EAP Index World: Speedway (Single/LP

Title:
Speedway
Label:
RCA Victor [LSP/LPM 3989]
Format:
LP
Number of tracks:
12
Running time:
28:30
Type of album:
Soundtrack
Linked to:
Official discography; Speedway, 1968

Year:
1968

Recording date:
June 20-26, 1967

Release date:
May 1, 1968

Singles:

"Let Yourself Go / Time Hasn't Come" (May 21, 1968)

Speedway is Elvis' twenty-sixth soundtrack album and his 57th audio work (including singles and EPs), and his last dedicated to a film. The recording sessions took place mainly at MGM's Hollywood studios on June 20, 21 and 26, 1967, but the LP has bonus tracks dating from 1963 to 1968.

In June 1967, while Presley was working on the soundtrack sessions, the recent release of The Beatles' magnum opus, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", had the music industry in its thrall. In addition, the successful debuts of the Velvet Underground, Jefferson Airplane and The Doors, along with Aretha Franklin's latest hit, "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You" were all among the best-selling albums. The Monterey Pop Festival had been held from June 16 to 20, about 300 miles from California, where Elvis was working, and he was probably aware of the changes in popular music around him, but in his own increasingly insular world there was also an awareness that there were more soundtrack songs to record.

Eight tracks were produced at those sessions, with "Suppose" the only one that Elvis was interested in, and "Five Sleepy Heads" not being included in the film. Two ("Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby" and "Let Yourself Go") were chosen as singles, both of which reached #71 and #72 on the Billboard Hot 100, but failed to sell well. "There Ain't Nothing Like a Song" rejected for the "Spinout" soundtrack, was one of two songs to feature lead vocals by Nancy Sinatra, here in a duet with Presley; the other, "Your Groovy Self", would represent the only time that a track on an Elvis album would be released without his vocals, and was recorded in a separate session on June 26, produced by Nancy's producer Lee Hazlewood.

To fill the track and running time required for an LP, "Suppose" and "Five Sleepy Heads" were added as extras at the end of the album, along with three other tracks, one of them unearthed from the May 1963 "lost album" sessions ("Western Union"), and the other two from recordings in September 1967 and January 1968 ("Mine" and "Goin' Home", respectively).

Speedway set a new low in Presley's chart position and album sales, falling below the hundred-thousand mark and jeopardizing his recording career. To his relief, the album killed the soundtrack formula, and it was the last film to have a full-length album. His last five films of the decade - Stay Away, Joe (released before but recorded after Speedway), Live a Little, Love a Little, Charro!, The Trouble with Girls and Change of Habit - focused on the actor Elvis, not the singer, with minimal music requirements.

This is also the last Presley album to be released in mono, as the format was being phased out by the industry, making its rare mono compression (LPM-3989) a highly sought-after collector's item.

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RECORDING SESSIONS

Date:

June 20, 21 and 26*, 1967

Studio:

MGM Sound Studio
United Recorders (*Nancy Sinatra)

Location:

Hollywood, Califórnia

JUNE 20-21, 1967
Musicians:

Voice: Elvis Presley
Lead guitar: Hilmer J. Timbrell, Chip Young, Peter Drake, Tommy Tedesco
Bass: Bobby Moore
Drums: DJ Fontana, Murray Harman
Piano: Larry Muhoberac, Charlie Hodge
Harmonica: Charlie McCoy
Trumpet: Charlie McCoy
Saxophone: Homer Randolph
Backing Vocals: The Jordanaires

Sound Engineer / Recording Engineer:

Aaron Rochin, Lyle Burbridge

JUNE 26, 1967
Musicians:

Voice: Nancy Sinatra
Lead guitar: Billy Strange, Donnie Lanier, Donald Owens, Al Casey
Bass: Chuck Berghofer
Drums: Hal Blaine
Piano: Larry Knechtal, Don Randi
Trumpet: Roy Caton, Virgil Eavans, Oliver Mitchell
Trombone: Dick Hyde

Sound Engineer / Recording Engineer:

Eddie Bracket

JUNE 20, 1967
There Ain't Nothing Like A Song
Your Time Hasn't Come Yet, Baby (Movie Version) WPA5 2555-01
Your Time Hasn't Come Yet, Baby (Record Version) WPA1 1023-06
Five Sleepy Heads WPA1 1024-03
Who Are You? (Who Am I?) WPA1 1025-06
Speedway WPA1 1026-04
Suppose (Long Version) WPA1 1027-01
Suppose (Short Version) WPA1 1028-07

JUNE 21, 1967
Let Yourself Go WPA1 1029-SP
He's Your Uncle Not Your Dad WPA1 1030-07

JUNE 26, 1967
There Ain't Nothing Like A Song (Nancy Sinatra - Vocal Overdub) WPA1 1022-08
Your Groovy Self (Nancy Sinatra) WPA1 1038-13

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SESSION LOGS

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RELATED LP AND SINGLE TRACKS (RCA, 1968)

STAY AWAY (SINGLE)

February 27, 1968

1. Stay Away

2. U. S. Male

SPEEDWAY (LP)

May 1, 1968

1. Speedway

2. There Ain't Nothing Like a Song

3. Your Time Hasn't Come Yet, Baby

4. Who Are You? (Who Am I?)

5. He's Your Uncle, Not Your Dad

6. Let Yourself Go

7. Your Groovy Self

8. Five Sleepy Heads

9. Western Union

10. Mine

11. Goin' Home

12. Suppose

LET YOURSELF GO (SINGLE)

May 25, 1968

1. Let Yourself Go

2. Your Time Hasn't Come Yet, Baby

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FTD VERSIONS

Title:
Speedway
Label:
FTD [FTD 154] [506020 975098]
Format:
2x CD
Number of tracks:
42
Running time:
110:30
Type of album:
Soundtrack / Recording session
Linked to:
FTD discography

Year:
2016

Recording date:
June 20-26, 1967

Release date:

June 2016

Singles:

---

Speedway marked Elvis' last film soundtrack LP, and FTD felt it was necessary to create one of their most elaborate releases.

The recordings for the album were not of the highest quality, since they were recorded in the terrible sound studios of MGM and not at RCA in Nashville or even in Hollywood. The tracks created by different producers, Elvis with his usual and Nancy with her own, obviously clashed, but they were the ones available at the time. Even with so many problems to overcome, the label managed to put together a considerable amount of content.

Continuing FTD's excellent finds, the label brings a gift that quickly became a collector's item: the mono version of the 1968 LP. Since mono sound records were going out of fashion at the time of the work's original release, having it in hand is a big advantage in the collector's world.

To close the album, FTD provides a 12-page booklet with behind-the-scenes images and various memorabilia, including a text by the scriptwriter Alan Hanson about the production and his original ideas.

The album features the following tracks:

CD 1

ORIGINAL ALBUM

01. Speedway

02. There Ain’t Nothing Like a Song

03. Your Time Hasn’t Come Yet, Baby

04. Who Are You? (Who Am I?)

05. He’s Your Uncle Not Your Dad

06. Let Yourself Go

07. Your Groovy Self

08. Five Sleepy Heads

09. Western Union

10. Mine

11. Goin’ Home

12. Suppose

REMIXED MASTERS

13. There Ain’t Nothing Like a Song

14. Your Time Hasn’t Come Yet, Baby

15. Five Sleepy Heads

16. Who Are You? (Who Am I?)

17. Speedway

18. Suppose

19. Let Yourself Go

20. He’s Your Uncle Not Your Dad

OUTTAKES

21. Suppose (Long Version)

22. Let Yourself Go (Take 5*)

23. Let Yourself Go (Take 6*)

24. Your Time Hasn’t Come Yet, Baby (Movie Version)*

25. Goin’ Home (Takes 16* & 23*)

26. Mine (Takes 1*, 2*, 3* & 4)

27. Mine (Takes 8* & 9)

28. Mine (Take 13*)

29. Suppose (Nashville Master)

*previously unreleased

CD 2

ORIGINAL LP IN MONO

01. Speedway

02. There Ain’t Nothing Like a Song

03. Your Time Hasn’t Come Yet, Baby

04. Who Are You? (Who Am I?)

05. He’s Your Uncle Not Your Dad

06. Let Yourself Go

07. Your Groovy Self

08. Five Sleepy Heads

09. Western Union

10. Mine

11. Goin’ Home

12. Suppose

BONUS TRACK

13. Suppose (Long Version)

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Title:
Speedway - The Remixed Soundtrack Masters
Label:
FTD [FTD 315] [506020 975106]
Format:
2x LP
Number of tracks:
28
Running time:
77:45
Type of album:
Soundtrack / Recording session

Linked to:
FTD discography

Year:
2017

Recording date:
June 20-26, 1967

Release date:

March 2017

Singles:

---

Less than a year later, FTD released a version for vinyl fans. The double LP features newly remixed tracks, some outtakes, and the original soundtrack tracks in mono.

The album features the following tracks:

LP 1

SIDE A

ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK REMIXED

1. Let Yourself Go

2. Your Time Hasn't Come Yet, Baby

3. There Ain't Nothing Like a Song

4. Who Are You? (Who Am I?)

5. Speedway

6. He's Your Uncle Not Your Dad

7. Suppose

SIDE B