IN EUROPE, the compact 33 rpm single lasted into 1962, and like the rest of this wonderful world of ours, Elvis records were issued as Compact 33 Singles and Doubles there that were not issued domestically. The records below are almost entirely from Spain with a couple from France.
Elvis compact 33s from Spain embraced both formats and released several interesting singles with picture sleeves and EPs with new artwork.
As I am clueless about the importance and value of most Elvis records from outside of the US, there is no price guide with these entries. I am just presenting a gallery of images here for Elvis Compact 33s From Europe.
Compact 33 singles
Spain: It’s Now Or Never / A Mess Of Blues (32020, 1961)
Why RCA of Spain had reach back to the first-ever image that most people associate with Elvis from his first new RCA Victor EP and LP album releases in 1956 will probably remain unknown. Graphically, the blue at the top and bottom bring out the potency of the black and white photo.
Spain: Surrender / Lonely Man (32021, 1961)
For this new single, a photo from Jailhouse Rock in 1957 was used. The design is so boring it could have served as the inspiration for RCA of America for their Elvis releases for the rest of the ’60s.
Spain: Hound Dog / Don’t Be Cruel (32033, 1961)
Spain reissued his biggest-selling record of the ’50s with anew picture sleeve featuring a photo of Elvis on stage in 1957. Here he is wearing the gold jacket (he never wore the pants from that suit except for publicity) singing to a giant plastic hound dog, no doubt a reference to Steve Allen’s attempt to humiliate the boy on his television show the previous year.
Spain: Blue Moon / I Need You So (37–2060, 1961)
While Blue Moon was a substantial hit for Elvis in England when issued by HMV in late ’56 (it was Top 10 on at least one weekly paper’s survey), its being released on this format in the early ’60s seems rather odd, no?
Was there a tie-in with this song and something else happening in Spain at this time?
Will we ever know or will its release forever be a mystery for the ages?
Another ho-hum sleeve design from the RCA graphics department.
Spain: Wooden Heart / What’s She Really Like (37–2076, 1961)
Like most of Europe, Spain had the sense to issue the charming Wooden Heart as a single. Apparently, only RCA of America missed the boat on this one. Had it been released domestically and had a similar impact in the fifty states, it could have been one of Presley’s biggest-selling singles ever!
Instead, Wooden Heart has the distinction of being the only multi-million selling single of Elvis’s career not to have been a hit in the US. Yet another Jailhouse Rock photo used for the cover image.
Spain: His Latest Flame / Little Sister (37–7908, 1961)
Same photo (the bland Elvis of the early ’60s) and layout as the US release. Note that the two titles receive equality in the choice and size of the print, implying its status as a double A‑sided single.
Also note that the title is His Latest Flame (Marie’s The Name), essentially reversing the order of the two phrases in the title. And because of the way that the printer has placed the type, it could be read as (Marie’s The Name) Little Sister.
Spain: Rock-A-Hula Baby / Can’t Help Falling In Love (37–2080, 1961)
Same photo (the bland Elvis of the early ’60s) and layout as the US release. And Elvis was even blander for Blue Hawaii than usual. Note the prominence of the “Twist Special” blurb compared to the American sleeve. One of my least favorite images of Elvis on a picture sleeve found its way to Spain.
Compact 33 doubles
France: G. I. Blues (1962)
This is a unique compact 33 double EP to France taken from the G.I. BLUES long-play album. Nice photo of Elvis and co-star dancer Juliet Prowse. (And do I call her Frank Sinatra’s girlfriend or she of the legs-to-die-for?)
France: Surrender / Lonely Man (1961)
This unique compact 33 double EP compiles the two sides of the first single of 1961, Surrender / Lonely Man, with the two new tracks from the American ELVIS BY REQUEST extended-play album, Flaming Star and Summer Kisses, Winter Tears. The jacket photo and layout are the same as the American picture sleeve for the Surrender single.
Spain: Jailhouse Rock (LPC-3140, 1962)
This is a reissue of the American EP album of the same name (EPA-4114) from 1957.
Spain: Elvis Presley (LPC-3143, 1962)
This self-titled album appears to collect both sides of two singles: Wear My Ring Around Your Neck / Doncha’ Think It’s Time and (Now And Then There’s) A Fool Such As I / I Need Your Love Tonight. Another photo from Jailhouse Rock from 1957 graces the humdrum cover.
Spain: Elvis Presley (LPC-3177, 196?)
The Spanish translation for “Arrancalo” is “I tear it out,” so of course that means the song’s title is Rip It Up, which is the unofficial title that this record goes by among collectors. “Amame” is “love me,” “cualquier lugar es el paraiso” is “anywhere is paradise,” and “el mundo te esta obsequiando” is “the world like this regaling.” I am going to go with King Of The Whole Wide World for that last one. Another lackluster cover design.
Spain: Elvis Sings (33014, 1962)
Spain lifted the image from the American EP album ELVIS SAILS (EPA-5157) for this compilation of ’50s sides.
Spain: King Creole, Volume 1 (33021, 1962)
This is a reissue of the American EP album KING CREOLE VOLUME 2 (EPA-4321) from 1959. It features unique cover art taken from the movie poster (below).
Spain: King Creole, Volume 2 (33022, 1962)
This is a reissue of the American EP album KING CREOLE VOLUME 1 (EPA-4319) from 1959. It features unique cover art taken from the movie poster (below).
This is the Spanish poster for the movie King Creole from 1958. The artwork for both of the two Spanish EPs above was taken from this poster. While hardly top o’ the line as graphics, the covers for the two EPs above are heads and shoulders above the pedestrian covers on the American EPs from 1958.
This is the American poster for the movie from 1958. It is arguably the best poster to be associated with any Presley vehicle.
Spain: Rock And Roll (33052, 196?)
A compilation of ’50s using the now-famous photo that graced the cover the second American LP album, ELVIS (LPM-1382) from 1956.
Spain: The Rhythm Of Elvis Presley (33053, 196?)
Wonderful, colorful design using a photo of Elvis from the Dorsey Show in 1956. The multi-color graphics against the black and white photo gives the whole such a great Fifties feel. Easily one of my favorite Presley sleeves of the ’50s!
Spain: Elvis (33054, 196?)
A compilation of ’50s using the now-famous photo that graced the cover the second American LP album, ELVIS (LPM-1382) from 1956.
Spain: Loving You (33055, 196?)
A compilation of ’50s using the now-famous photo that graced the cover the second American LP album, LOVING YOU (LPM ‑1515) from 1957.
HEADER IMAGE: At the time that RCA Victor was experimenting with the Compact-33 format, Elvis was experimenting with changing his image from surly rock & roller to n almost goofily charming boy-next-door type for Hollywood. Here he is seen in a scene from 1961’s Blue Hawaii behind the wheel of a red 1960 MG Roadster.
POSTSCRIPTUALLY, I don’t have a lot to say about Elvis compact 33s from Spain. I appreciate input from dealers and collectors of these records and sleeves on their values so that I could transform this into a useful price guide for other collectors. Most of the images above were provided by Frank Daniels.
Mystically liberal Virgo enjoys long walks alone in the city at night in the rain with an umbrella and a flask of 10-year-old Laphroaig who strives to live by the maxim, “It ain’t what you know that gets you into trouble; it’s what you know that just ain’t so.
I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn, and a college dropout (twice!). Occupationally, I have been a bartender, jewelry engraver, bouncer, landscape artist, and FEMA crew chief following the Great Flood of ’72 (and that was a job that I should never, ever have left).
I am also the final author of the original O’Sullivan Woodside price guides for record collectors and the original author of the Goldmine price guides for record collectors. As such, I was often referred to as the Price Guide Guru, and—as everyone should know—it behooves one to heed the words of a guru. (Unless, of course, you’re the Beatles.)
