Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

And it sounds horrible, especially if you have headphones on

 

Could I Fall In Love is easily my favourite soundtrack ballad since Puppet On A String. It's no masterpiece, but it doesn't put me to sleep like the slow songs on the previous few soundtracks do. Whether the DF version is a different mix or just the product of some serious EQing, I actually prefer the original album version by quite a bit. The harmony vocal on the DF version is far too prominent for my tastes.

Long Legged Girl doesn't quite reach its potential, but I'll take it any day over the Spinout rockers. I agree with @SpencerR that this one could make for a great remix.

 

Elvis' "all right!" at the beginning sounds forced. False enthusiasm... We'll hear more of that when Clambake comes up

 

It sounds horrible when two rooms over, down the hall, out the patio door and mowing the lawn!

 

No probs in the sea.

 

Even though it is not mentioned, Double Trouble was also remixed for Double Features. Concentrate on the guitar on It Won't Be Long. Yes, and as previously mentioned the harmony vocal on Could I Fall In Love.

 

I really like both of these songs as well. Could I Fall In Love is a pretty song with an unusual vocal harmony for an Elvis record. Is that one of The Jordanaires on there or someone else? I noticed there is some splendid acoustic guitar work on this album as well and I assume that is mostly at the hands of Tiny Timbrell. Nice work there at the end of the song as Mark points out.

I agree with you here on every point as Long Legged Girl could have been a top ten record back in the early sixties. My only complaint is that Elvis's vocal is too dry or sterile to me. There is just no warmth or ambience on his vocal track. Again, I am assuming that this is a by-product of this being a soundstage recording.

 

Wish Elvis did his version of Long Cool Woman later that is.

 

Thanks to this thread, I watched Double Trouble for the first time ever. I consider myself a pretty serious fan, but I’d never seen this movie before. I do think that part of the reason so many stereotypes and snap opinions surround Elvis and his career is that his body of work is so huge that even dedicated fans aren’t familiar with it all. Having said that, I wish I hadn’t wasted 90 minutes of my life watching this movie. Where Spinout took the standard Elvis movie formula and made something watchable and even somewhat enjoyable out of it, this movie is why Elvis’s movies have the bad reputation they do. The script is awful; I gave up even trying to follow or understand the “plot” early on. This movie is pretty clearly trying to jump on the British Invasion/Swinging London trend, and the opening credits are very 1966, almost daring and abstract and cool ... then the movie proper starts, and, boy, what a disaster. Where Deborah Walley in Spinout looks like she could have actually played the drums for real, the faux-Herman’s Hermits band backing up Elvis in Double Trouble don’t bother to make even the smallest effort to look like they’re playing actual chord changes or bass lines. And whose bright idea was it to film Long Legged Girl and several other songs in fog or smoky interiors where you can barely see Elvis through the haze? In Spinout, the standard Elvis-doesn’t-want-to-settle-down-with-just-one-gal plot somehow works; here, it doesn’t, and, in hindsight, Elvis’s off-hand comment to the underage Annette Day character that “seventeen’ll get you twenty” hits a little close to home, and is frankly a bit creepy, given Elvis’s own legally dubious history with Priscilla.

On the positive side, Annette Day is charming - the Internet tells me that this was her one and only film role, but she steals what there is to steal of this horrible picture. As discussed above, Long Legged Girl With The Short Dress On is fun, if slight, and City By Night is the kind of diamond in the rough that keeps us obsessive fans searching through the dreck of these mid-60s soundtracks looking for the good material that is hidden there. On the other hand, the next song on the soundtrack album is the career low of Old McDonald Had A Farm to remind you of why these albums do have the bad reputation that they do.

 

The harmony vocal is Elvis...

 

Yeah, this is one movie I just don't care to revisit. I can watch lesser Elvis films like Girl Happy, Spinout and even Easy Come, Easy Go because, while they're certainly formulaic and nothing to write home about, at least they aren't true stinkers like Double Trouble, Harum Scarum or Tickle Me.

 

Films such as Jailhouse Rock, Kid Creole, Blue Hawaii, and Viva Las Vegas are fun and enjoyable and I’ve watched all of them multiple times. Spinout isn’t that good, and I may never watch it again, but I enjoyed it while it was on. Double Trouble and Harum Scarum are examples of just flat-out awful movies that give the “Elvis movie” the bad reputation that it has.

 

Yup. Start at 2:28.

 

I wavered back and forth on whether it was Elvis or not. Man, he sure makes a great harmony vocalist.

 

Those four are probably my top four picks as well. I did appreciate Flaming Star as well, but I have not seen that one in a long time. I think his acting in Follow That Dream was kind of charming as well.

 

Follow That Dream was his best acting performance in my opinion. (not the same as his best movie)

 

City By Night
Written By :
Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye

Recorded :
Radio Recorders, Hollywood, June 28-30, 1966 and MGM Studios: June 30, 1966. take 3 with take 5 vocal overdub

This track has an interesting change of feel ... it sounds like a Sinatra variation, as far as the type of song... The track has a nice blue/jazz feel .... We have what sounds like a muted trumpet, but as there is no trumpet credit, I assume it's the trombone. I think this track is very cool... maiing for me four very strong opening tracks on this album.

 

Old Macdonald
Written By :
Randy Starr

Recorded :
Radio Recorders, Hollywood, June 28-30, 1966 and MGM Studios: June 29, 1966. take 7

Hmmm ... the music starts of very cool, and then we get this camp, novelty rewrite of Old Macdonald has a farm ... this is really disappointing after the strong start to the album.... I suppose it's clever in some ways, and the music for the most part is good, but it would suggest that management really didn't know how poorly Elvis career was going at this stage to accept this as a song for Elvis to record.

 

I put "Old MacDonald" in the cringeworthy moments. At the time, "Barefoot Ballad" was #1. Unfortunately, the cringeworthy moments didn't end with "Old MacDonald".

 

That City By Night and Old MacDonald sit back to back on this album sums up the weird world of Elvis soundtracks. You have an overlooked gem of a song followed by a lazy joke.

 

"City By Night" is a solid Presley performance that not many people heard the first time around, being buried on a substandard soundtrack LP. As with the entire album, it's marred by the poor soundstage recording and mixing quality.

 

City By Night is certainly a somewhat unique track in the Elvis catalog. I like it, but maybe not as much as most people do. What can I say about Old MacDonald that hasn't been said before. Elvis' vocal is the weak link in the recording, but who can blame him. I will say this though, it often gets mentioned that the LP Double Trouble was released the same day as Sgt. Pepper's, to illustrate the chasm between Elvis and The Beatles. But as sacrilegious as it will be to many on this forum, I'd rather hear Old MacDonald than sit through Within You, Without You again.

 

City By Night is the best of the nine songs recorded for Double Trouble. I do not like Old McDonald other than the concept if the animals do not behave, they will be eaten!!! (Take that PETA).

 

I’ll stick up for Elvis all day long, but Within You Without is a genius track and the best song on Sgt. Pepper, in my opinion. While Elvis never really went on the Eastern psychedelic trip in his music, I do find it interesting that, like George Harrison and so many other 60s rock stars, Elvis did get into Eastern religion and philosophy in his personal life during this period.

 

Not to go off topic, but they didn't live in a bubble like Elvis. The bubble Elvis created was a double edged sword, it kept people he trusted close to him, and anyone that could've helped him, out. Which worked to Parker's advantage.

I might be wrong, but I thought before production began for Double Trouble, Elvis didn't want any part of it. Parker brought in guys wearing suits and ties and all carrying their lawyer type briefcases, to meet with Elvis. They all told Elvis he had a legal obligation to do the film. Of course, this came of no surprise Vernon siding with Parker, and Elvis finally gave in.