(Credits: Far Out / MGM)
Mon 9 February 2026 23:30, UK
During his momentous rise to musical stardom, Elvis Presley had the kind of Midas touch befitting of a man dubbed ‘The King’, amassing a then-unprecedented plethora of chart-topping hits and transforming countless otherwise obscure songs into essential parts of the rock and roll canon. There was a time, however, during which that power started to fade.
Contrary to his otherworldly reputation, the time that Presley spent at the very top of the blossoming rock and roll scene was surprisingly short. It was in 1956 that the performer unleashed his first LP, along with his first major single success in the form of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’.
By 1958, however, Presley had been drafted into the US military, and that career had to be put on ice for two years. When he returned, the hits kept coming – along with various film performances and extracurricular activities – but Presley was rapidly becoming something of a relic.
Particularly once the British Invasion arrived, and many of his early rock ‘n’ roll contemporaries were transformed into legacy acts, Presley’s output was at risk of becoming outdated, at least as far as the youth were concerned. Various releases and reissues kept the royalty cheques rolling in and maintained his dominance of the pop charts to an extent, but once the 1970s had dawned, even Presley himself had to admit that the glory days were behind him.
Nothing represented that unfortunate ageing process better than the ironically named ‘I Just Can’t Help Believing’. Written by the hit factory that was Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, the single was first recorded by the wholesome voice of BJ Thomas. Following in the footsteps of his previous successes – ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head’ and ‘Hooked On A Feeling’ being the prevailing examples – the track quickly became a hit.
Topping the Adult Contemporary charts and peaking at number nine on the pop charts, the song became one of the defining sounds of 1970, and it didn’t take long for it to arrive on the radar of Elvis Presley. As he often liked to do, ‘The King’ decided to record a cover version of Thomas’ track, even though the original version was still riding high in the charts.
Presumably, Presley assumed that his lasting star power and vocal prowess would eclipse that of Thomas, making the song into a much bigger hit than even Mann and Weill had ever imagined. In reality, Presley’s version became little more than a minor hit, failing to match the chart success of the comparatively unknown Thomas.
Although, admittedly, a live version of Presley’s interpretation became a top ten hit in the UK the following year, its cultural impact was still significantly less than Thomas’ original version.
Presley’s voice was certainly suited to the track, and it remained a staple of his rhinestone-studded live shows for many years, but there is an honesty and an integrity to Thomas’ performance that ultimately cannot be matched by the bravado and colossal reputation that Presley brought with him.
Elvis Presley’s echoes continue to ring throughout the rock and roll world, but, at least back in 1970, ‘I Just Can’t Help Believing’ did seem to hint at an artist whose cultural capital was beginning to decline, as the generation that first made him ‘The King’ steadily grew out of paying attention to the pop charts.