Elvis' soundtrack albums/recordings - what are your favorites?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by warewolf95, Apr 19, 2017.

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  1. warewolf95

    warewolf95 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Greenville, SC
    As the title says. I'm sure there's 20 of these threads, but I haven't seen one lately so how about a new one. :)

    As an Elvis newcomer of about a year or so, I know the bad reputation of Elvis' soundtrack recordings, but there's still a lot I'm enjoying.

    It Happenned At The World's Fair works fine as an album for me and I don't find myself skipping any songs.
    I can't get "Beyond The Bend" out of my head!!! The musicianship, the hooks, I think it's just a great song.

    The rest of IHATWF is unoffensive and enjoyable to me. It must be said that on "Take Me To The Fair" someone should've told him to work on his pronunciation of "peanuts". First time I heard it I did a double take, lol.

    I've also found myself really enjoying the Kid Galahad, Roustabout and Frankie & Johnny material as well.

    I'm a sucker for a catchy song, so quality be damned, haha. I even enjoy Queenie Waheenie's Papaya on a surface level (though I'd never let anyone know!) :)

    Any soundtracks you guys think are perhaps underrated/unfairly hated?
     
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  2. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    Call me crazy but I love "Harum Scarum".
     
  3. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I like at least 30-50% of the content of most of the soundtrack LPs. I really like King Creole and Jailhouse Rock (of course). Even the soundtrack LPs I like the least have 2-3 songs I like. I think his worst are Kissin Cousins, Girl Happy, Frankie And Johnny and Harum Scarum, and yet I quite like Tender Feelin', Girl Happy (when speed corrected) Please Don't Stop Loving Me and Wisdom Of The Ages, respectively. Paradise Hawaiian Style really gets panned, as it should, but I like exactly 1/2 of the songs on it. I like the whole of side two of Double Trouble, helped by bonus tracks.

    I think Spinout is a standout of the post Blue Hawaii soundtracks thanks to the bonus tracks. And Clambake is well served by its bonus tracks as well.

    Wild In The Country, Follow That Dream and Kid Galahad are all very enjoyable. The soundtrack for Live A Little Love A Little is quite good as is the soundtrack for Change Of Habit. The soundtrack for Fun In Acapulco sounds great and is fun. And GI Blues and Blue Hawaii are the template and the standard that started the whole mess.

    I think they made a huge mistake not releasing a Viva Las Vegas LP.
     
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  4. George C.

    George C. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Littleton, CO
    I enjoy a lot of his soundtracks, however his soundtrack songs really hit rock bottom for the films released all the way from 1965 through 1967: very difficult to listen to. 1968-1969 still had some clunkers, but some gems too.

    I like the '50s and early '60s soundtracks the best: all of them.

    One that I'm quite fond of that seems to be typically overlooked is the Wild in the Country soundtrack, given a nice release via FTD. But again, I'm a fan of all of the '50s and early '60s soundtracks especially.
     
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  5. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Welcome to the 'wonderful world' of Elvis' soundtracks! Pun unintended.

    If my current avatar isn't enough of a giveaway, I've come to really love most all of his soundtracks as I get more and more into his work. To the point where the soundtracks (and films) are somewhat my "main passion" with Elvis' material. Or maybe I just enjoy those things within an artist's catalogue that are often thrown under the rug or seemingly forgotten.

    Whatever the reason, I find several songs, if not most every song, enjoyable on virtually every soundtrack. I once made a box set of my favorite soundtrack songs by Elvis. I ended up with a hundred and I still left some good ones off.

    Elvis soundtracks are a lot like any other artist's albums in that the "best" one is whichever one you are in the mood for that day. That said, If I were to recommend a "lucky 7" for today, I might suggest:

    1 G.I. Blues 1960
    2 Blue Hawaii 1961
    3 Harum Scarum 1965
    4 King Creole 1958
    5 Double Trouble 1967
    6 Girl Happy 1965
    7 Viva Las Vegas (Originally released as just an EP but can now be found as a full-length soundtrack album) 1964
     
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2017
  6. dalem5467

    dalem5467 Forum Resident

  7. PDK

    PDK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Central Florida
  8. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    An absolutely wonderful album! It has such atmosphere on it. I think a singer with the intimacy and style of Elvis is actually well-suited to the exotic themed flavor of that record. The title track, Go East Young Man, Kismet, Mirage, and others are very melodic and well-delivered. It's one of my favorite "out of left field" albums by Elvis.
     
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  9. CrazyBrown

    CrazyBrown Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bridgewater, NJ
    "Clean Up Your Own Backyard", I love the undubbed version from the two-fer even more than the original.
     
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  10. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Another one of my favorites - frivolous but all Elvis. :) It's just one of the reasons "Girl Happy" is so much fun to put on the turntable.
     
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  11. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

  12. Rick H.

    Rick H. Raised on AM Radio

    I like the soundtracks but 2 of my favourites are Kid Galahad and Follow That Dream.
     
  13. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Their crappiness is mostly exaggerated. There is some absolutely great material on Elvis soundtracks. I suspect many just don't like that he "sold out" and let Col. Parker take him so far away from rockabilly Elvis. I love the King Creole and G.I. Blues soundtracks especially.
     
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  14. Madlove

    Madlove Hare Hunter Field

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Fun In Acapulco is fun and has Slowly But Surely as a bonus. The soundtracks worked for a while. They sold and charted. In 1966 there was a change in the culture I think. 1965 Girl Happy is in the Top 10 and in 1966 there's a big shift and Elvis soundtracks begin to slide in sales and chart placement. What was it? Music changes all the time but I think it may have been Vietnam in part. Everything was shifting. As the Clash said, "phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust."
     
  15. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Well said.

    Elvis himself even grew tired of the soundtrack material and it helped make the 1968 Comeback Special (which I also love) even more of a dramatic pivot point in his career. Yet none of that takes away from how enjoyable most all the soundtrack material is (if you happen to like Elvis to begin with), or take away from Elvis' natural gift in making a song like "It's Carnival Time" completely charming due solely to his delivery, voice and flair as a singer.
     
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2017
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  16. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    I have a master playlist that contains a number of recordings from most of the soundtracks, a couple soundtracks are not represented because nothing redeeming could be found. Blue Hawaii and GI Blues are the two strongest complete soundtracks in terms of overall consistency.
     
  17. S. P. Honeybunch

    S. P. Honeybunch Presidente de Kokomo, Endless Mikelovemoney

    Hit pop albums for rock 'n roll artists were connected to hit singles for the most part. Elvis started to decline in garnering hit singles in 1966.
     
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  18. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Canada
    I enjoy Blue Hawaii, Crazy.
     
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  19. Revelator

    Revelator Disputatious cartoon animal.

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Elvis's post-army soundtracks certainly were not the vast wasteland some have thought them to be, but it's also true that as a whole they weren't as good as they should have been, and they made him look like a has-been in the age of the Stones, Beatles, Motown, etc. I can understand why those who lived through the movie era were so disappointed by it, but it's possible to assembled an excellent 2-CD compilation of the best of the 15 post-army soundtracks (and it's been done). Some of my favorites:

    G.I. Blues:
    "Frankfort Special"
    "Pocketful of Rainbows"
    "Shoppin' Around"
    "Doin' the Best I Can"

    It Happened at the World's Fair:
    "They Remind Me Too Much of You" (by Don Robertson, who wrote some of Elvis's best and saddest ballads, like "Anything That's Part of You"--this is a worthy companion)
    "One Broken Heart for Sale" (has some of the pep of Elvis's 50s rock'n'roll and a Jackie Wilson vibe)
    "I'm Falling in Love Tonight" (also by Robertson; it has a waltz-like feel)

    Fun in Acapulco:
    "Marguerita"
    "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here"
    "Guadalajara"
    "Love Me Tonight" (another of Don Robertson's exquisitely beautiful and sensitive ballads)

    Roustabout:
    "Little Egypt"

    Girl Happy:
    "Puppet on a String" (doesn't seem to get much love, but it's a catchy piece of pop that swings)
    "You'll Be Gone"

    Frankie and Johnny:
    "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" (a very underrated ballad!)

    Viva Las Vegas:
    "I Need Somebody to Lean On"
    "You're the Boss" (why on earth was this sex-fest not used in the movie?)

    Kid Galahad: (the only soundtrack album that doesn't have a bad track!)
    "King of the Whole Wide World"
    "This Is Living"
    "Riding the Rainbow"
    "Home Is Where the Heart Is"
    "I Got Lucky"
    "A Whistling Tune"

    Spinout:
    "All That I Am" (another underrated ballad)
    "Tomorrow is a Long Time"
    "Down in the Alley"
    "I'll Remember You"

    Double Trouble:
    "Long Legged Girl (With the Short Dress On)"
    "What Now, What Next, Where To" (minor Don Robertson, but still worthwhile)

    Clambake:
    "Guitar Man"
    "A House That Has Everything" (Will Friedwald, in his excellent American Heritage article "Elvis at 70," goes over the moon for this song--"simple, direct, and beautiful, one of his most effective ballads ever, and he imbues it with a plaintive quality and a yearning that the finest male pop singers would have admired")
    "You Don't Know Me" (though the second version is better)
    "Just Call Me Lonesome"

    Speedway:
    "Let Yourself Go"
    "Suppose" (yet another ballad that doesn't get enough love)
     
  20. spanky1

    spanky1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    Ann Margret is so gorgeous. THE LADY LOVES ME is a pretty cute song for her and EP.
     
  21. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    I think Fun In Aculpulco is really great and under rated.
     
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  22. sixtiesstereo

    sixtiesstereo Senior Member

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Don't feel bad...a lot of us like "Harum Scarum" (the album, not the film).
    I posted this a couple of years ago (the clip is from 2008), and it shows that Elvis is everywhere.
    I wonder if the people in the audience even knew that it was an obscure Elvis movie song.....
     
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  23. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun

    Blue Hawai is-imo-a wonderful album. Might be my favourites soundtrack from the King. But I find(guilty)pleasures in most of them.
     
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  24. john lennonist

    john lennonist There ONCE was a NOTE, PURE and EASY...

    Kid Galahad

    Love the song "King of the Whole Wide World" (which is very hard to find)
     
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  25. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    It is not so hard to find. It is readily available. I must have 10 CDs with this song that are still in print.
     
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