Elvis - Are You Lonesome Tonight

[Tekla]

What was Elvis laughing at in the live version of this record ?

[BigDogsWang]

someone's got Radio 2 on

[Tekla]

LOL yeah. I've always wondered but having it played prompted me to stick the question here.

[jacobsmummy]

its the background singer isnt it? she keeps wailing away and hes cracking up, yet she carries on despite him laughing continuously!

[BigDogsWang]

I think he was just laughing at the intensity of the woman singing soprano. She goes a bit over board. Personally I don't like it because I think Elvis' laugh is false.

[cheekybat]

Legend has it that Elvis suddenly found the high trilling voices of his backing singers funny - they had performed the number many times together but on this occasion they set him off. Apparently he was a bit of a giggler.

[naz_nomad]

What sets him off is that he sings ... ''do you stare at your bald head and wish you had hair'' ... to a guy in the audience, but then he can't stop laughing when the backing singer doesn't falter, but carries on regardless of the fact that he's stopped singing.

[andy-hughes]

I think Elvis's laughter is inspired by the twin factors of having forgotton the lyrics, hence his improvisation, and the fact that he is choc full of drugs, which made him not only forget the lyrics, but find the whole thing funny.

The backing singers would have carried on because that is what they were instructed and trained to do - in the hope that keping things going would give Elvis a point at which he could pick up the song again.

When you are as stoned as Elvis ws during his 'Vegas' period, nothing at all is required to set you off - everything seems funny.

[Leo1972]

Elvis was looking into the audience and noticed 2 girls trying to pull the wig (toupe) of the guy in front of them and hence the ad-lib. What is so funny is that the musicians and backing singer (Kathy Westmoreland) give such a great performance and don't laugh at all, so Elvis shouts 'Sing it, baby' to her as he cracks up and she professionally continues.
At the end he says '14 years down the drain boy, 14 years, just shot right there, man'.
Excellent stuff.

[Tekla]

Thanks all.