Elvis - "Such a night"

AK: also "such a night" is an amazing elvis performance
MW: yeah
that whole song is wild
AK: two damn chords
MW: well it's all about the sax
AK: just like chuck berry's "you never can tell"
yeah it swings so damn hard
50 years ago
MW: it's one of the best uses of the elvis shoe stomping rhythm
also
AK: oh yeah
MW: where it sounds like they're breaking down cardboard boxes with clubs or something
it's a very sparse song
AK: steven and i disagreed about the lyrics a bit
MW: yeah?
AK: he thinks they're stupid, which is sort of true
but i like how he takes the blues trope of repeating a couple of lines and then resolving it
and sort of turning it into a new type of hook
"it was a night - ooh it was a night yes it really was, such a night"
pretty close to perfect i think
MW: yeah
well
i particularly like the ending of the first verse
It was it really was such a night
The night was alight with stars above
Oo-oo when she kissed me
I had to fall in love
AK: oh yeah
with that dramatic pause
MW: i agree w/the blues comparison because of the sense of compulsion
yeah exactly
AK: yeah man, "i had to fall in love"
MW: there was no way around it
AK: elvis is having such a good time singing it too
you don't hear that in all his songs
MW: no not at all
like in the ghetto
that sounds forced as all hell
AK: yeah
MW: or even girl of my best friend
which i love
AK: you can picture him in the studio working it out with all the pressure on him
MW: yeah man
there's serious commitment to the song there
AK: but "such a night" sounds like a pretty relaxed and swinging live take
MW: yeah, he's just enjoying it
i always felt that way about marie's the name of his latest fling
or suspicion
AK: oh definitely on both counts
MW: btw you know about the smiths/elvis connection right
AK: no clue
MW: oh man
listen to "rusholme ruffians"
AK: i know the sandie shaw thing which is sort of disappointing
MW: then listen to "marie's the name of his latest fling"
AK: oh wow
straight ripped off the rhythm track there
MW: and then go find the live version of rusholme ruffians from "rank"
you can abbreviate all but the last instruction
also i liked her version of hand in glove
yeah dude
they totally cop to it in the rank version, it's awesome
AK: that's terrific