Girl Happy (album)

Content

Excluding the singles compilation Elvis' Golden Records Volume 3, this was the sixth original Presley album in a row that was a soundtrack to a feature film. Eleven songs were recorded and all were used, with "The Meanest Girl in Town" originally released as "Yeah, She's Evil!" by Bill Haley & His Comets and released on Decca Records in July 1964, though Haley actually recorded his version six days after Presley. An error in mastering resulted in Presley's voice being sped up on several of the recordings, most notably the title track. RCA finally released a corrected (though outtake) version of the title track in its 1991 compilation Collectors Gold from the Movie Years. Eventually, the proper speed version was issued.

"Do the Clam" was released approximately a month ahead of the album as a single, peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remaining on the chart for eight weeks. Its B-side – an unused track called "You'll Be Gone", written by Presley with "Memphis Mafia" entourage members Red West and Charlie Hodge – was derived from the March 18, 1962 sessions for Pot Luck with Elvis. A variant on the Cole Porter standard, "Begin the Beguine" (after Porter had denied permission to alter the lyrics), the new song was drafted using the Porter tune and lyric as a template. Not appearing in the film, it was added to the Girl Happy soundtrack album.

At the end of 1965, RCA released Harum Scarum the soundtrack album for Elvis's third movie of the year. Due to the fact that none of the songs included in that album had any single potential, RCA chose "Puppet on a String" backed with the five-year-old "Wooden Heart" for the Christmas single. Although "Puppet on a String" had already been available on the Girl Happy soundtrack album for months, that song still managed to reach number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2003 Girl Happy was reissued on the Follow That Dream label in a special edition that contained the original album tracks along with numerous alternate takes.