Also my top 26 of the movies so far. Although King Creole is my favorite movie, I think Elvis did his best acting in Flaming Star. I believe that Wild In The Country is underrated, probably as a result of the many problems that occured during the making of the movie. And Viva Las Vegas, to me, is hyped way too much among Elvis fans. Ann-Margret is the real star of the show here, and without her this would have been just another mediocre mid 60's Elvis movie. Basically, to me, everything from 1965 unwards is hard to watch, some titles are even extremely painful (the only exception being his very last movie in 1969). TOP#26 (1956 / 1968) ----------------------------------- 26. Harum Scarum (1965) 25. Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966) 24. Clambake (1967) 23. Easy Come, Easy Go (1967) 22. Stay Away Joe (1968) 21. Double Trouble (1967) 20. Kissin' Cousins (1964) 19. Frankie And Johnny (1966) 18. Girl Happy (1965) 17. Spinout (1966) 16. Tickle Me (1965) 15. It Happened At The World's Fair (1963) 14. Love Me Tender (1956) 13. Fun In Acapulco (1963) 12. Viva Las Vegas (1964) 11. Roustabout (1964) 10. Blue Hawaii (1961) 9. Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) 8. Kid Galahad (1962) 7. G.I. Blues (1960) 6. Wild In The Country (1961) 5. Follow That Dream (1962) 4. Loving You (1957) 3. Jailhouse Rock (1957) 2. Flaming Star (1960) 1. King Creole (1958)
In this case the film version isn't a completely different recording, it's just the record version with additional overdubs. I agree though that the overdubs add nothing to the song, and in fact undermine the understated charm of the original recording.
It makes me wonder why Elvis didn't simply refuse to record "Dominic" instead of not wanting it released (I actually prefer it to "Yoga Is As Yoga Does" or "Barefoot Ballad"). I know Parker would have said something but that could have been a perfect opportunity for Elvis to give him the boot since he had the whole agent/client relationship bass-ackwards at that point.
I actually like the film. It's not one that I would seek out but if it's playing, I'd gladly watch It. It is different from the last several movies but not different enough to break out of the rut. It has some pretty good songs as well as some rough ones. Like Frankie & Johnny, it could have been a solid movie with more polish. Visually, it's a step up from the previous several movies.
I’ll need to relisten! Those overdubs make it sound very different. There’s also edits, and it seems like Elvis is off-cue when starting. The harmonica part seems a different take too.
I just did a closer comparison of the two versions. Elvis' vocal is definitely the same take on both versions, but the backing tracks sound very different. The record version features harmonica, bass, dobro, tambourine, and acoustic guitar. The film version features harmonica, electric guitar, bass, and drums. I don't hear any acoustic guitar or dobro on the film version, and the harmonica and bass sound like completely different performances on the two versions. According to Keith Flynn, they recorded the basic track on 10/1/67, and then Elvis overdubbed his vocal later that day, and that became the record version. Then "most likely the following week" they overdubbed additional instruments onto the track, and that's what became the film version. But I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I think Keith is mistaken. I think rather than overdubbing additional instruments, they cut a completely new backing track behind Elvis' already-finished vocal. Because it sure doesn't sound like anything from the original backing track made it onto the film version. So I stand corrected as far as what I said earlier. Instrumentally, they appear to be two completely different performances, though they both feature the same vocal.
Stay Away, Joe is one of my favourite Elvis movies. I haven't seen it in about 25 years, though, so just a few points I remember: - horribly racist depiction of indigenous people. - real locations, very few studio shots. - Elvis' singing shows an enthusiasm completely absent from most of his sixties movie output. - his voice shows traces of his comeback rawness. (as goofy as it sounds, Dominic is a good performance!) - He looks great! - I don't think he ever seemed to be more genuinely having fun making a movie than in this one. - Characters feel more real than in previous movies. - For once there is no stupid anti-intellectualism or rural wisdom vs. city idiots (at least that's how I remember the handling of his character's sister's banker husband) -some genuinely funny moments. But as I said, it's been about 25 years....
Speedway Year of release: 1968 Studio: MGM Director: Norman Taurog Plot: Elvis plays Steve Grayson, a successful racing car driver who is generous with his money. However when the IRS identifies that Steve's manager has been creative with his tax returns Steve must find a way to pay the money he owes. Songs: Speedway (theme) Let Yourself Go Your Groovy Self (by Nancy Sinatra) Your Time Hasn't Come Yet, Baby He's Your Uncle, Not Your Dad Who Are You (Who Am I?) There Ain't Nothing Like A Song Trailer:
Ah Speedway. Take the Viva Las Vegas formula, substitute Nancy for Ann, have another Death Race 2000 race seen and away we go. That actually sounds harsher than it should - it’s been a long while since I watched it but in the scheme of Elvis films it’s one of the better post-1965 films. And certainly one of the stronger Elvis soundtracks since 1964. Something else I noticed watching the trailer - all those years in the 70’s/80’s/90’s of Elvis movies being shown on TV in pan-and-scan did the films no favors, this one in particular. The song numbers look so much better in their correct aspect ratio.
And Nancy got a solo song on the album! That never happened before. I think this was a concession to get her. Being on the good side of a Sinatra was not a bad thing in show business, something Elvis and the Colonel(let alone the studio) already knew.
The main criticism about Speedway (1967) would be that we're talking about a complete rehash (plot, formula, soundtrack, etc.) It is still a fun and charming movie - maybe a little bit too polished - with some decent songs on it (SPEEDWAY is a great rock'n'rolling opener while LET YOURSELF has a very nice Rhythm And Blues feel) but you can't help thinking that, even with the presence of Nancy Sinatra, the formula was already too exhausted, just burned out. A change was definitely needed and it was actually on its way. Way too late, yes, but still. The movie was a box-office success (#40) but, with less than 100.000 sales, the LP soundtrack peaked at number 82 in the Hot 100! Cold shower for our man for sure. TOP#27 (1956 / 1968) ----------------------------------------- 27. Harum Scarum (1965) 26. Kissin' cousins (1964) 25. Paradise, Hawaiian style (1966) 24. Double trouble (1967) 23. Clambake (1967) 22. Frankie and Johnny (1966) 21. Stay Away Joe (1968) 20. Girl Happy (1965) 19. It happened at the world's fair (1963) 18. Fun in Acapulco (1963) 17. Spinout (1966) 16. Easy come, easy go (1967) 15. Tickle me (1965) 14. Wild in the Country (1961) 13. Speedway (1968) 12. Roustabout (1964) 11. G.I. Blues (1960) 10. Love Me Tender (1956) 9. Girls, girls, girls (1962) 8. Kid Galahad (1962) 7. Blue Hawaii (1961) 6. Loving you (1957) 5. Viva Las Vegas (1964) 4. Follow that Dream (1962) 3. King Creole (1958) 2. Jailhouse Rock (1957) 1. Flaming star (1960)
And the Colonel's plan was..... a Christmas special. And why not? Christmas albums sell year after year.
I’m sure the Colonel said “see, this is what happens when you allow a co-star to be named on the LP jacket and to have a song included.”
Stay Away, Joe was at least filmed on location somewhere instead of the back lot, or SoCal locations we've all seen 100 times. They should have had more Nancy songs. She was outselling Elvis by that point. He needed the help.
I rather like Speedway. I don't want to over-praise it, but I think it's his best film since 1964 at least. It feels like kind of a throwback to the better-quality early-60s films, with a co-star who actually has drawing power on her own and somewhat better musical material (Let Yourself Go is certainly the best soundtrack song he'd been given in several years, even if they recycled the arrangement from the unreleased Night Life). And Elvis is actually in shape and looks like a movie star, rather than the flabby, puffy-faced guy he'd been in most of his films over the previous two years. It's the final formula "Elvis movie" but he goes out with a bang. Minor details: With this film, "race car driver" becomes Elvis' second-most frequent film career (after "professional singer" obviously). And his character in the film has a business manager who is a compulsive gambler, whose incompetence gets him into serious financial trouble. I'd like to think that was someone's idea of a sly in-joke, rather than a coincidence. The film features an anomaly in soundtrack version vs. film version. In prior instances in which Elvis sang a duet in a film version of a song, the record version would either feature the other singer (Viva Las Vegas, the Frankie and Johnny stuff) or else feature Elvis singing the duet solo (Spring Fever, Yoga Is As Yoga Does). But Speedway features the first and only instance of a duet with two separate partners, one in the film version and one on the soundtrack. The soundtrack version of "He's Your Uncle, Not Your Dad" features Ray Walker (who recorded in the studio with Elvis). But for the film version, they overdubbed Bill Bixby's voice on the soundstage: