Review by Piers Beagley - Elvis Information Network
The fourteenth FTD extended movie soundtrack is all the more intriguing since Wild In The Country was never released as a vinyl soundtrack, not even as an EP, and the two key songs were only released as single B-sides in the U.S. ‘Wild In The Country', however, was flipped to the A-side in Europe and made number two in the UK charts.
Two of the tracks - 'In My Way' and 'Forget Me Never' - weren't even released until four years later on the scrappy 1965 Elvis For Everyone! LP where they already sounded dated.
Wild In The Country (27 tracks, 63 minutes).
Elvis’ seventh film gave him a chance to prove himself with some dramatic acting after the fluff of G.I. Blues, which had just been released to the cinemas. In contrast, the music here played a very subsidiary role to the plot with the selected tunes being mainly low-key acoustic ballads.
The initial screenplay featured no music at all - and it was only under the orders of the 20th Century Fox CEO that songs were finally incorporated. The FTD booklet even describes how director Philip Dunne (How Green Was My Valley, The Ghost and Mrs Muir) nearly resigned over this meddling.
With only a week between the His Hand In Mine gospel session and the start of filming for Wild In The Country Elvis had very little free time. It was still only eight months since he had been discharged from the army and he was about to make his third movie of the year! In that time Elvis had also recorded three albums’ worth of quality material.
In the biography Careless Love, Peter Guralnick interestingly notes that, "Hope Lange, then 26 years-old, liked to drink vodka and Elvis, uncharacteristically, joined her throughout the filming, for the first time allowing the guys to have liquor in the house."
Priscilla meanwhile was still in Germany and Elvis was dating Sandy Ferra as well as seeing a lot of Nancy Sharp who worked on wardrobe in the film. Tuesday Weld (Return To Peyton Place) was the juvenile smouldering love-interest and director Philip Dunne was hoping for the emotional impact of Rebel Without A Cause. In a fascinating twist, the original movie ending had Hope Lange successfully committing suicide. However, Hollywood test audiences voted for her to live and a new ending had to be filmed. Looking at the film now one can sense that the original ending would have been the dramatically superior.
Chart releases
'Surrender'/‘Lonely Man’ reached #1/32 in US, Feb 1961.
'Lonely Man' reached #1 in Canada as a double A-side single.
‘I Feel So Bad'/'Wild In the Country' reached #5/26 in US, May 1961.
'Wild In the Country'/’I Feel So Bad' was a #1 in the UK.
With only five songs in total, this FTD soundtrack had the potential of being a repetitive compilation with little of interest, but what a surprise it is! Maybe it is because I have always had a soft spot for 'Surrender's flip-side 'Lonely Man' but, unlike the FTD soundtrack to Follow That Dream, I found plenty of new treats in store.
There are twenty-two unreleased outtakes featured and although plenty of these have been previously released on bootlegs, they have always been in mono and the sound here - for the first time in stereo - is sensational.
In 1960 Elvis' voice had acquired a new vocal range and depth not heard before his army stint. And while Elvis Is Back! of course shows it off to perfection, the simple ballads recorded here give fans a chance to soak up the feeling of Elvis singing alone strumming his guitar with the simplest production. There would be very few times in Elvis' career (save the 1971 'I Will Be True' piano solo session) that he would be recorded in such a simple setting. The only track that does have the throwaway feel of a soundtrack song is the lightweight 'I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell', but even that has interest in being recorded in two different keys.
Previously issued tracks (i.e. from the very fine Collector's Gold box-set) are presented in a completely different mix here, and the earlier releases now sound as if they were recorded through a sock as the audio improvement is that good. Audio engineers Vic Anesini and Sebastian Jeansson have to be highly commended for their work here as these songs really shine, whereas most Radio Recorders’ material generally sounds very sub-par.
The exquisite 'Lonely Man' Take 4 from Out In Hollywood must surely be a fan favourite. Well here it sounds that much better with a totally new clarity to Elvis, as well as The Jordanaires', beautiful vocal work. The cute ending with Fox producer Steve Thielmann noting "Gee, That's pretty" and Elvis replying with a totally genuine "Thank You" now also has the full comment "the beat was kind of comfortable" included as well.
Cover and Booklet
The cover is very stylish and a perfect spoof on what the Colonel would have created with his glue and scissors. I also like the "fake" album label inside. The gloss printing is high-class and there's the usual mix of photos and memorabilia, some of them DVD film grabs.
It's interesting to discover that six demo versions of 'Wild In The Country' were sent to film producer Jerry Wald to choose from. One must wonder what composers Fred Wise and Ben Weisman's ('It Feels So Right', 'Riding The Rainbow') versions would have sounded like - and a song 'Jennie Jenkins' was also submitted, a new title to me.
There's even a very cute photo of Elvis on set blowing a bubble from bubble gum.
The booklet has the usual “In and Outtakes”, “Storyboard” and an interesting “Behind The Scenes” which includes the following -
"When Twentieth Century-Fox top boss, Spyros Skouras, belatedly discovered that the studio had secured Elvis for the leading role in a picture without any songs, he ordered some songs written and incorporated into the dramatic story. Elvis joined producer Wald and director Dunne in protest, but to no avail. Dunne wanted to quit, but once again, Wald persuaded him to stay with it. Together they agreed to include and direct the songs in such a way that they could be cut out when the picture was finished. The songs ‘Lonely Man’ and ‘Forget Me Never’ did not make it into the final print of the movie. Yet, a scene showing Elvis singing ‘Lonely Man’ in the garage sequence was used in a trailer for the film."
In an intriguing fluff, FTD misprinted Presley as "Presely" on the spine during the initial print-run - where was their spell checker? - a bad but hardly devastating mistake.
The CD opens with the five master takes followed by two “Alternate” masters, 'Lonely Man' (solo) and 'I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell' (lower key version) both previously on Collector's Gold but sounding much better here.
With eight complete versions of 'Lonely Man' featured, if you dislike that particular song this might not be the CD for you! However, overall the compilation very nicely manages to capture an altogether different studio feel to what came before (G.I. Blues /His Hand In Mine) and what would follow in 1961 (Blue Hawaii / Something For Everybody).
Note that the 'I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell' master featured on the original Something For Everybody LP (and FTD soundtrack) was drowned in echo compared to the same song here. These versions come from the cleaner remixes done for the Double Features series.
The previously unreleased movie version of 'Husky Dusky Day', which Elvis sings with Hope Lange, is taken directly off the film print and is also thrown in as a bonus.
Short Verdict: If you ever liked the film, or the sound of Elvis in this acoustic setting, then you willl certainly enjoy this new FTD soundtrack release.
Looking closer at the outtakes ...
'Wild In The Country'
Take 1 was featured on the Close Up box-set and is fascinating as Elvis' voice goes off at a crazy tangent. The Jordanaires are very staccato which also feels totally wrong and the take stops with Elvis' voice breaking and him saying, "Hold it a second". By Take 2 the arrangement is totally revamped with guitarist Tiny Timbrell's tic-tac guitar already in place. This again falls apart, but we get the chance to then eavesdrop on Elvis at work as he practices the vocal.
Little changes by the following Take 10, and Take 11 was the first complete take recorded. Previously released on Out In Hollywood, this version is subtler than the master.
Listen to Take 13. While close to the single it’s surprising to hear that touch of Elvis' high and fragile vocal from his earlier Sun sessions ('Blue Moon’)
On Take 14, Tiny Timbrell's tic-tac guitar is far lower in the mix, giving the song a very different overall feel with more prominence given to Meyer Rubin's bass. Elvis' vocal is delightful and it only shows what a perfectionist he was as he continued look for that something extra.
Take 16 was previously on the Elvis Aron Presley Silver box-set, but the audio there was drowned in echo and had the muffled sock sound, here it is vastly improved - an exquisite release but still not the perfect master take.
'Lonely Man'
Take 1. There's some nice studio banter and laughter before this take that was not featured on the previous release on Close Up. In a slower tempo, this has a rehearsal feel as Elvis sounds like he's reading the lyrics but includes that fine accordian work from Jimmie Haskell.
Take 4 - Elvis has plugged his guitar in by this take and this truly magical version - which was already on Out In Hollywood - sound even better here. The audio mix is divine and you can really absorb the Radio Recorders atmosphere. A gem.
Takes 6, 7 and 8 - All new releases. Elvis stops playing guitar, "I'm gonna put the guitar in later" joking, "Cos there's a few little runs in there that I can do that Scotty can't do! See?" Someone comments "Can you hear that humming?" with engineer Thorne Nogar stating, "Oh yeah, but that's what makes these records!"
Take 7 falls apart soon with Elvis commenting, "Sorry wrong lyrics" while Take 8 is another delightful complete version still with the shuffle arrangement but Elvis and The Jordanaires vocal falter just as they reach the end.
Take 11 - Sounding more like the master take, is stopped as "the tempo's getting slow". Demonstrating just how difficult it
can be to make the perfect record, listen closely to Take 12 (@02.08) and you can hear Elvis' voice strain as it slips away from the melody. He also falters at 02.46, which makes it all the more appealing - Elvis was human! The next take was the record master.
Lonely Man (Solo)
Take 1 - Delightful for its simplicity and fragile vocal which so suits the lyric this was previously on the Today, Tomorrow And Forever box-set.
Unreleased Take 2 has an even lighter feel, but breaks down after thirty seconds when Elvis sings a little flat.
Take 3 was one of the twenty-five reasons to buy the Close Up box-set. Turn off the lights and dream of Elvis sitting on your porch and singing just to you. With no other backing, this version perfectly emphasises Elvis’ loneliness and emptiness, "Here I am, come meet a lonely, lonely man." This version while close to the master, has slight guitar variations particularly in the playout and is delightful as Elvis hums the final chorus.
'I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell'
Takes 1, 2 and 3 - A different feel to all the other songs, this could easily have been from Elvis' future Blue Hawaii sessions. The delight here is hearing the studio banter. Elvis has to ask for a pencil "All this is running together here" and you can actually hear him writing on his lyric sheet as he sings the lyrics to himself!
Take 3 is the first complete take and sounds light and twisty. Being in the earlier higher key, Dudley Brook's piano arrangement isn't so prominent.
Takes 7, 8 and 9 - By Take 8 the tempo has been slowed and The Jordanaires’ arrangement works better. Elvis falters "I fell.... you... shit! Start over again". Take 9 is complete, but Elvis still stumbles (ha, ha!) on the lyrics and sounds distracted.
Take 11 - This penultimate take still has Elvis using his cute vocal trick of sliding into the final verse "Ahh.. umm, my knees are weak" (@01.31) which is strange as it is not used in the final master version.
'I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell' (Lower key)
Takes 14, 15 and 16 - All previously released on Close Up, but again with a different mix here. On these versions Elvis and The Jordanaires’ vocals are emphasised over the band.
It is also interesting that after thirteen takes Elvis decided to record in a lower key. Elvis also seems unsure, "Is that a better key?" he asks.
Takes 14 and 15 fall apart while Take 16 has some nice piano work from Dudley Brook's while Elvis again seems to be having trouble with the vocal.
'In My Way'
Take 1 - A delight, if only for capturing the simplicity of Elvis alone with a guitar. As featured on Silver Screen Stereo, at the end he comments, "There's somebody talking outside or some loud-speaker or something".
Take 2 - It's hard to fault any of these complete takes, but again they are presented here without the added echo used on the Close Up versions.
Takes 4 and 5, and a splice of takes 6 and 8 - This time it is Tiny Timbrell who falters on guitar and there is a nice insight into Elvis as he jokes with his vocal over-projection. Take 6, a "long false start", is spliced with master Take 8 to create a delightful complete composite.
'Forget Me Never'
Take 2 - This is the very amusing classic (first heard on the landmark bootleg Behind Closed Doors) Elvis sings, "If I should go, Forget me never, please ... shit!"
Take 1 was the only other complete take and differs as the guitar messes up towards the end.
In a strange move, the 1965 European version of Elvis For Everyone featured an overdubbed “maracas” version of 'Wild In The Country' in place of the US track 'Summer Kisses Winter Tears'. It is a shame that this oddity wasn't featured on this release.
Overall Verdict: With only five songs and therefore low expectations, this is a very fine FTD Soundtrack release. While not in the same league as the Viva Las Vegas or Fun In Acapulco extended soundtrack releases, Wild In The Country captures Elvis in an unusual acoustic setting and with his voice showing its new 1960s maturity. The audio improvements and the outtakes in stereo are a delight - as is the cover and booklet.
But hey, did anyone tell you they spelt Elvsi's (sic) name wrong!
