In 1956 a small but revealing piece of music-industry sleight-of-hand played out around the film and song Love Me Tender. The melody used in the picture (and the hit single) was adapted from the Civil War-era lullaby "Aura Lee," and Ken Darby did the principal work of arranging and adapting it for the movie. Rather than receive the public songwriting credit himself, Darby signed the rights over to his wife, Vera Matson — whose name appears on the sheet music alongside Elvis Presley. The Wikipedia account explains the awkward arithmetic behind that transfer: Presley’s management insisted on a composing credit to sweeten his participation in the picture, and Darby himself could not be credited because he was represented by another musicians’ association. When asked about it later, Darby gave an acid one-liner — "Because she didn't write it either."
Preparing the daily feature…
AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1950s
How Elvis's Management Engineered a Songwriting Credit: Ken Darby, Vera Matson, and 'Love Me Tender' (1956)
Love Me Tender (song/film) / Ken Darby / 1950s
In 1956 a small but revealing piece of music-industry sleight-of-hand played out around the film and song Love Me Tender. The melody used in the picture (and the hit single) was adapted from the Civil War-era lullaby "Aura Lee," and Ken Darby did the principal work of arranging and adapting it for the movie. Rather than receive the public songwriting credit himself, Darby signed the rights over to his wife, Vera Matson — whose name appears on the sheet music alongside Elvis Presley. The Wikipedia account explains the awkward arithmetic behind that transfer: Presley’s management insisted on a composing credit to sweeten his participation in the picture, and Darby himself could not be credited because he was represented by another musicians’ association. When asked about it later, Darby gave an acid one-liner — "Because she didn't write it either."
The daily feature is taking an intermission. There’s still an entire archive to explore.