Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II
| Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by Elvis Presley | ||||
| Released | July 18, 1995 | |||
| Recorded | April 1960–March 1969 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | RCA Records | |||
| Producer |
Ernst Mikael Jorgensen Roger Semon | |||
| Elvis Presley chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [1] |
| MusicHound | [2] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [3] |
Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II is a two-disc compilation of studio master recordings by Elvis Presley during the decade of the 1960s, released in 1995 on RCA Records, catalogue number 66601-2. It also includes a booklet with session details and an essay by Susan M. Doll.
Contents
The set comprises a selection of recordings made by Presley during the decade specifically at a session for the soundtrack of a feature film, of which Presley made 27 during the 1960s. These recordings were originally released in a variety of formats: LPs, EPs, and as sides of a single, and during the 1960s soundtrack songs appeared on 15 full-length long-playing albums, five EPs, and numerous singles. All of Elvis' movies are represented by at least one song in this set with the exception of Tickle Me, its EP soundtrack consisting of five previously issued studio recordings, all of which were included on the box set first volume of the Essential '60s Masters.
The two discs present the studio masters in rough chronological session order. Two previously unreleased masters appear: a version of the Eddy Arnold song "You Don't Know Me" recorded during the sessions for the movie Clambake; and an alternate take of the song "Follow That Dream" as the stereo master for the original has been lost, and the compilers opted not to use the surviving mono master. The songs "Can't Help Falling in Love" and "Rock-A-Hula Baby" were released as, respectively, the A-side and b-side of a single one year after the release of the Blue Hawaii album, and went to #2 and #23 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. "Puppet On A String" appeared as a single seven months after the release of the Girl Happy soundtrack, backed with "Wooden Heart" from G.I. Blues, and peaked at #14 on the singles chart. "Wooden Heart" had also been released as the flipside to a reissue of "Blue Christmas" eleven months earlier.
RCA issued a box set for the complete non-gospel songs that were not recorded at soundtrack sessions during the decade, From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential 60s Masters, and released a similar two-disc set for the gospel recordings in 1994, Amazing Grace: His Greatest Sacred Performances.
Purpose
Generally, Presley's 1960s soundtrack recordings command the least regard among the singer's recorded work. The most successful commercially, such as G.I. Blues and Blue Hawaii, fell in the tradition of the film musical as it had developed through the 1950s, that of the integrated musical where the songs are integral to the story line. Hence, songs such as "Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce" from Girl Happy or "There's No Room to Rhumba in A Sports Car" from Fun in Acapulco made no sense outside of their movies and hardly found a place in Presley's stage act, or could ever be considered classics along the lines of "Jailhouse Rock" or "Love Me Tender", whose films were not integrated musicals. As stated by Susan Doll in the liner notes, the songs from the soundtracks are often judged by inappropriate criteria:
- ...this type of (integrated) musical was standard fare in Hollywood for decades. However, those who criticize Elvis' musical vehicles generally overlook this, preferring to attack the songs as being inferior to his non-movie output...[4]
This package, collating 62 of the approximately 225 songs released in association with the films, selects in many cases those numbers that can stand outside of their film vehicles, concentrating on title tracks and songs that had been also released as singles immediately prior to the release of the soundtrack.
All selections recorded at Radio Recorders, Western Recorders, Paramount Recording Stage, MGM Studios, Samuel Goldwyn Studio, United Artist Recorders, Decca Universal Studio, and RCA Studios in Hollywood, RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee. Original recordings produced by Joseph Lilley, Urban Thielmann, Hans Salter, Jeff Alexander, George Stoll, Gene Nelson, Fred Karger, Felton Jarvis, Billy Strange, Hugo Montenegro, Billy Goldenberg, and Leith Stevens. Discographical information below taken from Elvis Presley A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions, by Ernst Jorgensen, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1998.
Collective Personnel
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Track listing
Chart positions for LPs from Billboard Top Pop Albums chart; positions for singles and EPs from Billboard Pop Singles chart. By late 1968, Billboard discontinued charting b-sides. Titles listed without corresponding LP/EP designation were initially released on single only.
Disc One
Disc Two
| Track | Recorded | Film | Original LP/EP Issue | Catalogue | Release Date | Chart Peak | Song Title | Writer(s) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4/29/64 | Roustabout | Roustabout | LSP 2999 | 10/20/64 | #1 | "Roustabout" | Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye | 1:56 |
| 2. | 3/2/64 | Roustabout | Roustabout | LSP 2999 | 10/20/64 | #1 | "Poison Ivy League" | Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye | 2:02 |
| 3. | 3/2/64 | Roustabout | Roustabout | LSP 2999 | 10/20/64 | #1 | "Little Egypt" | Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller | 2:15 |
| 4. | 3/3/64 | Roustabout | Roustabout | LSP 2999 | 10/20/64 | #1 | "There's a Brand New Day on the Horizon" | Joy Byers | 2:00 |
| 5. | 6/10/64 | Girl Happy | Girl Happy | LSP 3338 | 3/1/65 | #8 | "Girl Happy" | Doc Pomus, Norman Meade | 2:07 |
| 6. | 6/10/64 | Girl Happy | Girl Happy | LSP 3338 | 3/1/65 | #8 | "Puppet On A String" | Roy C. Bennett, Sid Tepper | 2:39 |
| 7. | 6/12/64 | Girl Happy | Girl Happy | 47-8500 | 2/9/65 | #21 | "Do The Clam" | Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne, Dolores Fuller | 3:20 |
| 8. | 2/26/65 | Harum Scarum | Harum Scarum | LSP 3468 | 11/3/65 | #8 | "Harem Holiday" | Peter Andreoli, Vini Poncia, Jimmie Crane | 2:18 |
| 9. | 2/25/65 | Harum Scarum | Harum Scarum | LSP 3468 | 11/3/65 | #8 | "So Close Yet So Far" | Joy Byers | 3:01 |
| 10. | 5/14/65 | Frankie and Johnny | Frankie and Johnny | 47-8780 | 3/1/66 | #25 | "Frankie and Johnny" | Alex Gottlieb, Fred Karger, Ben Weisman | 2:32 |
| 11. | 5/13/65 | Frankie and Johnny | Frankie and Johnny | 47-8780b | 3/1/66 | #45 | "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" | Joy Byers | 2:02 |
| 12. | 7/27/65 | Paradise, Hawaiian Style | Paradise, Hawaiian Style | LSP 3643 | 6/10/66 | #15 | "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" | Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye | 2:37 |
| 13. | 7/27/65 | Paradise, Hawaiian Style | Paradise, Hawaiian Style | LSP 3643 | 6/10/66 | #15 | "This Is My Heaven" | Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye | 2:34 |
| 14. | 2/17/66 | Spinout | Spinout | 47-8941 | 9/13/66 | #40 | "Spinout" | Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne, Dolores Fuller | 2:32 |
| 15. | 2/17/66 | Spinout | Spinout | 47-8941b | 9/13/66 | #41 | "All That I Am" | Roy C. Bennett, Sid Tepper | 2:15 |
| 16. | 2/17/66 | Spinout | Spinout | LSP 3643 | 10/31/66 | #18 | "I'll Be Back" | Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne | 2:02 |
| 17. | 9/28/66 | Easy Come, Easy Go | Easy Come, Easy Go | EPA 4387 | 3/67 | "Easy Come, Easy Go" | Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne | 2:08 | |
| 18. | 6/29/66 | Double Trouble | Double Trouble | LSP 3787 | 6/1/67 | #47 | "Double Trouble" | Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman | 1:38 |
| 19. | 6/29/66 | Double Trouble | Double Trouble | 47-9115 | 4/28/67 | #63 | "Long Legged Girl (With the Short Dress On)" | J. Leslie McFarland, Winfield Scott | 1:27 |
| 20. | 2/22/67 | Clambake | Clambake | LSP 3893 | 10/10/67 | #40 | "Clambake" | Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne | 2:35 |
| 21. | 2/21/67 | Clambake | previously unreleased | "You Don't Know Me" | Cindy Walker, Eddy Arnold | 2:12 | |||
| 22. | 10/1/67 | Stay Away, Joe | Let's Be Friends | CAS 2408 | 4/70 | #105 | "Stay Away, Joe" | Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne | 1:37 |
| 23. | 6/20/67 | Speedway | Speedway | LSP 3989 | 5/1/68 | #82 | "Speedway" | Mel Glazer, Stephen Schlaks | 2:15 |
| 24. | 6/20/67 | Speedway | Speedway | 47-9547 | 5/21/68 | #72 | "Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby" | Joel Hirschhorn, Al Kasha | 1:51 |
| 25. | 6/21/67 | Speedway | Speedway | 47-9547b | 5/21/68 | #71 | "Let Yourself Go" | Joy Byers | 2:58 |
| 26. | 3/7/68 | Live a Little, Love a Little | 47-9610b | 9/3/68 | #95 | "Almost In Love" | Luiz Bonfá, Randy Starr | 3:01 | |
| 27. | 3/7/68 | Live a Little, Love a Little | 47-9610 | 9/3/68 | #69 | "A Little Less Conversation" | Billy Strange, Mac Davis | 2:10 | |
| 28. | 3/7/68 | Live a Little, Love a Little | 47-9670b | 11/5/68 | "Edge of Reality" | Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye | 3:33 | ||
| 29. | 10/15/68 | Charro! | 47-9731b | 2/25/69 | "Charro!" | Billy Strange, Mac Davis | 2:44 | ||
| 30. | 10/23/68 | The Trouble with Girls | 47-9747 | 6/17/69 | #35 | "Clean Up Your Own Backyard" | Billy Strange, Mac Davis | 3:07 | |
| 31. | 3/5/69 | Change of Habit | Let's Be Friends | CAS 2408 | 4/70 | #105 | "Change of Habit" | Ben Weisman, Buddy Kaye | 3:18 |
Notes
- ↑ AllMusic review
- ↑ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 891. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
- ↑ "Elvis Presley: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
- ↑ Doll, Susan M., Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II insert booklet, p. 16
References
Jorgensen, Ernst. Elvis Presley, A Life In Music. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998; ISBN 0-312-18572-3
