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"Way Down" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley. Recorded in October 1976, it was his last single released before his death on August 16, 1977. The song was written by Layng Martine, Jr. and was later covered by Status Quo and Cliffhanger. Elvis recorded the song at his home studio in Graceland in late October, 1976.

Released as a single (with "Pledging My Love" on the B-side) on June 6, 1977, it was his single at the time of his death. It initially peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated August 6, 1977 and had fallen to No. 53 on the chart for the week ending August 27, 1977. Thereafter, it reversed direction and reached an even higher peak at No. 18 on 24 September – 1 October 1977. "Way Down" reached No. 1 on the American Country chart the week he died. Overseas, the song hit the UK Singles Chart a few weeks later, almost seven years after his previous UK number-one single, "The Wonder of You", in 1970. His previous single, "Moody Blue", had been a number-one hit on the US Country Charts earlier in 1977. "Way Down" was reissued in April 2005 and reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart.

The recording also featured J.D. Sumner singing the words "way on down" at the end of each chorus, repeating the phrase at the end of the song while hitting a double low C note (three octaves below middle C). According to the Guinness Book of World Records it is the lowest recorded note ever produced by the human voice, first accomplished by Sumner in a 1966 recording of the hymn "Blessed Assurance."

Chart performance

See also

• List of posthumous number-one singles (UK)

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 273.
2. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 343. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
3. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 436. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
4. https://books.google.com/books?id=hx0ZdtoJzc8C&pg=PA145
5. [http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordin gs/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.5502b&URLjpg=http% 3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnl c008388.5502b.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.5502b "Top 200 Singles of '77 – Volume 28, No. 11, December 31 1977"]. RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 25, 2016. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); line feed character in |title= at position 17 (help); line feed character in |url= at position 66 (help); line feed character in |work= at position 7 (help)
6. Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.

External links

• Template:MetroLyrics song

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• Elvis Presley songs
• Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles
• European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles
• Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
• RCA Records singles
• RPM Country Tracks number-one singles
• Song recordings produced by Felton Jarvis
• Songs written by Layng Martine Jr.
• UK Singles Chart number-one singles
• 1970s single stubs