The Wonder of You

“The Wonder of You” is a song written by Baker Knight. (Birmingham guy – story for another day) It was originally recorded by Vince Edwards in 1958, but this recording has never been released.  Elvis Presley had a no. 1 hit in the UK and a Top 10 hit in the U.S. with his 1970 live version of “The Wonder of You” recorded in Las Vegas, Nevada in February 1970. The song was released as a single on April 20, 1970, backed by the song “Mama Liked the Roses”. In the United States, both songs charted at #9 together during 27 June – 11 July 1970. “The Wonder of You” was one of his most successful records in the UK ever, topping the UK Singles Chart for six weeks in the summer of that year. It is his fifth biggest seller in the UK to date, with sales of 891,000.   It also stayed at number one in the Irish Charts for three weeks that same year. This was the 59th Top 40 hit of his career. Presley’s version also reached number 37 on the US Country Singles chart, and number one on the easy listening chart.  “The Wonder of You” was one of about thirty-five songs Elvis would regularly perform at concerts.  According to Peterson, “He [Elvis] asked me if I would mind if he recorded ‘The Wonder of You.’ I said, ‘You don’t have to ask permission; you’re Elvis Presley.’ He said, ‘Yes, I do. You’re Ray Peterson.'”  In 2016, a version of the song featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was released together with other orchestral versions of Elvis songs in the album The Wonder of You.