Elvis Presley “Slowly But Surely” — Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 2, 2023

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

879) Elvis Presley — “Slowly But Surely”

Elvis Presley (#80) used fuzztone before The Rolling Stones? Surely! On the big screen in Fun in Acapulco in ‘63? Surely! “Slowly But Surely” is the “clear standout” on the soundtrack . . . a bit of hip-swiveling seduction positively drenched in fuzz guitar, the first time such an effect was heard on a Presley record”. (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/album/fun-in-acapulco-mw0000541333)

As to the movie and the soundtrack, Stephen Thomas Erlewine says:

The last film Elvis made prior to the outbreak of Beatlemania, Fun in Acapulco is redolent of the silly, carefree days of the early ’60s — a time when rock & roll appeared to be in remission, partially because Presley devoted his time to cinematic froth like this. Conceptually, Fun in Acapulco . . . is a lark set in a sunny, exotic location and has a soundtrack to match. Every song has a south of the border feel, either in its rhythms or mock Spanish, a tactic that makes sense in the confines of the film but can be deeply ridiculous on record, particularly on the cartoonish “Guadalajara,” where mariachi and opera meet in garish fashion, “(There’s) No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car,” and “The Bullfighter Was a Lady,” pieces of camp designed to be heard nowhere outside the confines of the film. Such frivolities seem even more absurd when contrasted with similarly spirited cuts that actually do work: the woozy title track, “Mexico,” “Marguerita,” and “Bossa Nova Baby,” which in this context seems to rock pretty hard. . . . [With “Slowly But Surely”,] Elvis seems to tentatively engage with the swinging ’60s that are just around the corner . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/album/fun-in-acapulco-mw0000541333

From the film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqi-1GQJbl4

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