Fun in Acapulco (album)

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Fun in Acapulco
File:Fun in Acapulco.jpg
Soundtrack album / Studio album by Elvis Presley
Released November 1, 1963
Recorded January 1963
Length 29:30
Label RCA Victor
Producer Joseph Lilley
Elvis Presley chronology
Elvis' Golden Records Volume 3
(1963)Elvis' Golden Records Volume 31963
Fun in Acapulco
(1963)
Kissin' Cousins
(1964)Kissin' Cousins1964
Singles from Fun in Acapulco
  1. "Bossa Nova Baby"
    Released: October 1963
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 1.5/5 stars[1]

Fun in Acapulco is the nineteenth album by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2756, in November 1963 – the November 1 date is disputed. 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 Top LP's chart.[2] The album, along with the accompanying film, would be Presley's last release before the arrival of Beatlemania.

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]

"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 at number 20 on the R&B singles chart.[6]

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]

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]


Personnel

Track listing

Original release

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Recording date Length
1. "Fun in Acapulco"   Ben Weisman and Sid Wayne January 23, 1963 2:30
2. "Vino, Dinero y Amor"   Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett January 22, 1963 1:55
3. "Mexico"   Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett January 22, 1963 1:59
4. "El Toro"   Bill Giant, Bernie Baum, Florence Kaye January 23, 1963 2:42
5. "Marguerita"   Don Robertson January 22, 1963 2:42
6. "The Bullfighter Was a Lady"   Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett January 22, 1963 2:04
7. "(There's) No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car"   Fred Wise and Dick Manning January 23, 1963 1:53
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Recording date Length
1. "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here"   Don Robertson and Hal Blair January 22, 1963 2:53
2. "Bossa Nova Baby"   Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller January 22, 1963 2:02
3. "You Can't Say No in Acapulco"   Sid Feller, Dolores Fuller, Lee Morris January 23, 1963 1:55
4. "Guadalajara"   Pepe Guízar January 23, 1963 2:43
5. "Love Me Tonight" (bonus track) Don Robertson May 26, 1963 2:00
6. "Slowly But Surely" (bonus track) Ben Weisman and Sid Wayne May 27, 1963 2:12

Single

US release date Record number Song titles Highest chart position
US UK US Hot[10] US R&B[11] UK[12]
October 1963 RCA 47-8243 RCA 1374 "Bossa Nova Baby" b/w
"Witchcraft" (not part of soundtrack)
8
37
20
13

2003 Follow That Dream reissue

No. Title Length
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. Title Length
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

References

  1. Allmusic review
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  3. 3.0 3.1 Jorgensen, Ernst. Elvis Presley A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998; p. 177-178
  4. Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II at AllMusic
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  6. Fun in Acapulco at AllMusic
  7. Jorgensen, Ernst. Elvis Presley A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998; pp. 184.
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