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Elvis Presley – It’s Now or Never (for Guitars) Sheet Music
Lyrics:
It’s now or never
Come hold me tight
Kiss me my darling
Be mine tonight
Tomorrow will be too late
It’s now or never
My love won’t wait
When I first saw you
With your smile so tender
My heart was captured
My soul surrendered
I spent a lifetime
Waiting for the right time
Now that you’re near
The time is here, at last
It’s now or never
Come hold me tight
Kiss me my darling
Be mine tonight
Tomorrow will be too late
It’s now or never
My love won’t wait
Just like a willow
We would cry an ocean
If we lost true love
And sweet devotion
Your lips excite me
Let your arms invite me
For who knows when
We’ll meet again this way
It’s now or never
Come hold me tight
Kiss me my darling
Be mine tonight
Tomorrow will be too late
It’s now or never
My love won’t wait
It’s now or never
My love won’t wait
It’s now or never
My love won’t wait
It’s now or never
My love won’t wait
Elvis Presley
The great musical icon of the 20th century who transcends his simple image of a sociocultural myth by establishing his values in an extraordinary vocal capacity, in an imposing and erotic stage presence and, above all, in bringing the guidelines of black music closer to the ‘mainstream. ‘ white, combining country & western, gospel and R&B, to form a vibrant sound that caused the popularization of a music that changed the world: rock’n’roll.
Elvis Aaron Presley was born in the town of Tupelo, Mississippi (United States), on January 8, 1935.
He was the son of a humble marriage composed of Gladys Love Smith Presley and Vernon Elvis Presley.
His twin brother Jesse Garon passed away at the same time of his birth.
When Elvis was three years old, his father was jailed for trying to forge a check.
With her husband in prison, Gladys herself found a job as a seamstress through which she was able to support her young son until Vernon was released from prison after his three-year sentence.
Gladys was extremely protective of her son, and he always maintained a deep adoration for his mother figure.
When Vernon was released from prison, the family moved to Memphis, a city located in the state of Tennessee.
From an early school age, Elvis began playing the guitar, listening to country, blues and gospel music at all hours.
Among his fellow students he was considered a freak, as he dressed differently and wore his hair longer than was customary at the time.
After finishing high school, he got a job as a truck driver.
One fine day he parked the truck and went to the Sun Records studios to record a couple of songs as a birthday present for his dear mother.
The songs were ‘My Happiness’ and ‘That’s When Your Heartaches Begin.’
A secretary at Sun Records, named Marion Keisker, had an intuition that this attractive white boy with a black voice could be the new star that Sam Phillips, the owner of the company, was looking for.
Shortly after hearing the songs, Phillips quickly had Elvis called into his office.
Elvis and Sam, enthusiastic about their different personal interests, signed a contractual agreement and in August 1954 recorded the new artist’s first single, ‘That’s All Right Mama’, an old blues song by Arthur Crudup that was converted from a country base into a hit song. vibrant rockabilly piece.
Along with Elvis, guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black (known as The Blue Moon Boys) recorded the song, to which was later added drummer DJ Fontana, regular musicians on Elvis’ recordings in the first stage of his career.
The song got quite important sales, which encouraged Sam Phillips to continue trusting his new pupil.
Later singles such as:
“Good Rockin’ Tonight / I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine”
“Milk Cow Blues Boogie / You’re A Heartbreaker”
“I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone / Baby Let’s Play House”
“Mystery Train / I Forgot To Remember To Forget”…
Together with his exciting live performances, in which Elvis amazed the audiences with his sensual swaggers and his scenic strength, a characteristic quite unusual at that time, especially in a white singer, Presley’s fame was widened throughout the United States. , especially after being reviled by some puritans, who saw the advent of rock’n’roll as something pernicious for American youth.
As is often the case, this forbidding, fearful emphasis led to a growing popularity of new rhythms emerging from the American South.
After reaching number 1 in 1955 with “Mystery Train”, Elvis put himself in the hands of Colonel Tom Parker, who handled the trajectory of his protégé at will.
At the end of 1955, Elvis was signed by RCA, when this company bought his contract from Sam Phillips.
At RCA, Elvis developed a more elaborate sound that continued his energetic break from classic black sounds but enlarged his rock’n’roll sound over the years with more pop patterns and a penchant for crooner ballads, of his admired Dean Martin.
Heartbreak Hotel ended up turning Elvis Presley into a worldwide superstar, easily reaching number 1 in the United States.
In 1956, he released his first album, ‘Elvis Presley’ (1956), one of his most important LPs released at a time when the single format ruled.
Until the arrival of the 60s, he triumphed with songs like:
“Love Me Tender”
The Otis Blackwell-penned track “All Shook Up”
“Hard Headed Woman”
“Jailhouse Rock”, Leiber/Stoller song featured in the movie of the same name.
In 1957, he bought the Graceland mansion in Memphis and broke his association with Moore, Black and D.J. Fontana due to contractual differences.
For the big screen, Elvis made numerous movies, generally all cut from the same cloth, with songs (mostly splendid), pretty girls, and attractive locations.
In 1958, Elvis shaved off his hair, a significant and almost metaphorical event that caused some disappointment among his fans, and went to serve in Germany with the United States Army.
This fact did little to diminish the popularity of the singer, since both his films and previously recorded material managed to successfully keep his name at the top of the world charts.
In Germany he met for the first time Priscilla Beaulieu (born 1945), the daughter of a captain in the US air force, whom he ended up marrying in 1967, although they had lived together in Graceland since 1962.
While in the army, Elvis received terrible news, the death of his mother at the age of 46 in August 1958.
The singer was devastated by the event, and for a week he remained confined in a room without wanting to see anyone.
In 1960 he returned to the United States and resumed his career, triumphantly continuing his career with singles such as ‘It’s Now Or Never’ (Anglo-Saxon version of the popular Italian song ‘O Sole Mio’), ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’, ‘ Surrender”, “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, “Return To Sender” or “You’re The Devil In Disguise”.
His first LP after his discharge from the army was ‘Elvis Is Back!’ (1960).
In the 1960s, Elvis turned to the cinema, shooting several titles a year and partly abandoned music, recording or recovering old themes for his films.
The British Invasion, led by the Beatles, caused a change in the musical approach, since with its irruption it was the groups and soloists themselves who specified their sound and wrote their compositions, something that Elvis had rarely done, who seemed in this somewhat disoriented period.
The “resurrection” of the Tupelo singer came in 1968, the same year his only daughter, Lisa-Marie, was born.
The King made a spectacular television appearance on NBC in December, which brought him back to his best times in the late 1950s.
Clad in black leather, flanked by his old bandmates Scotty Moore and D. J. Fontana (Bill Black had died in 1965), and backed on vocals by The Blossoms, a female choir that included Darlene Love, Jean King and Fanita Jones, Elvis rescued his musical roots, vigorously interpreting his old classics and once again conquering the audience.
In 1969, he published historical singles such as ‘In The Ghetto’ or ‘Suspicious Minds’, two great songs that raised him to number 1 again.
In September 1968 he had released as a single ‘A Little Less Conversation’, a song remixed in 2002 that reached number 1 in Great Britain.
In 1969, Elvis settled in Las Vegas, the gambling city where he had married Priscilla two years earlier, specifically at the Aladdin Hotel.
In the city of Nevada, he starred in massive concerts accompanied by the Joe Guercio Orchestra that were continued by tours throughout the country.
His singles, such as “Kentucky Rain”, “The Wonder Of You”, “I’ve Lost You” or “I Really Don’t Want To Know” were good pieces enhanced by Elvis’ enormous skill as a vocalist, but they couldn’t compare his discography to previous songs.
His last big song was the sensational ‘Burning Love’, released in September 1972.
A year earlier, his wife Priscilla had fallen in love with her karate teacher, a guy named Mike Stone.
They separated amicably in 1971 and divorced in 1973.
In 1972, Elvis had entered into a relationship with Linda Thompson (born 1950), the winner of the Miss Tennessee beauty pageant the same year they began dating.
Around this time, he began abusing drugs and eating heavily, changing his image from the svelte Elvis of the 1950s to the nearly obese Elvis of the 1970s.
He broke up with Linda in 1976 and began another relationship, this time with Ginger Alden (1956), a 19-year-old girl who was the sister of Miss Tennessee 1976, Terry Alden, whom El Rey initially wanted to meet, to later fall in love with her sister.
On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley was found dead by Ginger in a bathroom at Graceland, when they had already set the date (Christmas Day of the same year) for their next marriage.
A heart attack derived from the high consumption of barbiturates was the cause of the disappearance of the greatest figure that he has known and will know rock’n’roll.
He was 42 years old.
He is buried at Graceland.
In 1986, he was chosen to inaugurate, along with other rock pioneers, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
In 2017 “Christmas” (2017) was published, an album with Christmas songs in which Elvis is accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2018, the compilation “Where No One Stands Alone” (2018) was released, with gospel cuts.
In 2019, “American Sound 2019” (2019) was published, with archive material.
The same year, the direct “Live At The International Hotel” (2019) appeared, a direct from the year 1969.
In 2022, a film about his life was released, ‘Elvis’ (2022), directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Austin Butler.
Tom Hanks played Colonel Tom Parker in this film.
It’s Now or Never
‘It’s Now or Never’ is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and released as a single in 1960.
The song is Presley’s best-selling single (20 million copies) and one of the best-selling singles of all time. It was recorded by Bill Porter at RCA Studio B in Nashville. It is written in E major and has a tempo of 80 BPM.
In 1960, ‘It’s Now or Never’ was a number one record in the US for Elvis Presley, spending five weeks at number one, and in the UK, where it spent eight weeks at the top in 1960 and an additional week at number one in 2005 as a reissue, and many other countries, selling over 25 million copies worldwide, Elvis Presley’s biggest international single.
Its UK release was delayed for some time due to rights issues, allowing the song to rack up massive pre-orders and enter the UK Singles Chart at number one, a very rare occurrence at the time. ‘It’s Now or Never’ peaked at number seven on the R&B charts.
‘It’s Now or Never’ is one of two popular songs based on the Neapolitan-language Italian song, ‘ ‘O Sole mio’ (music by Eduardo di Capua); the other is ‘There’s No Tomorrow’, recorded by American singer Tony Martin in 1949, which inspired Presley’s version. The lyrics were written by Aaron Schroeder and Wally Gold. The song was published by Elvis Presley’s company Gladys Music, Inc.
Barry White credited this song as his inspiration to turn his life around and become a singer following his release from prison.
In the promotional video for the Beatles’ 1968 single ‘Hey Jude’, members of the band playfully perform lines from the song.
A live version with ”O Sole mio’ is available on the 1977 live album Elvis in Concert. ”O Sole mio’ is sung by tenor Sherrill Nielson.
In early 2005, the song was re-released alongside Presley’s other UK singles, again reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart for the week of February 5, 2005. The re-release held the record of the lowest number of sales. -a single in UK chart history until Orson’s ‘No Tomorrow’ in 2006. The song is also featured in the TV miniseries Elvis.
‘It’s Now or Never’ entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 44 on July 18, 1960. After rising to number 14 and following a two-week stay at number 3, the song rose to number 1 for five one-week stays, starting August 15. In that same week, the single’s B-side, ‘A Mess of Blues’, independently peaked at number 32.
During its run at the top of the US charts, ‘It’s Now or Never’ kept The Ventures’ ‘Walk, Don’t Run’ at No. 2 before succumbing to Chubby Checker’s ‘The Twist’ on September 19. No. 3, spending another seven weeks inside the top 40 before dropping out on November 14 (the same week its follow-up, ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’, debuted on the chart). As an A-side, former Presley bassist Bill Black Combo’s group made the list with their version of ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ around the same time.
In the UK, the single gained an eventual release in late October 1960, following copyright discussions. It became the first song to enter the new Record Retailer charts at No. 1, later adopted as the UK Singles Chart. During an eight-week run at the top, Presley held off strong competition from Shirley Bassey (‘As Long As He Needs Me’) and The Drifters (‘Save the Last Dance for Me’) before claiming the coveted number a Christmas one for 1960.
A week later, he was deposed by Cliff Richard and the Shadows’ I Love You. Presley fell to No. 2 and would leave the top 10 as ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ began its rise to No. 1. After 18 weeks, ‘It’s Now or Never’ left the UK top 40 on March 15, 1961. Due to the delayed release of the UK single, ‘A Mess of Blues’ had already achieved A-side status and peaked at No. #2 on September 21, 1960.
‘It’s Now or Never’ would be one of several songs to return to the UK top 40 following Presley’s death, peaking at number 39 on August 3, 1977.
On February 5, 2005, the song returned to the top of the UK charts for a further week as part of a series of week-by-week reissues of its former chart successes. This gave Presley his 21st UK number one single, his fourth of the new millennium. Overall, ‘It’s Now or Never’ has achieved 22 weeks in the UK top 40.
‘O sole mio’
‘O sole mio’, composed in 1898, with lyrics by Giovanni Capurro and melody by Eduardo di Capua, is not only one of the most popular songs in Italy, but also in the whole world.
Its original version is written in Neapolitan, a language that many consider a dialect, but that UNESCO categorizes as a language influenced by the large number of cultures that have passed through Napoli throughout its history. Cultures such as the Oscan, the Roman, the Greek, the Byzantine, the Norman, the Spanish and even the American, left some words in the Neapolitan language after their presence in the city during the Second World War.
‘O sole mio’ has been sung by the main tenors of opera: Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras, Enrico Caruso and Plácido Domingo, among others. But it doesn’t stop there, the song crossed musical borders and reached rock and pop thanks to artists such as Bryan Adams, Elton John or Elvis Presley himself, who performed it under the name ‘It’s now or never’, making it a one of his best-selling songs.
Such was the popularity of the piece that, at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, it came to replace the Italian national anthem.
The song became popular thanks to the great emigration of Italians to America between 1880 and 1920. Enrico Caruso, who reached his peak of fame in the first decades of the last century and who is considered, today, the best singer opera house of the 20th century, was the main responsible for this expansion.
The tenor finished his performances at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York singing this piece. Caruso not only helped to popularize it, but also paved the way for a new genre: the ‘Classical Crossover’, a combination of classical music with popular, within which we could frame the ‘O sole mio’.
Behind the lyrics
In 1894, a young man named Giovanni Capurro wrote a poem dedicated to a woman with whom he was in love, comparing the sun in his land to seeing her face when he looked out the window.
Four years later, in 1898, Eduardo di Capua, a Neapolitan conductor who was in the Ukraine, was so nostalgic for the light of Napoli that he sat down at the piano and decided to put music to the poem that his friend Giovanni Capurro gave him before leave.
Napoli was, at that time, a great cultural center and music was beginning to make its way. The Piedigrotta Festival was one of the most famous at the time, promoted by baron and publisher Ferdinando de Bideri.
When di Capua returned from the Ukraine, he and Capurro entered the contest with ‘O sole mio’, finishing second. Di Bieri, a friend of both, in a gesture of friendship decided to buy the song from them. A gesture that di Capua and Capurro would probably regret years later when ‘O sole mio’ began to become a true worldwide success. Currently the di Bieri family is the sole owner of the rights to the song.
‘O sole mio’ is a simple song, but tremendously nostalgic. It is a story of memories, of love, of being rooted in the land and, above all, a tribute to the joy of living in a place as sunny as Napoli.