Movies - King Creole

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	Movies - King Creole

King Creole is a 1958 Elvis Presley film and soundtrack based on the 1952 Harold Robbins novel, A Stone for Danny Fisher. It tells the story of a young, tough musician making his way in New Orleans.

It was adapted for the screen by Herbert Baker and directed by Michael Curtiz, famous for Casablanca. It was the fourth of Presley's films. Most critics call King Creole his best film and best performance.

Because the more serious and gritty film strayed from the pretty scenery/pretty girls plotless formula that the legions of Presley fans wanted, it was less than a smash at the box office.

The film also featured some of Presley's hardest rocking film song performances, including the title song, and "Hard-Headed Woman" written by Claude Demetrius. The song "Trouble", a performance that alluded to Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley, was written by songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Presley used "Trouble" in his tremendously successful December 3, 1968 television comeback special. "Hard Headed Woman" was the soundtrack's biggest hit, going to No. 1 on Billboard magazine pop chart.

"Trouble" was also recorded by Glenn Danzig, frontman for the Misfits, Samhain and Danzig, and appears on the album Thrall: Demonsweatlive and as a demo recording on the Final Descent re-release.

Primary cast

Elvis Presley
: Danny Fisher
Carolyn Jones
: Ronnie
Walter Matthau
: Maxie Fields
Dolores Hart
: Nellie
Dean Jagger
: Mr. Fisher
Liliane Montevecchi : Forty Nina
Vic Morrow
: Shark
Paul Stewart
: Charlie LeGrand
Jan Shepard : Mimi Fisher
Brian G. Hutton
: Sal

Record Album

The soundtrack was recorded at Radio Recorders studios and Paramount Studios Scoring Stage in Hollywood, California during January and February of 1958. The music album was released to coincide with the film.

Recording musicians:

Elvis Presley
(vocals)
Kitty White (background vocals)
The Jordanaires (background vocals)
Scotty Moore, Tiny Timbrell (guitar)
Mahlon Clark (clarinet)
Justin Gordon (saxophone)
John Ed Buckner (trumpet)
Elmer Schneider, Warren D. Smith (trombone);
Ray Siegel (bass, tuba)
Bill Black, Neal Matthews, Jr. (bass)
Dudley Brooks (piano)
D.J. Fontana, Bernie Mattinson (drums)
Gordon Stoker (bongos)
Hoyt Hawkins (cymbals)

TRACKS (songwriter)

Side 1: #"King Creole" - (Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller) #"As Long As I Have You" - (Fred Wise & Ben Weisman) #"Hard Headed Woman" - (Claude Demetrius) #"Trouble" - (Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller) #"Dixieland Rock" - (Claude Demetrius & Fred Wise)

Side 2: #"Don't Ask Me Why" - (Fred Wise & Ben Weisman) #"Lover Doll" - (Wayne Silver & Abner Silver) #"Crawfish" - (Fred Wise & Ben Weisman) #"Young Dreams" - (Aaron Schroeder & Martin Kalmanoff) #"Steadfast, Loyal And True" - (Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller) #"New Orleans" - (Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett)

See also:

List of Elvis Presley films
Elvis Presley discography

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for King Creole ]

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