Monkey to Man [Single, Import]

"Monkey to Man" is a great song but of course you can find it on "The Delivery Man" (an excellent disc btw, as you'll see below, look for the deluxe release). So, is it worth getting this import single?

Well, if you haven't seen the video for the song it's a lot of fun, with beach party go-go dancers, gorilla suits and general band playfulness. Seeing it at all allowed me to recognize the bass player (Davey Faragher) from John Hiatt's Guilty Dog days but I haven't really watched it more than a few times off the cd itself. It is a .MOV file on the CD so if you are tech savie you can get it off and onto your Ipod/whatever fairly easily (where I have been enjoying it).

As for the two additional songs...

"The Monkey" - is called out in "Monkey to Man" as the original Monkey commentary on Human failings (written/performed by Dave Bartholomew). It's a great cover (though I think the Fabulous TBirds still do my favorite version), but you can also get your hands/ears on it via the "Clarksdale Sessions" EP (with six other bonus songs!), which can be found on vinyl and also came free as a second disc on the "Delivery Man" Enhanced/Deluxe release.

"Love that Burns" - is a live slow blues number (written by Fleetwood Mac in their early days when they were coming out of the Bluesbreakers and before any wives/girlfriends were in the band ;-). Elvis' version is stripped down w/just piano, bass, guitar and drums but is still powerful/mesmerizing as it slowly grinds along and Elvis's stirring vocals let you know that he knows how to feel the blues. I don't think this song can be found anywhere else.

It and the video make this disc collectable. Guess I lucked out by getting it when it came out. I consider myself a serious Elvis fan, but can't really say if I'd pay the price listed here ($90 plus). Since I DO have it, I thought all could use the info/advice. If you don't have "Delivery Man", get it (the enhanced version of course) and then you can decide if you want that little bit extra. Maybe even then, spend your money on the new "Spectacle" DVDs instead.

BTW: Beware! There is version of the CD single w/just "The Monkey" as accompaniment misleadingly called "pt 2" here in Amazon. It isn't even pt 1/2, so make sure the disc includes "Love that Burns"!