Elvis Recorded ‘A Little Less Conversation’ Because He Was Sick of Doing the Same Old Thing

Elvis Presley‘s “A Little Less Conversation” was written by a country star. The star revealed what the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll wanted from the song. While “A Little Less Conversation” is one of Elvis’ most famous songs today, it was meant for another singer. Notably, the tune became a hit in the 1960s and again in the 2000s. 

Elvis Presley’s ‘A Little Less Conversation’ was written for a musical

“A Little Less Conversation” was written by Mac Davis. He was a country singer who had several hits. In addition, he wrote tunes for artists such as Elvis, Weezer, Avicii, Kenny Rogers, and Bruno Mars. During a 2010 interview with Smashing Interviews Magazine, Davis discussed writing “A Little Less Conversation” for Elvis’ musical Live a Little, Love a Little.

“[Session musician] Billy Strange came to me … he was doing the music for that movie,” Davis recalled. “Elvis had told him that he was looking for new blood in songwriters, that he didn’t want to keep on doing the same old stuff in the movies. Billy knew that I had been writing some fairly good songs.”

The song was meant for Aretha Franklin, not Elvis Presley

Davis originally intended to give “A Little Less Conversation” to another iconic singer. “I didn’t have anything cut, but [Strange] liked the stuff I was writing and he came and gave me a script,” Davis recalled. “He said, ‘You know, we’ve got a chance to get a song in this movie. Do you have anything?’ I had been writing the song actually in the hopes that Aretha Franklin would record it. That was my idea originally but it fit smoothly into that spot in the movie.”

Davis wished a certain someone would cover the song. “I still wish Aretha would record it but I can dream,” he added. “At any rate, they liked it and put it in the movie.” Franklin covered many songs over the years, including tunes by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Destiny’s Child, Gloria Gaynor, Mariah Carey, and Marvin Gaye. Even her most famous hit, “Respect,” was a cover of an Otis Redding song. Despite this, she never released her own rendition of “A Little Less Conversation,” which is a real shame.

How ‘A Little Less Conversation’ performed

The original version of “A Little Less Conversation” was a modest hit in the United States. It reached No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for four weeks. The tune came out before the ’68 Comeback Special, so it’s not surprising that it wasn’t a huge hit.

In 2002, Junkie XL released a remix of “A Little Less Conversation” that is now more famous than the original song. It’s also a lot better than the original song. The remix hit No. 50 and stayed on the chart for nine weeks. The tune appeared on the compilation album Elvis: 30 #1 Hits. That album topped the Billboard 200 for three weeks, lasting on the chart for a whopping 184 weeks in total. Elvis: 30 #1 Hits performed better on the Billboard 200 than any of the “All Shook Up” singer‘s other records.

Elvis did something a little different when he recorded “A Little Less Conversation” — and the song became one for the history books.