Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

Ok, I'm biting the bullet and listening to the soundtrack for the 1st time now. I'm surprised that I don't completely hate it so far. Only saw the movie once years ago and didn't care for it much at all. This soundtrack was one of the discs I have avoided in the "Complete Albums" boxset. Maybe I'll give "Frankie + Johnny" another chance (now that my courage is up) in the near future.

 

and the weird thing is .... I have Harum Holiday running through my head

 

A track with a cool, different vibe than what we’ve gotten from Elvis before. No doubt due to the setting of the film.

 

I am in total synch with everything you say here. I really like this track, but the mix is just terrible. Elvis does seem like he's singing with power and conviction, but he also sounds like his voice is being miked from underwater or something. It is terribly muffled. I like the band as well, especially the piano, but could someone please bring them up in the mix. Did someone let one of Elvis's Memphis Mafia buddies sneak into the control room and take over the engineering or mixing?

I also agree with you about My Desert Serenade being the weakest cut on the album.

 

Oh my gosh that mix is the difference between night and day. Just amazing to my ears, now I really dig the song. It is so great that we have so many Elvis experts that can steer us to the right versions of the best mixes or remastering on Elvis's albums, like @czeskleba and others have done for this soundtrack. It is really the number one reason why I joined this fine forum in the first place.

 

It's a catchy song, but to me it's catchy in the manner of a commercial jingle. Still, it's one of the least bad songs on the record. Maybe expedia should license it for an ad... "gotta travel wild and free..."

Trivia fact: it's cowritten by Vini Pncia, who later cowrote songs with Ringo in the 70s (Devil Woman, Oh My My) and then produced the two discoish Kiss albums at the end of the decade. This is his one contribution to the Elvis oeuvre.

 

Well seek out the Double Features series. They recess Elvis' vocals add a bit of reverb and you can generally hear the band easier:

Elvis Presley - Harem Scarum / Girl Happy: CD, Comp, RM For Sale | Discogs

 

This is a very bland, mediocre song. And to my ears, Elvis' singing seems offhand and casual, like a guide vocal. He doesn't sound like he's trying very hard.

Written by Stanley J. Gelber. A quick google finds little information about him. He wrote two songs for Elvis, this one and "On A Snowy Christmas Night" from 1971.

 

I actually like his Christmas song oddly enough, but I am a fan of that under appreciated holiday album that it come from as well. The Wonderful World Of Christmas is worth buying just for Elvis's bluesy take on Merry Christmas Baby, but I actually dig the whole album. I know that a fair amount of fans do not share my love for this album, but I am sure we will get to rant on that album too, when Mark gets us to the 1970's Elvis album thread.

 

I think it's a fine album also, so we can form an appreciation society when we get to that record (which, based on the rate this thread is progressing, might actually be around Christmas).

 

All in favor of skipping to May, 1966?

 

No skipping. We need to suffer through this just like the people who had to go through this contemporaneously.

 

Yea, it's the relief at the other side that gives us that fresh breath of air

 

Back then there was probably no inkling of what was on the horizon, wonder how many gave up on him...

 

The sales figures tell the story there. In fact, even when his singles started improving, the sales did not significantly get better. It took the 68 Special for people to wake up. I personally like most of the singles of new material from Love Letters through A Little Less Conversation. But it took the special and If I Can Dream to put back on the map. And if the special never aired, I think If I Can Dream would have fallen by the wayside too.

 

sadly a stark case of mishandling or mismanaging a great talent almost to extinction

 

Yes, but legally speaking the movie contracts had to be fulfilled before they could change course. There was a lot of inertia to overcome. It takes awhile to turn a garbage barge around.

 

and the barge was loaded by mismanagement lol

 

Yep That which worked before, did not work forever. If the environment changes, only those who can adapt will survive. Fortunately Elvis built up a lot of immunity so he could weather the storm for awhile.

 

Definitely, but Elvis himself wasn't without blame. I can't remember when the last movie contract was signed but Elvis was already tired of making movies in 1965 and yet he made another 12 movies during the next four years.

He hoped to get more serious roles, but in my opinion he just wasn't a very good dramatic actor.

 

If I recall Paramount and MGM contract were done a bit before 1965. Paramount's ran out before MGM however. The others were one or two picture deals.

 

I suffered through the movie of Frankie and Johnny today. A slight improvement over Harum Scarum as a movie, but, to my ears, at least, the soundtrack lacks any redeeming qualities.

 

I don't think Elvis ever really figured out how to be Elvis - Star .... I'm not really one for counselling, but I think in his case, it would have been a good thing.
So many insecurities with no real validity. So many learnt bad habits from his youth. So much of a problem to stand up for himself .... but I guess in some ways, to him, he had come so far being the passive figurehead, that he felt he could keep it rolling. The story behind the music is quite heartbreaking to me, I think that's why I don't want to read about it.

 

He was surrounded by sycophants. And afraid of authority.

 

Correction: he surrounded himself with sycophants.