Customer Reviews

Frankie And Johnny [Soundtrack]

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

 

 

There are a number of commonly held misconceptions about Elvis Presley's film career: Elvis couldn't act, his movies were all throwaways, and the soundtracks were populated entirely with substandard material. But key films in the King's catalog show that he could indeed act, if called upon, there are several high-quality dramatic and musical films in Elvis' oeuvre, alongside many good lightweight romantic musical comedies, and his soundtracks are laced with hits and terrific albums sides. To measure the highpoints of Elvis' soundtrack catalog by virtue of the low points (of which there are admittedly many) is to miss out on a valuable dimension of Presley's musical career.

1966's Frankie and Johnny was Elvis' twentieth film, and co-starred Donna Douglas who was then starring on television's Beverly Hillbillies. The soundtrack was recorded in Hollywood with the usual mix of West Coast studio players (including guitarist Tiny Timbrell), and longtime Elvis associate Scotty Moore. The Jordanaires are replaced here by the Mello Men on background vocals, and a brass section (trumpet, trombone and tuba) was brought in to give a New Orleans edge to several of the songs. The songwriters included many of the usual crew, such as Sid Tepper, Roy C. Bennett, Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne, Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman, and the trio of Florence Kaye, Bernie Baum and Bill Giant.

Many of the album's songs are meant to evoke the era of river boats and music calls, but they're campy, faux-Dixieland theatricality doesn't survive the transition from film to soundtrack album. Elvis sounds as if he's being forced to march along to "Down by the Riverside," though he loosens up for the second half of the medley with "Saints Go Marching In." Pomus & Shuman's "What Every Woman Lives For" would be a more appealing blues if the message wasn't so retrospectively sexist (though, to be fair, it is Elvis singing, and it's possible that every woman does live to give him their love). The revival "Shout it Out," though lyrically light, gives Elvis a chance to rock it up, and the blues "Hard Luck" features Charlie McCoy on harmonica.

Several of the tracks feel under-arranged, as if producer Fred Karger was in a hurry to get these tracks finished. Perhaps when you have the film's director Fred De Cordova (of Tonight Show fame) waiting on you and you're asking Elvis to sing mediocre material, you get what you can get. Sony's reissue features a four-panel booklet and no liner notes discussing the music or its making. The 27-minute running time suggests that the earlier import two-fer or Follow That Dream's collector's edition might be more compelling to Elvis diehards. Still, the budget price and remastered sound make this reissue attractive. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]

Here we have Elvis present a new approach on the New Orleans sound, a far cry from "King Creole".
The title song, an old American classic, is actually given a powerful treatment and it holds pretty well on the top of the album.
Later on we receive songs that do not instigate any exciting listening experiences and the case is certainly made for "Petunia, the gardener's daughter". Still, the out-takes of even that tune provide a fresh look for avid collectors. A gypsy-like song by the name Chesay is sheer pleasure and is wonderfully mastered by Elvis. As far as the ballads go, in this album we are treated with more than the usual one or two. "Beginner's luck" and coming near the end strong and emotional "Please don't stop loving me" are real cult classics that command repeat performances.
Do listen to the overall out-takes because they vividly colorize the recording set and let you in the making process of the album.

I have these songs on various cds, as I am a very big fan of Elvis and have a huge collection (but by no means complete) I am a music collector, and wanted to have the cd presented this way (as it's very affordable)My father who has passed away was a big Elvis fan as well, only difference is he was growing up while Elvis was hitting. So this is a way to listen to the cd in the same format (at least in terms of song listing) as my dad did when he was younger. However, even though I have these songs, I find they sound just a bit different, not sure if this is due to the remasterring of the album or the fact that it seems like in each medium the song was present, maybe a different take was used. However this copy is very pristine. The tracking is great and the packaging is nice (though minimal) reflecting the original vinyl version. A Great addition to any collection.

A very strong soundtrack - although the best entry is not the *movie* version! The title tune was remade for records and it's a gas: the funnest version of the old folk song I've ever heard - Presley really projects his voice (at a time when he was known to croon through the tunes). Very classy use of brass (throughout the album); and a decent mix - unlike most of the mixes here: Elvis digs in but there's very often a sense of strain and the almost embarrassingly intimate vocal reveals such discomfort. Still, he delivers some very rewarding sounds on something like the slow ballad, "Beginner's Luck" - this one is a masterpiece. Maybe not single material, but something that can cross genres, from mainstream pop to midle of the road. Bing Crosby could have even capitalized on it. And it's just one of three exceptionally fine ballads, one of which, of course, was the successful B-side of "Frankie And Johnny".

In every Elvis soundtrack there's a "feel good", celebraion of life, and here we find "Shout it Out!", a mixed bag of Rock and Dixieland and Hollywood, a bit of an anachronism, but not much more so than what was heard in Elvis' first movie, the Civil war era drama, "Love Me Tender". But the sound balance is awful; typically, the impressive list of sidemen is a mere afterthought.

We have some highly theatrical tunes, which, givemn some development could rival the best heard in Classic Hollywood or Broadway musicals. Once again, sadly, the hollow, cardboard, dry-echo sound and ludicrous lead-vocal heavy balance, will keep them, permanently in the "Elvis movie" curiosity catagory.

If you're looking for something exciting from Elvis Presley, in the vein of the rockin' '50s, you might as well go for Andy Williams' Greatest Hits. If you're a longtime fan who bought the vinyl way back when and now have you're first chance to revisit the material on CD...sail away on the funky showboat with Elvis and co.

Having this cd is like owning the original LP. All the songs from the movie are here some of which were not previously available.

This soundtrack has only three tracks I care about, "Frankie and Johnny" (marginal), "Beginner's Luck" (truly a lost gem), and "Hard Luck" (lost semi-gem w/flashes of classic E). Sound-wise, this is slightly better than the FTD deluxe release, with better response in the high end. Of course, you don't get the extra material that you do on the deluxe, but if you just want the soundtrack and no more, this will do just fine.

Having said that, for Elvis fanatics, you still need the "Double Feature" release from the 90s (paired with "Paradise, Hawaiian Style"-oh boy!), because that one has the entire soundtrack remixed to much cleaner sound. Of course this is blasphemy to some, but in this case it was badly needed. The original mix sounds like a quick cassette dub that was mistakenly sent out to the pressing plant. The new mix on the double feature CD takes great care to lower the hiss, bring up the treble, tighten the stereo image, and even adds a nice piano intro to "Beginner's Luck". Yes-they added reverb--but no more than was originally used back in the 60s for much better-sounding soundtrack releases like "Blue Hawaii" and "Fun In Acapulco". The remix from the 90s simply brings this up to those standards sound-wise.

Still, the songs are mostly pretty weak, unless you like that 60s cheapo-lounge stuff, which would mean you love every track! For the price, if you know what you're buying, this budget version is a worthy release.

THIS CD BRINGS ELVIS IN THE JAZZ/BLUES VEIN,LIGHTHEARTED SONGS,NICELY ARRANGED,AND THE WORLDS GREATEST VOCALS AND SUPERIOR DELIVERY.THE SONGS WOULD HAVE MADE SOME EXCELLENT VIDEOS.A VERY EASY TO LISTEN TO PIECE OF WORK.THE KING DELIVERS.

This is the deluxe edition CD of the soundtrack to the Elvis Presley movie Frankie and Johnny. The movie was pretty bad, and the music isn't much better. Recording commenced on May 12, 1965; but Elvis didn't show up for the recording session, so the musicians recorded the backing tracks for three songs without him. Elvis did show up on May 13, but left after recording two songs, so the musicians recorded two more backing tracks without him. I should note that Elvis would often either not show up for a soundtrack recording session or he would leave early, presumably because he didn't care for the songs he was being asked to sing. But on May 14 Elvis stuck around for the whole recording session and they recorded the other five songs they needed to complete the soundtrack. Elvis overdubbed his vocals to the songs the musicians recorded without him on May 19. The music is ostensibly done in the style of the late 19th Century, although electric guitars can be heard, which hadn't been invented at the time. There are two very good songs, which are "Frankie and Johnny" and "Please Don't Stop Loving Me". These were, by no coincidence, the songs that were on the single that was released from the album. None of the other songs are all that good, although some of them are somewhat enjoyable. This deluxe CD includes multiple alternate takes of the seven songs that Elvis sang in the studio with the musicians. The most interesting alternate version is the "movie version" of "Frankie and Johnny", which has a completely different arrangement than the record version and is seven minutes long (that's four and a half minutes longer than the record version). Alas, the master tape of this song was lost, so it has been recorded from a mono acetate, but the sound quality is still pretty good. This CD will really only be of interest to hardcore Elvis fans.

Save your money on this soundtrack. There was only one song that was new to my ears that was acceptable; other than this, it's typical Presley soundtrack fodder. I never bought this when it first came out in the sixties and since the price was right, I thought I'd add it to my Presley CD Collection (and I've got most of his stuff). While listenable, it's something I could have saved my money on. Save yours-forget this one.