The story behind the song
(Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such As I started out as a folk song back in 1952 that Bill Trader wrote. Elvis Presley made it into a huge worldwide pop success.
Elvis laid down this track on June 10, 1958, inside RCA’s Studio B located in Nashville. The timing is pretty interesting because Elvis was actually taking a break from his service in the U.S. Army when he recorded this song. His manager and record label wanted to make sure they had new music to release while he was away serving, so they rushed to get a recording session done before he had to go back.
Back in the 1950s, Elvis Presley’s music would often “cross over” from the regular pop charts into charts for specific music genres. Black radio stations and R&B fans really liked his rhythm-focused music and emotional singing style, which helped push a lot of his rock and roll songs high up on the R&B charts next to famous Black musicians from that time period. (Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such As I made it to #16 on the R&B chart.
AT A GLANCE