Song Demo's I have never heard of

[cadillac-elvis]

We all know that for every movie Elvis made probably 8 or 9 songs were written for any given scene.
So, now, I am just going to focus on the title of the movie.
Colonel Snow if you are out there, check this out.

Was there ever a song written with these exact titles??

1) Kid Galahad
2) It happened at the world's fair
3) Tickle me ( probably not, but I am not sure how early in the process they decided to use old songs)
4) Harem Scarum
5) Paradise Hawaiian Style
6) The trouble with girls
7) Live a little love a little.

You would think any songwriter trying to get their song into the movie would at
least attempt to write a song with the title of the movie as the title of the song.

It would be cool to see some demo's of any of those titles that were rejected of course.
To me, numbers 2, 6, and 7 are the only ones that have the possibly of being a decent song.

I know in overseas markets, Harem scarum was changed to Harem Holiday because of the song, and
it boggles my mind to why they didn't change the title to Harem Holiday here in the USA.
Black Star/ Flaming star come to mind. They updated the song, and the movie title and rightfully so.

And thinking along those lines was there ever a song submitted called, "California Holiday", the overseas market title for Spinout.

This has been on my mind for a while, and too much time has passed for answers more than likely, but
hopefully this might be an interesting thread.

[Mister Moon]

Was there ever a song written with these exact titles??

1) Kid Galahad
2) It happened at the world's fair
3) Tickle me ( probably not, but I am not sure how early in the process they decided to use old songs)
4) Harem Scarum
5) Paradise Hawaiian Style
6) The trouble with girls
7) Live a little love a little.

Surely you know there's a song with this title.

[John]

Was there ever a song written with these exact titles??

1) Kid Galahad
2) It happened at the world's fair
3) Tickle me ( probably not, but I am not sure how early in the process they decided to use old songs)
4) Harem Scarum
5) Paradise Hawaiian Style
6) The trouble with girls
7) Live a little love a little.

Surely you know there's a song with this title.

He was just testing us to see who was paying attention.

I seem to remember mention of a song called It Happened At The World's Fair, but maybe I'm dreaming. I don't recall any of the others being mentioned.

[colonel snow]

Deleted - due to doubts about this post.

colonel snow

[cadillac-elvis]

Thanks Colonel for your contribution.
Concerning "Take me to the Fair", I did know that was or could have been a working title.

If I am not mistaken there was not a song called, Paradise Hawaiian style, and the song heard
over the opening credits was actually written as , "Hawaii USA".
Someone just decided to change the title and must have gotten approval from the writer.
I wonder if more information has ever come to light.

[John]

For cadillac-elvis

2) It happened at the world's fair

I'm not sure but it looks there was a song written with the tile IHATWF by Don Robertson (see attachement)

colonel snow

Pleased to see my memory isn't failing me.

[cadillac-elvis]

I just wonder how many demo's were submitted for all the various working titles of all his movies.

There could be an endless series of songs that were submitted.

FYI, here is a pic of the tape box for Hawaii USA as it was titled as a song.

[colonel snow]

For all kind of reasons title of movies changed from the first day till the end / demo versions come and go.
Colonel Parker wanted the title of the movie Wild in the country should be "Lonely man" to promote the single. The producer refused because it looks like a cowboy story in that way so it stayed Wild in the country.


colonel snow

[kevanbudd]

We all know that for every movie Elvis made probably 8 or 9 songs were written for any given scene.
So, now, I am just going to focus on the title of the movie.
Colonel Snow if you are out there, check this out.

Was there ever a song written with these exact titles??

7) Live a little love a little.

Live a little, love a little. was submitted as a song demo by Tepper and Bennett.

Kevan Budd.

[cadillac-elvis]

We all know that for every movie Elvis made probably 8 or 9 songs were written for any given scene.
So, now, I am just going to focus on the title of the movie.
Colonel Snow if you are out there, check this out.

Was there ever a song written with these exact titles??

7) Live a little love a little.

Live a little, love a little. was submitted as a song demo by Tepper and Bennett.

Kevan Budd.

Cool, thanks.

[colonel snow]

Thanks Kevan for the additional information.



colonel snow

[cadillac-elvis]

Thanks Colonel, when you say 'Rejected', is that rejected by Elvis or is it rejected
before it even gets to Elvis, or is this a detail we may never know?

[colonel snow]

Thanks Colonel, when you say 'Rejected', is that rejected by Elvis or is it rejected
before it even gets to Elvis, or is this a detail we may never know?

I think it goes both ways:
Before Elvis got a pile a lot of demo’s were rejected for various reasons – it didn’t match with the scene etc
It’s known when Elvis got a pile of demo’s and after listening to the first lines of the demo the pile is split into Yes—Maybe-No.



colonel snow

[colonel snow]

Deleted due to outdated information.


colonel snow

[Colin B]

...2) It happened at the world's fair
For the movie "Take me to the fair" aka "It happened at the world's fair" - opening were selected the next songs:
Take me to fair - written by Robertson - Blair = rejected
Take me to fair - written by Wise - Weisman = Elvis' favorite but not recorded
Take me to fair - written by Tepper - Bennett = producer's favorite and recorded later on 22 september 1962 titled Take me to the fair # 2
(source A life in music – page 173) ...

Thanks for the info, colonel snow !

For the film soundtracks, he was offered a lot of substandard stuff which he didn't really approve of.

It's odd that he didn't even get to record his first choices, either !