The song “Good Luck Charm” seemed destined to be another triumph in Presley’s endless career; however, it actually caused a crisis in Elvis’s recording career.0h

About The Song

When Elvis’ recording of Good Luck Charm was released as a single in late February 1962, it seemed destined to be just another triumph in Presley’s unending reign over the record charts. The platter was Elvis’ 22nd regular single release for RCA Victor. All of the previous 21, starting with Heartbreak Hotel in 1956, had placed in the top 5 on Billboard’s Top/Hot 100 chart, and 12 of them had reached #1. There was every reason to believe that Good Luck Charm would do the same, as would many more Elvis single releases to follow.

History, however, now reveals that Good Luck Charm was not just another record release in Presley’s career, but rather a pivotal one. Rather than a link in his perpetual chart success, the record foreshadowed a down turn in Elvis’ recording career. Good Luck Charm 

would reach #1 on the charts, but Presley would have just one more chart-topper in his career, and that wouldn’t come until over seven years later. In addition, many of the composers who had provided Elvis’s hit tunes would stop writing for him after 1962. For all its success, Good Luck Charm caused a crisis in Elvis’ recording career.

In its March 17 issue, Billboard reported the following: “Biggest shot in the arm for the singles business last week was Elvis Presley, whose ‘Good Luck Charm’ on RCA Victor proved a smash across the country. Dealers report this disk shapes up as one of his biggest—indicating that the chanter has lost none of his sales appeal, despite earlier reports to the contrary.”

That same week Good Luck Charm entered Billboard’s Hot 100 at #51. Over the next four weeks it climbed successively to #14, #9, #3, and #2. Then, on April 21, 1962, Good Luck Charm

 took over the #1 spot, displacing Elvis’ future leading lady Shelley Fabares and her recording of Johnny Angel. Elvis’ record spent a second week at #1, before being ousted from the top spot by The Shirelles’s Soldier Boy. After spending two weeks at #5, Good Luck Charm slid quickly down the list. It exited the Hot 100 on June 16, after spending 13 weeks on the chart, 7 of them in the top 10.

Video

Lyric

Let’s sing along with the lyrics!

Don’t want a four leaf clover
Don’t want an old horse shoe
Want your kiss ’cause I just can’t miss
With a good luck charm like you

Come on and be my little good luck charm
Uh-huh huh, you sweet delight
I want a good luck charm
a-hanging on my arm
To have, to have, to hold, to hold tonight

Don’t want a silver dollar
Rabbit’s foot on a string
The happiness in your warm caress
No rabbit’s foot can bring

Come on and be my little good luck charm
Uh-huh huh, you sweet delight
I want a good luck charm
a-hanging on my arm
To have, to have, to hold, to hold tonight

If I found a lucky penny
I’d toss it across the bay
Your love is worth all the gold on earth
No wonder that I say

Come on and be my little good luck charm
Uh-huh huh, you sweet delight
I want a good luck charm
a-hanging on my arm
To have, to have, to hold, to hold tonight