standard. Elvis’ version of that song was a hit in the 1970s. Sleepless Nights also includes a cover of “She Thinks I Still Care,” which Elvis also recorded. Sleepless Nights is far from a full-on Elvis tribute album, but the “Can’t Help Falling in Love” singer‘s ghost clearly had some influence on the proceedings.
How the album performed on the country and pop charts in the United States
Sleepless Nights became a decent hit on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. There, it reached No. 13 and stayed on the chart for 22 weeks. Predictably, it didn’t fare as well on the Billboard 200. It peaked at No. 86, charting for two weeks.
The sole single from the album was a cover of Jackson’s “Why Baby Why.” That tune did not reach the Billboard Hot 100, the Bubbling Under Hot 100, or the Hot Country Songs chart. Perhaps the choice of cover song was a little too old-school for 2000s audiences. Regardless, it sounds awesome.
Loveless showed us that sleepless nights sound a lot better with the musical stylings of Elvis.
