View source for Way Down

{{Other uses}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = Way Down
| cover      = Elvis Presley Way Down Single Cover.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Elvis Presley]]
| album      = [[Moody Blue]]
| B-side     = [[Pledging My Love]]
| released   = June 6, 1977
| recorded   = October 29, 1976
| studio     = [[Graceland]], Memphis, Tennessee
| genre      = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| length     = 2:39
| label      = [[RCA Records]]
| writer     = [[Layng Martine Jr.]]
| producer   = [[Felton Jarvis]]
| prev_title = [[Moody Blue (song)|Moody Blue]]
|prev_title2 = [[She Thinks I Still Care]]
| prev_year  = 1976
| next_title = [[My Way#Elvis Presley|My Way]]
| next_year  = 1977
| misc       = {{External music video|{{YouTube|weLSA2vekLA|"Way Down" (audio)}}}}
}}

"'''Way Down'''" is a song recorded by [[Elvis Presley]]. Recorded in October 1976, it was his last [[Single (music)|single]] released before his death on August 16, 1977. The song was written by [[Layng Martine Jr.]] and recorded by Presley at his home studio in [[Graceland]] on 29 October 1976.

Released as a single (with "[[Pledging My Love]]" on the [[B-side]]) on June 6, 1977, it was his latest single at the time of his death. It initially peaked at No. 31 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''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. The single was certified platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA in 1999.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006 |edition=2nd |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=273}}</ref> 

On the [[UK Singles Chart]], after having climbed only four places to number 42 the week before Presley's death,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/way-down/|title=way down &#124; full Official Chart History &#124; Official Charts Company|website=www.officialcharts.com|accessdate=April 7, 2023}}</ref> the track rose to number four the following week and then hit number one in the week ending 3 September and stayed there for five weeks,<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= [[British Hit Singles & Albums]]
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited 
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 343}}</ref> just over seven years after his previous 16th UK number one single, "The Wonder of You", in August 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.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums 2">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= [[British Hit Singles & Albums]]
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited 
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 436}}</ref>

The recording also featured [[J.D. Sumner]] singing the words "way on down" at the end of each chorus down to the note low C (C2). At the end of the song, this phrase is octaved, reaching a double low C (C1, three octaves below middle C).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Robert |last2=DeCurtis |first2=Anthony |title=Blues & Chaos: The Music Writing of Robert Palmer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hx0ZdtoJzc8C&pg=PA145 |access-date=July 6, 2016 |date=September 6, 2011 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-9975-3 |page=145}}</ref> This note was first accomplished by Sumner in a 1966 recording of the hymn "Blessed Assurance".

==Chart performance==
{{col-begin|width=71%}}
{{col-2}}

===Weekly charts===
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!Chart (1977)
!Peak<br />position
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian ''RPM'' Country Tracks
|align="center"|1
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian ''RPM'' Top Singles
|align="center"|15
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian ''RPM'' Adult Contemporary Tracks
|align="center"|5
|-
!scope="row"|Irish Singles Chart
|align="center"|1
|-
!scope="row"|UK Singles Chart<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/>
|align="center"|1
|-
{{single chart|Billboardhot100|18|artist=Elvis Presley|rowheader=true|access-date=August 3, 2021}}
|-
{{single chart|Billboardadultcontemporary|14|artist=Elvis Presley|rowheader=true|access-date=August 3, 2021}}
|-
{{single chart|Billboardcountrysongs|1|artist=Elvis Presley|rowheader=true|access-date=August 3, 2021}}
|}
{{col-2}}

===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1977)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"|Canada<ref>{{cite journal|url= http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.5502b&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.5502b.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.5502b |title=Top 200 Singles of '77 |volume=28 |number=11 |date=December 31, 1977 |journal=[[RPM (magazine)|RPM]] |publisher=[[Library and Archives Canada]] |access-date=June 25, 2016}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|
44
|-
!scope="row"|US Hot Country Songs (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1977/hot-country-songs|title=Hot Country Songs – Year-End 1977|magazine=Billboard|access-date=August 3, 2021}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
!scope="row"|US ([[Joel Whitburn]]'s ''Pop Annual'')<ref>{{cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |date=1999 |title=Pop Annual |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |publisher=Record Research Inc. |isbn=0-89820-142-X}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|41
|}
{{col-end}}

==See also==
*[[List of posthumous number-one singles (UK)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Elvis Presley singles}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1976 songs]]
[[Category:1977 singles]]
[[Category:Elvis Presley songs]]
[[Category:European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles]]
[[Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles]]
[[Category:RCA Records singles]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Felton Jarvis]]
[[Category:Songs written by Layng Martine Jr.]]
[[Category:UK singles chart number-one singles]]


{{1970s-single-stub}}