Even the years when Elvis Presley lost some of his focus on music (a.k.a. the movie years) had gems. Perhaps not as many as he would have had if he had fully focused on music, but still.
His musical output during the movie years did at times reek a bit of a conveyor belt approach. He was contracted to make X number of movies per year, and for each of them, he was similarly contracted to deliver X number of songs to fill soundtrack albums.
The mindset was that of creating product, no matter if your muse had provided creativity and inspiration or not. Presley went into the studio to knock out what was required, singing through the songs that had been selected for him, usually with as few takes as possible so he could get out of there. That’s not to say he couldn’t still deliver, and there are some amazing takes scattered throughout this period. But this approach was still very contrary to the involvement and genuine passion for performing a song that Elvis had displayed initially.
Fortunately he managed to get that passion back at least for a while after his full-time comeback to music in 1968. And, as mentioned, there was still the odd gem even in the movie years.
A Little Less Conversation is one of those gems. It was written by Mac Davis and Billy Strange, known for writing some of Elvis’ strongest material in the late 1960s – In the Ghetto, Memories, Don’t Cry Daddy – and obviously A Little Less Conversation. The song was a minor hit in 1968, but is mostly known for the remix version which out of the blue brought Presley back to the international music sales charts with a vengeance in 2002.
The song was written for and featured in the 1968 film Live A Little, Love A Little. It was slotted to fit the bill as a faster “good-time party song with a groove” that would fit a scene in the movie of just that description.
More than anything, the scene reminds me of something – anything! – from the Peter Sellers movie The Party (another 1968 film – released 6 months before Elvis’ film). If the Sellers film missed anything at all, it would probably be a faster-paced and groovy song of the calibre of A Little Less Conversation.
The song was recorded on 7 March 1968 at Western Recorders in Hollywood, California, and was eventually released as a single on 3 September 1968. It was backed by Almost In Love (another song from the movie).
The song was not released on an LP until November 1970, when it was included on the album Almost In Love. Several takes were made of the song, and the single version used take 16 (also used for the soundtrack of the film). The version released on the Almost In Love album is take 10.
The musicians on the track are Hal Blaine (drums), Al Casey (guitar), Larry Knechtel (bass), and Don Randi (piano), which played on several of Elvis’ late 1960s recordings.
Presley re-recorded the song in June 1968 for the soundtrack of his 1968 comeback special. He had intended to performing it during the program – in part due to Live A Little, Love A Little being scheduled for release just a month before the special’s broadcast date. Ultimately, it was decided not to use this recording. The song was dropped from the planned special, but it was later included on the 1998 release Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special.
Fast forward to 2001. A Little Less Conversation’s second lease of life started when it was used in the film Ocean’s Eleven. The song was remixed by Dutch musician Tom Holkenborg, better known as Junkie XL (alternatively JXL). The electronic remix featured Elvis with a lower voice, and added emphasis to the 1968 guitars, horns, and a funk drum beat.
The noteworthy thing about this is that Holkenborg is the first artist outside the Presley organization to receive authorization from the Elvis Presley estate to remix an Elvis Presley song.
A single of this version (credited to “Elvis vs. JXL”) was later issued and went on to become a #10 hit in 27 countries. It reached #1 in 13 of them. Elvis Presley suddenly had a worldwide hit, 24 years after his death and 34 years after the original version of the song was released.
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