Customer Reviews

Elvis at the Movies (Dig)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have stopped trying to make sense out of BMG's marketing strategy for Elvis' impressive catalog of music, otherwise I would be driving myself crazy wondering why they released this 2 CD set of Elvis movie songs less than a year after releasing a single CD of Elvis movie songs with many of the same songs!?! Not being a record company executive, I guess I will never understand the logic behind that.

Regardless, this is an excellent collection of Elvis movie songs and is probably the best one currently available. It contains many songs that were hits; in fact it includes far more hits than most other artists' greatest hits collections! It includes three songs that went all the way to number 1 on the Billboard singles chart (Love Me Tender, Jailhouse Rock, and Hard Headed Woman), two other songs that just missed hitting the top spot peaking at number 2 (Can't Help Falling in Love and Return to Sender) and the top 10 single Bossa Nova Baby. 16 other songs made the Top 40 and 6 more made the Top 100 chart. It only includes a few songs that probably made Elvis wince when he recorded them (while the songs Elvis was given for his movie soundtracks were not always the best, his performances were).

The first CD is the strongest, but the second CD has some highlights. It includes Elvis' underappreciated country-rock classic Clean Up Your Own Back Yard plus the original versions of Little Less Conversation and Rubberneckin', which were remixed and became hits a few years ago. All-in-all this is a very strong collection and highly recommended if you do not already own most of these songs on one of the numerous other collections of Elvis movie songs.

I have stopped trying to make sense out of BMG's marketing strategy for Elvis' impressive catalog of music, otherwise I would be driving myself crazy wondering why they released this 2 CD set of Elvis movie songs less than a year after releasing a single CD of Elvis movie songs with many of the same songs!?! Not being a record company executive, I guess I will never understand the logic behind that.

Regardless, this is an excellent collection of Elvis movie songs and is probably the best one currently available. It contains many songs that were hits; in fact it includes far more hits than most other artists' greatest hits collections! It includes three songs that went all the way to number 1 on the Billboard singles chart (Love Me Tender, Jailhouse Rock, and Hard Headed Woman), two other songs that just missed hitting the top spot peaking at number 2 (Can't Help Falling in Love and Return to Sender) and the top 10 single Bossa Nova Baby. 16 other songs made the Top 40 and 6 more made the Top 100 chart. It only includes a few songs that probably made Elvis wince when he recorded them (while the songs Elvis was given for his movie soundtracks were not always the best, his performances were).

The first CD is the strongest, but the second CD has some highlights. It includes Elvis' underappreciated country-rock classic Clean Up Your Own Back Yard plus the original versions of Little Less Conversation and Rubberneckin', which were remixed and became hits a few years ago. All-in-all this is a very strong collection and highly recommended if you do not already own most of these songs on one of the numerous other collections of Elvis movie songs.

This is a nice, fun collection for new fans, or for those who did not buy any number of similiar sets. There's nothing for the historian, and in fact, there were several spots where something special could have been delivered: like the first appearance of the movie version of Tickle Me's "I Feel That I've Known You Forever" the movie versions of Kissin' Cousins' "Catchin' On Fast"; of ...World's Fair's "Happy Endings"; of Speedway's "Your Time Hasn't Come Back, Baby".
Perhaps some more imagination could also have been applied to "Do The Clam", a high energy tune featuring Boots Randolph. The pressing with the curious drop-out in sound is used, but that's one thing: this track should been pressed in mono, with the background voices muted and the syncopated hand-claps O-U-T. Similarly, "Long Legged Girl..." is the original album version, with the rhythm section in the left-field grandstand. Terrible.
Presumptive mistakes: the alternate take of the themesong from "Follow That Dream", as great as it is, and the original of "King of The Whole Wide World" without the long sax solo ending. Add the version of "I'm Yours" *not* used in Tickle Me - the 1962 album track with the narration.
The title song from "Clambake" is here in all it's ignoble glory, more rockin' that one might recall, but still an embarrassment. That movie actually had some entertaining tunes - they shoulda used "The Girl I Never Loved" or "A House That Has Everything".
The best sound here is from the '50s, particularly "Hard Headed Woman": all the instruments have great presence, especially that of Mr. Scotty Moore. Those who have determined he's really just an inspired *stylist* should check this one out - among others here: "Frankfurt Special" has alot of Sun Records ambience thanks to him, and "Rock-A Hula Baby" is handled perfectly. A light and bright, but insistent complement to a fun soundtrack tune.
[Superb notes by Michael Hill; cool cover shot of Elvis, circa. '66].

Thirty years since Elvis has retired and it amazes me how I continue to discover songs that are great! Although he was a great actor, a lot of his movies were bad. Having said that, his movie music was great. The first disc is a lot of what you still hear on the radio. The second disc is more so music you would not of herd unless you watched all his movies. What a treat! The best part is the music has been remastered and sounds fantastic. You have to remember that some of these songs are 40 plus years old. Once you recieve this CD in the mail, you will not "Return to Sender".

After a coworker bought this and rated it highly, I decided to take the plunge and get this. What a treat!!

I've been a huge fan of Elvis for years but I can't say I wanted to buy an album of this. I downloaded his No. 1's Collection, but I really didn't think I needed anything else. But one glance at this collection, and you realize this is something special.

Here are a few unique things about this collection:

1. A Huge Number of Songs : Spread over 2 CDs, this is well worth the price of the album. You get most of his biggest hits from his movies, including some numbers that aren't very famous.

2. Chronological Order : I like that it starts at the very beginning (with 1956's "Love Me Tender") and goes on until the late 1960s. Each song is arranged according to date of release.

3. Great Combination of Genres : Elvis had some great ballads, but I was surprised at how many upbeat Las-Vegasy songs he had in his catalog. Some numbers are so lighthearted and fun - its hard not to enjoy them.

I don't know if this is remastered, but listening to "Jailhouse Rock" sound like this made me really impressed with the level of quality contained within the master recordings.

However, a caveat. Get this only if you're new to Elvis, or you want more bang for your buck. Track for track, this is great value, and my Elvis-obsessed colleague tells me this is perhaps the BEST Elvis compilation she's seen. Either way, I'm real glad I got this as it has all his songs that were monumental in one way or the other.

Four Stars.

Well, I can't say that this collection holds any hidden secrets because it does not. In fact, if you are a die-hard Elvis fan, you probably carry much of the content of this set with you in the car. (Especially on disc one.) I think most of the "fun" tracks are on disc two.

My favorites are "Little Egypt," "Clambake", "Shake That Tambourine," and most notibly, "Long Legged Girl With The Short Dress On." Don't get me wrong, I like many of the songs. What is nice about this collection is that you get a neat variety packaged in one easy to carry set.

I will have to agree with the person who was complaining about the so-called REMASTERING. Case in point; "Long Legged Girl" is one of my favorite Elvis songs of all time. So much so that I recorded my own version in my home studio. I based my recording on an original copy of the 45 record. That version is SMOKIN' HOT! In the beginning of the song, the electric guitar jumps out of the speakers and smacks you right in the face! In this collection "Long Legged Girl" sounds very "tepid" to say the least. The guitars are held back, you can barely hear the horn section, and the dynamic levels are the same through the entire song.

I was very inclined to rate this as a three star collection rather than a four. I changed my mind at the last second basically because of the variety of tracks included in the set.

THERE IS NOTHING BAD TO SAY ABOUT THIS EXCELLENT COLLECTION OF SONGS,NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES THEY HAVE BEEN RELEASED BEFORE.THE SONGS HAVE STOOD THE TEST OF TIME AND ARE CLASSIC PERFORMANCES BY THE MOST CLASSIC ENTERTAINER OF ANY GENRE OF ALL TIME.IF YOU DO NOT ALREADY HAVE A COLLECTION OF THESE SONGS I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU PURCHASE THIS SET AND ENJOY THE FEEL GOOD MUSIC.THERE IS ONLY ONE ELVIS .

This is THE cd I have been looking for for a long time! I thought the cd was gone for good until Ihappened upon it at Amazon. The cassette I had years ago doesn't have near the songs that the cd does. Thank you, Amazon for making my search, finally, a dream come true. Lisa Lyons,a very satisfied customer.