"Too Much Monkey Business"!

[Juan Luis]

Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business" was recorded by Elvis Presley on January 15, 1968! Felton Jarvis producing with Al Pachucki behind the console. Felton's good friend Jerry Reed is the standout guest musician with his guitar. Great picking!
Elvis recorded the song during a warm-up at the sessions for "Stay Away, Joe" soundtrack. Lyrics updated from Yokohama to Vietnam. Outstanding by Elvis and band!
The song was covered by top acts such as: the Beatles (BBC), The Hollies, The Yardbirds (featuring Eric Clapton).

The song was redone by Felton Jarvis in 1980 for the posthumous 1981 LP release "Guitar Man". That's where this fan found the song and heard it for the first time.


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[brian]

I loved Elvis' version of this Too much monkey business and Promised land were the two best covers of Chuck Berry that he did.

[TheKingisthething]

Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business" was recorded by Elvis Presley on January 15, 1968! Felton Jarvis producing with Al Pachucki behind the console. Felton's good friend Jerry Reed is the standout guest musician with his guitar. Great picking!
Elvis recorded the song during a warm-up at the sessions for "Stay Away, Joe" soundtrack. Lyrics updated from Yokohama to Vietnam. Outstanding by Elvis and band!
The song was covered by top acts such as: the Beatles (BBC), The Hollies, The Yardbirds (featuring Eric Clapton).

The song was redone by Felton Jarvis in 1980 for the posthumous 1981 LP release "Guitar Man". That's where this fan found the song and heard it for the first time.


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One of the finest sixties tracks...

[Fabbe]

Great track! Great interpretation & sound


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

[Tony C]

I love it, it's funny I listened to a CD containing this track earlier today, had not heard it for a while.

[Pete Dube]

Very good track and I really like the acoustic guitar driven sound Elvis & co. experimented with around this time.

[Robert]

One of my favorite tracks. Vocal, guitar arrangement, pure winner!

[jeanno]

My favorite Berry cover from our man.

[midnightx]

A very good studio recording that never had a fair chance to resonate with the public. Sadly, it was never developed as part of a full-length commercial album circa 1968. The non-soundtrack sessions in Nashville circa 1967/1968 were ultimately wasted.

[elvis-fan]

I remember hearing Too Much Monkey Business for the very first time on the 1981 Guitar Man album... I really liked it.
Then I heard the original (remixed) master for the first time on the 1984 LP Elvis' Gold Records Volume 5. Not a song I listen to a lot but I do enjoy it!!!

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[Domino]

Awesome track.Take 10 is my favorite.

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[elvisalisellers]

It's quite possibly the final track in which Elvis' famed guitar-slaps appear on.

If you listen closely to Elvis’ fervent vocal under headphones, he certainly gives the impression of doing two things at once.

The initial takes [1-10] all feature drums, until takes 12 [FS] and 14 [the master] kick in and those endearing "slaps" appear instead.

How cool to picture him doing this in a studio as late as January 1968.

[elvisalisellers]

I remember hearing Too Much Monkey Business for the very first time on the 1981 Guitar Man album... I really liked it.
Then I heard the original (remixed) master for the first time on the 1984 LP Elvis' Gold Records Volume 5. Not a song I listen to a lot but I do enjoy it!!!

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It's not on GR5.
Are you perhaps confusing it with "Clean Up Your Own Backyard"?

An abbreviated remix did appear on the This Is Elvis soundtrack album, though.

[Dan_T]

Absolutely love Elvis' version !!

[mike edwards66]

Awesome track.Take 10 is my favorite.

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Take 10, mine too. Love it.

Wasn't this Elvis' first record with any kind of social commentary. Been to Vietnam, been a fightin' in the war. Before Binder (If I Can Dream) before Moman (In the Ghetto) there was Jarvis.

[Juan Luis]

Awesome track.Take 10 is my favorite.

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Take 10, mine too. Love it.

Wasn't this Elvis' first record with any kind of social commentary. Been to Vietnam, been a fightin' in the war. Before Binder (If I Can Dream) before Moman (In the Ghetto) there was Jarvis.

That is correct.

[eligain]

Awesome track.Take 10 is my favorite.

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Take 10, mine too. Love it.

Wasn't this Elvis' first record with any kind of social commentary. Been to Vietnam, been a fightin' in the war. Before Binder (If I Can Dream) before Moman (In the Ghetto) there was Jarvis.

That is correct.[/quote]

This really wasn't social commentary about the Vietnam war. The lyric was thoughtlessly changed to the most recent war because the Yokohama reference was too dated. The lyric is about complaining about the Army not the Vietnam war. Although I really like Elvis' version of the song, I always have thought that this came off as tone deaf an insensitive. With all the problems and controversies and tragedy in Vietnam, Elvis (in the song) was bitching about the the army bunks, food, clothes and cars. That section always makes me cringe.

[drjohncarpenter]

Elvis' recording of "Too Much Monkey Business" is an A+ accomplishment. It is a shame Elvis did not create an entire rock 'n' roll album of songs old and new with these musicians and similar, roots-like arrangements. Bob Moore's acoustic bass sounds so good. Instead, this marvelous track ended up buried on an appliance store promotional LP nine months later. And, of course, Jerry Reed's open tuning and speedy licks are incomparable.

Something most fans don't know ...

The Reed influence in particular elevates all the material from the January 1968 Nashville sessions and it's obvious the Presley cut of "Too Much Monkey Business" follows Jerry's recent RCA recording of "Tupelo Mississippi Flash." In fact, Reed probably suggested the arrangement, or simply let it fly.

In essence, Elvis covers a Chuck Berry classic using the arrangement from a song that was inspired by ... Elvis Presley!



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Jerry Reed "Tupelo Mississippi Flash" (RCA 47-9334, September 1967)
Recorded at RCA's Studio B, Nashville, September 1, 1967

Tupelo Mississippi Flash
Jerry Reed Hubbard
© Vector Music, BMI / Sixteen Stars Music, BMI

I'm gonna tell you a story that's all about
This job I had one time as a talent scout
I had a hard day at the office and the boss wasn't in town
The day this hairy-legged guitar picker just happened to come around
Well, he walks into my office with a great big grin
And folks, that's where my story really begins

He said, son, my name is Beauregard Rippy
I come to you from Tupelo, Mississippi
I write songs and I sing like a bird
I play licks on my guitar like you ain't never heard
But I'm down on my luck, things are just a little slack
I got a quarter in my pocket and the shirt on my back
But you buy me some supper, give me a place I can sleep
Said I'll sing you some songs that'll knock your hat in the creek
I got talent, boy, said back home they call me "the Tupelo Mississippi Flash"

Well, I knew I was in a room with some kind of a nut
When he pulled out that pack of used cigarette butts
So that's when I told him "We can't use you today"
So I hand the boy a dollar and I send him on his way
Well, the boss got back and we both had a laugh
When I told him 'bout "the Tupelo Mississippi Flash"
And pretty soon I had this story circulatin' around
About this Mississippi nut that we had in our town
I said, "Watch him everybody, the boy's squirrelly"
He walks around, callin' himself "the Tupelo Mississippi Flash"

Well, then it happened one day while I was drivin' to my home
I just a-happened to have my car radio on
When I heard a jockey ravin' 'bout a brand-new smash
By a kid called the "Tupelo Mississippi Flash"
Why, I almost wrecked my automobile
I went through a red light, I hit a traffic cop
Why, well my story's got an ending and it's short and sweet
The boss man, he fired me and left me out in the street
But I got a new job now, and I'm learnin' real fast
I'm-a drivin' the bus for "the Tupelo Mississippi Flash"

And his Cadillac, I'm drivin' that for him too
And that yacht he's got, and his aeroplane
Heh-heh, well "chauffeur, so good" I always say
Eh, "the Tupelo Mississippi..." who ever heard of him?
Why, I'll kill the boy ...

BONUS FLASH

Previous FECC discussions of this wonderful recording are here:
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=79793
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=73539
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=55430
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1742


Finally, this topic addressed why Elvis changed Chuck Berry's "been to Yokohama" reference:

War Lyric Change on "Too Much Monkey Business"
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31965

The simple answer, of course was that singing "Yokohama" in 1968 would have made Elvis seem a little stupid, given the Vietnam War was in the news every single day. Elvis wasn't stupid.

[Eggrert]

For some reason, this one never clicked with me as much as Elvis' cover of Memphis, TN. I still enjoy it, though.

[elvis-fan]

I remember hearing Too Much Monkey Business for the very first time on the 1981 Guitar Man album... I really liked it.
Then I heard the original (remixed) master for the first time on the 1984 LP Elvis' Gold Records Volume 5. Not a song I listen to a lot but I do enjoy it!!!

..

It's not on GR5.
Are you perhaps confusing it with "Clean Up Your Own Backyard"?

An abbreviated remix did appear on the This Is Elvis soundtrack album, though.

OOPS! You're right... I was thinking of CUYOB...

[mike edwards66]

Awesome track.Take 10 is my favorite.

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Take 10, mine too. Love it.

Wasn't this Elvis' first record with any kind of social commentary. Been to Vietnam, been a fightin' in the war. Before Binder (If I Can Dream) before Moman (In the Ghetto) there was Jarvis.

That is correct.

This really wasn't social commentary about the Vietnam war.

It was Elvis' first waxed social commentary of any kind. Obviously, it was within the confines of the lyric.

Here's the thing, "Dream" and "Ghetto" are generic, if at all, commentary. They speak about nothing and nowhere specific. "Monkey" is direct, he's been to Vietnam, he's been a fightin' in the war.

[Juan Luis]

Awesome track.Take 10 is my favorite.

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Take 10, mine too. Love it.

Wasn't this Elvis' first record with any kind of social commentary. Been to Vietnam, been a fightin' in the war. Before Binder (If I Can Dream) before Moman (In the Ghetto) there was Jarvis.

That is correct.

This really wasn't social commentary about the Vietnam war.

It was Elvis' first waxed social commentary of any kind. Obviously, it was within the confines of the lyric.

Here's the thing, "Dream" and "Ghetto" are generic, if at all, commentary. They speak about nothing and nowhere specific. "Monkey" is direct, he's been to Vietnam, he's been a fightin' in the war.

That is correct as well.

[mike edwards66]

Awesome track.Take 10 is my favorite.

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Take 10, mine too. Love it.

Wasn't this Elvis' first record with any kind of social commentary. Been to Vietnam, been a fightin' in the war. Before Binder (If I Can Dream) before Moman (In the Ghetto) there was Jarvis.

That is correct.

This really wasn't social commentary about the Vietnam war.

It was Elvis' first waxed social commentary of any kind. Obviously, it was within the confines of the lyric.

Here's the thing, "Dream" and "Ghetto" are generic, if at all, commentary. They speak about nothing and nowhere specific. "Monkey" is direct, he's been to Vietnam, he's been a fightin' in the war.

That is correct as well.

I'm always correct.

[poormadpeter2]

I confess I don't see what all the fuss is about. It's a decent version, but it's not a patch on the original Chuck Berry version. In Berry's hands, the whole thing is done with a wink and a nudge and in a semi-humorous way. That, however is lost in the Elvis version. Despite the frivolity of the session, Elvis sings the song not just straight-faced and without the fun of Berry's, but sounds almost bitter at times. He misses the point of what made the original great. The country blues vibe is great, and certainly points towards some of the material he would record over the next year or so, but, at the same time, the song never catches fire because of its reinvention as a country blues. The guitar solo halfway through is pedestrian at best, whereas this is where Berry's version comes to life (in not one, but two scorching solos), and there's just not enough variation in Elvis's delivery from verse to verse make this anything beyond "decent" - and that's not helped by Elvis once again not knowing the whole song and repeating a verse.

[eligain]

Awesome track.Take 10 is my favorite.

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Take 10, mine too. Love it.

Wasn't this Elvis' first record with any kind of social commentary. Been to Vietnam, been a fightin' in the war. Before Binder (If I Can Dream) before Moman (In the Ghetto) there was Jarvis.

That is correct.

This really wasn't social commentary about the Vietnam war.

It was Elvis' first waxed social commentary of any kind. Obviously, it was within the confines of the lyric.

Here's the thing, "Dream" and "Ghetto" are generic, if at all, commentary. They speak about nothing and nowhere specific. "Monkey" is direct, he's been to Vietnam, he's been a fightin' in the war.

Nice try but no cigar! This was no more social commentary than was GI Blues. It was complaining about Army life, not any "direct" commentary about the Vietnam war. The lyric was changed to Vietnam only to make the song more current for 1968.

"Dream" and "Ghetto" were generic but were social commentary on what was going on in the country at the time.