G.I. Blues (album)

G.I. Blues is the eleventh album by Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2256, in October 1960. Recording sessions took place on April 27 and 28, and May 6, 1960, at RCA Studio C and Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California. The album topped the Billboard Top Pop Album chart. It was certified Gold on March 13, 1963 and Platinum on March 27, 1992 by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Content

Music on this album comprised songs that had appeared in the film of the same name. The song "Wooden Heart" was released as a single in the United Kingdom, where it was number one for six weeks. In the United States, Joe Dowell recorded a cover version of "Wooden Heart" that topped the Billboard Hot 100. RCA later released "Wooden Heart" by Presley as the b-side of a single twice, once in 1964 on the back of a reissue of "Blue Christmas," and again on the flip side of a belated issue in 1965 of "Puppet on a String" from the film Girl Happy. Four songs from this album appear on the 1995 soundtrack compilation Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II: "G.I. Blues", "Wooden Heart", "Shoppin' Around", and "Doin' the Best I Can".

G.I. Blues

G.I. Blues is a 1960 American musical comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Elvis Presley, Juliet Prowse, and Robert Ivers. The movie was filmed at Paramount Pictures studio, with some pre-production scenery shot on location in Germany before Presley's release from the army. The movie reached #2 on the Variety weekly national box office chart in 1960. The movie won a 2nd place or runner-up prize Laurel Award in the category of Top Musical of 1960.

Plot

U.S. Army Specialist 5 (SP5) Tulsa McLean (Elvis Presley) is a tank crewman with a singing career. Serving with the 3rd Armored "Spearhead" Division in West Germany, McLean dreams of running his own nightclub when he leaves the army, but such dreams don't come cheap. Tulsa and his buddies have formed a band and perform in various German "Gasthauses", night clubs, and on an Armed Forces stage. In one bar, he even discovers the record "Blue Suede Shoes" sung by someone named Elvis Presley on a jukebox.

To raise money, Tulsa places a bet with his friend Dynamite (Edson Stroll) that he can spend the night with a club dancer named Lili (Juliet Prowse), who is rumored to be hard to get since she turned down one other G.I. operator, Turk (Jeremy Slate). Dynamite and Turk have vied for women before when the two were stationed in Hawaii. When Dynamite gets transferred to Alaska, Tulsa is brought in to take his place. He is not looking forward to it, but must go through with it.