#1 for week of August 28th, 1961.
Well this is certainly something different, although this time that's not necessarily a good thing. Joe Dowell's cover of "Wooden Heart", a tune originally included in Elvis' film G.I. Blues, somehow managed to sell enough copies to reach #1 but for life of me, I can't see why.
This song has a polka rhythm and feel, but it is very stripped down both in instrumentation and dynamics. The whole song is very mellow, almost lethargic and is as easy-listening as can be. The most dated moment is the German verses near the end which sound even more corny with those "Angelic" backing vocals.
Since I was rather unimpressed by Joe's version of the tune, I decided to check out what I would've assumed to be the bigger hit - Elvis' version. Honestly, it's not even my favorite Elvis tune. Regardless, he sings it a whole lot better, and the music actually sounds like authentic German polka music as opposed to muzak. I should point out that the clip I saw was from G.I. Blues itself, where Elvis is singing to a puppet. It certainly goes to show that even the king couldn't escape cheesiness.
Regardless, both versions fail to leave an impression on me. The music is just too uninteresting and there is no moment in the song that managed to WOW me. It would have helped if the song had some chord changes or perhaps more changes in dynamics. In the end, we are left with a run-of-the-mill easy listening song which though it may have sounded acceptable back in 1961, sounds hopelessly dated today.
Final Verdict - Not by any stretch a terrible song, just one which is thoroughly uninteresting. You can safely pass on this song.
Coming Up Next - "Michael" by The Highwaymen.
Until Next Time, I'm Dr. Rock, and I'm stuck here reviewing schmaltzy German-influenced muzak instead of celebrating Oktoberfest.
No comments:
Post a Comment