Words & Music:
Lenor Rosenblatt
Victor Millrose
I'm just a Smokey mountain boy
Come back to the hills I love
Where the tops of pine all bend in the wind
And the deep blue sky above
The closer and closer I get to home
The more excited I am
Those were the mornings I'd roll out of bed
Start the day off with a hot corn bread
Smothered in huckleberry jam
I'm just a Smokey mountain boy
Come back to the hills I love
Where the tops of pine all bend in the wind
And the deep blue sky above
I can almost hear the hounds running through the woods
Close on the trail of the hare
How I long to be with them following the hounds
a-huntin' again
Gettin' me a big old grizzly bear
I'm just a Smokey mountain boy
Come back to the hills I love
Where the tops of pine all bend in the wind
And the deep blue sky above
I traveled around and met lots of girls
No matter how many I see
I left some pretty ones behind
I know back home is where I'll find
The girl whose love is meant for me
I'm just a Smokey mountain boy
Come back to the hills I love
Where the tops of pine all bend in the wind
And the deep blue sky above
Recordingdate: 1963/09/30, first released on: Kissin' Cousins (album)
Musicians
Musicians who contributed to the first recording of Smokey Mountain Boy:
(guitar)
(guitar)
(guitar)
(guitar)
(bass)
(drums)
(drums)
(piano)
(banjo)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(sax)
(sax)
(fiddle)
Availability
Find available albums with Smokey Mountain Boy.
Silly & embarrassing. Cant listen to it.
At least it has a catchy tune,albeit stolen from some other source
Recorded in Nashville, great sound, strong vocal from Elvis, catchy tune. The lyrics are quite acceptable, both in the context of the film and as a pure country song. If you want silly, terrible and embarrassing, try "Hey, Hey, Hey" from Clambake or "The Love Machine" from Easy Come, Easy Go.
Recorded in Nashville, great sound, etc. Elvis fans always trying to find a silver lining. Bottom line, the song was crap. Would you really listen to a song like this if Elvis wasnt the singer? I thought so.
silly song, but the most embarrassing is this: at one stage of the song there's a flute playing...in the wrong key...
The single from the film got to #10 in the Uk, only his 2nd out of 5 releases to hit the top 10 chart, the album got to #5 in the Uk. But really, Elvis was living on pass glory when he should have been in the recording studio's and getting back into the groove with what the buying public wanted. But we had to wait another 5 years for this to happen. As for SMB. Ok as a album filler. I liked Anyone, Tender Felling & the single KC. That said 'It hurts Me' should have been the A side and on the album.
The movie, the soundtrack including this song was something from Elvis in the Hollywood era. It is not Elvis music as such. But, Elvis singing songs from the movies. It is history now! It happened once and is not to be something else but a song fitting a scene in a leightweight Elvis musical. It's no big deal. Like it or not. I used to like the movie, the album and even this song. Doesn't mean I play it too often, no! But, I don't play with my childhood toys to much either anymore! But, I still like to remember them!
It was a fun song sequence in the movie. And a pleasant tune.
Another "gem" from "Kissin' Cousins". The scene in the movie that includes the song is okay, but is not enjoyable on record. First of all, the horrible whistling almost drowns out Elvis. Second, the rest of the instrumental sounds like it is coming from another room. Finally, you can tell Elvis' heart is not in it. One and 1/2 stars at the most.
I enjoy this tune as well. I also love the fast version of Kissin' Cousins.
Kissin' Cousins is clearly a career low for Elvis - he looked and sounded great and should have been doing far better things with his time. That said, I don't mind the KC soundtrack, but it's something that I rarely play.
As a country music fan I see it as a huge missed opportunity to record a country music soundtrack. Instead he used the same old 'Nashville Sound' musicians, hollywood songwriters and very poor arrangments to make one of his weaker soundtracks. This song is of the worst examples of this. Just think of great country recordings that came just a few years later, when he had the right material to work with: Guitar Man, Just Call Me Lonesome, US Male, In The Ghetto, Kentucky Rain, I Really Don't Want To Know, I Washed My Hands In Muddy Waters etc.
This is such a splendid, catchy, enjoyable and underrated Elvis song and I've never skipped it. I like all of the flute sequences and I like the lyrics and I like the background music. I like everything about this song.
Not on any of my playlists so listening to it now. It starts with, to my ears, an American Civil War sound and feel, and I quite like the whistling and banjo accompaniment. The thing I like about Elvis is he had the voice and ability to make the most of a bad thing. and he does here, but that said it is not a good song outside the film parameters and even he cannot lift it out of the 2 1/2 stars range at best.
The entire album, as a whole, is pretty decent sound wise; probably because it wasn't recorded on a sound stage and in fact, was recorded in Nashville Studio B. However, this song is movie scene oriented obviously and as such rates one, and only one star in my books. This album brings back memories for me and as such I don't think it's as bad as most folks seem to rant about.
A happy tune for a bad day. Not a good one. But a real sing along song
A pleasant song, from a less than memorable soundtrack and movie. Again made on the cheap, with scant attention to careful editing.
Among the various cock ups was of course the criminal waste of It hurts me as a B side
Great singing by Elvis. Awful whistling all through the song. The banjo is played by Jerry Kennedy. The instruments were recorded in Nashville in 2 days, Elvis vocals in Hollywood in probably just one day. That must've been a busy day for our man.
Lyrics -- "Gettin' me a big old grizzly bear".
I don't know whether to laugh, or roll my eyes (or both) at those lyrics! There have never been grizzly bears in the Great Smoky Mountains or anywhere in Tennessee/North Carolina (except maybe in a zoo). Black bears, yes... Grizzly bears, no. Never.
At least it was recorded at a time when Elvis' voice and attitude could cope with this sort of stuff.A little later of course the tension and strain of having to deal with sub standard material did show .
Regardless of Freddy Beinstock having the say so on Elvis' material above Elvis, it was down to Presley to tell his song plugger what he could do with garbage like this.
Just awful. Of course Elvis sounds great--he had the greatest voice in the world, but songs like this are such a shame. It is better than Barefoot Ballad. I guess that's something. "Hot cornbread smothered in huckleberry jam" should never be a lyric in a song, but I guess it's a good breakfast before going out to hunt grizzly bear. I have so much pity for Elvis at this point in his career. He came back from the army and conquered the world. One year after this in 1964, the music world would change drastically and keep changing. And Elvis would mostly sit by until 1968. I can imagine he must have gotten pretty depressed singing these kinds of songs.
I don't think it's all that bad; as a matter of personal preference, I rather enjoy the entire soundtrack. The movie? That's another story!
As a whole I've always liked the soundtrack: 3 stars. Not that fond of the movie: 2 stars. Song: 3 stars. Catchy. Love to sing along. Would I listen to this song if Elvis wasn't the singer? Probably not, But Elvis IS the singer. Therefore, I listen and enjoy.
It's one of those rare sessions where Elvis overdubbed his voice on a pre-recorded instrumental track. When he did that all the magic of the live studio recording and the interaction with the musicians was lost. Some of his worst soundtracks were recorded like this. This song is not one of his worst but is not great either. Pleasant to listen to only because of his voice.
~ Having lived in Tennessee my entire life, I actually enjoy listening to this fun, lighthearted movie song... but show me a grizzly bear in the Smoky Mountains and I'll show you an iceberg in Florida! LOL!
This one is OK, but I find myself liking it slightly more than the piece of rubbish that's "Barefoot Ballad." Three stars.