Elvis: Elvis Pressings Vital To Vinyl Co.

"We like to say 'Elvis never left the building,' " says Cris Ashworth, president of United Record Pressing, a Nashville company contracted by BMG to manufacture Elvis Presley product on vinyl.

Ashworth prides himself on his company's long-standing relationship with the King's music. A large portion of his warehouse is filled with Presley paraphernalia that has been part of the vinyl releases the company has done through the years. One of the most recent packages was the vinyl version of the chart-topping "Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits."

"We manufactured 10,000 double albums," says Ashworth, who purchased the plant in 1999. "And of course, we'd always like to press a few more. Every year we always seem to have a run on Elvis."

Ashworth employs 38 workers running two shifts at the company, which has been around since 1962.

"We've got a 24,000-square-foot warehouse behind us. I have shelving and racking, and I'd say 80% of what's on those shelves is Elvis, and that's just raw material components—sleeves, jackets, inserts, and on and on."

Beyond vintage recordings, the company has manufactured vinyl product by Alan Jackson, the Notorious Cherry Bombs and other current acts, but Presley remains a perennial favorite. "Quality is timeless," Ashworth says of Presley's eternal appeal. "You know it when you hear it."