Let’s Be Friends

Spurred on by the success of the budget-priced Elvis Sings Flaming Star And Others, RCA was quick to negotiate a deal with the Colonel for four more LPs to be released on their Camden budget line. The advance of $300,000 against royalties was to be paid upfront and split equally between artist and manager because it fell outside the terms of Elvis’ regular recording contract. Let’s Be Friends, the first of these albums, was comprised primarily of unreleased movie songs. With approximately 400,000 sales, it might well have made the Top 20 if LP charts had reflected unit sales, not dollar value.