Words & Music:
Randy Starr
Old Macdonald had a farm, ee-i-ee-i-o
And on that farm he had some chicks, ee-i-ee-i-o
With a cluck, cluck here, a cluck, cluck there
Loud as they could be
And when those chicks got out of line
Chicken fricasse
With a cluck, cluck here, a cluck, cluck there
Loud as they could be
And when those chicks got out of line
Chicken fricasse
Well, Old Macdonald had a farm, ee-i-ee-i-o
And on that farm he had some cows, ee-i-ee-i-o
With a moo, moo here, a moo, moo there
Cattle everywhere
And when those cows got out of line
Hamburger, medium rare
With a moo, moo here, a moo, moo there
Cattle everywhere
And when those cows got out of line
Hamburger, medium rare
Ohh, Well, Old Macdonald had a farm, ee-i-ee-i-o
And on that farm he had some pigs, ee-i-ee-i-o
With an oink, oink here, an oink, oink there
Pigs everywhere in sight
And when those pigs got out of line
Pork and beans at night
With an oink, oink here, an oink, oink there
Pigs everywhere in sight
And when those pigs got out of line
Pork and beans at night
Well I'm goona have a farm one day, ee-i-e-i-o
And I'll do things McDonalds way, ee-i-e-i-o
With a cluck, cluck here, a cluck, cluck there
A moo, moo here, a moo, moo there
An oink, oink here, an oink, oink there
And I can promise you
If those animals ever get out of line
We'll have a mulligan stew
How about you?
Recordingdate: 1966/06/29, first released on: Double Trouble (album)
Musicians
Musicians who contributed to the first recording of Old MacDonald:
(guitar)
(guitar)
(guitar)
(steel guitar)
(bass)
(drums)
(drums)
(piano)
(harmonica)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(sax)
(trombone)
Availability
Find available albums with Old MacDonald.
This carbage only fits in the category "how do I waste talent"!
This is awful,no excuses.
lowest point in Elvis' career..
Frank Sinatra had a hit single with this; why is his not singled out for criticism? Not bad if you take it tongue in cheek.
Truly embarassing, possibly the lowpoint in his career. Bad vocal, bad arrangement, bad band. I know a few fans who bailed out after hearing this. Thankfully they came back in 1968.
Every word about this monster is too much, so just one: Terrible. Ok, two: Awful. Make it three: disgrace. (Where was the guy who erased the 50's tapes when this thing was recorded ?)
this song is in competition with "Confidence" and "He is your uncle not your aunt" for the worst song ever recorded by our man.
This was one of these songs to be never done in those days and should have been erased from the catalogue altogether. I am happy that a CD has a FF option (which the LP did not have)! Luckily the highlights of his career are too many to mention to help us forget the very few stupidities.
I wished I could at least say that the track rocked, but it doesn't. Everything's wrong on this recording.
First time I have heard this song when I was 6 and I loved it. Without this song I would never become an Elvis Fan. I know that it is considered to be the worst song ever recorded by Elvis. But it drew my attention when I was a child and maybe some songs are recorded for specific kind of audience. My son likes it (he is 5 now) because of the animal sounds in it. Kill me but I am very glad that Elvis recorded this song. Like other songs from Elvis sings for Children. It reminds me about my childhood and my first steps in the Elvis Word. Something for everybody :-)
Who would have thought that 10 years after changing the world with his music Elvis Presley would walk into a studio and record Old MacDonald - and do it as badly as this!? This kind of thing can only happen when someone's creative morale has been beaten into submission by years of commercial over demands and you just give in to whatever you're told to do. Thank God we've got the home recordings of this period to show that Elvis was still interested in recording decent material when the money men weren't around to stop him.
My children(ages 4 & 6) love the CD ELVIS Sings for Children and Grown Ups Too (which included this song). I figure listening to Elvis no matter what he is singing, is better than the things they could be listening to. Since then my daughter (now age 5) LOVES ELVIS. We can't get in my car with listening to ELVIS!!!!!
This songs actually quite funny as the farmer eats all the animals. Some times ya gotta lighten up. This was just a hollywood movie tune not meant to be a world stopping rocker. Its funny and Elvis is in good voice........ And I love the movie Double Trouble.
Elvis literally recorded hundreds and hundreds of songs (including the worst movie drivel). Why are we wasting time discussing "Old MacDonald" as a song of the day? Will "discussions" of other absolute movie clunkers follow? What a waste of time.
I especially can't stand that ..'oink, oink here, an oink, oink there' part. I can say I hate it, actually
Yes Sinatra had a hit with this but it was listenable. This recording is awful, Elvis is actually bad. The arrangement is awful and production terrible. I dont want to hear it fit the scene in the movie either. Elvis riding in the back of the truck with chickens was necessary? No wonder the movies are critically panned.
Sorry to say but as a child I liked it. This song started my journey with Elvis. It continues till now. Elvis even at his low pint could gain some new fans ;-)
Tommorrow we gonna have He's Your Uncle, Not Your Dad. Hang loose, folks. ;-)
From Hound Dog to Old McDonald. Kinda like going from The Queen Mary to a rusty bathtub. No stars for this garbarge.
I only listened to this track once, ,,,, no twice {2nd time was when i watched the movie} enough said!!!! If there was a bottom ten recordings list from Elvis this would be in it.
I love Elvis. A lot. And I can listen to almost any of his songs---Yoga Is As Yoga Does, Ito Eats, Confidence, No Room To Rhumba in a Sports Car..... But none of them do I find as painful as this one. I can still defend it as a children's song and say Elvis was just appealing to a very young audience, but for me personally, this might be the absolute worse track in Elvis' catalog.
It was a fun scene in a movie, and a cute song. All in all, Elvis gave us, alot of great music, and he is allowed to have, had, a few "Clunkers", along the way.
I used to hold my niece & dance around the room with her while listening to Elvis Sings for Kids. She loved it & we had a lot of fun. Now as an adult she still listens to Elvis when she isn't practicing the piano, flute or guitar. But, I guess we are too unsophisticated to admit seeing music from a child's level. But, what is all the fuss? Old McD has been around for eons as a childrens/folk song & certainly easier to handle than Rhumba in a Sports Car or whatever the hell it's called. I personally thought Elvis would have done a heck of a job on "Lullabye & Goodnight"!
A new take on the children's song recorded for and included in the movie and soundtrack "Double Trouble". In the movie, Elvis seems to be having fun with Annette Day on the back of the truck with the animals all around them and I find it fun too. On record, it is mediocre at best (worst track on the LP) and Elvis definitely had better vocal moments. I just wander if all of this grandstanding against this song would take place if David Letterman hadn't mocked this track on his show. Frank Sinatra might have had a "listenable" version of this song, but he tried to pawn it off as a single! His fans made it a top 25 hit and they don't feel the need to get on websites and rant and rave about their man singing it.
The worst have already been said about this recording. But, watching Elvis in the movie, is even more painfull. To me he looks truly uncomfortable doing the scene. Just as uncomfortable as he sounds on the soundtrack recording. Life surely has it's ups and downs!
Again it worked well in the movie. Honestly, this is a fun version of the song. But the music critics, and some of the fans never forgave him for "selling out" as they call it. Some of the movies and the movie songs almost ruined his career.
Elvis walked out while recording this song. Sadly enough, RCA had enough to release it. Elvis sounds like he's in a hurry to end the song. He should have done a Queenie Wahini.
Yes he sounds in a hurry to finish the torture, on a song that perhaps should not have even been in a film scene. Some of the panned songs in his career elicit a sparkle or two along the way, but this one does not.
Can't say as I've ever heard this rubbish and I know I never saw that movie. Why Presley dignified supposedly acting or actually singing is beyond me. Absolute crap. One star.
It's questionable if this is elvis worst movie song. But it became kind of a symbol for the artistic downward spiral the soundtracks were for elvis in the 60s. I suppose that it is because of the fact that this is a well known song, other than say yoga is .... , and that the scene the song is in is also painful to watch - like the whole movie, probably his worst besides paradise. It must have been a shock and a huge disappointment for critics and fans that he went from hound dog, jailhouse rock etc. to this. It's probably not his worst movie recording, but that doesn't say a lot. It's stupid and annoying and the changes to the lyrics make the song even more unfunny. It's musical torture. 1 star, because it's impossible to give a zero.
Sorry there is no excuses. This IMO is his worst song. He knew it and that's why he walked out during the sessions. I could excuse it if he sang it to a child but then you listen to the lyrics and he couldn't even do that. Just terrible.