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Elvis SongPedia: Promised Land

Promised Land




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Basic Stats

(Just the facts, ma'am!)

Written by: Chuck Berry

Recorded: December 15, 1973, Stax Studio, Memphis
Released master is take 6.

Single:w/ "It's Midnight", PB-10074, September 27, 1974
Also re-released as Gold Standard single, GB-10488, February 1976

Highest U.S. Charts Positions:
#14 on Billboard's Hot 100
#25 on Cash Box's Top 100

1st LP release: Promised Land - January 1975
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"Promised Land"
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For other versions, see
Lyrics and Downloads section below.



My Spin

(Just my opinion. Give us yours!)

One of Elvis' most hard-driving rockers from the '70s, "Promised Land" comes barrelin' at ya like a midnight flyer outta Birmingham and doesn't let up! James is still wailin' away strong as the song fades out. This single was in the charts not long after the time that I was first becoming a fan, so it's hard to be objective. It's also hard to go wrong with Elvis doing a Chuck Berry tune!

More to come later, meanwhile, check out the music and links!

Other Spins

(What did the critics and fans say?)



"Promised Land", Presley sounds constricted, but the effect is appropriate and the tight performance is good.

Robert Matthew-Walker, Elvis Presley: A Study in Music, 1979




Elvis appropriated Chuck Berry's 1964 classic about a cross-country trip and turned it into a metaphor for his own life on the road. Hot, driving rock (used with great effectiveness on the soundtrack of the 1981 film, This Is Elvis.

The Complete Elvis, edited by Martin Torgoff, 1982





Check out other Elvis fans' opinions on the Elvis News page for Promised Land




Check out other opinions at Rate Your Music




"Promised Land" Links


"Promised Land" Lyrics

I left my home in Norfolk Virginia, California on my mind
I straddled that Greyhound and rode into Raleigh and on across Caroline

[Elvis' version leaves out these 2 lines from Chuck Berry's original:]
Stopped in Charlotte and bypassed Rock Hill, and we never was a minute late
We was ninety miles out of Atlanta by sundown, rollin' 'cross the Georgia state

We had motor trouble that turn into a struggle halfway across Alabam'
And that hound broke down and left us all stranded in downtown Birmingham

Right away I bought me a through train ticket right across Mississippi clean
And I was on that midnight flyer out of Birmingham smoking into New Orleans

Somebody help me get out of Louisiana, just to help me get to Houston Town
There are people there who care a little about me and they won't let the poor boy down

Sure as you're born they bought me a silk suit and put luggage in my hand
And I woke up high over Alberquerque on a jet to the promised land

Working on a T-bone steak a la carte flying over to the golden state
When the pilot told us in thirteen minutes he would set us at the terminal gate

Swing low chariot, come down easy, taxi to the terminal zone
Cut your engines and cool your wings and let me make it to the telephone

Los Angeles give me Norfolk Virginia, Tidewater four ten o nine
Tell the folks back home this is the promised land calling and the poor boy is on the line

Working on a T-bone steak a la carte flying over to the golden state
When the pilot told us in thirteen minutes he would set us at the terminal gate

Swing low chariot, come down easy, taxi to the terminal zone
Cut your engines and cool your wings and let me make it to the telephone

Los Angeles give me Norfolk Virginia, Tidewater four ten o nine
Tell the folks back home this is the promised land calling and the poor boy is on the line
Download the Karaoke Version!

Promised Land karaoke - Elvis PresleyPromised Land
Elvis Presley


Download or just listen to different versions by Elvis from CD Universe!

... or different versions by other artists!




What's YOUR Spin on "Promised Land"?
Yea or Nay?

Yea! '70s Elvis At His Rockin' Best!

Nay! Turned Into A Struggle!


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Study Up Some More!

Elvis song reference books on Amazon!

Ernst Jorgensen's complete chronicle of Elvis' recording sessions, with loads of detailed information about each session and each song.
This is the definitive encyclopedia on Elvis' life details, as well as all the background and trivia you need for all the songs, movies, and TV appearances. Authors are Fred L. Worth and Steve D. Tamerius.
The subtitle of Ace Collins' book says it all: "The stories behind Elvis' #1 hits"!
"Elvis The #1 Hits: The Secret History of the Classics". Another self-explanatory book title. :)