Elvis had a cold and said he wasn't in the mood
for recording. He told Red West and Charlie Hodge
to go to the studio and fill in for him while
the musicians laid down tracks.
Besides from providing the guide vocals, Red
West supposedly recorded his own 'If Every Day
Was Like Christmas' and 'Sleepless Nights,
Endless Days' during this session as well.
The arrangements on 'If Every Day Was Like Christmas'
are so different however, that it's not impossible, and more likely,
that Red's version was recorded at a different
session. The guide vocals are audibly bleeding
on the final masters too, a fact that could
be considered when comparing with the criticism
of bleeding vocal tracks and the proficiency of
the MGM sound stage engineers later the same
month.
Red's own version can be found on The Colonels
Collection taken from an acetate or vinyl
source, supposedly with Elvis singing background
vocals!
