U.S. Male
"U.S. Male" is a country song first recorded by country musician Jerry Reed in 1966, to be included on his 1967 debut album The Unbelievable Guitar and Voice of Jerry Reed.[1] Elvis Presley covered the song in 1968 for a b-film he was starring in that year, and gave the song a slightly more country music-influenced rock 'n' roll vibe (sometimes called rockabilly, although that term was becoming less common as mainstream 1960s rock, country rock and outlaw country started to develop into distinct genres and replaced rockabilly as an umbrella term.) Presley's cover remains better known and recognized than Reed's original.
Elvis Presley cover
| "U.S Male" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Elvis Presley | ||||
| B-side | "Stay Away" | |||
| Released | February 27, 1968 | |||
| Recorded | January 16, 1968 | |||
| Studio | RCA Studio B, Nashville | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jerry Reed Hubbard | |||
| Producer(s) | Felton Jarvis | |||
| Elvis Presley singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Jerry Reed recorded and released "U.S. Male" in late 1966 and Elvis Presley recorded his cover of the song in January 1968 for the B-movie Stay Away, Joe. It reached number 28 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the spring of 1968.[2] The cover was recorded in January 1968, and did not deviate much from the original, albeit Presley made a track that can more accurately be called country-rock 'n' roll, or rockabilly, a sound that Presley had already used in September 1967, while recording another Jerry Reed original, "Guitar Man". In that same recording session, Presley also recorded a relatively unique jazzy blues-rock version of "Big Boss Man" by Jimmy Reed.[3] Presley recorded these three songs accompanied by Reed on lead guitar. It paved the way for Presley's famous '68 Comeback Special, filmed in June 1968 and broadcast on NBC on December 3, 1968.
Despite being viewed by some as a satirical social commentary on the American idea of masculinity and jingoism, it is still widely considered to be one of Presley's worst songs.
Accolades
Dave Marsh included the song in his collection, The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made[4] as song #655.
References
- ^ "Jerry Reed – the Unbelievable Guitar & Voice of (1967, Vinyl)". Discogs. 1967.
- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ "Elvis Presley Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic.
- ^ Marsh, Dave (1999). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Da Capo Press. ISBN 9780306809019. OCLC 40200194.
