Spinout & Double Trouble

Elvis Presley | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 14, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002WPU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #342,616 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant surprise for fans exploring Presley's 60's work., May 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Spinout & Double Trouble (Audio CD)

In 1966, Presley's career was heading towards its nadir. But, a full blown artistic and commercial resurrection was only two years away and you can hear a hint of it's beginnings on the best tracks here.

Perhaps inspired by the committment he made in some recent studio sessions Elvis really gets it up here. He and the band, led by the legendary drummer Hal Blaine, rip off some joyful energetic performances. Things begin with a sexy rocker, "Stop,Look and Listen" that Elvis and the band take at a crash and burn tempo. Elvis' growl leading into the final verse is alone worth the price of the album. From there they transform a couple of mediocre tunes,"Adam and Evil", and "Spinout", into first rate rock n' roll. The best song Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman's "Never Say Yes" features Elvis packing in as much innuendo as he possibly can. Things are topped out with the joyful pop blues "I'll be back".

Unfortunately, the rest of the soundtrack features schlocky ballads and stupid novelties. Worse, the Double Trouble soundtrack has almost no worthwhile tracks, except maybe "City By Night".

It might be worth a serious fan's time to seek out the original vinyl version of Spinout that contained not only the tracks mentioned above but also three fine studio songs that include an excellent interpretation of Bob Dylan's "Tommorrow Is a Long Time". For Cd fans even this skimpy soundtrack proves that given decent material and some inspiration Elvis could be great at any time in his career.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars From fine to terrible..., August 26, 2002

By 

burritobrother (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Spinout & Double Trouble (Audio CD)

As is the case with most of Elvis Presley's '60's soundtracks, the two here run the gamut from the great to the insipid. "Spinout" is easily the better of the two; here at least some interesting rock n' roll is featured, although by 1966 standards (the same year as "Revolver" and "Pet Sounds") it's fairly retro. 'Stop Look And Listen', 'Spinout' and 'Never Say Yes' are still good enough to rank up with the best of his '60's movie songs and Elvis doesn't seem as bored with these tracks as he does on the lamer cuts like 'Beach Shack' and 'Smorgasbord'. The ballads are typically good; 'Am I Ready' and, especially, 'All That I Am' are actually quite memorable. "Double Trouble" doesn't fare as well. The sound quality is pretty laughable (but still better than "Easy Come Easy Go") and the songs themselves are mostly horrific. The only really decent cuts are 'City By Night', 'Long Legged Girl' and the ballad 'Could I Fall In Love'. Otherwise...not much here of interest to anyone outside of his rabid fan base. Who in the world suggested Elvis do 'Old MacDonald's Farm'?? All in all, both soundtracks are still much better than the films that spawned them, but thats not saying much.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best of the latter day Elvis soundtrack albums, April 27, 2004

By 

Tom Richards (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spinout & Double Trouble (Audio CD)

When Elvis hung out with the Beatles in 1965, John Lennon was reported as saying to Elvis "When are you gonna do another Rock and Roll record? When you do, we'll buy that one". Though it would be a few more years till Elvis did just that, there's definitely more rock and roll going on in the "Spinout" soundtrack than any other Elvis soundtrack album from the 60's.

Recorded in that glorious summer of 1966 (the Beatles "Revolver, Beach Boys "Pet Sounds, Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde") "Spinout" is obviously not a great artistic statement by any means. Fans looking for that from Elvis during this time period should purchase the excellent "How Great Thou Art".

What "Spinout" DOES have is more fun, spirit, vibe and yes, rock and roll, to be found on any Elvis soundtrack record since the 1950's. Elvis sounds like he's having fun, and the band does too.

This record has a very "live" feel to it. From the opening track "Stop, Look and Listen", the drums are live and lively sounding, the bass booms, the guitars are groovy, and the vocals sound looser and more rock and roll than anything he'd done in some time. The production is also unusually good for an Elvis soundtrack album. Many of them sound pretty flat acoustically, whereas "Spinout" seems very bright, clear and powerful.

Sure the songs are a bit on the silly side lyrically, but the enthusiasm in the performances is what makes "Spinout" a great album. A good example here would be "Beach Shack" - an above average Elvis movie song, with pretty inane lyrics, is elevated to greatness just through the atmosphere of fun and the quality performances by Elvis and the band.

I own all of the Elvis soundtracks and "Spinout" is by far and away the best and most consistent listen.

The "Double Trouble" album, on the other hand, is back to business as usual. The production and sound quality aren't much to speak of and though there are a few good rockers on here - "Long Legged Girl with the Short Dress On" and "Double Trouble", most of the songs are more of the usual standard Elvis movie track variety. "Double Trouble" has the honor of containing two of the absolute best/worst Elvis movie songs: "Old MacDonald" and "I Love Only One Girl". These must be heard to be believed.

All in all, this is my favorite of the Double Feature reissue series. I recommend this as a great starting point for someone who's interested in checking out the better aspects of the 1960's Elvis soundtrack albums.