Elvis Presley: Girls! Girls! Girls!

ELVIS PRESLEY: GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! (1962)

1) Girls! Girls! Girls!; 2) I Donʼt Wanna Be Tied; 3) Where Do You Come From; 4) I Donʼt Want To; 5) Weʼll Be Together; 6) A Boy Like Me, A Girl Like You; 7) Earth Boy; 8) Return To Sender; 9) Because Of Love; 10) Thanks To The Rolling Sea; 11) Song Of The Shrimp; 12) The Walls Have Ears; 13) Weʼre Coming In Loaded.

General verdict: One great song, one good song, and I think the Kingʼs facial expression on the cover of this album pretty much tells you everything else you need to know.

One can only imagine the level of desperation in the Kingʼs camp that would have led to the artistically suicidal decision to resort to a cover of one of Mötley Crüeʼs biggest hits. Not only would the world at large plunge in a state of total shock to hear Americaʼs golden boyʼs braggy tales of exploits at Tattletails and Crazy Horse, but to see Elvis with frizzy hair, in a bikerʼs outfit, drooling at the sight of lusty curves in a sleazy strip joint...

...oops, sorry, wrong location in the multiverse. Yes, the girls-girls-girls of 1962 were actually quite different from the girls-girls-girls of 1987 in details, but the essence of the song is exactly the same — "Iʼm just a red blooded boy and I canʼt stop thinkinʼ about [hemoglobin]". Fun trivia bit: the song was originally recorded by the Coasters a year earlier and was actually written for them by Leiber and Stoller — with the two unofficially ejected from Elvisʼ circle by the Colonel, the only way he could still remain in touch with them was through such covers. Interesting, though, that they even named the movie after the song — I guess a money-packinʼ idea is still a money-packinʼ idea even if it comes from your enemies. The Coastersʼ version, by the way, is much more slow and relaxed; the Elvis version is ironically closer to their ʽYakety Yakʼ schtick, both in tempo and in the trademark yakety-sax solo by the ever-present Boots Randolph.

Nothing too special, for sure, but at least the breakneck speed and mildly hooliganish nature of the title track make it a much better opening than ʽTonight Is Right For Loveʼ or ʽBlue Hawaiiʼ. Not surprisingly, the album takes a dive bomb from there — you need only to look at the usual list of songwriters, see the proceedings completely dominated by Tepper and Bennett, and walk on by. The usual mix of toothless pop-rockers mimicking past glories and corny ballads spewing antiquated sentiments... you know the drill.

The name of Otis Blackwell still catches the eye whenever it comes along, and this time, it does not betray the feeble trust — ʽReturn To Senderʼ, one of the Kingʼs biggest soundtrack hits, is as good a pop song as Otis ever wrote. Itʼs not even the melody itself, but rather the way the song presents itself as a funny, slightly intriguing, narrative — presenting the rejected narrator not as a longing, yearning, heartbroken person à la ʽPlease Mr. Postmanʼ, but rather as a somewhat confused lover who honestly has no idea of whatʼs going on. Plus the catchiness, plus the wicked bass sax lead lines, itʼs a classic and you know it. Unfortunately, the other Blackwell tune on the record, ʽWeʼre Coming In Loadedʼ, is a short, generic, and perfunctory rockʼnʼroll number that seems to have been specifically written for the purpose of having a song about fishing. (It is no coincidence that ʽWeʼre Coming In Loadedʼ was written to accomodate the movie script, while ʽReturn To Senderʼ actually ended up having the movie script accomodated to it).

Other than ʽReturn To Senderʼ and the title track, there is little to recommend about this record. Itʼs not that Tipper and Bennett arenʼt exactly trying — all of their contributions touch upon different genres and styles — but it all comes out corny in the end, culminating in the godawful embarrassment of ʽSong Of The Shrimpʼ which is disrespectful to the calypso genre, the entire shrimp population, and every music listener with at least a tiny bit of musical taste. ʽEarth Boyʼ is probably the best of all these genre experiments, a study in «exotica» with a complex musical arrangement, but Elvis does not seem to be particularly inspired when singing those lines about "earth boy dreaming of angel".

The only other song from the soundtrack that was deemed worthy of inclusion onto Command Performances: The Essential 60ʼs Masters (the «definitive» compilation of Elvisʼ best material from his movie soundtracks) is Ruth Bachelor and Bob Robertsʼ sappy ballad ʽBecause Of Loveʼ, whose only point of interest to me is that the ascending melodic line leading from verse to bridge is exactly the same as on the Donaysʼ ʽDevil In His Heartʼ (which we all know, of course, from the Beatlesʼ version). It might be just a stereotypical progression, but it is funny that both songs were released in the exact same year, so it would be interesting to know who influenced who. Or, wait, maybe not really that interesting. ʽDevil In His / Her Heartʼ is a much better song anyway: lots of heartbroken tension there, whereas ʽBecause Of Loveʼ just drips yucky, sticky honey all over your carpet. No need to bother with it, or with this album in general.