King Creole was the last movie that
Elvis Presley made before he entered the army in the spring of 1958 -- it was also his last film in black-and-white, as well as his final effort directed by a serious old-time filmmaker (Michael Curtiz); and, apart from a few isolated, quirky efforts like Flaming Star, Change of Habit, and Charro, this was the last of his serious movies, in which
Presley was trying hard, pushing himself as an actor and, really, all through the score, as a musician. This is reflected in the soundtrack, which is one of the stronger film-related releases of his career. The original 11 songs included a hot title track by
Jerry Leiber and
Mike Stoller that was a dazzling showcase for
Scotty Moore's and Tiny Timbrell's guitars as well as
Elvis' intense, exciting lead vocal.
Leiber and
Stoller's "Trouble" and
Claude Demetrius' "Hard Headed Woman" have
Moore's and Timbrell's electric guitars competing successfully with a five-man brass and reed section. Even "Dixieland Rock," if not up to the level of those other two numbers, features good playing and a strong performance by
Presley, and "Young Dreams" is a decent midtempo number. The slow ballads are where the soundtrack falls flat, "As Long As I Have You" coming up to standard but "Lover Doll" and "Don't Ask Me Why" failing to excite or maintain interest; "Crawfish" can only have been included to bring the album up to the minimum acceptable length for an LP. ~ Bruce Eder