Conventional wisdom has it that the years
Elvis Presley
spent making movies rather than playing live or making many stand-alone records were the nadir of his career, and it's certainly true that the cookie-cutter tunes that were churned out for his Hollywood projects (such as "No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car" or "He's Your Uncle, Not Your Dad") didn't give him much room to show off his estimable talents. But
Elvis
was simply too great a talent to not shine sometime during his days as a film star, and
Playlist: The Very Best Elvis Presley Movie Songs
brings together 14 fine tunes from
Presley
's various film soundtracks. It's significant that many of the best tunes are from
' pre-Army pictures, particularly "Loving You," "Jailhouse Rock," and "Trouble," but if there's a lot more polish on tunes like "Follow That Dream," "Viva Las Vegas," and "Clean Up Your Backyard," the results show that when
found something that he could latch onto, he could still sound exciting and fully engaged. There are a couple of surprises here -- "Frankfort Special" isn't much of a song, but
sounds like he's having a ball with it, and "I Need Somebody to Lean On" is a great bit of supper-club blues that would have done
Charles Brown
proud. And it's pretty hard not to enjoy an
album that includes "You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)," "Can't Help Falling in Love," and "Love Me Tender," all of which make the cut. Gleaning through
's dozens of film soundtracks to find the gems among the dross is a major project most don't have the courage to undertake, but next time someone says
' movie music was all bad,
is a short but sweet collection that proves that's just not true (even if "Bossa Nova Baby" works more as kitsch than as rock & roll). ~ Mark Deming