Personnel includes: Elvis Presley (vocals); The Stamps (background vocals).

Producers: Felton Jarvis, Chips Moman, Steve Sholes.

Engineers: Al Pachucki, Dick Baxter, Bill Porter.

Reissue producer: Chick Crumpacker.

Includes liner notes by Patrick Snyder.

Personnel: Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar); J.D. Sumner, The Imperials Quartet, The Jordanaires, The Stamps (background vocals).

Liner Note Author: Patrick Snyder.

Recording information: 02/01/1958/01/14/1973.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Chips Moman; Don Wardell; Steve Sholes.

Arrangers: Don Tweedy; Glen D. Hardin; Cam Mullins.

With Elvis Presley doing precious little new recording, and RCA needing new product, the record company cobbled together this compilation album from previously released live and studio work, most of it recorded between 1969 and 1973. The intention seemed to be to amass Presley's more country-oriented ballad material, which meant versions of Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and "For the Good Times," John Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind," and Hank Williams's "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and "Your Cheatin' Heart" (a 1958 recording). The sole unreleased track was a live version of "I Can't Stop Loving You," recorded at Madison Square Garden on June 10, 1972. Pure profit-taking product, Welcome to My World nevertheless went platinum in the wake of Presley's death five months after its release. ~ William Ruhlmann

By 1977, Elvis Presley was no longer reaching the upper strata of the pop charts. He was, however, doing very well on the country charts, where he placed several singles in the number one spot early in the year. Seeking to capitalize on Presley's ascendance in the country market, RCA compiled WELCOME TO MY WORLD, a collection of previously released tracks that all fit the category of "country music."

The ten recordings included here span nearly two decades, from Presley's 1958 version of Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart" to his 1973 live performance of Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." Most of the songs on WELCOME TO MY WORLD were previously huge hits for other artists, such as Eddy Arnold's "Make The World Go Away," Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You," and Kris Kristofferson's "For The Good Times" and "Help Me Make It Through The Night." Those expecting pedal steel guitars and fiddles will be disappointed; horns, strings, and large background choruses are more the order of the day on these recordings.