Burning Love
"Burning Love" is a 1972 song by Elvis Presley written by Dennis Linde and originally recorded by country soul artist Arthur Alexander, who included it on his 1972 self-titled album. Elvis Presley had a major hit with the song, becoming his biggest hit single in the United States since "Suspicious Minds" in 1969 and his last Top 10 hit in the American Hot 100 or pop charts.
Elvis Presley version
Elvis Presley's version became much more popular than the Arthur Alexander original recording, and was released as a single on August 1, 1972, with the B-side "It's a Matter of Time", and it reached the Top 40 on the country charts, peaking at #36. Elvis had recorded it at RCA's Hollywood studios on March 28, 1972. It was his last big hit. The electric guitar opening and riffs were overdubbed and played by Dennis Linde himself.For the week of October 28, 1972, "Burning Love" rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, being kept from #1 by Chuck Berry's novelty song "My Ding-a-Ling." However, it reached #1 on Cashbox's Top 40 Charts for the week of November 11, which gave him 20 US #1 hits. The song was Elvis's 40th and last Top Ten hit on the Billboard US charts. "Steamroller Blues" in 1973 was his last one on the Cashbox Charts, peaking at #10, in the wake of the massively successful Aloha Concert. It was also one of the last real rock songs in the last years of his life; from 1972 to 1977 the majority of his songs were ballads, and many of those placed on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart. "Burning Love" was one of the few exceptions, along with "Promised Land" in 1974.
He performed it in at least two high-profile productions: the concert film Elvis on Tour, and the later Aloha from Hawaii concert.
The song was also released on an album titled Burning Love and Hits from his Movies: Volume 2 on November 1, 1972. Despite this album's subtitle, none of the movie songs on it were ever hits. The only actual hit on the album was the title song, "Burning Love".
Personnel
- Elvis Presley — lead vocals
- James Burton, Dennis Linde — guitar
- John Wilkinson — rhythm guitar
- Emory Gordy, Jr. — bass
- Glen D. Hardin — piano
- Ronnie Tutt — drums
- J. D. Sumner & The Stamps — backing vocals
- Jerry Carrigan – percussion, cowbell
Chart history
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Uses
- It was recorded for the 1979 film, Elvis The Movie, starring Kurt Russell and Ronnie McDowell as the singing voice of Elvis. The song was not released for a soundtrack.
- On a Season 4 episode of The Golden Girls in 1988 called "Sophia's Wedding", the girls are revealed to be members of an Elvis fan club called The Hunka-Hunka-Burning Love FanClub.
- In 1997, Velveeta used the song for the Velveeta Chili Dip commercial, where they changed the lyrics to "Hunka Hunka Meltin' Love".
- The title of The Simpsons episode "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love" is a reference to a line from "Burning Love".
- Wynonna Judd's version of "Burning Love" is the closing song of Lilo & Stitch. The song itself would later play a role in an episode of ', with main character Lilo Pelekai naming a hummingbird-like love-inducing experiment, "Hunkahunka".
- It was used for the end credits sequence of Crazy Love, a documentary by Klores and Fisher Stevens on the life of Burt and Linda Pugach.
- Dwayne Johnson's character, Joe Kingman, sings the song in the 2007 movie, The Game Plan.
- Near the end of the 2009 movie Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Matthew McConaughey's character inserts an 8-track tape of the song into the stereo of his late uncle's 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible and hits play before driving the car through the garage's glass door in pursuit of his brother's fiance in an effort to her from fleeing the wedding.
- The song was used during the Miss Universe 2010 swimsuit competition, where Ximena Navarrete from México won the title.
- A remix of the original was used for the Cirque du Soleil show Viva Elvis, which began in 2010, and found on its soundtrack. During the live show, it is played during a montage of Elvis's best love scenes on the rear-projection screen, while the band has a spotlight. This remix puts more emphasis on drums and guitars, with a sound like The Who.
- The song was used in the 2011 video game Homefront in the mission "Night Raid" where members of the American Resistance launch white phosphorus on soldiers of the Korean People's Army.
- The Newsroom used "Burning Love" in their third episode "The 112th Congress" in 2012. It starts when MacKenzie leaves Charlie's office and through Will's news report montage. The song closes when Will signs off of his June 2, 2010 news report.
- Jonathan Wood's character, Nick, sings the song in ABC Family's Original Movie, The Mistle-Tones starring Tia Mowry.
- Zooey Deschanel sang Burning Love while impersonating Elvis on Season 2, Episode 20 of New Girl in 2013.
- The song was also used in commercials for Disney's 2014 film, ', performed by the Mike Eldred Trio.
- Uncle Jesse sings along to the song while driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles in the 2016 Fuller House episode "Moving Day."
- The song is one of six possible soundtracks on the Disney California Adventure attraction , which opened in 2017.
- "Burning Love" was used as a wake-up song on the space shuttle mission STS-123.
- The song was frequently used by comedian Conan O'Brien to warm up his audience prior to taping his talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien, with the host singing the lyrics with musical accompaniment by the house band.
- Presley's version appears in a 2019 TV commercial for Applebee's.
- In the movie, Wong tells Bruce Banner that Ben & Jerry's came out with the flavor "Hunk-A-Hulk-A-Burning Fudge," a reference to a line from "Burning Love".
- In the movie, Woody Harrelson performs the song for the end credits and soundtrack.