With Elvis, a Little’s Better Than Nothing

ELVIS PRESLEY **, “Flaming Star,” et al, RCA Beware. A quick look at the cover of this latest entry in RCA’s “Elvis Double Features” series suggests the label has taken advantage of a CD’s full 75-plus minute length to give us three Presley soundtracks.

The problem is there was so little music in “Flaming Star,” “Follow That Dream” and “Wild in the Country” that RCA wasn’t able to put together a full soundtrack album for any of them. Even by adding alternate versions of some songs and six tracks that weren’t in the films, we only end up with 39 minutes of music.

Still, it’s Elvis, and there’s no way you can listen to any 39 minutes by him and not find something of interest. In this case, it’s fascinating to hear him try gamely to deal with some of the nonsense thrown his way, including “Britches”--perhaps the dumbest song ever recorded by a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member. On the positive side, Elvis brings a disarming warmth to three ballads from the “Wild in the Country” sessions that will be new to most fans. For collectors only.

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*** Ed Bruce, “The Best of Ed Bruce,” Varese Sarabande. It’s no disrespect to call Bruce a poor man’s Waylon Jennings because Bruce is a wonderfully convincing singer and first-rate writer, whose compositions range from “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” to “(When You Fall in Love) Everything’s a Waltz.” But the laid-back performer lacks Jennings’ charisma and, apparently, his music career ambition. Solid stuff.

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*** Chuck Willis, “Stroll On: The Chuck Willis Collection,” Razor & Tie. A minor mystery of ‘50s rock was why Willis wore a turban. Religious symbol or chic accessory? The answer, according to the album’s liner notes, was thinning hair. He’s a fine R&B; singer best remembered for popularizing the stroll dance craze and for the posthumous 1958 hit “What Am I Living For.”

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (e ssential ).