It's Only Love

Elvis Presley's "It's Only Love" and the Early 1970s Recording Years

By the fall of 1971, Elvis Presley was navigating one of the most prolific yet creatively complicated periods of his recording career. The triumphant return signaled by his 1968 television special and his subsequent live residency at the International Hotel in Las Vegas had given way to a prodigious output of studio and live material that did not always match the quality of his best earlier work. "It's Only Love," released as a single in 1971, was part of this intensive production phase, a record that found Presley working with the Nashville recording apparatus that had served him through several commercially successful years.

The song was recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville, the facility that had been central to the country music recording industry for decades and where Presley had recorded many of his most successful sides since the early 1960s. The Nashville sessions of this period typically involved Presley working with producer Felton Jarvis, who had taken over from the legendary Chet Atkins as the primary architect of Presley's studio sound. Jarvis brought an understanding of Presley's vocal requirements and a facility with the large, polished arrangements that characterized the early 1970s Nashville sound.

"It's Only Love" was written by Mark James and Steve Tyrell, a creative team that had contributed to Presley's catalog during this period. Mark James was also the author of "Suspicious Minds," which had become Presley's first number one pop single in seven years when it topped the charts in late 1969, making his contributions to the Presley repertoire of particular significance. The pedigree of the songwriters gave "It's Only Love" a certain structural confidence, and the track reflected their understanding of what Presley's voice did best.

The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 on October 9, 1971, debuting at number 90. Its ascent through the chart was measured but consistent, reaching its peak position of number 51 during the week of November 6, 1971. The record spent six weeks on the Hot 100 before falling off the chart. On the country charts the performance was stronger, which was characteristic of many Presley releases during this period as his audience shifted increasingly toward the country-oriented radio market.

The song appeared on the RCA album Love Letters from Elvis, released in June 1971, and was part of an extensive release schedule that RCA maintained throughout the year. The label issued multiple albums and singles during 1971, drawing on a large inventory of recorded material. This production pace was a source of some critical concern, with reviewers noting that the sheer volume of releases made it difficult for any single record to receive the promotional focus that might have driven it higher on the charts.

Presley's vocal performance on "It's Only Love" demonstrated the rich baritone depth that his voice had developed through the late 1960s. The lighter, more boyish quality of his early Sun and RCA recordings had given way to something more substantial, a voice capable of conveying genuine emotional gravity. The arrangement built around his vocal with the kind of string-assisted production that was standard for Nashville pop recordings of the period, providing a lush backdrop without overwhelming the central performance.

The early 1970s represented a paradox in Presley's commercial history. He was performing to sold-out venues in Las Vegas and on national tours, generating enormous revenue and maintaining a devoted fanbase. Yet his singles were routinely peaking at positions far below where they had charted during his commercial peak in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The popular music landscape had diversified enormously, and the dominance that any single artist could achieve in the earlier, less fragmented market was no longer available to anyone.

Presley's health challenges, which would become more pronounced as the decade continued, were not yet a major public concern in late 1971. His performances in Las Vegas during this period were still drawing strong reviews, and his stage energy remained compelling. The recordings of this phase capture an artist who had settled into a productive if not always inspired relationship with the studio, delivering competent and often genuinely beautiful performances even when the material did not challenge him at his highest level.

"It's Only Love" is best understood as a characteristic artifact of this period rather than an outlier. It reflects the strengths and limitations of Presley's early 1970s recording phase: excellent vocal delivery, professional production, commercially acceptable material, and a chart performance that confirmed ongoing relevance without recapturing the dominance of his earlier career. The song has been collected on numerous Presley compilations, valued by fans as a representative example of his sustained vocal capability during a transitional period.