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Hearts of Stone

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(Ray / Jackson)

Information:
Hearts of Stone was written by Rudy Jackson, a member of the Jewels, the rhythm and blues vocal group from San Bernardino, California, which first recorded it for the R&B label in 1954. The Jewels began as a gospel group, then became the Marbles, recording for the Lucky label out of L.A. According to Johnny Torrence, leader of the Marbles/Jewels, it was taken from a song they recorded in their gospel days. Hearts of Stone was covered and taken to the charts by East Coast r&b vocal group, The Charms, causing the real story of the Jewels' involvement to be ignored by various writers and DJs who assume the Charms cover was the original. It also has been recorded by The Fontaine Sisters in 1954, the biggest hit version, reaching #1 on the charts in 1955; by Bill Black’s Combo in 1961, the same Bill Black that played bass for Elvis. Although guitarist Scotty Moore would eventually work with Presley again, Bill never did since 1958, joining a Memphis group that evolved into Bill Black's Combo in 1959. Other two versions include those by John Fogerty and the Blue Ridge Rangers in 1973 and by Don Walser and Mandy Barnett in 1998.

Elvis used to sing this song at his live concerts and it was never recorded in studio. The recording that was released for the first time in 1999 on the album Sunrise is from an acetate of a performance at the Louisiana Hayride in 1955. The sound quality isn't very good, but the historic value of the song was taken into consideration.

Lyrics:

Hearts made of stone will never break
'Cause your love is never there, they just don't care
You can ask and plea, please, please, please work
And all your love is there to stay

These hearts of stone will cause you pain
Although you love there has stopped just the same
You can ask and plea, please, please, please work
And all your love is there to stay
But they'll say no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
You daddy know, I thought you knew hearts made of stone

Hearts made of stone will never break
'Cause your love is never there, they just don't care
You can ask and plea, please, please, please work
And all your love is there to stay
But they'll say no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
You daddy know, I thought you knew hearts made of stone

Where it was released:

Released for the first time on the album Sunrise

LPs/CDs:

- Sunrise (1999)

- Good Rockin’ Tonight (2000) – Music Mill

- Playing With Fire (2001) – Magnum

- The Hillbilly Cat (2001) - Magnum

- Elvis Presley at the Louisiana Hayride / The Original Roots of Elvis Presley (2002) – Charly/Snapper

- The Elvis Broadcasts on Air (2002) – Cleoptara

– A Boy From Tupelo (2012) - FTD » 

– For LP Fans Only (2018) - FTD »

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