#21 Elvis Presley: GI Blues

Elvis is in the army…again!

Topped the Chart:

8th January 1961 (for 7 weeks)

5th March 1961 (for 3 weeks)

2nd April 1961 (for 12 weeks)

22 weeks total

Please note: there is some disagreement on the first track for the UK version of this album. This video by Parlogram states that the British version has Tonight is So Right for Love as the first track where the American version features a different song called Tonight’s All Right for Love, while other accounts state it is the other way around, with All Right featuring on “European” copies. A search through first issue tracklistings on Discogs states that So Right is the opening track on the UK version so this is what we have used for this review. Tonight’s All Right for Love features as a bonus track on CD versions released since 1997.

What an odd album this is from Presley.

Victim of its film soundtrack status, GI Blues is the fifth Elvis big screen vehicle, a vague (and fanciful) retelling of his time in the army in West Germany, the soundtrack makes of traditional European music in the same way that King Creole used New Orleans jazz. While early rock n roll did use accordion, it’s used in a more traditional way here to mixed results, often with an oompah rhythm to the songs. So where the film might feature the King in beautifully photographed colour for the first time (and he looks as good in uniform on the cover as you might expect), the soundtrack is, frankly, pretty weird.

Not automatically a bad thing, but there’s no doubt that GI Blues is a mixed bag where bringing in the more traditional elements, which are at times mixed with army songs as plot dictates. Didja’ Ever is the biggest victim of this, an old fashioned Marine Corps call-and-response that runs out of steam quickly. Nothing less than Blue Suede Shoes is mistakenly revisited—it was never going to live up to Elvis’ original recording, but it’s made all the worse by how loose and limp it feels in comparison. The enterprise just feels tired.

However, the album’s real dud is its biggest hits- Wooden Heart, a baffling number one single in the UK for six long weeks. Here, the Germanic accordion becomes the lead instrument with an oompah beat. It brought together with a simpering vocal from Presley and occasional lapses into German. In the film it’s sung to a marionette puppet in lederhosen, and the song is every bit as incongruous as that sounds. There’s no accounting for taste.

The very definition of “mixed bag” means that there are highs and lows here—there is still plenty of fun to be had. The title track is another song that makes the most of a military beat and a “hup two three four,” backing that burst at the seams with excitement, allowing it to escape falling into the same dissonance trap as Didja Ever. The rhythm is pure rock n roll train tracks on Frankfort Special that recalls the early days of Mystery Train, while opener Tonight is So Right For Love finds Elvis at his most pigeon-chested and It’s Now Or Never-style operatic that is a pure joy to hear. At the ballad end, Pocketful of Rainbows is particularly sweet and finds the King at his most bashful and gentle.

On GI Blues, it’s becoming far easier to spot the songs that Elvis is less excited to be performing than ever before, as the needs to write songs around a film narrative begin to bite. However, there are at least a half dozen songs here where you can almost see the excitement behind those sleepy Presley eyes. We’re still a long way from Harum Scarum and for that we can be forever grateful.

Score: 6/10

Tracklisting:

SIDE 1

1.      Tonight is So Right for Love

2.      What’s She Really Like

3.      Frankfort Special

4.      Wooden Heart

5.      GI Blues

SIDE 2

6.      Pocketful of Rainbows

7.      Shoppin’ Around

8.      Big Boots

9.      Didja’ Ever

10.  Blue Suede Shoes

11.  Doin’ The Best I Can