The GIRL HAPPY Sessions

Before we dive into the actual recording sessions, FTD lets us enjoy the finished products as well as other bits and pieces. As written before, the masters were newly reworked in 2024, so they sound a bit better than the incarnations of "The Album Collection" (which can be found on the streaming platforms) and FTD's own collector's edition of "Girl Happy", issued as early as 2003.

The first disc starts with the remastered version of the original album tracks, of course minus the bonus song.

The title song of the movie was written by Doc Pomus and Norman Meadse and recorded by Elvis on June 10, 1964. He taped 13 takes and 5 insert-takes with the ending of the song. The master is a splice of take 13 and insert-take 4. "Girl Happy" is a nice popsong, in which the singer describes his ralationship with the ladies. Unfortunately someone thought the song would be even better if only the tempo was faster and that it simply could be done by speeding up the recording by 8%. Even worse was Elvis' approval of this humbug. He obviously didn't care to sound like a member of The Chipmunks.

The sun is shining and Rusty (Elvis) catches the "Spring Fever". The king recorded the song by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye on June 11, 1964 within 24 takes. "Spring Fever" isn't really bad, but it certainly doesn't stay with you.

The ballad with a touch of South American style was written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. The singer tells us about the alleged regulations of the "Fort Laudadale Chamber Of Commerce", which today would cause a truckload of legal actions for being sexist. The rhythm track was taped on June 11, 1964 within seven takes, four days later Elvis added his vocals. He finished it off in two attempts.

This song was composed by Victor Millrose and Leonore Rosenblatt, who later regarded the tune as crap. She was absolutely right , "Startin' Tonight" is not a good song and Elvis' voice sounds somewhat pressed. The music track was recorded on June 12, 1964, Elvis added his vocals two days later. He needed 4 takes to do so, the band had taped their part within 3 takes.

While the melody might be acceptable, the lyrics of this seductively meant song are downright embarrassing. Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye didn't cover themselves with glory. The rhythm track was recorded on June 12, 1964 in 8 takes and two insert-takes. The final version was a splice of take 8 and insert-take 2. The vocal track was taped on June 15, 1964, the 5th take was used for the master.

Giant/Baum/Kaye did better with this ballad. It's also nothing to write home about, but at least it doesn't disturb. On June 11, 1964 Elvis had a hard time recording the tune. He needed no less than 36 takes!

Once more a lady has to be seduced, this time with a ballad in mid-tempo. Elvis recorded 11 takes on June 11, 1964. The master was spliced of the takes 9 and 11 and included a piano overdub, that was recorded on the same day. In total the song by Sid Wayne and Ben Weisman is ok.

Elvis recorded the track on June 10, 1964 within 13 takes. Six days later Bill Haley taped a cover version, which was released under the name "Yeah! She's Evil". Obviously nobody at Gladys Music regarded the song by Joy Byers a hit and so it was given to the competitors for a few bucks. I guess "The Meanest Girl In Town" was supposed to be rock'n'roll, but to me it's nothing but a hectic, mediocre popsong.

The track had been released in February as a forerunner of this album, but had stalled at number 21 of the "Hot 100" and sold less than a million copies worldwide. By 1965 the era of "vogue dances" was long gone, besides that the production was that lackluster, it bordered on unprofessional. Next to the awful mix, the right stereo channel suddenly was silenced during the instrumental part. "Do The Clam" was written by Sid Wayne, Ben Weisman and Dolores Fuller. On June 12, 1965 the band taped 5 takes of the music, three days later Elvis recorded two takes of the vocals. The master was a splice of take 5 (music) and take 2 (vocals).

In the winter of 1965 "Puppet On A String" was also released on a single, but only as a stopgap solution because the "Harum Scarum" soundtrack lacked anything that looked like a hit. RCA Victor simply coupled the ballad with "Wooden Heart" from the good old "G.I. Blues" album and sold another million units. To me the composition by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett is the highlight of this longplayer. Elvis recorded it on June 10, 1964 and needed 11 takes to get it right.

On June 11, 1964 the band needed two takes to record the music track for the song by Joy Byers. Four days later Elvis added his vocals within a single attempt. To put more effort into a tune like this would have been excessive.

Up next are the "lacquers of unedited masters". For the production of vinyl records the music first was cut into a disc, which was later coated with lacquer for protection. This disc was used to produce the stamps (so to speak the negative of the record), which later pressed the grooves into the vinyl discs in mass production. These lacquers can be played like normal vinyl records, but they are extremely delicate. Therefore the sound quality is not as good as on the previous tracks, but it's nice to hear this stuff anyway. Kevan Budd, who is an expert on restauration of mono recordings, certainly came up with the best possible results.

As we know, Elvis didn't record a soundtrack for the Allied Artists production "Tickle Me". But for whatever reason he wanted to cut a new vocal track for the ballad "I Feel That I've Known You Forever", originally released two years earlier on the album "Pot Luck".

Of course Allied Artists didn't provide a budget for hiring musicians and singers. Therefore Elvis' voice was removed from the original recording to provide him with a music track. The king once again delivers a decent performance, but he certainly doesn't improve his previous archivement.

The disc closes with outtakes of the instrumental tracks, Elvis added his voice to on June 15, 1964.