The Look

January 10, 2026January 25, 2026 / TY / 5 Comments

Last month, NEON released the official teaser trailer for Bazz Luhrmann’s latest project, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert. Check it out over on YouTube.

As Elvis Presley fans we could say a lot of things about that trailer, couldn’t we? We could quibble over dates, for instance, or debate the definition of “lost.”

None of that matters.

There’s a blink-and-you-miss-it moment in the trailer that clinches EPiC for me. Watching Elvis over the years, you become familiar with a certain look in his eyes. It’s a quick glance. Sometimes directly to fans. Sometimes to cameras. He seems to say, “You’re in on this with me, aren’t you?”

In the EPiC teaser, it occurs at 0:58. Here it is:

Elvis Presley in 1970, from the EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert teaser (2025, NEON)

The film hits IMAX theaters worldwide on February 20, with early access showings beginning on February 18, and then expands to wide release on February 27 globally.

While there have been limited-run screenings over the years, EPiC represents the first wide release of an Elvis documentary in cinemas since 1981’s This Is Elvis.

We’ve lost many first generation Elvis fans since that time. For many second (and beyond) generation fans, like myself, events like EPiC are the closest we’ll ever come to experiencing Elvis in person.

EPiC allows Elvis to tell his own story, using audio from multiple sources. It also features fully restored video of previously released and unreleased content. Most of the footage used was originally filmed for the documentaries Elvis: That’s The Way It Is (1970) and Elvis On Tour (1972).

The film left stellar reviews in its wake after the world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September last year, the European premiere at the Zurich Film Festival in September and October, and the United States premiere in Memphis at the TCB Showroom on January 8, the 91st anniversary of Elvis’ birth.

Footage from other eras is also featured to help round out the narrative. Most notably, color footage of Elvis performing in Hawaii in 1957 is included–30 seconds of which was first released by Graceland with little fanfare on the Aloha From Hawaii: 40th Anniversary Edition DVD (2013).

Sony on January 8 announced plans for the EPiC soundtrack, which will be available February 20 on digital and CD and April 24 on vinyl.

You can preview one of the songs on YouTube here: “Wearin’ That Night Life Look.”

This mashup combines elements from “Wearin’ That Loved-On Look,” “Night Life,” “Let Yourself Go,” and “I, John.” On paper it sounds like a mess, but it manages to work. I love it. As Elvis says, “Just play the hell out of it!”

Luhrmann produced and directed EPiC. He also co-produced, co-wrote, and directed ELVIS (2022), a fictionalized account of the singer’s life that starred Austin Butler (Elvis Presley), Tom Hanks (“Colonel” Tom Parker), and Olivia DeJonge (Priscilla Presley). That film earned nearly $300 million worldwide in its box office run. Butler won a Golden Globe for his portrayal and the movie earned eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Butler).

That the editor of the teaser trailer included “the look” gives me confidence that EPiC will do Elvis justice. We need to experience and support this one at our local theaters. Don’t make the mistake of waiting to watch it at home. Find it at a theater near you.

And, yes, we’re still in on it with you, Elvis.

Electric Dawn

January 5, 2026January 30, 2026 / TY / 1 Comment

“Anticipation” (Artwork created for The Mystery Train with assistance from ChatGPT)

The Elvis Odyssey

Part V: Electric Dawn

With his movie career beginning to flounder and his recent singles receiving little notice, Elvis Presley is at a crossroads. As part of a package deal with yet another movie, he signs on to his first television appearance since a brief guest spot in 1960.

Slated to air on the NBC television network in December 1968, the pre-recorded special is supposed to feature Elvis singing Christmas songs for an hour.

Executive Producer Bob Finkel, however, convinces principal sponsor The Singer Company, NBC, and Elvis’ manager, Tom Parker, to widen the scope of the program beyond Christmas music. Finkel also meets with Elvis, who tells Finkel he wants the special to be completely different than anything in his past, especially his movies.

Elvis: “I want everyone to know what I can really do.”^AM

Finkel then hires Steve Binder as Producer/Director of the Singer Presents ELVIS special.

Pre-production begins on June 3 with two weeks of informal rehearsals at NBC Studios in Burbank. Elvis and the crew are working 12-16 hour days, followed by jam sessions in the star’s dressing room.

On June 5, Senator Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated about thirty minutes away in Los Angeles while campaigning for President. Binder is taken with Elvis’ reaction to the news as well as his commentary on the assassination of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis only two months earlier.

As a nation mourns, the rest of June is consumed with production of the ELVIS special. Elvis practically lives at NBC while making the program, even moving into his dressing room for a period of time. . . .

Listen along on Spotify.

#183 Trouble/Guitar Man (Alternate-1968)
Memories
June 22, Burbank, CA Master [alternate mix]

The ELVIS special begins with a tight close-up on Elvis’ face as he announces, “If you’re lookin’ for trouble, you came to the right place.” The opener is one of multiple production numbers in the show and begins a light storyline through the motif of “Guitar Man.”

I can only imagine what it must’ve been like to be an Elvis fan in 1968. To tune into this special after all of those years of mostly silly movies and see Elvis practically assault the television screen. Within seconds, it was obvious that he had something to prove.

#184 That’s All Right (Live-1968)
Tiger Man
June 27 8 PM, Burbank, CA

Elvis’ dressing room jam sessions inspire Binder to incorporate something similar into the special. When taping in the dressing room proves unfeasible, Binder instead plans to seat Elvis and his friends on a small stage completely surrounded by a studio audience. Elvis agrees to the concept on the condition that the surviving members of his original band, Scotty Moore (guitar) and DJ Fontana (drums), join him as well.

However, shortly before the first show, Elvis changes his mind and decides he cannot go on for what would be his first appearance since the Pearl Harbor concert in 1961. Binder convinces him to go out there, telling him he can come right back if he wants. Clad entirely in black leather, Elvis even jokes, “Well, goodnight!” shortly after the audience applauds his entry.

In addition to Moore and Fontana, on stage are Elvis’ friends Charlie Hodge and Alan Fortas. Lance LeGault, another friend, plays tambourine at the edge of the audience near Elvis.

Elvis: “It’s more important to try to surround yourself with people who can give you a little happiness because you only pass through this life once, jack. You don’t come back for an encore.”^AN

Though dozens are recorded, only five or six of the informal songs make it in the actual special and album.

Among those left out is a rousing performance of “That’s All Right,” the song that started it all for Elvis.

The night, which includes tapings of two “sit-down” shows with similar setlists, is unlike any other in Elvis’ entire body of work.

#185 Baby, What You Want Me To Do (Live-1968)
Tiger Man
June 27 8 PM, 2nd version, Burbank, CA

Early on in both shows, Elvis trades his acoustic guitar for Moore’s burnt-orange electric guitar.¹⁹ Producing a raw, raucous sound, Elvis then drives the shows hard, including multiple versions of the Jimmy Reed blues number “Baby, What You Want Me To Do.” This particular rendition also goes unused.

#186 Blue Suede Shoes (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM,²⁰ Burbank, CA

“Blue Suede Shoes” is not used in the special or album.

#187 Lawdy, Miss Clawdy (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, Burbank, CA

For the special and album, the 8 PM version of “Lawdy, Miss Clawdy” is used.

From the 6 PM show, this live version manages to be even better than Elvis’ 1956 studio master of “Lawdy, Miss Clawdy.”

#188 Tryin’ To Get To You (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, Burbank, CA

“Tryin’ To Get To You” is not used in the special or album.

Again, Elvis improves upon his original 1955 studio master of “Tryin’ To Get To You” with this rock-infused live version.

#189 One Night (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, 1st version, Burbank, CA

This particular rendition of “One Night” is not used in the special or album.

#190 Baby, What You Want Me To Do (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, 3rd version, Burbank, CA

A portion of this rendition of “Baby, What You Want Me To Do” is used in the special, though it does not appear on the album.

It is difficult to choose between this one and the version already covered from the 8 PM show (track 185 above), but this is probably Elvis’ best-ever version of “Baby, What You Want Me To Do.” While he would return to the song in his first engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas the next year, it just was not the same.

#191 No Strap/One Night (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, 2nd version, Burbank, CA

As the sit-down show nears its end, Elvis declares that he wants to stand up–an idea he had been flirting with throughout the performance. He asks Moore if he has a strap for the borrowed electric guitar that Elvis has been using for most of the show. Moore says there is no strap, leading Elvis and the gang to begin singing joking lyrics to the tune of “One Night”:

“No strap today is what I’m now looking for. The things I did and I saw would make the dream–where, where, where, where’s the strap?”

Finally, Elvis stands up, props his foot on his chair and the guitar on his knee and completes another rendition of “One Night” which appears in both the special and on the album.

A truly incredible performance.

#192 Memories (Alternate-1968)
ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – 50th Anniversary Edition
June 24, Burbank, CA Take 2 Master [stereo mix]

#193 Saved (Alternate-1968)
Let Yourself Go!
June 22, Burbank, CA Take B7

Among its production numbers, the ELVIS special includes a nine-minute gospel medley.²¹ For the first minute of the medley, Elvis steps aside such that the spotlight can shine on dancer and choreographer Claude Thompson and the voice of Darlene Love. In addition to Elvis, the segment then features the Blossoms vocal group (Love, Jean King, Fanita James) and a host of other spirited dancers.

Elvis: “Rock ‘n’ roll music is basically gospel or rhythm & blues, or it sprang from that. And people have been adding to it, adding instruments to it, experimenting with it.”^AO

It’s an exciting sequence, and I get breathless on behalf of all of the dancers just watching it. The medley was recorded in segments prior to the taping. This particular version of “Saved” is actually an outtake, but it’s my favorite.

#194 Heartbreak Hotel/Hound Dog/All Shook Up (Live-1968)
Memories
June 29 6 PM, Burbank, CA

Two days after the sit-down shows, Elvis appears alone on the same stage in his black leather suit to perform two formal stand-up shows featuring updated arrangements of many of his biggest hits. Elvis is again surrounded by a small studio audience, but this time a full band and orchestra are set just beyond one side of the stage.

This medley of “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” and “All Shook Up” is featured in both the special and on the album.

This is a powerhouse moment in the ELVIS special, particularly the reinvention of “Heartbreak Hotel” as a rock anthem. Elvis never sang it like this again, preferring a bluesy approach in 1969 and onwards.

#195 Can’t Help Falling In Love (Live-1968)
Memories
June 29 6 PM, Burbank, CA

This version of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” is used in both the special and the album.

This is a beautiful rendition of the song that is on par with his original studio master (1961).

#196 Jailhouse Rock (Live-1968)
ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – 50th Anniversary Edition
June 29 8 PM, Burbank, CA

This version of “Jailhouse Rock” is used in both the special and the album.

Though not quite as stellar as his original studio version (1957), this is, by far, Elvis’ best live recording of “Jailhouse Rock.”²²

#197 Love Me Tender (Live-1968)
ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – 50th Anniversary Edition
June 29 8 PM, Burbank, CA

This version of “Love Me Tender” is used in both the special and the album.

This is another example of a 1968 live version exceeding the original studio master (in this case, 1956).

#198 Baby, What You Want Me To Do (Live-1968)
Memories
June 29 6 PM, Burbank, CA

Once the main portion of each stand-up show concludes, Elvis works on a couple of segments intended for larger production numbers in front of the same audience. During the 6 PM show, there is a brief pause while pre-recorded music is being cued. Left standing with nothing to do, Elvis begins to appear uneasy. “Give me my guitar, man. I’ll play something,” he says. He picks up yet another borrowed electric guitar, this time a cherry red one from session musician Al Casey, and riffs into his go-to comfort song, “Baby, What You Want Me To Do,” eventually dropping to his knees as he plays to an audience member. This rendition is not used in the special or album.

#199 Trouble/Guitar Man (Live-1968)
ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – 50th Anniversary Edition
June 29 8 PM, Burbank, CA

To serve as a conclusion to the storyline that began at the opening, a new verse is written for Jerry Reed’s “Guitar Man”:

“Well, I come a long way from the carwash, got to where I said I’d get. Now that I’m here, I know for sure I really ain’t got there yet. So, I think I’ll start all over, sling my guitar over my back. I’m gonna get myself back on the track, I ain’t never, ever gonna look back. I’ll never be more than what I am, oh, wouldn’t you know, I’m a swingin’ little guitar man? Take it home, son, take it home.”²³

A portion of this live reprise of “Trouble/Guitar Man” is used in the special.

#200 If I Can Dream (Alternate-1968)
Memories
June 30, Burbank, CA TV-Take 4 Master

After ELVIS was restructured into something more than a Christmas special, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” was at first still intended as the closing song. Based on Elvis’ reactions to the murders of King and Kennedy, Binder is convinced that Elvis should make a statement of some sort after singing the song. Earl Brown, who is creating vocal arrangements for the show, suggests using “You’ll Never Walk Alone” instead of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.” When this idea is rejected, Brown writes the music and lyrics of an original song, “If I Can Dream,” which allows Elvis to make his statement in the medium he is most comfortable, music.

From “If I Can Dream”: “If I can dream of a better land where all my brothers walk hand in hand, tell me why, oh why, oh why can’t my dream come true?”

Taped on the last day of the special’s production, with Elvis dressed in a white double-breasted suit, “If I Can Dream” represents for me the greatest musical achievement of Elvis’ life.²⁴

The ELVIS special airs on Tuesday, December 3, at 9:00 PM Eastern and becomes the most-watched program of the week and the highest-rated television special of the year.

“If I Can Dream” climbs to #12 on the charts, while the ELVIS-TV Special album makes it to #8.

Elvis: “I’m never going to sing another song I don’t believe in. I’m never going to make another picture I don’t believe in.”^AP

It has been a long night, but the sun is starting to rise. You are back in your seat in one of the Mystery Train’s passenger cars. “So, this is it?” you ask. “The end of the line?”

I smile and shake my head. “Not at all. That’s the beauty of Elvis. There’s no end to his odyssey. Just when you think he’s done, you start all over.”

Somewhere, you hear a familiar song. Faint. Something from your childhood.

As the train rumbles along, you make your way into the dining car and enter a new world.

Elvis Presley returns in The Elvis Odyssey: A New Summit.

Dialogue from a teleplay, father to son: “Maybe there’s only one summer to every customer.” Only one summer? Only one ride? Only one Elvis? Experience them while you can between Heaven, the Earth, and . . . the edge of reality.

[With apologies to Serling.]

Assorted Rambles

¹⁹While some out there have tried to insinuate this was some kind of power play by Elvis, the trading of guitars is a scripted moment, as evidenced by a recording of Binder discussing it with Elvis and Moore during a rehearsal.↩︎

²⁰I really could have added the entire June 27 6 PM Show to The Elvis Odyssey, but I had to at least attempt to control myself. The video of the complete 6 PM show made its debut on the fantastic HBO special Elvis: One Night With You (1985). Missing the boat at that time, RCA/BMG finally released the full audio of the show on Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special (1998) CD. Don’t get me wrong, the 8 PM show is great, too, but there’s something special about that first show. The full audio of the 8 PM show was first released on the Tiger Man CD (1998) and the full video on ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – Deluxe Edition DVD set (2004).↩︎

²¹The full medley consisted of “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child,” “Where Could I Go But To The Lord,” “Up Above My Head,” “I Found That Light,” and “Saved.”↩︎

²²I hope that a 1957 live version of “Jailhouse Rock” will see the light of day at some point in my lifetime, for I suspect it would top even the 1968 one.↩︎

²³For me, this new verse sums up the entire ELVIS special. In fact, I’d rather they call it ELVIS: Back On The Track today than ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special.↩︎

²⁴The version of “If I Can Dream” for the album and single was recorded at Western Recorders studio a week earlier and is just as good as the television version. According to Brown in Elvis Presley: Writing For The King – The Stories Of The Songwriters by Ken Sharp, all three of the Blossoms were in tears at the conclusion of Elvis’ performance of “If I Can Dream” with Love stating, “He really believes in the song and means every word of it.”

Once Parker saw the rough cut of ELVIS in August 1968, he was reportedly outraged that no Christmas songs remained in the special. To appease him, a live performance of “Tiger Man” from the 8 PM sit-down show was dropped from the special in favor of an edited version of “Blue Christmas” from that same show.↩︎

I’ve also created a Spotify version of the complete playlist for The Elvis Odyssey, incorporating all five parts of the series.

I originally planned for this series to be a single post, but my bride wisely convinced me that I needed to split it. Thank you to her for ongoing prayers and encouragement and for reading every word I ever write.

Sources for Elvis Quotes

^AMMay 14, 1968 Private Conversation (as reported in Elvis Presley: A Life In Music – The Complete Recording Sessions by Ernst Jorgensen)↩︎

^ANca. September 1962, Interview, Hollywood, CA↩︎

^AOJune 27, 1968, 6 PM Show, Burbank, CA↩︎

^APca. June 23, 1968 Private Conversation, Burbank, CA (as reported in Elvis Presley: A Life In Music – The Complete Recording Sessions by Ernst Jorgensen)↩︎

Additional Sources For The Entire Series/Further Reading

Any mistakes you might find in this series are purely my own. As for the stuff I got right, I primarily consulted the following sources for this series of posts. I also consider them as recommended reading if you want a deeper dive into the career and life of Elvis Presley than I could provide here.

Keith Flynn’s Elvis Presley Pages.
Elvis Presley: A Life In Music – The Complete Recording Sessions by Ernst Jorgensen, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1998.
Elvis Day By Day: The Definitive Record Of His Life And Music by Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen, Ballantine Books, New York, 1999.
Last Train To Memphis: The Rise Of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick, Little, Brown And Company, Boston, 1994.
Careless Love: The Unmaking Of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick, Little, Brown And Company, Boston, 1999.
Elvis Presley: Writing For The King – The Stories Of The Songwriters by Ken Sharp, Follow That Dream Records, Denmark, 2006.
Elvis Presley In Concert.

Thank you for reading. May your 2026 be full of peace, love, and health.

Blessings,
TY

Update

January 18, 2026

Out of the installments for The Elvis Odyssey, Electric Dawn is the one that has continued to feel unsatisfying to me in terms of representing the 1968 ELVIS special. I’m happy with the text of the post, but I had to leave out some music selections in order to maintain my arbitrary overall 200 song count for the Odyssey.

Blogging is inherently a self-indulgent exercise. Sure, I hope a reader or two out there enjoys my thoughts on Elvis, but I’m really just doing this for fun. With that in mind, I decided to make an expanded edition.

ELVIS: Back On The Track – Electric Dawn (2026 Expanded Edition)

01. Trouble/Guitar Man (Alternate-1968)
Memories
June 22, Burbank, CA Master [alternate mix]

02. That’s All Right (Live-1968)
Tiger Man
June 27 8 PM, Burbank, CA

BONUS: 03. Heartbreak Hotel (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, Burbank, CA

BONUS: 04. Love Me (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, Burbank, CA

05. Baby, What You Want Me To Do (Live-1968)
Tiger Man
June 27 8 PM, 2nd version, Burbank, CA

06. Blue Suede Shoes (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, Burbank, CA

07. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, Burbank, CA

BONUS: 08. Are You Lonesome Tonight (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, Burbank, CA

BONUS: 09. Tiger Man (Live-1968)
Tiger Man
June 27 8 PM, Burbank, CA

10. Tryin’ To Get To You (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, Burbank, CA

11. One Night (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, 1st version, Burbank, CA

12. Baby, What You Want Me To Do (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, 3rd version, Burbank, CA

13. No Strap/One Night (Live-1968)
Memories
June 27 6 PM, 2nd version, Burbank, CA

14. Memories (Alternate-1968)
ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – 50th Anniversary Edition
June 24, Burbank, CA Take 2 Master [stereo mix]

15. Saved (Alternate-1968)
Let Yourself Go!
June 22, Burbank, CA Take B7

16. Heartbreak Hotel/Hound Dog/All Shook Up (Live-1968)
Memories
June 29 6 PM, Burbank, CA

17. Can’t Help Falling In Love (Live-1968)
Memories
June 29 6 PM, Burbank, CA

18. Jailhouse Rock (Live-1968)
ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – 50th Anniversary Edition
June 29 8 PM, Burbank, CA

BONUS: 19. Don’t Be Cruel (Live-1968)
ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – 50th Anniversary Edition
June 29 8 PM, Burbank, CA

BONUS: 20. Blue Suede Shoes (Live-1968)
ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – 50th Anniversary Edition
June 29 6 PM, Burbank, CA

21. Love Me Tender (Live-1968)
ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – 50th Anniversary Edition
June 29 8 PM, Burbank, CA

22. Baby, What You Want Me To Do (Live-1968)
Memories
June 29 6 PM, Burbank, CA

23. Trouble/Guitar Man (Live-1968)
ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – 50th Anniversary Edition
June 29 8 PM, Burbank, CA

24. If I Can Dream (Alternate-1968)
Memories
June 30, Burbank, CA TV-Take 4 Master

I’ve also created a new Spotify playlist with this version of Electric Dawn. I left the original out there as well.

But wait, there’s more!

Once I broke the 200 barrier, I went back and added even more songs to make an expanded edition of The Elvis Odyssey overall. It’s not as tight as the original, but it gives more of the story. Check it out over on Spotify. I also left the original version of this playlist out there. While I will leave the original version alone, I will keep updating the expanded version as the mood strikes me.

“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:5

Valley Of Echoes

December 21, 2025January 30, 2026 / TY / 4 Comments

You’re traveling through a curious dimension of ideas . . . the edge of reality.

“Where Nothing’s Real” (Artwork created for The Mystery Train with assistance from ChatGPT)

The Elvis Odyssey

Part IV: Valley of Echoes

It is a time of transition. Fresh from two years of military service, Elvis Presley has returned to the top of the music world, his voice more powerful than ever.

As the industry begins to shift, however, a quiet threat emerges. Lucrative movie deals bring steady success, but at the cost of creative fire.

For loyal fans, glimpses of the dwindling spark that once ignited almost every recording can still shine through. . . .

Listen along on Spotify.

#145 I’m Comin’ Home (1961)
Something For Everybody
Nashville, TN

This song. Wow, just wow. Give me a second, I need to turn the jukebox up again.

I’ve loved “I’m Comin’ Home” since first hearing it in 1987. Floyd Cramer’s magnificent piano absolutely drives this one. The song takes interesting lyrical turns between an almost blues quality and a hopeful note.

This stretch of three songs–“I’m Comin’ Home” through “I Want You With Me”–is another of my favorite sequences in The Elvis Odyssey. All three were recorded in March 1961 at RCA’s Nashville studio.

#146 I Feel So Bad (1961)
I Feel So Bad (Single)
Nashville, TN

“I Feel So Bad” peaks at #5.

In the stereo version of “I Feel So Bad,” listen out for the sax of Boots Randolph moving from left to center in the midst of his solo. This was reportedly due to Elvis being so enthralled by Randolph’s performance that he walked over to him, causing the sax to be picked up through his vocal microphone.

#147 I Want You With Me (1961)
Something For Everybody
Nashville, TN

More Cramer goodness on piano here. That man could play! You’ll hear him on many songs in today’s segment of The Elvis Odyssey. Elvis was blessed to be able to surround himself with top-notch musicians for most of his recordings.

#148 No More (1961)
Blue Hawaii
Hollywood, CA

As Elvis soundtrack albums go, Blue Hawaii is certainly one of the better ones. It is cohesive and has several great songs.

#149 Can’t Help Falling In Love (1961)
Blue Hawaii
Hollywood, CA

“Can’t Help Falling In Love” peaks at #2.

#150 Rock-A-Hula Baby (1961)
Blue Hawaii
Hollywood, CA

After recording the Blue Hawaii soundtrack in Hollywood, Elvis arrives in Hawaii. Before location shooting begins, he performs a benefit concert for the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, which gives the long-stalled tribute to fallen heroes the final push it needs after more than a decade of fundraising struggles.

#151 His Latest Flame (1961)
His Latest Flame (Single)
Nashville, TN

“His Latest Flame” peaks at #4.

#152 Little Sister (1961)
His Latest Flame (Single)
Nashville, TN

“Little Sister” peaks at #5.

#153 Follow That Dream (1961)
C’mon Everybody
Nashville, TN

#154 Good Luck Charm (1961)
Good Luck Charm (Single)
Nashville, TN

“Good Luck Charm” earns Elvis a number one hit.

#155 Night Rider (1961)
Pot Luck With Elvis
Nashville, TN

“Night Rider” is yet another stellar Elvis album cut that should have been a single.

#156 King Of The Whole Wide World (Alternate-1961)
Return Of The Rocker¹⁶
Hollywood, CA M7-Take 4 [unedited master]

This extended version of “King Of The Whole Wide World” included the full Randolph sax solo that was unfortunately truncated in the released master.^16A Randolph was another key session player from this period that featured on a number of highlights from this timeframe.

#157 You’ll Be Gone (1962)
Do The Clam (Single)
Nashville, TN

I’m not saying that “You’ll Be Gone” would have lit up the charts when it was finally released in 1965, but surely it would have made a better A-Side than “Do The Clam” from the Girl Happy movie? Of course, that would have gone against the approach of Elvis’ manager, Tom Parker, to let the music sell the movies and the movies sell the music.

#158 Suspicion (1962)
Pot Luck With Elvis
Nashville, TN

#159 She’s Not You (1962)
She’s Not You (Single)
Nashville, TN

“She’s Not You” peaks at #5.

#160 Return To Sender (1962)
Return To Sender (Single)
Hollywood, CA

“Return To Sender” peaks at #2.

Elvis: “I’d like to do something someday where I feel that I’ve really done a good job as an actor in a certain type role, but I feel that it comes with time and a little living and a few years behind you. I think that, really. I think that it will come, eventually. That’s my goal.”^AF

#161 Bossa Nova Baby (1963)
Bossa Nova Baby (Single)
Hollywood, CA

“Bossa Nova Baby” peaks at #8.

#162 Devil In Disguise (1963)
Devil In Disguise (Single)
Nashville, TN

“Devil In Disguise” peaks at #2.

#163 Witchcraft (1963)
Bossa Nova Baby (Single)
Nashville, TN

#164 Long Lonely Highway (1963)
I’m Yours (Single)
Nashville, TN

Elvis: “[My mother] never really wanted anything, anything fancy. She just stayed the same all the way through the whole thing. I wish–there’s a lot of things happened since she passed away that I wish she could have been around to see that would’ve made her very happy and very proud, but that’s life. I can’t help it.”^AG

#165 Viva Las Vegas (1963)
Viva Las Vegas (Single)^16B
Hollywood, CA

“Viva Las Vegas” is a stone-cold Elvis classic.

#166 It Hurts Me (Alternate-1964)
Kissin’ Cousins (Single-Italy)^16C
Nashville, TN [master, alternate mix]

From “It Hurts Me”: “If you ever tell him you’re through, I’ll be waiting for you. Waiting to hold you so tight. Waiting to kiss you goodnight. Yes, darling, if I had someone like you.”

Elvis is now averaging three movies a year. His music begins to take a backseat to those demands. Other than three songs recorded in January 1964, including “It Hurts Me,” 1964-1965 consists only of movie soundtrack sessions for Roustabout, Girl Happy, Harum Scarum, Frankie and Johnny, and Paradise, Hawaiian Style.¹⁷

Meanwhile, the Beatles arrive in America and begin the “British Invasion” with an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964.

Elvis: “At a certain stage, I had no say-so in it. I didn’t have final approval of the script, which means I couldn’t say, ‘This is not good for me.’ . . . I don’t think anybody was consciously trying to harm me. It was just Hollywood’s image of me was wrong, and I knew it, and I couldn’t say anything about it. I couldn’t do anything about it.^AH

#167 Run On (1966)
How Great Thou Art
Nashville, TN

In 1966, Elvis’ passion for music finally begins to re-emerge with the recording of How Great Thou Art, a gospel album that earns him his first Grammy Award.

Elvis: “Gospel is really what we grew up with, more than anything else.”^AI

#168 In The Garden (1966)
How Great Thou Art
Nashville, TN

#169 Indescribably Blue (1966)
Indescribably Blue (Single)
Nashville, TN

“Indescribably Blue” is one of those midnight brooding Elvis songs, in the vein of “Blue Moon” or “Mystery Train.”

On May 1, 1967, 32-year-old Elvis marries Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas, shortly before her 22nd birthday.

#170 You Don’t Know Me (1967)
Elvis Sings Guitar Man
Nashville, TN

#171 Speedway (1967)
Speedway
Hollywood, CA

Elvis: “I was doing a lot of pictures close together. And the pictures got very similar. A lot of them got very similar. If something was successful, they’d try to re-create it the next time around. So, I’d read the first four or five pages, and I knew it was just a different name with twelve new songs in it. The songs were mediocre in most cases. You can’t get good songs.”^AJ

#172 Suppose (Alternate-1967)
Double Features: Easy Come, Easy Go/Speedway
Hollywood, CA Take 1

#173 Guitar Man (1967)
Clambake
Nashville, TN

When no one can duplicate rising country star Jerry Reed’s original guitar style for Elvis’ cover of his “Guitar Man,” producer Felton Jarvis calls in Reed himself, who then plays in a couple of Elvis sessions.

#174 Mine (1967)
Speedway
Nashville, TN

#175 High Heel Sneakers (1967)
Guitar Man (Single)
Nashville, TN

With “High Heel Sneakers,” we hear a hint of the raw, bluesy voice that Elvis will spotlight in his 1968 television special.

#176 Singing Tree (1967)
Clambake
Nashville, TN

#177 You’ll Never Walk Alone (Alternate-1967)
A Life In Music
Nashville, TN Take 2

“You’ll Never Walk Alone” features Elvis on the piano, and in this alternate take he just won’t let the song go. A beautiful performance. While “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is technically a non-secular song, Elvis transforms it into a spiritual song of inspiration.

#178 All I Needed Was The Rain (1967)
Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star And Others
Nashville, TN

Elvis: “I was never indifferent [about the movies]. I was so concerned until that’s all I talked about. It worried me sick. . . . It was nobody’s fault except maybe my own. I didn’t know what to do. I just felt I was obligated very heavy at times to things I didn’t fully believe in, and that was very difficult.”^AK

#179 Stay Away (1968)
US Male (Single)
Nashville, TN

On February 1, 1968, Lisa Marie Presley is born in Memphis to Priscilla and Elvis.

#180 Wonderful World (1968)
Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star And Others
Hollywood, CA

From “Wonderful World”: “Heaven is found right here on the Earth. It surrounds us in wonderful things all around in this wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful world.”

#181 Edge Of Reality (Alternate-1968)
Double Features: Live A Little, Love A Little / Charro / The Trouble With Girls / Change Of Habit
Hollywood, CA [unedited master]

Elvis: “So, I had thought they would try to get a new property for me or give me a chance to show some kind of acting ability or do a very interesting story, but it did not change. It did not change. And so I became very discouraged. They couldn’t have paid me no amount of money in the world to make me feel any self-satisfaction inside.”^AL

#182 A Little Less Conversation (Alternate-1968)
Memories
Hollywood, CA Take 2 [acetate version]¹⁸

Recorded for the movie Live A Little, Love A Little, the single version of “A Little Less Conversation” barely makes it into the top 70.

With Elvis’ movies and records no longer attracting the audiences they once did, no one is sure how an upcoming television special devoted to the star will turn out.

Elvis Presley will return in The Elvis Odyssey Part V: Electric Dawn.

Assorted Rambles

¹⁶Return Of The Rocker (1986) was the first Elvis album I ever personally owned. I was 11-years-old. It obviously influenced me for I realized just now that all 12 songs on that compilation made The Elvis Odyssey. Not even That’s The Way It Is, another favorite album of mine, can say that.

Return Of The Rocker is another well-edited and sequenced release from the Gregg Geller era. It really is a perfect compilation of the 1960-1963 timeframe for Elvis, managing to blend his soundtrack and non-soundtrack recordings in an effective way.

While Ernst Jorgensen’s much broader ELVIS: From Nashville To Memphis – The Essential 60s Masters I (1994) was revelatory in that it resurrected tons of Elvis’ non-soundtrack recordings from being filler cuts on albums otherwise devoted to often poor movie tunes, it also can feel a bit antiseptic. Intersperse the tracks of ELVIS: Command Performances – The Essential 60s Masters II into the former’s sequence, though, for quite a different and improved listening experience. Adhering so strictly to the 5-CD format established by the ’50s set was a detriment to both the ’60s and ’70s sets.↩︎

^16AThough I don’t know that it was really publicized at the time, Return Of The Rocker actually featured the debut of this extended master of “King Of The Whole Wide World” with the full concluding sax solo by Randolph. The standard version fades way too early and always sounds incomplete to me. Unfortunately, Spotify had only the standard master and an inferior outtake to choose from so I went with the standard master on that variant of this playlist.↩︎

^16BDecember 21, 2025 Original Text and Footnote: The fact that a stone-cold Elvis classic like “Viva Las Vegas” was apparently released as a B-Side to an inferior cover of a Ray Charles tune [“What’d I Say”] boggles my mind.

I say “apparently” because some sources list “Viva Las Vegas” as the A-Side, but I’m going by Ernst Jorgensen’s definitive Elvis Presley: A Life In Music – The Complete Recording Sessions from 1998 for this kind of information. However, I have discovered in life that “definitive” does not always mean “perfect.”

January 19, 2026 Update: Neal Umphred of Elvis: A Touch of Gold pointed me to a scan of the single’s RCA listing notice hosted on Keith Flynn’s Elvis Presley Pages site that indicates “Viva Las Vegas” was the intended A-Side. I’ve accordingly updated the reference above. Thank you to Neal and Keith!↩︎

^16CWhen “It Hurts Me” was first released as a single in Italy, it sounded quite different from its U.S. counterpart. It turned out that solely the left channel from the stereo recording had been accidentally used for the mono version in Italy, rather than including the right channel as well. This had the distinct advantage of leaving out the Jordanaires, which makes it my go-to version of the song. Though I had to use the standard version on the Spotify playlist, the standard version actually would not have made The Elvis Odyssey and we would have jumped from 1963 to 1966. ↩︎

¹⁷1964-1965 was the true nadir of Elvis’ career. Though The Elvis Odyssey is essentially a career-spanning retrospective, it is, admittedly, a bit of a cheat. It is most noticeable here in the “valley.” We skip more than 95% of 1964 and 100% of 1965. I could have included a couple of those songs, I suppose. Despite how bad the movie and most of the tunes are, there are actually two or three good songs on the Paradise, Hawaiian Style album, for instance. But are they better than any of the 200 songs of The Elvis Odyssey? Not to me, anyway. At least not at this time in my life when I am compiling this list.

The problem with skipping all of these low points, though, is that it makes the slow comeback a little less noticeable when playing through. A false impression could be given listening to the tracks the way I have arranged them here that Elvis was solid throughout the 1960s. The thing to keep in mind, though, is that these are the fleeting “glimpses” of his old creative fire that will soon be returning in force. Whereas this 1961–March 1968 stretch produced a whopping 43% of his lifetime studio masters, I’ve cherrypicked to such a degree that this timeframe represents only 19% of the tracks of The Elvis Odyssey.↩︎

¹⁸When first released in 1998, this backup acetate recording of “A Little Less Conversation” was reported to be an unused vocal from a remake of the song dropped from Elvis’ 1968 television special. The previously unreleased performance soon took on a life of its own far beyond the original single. It was included in the remake of Ocean’s Eleven (2001) and became the theme song to the television series Las Vegas (2003-2008). It has also shown up in multiple other projects.

In 2002, most notably, the track was remixed by DJ and producer Junkie XL (JXL) for a Nike commercial and later released as a single that topped the charts in multiple countries. While the remix reached only #50 in the US, its inclusion on ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits (2002) helped propel that compilation to the top of the US album charts.

Though it is often still wrongly associated with the June 1968 recordings for the television special, the acetate recording of “A Little Less Conversation” was later revealed to be take 2 from the original March 1968 studio session, whereas the single master had been take 16 from the same date. I have to say, Take 2 has a heck of a lot more bite to it than Take 16 or even Take 10, the version used on the Almost In Love (1970) album. It is unfortunate that the blander takes were chosen for release during his lifetime.↩︎

Sources for Elvis Quotes

^AFca. September 1962, Interview, Hollywood, CA↩︎

^AGca. September 1962, Interview, Hollywood, CA↩︎

^AHca. July 1972 Interview↩︎

^AIca. July 1972 Interview↩︎

^AJca. July 1972 Interview↩︎

^AKca. July 1972 Interview↩︎

^ALca. July 1972 Interview↩︎

“But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31

Storming The Mountain

December 7, 2025January 30, 2026 / TY / 2 Comments

You’re entering a fantastic land of imagination . . . the edge of reality.

You are alone in the Mystery Train Diner.

The lights are out. The jukebox is dead.

In the empty restaurant, you hear only silence. Not even the noise of the train interrupts the stillness.

There is nothing.

A world without Elvis.

* * *

In the darkness, you slowly realize I am once more sitting in front of you.

“Nobody will ever know who it was,” I whisper, “But out there somewhere, somebody became the first person to play an Elvis song again after he died. The music was too strong to be silenced.”

Without warning, lightning flashes outside and illuminates the restaurant.

“The Memphis Flash” (Artwork created for The Mystery Train with assistance from ChatGPT)

As the train rumbles with the thunder, the diner and the jukebox hum back to life. You hear a simple but familiar melody begin with an acoustic guitar followed by an upright bass.

Listen along on Spotify.

The Elvis Odyssey

Part III: Storming The Mountain

On Monday, July 5, 1954, at Sun Studio in Memphis, producer Sam Phillips gives young Elvis Presley, a truck driver for Crown Electric, a chance to prove himself. Nothing clicks until Elvis and bassist Bill Black start having fun with a blues song by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup. Guitarist Scotty Moore soon joins in. . . .

#95 That’s All Right (1954)
That’s All Right (Single)
Memphis, TN

Elvis had actually made his first recording about a year earlier, an informal demonstration record at Phillips’ Memphis Recording Service, located within Sun Studio, as a surprise for his mother.

Elvis: “I started out when I was just out of high school. I was driving a truck, and I was training to be an electrician, and I got wired the wrong way, baby. That’s what happened to me. . . . One day on my lunch break I went into a . . . record company to make a record for my own use. I really wasn’t trying to get into the business.”^Q

Elvis: “I made the record. In fact, we’ve still got the record at home. It’s so thin, you can’t play it now. The record I made was ‘My Happiness’ and one of the Ink Spots’ numbers. . . . I had a little $20 guitar. It sounded like somebody beating on a bucket lid or something.”^R

Marion Keisker, who worked at Memphis Recording Service, made a note of the singer who paid to record the My Happiness/That’s When Your Heartaches Begin acetate, but nothing came of it at first. Elvis came back a few months later and recorded another acetate demo, apparently hoping to get Phillips’ attention. His persistence eventually paid off in the formal session that resulted in “That’s All Right.”

Impressed by the singer’s take on “That’s All Right,” Phillips signs Elvis to the Sun label about a week later. Elvis’ first single, That’s All Right/Blue Moon Of Kentucky, becomes a regional hit, slowly spreading from Memphis.

Elvis: “My very first appearance after I started recording, I was on a show in Memphis . . . as an extra added singer, a big jamboree in an outdoor theater, outdoor auditorium.

“I came out on stage, and I was scared stiff. It was my first big appearance in front of an audience. I came out, and I was doing a fast-type tune, one of my first records. Everybody was hollering, and I didn’t know what they were hollering at.

“Everybody was screaming and everything, and then I came off stage and my manager told me that they was hollering because I was wiggling my legs. I was unaware of what I was doing. Bob Neal was my manager.

“And so I went back out for an encore and kinda did a little more, and the more I did, the wilder they went.”^S

#96 Blue Moon (1954)
A Boy From Tupelo: The Complete 1953-55 Recordings
Memphis, TN Take 9 [master, alternate source]

A few weeks later, Elvis is back at Sun Studio experimenting. He records a haunting version of “Blue Moon,” but Phillips decides against releasing it. The recording eventually shows up in 1956 on his debut album, Elvis Presley.

#97 Good Rockin’ Tonight (1954)
Good Rockin’ Tonight (Single)
Memphis, TN

Elvis: “My daddy had seen a lot of people who played the guitar and stuff who didn’t work, so he said, ‘Make up your mind about either being an electrician or playing the guitar. I never saw a guitar player that was worth a damn!'”^T

By late 1954, even Billboard is taking notice of Elvis with a positive review of his third single, Milkcow Blues Boogie/You’re A Heartbreaker. Music promoter “Colonel” Tom Parker, currently managing Hank Snow, also starts paying attention around this time and slowly begins working his way into the singer’s life.

#98 Baby, Let’s Play House (1955)
Baby, Let’s Play House (Single)
Memphis, TN

#99 I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone (Alternate-1955)
A Boy From Tupelo: The Complete 1953-55 Recordings
Memphis, TN Take 5 (AKA “My Baby’s Gone”)

#100 Mystery Train (1955)
I Forgot To Remember To Forget (Single)
Memphis, TN

I don’t know that Elvis ever quite achieved another performance like his studio version of “Mystery Train” in terms of mood. I’m hard-pressed to think of one. Maybe the studio version of “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” which, of course is a whole different genre. Or “Blue Moon,” mentioned earlier. In any event, there’s something dark and contemplative about the 1955 “Mystery Train” that I love to my core.

#101 Tryin’ To Get To You (1955)
A Boy From Tupelo: The Complete 1953-55 Recordings
Memphis, TN

Over time, Parker lures Elvis away from Phillips and Sun Records by orchestrating a lucrative deal with RCA Records. Under Parker’s deal, Phillips sells Elvis’ recording contract and tapes to RCA Records in November 1955 for $35,000 (over $400,000 in 2025).

In January 1956, Elvis records in RCA’s Nashville studio for the first time.

#102 Heartbreak Hotel (1956)
Heartbreak Hotel (Single)
Nashville, TN

“Heartbreak Hotel” becomes Elvis’ first number one hit.¹⁴

From here at “Heartbreak Hotel” through “Lawdy, Miss Clawdy” is one of my favorite stretches of songs on the entire Elvis Odyssey.

#103 Money Honey (1956)
Elvis Presley
Nashville, TN

#104 I Was The One (1956)
Heartbreak Hotel (Single)
Nashville, TN

#105 Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
Elvis Presley
New York, NY

#106 My Baby Left Me (1956)
I Want You, I Need You, I Love You (Single)
New York, NY

#107 Lawdy, Miss Clawdy (1956)
Shake, Rattle And Roll (Single)
New York, NY

In March, Parker officially becomes Elvis’ manager. Around this time, Parker also parts ways with Snow. Parker eventually commands a 50% fee from Elvis, his sole client. Among other deals, Parker begins shopping Elvis around to the major movie studios.

Elvis: “I’ve had people ask me was I gonna sing in the movies. I’m not, I mean as far as I know, because I took strictly an acting test, and I wouldn’t care too much about singing in the movies.”^U

#108 I Want You, I Need You, I Love You (1956)
I Want You, I Need You, I Love You (Single)
Nashville, TN

“I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” becomes Elvis’ second number one hit.

In the first six months of 1956, Elvis appears on national television eight times, with six appearances on Jackie Gleason’s Stage Show (CBS), hosted by the Dorsey Brothers, and two appearances on the Milton Berle Show (NBC).

Elvis: “It happened very fast to all of us–my mother, my father and all of us. Everything happened overnight and so we had to adjust to a lot of things very quickly. A lot of good things, I might say.”^V

Elvis’ June appearance on the Milton Berle Show includes a wild performance of “Hound Dog,” which he has not yet formally recorded.

Elvis: “At that particular time, there was a lot of controversy. You didn’t see people moving out in public. They were getting it on in the back rooms, but you didn’t see it out in public too much.”^W

It was really a toss-up for me to include Elvis’ live version of “Hound Dog” from the Berle show versus his studio master. I eventually went with the studio version because of its iconic status, but it’s another track that I could just as easily swap out next week.

On July 1, Elvis appears on the Steve Allen Show (NBC) and sings “Hound Dog” again. This performance is more subdued, but only adds to the legend.

Elvis: “They were going to tame me down, so they had me dressed in a tuxedo, had me singing to a dog on a stool.”^X

Later in the evening, after the Steve Allen Show, a weary Elvis appears on a New York NBC affiliate’s Hy Gardner Calling interview program and is asked to address the controversy surrounding his music:

Elvis: “I don’t see that any type of a music would have any bad influence on people, when it’s only a music, I mean. I can’t figure it out. In a lot of the papers, they say rock ‘n’ roll is a big influence on juvenile delinquency. I don’t think that it is. . . . I don’t see how music would have anything to do with it at all.”^Y

The next day, Elvis steps into RCA’s New York studio and records one of the biggest singles of his career.

#109 Hound Dog (1956)
Don’t Be Cruel (Single)
New York, NY

#110 Don’t Be Cruel (1956)
Don’t Be Cruel (Single)
New York, NY

Both sides of Don’t Be Cruel/Hound Dog become number one hits as controversy continues to follow the singer.

Elvis: “The police filmed the show one time in Florida because the PTA, the YMCA, or somebody, they thought I was something. They said, ‘Man, he’s gotta be crazy.’ So, the police came out, and they filmed the show. So, I couldn’t move. I had to stand still. The only thing I’d move was my little finger, like that.”^Z

Meanwhile, the movie deal that has been percolating for some time comes to fruition.

Elvis: “My next move was Hollywood. That’s how it happens: You get a record, and you get on television, then you go to Hollywood. I wasn’t ready for that town, and they wadn’t¹⁵ ready for me.”^AA

Elvis’ first movie, The Reno Brothers, goes into production in August.

Despite Elvis’ early belief to the contrary, there was no way the movie studios were going to feature the chart-topping star solely as an actor. That same month, he records the soundtrack to The Reno Brothers: Three awful songs that The Elvis Odyssey will skip and one with new lyrics set to the traditional tune of “Aura Lee.”

#111 Love Me Tender (1956)
Love Me Tender (Single)
Hollywood, CA

“Love Me Tender” becomes another number one hit for Elvis, with sales so strong that The Reno Brothers is renamed Love Me Tender prior to the film’s release. As for the film itself, Elvis is not happy with how it turns out.

Elvis: “They wanted to put me in a movie real quick. Love Me Tender, the first one, almost finished me off in the business. Well, it almost killed me. It was a rush deal. They rushed me in the thing just to get my name. . . . So, they did, and the picture wasn’t all that good of a picture. It was an old picture, I mean story-wise, and I shouldn’t have been in it from the beginning. And I started trying to act in it. I was trying to act in it, and the minute you start trying to act on the screen, you’re dead.”^AA1

#112 Love Me (1956)
Elvis
Hollywood, CA

Though not released as a single, “Love Me” climbs to #2 on the charts on the strength of radio airplay and sales of the Elvis Vol. 1 Extended Play (EP) on which it features.

#113 Too Much (1956)
Too Much (Single)
Hollywood, CA

“Too Much” becomes a number one hit.

Elvis: “Then I went to the Ed Sullivan Show. . . . They photographed me from the waist up. And Sullivan’s standing over there saying, ‘Sumbitch.’ So, I said, ‘Thank you, Ed, thank you.’ I didn’t know what he was calling me at the time. . . . I did the Sullivan Show two or three times.”^AB

On his third and final Ed Sullivan Show (CBS) appearance, television cameras show Elvis only from the waist up. Once again, an attempt to undermine the controversial singer only adds to his legend.

“Don’t Be Cruel” from that January 1957 Sullivan appearance is one of my favorite live recordings of that song. Though I defaulted to the 1956 studio master for this iteration of The Elvis Odyssey, this 1957 version, inspired by Jackie Wilson’s Las Vegas imitation of Elvis that the latter happened to see, is just as strong.

#114 All Shook Up (1957)
All Shook Up (Single)
Hollywood, CA

“All Shook Up” becomes a number one hit.

#115 Loving You (1957)
Teddy Bear (Single)
Hollywood, CA

#116 Teddy Bear (1957)
Teddy Bear (Single)
Hollywood, CA

Featured in Loving You, Elvis’ second movie, “Teddy Bear” becomes a number one hit.

#117 Is It So Strange (1957)
A Date With Elvis
Hollywood, CA

#118 I Beg Of You (1957)
Don’t (Single)
Hollywood, CA

“I Beg Of You” peaks at #8.

#119 One Night (1957)
One Night (Single)
Hollywood, CA

“One Night” peaks at #4.

I consider “One Night” to be one of the greatest of all Elvis songs, so it’s funny to see that it peaked at “only” number four. This is partially explained by the fact that, though recorded in 1957, it wasn’t actually released until Elvis was months into his U.S. Army service in late 1958. It could also just be my taste differs from typical listeners of 1958.

#120 When It Rains, It Really Pours (1957)
Elvis For Everyone!
Hollywood, CA

This fine 1957 recording of “When It Rains, It Really Pours” was held back even longer than “One Night,” not escaping from the vaults until it became an album cut in 1965. Elvis had also tried out the same song while at Sun in 1955. That early recording did not see the light of day until 1983.

After struggling to find privacy for him and his parents at various residences, Elvis buys a 1939 home in Memphis, called “Graceland” by its former owners, in March 1957 for $102,500 (over $1 million in 2025). He then spends another $500,000 renovating it (over $6 million in 2025). The property includes over 13 acres.

#121 Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Jailhouse Rock (Single)
Hollywood, CA

The title song of Elvis’ third movie, “Jailhouse Rock” is perhaps the best rock ‘n’ roll performance of his career.

“Jailhouse Rock” becomes a number one hit.

#122 Baby, I Don’t Care (1957)
A Date With Elvis
Hollywood, CA

Be sure to listen out for Elvis playing electric bass on “Baby, I Don’t Care.” I never realized this was him until reading Peter Guralnick’s liner notes to The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Complete 50s Masters (1992) as a teen.

#123 Treat Me Nice (1957)
Jailhouse Rock (Single)
Hollywood, CA

#124 Don’t (1957)
Don’t (Single)
Hollywood, CA

“Don’t” becomes a number one hit.

#125 King Creole (1958)
King Creole
Hollywood, CA

#126 Hard Headed Woman (1958)
Hard Headed Woman (Single)
Hollywood, CA

Michael Curtiz, best known for 1942’s Casablanca, directs Elvis in his fourth movie, King Creole. Though the bulk of the song will be cut from the 1958 film, “Hard Headed Woman” becomes a number one hit.

#127 Trouble (1958)
King Creole
Hollywood, CA

#128 As Long As I Have You (1958)
King Creole
Hollywood, CA

Elvis: “I did four pictures, and I was getting used to the movie star bit. . . . I had a pair of sunglasses and riding in the back of a Cadillac, my feet up on the seat, saying, ‘I’m a movie star!’ . . . I was livin’ it up, eating hamburgers and drinking Pepsis. And then, I got drafted. So overnight, it all changed.”^AC

Elvis is inducted into the U.S. Army in March 1958. He undergoes basic training at Fort Hood, Texas.

#129 A Big Hunk O’ Love (1958)
A Big Hunk O’ Love (Single)
Nashville, TN

During a short furlough after basic training, Elvis records a few songs in RCA’s Nashville studio at a one night session in June 1958. This is his only recording session while in the Army.

“A Big Hunk O’ Love” becomes a number one hit.

#130 A Fool Such As I (1958)
A Fool Such As I (Single)
Nashville, TN

“A Fool Such As I” peaks at #2.

Elvis’ mother, Gladys, passes away in August 1958 at the age of 46.

Elvis: “My mother, I suppose since I was an only child, that we might have been a little closer. Everyone loves their mother, but I was an only child, and Mother was always right with me, all my life.

“It wasn’t only like losing a mother, it was like losing a friend, a companion, someone to talk to. I could wake her up any hour of the night, and if I was worried or troubled about something, she’d get up and try to help me.”^AD

Shortly after his mother’s death, Elvis is transferred to Germany, where he will spend the remaining 18 months of his military service.

Elvis: “At first, in the service, the guys just watched me to see what I was gonna do. . . . They saw I was doing the same thing that they were. They started to come around and talk, and everything went okay.

“I’ve had people ask me was it harder on me or was it easier or so forth. It was about the same. They didn’t make it any harder or any easier on me. I was just like everybody else.”^AE

While his manager and record label do a good job of issuing singles from vault material while he is serving in the Army, Elvis returns from his two years of military service in March 1960 and almost immediately goes into the Nashville studio to close the nine-month gap since his last single release. He also records a new album. The sessions are his first in true stereo.

#131 Make Me Know It (1960)
Elvis Is Back!
Nashville, TN

#132 Stuck On You (1960)
Stuck On You (Single)
Nashville, TN

Elvis’ first single after the Army, “Stuck On You” hits number one.

#133 A Mess Of Blues (1960)
It’s Now Or Never (Single)
Nashville, TN

#134 Like A Baby (1960)
Elvis Is Back!
Nashville, TN

#135 It’s Now Or Never (1960)
It’s Now Or Never (Single)
Nashville, TN

“It’s Now Or Never,” which offers new lyrics to the tune of “O Sole Mio,” becomes a number one hit and Elvis’ biggest seller.

#136 Such A Night (Alternate-1960)
Fame And Fortune
Nashville, TN Take 1

#137 Are You Lonesome Tonight (1960)
Are You Lonesome Tonight (Single)
Nashville, TN

“Are You Lonesome Tonight” tops the chart.

Comparing the stellar recordings of “Are You Lonesome Tonight” or “Can’t Help Falling In Love” (1961) against “Love Me Tender” (1956) illustrate how much Elvis’ voice had matured by the early 1960s.

#138 Reconsider Baby (1960)
Elvis Is Back!
Nashville, TN

Either “Reconsider Baby” or “Santa Claus Is Back In Town” (1957) is Elvis’ best blues number. Here, he is aided by Boots Randolph on saxophone. A perfect track.

With a solid album, several successful singles, and a brief television appearance on The Frank Sinatra-Timex Show (ABC) under his belt, Elvis is back in Hollywood and in uniform for the comedy G.I. Blues.

#139 Doin’ The Best I Can (Alternate-1960)
Close Up
Hollywood, CA Take 12

Compared to his other top-notch 1960 albums, Elvis Is Back! and His Hand In Mine, the G.I. Blues soundtrack is a mixed bag of often mediocre or worse material. It is also the biggest seller of the three, proving Parker’s concept that the soundtracks would promote the movies while the movies would promote the soundtracks. It sets an unfortunate precedent that will recur multiple times in the 1960s.

#140 Pocketful Of Rainbows (1960)
G.I. Blues
Hollywood, CA

Don Siegel (Invasion of the Body Snatchers [1956], Dirty Harry [1971]) directs Elvis in his second movie of 1960, Flaming Star. The western, which includes minimal singing, features Elvis as a half-Native American, half-white character. Compared to G.I. Blues, the drama finds only moderate success at the box office.

In 1963, artist Andy Warhol would make a series of popular works based on a publicity still from Flaming Star, including Triple Elvis.

#141 Surrender (1960)
Surrender (Single)
Nashville, TN

“Surrender” becomes a number one hit.

#142 Crying In The Chapel (1960)
Crying In The Chapel (Single)
Nashville, TN

Elvis records “Crying In The Chapel” for His Hand In Mine, but it is left off the 1960 album. Though not released until 1965, “Crying In The Chapel” peaks at #3.

#143 Working On The Building (1960)
His Hand In Mine
Nashville, TN

#144 Lonely Man (Alternate-1960)
Today, Tomorrow & Forever
Hollywood, CA Solo-Take 1

From “Lonely Man”: “Searching, always searching for something he can’t find.”

In only six years, including two spent in the Army, Elvis has climbed from humble truck driver to the very top of the entertainment world—an ascent almost impossible to imagine.

Elvis Presley will return in The Elvis Odyssey Part IV: Valley Of Echoes.

Assorted Rambles

¹⁴While my posts for The Elvis Odyssey primarily look at the pop charts, an RCA reissue of “I Forgot To Remember To Forget” actually hit number one on the country & western charts prior to the success of “Heartbreak Hotel.”

I should also note that the (perhaps dubious) source I am using primarily for chart information is the 1987 double LP The Top Ten Hits, which is largely for nostalgic reasons. Though not made clear, I believe this album uses a combination of Billboard pop charts for its reference tables on the back cover.

If other charts are considered, such as Cashbox, Elvis’ hit total expands even further. However, I’m choosing to draw the line with The Top Ten Hits because it was a favorite of my teen years.↩︎

¹⁵That’s Southern for “wasn’t” or, in this case, “weren’t.”↩︎

Sources for Elvis Quotes

^QAugust 24, 1969, Dinner Show, Las Vegas, NV↩︎

^RMarch 24, 1956, Interview, New York, NY↩︎

^SAugust 6, 1956, Interview, Lakeland, FL↩︎

^Tca. July 1972 Interview↩︎

^UApril 15, 1956, Interview, San Antonio, TX↩︎

^VJune 9, 1972, Press Conference, New York, NY↩︎

^WAugust 24, 1969, Dinner Show, Las Vegas, NV↩︎

^XAugust 24, 1969, Dinner Show, Las Vegas, NV↩︎

^YJuly 1, 1956, Interview, New York, NY↩︎

^ZJune 27, 1968, 6 PM Show, Burbank, CA↩︎

^AAAugust 24, 1969, Dinner Show, Las Vegas, NV↩︎

^AA1ca. Late 1956, Phone Interview with “Buddy”↩︎

^ABAugust 24, 1969, Dinner Show, Las Vegas, NV↩︎

^ACAugust 24, 1969, Dinner Show, Las Vegas, NV↩︎

^ADSeptember 22, 1958, Interview, New York, NY↩︎

^AEAugust 24, 1969, Dinner Show, Las Vegas, NV↩︎

“Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.”
Psalm 112:4

Elvis Movies: JAILHOUSE ROCK

May 27, 2024January 30, 2026 / TY / 1 Comment

Hey folks, I didn’t expect it to be this long between posts but here I am. It’s been over a year since the last entry in my random rewatch of Elvis Presley movies. It sure doesn’t feel that long ago. As a great philosopher once asked, “Ain’t it funny how time slips away?”

Elvis’ 3rd movie was called Jailhouse Rock. It is the 2nd of 3 Elvis movies shot in black & white, which certainly adds to the gritty tone.

“Elvis in Action as Never Before!”

Jailhouse Rock (MGM)
Wide Release: November 8, 1957 (United States)
Starring: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy
Screen Play By: Guy Trosper
Story By: Ned Young
Music Supervised By: Jeff Alexander
Produced By: Pandro S. Berman
Directed By: Richard Thorpe
Running Time: 96 Minutes

Elvis Presley stars in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK (MGM)

Elvis stars in Jailhouse Rock as Vince Everett, a tractor driver who has just received his weekly paycheck. As is his custom, he cashes the check at the neighborhood bar and then arm wrestles the proprietor. After losing, Vince good-naturedly buys a round of drinks for everyone at the bar. The film soon takes a dark turn when another patron roughs up a woman for talking to Vince. Vince tells him to leave her alone.

“Look, buster, you want some teeth knocked out? Just keep it up,” warns the man.

“You scare me,” says Vince. “Woman-beaters always scare me.”

This being an Elvis movie, a fistfight of course ensues.

Much like in Loving You, released earlier in 1957, the fight concludes with the Elvis character punching his opponent into a jukebox. In Loving You, the Presley Maneuver causes the jukebox to turn on. In Jailhouse Rock, it turns the jukebox off.

Unlike most Elvis movies, though, this fight turns out to have lethal consequences. When the woman-beater dies, Vince is convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 1 to 10 years in the state penitentiary. If only he had cashed his check at a bank instead of a bar.

Before we go much further, I want to jump back for a moment to the credits. I love the opening theme of Jailhouse Rock, an overture of sorts that includes instrumental renditions of portions of “Baby, I Don’t Care,” “Jailhouse Rock,” and “Young And Beautiful.”

This jazzy version of “Jailhouse Rock” is quite a treat. I played trumpet in our middle school jazz band, and when I first saw the movie on TV as a teenager back then, the “Jailhouse Rock” instrumental reminded me of the arrangement we were using for the same song.

Mickey Shaughnessy is Hunk Houghton in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK (MGM)

Anyway, Vince shares a cell with Hunk Houghton (Mickey Shaughnessy), a washed-up country singer. Hunk is near the end of an 18-year term for robbing a bank. Despite some of the variances, Jailhouse Rock is still an Elvis movie, so Hunk of course has a guitar hanging on the prison cell wall that draws Vince’s attention. Though Hunk is annoyed at first, he softens and teaches Vince some chords. When Hunk tells him about his 10-year career, Vince says, “I never heard of anybody paying money to hear a guitar player” and Elvis seems barely able to hold a straight face delivering the line. He is, after all, the highest paid “guitar player” in the world by this point.

Elvis performs Vince’s early songs in Jailhouse Rock as intentionally flat and tentative, reflecting the character’s inexperience with singing. However, Hunk hears something in the young man and offers him a spot in Breath of a Nation, a nationwide television special he is producing for the warden. You see, a state inspection committee is coming to review prison conditions, and the warden wants the prisoners to put on a show as a smokescreen. Conditions at this prison must be pretty rough to require a national television special to cover things up.

Vince sings “I Want To Be Free” in his segment, and, unlike Hunk or anyone else, he receives a large bag full of fan mail from all over the country. Hunk sees to it that Vince does not learn of the mail, saving face with the mailroom workers by saying he made a mistake by giving Vince the best spot in the show. He soon offers Vince a partnership contract for the pair to perform together and split everything 50/50. Great shades of Colonel Parker!

“Alone, son, you’d be like a lamb in a pack of wolves,” Hunk tells him. Vince signs the contract, thinking that the deal is in his favor since Hunk is the established “star.”

The State Pen in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK (MGM)

Soon thereafter, a food fight turned riot breaks out in the prison over the poor conditions. Hunk tries to get Vince back to their cell, but a guard roughly handles Vince. Having apparently not yet learned his lesson from the barroom brawl, Vince swings his fists. He is caught and whipped. Outtakes of this scene surfaced on the 1993 VHS Elvis In Hollywood: The 50s. The original Jailhouse Rock film trailer also shows a clip that did not make it to the final film where Vince lunges at the warden when the guards untie his hands after the whipping.

Back in their cell, Hunk states that he tried to pay off the guards to prevent Vince’s whipping but he didn’t have enough money. He emphasizes the importance of having money to Vince and also teaches him his twisted version of the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as they would do unto you, only do it first.”

Hunk still has 10 months to go, but Vince is released from prison after serving 14 months – including 2 extra months for the riot incident. The warden gives Vince his remaining pay from the state. He also gives him the large bag of fan mail from the television special 8 months earlier. Vince realizes that Hunk helped keep the letters secret.

Vince buys a guitar from a pawnshop and goes to a bar where Hunk has arranged a job for him with an old contact. There, he meets Peggy Van Alden (Judy Tyler), who looks at some indicators inside of a jukebox and makes notes. He is curious what she is up to, but she is not impressed at all that Vince is a singer. However, she does say she’ll tell him more about her job if he buys her a fresh drink.

“Buy your own drink,” Vince says, wryly – no doubt remembering that the last time he bought a woman a drink in a bar he ended up in prison.

Judy Tyler is Peggy Van Alden and Elvis Presley is Vince Everett in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK (MGM)

“Is yours the approved manner with ladies in the backwoods?” Peggy fires back at him, but then goes on to explain that she is an “exploitation man” in the record business. “I work for Mickey Alba, you’ve heard of him?”

“Word sometimes gets to the backwoods,” says Vince. Alba (Don Burnett with vocals by Bill Lee) is a popular singer along the lines of Pat Boone.

Vince meets the bar’s owner, thinking he is going to be hired on as a singer. However, it turns out the job Hunk secured for him is as a barboy, essentially a bartender’s helper (“make setups, bring ice”). Vince is disappointed and forces his way on stage. Hey, it’s Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and DJ Fontana! Elvis’ real band! And Mike Stoller (composer of “Jailhouse Rock” and many other Elvis classics) on piano. Vince sings, “Young And Beautiful.” The owner actually seems to like the song, but a guy keeps laughing and carrying on in the audience, distracting both him and Vince.

Finally, Vince jumps from the stage and smashes his guitar into the obnoxious patron’s table. However, he refrains from killing him. That’s called character development.

Vince storms out, with Peggy trailing. “Hey, you forgot something,” she calls.

“What?”

“Me!”

So, before this re-watch, it had been over a decade since I last saw Jailhouse Rock. While I’ve always liked it, in fact it’s one of my favorite Elvis movies, I never really saw much chemistry between Vince and Peggy. Watching it through this time, though, I disagree with my past self. Now I see it.

Anyway, Peggy suggests Vince make a recording of himself to discover what’s wrong with his singing. This is not as simple a task as it is these days. Vince rents out a recording studio for $20 to make a demonstration recording. Peggy supplies a borrowed guitar and the background musicians. It’s Scotty, Bill, DJ, and Mike again! I guess Peggy knew them from the bar.

Vince records a faltering version of “Don’t Leave Me Now.” However, Peggy loosens him up a bit, and he also decides to ditch the guitar. He tries again, and they decide the resulting demo is good enough to shop around to the record labels. Jack Lease (Peter Adams), Peggy’s contact at Geneva Records, which is Mickey Alba’s label, seems unimpressed, but he decides to borrow the tape to play over the phone to someone else in New York later.

After it turns out to be a rejection anyway, Vince shows up disgruntled and late for a dinner meeting with Peggy. Even when she tells him the good news that she has gotten them a deal with another label, Deltona Records, he is still rude to her. He just wants to brood. “When the money starts rolling in, then I’ll say I’m happy,” he says.

After a celebratory steak dinner, they head out to meet Peggy’s parents, who are having a party. They seem to know all about Vince, including that he sold his first record that day. However, Peggy has not told them about his stay in the state penitentiary. He expects this information to shock them, but it does not phase them. Instead, they start the record player and a technical discussion begins about jazz.

Another guest tries to involve Vince. “I say atonality is just a passing phase in jazz music. What do you think, Mr. Everett?”

Vince’s response is classic and one that I’ve had to bite my tongue not to use in various situations over the years: “Lady, I don’t know what the hell you talking about.”

Judy Tyler is Peggy Van Alden and Elvis Presley is Vince Everett in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK (MGM)

He storms out, and Peggy chases after him again. She is angry and embarrassed by his behavior – noting they were only trying to draw him into the conversation.

“They can shove their conversation,” he retorts. “I’m not even sure they were talking English!”

When Vince decides to walk home after their bickering, Peggy says, “I think I’m gonna just hate you.”

“You ain’t gonna hate me. I ain’t gonna let you hate me.” He grabs and kisses her.

“How dare you think such cheap tactics would work with me,” she exclaims. He kisses her again.

“That ain’t tactics, honey. That’s just the beast in me.”

On paper, the scene sounds creepy, but it is extremely well-executed by both performers – one of the best acted scenes in any Elvis movie.

Vince half-heartedly apologizes to Peggy on the way into the record store on the release day of “Don’t Leave Me Now.”

The girl at the cash register states that the record is flying off the shelves. Vince asks for a half dozen copies. Peggy looks alarmed when she sees the stack of records, and Vince looks over one curiously, reading aloud, “‘Don’t Leave Me Now’ by Mickey Alba? Geneva Record Company.” It turns out that Lease, the Geneva executive, only borrowed the tape so Alba could copy Vince’s arrangement and style. Vince’s record is gone – somehow squashed by Geneva.

Vince makes an unscheduled visit to Lease. “You’re a thievin’ rat” Vince exclaims and goes to punch him. However, seeing as how no jukebox is available to land the body on, he just slaps him a couple of times instead. “Go back under your rock, you snake!”

Later, he speaks of his time in prison to Peggy: “On the inside, they’re cub scouts compared to Jack Lease. If you make something, they might steal it from you, but they’d be too honorable to say they made it themselves.”

Vince suggests they start their own record company, and they form Laurel Records – splitting things 60/40. “I’m the artist, don’t forget,” Vince explains when Peggy at first objects to holding only 40%. After Peggy agrees to the deal, they have the following conversation – illustrating how they are both on different pages.

“This really calls for a celebration, Vince.”

“Do you know a lawyer? We need a good one. . .”

“Do you know how to dance?” asks Peggy.

“. . .A guy with an eye for a buck. Do you know a lawyer?”

Peggy is disappointed. “Yeah, I know a lawyer. Mr. Shores. . .”

After Vince makes it clear he is only interested in money, they form the record company. Vince records “Treat Me Nice,” which becomes a big hit. Vince makes reservations at a fancy restaurant to celebrate with Peggy but is disappointed when she points out that he failed to make reservations with her. She has a date, and states, “Vince, I will not be subject to your beck and call.” Go, Peggy! That’s a bold stance in 1957, especially in the male-dominated world of Jailhouse Rock.

Despite emotional setbacks, Vince’s career continues to skyrocket, including appearances in Las Vegas. After Vince agrees to do an NBC television special, Peggy shows up to ask him to record more records. Vince is rude to her, but reaches out right as she is leaving, almost like he wants to apologize or say something else – but his heart is still too hardened to get the words out. As Peggy exits, Hunk returns – fresh out of prison and looking for his spot in the TV special.

Elvis Presley is Vince Everett in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK (MGM)

The character of Vince is an unusual one in the Elvis cinematic universe. For most of the film, as many have pointed out over the years, Vince is a conceited jerk seemingly obsessed with money. Most of Elvis’ characters are likable guys cut from the same cloth. Vince is different, primarily due to his stay in prison, and offers a refreshing change of pace from the run-of-the-mill Elvis character. Vince should not be dismissed as a complete jerk, however. In several scenes, Elvis convincingly displays the emotional turmoil going on inside the man. He outwardly says he is all about the money, but you can also see that he loves Peggy and even Hunk.

In the music department, Jailhouse Rock is more than solid. The title song is a bonafide Elvis masterpiece. While the single version, one of Elvis’ greatest recordings, is used as the underlying track here in the film, the guitar riff opening of the song is unnecessarily hacked off. The screen version of the song is also hampered by awful overdubs of instruments and backing male vocals. Only the strength of Elvis’ underlying performance and the stellar production number save the tune. What were they thinking?

“Baby, I Don’t Care” and “Treat Me Nice” are also fantastic renditions. While “Young And Beautiful” is not quite up to the same par established by those three songs, it is still a lovely performance. “I Want To Be Free” and “Don’t Leave Me Now” serve their purposes well in the context of the film as does Mickey Shaughnessy’s “One More Day” — which is reminiscent of the classic folk song “Sixteen Tons.”

Vince Everett (Elvis Presley) sings “Baby, I Don’t Care” at a pool party as a guitarist (Scotty Moore) plays along in the background in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK (MGM)

There is an oft-noted continuity error in Jailhouse Rock. During the “Baby, I Don’t Care” scene, guitarist Scotty Moore is shown wearing sunglasses in the wide shots but no eyewear in the closeups.

Vince Everett (Elvis Presley) sings “Baby, I Don’t Care” at a pool party as a band (Bill Black, DJ Fontana, Scotty Moore, Mike Stoller) plays along in the background in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK (MGM)

Another error is one I just noticed for the first time – a 1957 calendar is shown on the wall during a strikethrough sequence when Vince is in prison. When the calendar page is ripped down to show the next year, it is a 1957 calendar again. Talk about a life sentence! For the purposes of the Action File at the end of this post for Vince Everett, my conjecture is that the initial calendar was supposed to represent 1956 and that he was released in 1957.

One supposed error that is sometimes referenced with this film is that the prison ID number stamped on Vince’s shirt changes. Vince’s number is consistent during the penitentiary portions of the movie, however. Later, during the “Jailhouse Rock” production number, well after he has been released from actual prison, Vince wears a costume with a different number stamped on it. One was the character’s actual prison garb, the other was simply a costume. So calling it an error is . . . an error.

When Vince makes it to Hollywood, he takes his leading lady (played by Jennifer Holden) to Knott’s Berry Farm – a real amusement park in California that is still open to the public, including the “Old West” town represented in Jailhouse Rock.

A photographer prepares to take a souvenir picture of Vince Everett (Elvis Presley) and Sherry Wilson (Jennifer Holden) at Knott’s Berry Farm in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK (MGM)

Elvis released 33 movies during his lifetime, but Jailhouse Rock is one of only a small handful that is a serious contender as his very best. It was inducted into the US Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 2004, the only Elvis movie to achieve this honor.

Just a few days after filming wrapped on Jailhouse Rock, actress Judy Tyler (Peggy) was killed at the age of 24 in a horrific car accident on July 3, 1957. Tyler’s husband and a passenger in another vehicle were also killed in the crash.

Elvis was devastated and according to many sources never watched the completed movie. Peter Guralnick & Ernst Jorgensen’s Elvis: Day By Day – The Definitive Record Of His Life And Music, however, notes that Elvis watched a special screening of the film with his parents on October 2, 1957. The book provides no further details, nor does Guralnick’s Last Train To Memphis: The Rise Of Elvis Presley, but perhaps Elvis was unable to finish the screening — thus validating both versions of the story.

Judy Tyler is Peggy Van Alden in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK (MGM)

Jaihouse Rock was Tyler’s second and final movie. Her first, Bop Girl Goes Calypso, hit theaters only a couple of weeks after her death. While Jailhouse Rock, released in November 1957, carries no dedication to Tyler – I am not even sure that kind of thing was done back then – there is a moment in the closing scene during “Young And Beautiful” where the edit seems to linger on her more than it perhaps otherwise would have. In the magic of the movies, she will indeed remain forever young and beautiful.

Boldly Go

Multiple uncredited cast members from Jailhouse Rock went on to play roles in Star Trek.

K.L. Smith appears in the opening bar scene in Jailhouse Rock and appears as a Klingon in the Star Trek episode “Elaan Of Troyius” in 1968. Eagle-eyed readers will note that I also referenced Smith in a previous “Boldly Go” installment for his appearance in 1964’s Roustabout. Speaking of eagle eyes, thank you once again to Elvis movie superfan Gary Wells for pointing out where Smith shows up in Jailhouse Rock for me.

Elvis Presley and K.L. Smith in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK (MGM)

K.L. Smith is a Klingon captain in the 1968 STAR TREK episode “Elaan Of Troyius” (Paramount)

Other cross-overs include:

Buzz Barbee [Jailhouse Rock: Apartment party guest | Star Trek: Ambassador Fox’s aide in “A Taste Of Armageddon” (1967) and maiden voyage official in Star Trek Generations (1994)]
Albert Cavens [Jailhouse Rock: Nightclub patron | Star Trek: Klingon crewmember in “Day Of The Dove” (1968) and fop 2 in “All Our Yesterdays” (1969)]
Noble “Kid” Chissell [Jailhouse Rock: Convict | Star Trek: Server in “The City On The Edge Of Forever” (1967)]
Richard Dial [Jailhouse Rock: Minor role | Star Trek: Sam in “The Devil In The Dark” (1967), Kaplan in “The Apple” (1967), security guard in “And The Children Shall Lead” (1968) and Fabrini guard in “For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky” (1968)]
Shep Houghton [Jailhouse Rock: Nightclub patron | Star Trek: Cameraman in “Bread And Circuses” (1968)]
Arthur Tovey [Jailhouse Rock: Record shop owner in montage | Star Trek: Vulcan citizen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)]

Elvis Presley is Vince Everett and Mickey Shaughnessy is Hunk Houghton in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK (MGM)

Jailhouse Rock Tote Board

Punches: 23
Songs: 15
Kisses: 12
Storm-Outs: 4
Slaps: 2

Songs In Jailhouse Rock

Mickey Shaughnessy: “One More Day” (1957) [performed twice], written by Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett
Elvis Presley: “Young And Beautiful” (1957) [performed 3 times], written by Abner Silver & Aaron Schroeder
Elvis Presley: “I Want To Be Free” (1957), written by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
“Don’t Leave Me Now” (1957) [performed three times by Elvis Presley and once by Bill Lee], written by Aaron Schroeder & Ben Weisman
Elvis Presley: “Treat Me Nice” (1957) [performed three times], written by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
Elvis Presley: “Jailhouse Rock” (1957), written by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
Elvis Presley: “Baby, I Don’t Care” (1957), written by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller

The Mystery Train’s Jailhouse Rock Scorecard

Story: 8 (out of 10)
Acting: 10
Entertainment Value: 8
Songs: 9
Overall: 9 (Must See)

Jailhouse Rock Around The Web

Hey Dullblog – “Some thoughts on ‘Jailhouse Rock'” by Michael Gerber
Elvis Today – “The trailer outtakes” | “Jailhouse Rock – colorized version” by Thomas Melin
Moody Blue Elvis – “Elvis In The Movies: Jailhouse Rock (1957)” by Ashley Renay
Graceland Blog – “Flippy, Real Flippy: ‘Jailhouse Rock’ at 60”
Scotty Moore: The Official Website – “Harmony Stella H929 used in Jailhouse Rock” | “Maton HG100 used in Jailhouse Rock” by James V. Roy
Internet Movie Cars Database – “Jailhouse Rock, Movie, 1957”

Click image for larger, color version

“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you.”
Luke 6:27-31 NLT

Elvis Movies: ROUSTABOUT

March 31, 2022January 30, 2026 / TY / 8 Comments

Earlier this year, I began a rewatch of Elvis Presley’s movies. Today’s focus is one that I have not seen as often as some of the others – Elvis’ 16th movie, Roustabout.

“Elvis Presley as a Roving, Restless, Reckless, Roustabout”

Roustabout (Paramount)
Wide Release: November 11, 1964 (United States)
Starring: Elvis Presley, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Freeman
Screenplay By: Anthony Lawrence and Allan Weiss
Story By: Allan Weiss
Music Score By: Joseph J. Lilley
Produced By: Hal B. Wallis
Directed By: John Rich
Running Time: 101 Minutes

Elvis Presley is Charlie Rogers in 1964’s ROUSTABOUT (Paramount)

In Roustabout, Elvis Presley stars as Charlie Rogers, a singer who ends up working at a carnival when Joe (Leif Erickson), a grouchy old carny, runs him off the road, damaging his motorcycle and destroying his guitar. Ah, Elvis Movies, you gotta love ’em.

The Morgan Shows carnival in 1964’s ROUSTABOUT (Paramount)

Despite the inane setup, Roustabout is pretty good! When Maggie (Barbara Stanwyck), the owner of the carnival, pays for a new guitar and repairs to his motorcycle, Charlie stays on as a roustabout until his bike is ready in order to spend more time with Cathy (Joan Freeman), Joe’s daughter. Joe, of course, is not amused by this turn of events.

Joan Freeman is Cathy and Elvis Presley is Charlie in 1964’s ROUSTABOUT (Paramount)

Outside of this movie, “roustabout” is not a term I have encountered. It essentially means an unskilled laborer. It seems to be used most often today in the oil rigging industry. In this case, Charlie does odd jobs at the carnival, such as helping to set up rides or even filling in at a candy apple stand.

When attempting to attract players for a game that Cathy is promoting, Charlie winds up singing and drawing a crowd. His roustabout days are soon behind him, for Maggie signs him on as a singer instead.

Charlie Rogers (Elvis Presley) begins to draw a crowd for Morgan Shows when the carnival signs him on as a singer in 1964’s ROUSTABOUT (Paramount)

It turns out that Maggie has a habit of bailing Joe out of trouble, and her carnival is facing financial ruin because of it. Charlie brings in the teen money, and the situation begins to improve until things come to a head between him and Joe, causing Charlie to switch to a rival carnival.

Barbara Stanwyck is Maggie Morgan in 1964’s ROUSTABOUT (Paramount)

Elvis does a fine job acting in certain parts of Roustabout. A scene between him and Barbara Stanwyck is my favorite of the film:

Charlie: “You collect strays, Maggie. And you got one in Joe. Why don’t you stop recruiting? They don’t make a family.”
Maggie: “What would you know about a family?”
Charlie: “Nothing!”

After Maggie walks away and can no longer hear him, Charlie repeats the line again, softly, sadly: “Nothing…” It is a quick moment, but certainly one of Elvis’ best in his 1960s movies.

Elvis Presley is Charlie Rogers in 1964’s ROUSTABOUT (Paramount)

The rebellious Charlie is reminiscent of some of Elvis’ earliest film roles. For instance, Charlie remarks early on, “Look, if you’re not tough in this world, you get squashed, honey.” These words could have been taken right out of Vince Everett’s mouth in Jailhouse Rock (1957). Charlie also has traces of Deke Rivers from Loving You (1957) and even a little bit of Danny Fisher from King Creole (1958). At 29 during production of Roustabout, however, Elvis does seem a little old at times to be playing a rebel.

Even some of Elvis’ mannerisms in Roustabout remind me of his 1950s presence, otherwise left out of many of his 1960s movies. Elvis’ performance of “One Track Heart” in Roustabout, for instance, is quite reminiscent of his 1956 “Blue Suede Shoes” screen test, except with a less exciting song. Later on, during “Hard Knocks,” he does his more typical 1960s movie hand-clapping thing, though.

Elvis’ natural flair for comedy comes into play a few times in Roustabout. One example:

Cathy: “You must get your face slapped a lot.”
Charlie: “About 50–50.”

Pat Buttram does a terrific job playing the villainous Harry, the owner of the big-time carnival that is looking to put Maggie out of business. Another great couple of lines:

Charlie: “Not everybody is as big a crook as you are, Harry.”
Harry: “Well, everybody tries.”

Pat Buttram is Harry and Elvis Presley is Charlie in 1964’s ROUSTABOUT (Paramount)

Charlie’s show goes over well, and Harry asks him to do an encore. “Nah,” says Charlie. “Always leave ’em wanting more.” This phrase, of course, was the philosophy of a real-life carny huckster, “Colonel” Tom Parker, when it came to managing Elvis. Parker also served as technical advisor on Roustabout and most of Elvis’ other films.

I try not to review soundtrack albums in this series, focusing any discussion of songs instead on how they appear in the movies themselves. However, I do want to point out in this case that Roustabout has one of the worst soundtrack albums – with nary a hit or highlight in sight. I was surprised, then, that just about all of the songs work perfectly in the context of the actual film. Perhaps based on the fun of seeing the movie, fans propelled the otherwise lackluster Roustabout soundtrack to Billboard‘s number one album position in January 1965. It would be over eight years before Elvis scored another number one album (1973’s Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite).

Joan Freeman is Cathy and Elvis Presley is Charlie in 1964’s ROUSTABOUT (Paramount)

Elvis Presley in a production number taped for 1968’s ELVIS television special (NBC)

Roustabout obviously had an influence on some of the production numbers created for the 1968 ELVIS television special, even down to costuming. The denim outfit that Elvis wears at times in the movie is almost identical to one he wears during portions of the special, for instance. Roustabout is also one of the few times we see Elvis in leather prior to the special. The barker lines on the ELVIS-TV Special soundtrack album might even have been directly lifted from recordings made for this movie. The performance of “Little Egypt” in the ’68 special is better than the cringey one in Roustabout, incidentally, though the outdated song is a detriment to both productions anyway.

Charlie Rogers (Elvis Presley) at Harry’s carnival in 1964’s ROUSTABOUT (Paramount)

Boldly Go

Multiple uncredited cast members from Roustabout went on to play roles in Star Trek.

K.L. Smith plays the Sheriff in Roustabout and appears as a Klingon in the Star Trek episode “Elaan Of Troyius” in 1968.

Elvis Presley is Charlie and K.L. Smith is the Sheriff in 1964’s ROUSTABOUT (Paramount)

K.L. Smith is a Klingon captain in the 1968 STAR TREK episode “Elaan Of Troyius” (Paramount)

Other cross-overs include:

Dick Cherney [Roustabout: Carnival patron | Star Trek: A council member in “A Taste Of Armageddon” (1967) and a passerby in “The City On The Edge Of Forever” (1967)]
Carey Foster [Roustabout: College girl | Star Trek: An Enterprise crewmember in “The Squire Of Gothos” (1967), “This Side Of Paradise” (1967), and “The Alternative Factor” (1967)]
Teri Garr [Roustabout: Carnival dancer | Star Trek: Roberta Lincoln in “Assignment: Earth” (1968)]
Marianna Hill [Roustabout: Viola | Star Trek: Helen Noel in “Dagger Of The Mind” (1966)]
Jesse Wayne [Roustabout: Carnival worker | Star Trek: Chekov stunt double in “The Tholian Web” (1968)]

Some of these players will show up again in other Elvis movies not yet covered, giving them another chance to be featured here on The Mystery Train Elvis Blog.

An honorable mention goes to Elvis’ pal Lance LeGault, who appears as a barker in Roustabout and plays Captain K’Temoc in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Emissary” in 1989.

Elvis Presley takes a pummeling as Charlie Rogers in 1964’s ROUSTABOUT (Paramount)

Roustabout Tote Board

- Songs: 12
- Punches: 11
- Kisses: 8
- Karate Chops: 4
- Slaps: 2
- Motorcycle Crashes: 2

Songs In Roustabout

“Roustabout” (1964), written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum, & Florence Kay
“Poison Ivy League” (1964), written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum, & Florence Kay
“Wheels On My Heels” (1964), written by Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett
“It’s A Wonderful World” (1964), written by Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett
“It’s Carnival Time” (1964) [performed twice], written by Ben Weisman & Sid Wayne
“Carny Town” (1964), written by Fred Wise & Randy Starr
“One Track Heart” (1964), written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum, & Florence Kay
“Hard Knocks” (1964), written by Joy Byers
“Little Egypt” (1964), written by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
“Big Love, Big Heartache” (1964), written by Dolores Fuller, Lee Morris, & Sonny Hendrix
“There’s A Brand New Day On The Horizon” (1964), written by Joy Byers

The Mystery Train’s Roustabout Scorecard

Story: 6 (out of 10)
Acting: 8
Fun: 8
Songs: 6
Overall: 7 (Worth Watching)

Roustabout Around The Web

Click image for larger, full-color version

“Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, ‘I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.’ ‘Agreed!’ Laban replied. ‘I’d rather give her to you than to anyone else. Stay and work with me.’ So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.”
Genesis 29:18-20

King Creole: The Making Of The Movie

March 23, 2013January 30, 2026 / TY / 2 Comments

Elvis Presley in King Creole, 1958

King Creole was based on the 1952 novel A Stone For Danny Fisher by Harold Robbins. The novel’s protagonist is a boxer in New York, which the movie adapted into a singer in New Orleans to better suit audience expectations of its star, Elvis Presley. Elvis read the novel as part of his preparations for the role of Danny Fisher.

Producer Hal Wallis had been trying to get the film version of A Stone For Danny Fisher off the ground since 1955, long before Elvis was attached to the project. At that time, A Stone For Danny Fisher was also playing as an off-Broadway production.

James Dean was even rumored to have been in the running for the movie’s lead at one point. This was Wallis’ second Elvis movie. He would go on to produce nine Elvis movies in all.

Hal Wallis: “Michael Curtiz directed the film and he has a very sharp but romantic instinct. Walter Matthau made an excellent heavy and we had marvelous locations in New Orleans” (1).

Controversy swirled around King Creole before shooting even began. In late 1957, Elvis received his draft notice ordering him into the US Army as of January 1958.

With production slated to begin in Hollywood that same month, Paramount requested a deferment from the Memphis draft board, citing $300,000 it had already pumped into the movie during pre-production. Milton Bowers of the draft board replied that a deferment might be possible under the circumstances, but that Elvis would have to be the one to request it.

On Christmas Eve, 1957, Elvis wrote a letter requesting extra time before reporting to the Army in order to make King Creole. He completed the letter by wishing a “Merry Christmas” to the draft board members. Bowers and the draft board indeed granted his extension request, but soon received heat from other organizations – including the national chapter of the American Legion – calling for the immediate induction of Elvis.

Milton Bowers: “You know what made me angry about the entire thing is that he would have automatically gotten the extension if he hadn’t been Elvis Presley the superstar” (2).

Elvis Presley: “I’m glad they were nice enough to let me make this picture because I think it will be the best one I’ve made” (3).

On January 10, 1958, just two days after celebrating his 23rd birthday, Elvis departed Memphis on a train for Los Angeles. He brought along several friends, including Alan Fortas.

Alan Fortas: “Every town we passed through, no matter what time of morning or night, the whole station was jam-packed. These people knew as soon as Elvis finished this movie, he was going in the Army, so most of them considered it the last time to see him. […] People knew and they were lined up along the tracks all the way across America” (4).

Elvis arrived in Hollywood on January 13 and reported for pre-production. During the week, he also began work on the soundtrack at Radio Recorders.

During pre-production, the movie was titled Sing, You Sinners. This title was changed to Danny, and finally King Creole, based on the strength of the rock ‘n’ roll tune Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote for the soundtrack.

Filming began on January 20. Many of Elvis’ early scenes were with Jan Shepard, who played his sister, Mimi.

Jan Shepard: “[W]e worked together alone for about a week, because we did the opening of the show. He was […] just a lot of fun and buoyant, not guarded at all. There was a five-and-dime store on our set, and in the morning I would find earrings and little bracelets, little five-and-dime stuff on my dressing room table. I used to call him the last of the big-time spenders!” (5)

Because of his character’s name, Elvis often sang “Danny Boy” on set. He would return to the folk song many times over the years, including a 1959 home recording captured while he was stationed in Germany (available on the posthumous release A Golden Celebration). He formally recorded the song in 1976 at Graceland for the album From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee. An organist played the song at the beginning of Elvis’ funeral in 1977.

Dolores Hart appeared as Nellie, one of Danny’s love interests. She had previously appeared with Elvis in 1957’s Loving You, also a Hal Wallis production.

Elvis Presley: “[King Creole] was quite a challenge for me because it was written for a more experienced actor” (6).

Dolores Hart: “Elvis, no matter what anyone says, deserves credit as a person of talent. There is no reason he shouldn’t soar to the heights the kings [of the screen] occupy now” (7).

Jan Shepard: “[Elvis] was very concentrated, very focused on playing Danny. For a kid coming in and just beginning his career he had a great sense of timing; there was great honesty in his acting. He was a very good listener, and he just became the young boy […]. Just like in his music, he really got involved in his acting” (5).

Walter Matthau played Fisher’s antagonist, Maxie Fields. It was his sixth film.

Walter Matthau in King Creole

Walter Matthau: “I almost hesitate, I creep up to the sentence, [Elvis] was an instinctive actor. Because that is almost a derogation of his talents. That’s saying, ‘Well, you know, he’s just a dumb animal who does it well by instinct.’ No, he was quite bright, too. He was very intelligent. Also, he was intelligent enough to understand what a character was and how to play the character simply by being himself through the means of the story” (8).

Michael Curtiz’s directing credits extended back to 1912. In addition to 1942’s Casablanca, for which he won an Oscar, his other work, from among nearly 200 films, included the 1937 original version of Kid Galahad, Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and White Christmas (1954). Curtiz was attached to King Creole before it was transformed into an Elvis movie.

Jan Shepard: “Curtiz said he thought Elvis was going to be a very conceited boy, but when he started working with him, he said, ‘No, this is a lovely boy, and he’s going to be a wonderful actor'” (5).

Walter Matthau: “Michael Curtiz used to call him Elvy and he’d call me Valty. He’d say, ‘Now Elvy and Valty, come here, now Valty, this is not Academy Award scene. Don’t act so much. You are high-price actor. Make believe you are low-price actor. Let Elvy act.’ But Elvy didn’t overact. He was not a punk. He was very elegant, sedate . . . refined and sophisticated” (8).

Jan Shepard: “You just didn’t have a lot of fooling around with Curtiz […]. But no matter what Curtiz would ask of Elvis, he would say, ‘Okay, you’re the boss'” (5).

Elvis performing at Jan Shepard’s birthday party on February 22, 1958. Also pictured is Dolores Hart on clarinet.

Hart threw a birthday party for Shepard on February 22. Elvis showed up with a stuffed tiger that he named “Danny Boy.” His birthday gift for Shepard was a movie camera, definitely not from the five-and-dime store. He also played guitar and sang at the party.

King Creole was the first Elvis movie to include location shooting. On March 1, the film’s cast and crew headed for New Orleans by train. At this point, Red West, Elvis’ friend since his high school days, and actor Nick Adams, who Elvis had befriended in 1956, joined up with the rest of his entourage for the trip.

Carolyn Jones played Ronnie, Danny’s other love interest. She brought her husband, actor Aaron Spelling, along for the train ride to New Orleans. The couple would divorce in 1964. Spelling later went on to produce dozens of television series, including Charlie’s Angels and Beverly Hills 90210.

Tom Parker, Elvis’ manager, expressed concerns about security on the location shoot to Wallis. Wallis assured Parker that they could handle it. After all, he had worked with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis at the peak of the duo’s popularity.

Alan Fortas: “There were thousands of people. Hal Wallis couldn’t believe it. […] I never saw so many people in my life. They declared it Elvis Presley Day and let the kids out of school and it took us two hours to get back to the hotel no matter where we were, even from across the street” (9).

In the French Quarter, the car carrying Elvis was almost overturned by the massive crowd.

Carolyn Jones: “[Elvis] had to ride in an old sedan, lying on the floor in the back, so his fans couldn’t mob him” (10).

Elvis took over the tenth floor of the Roosevelt Hotel, one block from where they were filming in the French Quarter. Hotel security was so tight that no one was admitted to the tenth floor. As a joke, Hart, Jones, and Adams armed themselves with toy guns and held up the elevator operator to force their way to Elvis’ floor. The elevator operator was not in on the joke and was apparently still shaken the next day.

Alan Fortas: “[W]e got on the elevator and we said, ‘Tenth floor, please.’ The elevator operator said, ‘No, sir, I can’t stop on the tenth floor. Mr. Presley is up there and we just can’t stop.’ Elvis was on the elevator with us and he said, ‘Yeah, I know. I’m Elvis.’ The elevator operator looked straight at him and said, ‘I’m sorry, sir, I can’t stop on that floor for anybody.’ We had to go to the eleventh floor and walk down” (9).

The film’s climax was shot at a house on stilts at Lake Pontchartrain. Elvis and Jones shared scenes there.

Carolyn Jones: “[Elvis] was always asking a lot of questions. God, he was young! I didn’t think anyone could be that young. He was always talking about his folks and about the house [Graceland] he’d just bought them” (8).

When onlookers at Lake Pontchartrain became unmanageable, Elvis had to escape through the back of the house to a motorboat that whisked him away.

Though Memphis was tantalizingly close, the group had to return by train to Hollywood to be released from King Creole. Elvis attended a wrap party on March 12, and then he and his friends were on yet another train. Destination: Memphis.

Alan Fortas: “We’d just sit and talk [on the train], try to write songs, try to sing. You know, just typical ol’ boys. But it got to us by the time we got to Dallas. We couldn’t take it any longer. So we got off that train and rented some Cadillacs and drove the rest of the way home” (11).

Elvis arrived home on March 14 and was inducted into the Army on March 24.

Paramount released King Creole throughout the United States on July 2. It peaked at #5 on the Variety charts. At this time, Private Presley was still stationed at Fort Hood in Texas.

Hal Wallis: “Now, although I don’t have all the figures, I believe that one of the least successful of Elvis’s films was King Creole. But that was my favorite!” (1)

Dolores Hart and Elvis Presley in King Creole

Dolores Hart and Elvis in King Creole

Dolores Hart: “Elvis is a young man with an enormous capacity of love . . . but I don’t think he has found his happiness. I think he is terribly lonely” (12).

According to longtime friend Sonny West, if Elvis had his way, he would have reunited with director Michael Curtiz when Elvis was cast in a remake of Kid Galahad, which filmed in late 1961 (13). This time, Elvis actually played a boxer, albeit a singing one. Despite Elvis’ campaign, Phil Karlson received the directing nod instead. Curtiz passed away in April 1962 at the age of 74.

Elvis later reunited with Jan Shepard in 1966’s Paradise, Hawaiian Style, in which she played Betty Kohana. Shepard had maintained a friendship with Hart after King Creole. By this time, the quality of Elvis’ movies had declined. While King Creole is a contender for Elvis’ best movie, Paradise, Hawaiian Style is a contender for his worst.

Jan Shepard: “One time [Elvis] asked about Dolores Hart, and we had a little bit of a conversation. In the quiet moments, he was still very sweet. When we reminisced about Creole, he said, ‘Honey, that was my favorite picture'” (14).

Bibliography

Careless Love: The Unmaking Of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick, Little, Brown And Company, Boston, 1999.
Down At The End Of Lonely Street: The Life And Death Of Elvis Presley by Peter Harry Brown and Pat H. Broeske, Dutton, New York, 1997.
ELVIS: The Biography by Jerry Hopkins, Plexus, London, 2007.
Elvis Commemorative Edition, compiled by Bill DeNight, Sharon Fox, and Ger Rijff, Publications International, Lincolnwood, IL, 2002.
Elvis Day By Day: The Definitive Record Of His Life And Music by Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen, Ballantine Books, New York, 1999.
The Elvis Encyclopedia by Adam Victor, Overlook Duckworth, New York, 2008.
Elvis: The Great Performances, dir. Andrew Solt, perf. Elvis Presley, 1989, DVD, SOFA, 2011.
Elvis: His Life From A To Z by Fred L. Worth and Steve D. Tamerius, Wings Books, New York, 1990.
Elvis In Private, edited by Peter Haining, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1987.
Elvis: Still Taking Care Of Business by Sonny West with Marshall Terrill, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2007.
Good Rockin’ Tonight: Twenty Years On The Road And On The Town With Elvis by Joe Esposito and Elena Oumano, Avon Books, New York, 1994.
Internet Movie Database, accessed March 23, 2013.
King Creole, dir. Michael Curtiz, perf. Elvis Presley, Carolyn Jones, and Walter Matthau, 1958, DVD, Paramount, 2000.
Last Train To Memphis: The Rise Of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick, Little, Brown And Company, Boston, 1994.
Viva Las Elvis: Celebrating The King, compiled by Peggy Thompson, Arsenal Pulp Press, Vancouver, 1994.

References

(1) Elvis In Private, p. 92
(2) Down At The End Of Lonely Street, p. 137
(3) Last Train To Memphis, p. 446
(4) ELVIS: The Biography, p. 129
(5) Last Train To Memphis, p. 450
(6) Last Train To Memphis, p. 456
(7) Elvis Commemorative Edition, p. 112
(8) Last Train To Memphis, p. 451
(9) ELVIS: The Biography, p. 130
(10) Down At The End Of Lonely Street, p. 139
(11) ELVIS: The Biography, p. 131
(12) Elvis: His Life From A To Z, p. 85
(13) Elvis: Still Taking Care Of Business, p. 120
(14) Careless Love, p. 209

My grandmother worked in the ticket booth of a theater for decades. I dedicate this series of movie posts to her, who would have turned 103 this month. I often remember her when I watch movies.

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The Elvis Odyssey

Part V: Electric Dawn

Assorted Rambles

Sources for Elvis Quotes

Additional Sources For The Entire Series/Further Reading

Update

January 18, 2026

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The Elvis Odyssey

Part IV: Valley of Echoes

Assorted Rambles

Sources for Elvis Quotes

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The Elvis Odyssey

Part III: Storming The Mountain

Assorted Rambles

Sources for Elvis Quotes

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Bibliography

References

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