Released June 1963 Genre Rhythm and blues | Format 7" Length 2:17 | |
B-side "Please Don't Drag That String Around" Recorded May 26, 1963, RCA Studios, Nashville, Tennessee | ||
"(You're the) Devil in Disguise" is a 1963 single by Elvis Presley which was written by the songwriters Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye. It was published by Elvis Presley Music in June 1963. This song peaked at number three in the US on the Billboard singles chart on August 10, 1963 and number nine on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues singles chart, becoming his last top ten single on the Rhythm and Blues charts. The single was certified "Gold" by the RIAA for sales in excess of 500,000 units in the US. The song also topped Japan's Utamatic record chart in the fall of 1963.
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In 1963, when the song was debuted to a British audience on the BBC television show Juke Box Jury, the celebrity guest John Lennon voted the song "a miss" stating on the new song that Elvis Presley was "like Bing Crosby now". The song went on to reach number 1 in the UK for a single week.
Presley originally recorded the song May 26, 1963, at RCA Studios in Nashville. "(You're the) Devil in Disguise" and its flipside, "Please Don't Drag That String Around", was recorded for a full-length album that was scheduled for release in 1963, but RCA chose instead to release the album piecemeal on singles and as soundtrack album bonus tracks.
Bass singer J.D. Sumner is featured in the song, singing in a low register to represent the Devil with the repeated phrase, "Oh, yes, you are," before the song's fade.
Personnel
Other versions
A cover version by Trisha Yearwood appears on the Honeymoon in Vegas soundtrack, which consists mainly of covers of Presley songs. Punk rock band The Misfits covered the song on the extended edition of Project 1950, an album which also contained a cover of Presley's "Latest Flame". Swedish comedian Robert Gustafsson made a cover in the 90 's.
In popular culture
"(You're the) Devil in Disguise" is featured in Kenneth Anger's short film Scorpio Rising.
The song is featured in Disney's Lilo & Stitch and its soundtrack, notably during a sequence where Lilo tries to make Stitch a "model citizen" by using Presley as a role model, with the latter title character playing ukulele to the tune of the guitar solo.