Fun in Acapulco (album)
| Fun in Acapulco | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Soundtrack album / Studio album by Elvis Presley | ||||
| Released | November 1, 1963 | |||
| Recorded | January and May 1963 | |||
| Genre | Mexican music, pop | |||
| Length | 29:30 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Producer | Joseph Lilley | |||
| Elvis Presley chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Fun in Acapulco | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
Fun in Acapulco is the nineteenth album by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2756, in November 1963 – the November 1 date is disputed. Recording sessions took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood on January 22 and 23, 1963; and at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 26 and 27, 1963, we worked on the Movie "Tickle Me".. It peaked at number three on the Top LP's chart.[2] The album, along with the accompanying film, would be Presley's last release before the arrival of Beatlemania.
Content
The third of his tropical "travelogue films" for Paramount Pictures after Blue Hawaii and Girls! Girls! Girls! finds Elvis frolicing in Mexico. The standard stable of songwriters for Presley delivered songs to match, with titles like "Marguerita," "El Toro," "You Can't Say No In Acapulco," and "The Bullfighter Was A Lady."[3] Included as well was the 1937 standard "Guadalajara" by Pepe Guízar. With the change from the normal routine, and with the addition of trumpet players Rudolph Loera and Anthony Terran, Presley engaged the material with greater enthusiasm than on recent soundtrack outings.[3] Four of these songs would be included on the 1995 compilation Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II: the title track, "Mexico," "Marguerita," and the song released as the lead single, "Bossa Nova Baby".[4]
"Bossa Nova Baby" arrived in stores one month prior to the soundtrack, coupled with the track "Witchcraft" by rhythm and blues songwriter and arranger Dave Bartholomew and a hit for The Spiders in 1956.[5] The fact that the bossa nova craze of the 1960s was a Brazilian phenomenon rather than a Mexican one mattered little, as the single peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as reaching as high as the 20th spot on the R&B singles chart.[6]
Compensating for the short ten-track It Happened at the World's Fair album, Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, insisted on making Fun in Acapulco a good value.[7] Two additional tracks, "Love Me Tonight" and "Slowly But Surely" were pulled from the aborted album sessions of May 1963, and added here to bring the running order up to thirteen tracks.[8]
In 2003 Fun in Acapulco was reissued on the Follow That Dream label in an edition that contained the original album along with numerous alternate takes.[9]
Personnel
- Elvis Presley – vocals
- The Jordanaires – backing vocals
- The Amigos – backing vocals
- Anthony Terran, Rudolph Loera – trumpets
- Scotty Moore – electric guitar
- Barney Kessel – acoustic guitar
- Tiny Timbrell – acoustic guitar, mandolin
- Dudley Brooks – piano
- Ray Seigel – double bass
- Emil Radocchi – percussion
- D. J. Fontana, Hal Blaine – drums
Track listing
Original release
| Side one | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
| 1. | "Fun in Acapulco" | Ben Weisman and Sid Wayne | January 23, 1963 | 2:30 |
| 2. | "Vino, Dinero y Amor" | Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett | January 22, 1963 | 1:55 |
| 3. | "Mexico" | Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett | January 22, 1963 | 1:59 |
| 4. | "El Toro" | Bill Giant, Bernie Baum, Florence Kaye | January 23, 1963 | 2:42 |
| 5. | "Marguerita" | Don Robertson | January 22, 1963 | 2:42 |
| 6. | "The Bullfighter Was a Lady" | Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett | January 22, 1963 | 2:04 |
| 7. | "(There's) No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car" | Fred Wise and Dick Manning | January 23, 1963 | 1:53 |
| Side two | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
| 1. | "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" | Don Robertson and Hal Blair | January 22, 1963 | 2:53 |
| 2. | "Bossa Nova Baby" | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | January 22, 1963 | 2:02 |
| 3. | "You Can't Say No in Acapulco" | Sid Feller, Dolores Fuller, Lee Morris | January 23, 1963 | 1:55 |
| 4. | "Guadalajara" | Pepe Guízar | January 23, 1963 | 2:43 |
| 5. | "Love Me Tonight" (bonus track) | Don Robertson | May 26, 1963 | 2:00 |
| 6. | "Slowly But Surely" (bonus track) | Ben Weisman and Sid Wayne | May 27, 1963 | 2:12 |
Single
| US release date | Record number | Song titles | Highest chart position | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | UK | US Hot[10] | US R&B[11] | UK[12] | ||
| October 1963 | RCA 47-8243 | RCA 1374 | "Bossa Nova Baby" b/w "Witchcraft" (not part of soundtrack) |
8 37 |
20 — |
13 — |
2003 Follow That Dream reissue
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