THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
546) The Pickwick Papers — “You’re So Square”
B-side of the Papers’ only single (‘66) is a cover of a number that Elvis did in ‘57 for the Jailhouse Rock movie — and it works. I guess the moral of the story is — you can garageize Leiber and Stoller, but don’t name your garage band after a Charles Dickens’ novel!
This is an oft-covered song— Buddy Holly, John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, Cee Lo Green, etc. (https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/20093) — but nobody beats the Papers’ version. I just wish I could find out more about this Michigan garage band.
Per Song Facts:
This was one of the songs written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for Elvis for the film Jailhouse Rock. It was one of four songs written during the famous Aberbach episode. . . . Leiber and Stoller were in their motel room enjoying breakfast at the leisurely hour of 1 P.M. when Jean Aberbach, Elvis' music publisher, showed up to ask whether they had the songs for Jailhouse Rock yet. When they admitted that they hadn't, Aberbach said that he was not leaving without them, and pushed the sofa against the door of the hotel room and went to sleep on it. Leiber and Stoller wrote the songs and woke him up. After handing him the songs, only then would he let them go! By the time Elvis recorded "Baby I Don't Care," Elvis and Leiber and Stoller had really hit their stride working together. Jerry Leiber reminisces, "The fourth song was the most fun because by then Elvis was deep into our producing style. Our style wasn't anything more than being loose and having fun. Elvis' initial shyness had totally melted away and he was completely in the spirit of the music." Note the movie scene in the video to the right, where Elvis performs the song for a pool party. Have you ever seen such a quiet, still, well-mannered audience of ladies in your life? Of course, the filming was happening with Elvis lip-syncing . . . .
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/elvis-presley/youre-so-square-baby-i-dont-care
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Here’s Elvis:
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