Fulfilling a promise to Scotty Moore ("A Life In Music" by Jorgensen) to cut this record (original title " Girl Next Door" written by Rice-Wayne found on "Elvis Is Back" 1st run "The" on front as well) from Scotty's Fernwood Records act Thomas Wayne. Elvis recorded this quickly in four takes on April 4, 1960. Chet Atkins behind the console with the great Bill Porter as the sound engineer. Effortless and beautiful singing by Elvis Presley on this fun album cut. Elvis was back!
If you haven't played this track in a while. I invite you to do so. The sound is marvelous!
For me, the song is profoundly ordinary, even a bit silly. But on Elvis Is Back, I enjoy it. It is part of the whole album which is a part of Elvis history - and a very good part.
Elvis sings it in an easy manner and with an air of freedom (from army service?) ; I even like the "Do-wha doos" from the Jordanaires !
"Won't you sing me away to a summer night - let me hold her in my arms again"
An infectious hook boosts this songs likeabilty factor. I like it.
'Tragedy' cut by Thomas Wayne was produced by Scotty while Elvis was in the army. Released in January 1959 it reached number 5 on Billboard. His follow-up of 'Girl Next Door' was released as a single in May 1960.
sundial77 wrote:Love this song! No its not the greatest song ever written, but who cares, every time I hear it it cheers me up and it always puts a smile on my face.
Effortless, and perfection. Agree its not a great song (but not a totally bad one) , but lets just be thankful Elvis recorded this in 1960, when his vocals made everything sound just a little bit better. If this was done for a mid-60's movie, it would have been a less desirable track. Just shows what a committed artist can accomplish.
Juan Luis wrote:The track was good enough to maintain the excellence of "Elvis Is Back" album. Very good album cut.
The album was excellent enough to maintain the averageness of "Girl Next Door Went A'Walking". Very so-so album cut.
No. If it was "so-so" the album would not have been great.
Here we go. One has to wonder if this is another one of your wind-up threads because you picked out arguably the worst song on Elvis Is Back! to headline a thread. Clearly you knew people were going to start pointing out its deficiencies which would allow you to start defending it and elevating it way beyond its worth.
Juan Luis wrote:The track was good enough to maintain the excellence of "Elvis Is Back" album. Very good album cut.
The album was excellent enough to maintain the averageness of "Girl Next Door Went A'Walking". Very so-so album cut.
No. If it was "so-so" the album would not have been great.
Here we go. One has to wonder if this is another one of your wind-up threads because you picked out arguably the worst song on Elvis Is Back! to headline a thread. Clearly you knew people were going to start pointing out its deficiencies which would allow you to start defending it and elevating it way beyond its worth.
No...There is no worst track on "Elvis Is Back". They are all from good to great period. And I picked it as a vinyl collector interest as well. With the rare sticker different song title and all.
Last edited by Juan Luis on Mon Feb 22, 2016 6:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Juan Luis wrote:The track was good enough to maintain the excellence of "Elvis Is Back" album. Very good album cut.
The album was excellent enough to maintain the averageness of "Girl Next Door Went A'Walking". Very so-so album cut.
No. If it was "so-so" the album would not have been great.
Here we go. One has to wonder if this is another one of your wind-up threads because you picked out arguably the worst song on Elvis Is Back! to headline a thread. Clearly you knew people were going to start pointing out its deficiencies which would allow you to start defending it and elevating it way beyond its worth.
Juan Luis wrote:No. If it was "so-so" the album would not have been great.
Nonsense. It's not like we're talking about Padre or Mr. Songman.
Girl Next Door Went A'Walking is not terrible, it is so-so, and arguably the least of all the content on Elvis Is Back, which is so chock full of great recordings that it remains a great album, in spite of the inclusion of an average number like this.
Odd you selected this one out of all the 12 songs from this LP. Midnightx may have a point...
Juan Luis wrote:The track was good enough to maintain the excellence of "Elvis Is Back" album. Very good album cut.
The album was excellent enough to maintain the averageness of "Girl Next Door Went A'Walking". Very so-so album cut.
No. If it was "so-so" the album would not have been great.
Here we go. One has to wonder if this is another one of your wind-up threads because you picked out arguably the worst song on Elvis Is Back! to headline a thread. Clearly you knew people were going to start pointing out its deficiencies which would allow you to start defending it and elevating it way beyond its worth.
Juan Luis wrote:There is no worst track on "Elvis Is Back".
jetblack wrote:There is no 'worst song' on this classic album.
Andy
Semantics. Whether the descriptor is "worst song", "least song", "less good song", it doesn't matter. The songs on the album can be ranked in an order from best down.
This song falls 12th of all the songs on Elvis Is Back, and on its own is pretty average, sung beautifully by Elvis.
Had Elvis Is Back contained 12 songs equal to this one, it would not be remembered today as a classic Presley album. Hell, it might not better than the likes of Pot Luck with Elvis.
Juan Luis wrote:The track was good enough to maintain the excellence of "Elvis Is Back" album. Very good album cut.
The album was excellent enough to maintain the averageness of "Girl Next Door Went A'Walking". Very so-so album cut.
No. If it was "so-so" the album would not have been great.
Here we go. One has to wonder if this is another one of your wind-up threads because you picked out arguably the worst song on Elvis Is Back! to headline a thread. Clearly you knew people were going to start pointing out its deficiencies which would allow you to start defending it and elevating it way beyond its worth.
Juan Luis wrote:The track was good enough to maintain the excellence of "Elvis Is Back" album. Very good album cut.
The album was excellent enough to maintain the averageness of "Girl Next Door Went A'Walking". Very so-so album cut.
No. If it was "so-so" the album would not have been great.
Here we go. One has to wonder if this is another one of your wind-up threads because you picked out arguably the worst song on Elvis Is Back! to headline a thread. Clearly you knew people were going to start pointing out its deficiencies which would allow you to start defending it and elevating it way beyond its worth.
Juan Luis wrote:There is no worst track on "Elvis Is Back".
jetblack wrote:There is no 'worst song' on this classic album.
Andy
Semantics. Whether the descriptor is "worst song", "least song", "less good song", it doesn't matter. The songs on the album can be ranked in an order from best down.
This song falls 12th of all the songs on Elvis Is Back, and on its own is pretty average, sung beautifully by Elvis.
Had Elvis Is Back contained 12 songs equal to this one, it would not be remembered today as a classic Presley album. Hell, it might not better than the likes of Pot Luck with Elvis.
That explanation has no merit as it has already been stated that there is no worst song on 'Elvis Is Back'.
. Thanks Juan Luis. Bye for now 
.
