Elvis Presley soon covered the song,[1] singing over Reed's guitar; the collaboration reached #1 on the Billboard "Hot country singles" charts.

According to Peter Guralnick's two-volume biography of Presley, the singer had been trying to record the tune, but missed the sound Jerry Reed had brought to the original release.

The twelfth take eventually became the 1968 single master, after Reed overdubbed some additional guitar and the length was edited to omit Elvis ad-libbing Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" (which he had previously covered in 1963 for Viva Las Vegas) towards the end of that take.

With dark, moody lighting highlighting his presence, the sequence alluded to Presley's original "dangerous" image, and served to prove that the singer was still "sexy, surly and downright provocative.

"[2][3] Under the supervision of Presley's producer Felton Jarvis, the song was (partially) re-recorded in 1980 with a new backing track that again included Jerry Reed playing his unique guitar licks, and spent one week at number one on the country chart the following year.