A very entertaining collection - by now, all these originally "unreleased" cuts, mostly from Elvis' last movies, have been released...and re-released...and....
Back in '72, this was one important album for Elvis fans and especially fan/collectors. A chance for some very strong "lost" film songs (some which never made it to the print, like "Let's Forget About the Stars", cut at the "Charro!" session but probably considered for "Live a Little, Love a Little", I would think) to get collected in a nice package.
There's one tune from '62 and the remainder are late '60s, as said above. Songwriter Ben Weisman had all four tunes recorded for the impressive final feature, "Change of Habit". Presley had just completed the legendary return-to-Memphis sessions, yielding monster hits we all can name. He has kept alot of those high spirits and robust voice on the tunes, especially the movie theme song and "Have a Happy", which really grows on you. An unusual mid-tempo, modern, soft rocker, a natural for any Adult-Contemporary playlist - I think it should have made an appearance as a B-side. (As opposed to sent-to-the-shelf for three years).
Have a happy and Let's Be Friends from COH have somehow missed "Inspirational" and "Gospel" collections - really fine tracks.
The l.p. opener is the reportedly released-by-mistake, "Stay Away, Joe", the presumptive original theme song, based upon "Pick a Bale Of Cotton". It appears that the beat-ballad, "Stay Away", based upon "Greensleeves", was selected for the movie (but not originally for this album). I surmise for the same reason "I'm a Roustabout" was rejected in favor of the smoother, friendlier "Roustabout" theme to the '64 flick: guess it was too...rockin' for the mellow(er) mid-'60s. Both fast tunes musically superior, in my humble opinion, as Elvis sings *out*.
"Mama" (0:58) is from the '62 "Girls! Girls! Girls!", though not *sung* by EP in that movie. Still should have made the album cut. (They coulda tossed out "The Walls Have Ears"...wow). Note that a longer version was made available much later.
Another cool entry is by Stan Kesler, a writer who contributed some gems for the Big El as far back as 1955!