All songs were recorded in binaural.
The song 'Turtles, Berries, Gumbo' was originally titled 'Crawfish, Berries, Gumbo' but was changed when the song 'Crawfish' was chosen to be used too. The
acetate cut at the time wrongly has FTD printed on it
(track F = 'Crawfish') which is scratched out and ATD written on it instead. The song was recorded at Paramount Sound Stage on January 28 1958 by Blanche Thomas and two unknown male singers.
The count-in for 'Trouble' (track C - Take
5) can be found on the old bootleg LP From
The Beach To The Bayou where it was sneakily
inserted before Take 8 of 'As Long As I Have
You' (track N). This deceivingly made it look
as though it was Take 5 of 'As Long As I Have
You' on the LP.
The original release of 'Crawfish' in 1958
had echo added to Kitty White's vocals and they
were further back in the mix than Elvis' vocals.
Since the release of the 50s Box however, 'Crawfish' has been released with dry vocals and both vocals
are at the same level. This has been corrected
with the 2007 remaster on the 30 disc Complete
Elvis Presley Masters collection, the Franklin
Mint package, FTD's King Creole - The Music and FTD's King Creole classic album
where we again get the original mix of the song.
The movie version of 'Crawfish' contains
extra vocals by Kitty White in the second verse,
that are not on the unedited master (as pressed
on acetate) or the record version. Also, in the intro some lines sung by Kitty White are shortened in the soundtrack, along with the last line of the last verse.
The movie version of 'New Orleans'
contains extra vocals and finger clicking by The
Jordanaires that are not on the record version. It is likely that these additional vocals were recorded at a later overdub session at Paramount sound stage, possibly at the same time as Kitty White's additional vocals were recorded for the movie version of 'Crawfish'.
Take 18 of 'King Creole' (first version
- track E) is on disc 28 of Sony's Complete Elvis
Presley Masters collection, where it is incorrectly
listed as being "first version - Take 3"
and is missing the "One... Two..." count-in
that can be heard on FTD's King Creole - The
Music.
The Thorne Nogar live mono mixes featured on FTD's King Creole classic album are not the actual masters as heard on record. The released masters were remixed from binaural two-track tapes and some have additional reverb added. However, as above with 'Crawfish' when released with dry vocals, some of these live mono mixes were used as the actual masters on the 50s Box (The King Of Rock 'N' Roll - The Complete 50s Masters), Essential Elvis Volume 3 and the 1997 reissue of the King Creole album.
Thanks to Ray Reeves for pointing out the extra
vocals on 'New Orleans'.
Thanks to David English for information relating
to Blanch Thomas providing the vocals for the
street vendor Turtles (as seen in the movie)
on the song 'Turtles, Berries, Gumbo'.
Thanks to Kevan Budd for information regarding the movie version of 'Crawfish'.
In March of 2007, Sony decided to go through all of Elvis' masters. They retransferred everything and remastered all tracks including repairing as many clicks, pops, bad edits and dropouts as they could. They have used these newly mastered recordings on their new releases since 2007 including budget soundtracks, Legacy releases, the 30 disc Complete Elvis Presley Masters collection and the Franklin Mint package.
In a letter from Hal Wallis on January 8th 1958,
outlining what songs would be recorded for different
scenes in the movie, it appears there was an additional
song called 'Stop Me' which was planned to
be recorded.
Stop Me
(Charles O'Curran)
You miss me when I'm gone
You really want me near
Stop me if I'm wrong
Stop me from being here
The kiss we held so long
You want your whole life through
Stop me if I'm wrong
Stop me from kissing you
Don't let our lips meet
If yours only mean to deceive
For when our lips meet
This is what I believe
Your love for me is strong
And always will be true
Stop me if I'm wrong
Stop me from loving you
Thanks to Bill Bram for the lyrics to 'Stop
Me'
