Having Fun With Elvis On Stage is the seventh live album by Elvis Presley, released in 1974, notable for containing no actual music. The record was a ploy by his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to make money off him by releasing an album RCA Records had no rights to, so has none of his songs. Instead, it's a collection of Elvis' inter-song banter compiled from various live concerts, most of it out of context or abruptly Cut Short.
The release was extremely negatively received, and Elvis himself hated the album and had it withdrawn. Therefore, the original release on Parker's Boxcar Records label is very rare. RCA themselves would reissue the album anyway after Elvis' death, where it would make the Billboard 200, proving that there's somewhat of a market in Bile Fascination. Understandably, it's never been rereleased otherwise.
It received the #1 ranking among the albums listed in the 1991 book The Worst Rock n' Roll Records of All Time (edging out Metal Machine Music and Self Portrait).
Tracklist:
Side One
- "Side A" (18:06)
Side Two
- "Side B" (19:00)
Having Tropes With Elvis On Stage
- Arc Words: These phases get repeated quite often:(...) I'll be over there in a minute, honey!(...) You want a scarf?(...) Well, well, well,...(...) I love you too, honey(...) You know what I can't do? (hits the piano a few times)(...) I can't stand up!
- Artistic License – History: Elvis jokes that a song goes back to when he first started recording: "Back in 1927, I thought it was!"note
- Buffy Speak: Rather than label it as "spoken word" or "Elvis in his own words" or something like that, it's touted on the cover as "a talking album only."
- Compilation Album: This is, in essence, just a collection of stage conversations, though none originate from previously released live recordings.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Elvis on the cover.
- Face on the Cover: Six images of Elvis.
- Fangirl: A lot of edits just have Elvis hand out kisses or scarves to his overexcited fans, or tell them he "loves them".
- Improv: All of it is improvised.
- Live Album: A concert album with the actual musical performances edited out.
- Longest Song Goes Last: Of the two tracks that make up the album, the second is around a minute longer than the first.
- Makes Just as Much Sense in Context: Nearly every single quote from this album counts ("Looks like my horse just left"; "I got my tiger...right next to the eagle"), since it's just a jumbled-together collection of Non Sequitur quips.
- No Ending: Most of Elvis' conversations are meant to lead into song, but due to all the songs getting cut, they instead end abruptly with no resolution.
- No Title: Neither of the two tracks have an official title.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: On Side A, Elvis is heard talking about his early career for four minutes.
- Recorded and Stand-Up Comedy: The album falls more into this category due to not containing any actual music.
- Spoken Word in Music: There are no songs, just Elvis talking to his fans. Sometimes one can hear him humming, briefly quote some lyrics or singing "Well...", only to have the start of a song abruptly edited outnote .
- Squee: We hear a lot of excited girls screaming and wanted to be kissed by Elvis and/or receive a scarf by him.
- "Memphis."