Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

This takes a lot of intestinal fortitude and superior taste (In my opinion) to admit that around here. You are a gentleman and a scholar, sir!

 

As do I! Another fan is jazz critic Will Friedwald, who flat out loves the song. Here's what he wrote about it his American Heritage article on Elvis:

"...there are all manner of buried gems among the sixties movie songs: 'A House That Has Everything (Everything but Love),' which he croons to his costar, Shelley Fabares, in Clambake, is 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. It’s easy to single out the inferior songs in Presley’s films, but there are just as many minor classics, like 'All That I Am' in Spinout, and 'Almost in Love' in Live a Little, Love a Little, the latter a superior song that would have suited Tony Bennett. 'Everything but Love' is one of the prettiest things Presley ever sang."

Perhaps that's taking things too far, but I tend to forgive those who overpraise minor gems. At least they're calling attention to underlooked work and not relying on the consensus judgment.

 

I can guarantee it won't be as caustic as some threads get lol ... tearing my damn hair out sometimes lol

 

You've gotta sail your own boat. I appreciate others opinions on things, but I have never really let others opinions on songs change mine.

I probably like too much stuff. Sure there are some real clunkers across the soundtracks, but not enough to make me specifically dislike the albums ... although Harum Scarum came close lol ... I still ended up getting the FTD though, so unless I'm mentally ill (which is altogether possible) I mustn't hate it

 

Just the name Harum Scarum is mind-boggling. The alternative title Harem Holiday is better, though the mediocre movie and soundtrack are still the same

 

Nothing blows my mind like the cover of Pot Luck. I can just see some RCA employees saying "Charley, I'm working on a cover for a soon to be released album of new studio cuts by Elvis. Any suggestions to make this cover say to record buyers 'Buy this one, you'll love it!'?" Charley replies "Jim get a picture of Elvis, no not the good picture! Get that one where he has giant hair and has an unexplained over the top grin. Yeah that one! Also on the other half of the cover, sketch a steaming iron cauldron from pioneer days. Yes! Now call this album Pot Luck to make it sound like you're getting whatever we could scrounge up instead of a well thought out selection of good songs." Jim exclaims "This will make this album fly off the shelves! We are geniuses!"

 

Well, with "Harum Scarum" you've got a pun in the title, which is lost with the more prosaic "Harem Holiday."

 

A rose by any other name...

 

If you don't like all the king's albums, man, then you ain't nothing but a hound dog!

 

Well, I ain't never caught a rabbit...

 

Confidence
Written By :
Roy C. Bennett & Sid Tepper

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, February 21-23, 1967: February 22 & 23, 1967. take n/a

I don't mind this song, sure it isn't going to be the song you introduce a new Elvis listener to, but it is kind of sweet in its context. It sounds very much like a song from a sixties movie. I remember a lot of the musicals from around the time and these type of lighthearted show tunes weren't unusual.
Like I say, not a great song but it's ok.

 

Hey Hey Hey
Written By :
Joy Byers

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, February 21-23, 1967: February 22 & 23, 1967. take 13

This is another one that comes under the "don't mind it" category. Again, this song works in the context of the movie, but it is hardly the greatest thing ever recorded. I think it kind of almost works from a musical perspective, but in a couple of spots the rhythms are awkward and don't quite work. There are a couple of good vocal sections, but for the most part, this song leans towards the forgettable section of he theater.

 

I have a high tolerance for cheese, but I absolutely can't stand Confidence. Nothing about it works for me, from the hokey lyrics to the half-baked arrangement to the backing vocals. It's almost certainly my least-favourite Elvis song.

Conversely, I sort of like Hey, Hey, Hey (though it bugs the pedantic side of me a bit that the title should really be Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey). The parts about goop and the scientific name for it (that Elvis constantly stumbles over on the outtakes) are so ridiculous they're funny, and things like the "use some elbow greasy" rhyme are actually sort of charming. I even like the awkward, "this'll do" piano figure. Plus, the movie scene is a lot of fun.

 

I reckon they went with Hey Hey Hey, so as not to be confused with the Little Richard fifties classic

 

Confidence was the very first song by Elvis that totally embarrassed me. It is indefensible. Hey, Hey, Hey is decent except for the lyrics and subject matter. If it were sung in a foreign language so that I did not know what the song was about, I would quite like it. Maybe if Cibo Matto or Shonen Knife did it, I would LOVE it.

 

The Clambake material might not be great, but at least the mix quality has greatly improved. A night and day difference compared to the previous RCA Studio B soundtrack sessions for "Harum Scarum".

 

Yeah, Confidence is my least-liked Elvis song. Just horrible. Embarrassing. Nothing redeemable. And the kid vocals are some of the most annoying sounds ever put on record.

Conversely, I like Hey Hey Hey. I like the drum groove, the descending bass, and the female vocal part is almost eerie (in a good way). Love the ridiculous lyrics:

Blako-oxy-tonic phosphate, it's the latest scoop
But that's all right girls you can call it "Goop"

Always reminds me of the Isaac Hayes song:

Now tell me, what, I, say
Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic

 

Just terrible. Elvis must have been mortified having to perform such substandard crap. Yes, he received a nice paycheck, but he clearly was distressed.

 

Hearing Elvis sing about goop is a depressing experience.

 

Sorry about the printing watermarks, but it's the best image I could find.

A mixed bag of facial expressions...

 

Wow, I actually agree with the consensus opinion here on Confidence. What a shock, huh? It is just terrible all around. I do not like the children's choir and just about everything else about the song. It is a stinker.

Now, Hey Hey Hey is a kind of catchy song with bonehead lyrics, but obviously meant to be seen in the context of the movie, I am assuming. Groovy bass and drums as @Shawn points out. And it also seems like The Roots stole the title and riff for The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon theme.

 

The strangest thing to me about Confidence is that it's such a blatant plagiarization of Sinatra's High Hopes. I wonder what the story was there? The refrain is melodically similar, the lyrics are thematically similar, and they copy the arrangement right down to the children's chorus. Thers no attempt at guile or subtlety here. One assumes Tepper and Bennett were told to rewrite High Hopes. It's a wonder there was no lawsuit... I guess times were much less litigious then.

 

Supposedly Corbin Bernsen, who later went on to star in LA Law, is one of the children in this scene.

 

Agreed. It is one of those tracks that a person forgets is so terrible having not heard it in years. Funny enough, while quite ridiculous and terrible in a number of ways, I always found Clambake somewhat entertaining as a film (within the context of horrible Elvis movies), but the soundtrack material is as bad as it gets.