Ignore the remixed version from a decade or so ago; the (two different, oddly) 1968 versions by the King are far more fun, far more exciting to listen to than anything that could be recreated after the fact by producers and DJs. Elvis’ own contributions to both versions are the least of what’s on offer, especially when you consider that spectacular drum intro and the call and response from the horns in both (They’re essentially the same, but slightly different). This is a weird Elvis track, informed by the music of the time – especially soul music, which is weirdly fitting in some way, considering Elvis is one of the most well-known white appropriators of black music – and yet somehow outside of it, leaving it timeless and somewhat contemporary decades later in a way that most Elvis songs just… aren’t.
Being an internet refuge for Graeme McMillan