Music From the Early Films of Elvis

ELVIS PRESLEY *** 1/2 “Jailhouse Rock” RCA

Presley made so many hapless movies that it’s easy to get the idea that his soundtrack albums should be avoided at all costs. And it’s good to be wary. Most of the ones from the ‘60s--such as “Clambake” and “Harum Scarum”--are numbingly uneventful.

But the music from Presley’s earliest films is worth attention, which is exactly what RCA has put into some interesting new packages. They are part of a major reissue push to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Elvis’ death on Aug. 16.

Because there were so few songs in Presley’s film debut, 1956’s “Love Me Tender,” and in his third film, 1957’s “Jailhouse Rock,” RCA simply released the music as seven-inch EPs back in the days of vinyl. For this CD, however, the label has combined the music from the films, along with various rarities and previously unreleased selections. That pushes the CD past the acceptable minimum length of 40 minutes.

Of the two films, “Jailhouse Rock” was far superior musically. The title song remains one of Presley’s signature hits, and the good-natured “Treat Me Nice” also reached the Top 20.

But the gem is Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller’s “(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care,” which featured one of the tautest arrangements and best vocals of any of Presley’s ‘50s RCA recordings. Oddly, the track was never released as a single, though Joni Mitchell had a modest hit with it in 1982.

One of the interesting sidelights of the album is that it contains both the movie version of “Jailhouse Rock” and “Treat Me Nice” as well as the far different hit single versions. Alternative renditions of the “Love Me Tender” material are also included.

*** 1/2 Elvis Presley, “Loving You,” RCA.

The music played such a prominent part in this 1957 film that RCA did issue it as a full album, adding miscellaneous recordings to fill out the skimpy, 27-minute package. The film itself was arguably Elvis’ most engaging because it tried, in its slick Hollywood way, to re-create the singer’s own unlikely rise to rock stardom from the Southern country-music circuit.

The songs from the film include two more Top 20 singles, the Leiber-Stoller title number plus Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann’s “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear.” The non-film tunes on the original “Loving You” album ranged from Presley’s version of “Blueberry Hill,” a song from the ‘40s that Fats Domino had turned into a rock hit in 1956, to “True Love,” a Cole Porter song that Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly sang in the 1956 film “High Society.”

Among other tracks added to push the CD over the 40-minute mark is an especially valuable Presley rarity: a version of “One Night of Sin,” a song by Dave Bartholomew and Pearl King that had been an R&B; hit in 1956 for Smiley Lewis under the title “One Night” and then a pop hit the following year for Presley.

The difference in the two hit versions was that Presley changed the words from “one night of sin is what I’m now paying for” to the more radio- and parent-friendly, “one night with you is what I’m now praying for.” In this version, Presley sings the song the way it was written.

** 1/2 Elvis Presley, “King Creole,” RCA.

The music from this 1958 film was far better than the average Presley soundtrack fare, including the ballads “As Long as I Have You” and “Don’t Ask Me Why” as well as the bluesy “Trouble.” But the package is so short at 34 minutes that it could have been included with one of the other soundtracks in the series. The supplemental material consists simply of alternative versions of the music from the film.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).