Elvis Presley’s ‘Good Luck Charm’ Had Nothing to Do With His Real Good Luck Charms

Elvis Presley‘s “Good Luck Charm” is one of the many Elvis hits that the world forgot. Notably, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll felt two songwriters were his good luck charms. They had nothing to do with the song, which became a sad demarcation point in the singer’s career.

Who wrote Elvis Presley’s ‘Good Luck Charm’

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote many Elvis tunes. During a 2020 interview with Elvis Australia, Stoller discussed Elvis. “He respected us,” Stoller recalled. “We came to know what a great talent he was very quickly after starting to work with him. The other thing is there was a creative rapport, and we were told numerous times after Jailhouse Rock that he considered us his good luck charms. He always wanted us in the studio. 

“That was one of the things also that we got into a hassle with the Colonel [Tom Parker] about,” he said. “The Colonel said, ‘You have to come out to California.’ Jerry was ill and I wasn’t gonna go out anyway. I don’t know what songs were done on those sessions ’cause we weren’t there. Elvis wanted us to be in the studio with him, and they were willing to fly us anywhere in order to please him. Of course, we’d been functioning as unpaid producers on the records of our songs.”

Notably, Elvis released a song called “Good Luck Charm.” According to The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, Leiber and Stoller had nothing to do with it. “Good Luck Charm” was co-written by Aaron Schroeder and Wally Gold and produced by Steve Sholes and Chet Atkins.

The song was huge but Elvis Presley’s career deteriorated after he released it

“Good Luck Charm” became a massive hit and a career milestone for the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll — but not a positive milestone. Elvis had at least one No. 1 hit in the United States every year between 1956 and 1962. “Good Luck Charm” ended this string of chart-toppers.

The singer didn’t start fading immediately, going on to have other top 10 singles in 1962 and 1963, such as “Return to Sender,” “She’s Not You,” and “(You’re the) Devil in Disguise.” In 1963, “Bossa Nova Baby” reached No. 8 and then Elvis almost stopped having big hits until 1968. Critics and fans alike tend to agree that this era resulted in some of the singer’s worst music and worst movies. Fortunately, the ’68 Comeback Special returned the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll to the limelight and he had a final No. 1 with “Suspicious Minds” in 1969.

Why ‘Good Luck Charm’ was left on the dustbin of history

While “Good Luck Charm” was a big hit in the early 1960s, it’s mostly been forgotten today. It’s easy to see why. “Good Luck Charm” suffers from the blandness of a lot of early 1960s pop. The tune doesn’t have much of a hook or even much of a genre. It’s too lifeless to be good pop, too soft to be soft-rock, and too sterile to be soul music. It’s telling that “Good Luck Charm” hasn’t inspired many covers.

“Good Luck Charm” is a passable song and Elvis’ good luck charms might have made a better song.