GI Blues

[Stevenson]

Having recently bought the fabulous two volumes of GI Blues sessions by FTD, I'm rediscovering the material again. While watching Frankfort Special sequence in the movies I noticed that at one point during the instrumental break, Elvis is scratching his leg instead of playing the guitar...
I know he acts like he's playing the guitar solo himself, but this scratching has been wierdly overlooked by someone at Paramout...

watch closely at 1:44:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RyRfWBKe0o


Cheers!

[John]

Having recently bought the fabulous two volumes of GI Blues sessions by FTD, I'm rediscovering the material again. While watching Frankfort Special sequence in the movies I noticed that at one point during the instrumental break, Elvis is scratching his leg instead of playing the guitar...
I know he acts like he's playing the guitar solo himself, but this scratching has been wierdly overlooked by someone at Paramout...

watch closely at 1:44:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RyRfWBKe0o


Cheers!

I've always seen that as him steadying his shaky knee, not scratching his leg.

[Stevenson]

Having recently bought the fabulous two volumes of GI Blues sessions by FTD, I'm rediscovering the material again. While watching Frankfort Special sequence in the movies I noticed that at one point during the instrumental break, Elvis is scratching his leg instead of playing the guitar...
I know he acts like he's playing the guitar solo himself, but this scratching has been wierdly overlooked by someone at Paramout...

watch closely at 1:44:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RyRfWBKe0o


Cheers!

I've always seen that as him steadying his shaky knee, not scratching his leg.

That makes more sense for sure...
(But the leg is still shaking afterward)

[John]

Having recently bought the fabulous two volumes of GI Blues sessions by FTD, I'm rediscovering the material again. While watching Frankfort Special sequence in the movies I noticed that at one point during the instrumental break, Elvis is scratching his leg instead of playing the guitar...
I know he acts like he's playing the guitar solo himself, but this scratching has been wierdly overlooked by someone at Paramout...

watch closely at 1:44:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RyRfWBKe0o


Cheers!

I've always seen that as him steadying his shaky knee, not scratching his leg.

That makes more sense for sure...
(But the leg is still shaking afterward)

Yeah, he couldn't stop it.

[colonel snow]

The movie G I Blues showed the future of Elvis movies in 1960. Elvis singing to a puppet and babysitting. The rocking Elvis was gone after the period in the army.
When Flaming star and Wild in in the country were commercially poor movies in 1960 it was recovered by the succes of Blue Hawaii in 1961. This was a blue-print for the next movies (a musical comedy with a lot of songs and girls).
Hal Wallis and other producers saw in Elvis a teenager idol – no “serious actor”.


colonel snow

[Stevenson]

Not really a blooper, but rather nice detail that appeared in other movies as well:
when Elvis plays the guitar, you can spot some kind of strap attached to fretboard to mute the sound - so he could pluck the strings and not make a sound.

g.i.blues.jpg

I'm not quite sure, but it seems to mean a great deal for the producers at the time - remember his screen tests when he sings Blue Suede Shoes? The guitar was stringless...