To coincide with Paramount's release of "Fun In Acapulco" RCA Victor started to ship the accordant soundtack album in early November 1963. On December 21st the record entered the "Top LPs Chart" for 24 weeks and reached number 3. Worldwide "Fun In Acapulco" was retailed 3.25 million times, which translates to 487.5 million paid streams of the complete album or 4.88 billion streams of individual tracks. Therefore the soundtrack beat the previous studio albums, but nevertheless RCA, Colonel Parker and Elvis had to admit that the latest "Golden Records" release and the previous Paramount albums had done better. In the present the popularity of "Fun In Acapulco" has declined a lot. On Spotify it accumulates just 21 million streams while an album like "Elvis Today", which hadn't even sold 50% of the physical units, clocks in at more than twenty times as many retrievals.

For the album sleeve RCA used promo photos for "Fun In Acapulco". Elvis' hair is almost artificially black and he wears a lot of makeup. The rockin' 50s were obviously far away.

On the streaming platforms "Fun In Acapulco" is presented the way it was issued in 2016 as part of the set "The Album Collection". For this project all tracks were scanned with high-resolution equipment and remastered. Therefore the album can be presented with the golden Hi-Res emblem. The better sound of these versions is owed exclusively to the new mastering (the elimination of interfering noise). Because first one cannot turn an analogue recording into a high resolution recording just by scanning the tape with hd equipment and second even an old cd with 16 bit/44.1 kHz exceeds the auditory sense of a human being.

The soundtrack was recorded on January 22nd and 23rd, 1963 at Radio Recorders in Hollywood/California. The sessions were produced by Joseph Lilley and engineered by Dave Weichman. Elvis' band consisted of Scotty Moore (guitar), D.J. Fontana (drums), Hilmer J. Timbrell (guitar & mandoline), Barney Kessel (guitar), Ray siegel (bass), Hal Blaine (drums), Emil Radocchia (percussion), Dudley Brooks (piano), Anthony Terran (trumpet) and Rudolph Loera (trumpet). The harmony vocals were provided by The Jordanaires (Gordon Stoker, Neal Matthews, Hoyt Hawkins and Ray Walker) as well as The Amigos (Jose Vadiz, Pedro Berrios, Miguel Alcaide and German Vega). Because one of the reasons for the comparable low sales of "It Happened At The World's Fair" had been the short running time, RCA Victor now included two bonus songs. By doing so the "Fun In Acapulco" album was extended to 29:30 minutes.

In 2003 Follow That Dream Records released a collector's edition of the album, which included some unreleased outtakes. For a review tap HERE. Sixteen years later FTD came up with a boxed set of the complete session. A review of "The Complete FUN IN ACAPULCO Sessions" can be found HERE.

The song by Ben Weisman and Sid Wayne describes an idealized vacation scenery and its melody creates a nice holiday mood. Elvis recorded the tune on January 23, 1963. The first attempt became the master.

With this uptempo tune Elvis sings about the good things in life. "Vino, Dinero Y Amor" was written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett and recorded by Elvis on January 22, 1963 within five takes.

This one also spreads southern vitality and is performed by Elvis with zest. On January 22nd he recorded seven takes of this latin tune and finally approved the fifth one for release. Once again the writers are Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. In Germany RCA Victor released "Mexico" and "You Can't Say No In Acapulco" on a single and provided Elvis with another top 30 hit.

Because he cannot get over the defeat by El Torro, the matador enters the arena at night to take revenge. Once again the bull wins, but this time he takes the life of the proud Spaniard. The song was written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye and is performed by Elvis with the commanded drama. The master is a splice of the takes 2 and 1.

Don Robertson had written some beautiful ballads for Elvis in the past and "Marguerita" is no exception. In dramatic southern style the singer praizes the love of the said lady and the king really lives up to the task. To me this song is one of the highlights of this album. "Marguerita" was recorded on January 22, 1963, take 8 was chosen for release.

Another song about a bullfight, but this time with a touch of comedy. The bull falls in love with the female matador and gets killed because of his sudden softness. The fluffy movie tune was penned by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennet and recorded on January 22, 1963. The master is a splice of the takes 9 and 7.

The lyrics are about the impossibility to move accordantly in a tiny sports car and musically the song by Fred Wise and Dick Manning doesn't convince by sophistication, too. On January 23, 1963 Elvis recorded a single take of "(There Is) No Room To Rumba In A Sports Car" and moved on.

Mexico is described as a peaceful place full of beautiful girls and without any worry. The music emphasizes the lyrics and Elvis obviously likes the tune. It was recorded on January 22, 1963, the master is a splice of the takes 10 and 7. "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" was written by Hal Blair and Don Robertson.

This song was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and recorded by Tippie & The Clovers in 1962. Musically the bossa nova is located in Brazil instead of Mexico, but who cares about geograpy in a Presley movie? The king recorded "Bossa Nova Baby" on January 22, 1963 and selected take 11 for release. To promote the album RCA Victor had released the song on a single with "Witchcraft" in October and provided the king with another top 10 hit. In 1970 the song could also be found on the boxed set "Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits - Volume 1".

The singer wants to seduce a lady with this song and uses the argument that one simply cannot say no in Acapulco. If life was that easy! The tune by Dick Feller, Dolores Fuller and Lee Morris is lightweight in any way, I regard it to be well produced elevator music. Elvis recorded the song on January 23, 1963 within 5 takes.

This song is in Spanish language and was written and recorded by Pepe Guisar in 1936. The music track was recorded on January 23rd, the vocal track followed on February 27th. Neither the band, nor Elvis managed to produce a complete, releasable track. The music was a splice of the takes 1 and 7, the vocal was a splice of the takes 6 and 2. In 1972 CAMDEN used "Guadalajara" on the budget album "Burning Love And Hits From His Movies".

Elvis recorded the ballad on May 26, 1963 at RCA Studio B in Nashville/Tennessee for an album, that later would be canceled in favor of the greatest hits compilation "Elvis' Golden Records - Volume 3" and this soundtrack lp. As the title suggests, a lady is to be seduced. In contrast to most of the ballads the king recorded in the early 1960s he doesn't croon and sing in his higher register, but uses his voice to the full extend and sings comparably low. The writer of this very good love song is Don Robertson.

The album closes with a popsong in midtempo by Sid Wayne and Ben Wisman. Elvis recorded it on May 27, 1963 within five takes. Two years after the release on the "Fun In Acapulco" album the track was used by Allied Artists in the movie "Tickle Me" and re-released by RCA Victor on the accordant soundtrack ep.