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. and number 2 in the UK independently.

"A Mess of Blues"
Single by Elvis Presley
A-side	"It's Now or Never"
B-side	"The Girl of My Best Friend" (UK)
Released	July 5, 1960
Recorded	March 20, 1960
Genre	Rock and roll, pop
Length	2:40
Label	RCA Victor
Songwriter(s)	Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman
Elvis Presley singles chronology
"Stuck on You" / "Fame and Fortune" (1960) "It's Now or Never" / "A Mess of Blues" (1960) "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" / "I Gotta Know" (1960)
Elvis Presley UK singles chronology
"Stuck on You" (1960) "A Mess of Blues" (1960) "It's Now or Never" (1960)

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.^[1]

The Blue Moon Boys

• Elvis Presley - lead vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
• Scotty Moore - lead guitar
• D. J. Fontana - drums

Additional musicians

• Hank Garland - bass guitar
• Bob Moore - double bass
• Floyd Cramer - piano
• Buddy Harman - drums
• The Jordanaires - backing vocals

Status Quo cover

"A Mess of Blues"
Single by Status Quo
from the album Back to Back
Released	28 October 1983 (1983-10-28) ^[2]
Genre	Boogie rock
Length	3:22
Label	Vertigo
Songwriter(s)	Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman
Producer(s)	Status Quo
Status Quo singles chronology
"Ol' Rag Blues" (1983) "A Mess of Blues" (1983) "Marguerita Time" (1983)

"A Mess of Blues" was covered by British rock band Status Quo in 1983. It was included on the album Back to Back^[3] 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.

Track listing

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.^[4]

Chart history

Elvis Presley

Chart (1960)	Peak position
Australia	11
Belgium	20
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)^[5]	6
Norway	4
UK	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[6]	32
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	84

Status Quo

Chart (1983)	Peak position
Ireland (IRMA)^[7]	12
UK Singles (OCC)^[8]	15

References

1. Keith Flynn. Recording Sessions.
2. "Status Quo singles".
3. . statusquo.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-02-25. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
4. Mess of Blues. Second Hand Songs.
5. Flavour of New Zealand, 27 October 1960
6. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
7. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – A Mess of Blues". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
8. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2018.