IN SOUTH AMERICA, the Compact 33 single format lasted into 1964. 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.
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.
I have records from Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay listed below, but one country dominates the listing . . .
Compact 33 singles
Argentine: She’s Not You / Just Tell Jim Said Hello (1962)
I have been unable to locate a picture sleeve from any country for one of my favorite Elvis songs of the decade, She’s Not You. I did find this white label promo from Argentina, a form not as common in “second world” countries as in the US and UK.
Brazil: Devil In Disguise / Please Don’t Drag That String Around (LC-16048, 1963)
This is the same picture sleeve design as that of the American single of the same name (47–8188) from 1963.
Brazil: Bossa Nova Baby / Witchcraft (LC-16055, 1963)
This is the same picture sleeve design as that of the American single for I Feel So Bad / Wild In The Country (47–7880) from 1961.
Uruguay: Bossa Nova Baby / Witchcraft (31A-0213, 1963)
RCA of Uruguay reached back for an image of Elvis for his last single of ’63, and found this ancient photo? But wait, is that mascara and eye-liner? Or is the poor lad sleep-deprived from life on the road and living on pep pills? (But you can’t use the word “bland” with this one . . .)
Brazil: Suspicion / Kiss Me Quick (1964)
Funny, but he doesn’t look suspicious in this photo. In fact, with the fake heavenly backdrop, this sleeve could have been used for a Gold Standard Series 45 reissuing two sides from the HIS HAND IN MINE album from 1961.
Argentina: Such A Night / Never Ending (1964)
RCA of Argentina was so impressed with the heavily made-up Elvis image that Uruguay found that they recycled it six months later. “Una noche asi” translates literally as “One night so” while “de nunca terminab” means . . . “never ending.”
Brazil: Such A Night / Never Ending (LC-16093, 1964)
Unique and interesting picture sleeve: another photo of the bland early ’60s Elvis but this time used twice with a green-on-green design. Interesting, but not particularly good.
Brazil: Viva Las Vegas / What’d I Say (1964)
Easily one of my favorite Presley picture sleeves ever! It could be the nice black and white photo without the clunky borders that RCA of America seemed obliged to include on every Elvis release.
Or perhaps it’s the clean, uncluttered look. or the way the yellow and blue print moves against the neutral background.
Or maybe it’s Ann-Margret.2
Brazil: DoThe Clam / You’ll Be Gone (1965)
This is the same picture sleeve design as that of the American single for I Feel So Bad / Wild In The Country (47–7880) from 1961.
Argentina: Crying In The Chapel / I Believe In The Man In The Sky (1965)
Let’s see: RCA of Argentina received the masters for Elvis’s new single, a pair of gospel sides. So they thought, “What ‘look’ would be the most appropriate for this record?” And then they decided on a publicity photo for Jailhouse Rock, where Elvis’s character does some serious time for killing another man. Then gets out and is a mean sumbish to everyone around him. Then sees the Light and finds the Way. Makes sense . . .
Argentina: Easy Question / It Feels So Right (1965)
Elvis in the studio in New York in July ’56 recording Hound Dog and Don’t Be Cruel and Any Way You Wa-ah-ah-ah-ant Me seems like the perfect photo for a picture sleeve for Presley’s best single in several years. Unfortunately, the A‑side was three years old and the B‑side five.
Uruguay: Love Letters / Come What May (31A-0922, 1966)
What’s good enough for Argentina is good enough for Uruguay.
Brazil: Your Time Hasn’t Come Yet, Baby / Let Yourself Go (LC-16184, 1968)
What the hey is this doing here?!? There weren’t no such thing as a compact 33 single in 1968! It was not fun in 1968 being a fan and watching both sides of this fine single battle it out on the charts in an attempt to establish one side as the A‑side. And then fail to even reach the Top 50 on any major survey.
Compact 33 doubles
Brazil: Elvis By Request (LPC-128, 1961)
This is the first Elvis Compact 33 release in almost every country in the world in which the format was manufactured was this one. The pink border and print make this version so much more appealing than the American pressing with its bland white border and black print.
Brazil: Elvis Presley (LCD-3004, 1962)
This is a reissue of the first American EP album Elvis Presley (EPA-747) from 1956.
Brazil: Elvis Presley (LCD-3005, 1962)
This is a reissue of the first American EP album ELVIS PRESLEY (EPA-747) from 1956. What sets this off from the pack is the blue and yellow letters stand out and complement the black and white photo much more than the American pink and green letters ever did (above)!
Brazil: Love Me Tender (LCD-3006, 1962)
This is a reissue of the American EP album LOVE ME TENDER (EPA-4006) from 1956. “Ama-me com ternura” translates as “love me with tenderness.”
Brazil: Loving You (LCD-3009, 1962)
This is a reissue of the American EP album LOVING YOU VOLUME 1 (EPA-1515–1) from 1957.
Brazil: Elvis’ Golden Records (LCD-3013, 1962)
This is a compilation pulled from the American LP album of the same name (LPM-1707) from 1958.
Brazil: King Creole (LCD-3015, 1962)
This is a reissue of the American EP album KING CREOLE VOLUME 1 (EPA-4319) from 1958.
Brazil: Follow That Dream (LCD-3026, 1962)
This is essentially identical to the American EP album FOLLOW THAT DREAM (EPA-4368) from 1962. “Em cada sonho um amor” translates as “In every dream a love.”
Uruguay: Follow That Dream (1962)
Same photo (the bland Elvis of the early ’60s) and layout as the US release. The Spanish translates as “Follow That Dream” and “4 great songs of this great movie.” While I assume that “great ” stretches anyone’s credulity, this can be argued to be Presley’s finest light musical comedy (were there any other kind?) of the ’60s.
Brazil: Kid Galahad (LCD-3047, 1962)
This is essentially identical to the American EP album (EPA-4371) from 1962. “Seis grandes cancoes” translates as “six great songs.”
Uruguay: Kid Galahad (1962)
This is essentially identical to the American EP album (EPA-4371) from 1962. “Seis grandes canciones” translates as “six great songs.”
Brazil: Love In Las Vegas (LCD-3075, 1964)
This is essentially identical to the American EP album (EPA-4382) from 1964. In Portuguese, “amor a toda velocidade” translates as “love at full speed.”
Uruguay: Love In Las Vegas (1964)
Same photo and layout as its American counterpart (EPA-4382), but the color selection completely alters the effect! Compare this bold contrast of red and white with the orange and blue of most versions (like the Brazilian version above).
Brazil: Elvis And So (LCD-3173, 1971)
I have included one more item that really doesn’t fall within the parameters of this article but is too cool not to list. “Da Trilha Sonora Do Filme” basically translates as the “soundtrack to the film” while the title, “Elvis E Assim” translates as “Elvis And So.”
POSTSCRIPTUALLY, I don’t have a lot to say about Elvis compact 33s from South America. 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.
FOOTNOTES:
1 “After World War II, the world split into two large geopolitical blocs and spheres of influence with contrary views on government and the politically correct society:
• The bloc of democratic-industrial countries within the American influence sphere, the First World.
• The Eastern bloc of the communist-socialist states, the Second World.
• The remaining three-quarters of the world’s population states not aligned with either bloc were regarded as the Third World.
• The term Fourth World refers to widely unknown nations of indigenous peoples living within or across national state boundaries.” (Nations Online)
2 If while reading my articles on this site you get the impression that I have a “thing” for the young Ann-Margret, well, you might be onto something there. (I might also have the same thing for the older Ann-Margret.)
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.)
