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Toppermost of the Poppermost - UK Number Ones : part 2 - The 1960s

Started by daf, June 12, 2019, 01:55:00 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

daf

Mr & Mrs . . be nice to each other, it's . . .

195.  Jackie Trent - Where Are You Now



From : 16 – 22 May 1965
Weeks : 1
Flip side : On The Other Side Of The Tracks
Bonus : Promo film

QuoteJackie Trent was born Yvonne Ann Burgess in Newcastle-under-Lyme, on 6 September 1940. The daughter of coal-miner Les Burgess and his wife Lily, her first stage appearance was as an eight-year-old ingenue in the pantomime Babes in the Wood, and at the age of nine she won first prize in a national poetry competition.

At the age of 11 she won the Carrol Levis and His Discoveries talent show and following it, changed her stage name to "Jackie Trent" after growing up on Stoke-on-Trent for the past few years. She sang to packed audiences in local British Legion and working men's clubs and with local big bands, becoming known as "The Vera Lynn of the Potteries".



Her first single, "Pick Up the Pieces", was released in February 1962 on the Oriole label. It was a flop.

Her second single, "The One Who Really Loves You", was released in July 1962 again on the Oriole label - It was also a flop.

Her third single, "Melancholy Me", was released in May 1963, now on the Piccadilly label - different label, same flop.

Her fourth single, "If You Love Me", was released in January 1964 still on Piccadilly - still flopping.

Her fifth single, "Autumn Leaves", was released on Pye in May 1964 - it was another flop.

Her sixth single, "Somewhere In The World", released in September 1964 . . . go on, have a guess!

Her 'lucky' seventh single, "How Soon", released in December - once again, it flopped.

Her eighth single, "Where Are You Now" released in March 1965. It . . . went to number one in the UK charts!

"Where Are You Now" was written by Tony Hatch and Trent, who at that time were involved in a successful professional collaboration with Petula Clark.  Petula Clark's 1966 hit, "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" was inspired by the ongoing affair between Trent and Hatch, and they subsequently went public with their relationship

Her ninth single, "When Summertime Is Over" reached #39 in July 1965.

In August 1967 Hatch and Trent were married in Kensington. Their 1967 duet "The Two Of Us" topped the Australian charts and created a demand for concert and cabaret performances earning the duo the nickname of "Mr & Mrs Music".



Although she recorded several singles and albums, both as a solo artist and with her husband, Trent was more successful as a songwriter than a singer. In addition to their compositions for Clark, over the years she and Hatch wrote extensively for other artists, including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jack Jones, Nancy Wilson, Des O'Connor, Val Doonican, Shirley Bassey, and Vikki Carr.

In 1968 the couple also wrote the song "Joanna", which was a hit for Scott Walker, and in 1969, "I'll Be There" was her final chart enrty, reaching #38 in April 1969.

In the late 1960s, Trent returned to the stage with a UK tour of the musical Nell, playing Gwyne opposite Hermione Baddeley as the title character. The show opened at the Richmond Theatre for a season in 1970.

In 1970, Trent recorded the Les Vandyke-composed "I'll Be Near You" and in March that year she appeared on the cover of the British music magazine NME.

The 1970s saw Hatch and Trent diversify into the world of musical theatre. The first of their projects, The Card, based on Arnold Bennett's novel, with book by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, ran in London's West End with Jim Dale and Millicent Martin in the starring roles. An original cast album was released in 1975. A rewritten version of the show, starring Peter Duncan and Hayley Mills, played the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in the 1990s and spawned a new cast album.

The second Hatch/Trent musical was Rock Nativity, with book and lyrics by David Wood. Initiated and produced by Cameron Mackintosh, it first played in Newcastle upon Tyne. An updated version of the show toured nationally in 1976, and was broadcast nationally by Scottish TV.

In 1972 the couple wrote the song "We'll Be With You", a celebration of Trent's home town football club Stoke City reaching the final of the Football League Cup. Released under the name 'The Potters' (the club's nickname), the song was recorded using Pye Records' outside broadcast unit and featured the team and supporters. Some 40 years on it is still played at all Stoke City home games and reached number 34 on the UK chart. (Stoke beat Chelsea F.C. 2–1 in the final - Up the Potters!!)

She co-wrote (with Tony Hatch) two classic TV theme tunes : in 1975, the dating game show Mr & Mrs for Border Television, and ten years later, one written and recorded in a day for an Australian soap opera . . .

 

After Trent and Hatch relocated to Australia in the 1980s, they were asked to write the theme song for the television soap-opera Neighbours. The soap opera was going to be called 'Ramsay Street', before the couple penned the song.

Jackie Trent : "We wrote the song as Neighbours because we said Ramsay Street was too close to Coronation Street, which was the major soap in Britain. We called in Barry Crocker at about 10pm to put his voice on it and it was on the producer's desk by 10am the following morning. And they loved it, so the series was then called Neighbours."

When Trent and Hatch married in August 1967, Hatch already had two daughters from his first marriage. The couple went on to have a son and daughter together. They separated in 1995, before divorcing in 2002. Trent married Colin Gregory in November 2005, and the couple lived in Spain.

Trent died in hospital on 21 March 2015, aged 74, in Menorca, Spain, after a long illness.

Quote"Where Are You Now" was written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent, and recorded in December 1964 by Trent.



The single gave Trent her only No. 1 hit when it reached the top of the UK Singles Chart for one week in May 1965. The song was featured in the popular television series 'It's Dark Outside'.

The song was written and recorded in just four days after Hatch was asked by Granada TV to produce a song for the female lead in the programme to be seen on screen playing to herself. The lyrics were written by Trent on Christmas 1964, just before she embarked on a three-month tour of South Africa.



Apparently, Jimmy Page, working as a session guitarist, plays on this one :



Other Versions include :  "¿Donde estarás?" by Bruno Lomas con Los Rockeros (1965)  /  Chris Montez (1968)  / Danny McEvoy (2010)  /  Clare Teal (2012)

On This Day  :
Quote16 May : Krist Novoselic, (Nirvana), born Krist Anthony Novoselic in Compton, California
16 May : "The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd" opens at Shubert Theater NYC
17 May : Trent Reznor, (Nine Inch Nails), born Michael Trent Reznor in New Castle, Pennsylvania
17 May : Jeremy Vine, Radio and TV presenter, born Jeremy Guy Vine in Epsom, Surrey
18 May : Ray Dolby founds Dolby Laboratories in London

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :
Quote     

kalowski

QuoteHer first single, "Pick Up the Pieces", was released in February 1962 on the Oriole label. It was a flop.

Her second single, "The One Who Really Loves You", was released in July 1962 again on the Oriole label - It was also a flop.

Her third single, "Melancholy Me", was released in May 1963, now on the Piccadilly label - different label, same flop.

Her fourth single, "If You Love Me", was released in January 1964 still on Piccadilly - still flopping.

Her fifth single, "Autumn Leaves", was released on Pye in May 1964 - it was another flop.

Her sixth single, "Somewhere In The World", released in September 1964 . . . go on, have a guess!

Her 'lucky' seventh single, "How Soon", released in December - once again, it flopped.

Her eighth single, "Where Are You Now" released in March 1965. It . . . went to number one in the UK charts!
In 1980 someone died.

daf

I know we've had a few *, but this has got to be a contender for THE most forgotten number 1 of the sixties - even the ever reliable Danny McEvoy had never heard of it!

- - - - - - - - -
* "Juliet" by The Four Pennies  /  "Diane" by The Bachelors  /  "Well I Ask You" by Eden Kane


The Culture Bunker

So the ever-merry Nine Inch Nails frontman was named after the singer at UK #1 on the day he was born? I never knew that!

purlieu

Nicely orchestrated, not a bad song but not easy to see why it's become forgotten amidst some of the songs we've had recently.

It only spent 11 weeks in the Top 50, which is quite brief for the period.

I think the arrangement and production were strongly influenced by the kind of tracks Little Anthony & The Imperials were doing, such as 'Hurt So Bad':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B32fMlmffdo

machotrouts

No surprise nobody remembers a song that got to #1 off the back of a TV show that is now wiped and lost – hard for any hit to get more ephemeral than that. I did think I knew it but it turns out she is NOT the same person as Peter Sarstedt.

Rather nice song, considering. Like Burt Bacharach if Hal David hadn't turned up to a session and he just had to fill in any old shit for the lyrics.

She's no Trent Reznor, though, is she. A disgrace that we'll never cover Nine Inch Nails in this thread. 'Discipline' – slinky and melodic, if this isn't pop what is. 'Capital G' – Pet Shop Boys could have done this. This cover of Soft Cell's 'Memorabilia' – catchier than anything that's gone to #1 so far. 'Everything' – the One Direction bonus track that never was. The Richard X remix of 'Only' – hold the Popjustice front page! 'March of the Pigs' – harrowing to live in a world where this sort of racket doesn't top the charts regularly. I like Nine Inch Nails, and that's okay.

QuoteThe lyrics were written by Trent on Christmas 1964, just before she embarked on a three-month tour of South Africa.

She can fuck off then

daf

The Wimpy Bars are on me!, it's . . .

196.  Sandie Shaw - Long Live Love



From : 23 May – 12 June 1965
Weeks : 3
Flip side : I've Heard About Him
Bonus : Live French Performance

QuoteFollowing her first number 1 - "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" - her next single, "I'd Be Far Better Off Without You" was issued in November 1964, but DJs preferred its B-side, "Girl Don't Come", and the sides were switched, and as a result "Girl Don't Come" reached No. 3 in the UK in December, #2 in South Africa and in Canada #42 in the US - which was her highest charting single in the States.



Shaw made a belated Italian rendition entitled "E ti avrò" in 1966 and, aided by her performance of it on Studio Uno, the top variety show in Italy, it became a No. 11 hit. Also in 1966, Shaw's Spanish-language version entitled "No vendrá" was released on an EP in Spain.

Her first album, Sandie, was released in February 1965 on the Pye label, it was her only original album to enter the UK Albums Chart, peaking at Number 3.

Chris Andrews contributed four new songs - these tracks were later released on an EP entitled "Talk About Love" : "Talk About Love"  /  "Gotta See My Baby Every Day"  /  "Don't Be That Way"  /  and "Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself"

 

The other eight tracks on the Sandie album were reworkings of songs made popular by other artists, including : "Everybody Loves a Lover"  /  "It's In His Kiss"  /  "Lemon Tree"  /  and  "Downtown"
   
As was standard practice in the UK at the time, none of her recent hits were included on the album - including, "I'll Stop At Nothing" - which reached #4 in February 1965, and  "Long Live Love" which claimed the #1 spot at the end of May 1965.

"Message Understood" reached #6 in September 1965, and  "How Can You Tell" reached #21 in November 1965.



Her second album, "Me", was released in November 1965, eight months after her debut, but was not as commercially successful.

As with the previous album, 'Me' contained a mixture of original and cover versions of songs by other artists. However the balance of original and remade material was different this time - only five were covers, six were written by Chris Andrews, and one track, "Till the Night Begins to Die", was written by Sandie Shaw herself.

Chris Andrews tracks included : "I Don't Need That Kind Of Lovin'"  /  "Down Dismal Ways"  /  "Oh No He Don't"  /  "I Know" /  "Too Bad You Don't Want Me"  /  and "One Day"

The covers included :  "You Don't Love Me No More"  /  "When I Was A Child"  /  Lionel Bart's "Do You Mind"   /  Nancy Wilson's 1964 hit "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am"  /  and  "When I Fall in Love", made popular by Nat 'King' Cole.

   

Her first single of 1966 - "Tomorrow" (b/w "Hurting You") reached #9 in February, and was followed by "Nothing Comes Easy" (b/w "Stop Before You Start") - #14 in May  /  "Run" (b/w "Long Walk Home") - #32 in September  /  and another #32 placing with "Think Sometimes About Me" (b/w "Hide All Emotion") in November 1966.

Her third album, The Golden Hits of Sandie Shaw, was a compilation album released in April 1966 by Pye Records on their superbly titled 'Golden Guinea' budget label, it contains all of the "A" sides and "B" sides of all her UK chart singles from 1964 to the end of 1965.

Of the twelve songs featured on The Golden Hits of Sandie Shaw, eleven were written by Chris Andrews who was hired as Shaw's songwriter on her signing to Pye Records in 1964. The only song not written by him is the opener of side one - Shaw's breakthrough single "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me".

Oddly despite being packed with all of her actual hits, the album did not enter the UK Albums Chart - somewhat proving the 'value for money' UK concept of the time : that people were reluctant to buy an album of songs they had already bought as singles.

Quote"Long Live Love" was written by Chris Andrews, and in 1965 it became Sandie Shaw's second number one hit single.



Shaw was sufficiently confident in the hit potential of the buoyant "Long Live Love" as to turn down the chance to record "It's Not Unusual", allowing the song to be given to Tom Jones and become his first hit.

"Long Live Love" spent three weeks at No 1 in the UK in June 1965. It was also a No 1 hit in both Ireland and New Zealand, with a No 2 peak attained in South Africa, #7 in the Netherlands and #8 in Norway, #12 in Australia, #15 in Belgium, #6 in Canada, and it returned Shaw to the Billboard Hot 100 for the third and last time - peaking at #97 in the US.

 

In France, Shaw reached #5 with a French version entitled "Pourvu Que Ça Dure". It was also recorded in German as "Du weißt nichts von deinem Glück", and in 1966 Shaw made a belated Italian version entitled "Viva l'amore con te", and as "¡Viva el amor!" for an EP released in Spain

 

Other Versions include :   Chris Andrews (1965)  /  Laurel Lea (1965)  /  Donna Loren (1965)  /  "Pourvu que ça dure" by Caravelli (1965)  /  "Kiva kiva rakkaus" by Marion Rung (1965)  /  "Viva el amor" by Gelu (1965)  /  "Dok živimo ti i ja" by Đorđe Marjanović (1967)  /  Tracey Ullman (1983)  /  The Odd Numbers (1994)  /  Jessica Andersson (2009)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  a robot (2016)

On This Day  :
Quote25 May : Sonny Boy Williamson II, American blues singer, dies at 65
26 May : Hazel Irvine, TV snooker presenter, born in St Andrews, Scotland
27 May : Pat Cash, tennis player, born Patrick Hart Cash in Melbourne, Victoria
3 June : Gemini 4 launched; 2nd US 2-man flight (McDivitt & White)
7 June : Damien Hirst, artist, born in Bristol
8 June : USSR launches Luna 6; it missed the Moon by 99,000 miles
10 June : Vietnam War: Battle of Đồng Xoài begins
10 June : Elizabeth Hurley, actress, born in Basingstoke
12 June : "Bajour" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 232 performances
12 June : "I Had a Ball" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 199 performances
12 June : "What Makes Sammy Run?" closes at 84th St Theater NYC after 540 performances
12 June : The Beatles are awarded the MBE


Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :
Quote                 



The most impressive thing about Shaw is that she was totally fearless. A role model in self-confidence for her female fans. 'Long Live Love' has a calypso feel and is likable without being great. 'Girl Don't Come' is a much better composition.

daf

Quote from: machotrouts on November 01, 2019, 12:58:53 PM
A disgrace that we'll never cover Nine Inch Nails in this thread.

Thought we might get to them though "Hurt" by Johnny Cash - but just looked it up, and it only got to #39!

kalowski

So...Sonny Boy Williamson dies and Hazel Irving is born. Any believers in transmigration of the soul?

The Culture Bunker

Quote from: kalowski on November 01, 2019, 03:12:24 PM
So...Sonny Boy Williamson dies and Hazel Irving is born. Any believers in transmigration of the soul?
Would that make them Sonny Boy Williamson III?

purlieu


Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: Satchmo Distel on November 01, 2019, 02:13:19 PM
'Girl Don't Come' is a much better composition.

It is. I prefer Sandie in downbeat mode, but there's no denying the bouncy charm of Long Live Love. The brass hook has a nice and easy BBC light entertainment, Ronnie Hazelhurst feel.

machotrouts

This is just an apology for turning down 'It's Not Unusual', isn't it?

It's okay. I don't like the letter "L" much, but it's in the alphabet now and we all just have to put up with it.

machotrouts

Quote from: daf on November 01, 2019, 02:32:38 PM
Thought we might get to them though "Hurt" by Johnny Cash - but just looked it up, and it only got to #39!

Not even the highest-charting version of 'Hurt' – it got to #8 in 2011 via Leona Lewis!

This is one place short of proper Nine Inch Nails' highest peak, #7 with 'The Hand That Feeds'. I know these chart positions off the top of my head without checking. I did check but I knew them before that as well. Try to kill it all away but I remember everything.

daf

Quote from: machotrouts on November 02, 2019, 09:04:53 PM
Not even the highest-charting version of 'Hurt' – it got to #8 in 2011 via Leona Lewis!

Bingo - we have tenuous link lift-off!

Just looked her up, and she's had three number ones (so far), 'Hurt' came after the third one, so I can easily turn that one into a complete history of Nine Inch Nails on the side - that do you?

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: machotrouts on November 02, 2019, 09:04:53 PM
Not even the highest-charting version of 'Hurt' – it got to #8 in 2011 via Leona Lewis!

Bloody Hell. Look, I'm no pop snob, I'm no 'real music' rockist bore, but the fact that the sadness surrounding Johnny Cash's actual death couldn't get him higher in the charts than the monumentally dull Leona Lewis covering a shit version of one of his songs (I know he didn't write it, but her version is based on his) makes me want to climb under the duvet and never wake up.

Thanks for those stats, machotrouts. Thanks a bulbous bunch.


machotrouts

Quote from: daf on November 02, 2019, 09:18:31 PMJust looked her up, and she's had three number ones (so far)

I like the optimism in this when about 2 months from now she'll probably be losing a mildly contentious deadlocked X Factor All Stars sing-off vote to a slurring post-stroke Chico.

Quote from: daf on November 02, 2019, 09:18:31 PMJust looked her up, and she's had three number ones (so far), 'Hurt' came after the third one, so I can easily turn that into a complete history of Nine Inch Nails on the side - that do you?

Sure, up to you whether you think Nine Inch Nails belongs in your thread, though if you're going there I think it'd be more appropriate for when we get to Joe McElderry's chart-topping cover of 'Happiness in Slavery'.

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on November 02, 2019, 09:39:02 PM(I know he didn't write it, but her version is based on his)

I think her version should have been exactly like it is right now, except it should for no apparent reason have brought back the huge terrifying brown note and final 2 minutes of ominous grinding cacophony from the Nine Inch Nails original, and gone on to include it in its entirety in the X Factor performance. Missed a trick there.

daf

You saw him Dying on the Toilet, it's . . .

197.  Elvis Presley - Crying In The Chapel



From : 13 – 19 June 1965 (1)
        + 27 June  – 3 July 1965 (1)
Weeks : 2
Flip side : "I Believe in the Man in the Sky"

The Story So Far - The 1963-1965 singles :
QuoteElvis' last number one, '(You're The) Devil In Disguise', had been almost two years ago back in the summer of 1963 - and since then, the chart landscape had been totally transformed thanks mainly to the colossal kick up the arse given to it, both in the UK and the US, by The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five and The Brumbeats.

Thanks to the endless stream of terrible films, he was now regarded as being essentially the "American Cliff" : a safe pair of lungs for the mums and dads. But, whereas Cliff continued to get each of his singles into the Top Ten, Elvis had slipped to regular Top 20 positions. His next single, "Bossa Nova Baby" (b/w "Witchcraft") reached #13 in October 1963, this was followed by "Kiss Me Quick" (b/w "Something Blue") - #14 in December 1963.

 

Astonishingly, the classic pairing of "Viva Las Vegas" and "What'd I Say", which would surely have been a sure-fire chart topper only a couple of years previously, now only managed to scrape to a modest #17 in March 1964. However, "Kissin' Cousins" did better - becoming a #10 hit in July 1964, followed by "Such A Night" - #13 in August  /  "Ain't That Loving You Baby" - #15 in November  /  and rounding off the Year with the seasonal pairing of  "Blue Christmas" and "White Christmas" - which scored a decent #11 position in December 1964.

His first single of 1965, "Do The Clam" ran out of steam at #19. But his next single, an old gospel number he originally recorded back in 1960, would propel him back up to the Top of the charts.

The Story So Further - The 1967 Films :
Quote'Easy Come, Easy Go' was Elvis Presley's twenty-third film - although it was actually the 24th film to be produced - as his next film, 'Double Trouble' was filmed before Easy Come, Easy Go, but released a few months later (on 5 April 1967). Hal Wallis produced the film for Paramount Pictures, and it was his final movie for Elvis Presley.

Paramount originally intended to make a movie called 'Easy Come Easy Go' starring Jan and Dean with director Barry Shear but it was cancelled when the stars and several crew were injured in a train crash. The studio decided to use the same title, but a completely different plot.

Elvis plays Ensign 'Ted Jackson' - a former U.S. Navy frogman who divides his time between twin careers as a deep sea diver and nightclub singer. Ted discovers what he believes could be a fortune in Spanish gold aboard a sunken ship and sets out to rescue it with the help of go-go dancing yoga expert 'Jo Symington' (Dodie Marshall) and friend 'Judd Whitman' (Pat Harrington, Jr.). 'Gil Carey' (Skip Ward), however, is also after the treasure and uses his girlfriend 'Dina Bishop' (Pat Priest) to foil Ted's plans.

Principal photography began on October 3, 1966. The production began location shooting on October 10th at such sites as the Long Beach Naval Station, the Santa Monica pier and harbor and at a home in the Hollywood hills.

Presley's sings six songs in the movie including the ear-boggling "Yoga Is as Yoga Does" in a duet with the original Bride of Frankenstein herself, Elsa Lanchester.



Elvis usually got along well with his directors; the exception was John Rich, who directed Elvis in Roustabout and Easy Come, Easy Go. One afternoon, Elvis and Red West were trying to do a scene together but were hampered by a case of the giggles. Angered by what he felt was unprofessional behavior, Rich threw all of Elvis' 'buddy-bodyguards' off the set. Elvis was furious. He put everything into perspective for Rich and the film's producers when he frankly told them, "Now, just a minute. We're doing these movies because it's supposed to be fun, nothing more. Now when they cease to be fun, then we'll cease to do them"

'Easy Come, Easy Go' opened nationwide on March 22, 1967. The film would be the first starring Presley that had a ballad-free soundtrack since his 1956 film debut, Love Me Tender.

Howard Thompson of The New York Times called the film "a tired little clinker that must have been shot during lunch hour"

Variety was more positive, writing: "Good balance of script and songs, plus generally amusing performances by a competent, well-directed cast, add up to diverting entertainment."

 

Recording sessions for the soundtrack of Easy Come, Easy Go took place on September 28 and 29, 1966, at Paramount Studio in Hollywood, California. After the relative freedom of the Nashville sessions in May that yielded his second gospel album, How Great Thou Art, Presley was reportedly unhappy with the quality of the songs chosen for the film, allegedly referring to the selections as "shit" during the recording session.

It is often reported that Presley recorded "Leave My Woman Alone" for the film, but only an instrumental backing was ever recorded; Presley never recorded a vocal for the song. Seven selections were recorded for the film; the song "She's A Machine" was not used in the movie, but would be released on 'Elvis Sings Flaming Star' the following year.

The remaining six appeared on an extended play 33 ⅓ single released to coincide with the March 1967 premiere of the film. The songs included "Easy Come, Easy Go"  /  "The Love Machine"  /  "Yoga Is As Yoga Does"  /  "You Gotta Stop"  /  "Sing You Children"  /  and "I'll Take Love". 

Given that the EP format was no longer a viable marketing medium in the US, and the poor performance of 'Easy Come, Easy Go' - it failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and sold fewer than 30,000 copies - it was the final release of new material by Presley in the EP format. The British issue, however, did top the UK EP charts despite featuring only four of the six tracks on the US edition.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

'Double Trouble' was Elvis' twenty-fourth film. It was filmed before 'Easy Come, Easy Go', but released after it. This was due to having separate contracts with two different film studios (in this case, Paramount and MGM).

Principal filming for 'Double Trouble' began on July 11, 1966 and was finished by August 30, 1966. Elvis almost immediately went into production for the film 'Easy Come, Easy Go', which would be finished and released in March of 1967, just weeks before 'Double Trouble' opened on April 5, 1967.

Taking advantage of the latest craze for discotheque dancing and the popularity of spy movies during the mid-1960s, the producers of 'Double Trouble' combined the two fads to form the basic plot of this mediocre Elvis Presley musical.



Elvis walks through the role of 'Guy Lambert', a pop singer who becomes involved with intrigue while playing the discotheque scene in London and Antwerp. Guy's problems begin when he meets heiress 'Jill Conway', played by young Annette Day, who has a crush on the singer -- much to the chagrin of her guardian. Jill leads Guy through numerous adventures involving spies, counterspies, jewel thieves, and harebrained detectives.

Based on a novel by Mark Brandel, the working title was 'You're Killing Me' and the idea was to give the movie the same feel as that of the zany comedic Beatles films 'Hard Days Night' and 'Help'. Although the movie is set in Europe, it was filmed in Hollywood.

This was the only movie made by Elvis' leading lady, Annette Day, who played Jill Conway in 'Double Trouble'. She was a young girl whom producer Judd Bernard saw working in her parents' antique shop in London. He thought that she would be right for the part in the movie despite her not having any previous acting experience. Several of her natural expressions such as 'Super!' and 'biccies' were written into the script.



During filming Elvis surprised the 18-year-old, who had yet to learn to drive, with a white Mustang convertible. Unable to take the gift back home to Britain, Ms. Day left it in the U.S. in her brother's care when she returned to England.

Norman Rossington played Arthur Babcock. This actor had the unique distinction of having worked in films with both Elvis and the Beatles as he also had the role of road manager Norm in the Beatles film 'A Hard Days Night'.

Howard Thompson of The New York Times called the film "pretty fair and far better than the last three Presley clinkers," adding, "The studio-photographed action, most of it very silly, has been blended rather neatly with the authentic backgrounds. At least the picture moves. Furthermore, the good tunes arrive thick and fast, and several numbers are festive and charming."

Variety wrote that the film "appears to have been whipped up to showcase a big name without much thought of content other than to serve as footage to cash in on the star's draw," though the review thought that Presley "gives a pretty fair account of himself despite what's handed him and the substantial hold he wields over his public should help reception."

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "As an attempt to provide Presley with slightly different material (while retaining, of course, the usual plethora of songs), this comedy-thriller misfires, despite its genial approach."

 

Recording sessions for the Double Trouble soundtrack album took place at Radio Recorders and at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in Hollywood, California, on June 28, 29, and 30, 1966. The album peaked at number 47 on the US charts.

After his enthusiasm for his gospel album How Great Thou Art made in the previous month in Nashville, the rushed and pedestrian soundtrack returned Presley to the depressing grind of churning out forgettable records for forgettable movies. Even the chosen release date for 'Double Trouble' would prove unfortunate — the day before the American release of The Beatles' landmark album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Presley had usually insisted on working in the comfortable environment of a regular recording studio, and had avoided the large movie studio sound stages, but MGM executives with an eye on budgets insisted on moving the soundtrack recordings after the first night to just such a sound stage. A frustrated Elvis dutifully went along, but the final straw was having to sing "Old MacDonald" Presley storming out of the session in a huff after finishing the recording of "Long Legged Girl (With the Short Dress On)." That song would be issued as a single in late April, prior to the film's premiere, and would peak at a disastrous #63 on the US charts - The song was actually a pretty decent rocker, but clearly nobody was listening anymore.

Nine songs were recorded for the film, coming in at just over 17 minutes - which was too short even for an Elvis LP. To bring up the running time, three tracks recorded at the "lost album" sessions of May 1963, were added to push the album over the twenty-minute mark -  "What Now, What Next, Where To",  "Never Ending" and "Blue River. "It Won't Be Long" was recorded for the film but was not used on screen.

Other songs on the album included : "Double Trouble"  /  "Baby, If You'll Give Me All of Your Love"  /  "Could I Fall in Love"  /  "City by Night"  /  "I Love Only One Girl"  /  and  "There Is So Much World to See"

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Clambake' was Elvis' twenty-fifth film. Directed by Arthur H. Nadel, and written for the screen by Arthur Browne Jr. - inspired by Mark Twain's 'The Prince and The Pauper'. 'Clambake' was the last of Presley's four films for United Artists.

'Clambake' was plagued by misfortune and chaos even before shooting started, and much of it was due to Elvis' total disinterest in doing the film. Depressed at being forced to make another zany musical comedy, Elvis experienced a major weight gain. United Artists demanded he take off the extra poundage. On the first day of scheduled shooting, Elvis slipped on his bathroom floor and hit his head. After a private conference with the Colonel, the doctor declared that Elvis had suffered a concussion and could not work.

Shooting was delayed for more than two weeks. Bored with his films, Elvis and the Memphis Mafia resorted to crazier and crazier antics with each production. By the time Clambake rolled around, the group seemed out of control. Pie-throwings, firecracker fights, and water bombardments on the set were a common occurrence. MGM sent down a memo just before the shooting of the next Presley film, Stay Away, Joe, warning the group about their behaviour.



Elvis plays the rich young 'Scott Heyward', who trades places with the poor but happy 'Tom Wilson', played by Will Hutchins. Scott is eager to be accepted for himself and not his money, while Tom seeks to know the lifestyle that money can bring. The movie culminates with the running of the Orange Bowl International Power Boat Regatta. Footage from the January 1967 race was used in the movie.

After numerous delays, principal photography on Clambake began on March 22, 1967. It was the last film for which Elvis was able to demand and receive a salary of $1 million. The relative lackluster box-office performance of this movie, combined with his desire to do more serious, less commercial films, meant that studios were no longer willing to guarantee him a seven-figure paycheck for his performance.

The movie wrapped by April 27, 1967 and it opened on November 22, 1967. In Japan, the film was released under the alternate title Blue Miami, a reference to the earlier Presley film Blue Hawaii. The film premiered in October 1967, but did not have a wide release until December.

The New York Times' Howard Thompson called the film "a real Christmas clinker" and a "silly, tired little frolic," remarking that "even staunch Presley admirers—and we're one of them when he delivers the likes of Fun in Acapulco and Viva Las Vegas—will have to strain to justify this one."

Variety ran a positive review, declaring it one of Presley's "top offerings to date, backed by a legitimately-premised story line, melodic songs, acceptable acting and winding with a spectacular water race. Film has all the makings of being one of Presley's heaviest grossers."

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that Presley "floats amiably through a flimsy story enlivened only by an occasional touch of humour and an engaging performance from James Gregory as a drawling Texan oil millionaire." The review thought that "the only really jarring note is the very unpersonable heroine."

Presley himself considered Clambake to be his worst movie.

 

The Clambake sessions turned out a fiasco; of the eight songs recorded, two had been edited out of the film, and even with "How Can You Lose What You Never Had" restored to the soundtrack, that left an album of merely seven songs, including  :  "Clambake"  /  "Who Needs Money"  /  "A House That Has Everything"  /  "Confidence"  /  "Hey, Hey, Hey"  /  and "The Girl I Never Loved"

The album would prove to be a turning point in Presley's career. After many years of churning out forgettable songs for forgettable films, he was clearly past his prime. All realms of popular music had totally bypassed him during the 1960s while he had been "lost in Hollywood". So Presley decided to begin recording music written by accomplished songwriters.

A session to record additional material in Hollywood was cancelled in August, rescheduled at RCA Studio B in September. Disregarding publishing control, Presley picked songs that appealed to him personally, including Eddy Arnold's country and western hit of 1956 "You Don't Know Me" and Jimmy Reed's 1960 rhythm and blues hit, "Big Boss Man". Both selections were issued as a single at the end of September before being added to the album, the A-side just barely making the Top 40.

Presley also requested a song he had heard on the radio in Los Angeles by Jerry Reed, inviting Reed himself to duplicate the distinctive acoustic guitar part. They rousted Reed from a fishing-trip, who arrived to play on Presley's version of his own composition, "Guitar Man". After it was recorded, Reed refused to turn over the usual publishing percentages to Freddy Bienstock, another assault on the soundtrack formula that had been in place throughout the decade.

The remaining two songs recorded at the September sessions: "Singing Tree" and "Just Call Me Lonesome" brought the album up to a total of twelve tracks. But even with the five recent non-movie songs, including a hit single, 'Clambake' sold less than 200,000 copies, faring even worse than its predecessor 'Double Trouble' - which had been his lowest-charting album so far.

Elvis and Priscilla Beaulieu were married on May 1, not long after this film was finished. As a bonus item for fans, the soundtrack album contained a colour photo from the wedding.


Quote"Crying in the Chapel" was written by Artie Glenn. His son, Darrell Glenn recorded it while still in high school in 1953, along with Artie's band The Rhythm Riders. It became a local hit and reached number six on the Billboard pop singles chart and number four on the Billboard country and western chart.

On October 31, 1960, Elvis Presley cut a version of the song with plans to put it on his RCA gospel album, His Hand in Mine.

Gordon Stoker (The Jordanaires) : "We had been singing since 6 or 7 o'clock in the evening during that session. At about 3 a.m., Elvis said 'Let's do 'Crying in the Chapel.' Of course, the recording was pretty much of a hit, so we had all heard it on the radio. The song was recorded by a guy over in east Tennessee, and it got a lot of plays around Nashville. Elvis liked the record and had it with him in the studio."

Three takes were recorded, but neither Elvis nor The Jordanaires, who provided background vocals, were satisfied. Eventually it was decided to shelve the recordings and move on.

Gordon Stoker : "We were tired when we recorded it, but I'm thankful we don't sound tired on the record. I never liked our ending. All of us knew we sang the wrong parts. Of course in those days you couldn't repair. Elvis said, 'It's good, forget it, don't make any difference.' But it always has with ME."

So much for the PR whitewash, what was the REAL reason for not releasing it in 1960? . . .

Gordon Stoker : "At the time, Valley Publishing Company held the rights to 'Crying in the Chapel.' As you know, Elvis couldn't record anything that the Colonel didn't own or didn't make a deal on. So they contacted Valley Publishing, and they wouldn't make them any kind of deal. So the Colonel said, 'OK, just keep it in the can.' They would say anything to please the Colonel or RCA in those days."

"Several years later, Hill and Range Publishing bought Valley Publishing, not knowing that 'Crying in the Chapel' was in there, so they said. THEN, the song was released. It was the same master we recorded in 1960. Many said to us, 'You sound different on that.' Just in that short amount of time they had improved recordings."

 

On February 9, 1966, an article headlined, "Ex-Rocker Elvis ... Gets That Religioso Beat," appeared in Variety. Writer Joe X. Price began his article with the following revelation about Elvis's coming career change.

"Elvis Presley, who rock 'n' rolled his way to fame, is leaning more heavily toward creating the spiritual-religioso image and his disk sales are higher than ever. While he may be years away from being dubbed 'Elvis the Pious,' the new turn in songs is, says manager Col. Tom Parker, the principal reason for the singer experiencing his 'greatest gross period' for wax during calendar 1965 since inking with Victor in 1956."

Obviously Colonel Parker had sought out Price and fed him a line of malarkey, hoping to promote his own concept for a new direction in Presley's career. Price took the bait and ran with it. Amazingly the writer included the following information provided by Parker without bothering to check the facts, something that needed to be done whenever the Colonel opened his mouth to promote Elvis.

"Parker gives the 30,000-plus fan letters received last summer as the factor which most decisively prompted a switch in overall sound in recent Presley product. The letters referred to an album he grooved some seven years ago, called 'Crying in the Chapel.' The fans wanted more of the same. With Parker's urging, diskery lifted title tune off that album and released it last October. In the 90-day period ending last Yule, platter sold upwards of 1,000,000 copies domestically and 1,732,000 worldwide, according to Parker."

Of course, the Colonel didn't realize that "Crying in the Chapel" not only was not the name of LP recorded five years previously, but also that the song wasn't even included on His Hand in Mine. No matter. Parker already had sketched out plans to make Elvis America's great gospel crooner.

 

On April 6, 1965, "Crying In the Chapel" was issued on RCA's "Gold Standard Series." It became Elvis' first million seller since "Return to Sender" in 1962 and his greatest chart success over a six-year span - spending two weeks at number one in the UK.

It was later included as a bonus track on Presley's 1967 gospel album, 'How Great Thou Art'.

His previous gospel album 'His Hand in Mine' had been a solid catalog seller for RCA. While Presley faced difficulty getting radio airplay in the mid-1960s, during that decade radio stations played Christmas music at Christmas-time and religious music at Easter, and Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was convinced Presley could break through in these niche markets. So, recording sessions were arranged with the purpose of producing a Christmas single and a follow-up LP to His Hand in Mine.

How Great Thou Art would in fact be Presley's first non-soundtrack album recording of new material since Pot Luck with Elvis in 1962, and his first album release not to include any soundtrack recordings since the previous gospel album in 1960. It also introduced producer Felton Jarvis to Presley on the singer's second non-soundtrack sessions since May 1963. Jarvis would continue to work with Presley for the remainder of his career.

As the sessions for the album progressed, Elvis rejected many of the planned songs for which Freddy Bienstock had obtained publishing deals, and began picking favorites of his own and those of the musicians. The five songs in the public domain were credited as "arranged by Elvis Presley" and published by Elvis Presley Music allowing Bienstock to secure the royalties for those selections. In fact, it is likely that an engaged and enthusiastic Presley indeed did the arrangements, as he certainly did with the title song, his months of practice at home on his beloved gospel songs paying off.



Other Versions includeJune Valli (1953)  /  Art Lund (1953)  /  Ella Fitzgerald (1953)  /  Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1953)  /  Margaret Whiting (1958)  /  Johnny Burnette (1961)  /  Mahalia Jackson (1962)  /  Little Richard (1963)  /  Jimmie Rodgers (1964)  /  Santo & Johnny (1964)  /  "Cesta rájem" by Karel Gott (1965)  /  Al Martino (1965)  /  Chuck Jackson (1966)  /  Tammy Wynette (1968)  /  The Staple Singers (1968)  /  B.J. Thomas (1970)  /  Don McLean (1974)  /  P.J. Proby (2002)  /  Jim & Deb (2010)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  a robot (2019)

On This Day  :
Quote14 June : The Beatles release US album "Beatles VI"
17 June : The Kinks arrive in New York beginning their 1st US tour
18 June : George Melachrino, English composer, dies at 56
19 June : Sadie Frost, actress, born Sadie Liza Frost in Islington, London
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28 June : 1st US ground combat forces in Vietnam authorized by President Lyndon B. Johnson
2 July : Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Roy Emerson scores second consecutive title win over fellow Australian Fred Stolle 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
3 July : Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Australian Margaret Smith (Margaret Court) beats Maria Bueno of Brazil 6-4, 7-5, her second of 3 Wimbledon singles titles
3 July : Roy Rogers' horse Trigger, dies at 30

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :
Quote   

purlieu


daf

Make the most of it - only a couple more to go *

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* (until the 2005 Zombie chart when he gets three pointless re-issued cash-grab toppers in under a month)

The Culture Bunker

I'm not exactly much of a fan of Elvis even when he was young and vital, so I find this kind of thing to be absolute cack of the highest order.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Nice vocal, but it's Elvis so that's to be expected. I've never really understood how this got to Number One, though, it's just a fairly pleasant yet rather dull gospel song.

In an ideal world, Elvis should've returned to the top of the charts at this point in time with something funky and rocking, just to remind all these shaggy-haired arrivistes that he was still the King. But no, here he is being all straight and pious, like someone from a different era entirely.

Oh well, he'll be back with Suspicious Minds in four years time.

purlieu

Yes, the idea that he's making music that sounds safe and bland in comparison to his own peak, let alone stuff that came after, is bizarre enough, but the fact that it was the UK's best-selling single for two weeks is really hard to fathom.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: purlieu on November 04, 2019, 07:50:00 PM
Yes, the idea that he's making music that sounds safe and bland in comparison to his own peak, let alone stuff that came after, is bizarre enough, but the fact that it was the UK's best-selling single for two weeks is really hard to fathom.

It's as if the UK record-buying public suddenly remembered en masse that Elvis was still knocking about, so they went out and bought his latest single, regardless of merit, as an act of delayed loyalty. Crying in the Chapel isn't even one of his best gospel recordings. Weird.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

This, from daf's write-up, made me laugh.

QuotePresley was reportedly unhappy with the quality of the songs chosen for the film, allegedly referring to the selections as "shit" during the recording session.

Just the blunt, hopeless tragedy of it all, a miserable Elvis being forced to sing Yoga Is As Yoga Does while the Beatles are over in London recording Rubber Soul.