Elvis' Hollywood years have tended to be dismissed as a failure, both artistically and musically. Whilst some may concede that some his 1950's output is of value, and others might argue that GI Blues, Blue Hawaii and even Viva Las Vegas film and soundtracks aren't that bad, the majority of fan and general public opinion is dismissive to such an extent that this part of Elvis' musical heritage is widely ignored.
This article sets out to re-visit the movie musical output of the King between 1956 and 1969 to establish the truth. Just how good or poor are the musical soundtracks from his 31 studio films? How do they stand up to the ear in 2007? And what can we conclude from our findings?
Before starting it may be just be worth having a brief overview of his Hollywood career.
It'll help put things into perspective.
A brief overview of the movie years
Having risen to US stardom via the medium of television in 1956, Elvis spent most of the next 13 years of his public life making movies in Hollywood.
He appeared in 31 movies and sang over 235 songs, ranging from up-tempo rocker's to gentle ballads.
Whilst the success of the films tailed off towards the end of the end of the 60's, Elvis was a major global box office draw in the 1950's and early 1960's.
In The USA alone, 7 of his movies were amongst the top 20 highest grossing movies of that year, up with the blockbusters of the day like Spartacus, Psycho, The Alamo, Goldfinger, Laurence of Arabia and the like.
| Movies | Rank |
| Love me Tender (1956) | 20 |
| Jailhouse Rock (1957) | 12 |
| Loving You (1957) | 15 |
| GI Blues (1960) | 15 |
| Blue Hawaii (1961) | 13 |
| Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) | 19 |
| Viva Las Vegas (1964) | 11 |
14 of his movie soundtrack albums reached the U.S Billboard Top 20, all but 3 of them in the top 10. Loving You, GI Blues, Blue Hawaii, and Roustabout reached number 1.
|
Album Title |
Peak Position |
Year Released |
|
Pop Chart |
||
|
Loving You |
1 |
1957 |
|
King Creole |
2 |
1958 |
|
GI Blues |
1 |
1960 |
|
Blue Hawaii |
1 |
1961 |
|
Girls! Girls! Girls! |
3 |
1962 |
|
It Happened at the World's Fair |
4 |
1963 |
|
Fun in Acapulco |
3 |
1963 |
|
Kissin' Cousins |
6 |
1964 |
|
Roustabout |
1 |
1964 |
|
Girl Happy |
8 |
1965 |
|
Harum Scarum |
8 |
1965 |
|
Frankie and Johnny |
20 |
1966 |
|
Paradise, Hawaiian Style |
15 |
1966 |
|
Spinout |
18 |
1966 |
Single releases from his movies also performed with distinction.
Below are the rankings from the U.S Billboard chart. 18 of his soundtracks songs were released as A side singles, 4 reaching number 1, and 3 hitting the number 2 spot.
| Song Title |
Pop Chart |
Year Released |
|
Love Me Tender |
1 |
1956 |
|
Love Me |
2 |
1957 |
|
(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear |
1 |
1957 |
|
Loving You |
20 |
1957 |
|
Jailhouse Rock |
1 |
1957 |
|
Treat Me Nice |
18 |
1957 |
|
Hard Headed Woman |
1 |
1958 |
|
Flaming Star |
14 |
1961 |
|
Can't Help Falling in Love |
2 |
1961 |
|
Follow That Dream |
15 |
1962 |
|
Return to Sender |
2 |
1962 |
|
One Broken Heart for Sale |
11 |
1963 |
|
Boss Nova Baby |
8 |
1963 |
|
Kissin' Cousins |
12 |
1964 |
|
(Such an) Easy Question |
11 |
1965 |
|
I'm Yours |
11 |
1965 |
|
Puppet on a String |
14 |
1965 |
|
Don't Cry, Daddy/Rubberneckin' |
6 |
1969 |
Many of the movies have had a successful after-life following their original release.
Selections from Elvis soundtracks appeared with much success on the RCA Gold Records Series 1-5 and in compilation albums such as RCA's successful series of Camden Record releases.
The movies were frequently shown on television, during the 1960's and 70's, in many cases being instrumental in converting future generations into Elvis fans.
Most of the movies are still widely available on DVD, and many have been re-released in repackaged and digitally updated formats. They continue to sell in respectable quantities.
On the internet, clips from his movies achieve 100,000's of views on You Tube, and some soundtrack releases are now available for digital downloading. Ebay sites have big categories selling movie DVD's and CD's.
On CD, The recent Elvis At The Movies CD is the latest of a long line of CD releases that feature the music of Elvis from his Hollywood years. Despite all this success, at the time of release, and subsequently, Elvis' music legacy from his movie years are still much maligned and ignored by significant numbers of fans and general public alike. Are they right? This is my take.
Rating Of Movie Song Content
Soundtrack quality is judged on whether the songs connect with the soul or grate? Or, put more simply, are they a pleasure to listen to or is it a pain? I have used the rating scale below to review the song content of the Elvis movies.
- 5 Excellent song content (all or almost all of the songs are good)
- 4 Mainly good song content (a significant majority of songs are good)
- 3 Mixture of good and poor song content (the soundtrack has a broadly even mix of good and poor songs)
- 2 Mainly poor song content (a significant majority of songs are poor)
- 1 Poor content - very little to redeem it (all or almost all the songs are poor)
This classification can be neatly and more broadly summarized as:
|
Rating |
Classification |
|
5,4 |
Good soundtrack |
|
3 |
Reasonable soundtrack |
|
1,2 |
Poor soundtrack |
I've looked at Elvis' movie output as a whole and the ratings are based on how good a soundtrack is within that body of work. The soundtracks are therefore judged within the Elvis music context.
I doubt that there will be too many arguments over the general rating as to whether a movie soundtrack is good or poor, but that in certain cases you may disagree with the specific rating of just how good or poor the soundtrack is (is it a 5 or 4 for instance). Have a look and see what you think.
Below is a table detailing the films he made, the songs he sang in them, and a rating on how strong the movie soundtrack is. Elvis' actual performance in the movie, or the script, is not under evaluation, just the songs sung.
Note: Only songs that appeared in the movie are looked at. Additional songs that may have appeared on the soundtrack album release go un-judged. Movies are presented in the order soundtracks were recorded.
|
Film |
Song Content |
Appraisal |
Rating |
|
Love Me Tender |
We're Going To Move |
The timeless title song 'Love Me Tender' is up there in any list of great love songs of the 20th Century. The other songs from the movie are set very much within the film Civil War period setting which detracts from their appeal. However they are nicely performed and convey the infectious quality of Elvis' music. |
3 |
|
Loving You |
Got A Lot Of Living To Do |
A superb selection of classic rock and roll and 1950's balladeering that encapsulate the very best of what Elvis Presley was and is. These are inspired, joyful performances from the King that have never lost their sheen. |
5 |
|
Jailhouse Rock |
Young And Beautiful (acoustic) |
Awesome song performances throughout whether rocking or slower tempo. 'Jailhouse Rock', '(You're So Square) Baby I don't Care', and 'Treat Me Nice' are simply great songs written by the legendary Leiber & Stoller songwriting team specifically for the movie and performed brilliantly by Elvis. Add in the heartfelt 'Young and Beautiful' and you have one of the great movie soundtracks of all time. |
5 |
|
King Creole |
Crawfish |
The best dramatic movie Elvis ever starred in, and possibly the best location themed music of his movie years, Elvis rises to the challenge of singing the New Orleans style of music whilst retaining the edge and explosiveness of his own rock and roll. The slower tempo love songs are also winningly performed. |
5 |
|
GI Blues |
G.I. Blues |
Elvis' big comeback vehicle that launched the new clean cut Elvis of family appeal to the world. Blamed for setting a bland model of later Elvis movies, this movie none the less has a wonderful selection of songs, some with notable European flavour, that still enchant today. Highlights include the multi million selling 'Wooden Heart', the magical 'Pocketful of Rainbows', and knock out 'Doin' the Best I Can'. |
4 |
|
Flaming Star |
Flaming Star |
One of Elvis' non-musical movies (almost). Forgettable songs. |
2 |
|
Wild In The Country |
Wild In The Country |
Good songs and exquisite singing by Elvis makes this delightful soundtrack a winner. The sublime 'Wild In The Country' and beautifully sung 'In My Way' are highlights. |
4 |
|
Blue Hawaii |
Almost Always True |
The smash hit movie of Elvis' 1960's movie career, with chart topping soundtrack. The Hawaiian flavored music and seductive ballads continue to woo and wow. Throw in smash hits 'Can't Help Falling In Love', 'Rock-A-Hula Baby', and Elvis late 1970's concert favorite 'The Hawaiian Wedding Song' and you have a 'must have' Elvis movie soundtrack. |
5 |
|
Follow That Dream |
I'm Not The Marrying Kind |
Recorded in July 1961 this soundtrack contains two superb songs in the up-beat 'Follow That Dream' and the beautiful ballad 'Angel'. With the wry sentiments of 'I'm Not The Marrying Kind' and 'Sound Advice' this remains one wonderfully enjoyable soundtrack. The movie is also noteworthy in that in that Elvis reverts to his natural brown hair colour for this film, and his next movie. |
4 |
|
Kid Galahad |
King Of The Whole Wide World |
Arguably the strongest collection of non-location themed songs within any of Elvis' 1960's movies. The soundtrack, which was actually recorded in October 1961, contains a lovely mix of up-beat and slow tempo songs, sung with a zest and charm that is irresistible. Difficult to better, his future movie soundtracks would never again reach these heights. |
5 |
|
Girls Girls Girls |
Girls! Girls! Girls! |
This is a pleasant enough soundtrack, easy on the ear, which delivers a variety of songs without really hitting any highs or lows. The hit 'Return To Sender' is by far the standout song, although 'I Don't Want To Be Tied', 'Dainty Little Moon Beams/ Girls Girls Girls', 'Song Of The Shrimp', and 'We're Coming In Loaded' are enjoyable enough. For the first time there's not one love song that really works, certainly not in 2007. |
3 |
|
It Happened At The World Fair |
Beyond The Bend |
Some surprisingly strong songs rescue this soundtrack from a lower rating. The highlights include the delightful 'One Broken Heart For Sale', the heartfelt' I'm Falling In Love Tonight', and moving 'They Remind Me Too Much Of You'. The lightweight kiddies orientated songs of 'Take Me To The Fair', 'Cotton Candy Land', and 'How Would You Like To Be' is a major factor in detracting from the overall appeal of the soundtrack. |
3 |
|
Fun In Acapulco |
Vino, dinero y amor |
If you like Mexican Spanish influenced music then this is the soundtrack for you. Unfortunately despite some fine singing by Elvis there's little to recommend. Of note is Elvis' committed singing of Guadalajara in Spanish. |
1 |
|
Viva Las Vegas |
The Yellow Rose Of Texas/The Eyes Of Texas |
This strong soundtrack, recorded in July 1963, is full of good songs, be it the rocking 'Viva Las Vegas', 'C'Mon Everybody', and 'What I'd Say', the playful 'The Lady Loves Me', or the atmospheric 'I Need Someone To Lean On'. The soundtrack has a winning mix of songs with only the traditional 'The Yellow Rose Of Texas/The Eyes Of Texas' noticeably poor. The movie dance sequence of 'C'mon Everybody' with Ann Margaret competes only with 'What I'd Say' as the best choreographed song of Elvis 1960's movie career. |
4 |
|
Kissin' Cousins |
Kissin' Cousins |
The soundtrack features nice performances by the king but the song quality just isn't good enough. 'Tender Feelings' based on the traditional tune 'Shenandoah; is the standout ballad. Both versions of 'Kissin' Cousins' are catchy, the happy 'There's Gold In the Mountain' with its high pitched backing singing has some charm and the somewhat iffy premise of 'One Boy And Two Little Girls' is nice enough. |
2 |
|
Roustabout |
Poison Ivy League |
Elvis rescued 'Little Egypt' from this movie for his memorable comeback special but this movie version is a very ordinary performance and arrangement. 'Poison Ivy League', 'Wheels On My Heels', and 'Hard Knocks' cannot save this soundtrack from a low rating. Inexplicably the album went to no.1 in the US Billboard charts. |
2 |
|
Girl Happy |
Girl Happy |
Nice chirpy film title song, and the pace rarely lets up, energy replacing any semblance of decent songs, at least to 2007 ears. The ballad 'Puppet On A String' and a raucous 'I Got To Find My Baby' offer some redeeming features. The album on release climbed to number 8 in the US Billboard chart, a commendable chart placing, so Elvis was obviously hitting some kind of popular nerve in 1964. Despite this it was the lowest chart placing of any soundtrack album release to date. |
2 |
|
Tickle Me |
(It's A) Long Lonely Highway (May 63) |
This is a really strong soundtrack, possibly because all the songs are culled from studio sessions between March 1960-May 1963 rather than being specifically recorded for the movie. The superiority of Elvis' earlier session recordings over his mid sixties movie soundtracks is clearly illustrated here. Even with album and single rejects, the songs are a marked improvement on the majority of movie soundtracks he had been recording the previous year. Elvis lets rip with 'It Feels So Right', and 'Dirty Dirty Feeling', and with 'It's A Long Lonely Highway' and the soulful 'I'm Yours' also featured, the film has some of the more arresting songs from Elvis' mid 1960's movie soundtracks. |
4 |
|
Harum Scarum |
Harem Holiday |
Elvis dressed up as an Arab may not have won out at the box office but if you're a fan of Elvis singing love songs this is the soundtrack for you. Though containing few outstanding songs overall this soundtrack holds together well and makes for pleasant listening. 'My Desert Serenade', 'So Close Yet So Far From Paradise', and 'Golden Coins' are kind on the ear and the more upbeat songs aren't too bad either. I struggled on rating this soundtrack and have, with some misgivings, awarded a 2 rating when a 3 might possibly be justified. This would be the last movie soundtrack to crack the US Billboard top 10. |
2 |
|
Paradise Hawaiian Style |
Queenie Wahine's Papaya |
The delightful 'This is My Heaven' is the standout ballad. Together with songs like 'Stop Where You Are', and 'Scratch My Back' this makes for an enjoyable enough soundtrack without it being particularly good. |
2 |
|
Frankie And Johnny |
Petunia, The Gardener's Daughter |
Non-descript. This is the first truly awful soundtrack. No redeeming features. (Apparently Elvis was so upset with the quality of material he stormed out the session. Enough said!). |
1 |
|
Spinout |
Stop Look And Listen |
Another disappointing soundtrack, full of fast beats and energy but containing very little in terms of decent songs or performances. The frenetic 'Stop, Look and Listen' is the best of the rockers. Whilst the languid 'Am I Ready' is one of two slower songs included that Elvis almost makes work. |
1 |
|
Double Trouble |
Double Trouble |
Dire. The recording of 'Old McDonald' almost says it all. That said, 'Could I fall in Love' is nice enough and 'Long Legged Girl (with a short dress on)' blows away some cob webs. The real problem is that the songs in Elvis movies were getting repetitive and seem to all sound the same. If the quality was there this would be no problem, the problem is, the quality is simply lacking. |
1 |
|
Easy Come, Easy Go |
Easy Come, Easy Go |
In contrast to the three previous soundtracks, Easy Come Easy Go is a refreshing, fun filled soundtrack to be enjoyed. The arrangements work well and the inspired use of horn backing gives the songs a certain verve and swing that's difficult to resist. As a bonus you get a top notch Elvis movie gospel song in 'Sing You Children'. |
4 |
|
Clambake |
Who Needs Money? |
Ballads again to the rescue of another wretched soundtrack with 'A House That Has Everything' and an uninspired 'You Don't Know Me' are O.K but nothing special. |
1 |
|
Speedway |
Let Yourself Go |
For the first and only time in an Elvis movie the best song is not sung by Elvis. Nancy Sinatra sings the bewitching 'Your Groovy Self' but three super tracks by Elvis in 'Let Yourself Go' (which Elvis was to record again for use in his 68 Comeback Special), 'Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby' and the revved up 'Nothing Like A Song' help redeem this indignity. The title song 'Speedway' has some oomph too. |
4 |
|
Stay Away Joe |
Stay Away Joe |
Poor. The song 'Stay Away' which was recorded for the movie but not used is by far superior to the songs that were. |
1 |
|
Live A Little, Love A Little |
Edge Of Reality |
3 above average tracks, including the now big hit 'A Little Less Conversation'. (Elvis was to re-record this for the Comeback Special but in the end it wasn't used). |
4 |
|
Charro (1969) |
Charro |
Following his recording of the 68 Comeback Special in June, things would never be the same again. His first soundtrack recording after contained just the one song in Charro ('Let's Forget About The Stars' was belatedly emitted from the film). |
3 |
|
The Trouble With Girls |
Swing Down, Sweet Chariot |
A confident, revitalized Elvis, oozing self belief and vocal command delivers 2 outstanding songs for this movie. 'Swing Down Sweet Chariot' is a delight and the movie version of 'Clean Up Your Own Back Yard' oozes class. |
4 |
|
Change Of Habit |
Rubberneckin' |
Elvis end his Hollywood career on a high note. Not only is it a highly watchable movie but 'Rubberneckin' and 'Let Us Pray' are excellent. 'Rubberneckin' was actually recorded in January during Elvis' legendary American Studio's recording sessions in Memphis. It was included into this movie soundtrack when it didn't make the session album cut. |
4 |
Analysis of Ratings
The rating for the movie soundtracks above confirm one thing most fans agree on. The quality of soundtrack and songs within a soundtrack did vary significantly during Elvis' movie making years. Most would agree the quality started strong and ended weak, but the story is more complex than that and not as simple.
As the above chart shows Elvis' early movies did contain good quality soundtracks but as the years went by there was a general fall off in standard and there emerges a certain hit and miss trend. A soundtrack that is rated 'good' is often followed by a soundtrack rated 'poor'. In fact post 'It Happened at the World Fair' the one consistency within the overall trend is the inconsistency in soundtrack quality.
The overall trend in quality of song is more clearly seen if we look at how the soundtracks rated by year. This shows that Elvis soundtracks can be roughly be broken into three distinct phases.
1956-1962 Predominantly 'very good' soundtracks
1963-1967 Predominantly 'poor' soundtracks
1968-1969 Predominantly 'good' soundtracks
Elvis movie soundtracks were initially very strong and packed with high quality songs. Of the 11 movie soundtracks released from 1956-1962, 5 achieve ratings of 4 or 5 (73%). 5 of the movies attain the top rating of 5.
As his Hollywood career progressed a gradual erosion in soundtrack quality emerges which culminates in a succession of very poorly rated movie soundtracks. Of the 14 movies soundtracks between 1963 -1967, 10 (71%) earn 'poor' ratings, 5 of them a lowly score of 1. When the soundtracks got bad they generally got very bad indeed. It may be partly because of this that the widespread perception of Elvis movie soundtracks being so poor took root (the poor quality and repetitiveness of some of the scripts most probably didn't help either).
Towards the end of his Hollywood career a marked improvement in soundtrack quality is evident, helped in some respect by a significant reduction in the number of songs present in his movies. Of the 6 movie soundtracks between 1968 -1969 four achieve a 'good' rating of 4 (67%).
When you look at the number of songs Elvis recorded for film soundtracks per year a clear correlation between number of songs and quality of songs emerges (see graph below). It can be seen that a major factor in the deterioration of song quality was the increase in the number of songs that needed to populate the escalating number of movies Elvis was making per year. For instance, Elvis needed to record 42 songs for the 4 movies released in 1964. Another 41 movie songs were required for the year after. Given the small number of writers being used to submit material, it is not surprising that the quality of material suffered.
The graph above shows that, bar 1966 and the poor 'Spinout' soundtrack, once the number of songs per year for movie soundtracks fell back to a reasonable number again the quality of song rating improves (I take this as being 18 or under based on the fact that prior to song numbers rising above 18 in 1962 the Elvis soundtracks were achieving good ratings of between 4-5). It is partly due to the reduction in songs recorded for his movies that the ratings score for Elvis' 1968 and 69 movies pick up, resulting in some really good soundtracks. Musically Elvis ended his movie career on the ascendant as the below graph clearly shows.
Summarizing which movies fall in the 'good', 'reasonable' and 'poor' categories reveals just how much better than generally perceived Elvis' movie soundtracks were.
Of the 31 movies Elvis performed in, almost half (48%) featured soundtracks rated as 'good' (4,5). 16% are rated as having 'excellent song content' (5) and 32% are rated as having 'mainly good song content' (4). Below is a table showing at a glance which movies fall into each broad rating category.
When you then look at the actual number of songs that fall within each soundtrack rated category the picture is broadly similar to the above. 45% of songs fall into the 'good' category, 57% within the 'good /reasonable' category (134 songs in total) and 43% fall into the 'poor' category (102 songs).
Given the widespread belief that Elvis' movie years are best forgotten, his movie soundtrack output actually comes out of the analysis in a far more positive light than you might expect. Having 105 songs in soundtracks that are rated 'good' is commendable and the overall spread of ratings is the kind of statistic that could be expected for any artist who recorded quite so much music as Elvis. Check out Elton John's back catalogue, Paul McCartney's, Bob Dylan's or any other major artist. Is their musical legacy as strong?
You can even look at Elvis' 1970's studio output to put his movie soundtrack output into some perspective. If you take the albums 'Elvis That's The Way It Is', 'Elvis Country', 'Love Letters From Elvis', 'He Touched Me', 'Elvis Now', 'Raised On Rock', 'Elvis Today', 'From Elvis Presley Blvd, Memphis Tennessee', and 'Moody Blue' and go through the same rating process as above, would it be a stronger or weaker musical output?
Conclusions
Ultimately, after all the analysis, you do come to one fundamental and overriding conclusion. The movie years contain a vital, overlooked, much maligned and misunderstood musical legacy that deserve a radical public reappraisal from fans and general public alike.
At the start of this review we looked at the statistics of his movie years. This shows that Elvis achieved remarkable success for much of his career in Hollywood. 7 of his movies scaled the heights to be one of the top 20 grossing movies of the year in the US box office, 14 of his soundtrack albums hit the Billboard Top 20, and all 18 singles featuring songs from his soundtracks reached the Billboard top 20, 4 reaching number 1, and a further 3 hitting the number 2 spot. That's quite some achievement. We have also seen that many of his movies have had a remarkable after-life, featuring on television and selling well even today in DVD format.
We then rated Elvis' movie related musical output which clearly shows that there is much of worth to be found within his movie soundtracks. 105 songs fall in the 'good' soundtrack category, 134 in the broader 'good/reasonable' quality bracket. That's a tremendous treasure trove of Elvis music, much of it unknown to current fans. As such, the recently launched 'Elvis At The Movies' CD compilation should be the start of this re-discovery not the end. There are at least another 40 tracks of irresistible quality that demands and justifies an 'Elvis At The Movies' vol 2 release, and spin off's like the 'Elvis At The Movies Love Songs' would provide a welcome injection of refreshing new material to the assorted Love compilations that are currently on the market.
Looking forward, surely the time has come to de-compartmentalise Elvis' Hollywood output when putting together 'best of' compilations. The tendency to ignore much of his movie songs (other than his 1950's work and those songs that were released as singles) does a dis-service to Elvis' musical legacy and his fans. The Elvis world is thirsting for new material from the King, and given the current under-exposed nature of his movie soundtracks, the means of doing so is there. Isn't it time to introduce the better elements of his movie songs to the world at large, including them on compilations with his non-movie 50's, 60's and 70's material?
What is also needed is a radical new approach from those holding the movie rights. Elvis was one of the world's great natural performers. Even lip syncing, his ability to enchant and connect makes for powerful and enthralling entertainment. The world has moved on and what fans increasingly want now is the opportunity to watch Elvis' movie song performances without having to sit through the movie. The 21st century is increasingly about visual audio experience. The huge popularity of viewing music clips on Youtube is just one indication of this, the huge sales success of recent special editions of the Elvis Comeback Special and the Aloha concerts another.
Surely it's time to give us the movie soundtrack performances without the disruption of the movie storyline. How much more powerful and big a marketing event would the recent 'Elvis At The Movies' CD release have been if accompanied by all the performances on a companion DVD set? How many more Elvis DVD's would be sold if the complete movie soundtracks were released on DVD so fans could view just the song performances?
It would appear that the opportunities for reviving appreciation and familiarity with the songs Elvis recorded for his movies is there for those running the Elvis business should they have the determination and desire to do this. In the meantime, fans need to seek out the better movie soundtracks, movie song CD compilations, and movie DVDs, to discover/ re-discover the musical heritage Elvis left us from his Hollywood years.
Buy Elvis Movies on DVD
Buy Elvis Movie Soundtracks on CD
Elvis Presleys Movies Website
Elvis At The Movies CD Article by Mark Cunliffe Jun2, 1, 2007
More articles by Mark Cunliffe
Also read Elvis at the Movies by Nick Keene from March 2005