ON THIS DATE (57 YEARS AGO) September 24, 1957 - Elvis Presley: Jailhouse Rock b/w Treat Me Nice (RCA 47-7035) 45 single is released in the US. Jailhouse Rock is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit for Elvis Presley. The song was released as a 45rpm single on September 24, 1957, to coincide with the release of Presleys motion picture, Jailhouse Rock. The song as sung by Elvis Presley is #67 on Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fames 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The single, with its B-side Treat Me Nice, was a US #1 hit for 7 weeks in the fall of 1957, and a UK #1 hit for three weeks early in 1958. In addition, Jailhouse Rock spent one week at the top of the country charts and reached the #2 position on the R&B charts. The song and the famous Elvis performance in the movie bear a remarkable resemblance to the theme and performance of a song called Rock Around the Rockpile from the movie The Girl Cant Help It, released one year earlier. In that performance, a villain played by Edmond OBrien seeks to escape an assassination attempt by jumping on stage and singing the lyrics, rock, rock, rock around the rockpile, while backed up by The Ray Anthony Band wearing striped inmate uniforms. OBrien even includes some of the hip-swiveling and leg motions for which Elvis became famous. Reportedly, the producers had wanted Elvis for The Girl Cant Help It, but Elviss manager Tom Parker had demanded too much money. Two uncredited composers on the film, Hugo Friedhofer and Lionel Newman, had also composed music for the Elvis classic movie, Love Me Tender, in the same year, 1956. ELVIS PRESLEY
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 19:20:00 +0000
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