Back in 2003 "Girl Happy" was one of the first albums that got FTD's special treatment. The set included a compact disc and a booklet, housed in a 7" digipak. Six years later the collector's label released a new edition, because better tapes had been found. At the time the FTD versions were the best sounding source for the tracks, in 2016 the recordings were mastered again for the boxed set "The RCA Album Collection". This album is available in physical form only, because Sony Music Entertainment's collector's label refuses to distribute their products in a modern way. The content of the original album was remastered and therefore offers the same dull sound as the vinyl. But the outtakes had also to be mixed before release and therefore sound much better than the masters. The job was done by Lene Reidel.

Here I will only deal with the recordings that are not featured on the original release. For a review of the RCA Victor album just tap HERE.

After singing "every time you look at me" Elvis laughingly says "he's looking at me with a sheepish grin". On the next take he doesn't get any further because he was out of tune. It's obvious that the king is annoyed. The 7th attempt is a complete performance. It sounds a tad more relaxed, because the song is taken at a slower tempo.

Elvis sounds a bit reluctant, after 45 seconds he cancels the take. At the line "...take a real deep breath" he was out of breath. The next attempt doesn't last long, too. Finally take number 9 is a complete performance, the king invests a tad more energy.

I don't know why Elvis recorded 24 takes of this song. Number 4 already works so well, that it easily could have been released.

The king rehearses his part before the official take is started. After a minute he gets out of tune, which annoyes him. "That is undoubtably the weirdest goddamn chord change I think I've ever tangled with in my life. I'll beat the hell out of it if it takes 94 years of hard labour. I'll come back after the picture and record it for hours!" To calm him down the producer suggests a pickup take, because the beginning was ok. Elvis simply answers, that he doesn't like ok. The following attempt already fails at the intro, which causes the king to laugh. Take 26 runs longer, but now Elvis gets lost in the lyrics. "That was a new one" he comments. Finally the next try is a success. It's a complete performance and already close to the master.

The 6th take is taken at a slower pace and sounds a bit more relaxed than the released version. Besides that the song isn't faded out. Instead we get to hear a nice, jazzy improvisation.

The first walkthrough sounds quite insecure. After 1.5 minutes Elvis gets out of step and cancels the take. The second attempt is performed with more zest, but the phrasing is far from being perfect. At the first chorus the king quits the recording. Take number three is another improvement, but this time Elvis has to laugh because he sings "I've been this way..." instead of "I've been like this...". Walkthrough number 4 is a complete performance and played faster than the previous ones.

This take sounds so good, it also could have been released.

As Elvis sings "the sky is full of butterlies" the band simply stops and the king comments "...the sky is full of butterfly-shit". The next attempt dies because Elvis gets lost in the lyrics. "It should be a little happier too. You're thinking of other things." says the producer. The king follows the advice and puts a tad more happiness in his voice.

The performance doesn't differ to the master all that much and easily could have been released, too.

Elvis obviously had trouble to tape this ballad, because this is his 35th (!) try. The result sounds good and I don't know why the king recorded more takes.

The take is working well, but after a minute and twenty seconds the king gets out of step. Take 10 is just a short false start, the 11th walkthrough sounds quite good and is similar to the released version.

Here we get to hear the master of "Girl Happy", just not spliced together. First is take 13, which works very well until Elvis fails on the finale. Afterwards we hear the pick up take of the finale.