I had 'Elvis Golden Records' on cassette in the mid-eighties until it chewed up. I was a tad miffed to say the least. Eventually I replaced it with the LP (mid-eighties RCA black label). Somehow it felt more real with that big 12 inch picture of that fabulous cover and the record spinning on my cheap deck blasting out 'Hound Dog', albeit in an electronically reprocessed stereo kinda way; not the awful kind just the added reverby sibilance effect! It was an experince that has never been duplicated no matter how much music I buy. Fantastic! Together with Gold Records 2 those two LP's certainly revolved a lot in my little room. Still got the albums to this day. Might just give them a spin for ol' times sake later...
While I like "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck", this song is probably my least favorite tune that Elvis released in the 1950's. It seems like a really draggy retread of "(You're So Square), Baby I Don't Care".
KING CREOLE VOLUME 1 (EP) (US) RCA EPA 4319 Released: July 15, 1958 Side 1 King Creole New Orleans Side 2 As Long As I Have You Lover Doll (Undubbed Version)
KING CREOLE VOLUME 2 (EP) (US) RCA EPA 4321 Released: July 29, 1958 Side 1 Trouble Young Dreams Side 2 Crawfish Dixieland Rock
King Creole is the second soundtrack album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Victor, LPM 1884 in mono in September 1958,[4] recorded in four days at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. It contains songs written and recorded expressly for the 1958 film of the same name starring Presley, and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.[5] It followed the film's release by over ten weeks. It was certified Gold on July 15, 1999 by the Recording Industry Association of America.[6] The bulk of the songs originated from the stable of writers contracted to Hill and Range, the publishing company jointly owned by Presley and Colonel Tom Parker: Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Claude Demetrius, Aaron Schroeder, Sid Tepper, and Roy C. Bennett. Conspicuous in their relatively limited contribution were Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who had come to an impasse with the Colonel during the making of the previous movie, Jailhouse Rock (1957), in which they had practically dominated the musical proceedings. Furious over mere songwriters having such easy access to Presley without going through Parker's "proper channels," the Colonel closed off their avenue to his prize client, especially since the duo had also tried to influence Presley's film direction, pitching him an idea to do a gritty adaptation of Nelson Algren'srecent novel, A Walk on the Wild Side (1956), with Elia Kazan directing, and Leiber and Stoller providing the music.[7] The Colonel put the kibosh on such notions, although echoes of the concept remained in the film, and the pair still managed to place three songs on the soundtrack, including the title track and "Trouble", arguably the film's best songs. Presley's performance of "Trouble" in the film alludes to Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley; he would return to the song for his tremendously successful 1968 television comeback special. The songs "Hard Headed Woman" and "Don't Ask Me Why" appeared as two sides of a single on July 10, 1958, to coincide with the release of the film. "Hard Headed Woman", the A-side, and "Don't Ask Me Why" both made the pop singles chart, peaking at number one and number 25 respectively. RCA first issued the original 11-track album on compact disc in 1988. In 1997, the album was reissued in an expanded edition with an additional seven tracks including the song "Danny" taken from the same sessions, with six alternates, four previously unreleased. In 2015 King Creole was reissued on the Follow That Dream label in a special edition that contained the original album tracks along with all of the available alternate takes. Elvis Presley – vocals, acoustic guitar (on "Lover Doll") The Jordanaires – backing vocals Scotty Moore – electric guitar Tiny Timbrell – acoustic guitar Neal Matthews – electric bass Dudley Brooks – piano Bill Black – double bass D.J. Fontana – drums Bernie Mattinson – drums Kitty White – vocals on "Crawfish" Gordon Stoker – bongos Hoyt Hawkins – cymbals Ray Siegel – double bass, tuba Mahlon Clark – clarinet John Edward (Teddy) Buckner – trumpet Justin Gordon – saxophone Elmer Schneider – trombone Warren Smith – trombone side one 1. "King Creole" Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller January 23, 1958 2:16 2. "As Long as I Have You" Fred Wise and Ben Weisman January 16, 1958 1:50 3. "Hard Headed Woman" Claude Demetrius January 15, 1958 1:53 4. "Trouble" Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller January 15, 1958 2:16 5. "Dixieland Rock" Aaron Schroeder and Rachel Frank January 16, 1958 1:46 side 2 1. "Don't Ask Me Why" Fred Wise and Ben Weisman January 16, 1958 2:06 2. "Lover Doll" Sid Wayne and Abner Silver January 16, 1958 2:09 3. "Crawfish" (duet with Kitty White) Fred Wise and Ben Weisman January 15, 1958 1:48 4. "Young Dreams" Aaron Schroeder and Martin Kalmanoff January 23, 1958 2:23 5. "Steadfast, Loyal and True" Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller February 11, 1958 1:15 6. "New Orleans" Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett January 15, 1958 1:58 1997 reissue bonus tracks 12. "King Creole" (alternate take 18) Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller January 15, 1958 2:04 13. "As Long as I Have You" (movie version take 4) Fred Wise and Ben Weisman January 23, 1958 1:24 14. "Danny" Fred Wise and Ben Weisman February 11, 1958 1:51 15. "Lover Doll" (undubbed) Wayne Silver and Abner Silver January 16, 1958 2:09 16. "Steadfast, Loyal and True" (movie version alternate master) Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller January 16, 1958 1:15 17. "As Long as I Have You" (movie version take 8) Fred Wise and Ben Weisman January 15, 1958 1:24 18. "King Creole" (alternate take 3) Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller January 15, 1958 2:04 ------------------------------------------------------------ To me this is a fantastic soundtrack, I would go so far as to say this is a fantastic album regardless of it being a soundtrack or not. It contains some of Elvis' best songs of the fifties and I can only assume that as Elvis' knew he was going to be unable to record for two years that he gave this an extra kick. The song writing is excellent, the arrangements are excellent, and the performances all round are excellent. To me, on this album we have a couple of Elvis' best ever tracks and there is nothing on here I would refer to as filler, which in this time of album making is a pretty rare thing.
King Creole Written By : Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller Recorded : Radio Recorders, Hollywood, January 15-16, 23, and February 11, 1958: January 23, 1958. take 13 King Creole is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.[1] The song was and performed by Elvis Presley and recorded in 1958, and laid foundations to a musical drama film, King Creole. The song is based on King Creole, a Cajun guitar player from New Orleans who is proficient in all different styles of rock and roll.[2] The song was released as a single in the UK in 1958. It reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart.[3] In 2007 the single was re-released and spent one week in the chart at No. 15.[3] The song is about a man of Creole descent who is a freelancing street performer in New Orleans. The man in the song, who goes by the nickname of King Creole, is known for his style of solo guitar playing. It is said in the song that he "holds his guitar like a Tommy gun", which gives the notion that "King Creole" used a grip on his guitar which involved keeping the body of the guitar close to his center of his chest, therefore holding the neck of the guitar in an extended arm, though no information is given which arm he used. It can be inferred from the song that King Creole used an electric guitar, since the song mentions string bending and rock-and-roll, a genre not usually played as lead on the acoustic guitar. The song also states that King Creole played from a well-rounded song repertoire, and would play light, dark, serious, and nonsense music.[4] ---------------------------------------------- This song rocks along nicely and uses some musical styles a little outside the norm. I think this song and album really benefits from the want of the writers to incorporate some New Orleans musical styles. There is a bit of a jazz feel to this song that really gives it some sparkle. We have a great lead break coming in to the picture as well, that also borrows a little bit of a jazz feel. All in all a fantastic start to the album.
Again fantastic cover on the EP (Vol 1) and LP. How many times did I lean sideways into the mirror, teasing my red haired quiff and trying to emulate that cool King Creole sullen stare... And fail miserably on every attempt! These days I can't stare into the mirror for the blinding glare from the top of my head!
I wouldn't go quite that far myself. I think the rockers are all fantastic, and several of them (the title song, Hard Headed Woman, Trouble) rank among his best ever recordings. Crawfish is also a great song with a unique mood and feel, and Chris Isaak pretty obviously liked it. But the ballads on here are just average in my opinion... there's no real classic among them. And to my ears "Lover Doll" prefigures some of the more lightweight pop that would start appearing on his post-Army soundtracks. These sessions are notable for being the first time Elvis ever recorded with a big band, and the first time his core band was supplemented with additional players, which would become standard practice in the 60s.
I can see where you're coming from there. I guess I think it is just a really cohesive record, and although the ballads may not be "Anyway you want me" standard, they are certainly not bad. Like I say, I just think the album sits together really nicely, which isn't always, or maybe even often the case in the early days of rock records, and for a soundtrack it seems almost remarkable .... idk ... maybe I'm out of whack with it ...
Even though it was released before King Creole, the sessions for this song and Doncha Think It's Time were a month later. Wear My Ring is probably not viewed as an alltime classic, but I quite like the ramshackle feel of the song, particularly the way DJ plays over Elvis' singing in the chorus. These sessions were notable for being Bill Black's final appearance on an Elvis record, and Scotty Moore's final Elvis session of the 50s. Goodbye to the Blue Moon Boys...
I've always considered "Hard Headed Woman" to be Elvis's best Little Richard cover. The song of course is not by LR at all, but it has the same line of attack as "Long Tall Sally," and while Elvis's version of "Sally" was pallid, "Woman" masters "Sally's" machine-gun delivery and frenetic delivery.
.I did check your bio after writi v that and noted that you were, but I ' uh, didn't feel like writing an a " acknowledgement post ". B .cnnesides, it let you write one! le Jim, post: 19619030, member: 21612"][/QUOTE] Yup! Pickwick in Hyde, London 1979-1980.[/QUOTE]
... There are problems with this little phone's keyboard AND I was kinda blood-sugar?? sleepy AND some drastic fubar with the phone separated the lines and put the numbers to the right " for some ungodly reason ". " Besides " somehow became what you see above due to the " unintentional Dada/old-school DJ mix/cut- up poetry " skills of this lil' phone! instanley, post: 19620570, member: 36538"]I'm sorry mate, I struggle to understand what you're saying[/QUOTE]
You've done it now mark winstanley! You have given Elvis' record company an idea to milk the Presley catalog another time. I can see it now.....coming in Spring 2019 the new release: FIFTY SHADES OF ELVIS! Track list as follows: 1. Baby Let's Play House 2. I Got A Woman 3. I'll Never Let You Go Little Darlin 4. Paralyzed 5. Love Me 6. Any Way You Want Me ( That's How I Will Be) 7. Mean Woman Blues 8. Too Much 9. A Big Hunk O Love 10. One Night 11. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck 12. Don't 13. I Beg Of You 14. Hard Headed Woman 15. Make Me Know It 16. Feels So Right 17. Dirty Dirty Feeling 18. Surrender 19. Stuck On You 20. Big Boots 21. Give Me The Right 22. Put The Blame On Me 23. Summer Kisses, Winter Tears 24. I Don't Want To Be Tied 25. Happy Ending 26. Baby What You Want Me To Do? 27. Edge of Reality 28. Let Yourself Go 29. Got My Mojo Working 30. Hurt
As Long As I Have You Written By : Fred Wise & Ben Weisman Recorded : Radio Recorders, Hollywood, January 15-16, 23, and February 11, 1958 : January 16, 1958. take 10 In spite of some folks not liking this stuff, I think this is another great song. This song has a beautiful gentle feel about it. Elvis is confident enough in his abilities to recognise that he doesn't need to push the vocal, but keeps it gentle and in context with the song. Musically we have essentially a turnaround , with a delicate piano and some subtle understated backing vocals. We get a key modulation that is effective in keeping the musical interest up. All in all we have a just another great fifties Elvis song.
Hard Headed Woman Written By : Claude DeMetrius Recorded : Radio Recorders, Hollywood, January 15-16, 23, and February 11, 1958: January 15, 1958. take 10. "Hard Headed Woman" is a rock and roll song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Gladys Music, Presley's publishing company, in 1958. It is an American 12-bar blues written by African American songwriter Claude Demetrius. It was most notably recorded as a rock and roll song by Presley as part of the soundtrack for his 1958 motion picture King Creole, and was included on the record album of the same name. The song was also released as a single in both 78 RPM[1] and 45 RPM formats. In 1958 it went to No. 1 on the Billboard charts and went to number two for two weeks on the R&B chart.[2] It became the first rock and roll single to earn the RIAA designation of Gold Record. -------------------------------------------- This is a great rock and roll song. It kicks along at a nice pace and we have a horn section that starts out just giving some percussive stabs, with a couple of nice bent notes to juice it up. We get a nice, if somewhat simplistic lead guitar motif that is repeated later in the song and the horn section bursts into a bit New Orleans jazz after the second break. Interestingly we got a lot of Biblical character references in the lyrics, I'm guessing to back up the "ever since the world began lyric. This song is a lot more clever than some may give it credit for. Also we get Elvis belting this one out, keeping the overall dynamic of the album moving. Another reason why I rate this album so highly.
