Speedway is the seventeenth soundtrack album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3989, on June 25, 1968.[2] It serves as the soundtrack album for the 1968 film Speedway starring Presley. Recording sessions took place at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in Hollywood, California, on June 20 and 21, 1967. It peaked at number 82 on the Billboard 200.[3]
| Speedway | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Original stereo cover still in shrink wrap with hype sticker | ||||
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | June 25, 1968 | |||
| Recorded | May 1963, June–September 1967, January 1968 | |||
| Studio | MGM (Hollywood) | |||
| Genre | Rock, pop | |||
| Length | 28:26 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Producer | Jeff Alexander | |||
| Elvis Presley chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Speedway | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Speedway took over the new low for chart position and album sales by Presley, selling fewer than 100,000 copies, and jeopardizing his recording career.[4]: 262 Much to his relief, it killed the soundtrack formula, this being the final Presley dramatic feature film to have a full soundtrack album. His last five movies of the decade — Stay Away, Joe, Live a Little, Love a Little, Charro!, The Trouble with Girls, and Change of Habit — concentrated on Presley the actor, not Presley the singer, with minimal song requirements.[4]: 239, 243, 260, 261, 279 It is also the last Presley album to be released in both stereo and mono editions as mono was being phased out by the industry, thus making the rare mono pressing of Speedway (LPM-3989) a sought-after item among collectors[5]
Content
editEight tracks for Speedway were recorded at the sessions, with "Suppose", the only song that held interest for Elvis, dropped from the movie.[4]: 229–230 Two tracks were pulled for a single, "Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby" with "Let Yourself Go" on its flipside, and both sides made the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 (respectively numbers 72 and 71) but bombed sales-wise.[4]: 244 "There Ain't Nothing Like A Song," rejected from the soundtrack for Spinout, was one of two songs that feature the lead vocals of Nancy Sinatra, here in duet with Presley.[4]: 228 All her vocals, and her "Your Groovy Self," the only time a track without Elvis featured on any of his releases, were recorded at a separate session on June 26, produced by Lee Hazlewood.[6] Three leftover tracks, including one from the May 1963 "lost album" sessions, were unearthed to round out the album.
Reissues
editThree songs from this album appear on Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II (1995): the two sides of the single and the title track.[7] In 2016 Speedway was reissued on the Follow That Dream label in a special 2-disc edition that contained the original album tracks along with numerous alternate takes.
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Speedway" | Mel Glazer and Stephen Schlaks | June 20, 1967 | 2:10 |
| 2. | "There Ain't Nothing Like a Song" (duet with Nancy Sinatra) | Joy Byers, Bob Johnston | June 20, 1967 | 2:06 |
| 3. | "Your Time Hasn't Come Yet, Baby" | Joel Hirschhorn, Al Kasha | June 20, 1967 | 1:49 |
| 4. | "Who Are You (Who Am I)" | Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne | June 20, 1967 | 2:32 |
| 5. | "He's Your Uncle, Not Your Dad" | Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne | June 21, 1967 | 2:25 |
| 6. | "Let Yourself Go" | Joy Byers | June 21, 1967 | 2:56 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Your Groovy Self" (solo by Nancy Sinatra) | Lee Hazlewood | June 26, 1967 | 2:54 |
| 2. | "Five Sleepy Heads" (bonus track) | Roy C. Bennett, Sid Tepper | June 20, 1967 | 1:29 |
| 3. | "Western Union" (bonus track) | Roy C. Bennett, Sid Tepper | May 27, 1963 | 2:10 |
| 4. | "Mine" (bonus track) | Roy C. Bennett, Sid Tepper | September 10, 1967 | 2:36 |
| 5. | "Goin' Home" (bonus track) | Joy Byers | January 15, 1968 | 2:23 |
| 6. | "Suppose" (bonus track) | Sylvia Dee, George Goehring | June 20, 1967 | 2:01 |
Personnel
editCredits from Keith Flynn and Ernst Jorgensen's examination of session tapes and RCA and AFM paperwork.[8][9]
|
June 26, 1967 session ("Your Groovy Self" by Nancy Sinatra only):
|
Charts
edit| Chart (1968) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard Pop Albums | 82 |
References
edit- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ "Speedway album". Elvis Records.
- ^ "Elvis Presley (awards)". Allmusic. Rovi Corp. 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Jorgensen, Ernst. Elvis Presley A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998.
- ^ Megocollector website
- ^ Elvis Presley sessionography
- ^ Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II at AllMusic
- ^ "Keith Flynn's Elvis Presley Pages: Recording Sessions: June 20-21, 1967". KeithFlynn.com. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
- ^ "Keith Flynn's Elvis Presley Pages: Elvis Presley Recording Sessions: September 10-11, 1967". Keith Flynn's Elvis Presley Pages. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
External links
edit- Speedway at Discogs (list of releases)
- LPM-3989 Speedway (monaural) Guide part of The Elvis Presley Record Research Database
- LSP-3989 Speedway (stereo) Guide part of The Elvis Presley Record Research Database