Shear Presley Dynamite!
THE BACKGROUND - "Got O' Lot Of Livin' To Do" is the climax/grand finally to Elvis' second movie "Loving You". Written by Ben Weisman - who wrote more songs for Elvis then any other song writer, this song was originally recorded on January 12th 1957 with a couple more versions recorded a month later on February 14th. "Got O' Lot Of Livin' To Do" would spend four weeks on the charts and peak at number seventeen. A fast paced number sang with passion and youthful enthusiasm.
MY TAKE - I hold this song/scene in extremely high regard ( I must have seen it literally hundreds/thousands of times ) and think it rivals the much more famous "Jailhouse Rock" production for "the" iconic early Elvis movie production.
"Got O' Lot Of Livin' To Do" is repeated three times throughout "Loving You". But, unlike most movie/musicals it doesn't get more polished during the movie rather, it gets wilder and more raw. - Until the climatic ending when Elvis (Deke Rivers) performs the song in concert to a raucous audience in attendance and on "live" television simultaneously.
More then any other scene from any Elvis movie, the final performance of "Got O' Lot Of Livin' To Do" most resembles an actual Elvis concert in the 50's - Sheer Presley Dynamite!
NOTE - At 1:15 Elvis completely slows the song down for a spectacular finish. This would become a patented "Elvis style" ending for years to come.
( Jody Cranston / Elvis Blog ).
