A Mess of Blues

"A Mess of Blues" is a song originally recorded by Elvis Presley for RCA Records in 1960, and written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. Although released as the B-side to "It's Now or Never", "A Mess of Blues" reached number 32 in the U.S. It reached number 2 in the UK as an A-side.

The song was published by Elvis Presley Music, Inc.

The recording appeared on the 1968 RCA Victor compilation Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4.

Personnel
Sourced from Keith Flynn.

The Blue Moon Boys
 * Elvis Presley - lead vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
 * Scotty Moore - lead guitar
 * D. J. Fontana - drums
 * Additional musicians
 * Hank Garland - six-string bass guitar
 * Bob Moore - double bass
 * Floyd Cramer - piano
 * Buddy Harman - drums
 * The Jordanaires (Gordon Stoker, Neal Matthews, Hoyt Hawkins, Ray Walker) - backing vocals

Status Quo cover
"A Mess of Blues" was covered by British rock band Status Quo in 1983. It was included on the album Back to Back from which it was the second UK single, reaching a peak position of No. 15.

Due to a printing error, several hundred copies of the picture sleeve for this release were printed with the front and rear photographs inter-changed.

7" single

 * 1) "A Mess of Blues" (D Pomus/M Shuman) (3.22)
 * 2) "Big Man" (Lancaster/Green) (3.40)

12" single

 * 1) "A Mess of Blues" (Extended version) (D Pomus/M Shuman) (4.48)
 * 2) "Big Man" (Lancaster/Green) (3.40)
 * 3) "Young Pretender" (Rossi/Frost) (3.32)

Other versions
The song has been recorded by Tom Jones and Jools Holland, Peter and Gordon, John Hiatt, Jeff Healey, Alexis Korner, Delbert McClinton, Lee Curtis and the All-Stars, Henry McCullough Blues Band, Scotty Moore and Paul Ansell, Robert Gordon and Chris Spedding with The Jordanaires, P.J. Proby, Chris Wilson, and Led Zeppelin as part of a medley.

Chart history

 * Elvis Presley
 * Status Quo