Fun in Acapulco (album)

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Fun in Acapulco
Fun in Acapulco.jpg
Soundtrack album / Studio album by Elvis Presley
Released November 1, 1963
Recorded January and May 1963
Genre Mexican music, pop
Length29:30
Label RCA Victor
Producer Joseph Lilley
Elvis Presley chronology
Elvis' Golden Records Volume 3
(1963)		Fun in Acapulco
(1963)		 Kissin' Cousins
(1964)
Singles from Fun in Acapulco
  1. "Bossa Nova Baby"
    Released: October 1963
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Fun in Acapulco is the nineteenth album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2756, in November 1963 – the November 1 date is disputed. It is the soundtrack to the 1963 film of the same name starring Presley. Recording sessions took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood on January 22 and 23, 1963; and at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 26 and 27, 1963. It peaked at number three on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. [2] The album, along with the accompanying film, would be Presley's last release before the arrival of Beatlemania.

Elvis Presley American singer and actor

Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".

Monaural sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position

Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or stereo, which uses two separate audio channels to reproduce sound from two microphones on the right and left side, which is reproduced with two separate loudspeakers to give a sense of the direction of sound sources. In mono, only one loudspeaker is necessary, but, when played through multiple loudspeakers or headphones, identical signals are fed to each speaker, resulting in the perception of one-channel sound "imaging" in one sonic space between the speakers. Monaural recordings, like stereo ones, typically use multiple microphones fed into multiple channels on a recording console, but each channel is "panned" to the center. In the final stage, the various center-panned signal paths are usually mixed down to two identical tracks, which, because they are identical, are perceived upon playback as representing a single unified signal at a single place in the soundstage. In some cases, multitrack sources are mixed to a one-track tape, thus becoming one signal. In the mastering stage, particularly in the days of mono records, the one- or two-track mono master tape was then transferred to a one-track lathe intended to be used in the pressing of a monophonic record. Today, however, monaural recordings are usually mastered to be played on stereo and multi-track formats, yet retain their center-panned mono soundstage characteristics.

<i>Fun in Acapulco</i> 1963 film by Richard Thorpe

Fun in Acapulco is a 1963 American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress.

Contents

Content

The third of his tropical "travelogue films" for Paramount Pictures after Blue Hawaii and Girls! Girls! Girls! finds Elvis frolicing in Mexico. The standard stable of songwriters for Presley delivered songs to match, with titles like "Marguerita," "El Toro," "You Can't Say No In Acapulco," and "The Bullfighter Was A Lady." [3] Included as well was the 1937 standard "Guadalajara" by Pepe Guízar. With the change from the normal routine, and with the addition of trumpet players Rudolph Loera and Anthony Terran, Presley engaged the material with greater enthusiasm than on recent soundtrack outings. [3] Four of these songs would be included on the 1995 compilation Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II : the title track, "Mexico," "Marguerita," and the song released as the lead single, "Bossa Nova Baby". [4]

Paramount Pictures Major film studio in America, specializing in film and television production, and distribution.

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film studio based in Hollywood, California, that has been a subsidiary of the American media conglomerate Viacom since 1994. Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world, the second oldest in the United States, and the sole member of the "Big Five" film studios still located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hollywood.

<i>Blue Hawaii</i> 1961 American film

Blue Hawaii is a 1961 American musical romantic comedy film set in the state of Hawaii, starring Elvis Presley and directed by Norman Taurog. The screenplay by Hal Kanter was nominated by the Writers Guild of America in 1962 in the category of Best Written American Musical. The movie opened at no. 2 in box office receipts for that week and despite mixed reviews from critics, finished as the 10th top-grossing movie of 1961 and 14th for 1962 on the Variety national box office survey, earning $5 million. The film won a fourth place prize Laurel Award in the category of Top Musical of 1961.

<i>Girls! Girls! Girls!</i> 1962 film by Norman Taurog

Girls! Girls! Girls! is a 1962 Golden Globe-nominated American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley as a penniless Hawaiian fisherman who loves his life on the sea and dreams of owning his own boat. "Return to Sender", which reached #2 on the Billboard pop singles chart, is featured in the movie. The movie opened at #6 on the Variety box office chart and finished the year at #31 on the year-end list of the top-grossing movies of 1962. The movie earned $2.6 million at the box office.

"Bossa Nova Baby" arrived in stores one month prior to the soundtrack, coupled with the track "Witchcraft" by rhythm and blues songwriter and arranger Dave Bartholomew and a hit for The Spiders in 1956. [5] The fact that the bossa nova craze of the 1960s was a Brazilian phenomenon rather than a Mexican one mattered little, as the single peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as reaching as high as the 20th spot on the R&B singles chart. [6]

Rhythm and blues, commonly abbreviated as R&B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, one or more saxophones, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, economics, and aspirations.

Dave Bartholomew musician, band leader, composer and arranger

David Louis Bartholomew is an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger and record producer, prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally a trumpeter, he has been active in many musical genres, including rhythm and blues, big band, swing music, rock and roll, New Orleans jazz and Dixieland. In his induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he was cited as a key figure in the transition from jump blues and swing to R&B and as "one of the Crescent City’s greatest musicians and a true pioneer in the rock and roll revolution."

The Spiders were an R&B vocal group from New Orleans, who achieved their greatest fame in the 1950s. Within the span of two years, the group had all their five entries, on the US R&B chart hit the Top 10.

Compensating for the short ten-track It Happened at the World's Fair album, Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, insisted on making Fun in Acapulco a good value. [7] Two additional tracks, "Love Me Tonight" and "Slowly But Surely" were pulled from the aborted album sessions of May 1963, and added here to bring the running order up to thirteen tracks. [8]

Colonel Tom Parker Dutch entertainment impresario

Thomas Andrew "Colonel Tom" Parker was the Dutch-born manager of Elvis Presley. Their partnership was uniquely successful, Elvis being an entirely new force in popular music, and Parker an entrepreneurial genius able to market him.

In 2003 Fun in Acapulco was reissued on the Follow That Dream label in an edition that contained the original album along with numerous alternate takes. [9]

Track listing

Original release

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording dateLength
1."Fun in Acapulco" Ben Weisman and Sid Wayne January 23, 19632:30
2."Vino, Dinero y Amor" Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett January 22, 19631:55
3."Mexico"Sid Tepper and Roy C. BennettJanuary 22, 19631:59
4."El Toro"Bill Giant, Bernie Baum, Florence Kaye January 23, 19632:42
5."Marguerita" Don Robertson January 22, 19632:42
6."The Bullfighter Was a Lady"Sid Tepper and Roy C. BennettJanuary 22, 19632:04
7."(There's) No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car" Fred Wise and Dick Manning January 23, 19631:53
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording dateLength
1."I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here"Don Robertson and Hal BlairJanuary 22, 19632:53
2."Bossa Nova Baby" Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller January 22, 19632:02
3."You Can't Say No in Acapulco" Sid Feller, Dolores Fuller, Lee MorrisJanuary 23, 19631:55
4."Guadalajara" Pepe Guízar January 23, 19632:43
5."Love Me Tonight" (bonus track)Don RobertsonMay 26, 19632:00
6."Slowly But Surely" (bonus track)Ben Weisman and Sid WayneMay 27, 19632:12

2003 Reissue

No.TitleLength
1."Fun in Acapulco"2:29
2."Vino, Dinero Y Amor"1:53
3."Mexico"1:58
4."El Toro"2:41
5."Marguerita"2:39
6."The Bullfighter Was A Lady"2:02
7."(There’s) No Room To Rhumba In A Sports Car"1:52
8."I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here"2:51
9."Bossa Nova Baby"2:02
10."You Can’t Say No In Acapulco"1:54
11."Guadalajara"2:43
12."Love Me Tonight"2:00
13."Slowly But Surely"2:14
14."Mexico" (take 7)1:58
No.TitleLength
15."The Bullfighter Was A Lady" (remake take 17)2:01
16."I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here" (remake takes 18, 19)2:35
17."Bossa Nova Baby" (takes 1, 2)2:53
18."The Bullfighter Was A Lady" (takes 4, 5, 6)3:52
19."Marguerita" (take 6)2:51
20."I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here" (take 1)2:51
21."Mexico" (takes 1, 2)2:41
22."You Can’t Say No In Acapulco" (takes 1, 2, 3, 4)3:11
23."Guadalajara" (take 2)2:27
24."Bossa Nova Baby" (take 3)2:48
25."Mexico" (take 6)2:10
26."I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here" (takes 11, 12, 13-remake)3:54
27."Guadalajara" (takes 3, 4)2:55
Total length:1:08:25

Personnel

The Jordanaires American band

The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. They are known for providing background vocals for Elvis Presley, in live appearances and recordings from 1956 to 1972. The group has also worked in the recording studio, on stage, and on television with many other country and rock and roll artists.

Tony Terran American musician

Anthony "Tony" Terran was an American trumpet player and session musician. He was part of The Wrecking Crew, which was a group of session musicians in Los Angeles, California, who earned wide acclaim in the 1960s. The Wrecking Crew was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum on November 26, 2007.

Trumpet musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family

A trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group contains the instruments with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpet-like instruments have historically been used as signaling devices in battle or hunting, with examples dating back to at least 1500 BC; they began to be used as musical instruments only in the late 14th or early 15th century. Trumpets are used in art music styles, for instance in orchestras, concert bands, and jazz ensembles, as well as in popular music. They are played by blowing air through nearly-closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century they have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, usually bent twice into a rounded rectangular shape.

Charts

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