Elvis Presley: “Jailhouse Rock” / “Treat Me Nice” (1957)
Before you ask, no, I haven’t watched the recent Elvis biopic yet, and since my teenage daughter and her friends (for whom Presley has never been a ‘living god,’ just another ‘dead one’) thought it was “OK, I guess,” I’m not sure I WANT to ...
But today we celebrate the 65th anniversary (September 24, 1957) of one of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s most iconic numbers, “Jailhouse Rock,” which basically put Elvis exactly where most conservative, Silent Generation adults of the 1950s wanted to see him: behind bars!
Luckily for teenaged Boomers, this was a but a silver screen fantasy (or nightmare, as it were) concocted for Presley’s third full-length motion picture in twelve months (Love Me Tender had arrived in November of ‘56, Loving You just months earlier in July of ‘57), whose famous dance sequence may just be Elvis’ best-remembered movie moment.
As for the all-time-classic song, it was penned by the legendary songwriting duo of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who paired an superficially silly (subliminally homoerotic) lyric redolent of their work for The Coasters with an unmistakable, two-chord intro and answering twin drum beats that still resonate like gun shots in rock ‘n’ roll lore.
Leiber & Stoller also served as producers for the sessions at Hollywood’s Radio Recorders, which saw 'Elvis the Pelvis’ backed by his famous trio of guitarist Scotty Moore, bassist Bill Black, and drummer D.J. Fontana, plus pianist Dudley Brooks and vocal group The Jordanaires.
As for the B-side, “Treat Me Nice” is a jaunty, finger-snapping, but generally unspectacular rocker that eschews the A-side’s dangerous, youth-corrupting menace (don’t laugh), and was was recorded just weeks prior to release; in fact, many fans prefer the alternate version inserted into the movie’s storyline.
RCA, meanwhile, was eager to serve every possible consumer demographic, so they released a 7-inch, five-track Jailhouse Rock EP in ‘57 and a full-length, twelve-song soundtrack LP (including cuts like “Playing for Keeps,” “Shake, Rattle & Roll,” and “(You’re so Square) Baby I Don’t Care”) the following year.
Both of these more expensive variations were housed in a red cardboard jacket (see above) deemed ‘safer’ for the parents who were likely to purchase them, at least compared to the 7-inch’s yellow sleeve in which Elvis appears to be getting an electric shock (or orgasm) from his guitar.
My copy is a commemorative pressing issued by Sony in recent years, sadly without that stellar sleeve, but of course it’s all about the song, which arguably figures among the top ten signature recordings of Elvis’ incomparable career.
And to think that the lyrics and visuals propagated by “Jailhouse Rock,” the song, and Jailhouse Rock, the movie, felt like an incitement to riot for many adults of the era, while the kids saw nothing but liberation in Presley’s invitation to:
“Let's rock! Everybody, let's rock!”
Long live the king.
More Elvis Presley: "Mystery Train," Elvis Presley, Elvis’ Christmas Album, From Elvis in Memphis, American Sound 1969 Highlights.
