Stop, Look And Listen (Elvis early 1966)

[bajo]

I remember so well putting the “California Holiday”(Spinout) album on my turntable. The previous HS, FJ and PHS didn’t really rock one’s foot! To me the album was a “highlight” in the what was coming on. Somehow, the opening track Stop, Look And Listen gave me some hope. The bonus tracks even so. The track in mention, I once looped to a 2:12 running track! And to this day, I would have liked that the track would have been looped too! Elvis’ voice during the Spinout sessions were more into it, imo, than the previous soundtracks sessions. The song in mention, in the looped version, is a guilty pleasure to me! It’s just the way it is, and was!

[Jaime1234]

Agree totally

[emjel]

I remember so well putting the “California Holiday”(Spinout) album on my turntable. The previous HS, FJ and PHS didn’t really rock one’s foot! To me the album was a “highlight” in the what was coming on. Somehow, the opening track Stop, Look And Listen gave me some hope. The bonus tracks even so. The track in mention, I once looped to a 2:12 running track! And to this day, I would have liked that the track would have been looped too! Elvis’ voice during the Spinout sessions were more into it, imo, than the previous soundtracks sessions. The song in mention, in the looped version, is a guilty pleasure to me! It’s just the way it is, and was!

Completely corny lyrics for 1966 though. If he wasn’t just a little bitty boy sitting on his papa’s knee learning all about girls, then one year earlier and as just a baby boy, he was getting girl happy vibes courtesy of his first nurse who rocked his cradle making him jump for joy. With rubbish lyrics like those two opening album songs, no wonder his albums were only selling to the faithful, and some of them were in frustration mode.

[pmp]

I remember so well putting the “California Holiday”(Spinout) album on my turntable. The previous HS, FJ and PHS didn’t really rock one’s foot! To me the album was a “highlight” in the what was coming on. Somehow, the opening track Stop, Look And Listen gave me some hope. The bonus tracks even so. The track in mention, I once looped to a 2:12 running track! And to this day, I would have liked that the track would have been looped too! Elvis’ voice during the Spinout sessions were more into it, imo, than the previous soundtracks sessions. The song in mention, in the looped version, is a guilty pleasure to me! It’s just the way it is, and was!

Completely corny lyrics for 1966 though. If he wasn’t just a little bitty boy sitting on his papa’s knee learning all about girls, then one year earlier and as just a baby boy, he was getting girl happy vibes courtesy of his first nurse who rocked his cradle making him jump for joy. With rubbish lyrics like those two opening album songs, no wonder his albums were only selling to the faithful, and some of them were in frustration mode.

What seems bizarre is that the song was deemed to be strong enough to be recorded by others, including Bill Haley and Rick Nelson. In many ways, both of those recordings are superior to Elvis's. Nelson was coming towards the end of his "teen idol" phase, and the song suited his style at that time. Bill Haley's version sounds more like what was in the charts in the mid-60s than Elvis's recording, partly due to the prominent use of organ - and it shows that if Elvis had approached it with a bit of the grit he afforded Down in the Alley, he might have got more from the song. Elvis's version is "fine," but it does seem half-baked. It's also worth adding that both Haley and Nelson recorded their versions BEFORE Elvis.

[bajo]

It doesn't matter much to me if it's only "fine". To me, both Haley's and Nelson's are "fine". The song to me, in Elvis' version is great to ME!