It Happened at the World's Fair is where things start to get pear shaped for Elvis Presley's soundtracks.
It's not that the album itself is particularly bad -- compared to some of the soundtracks that'd follow, including Fun in Acapulco just a few short months later, it's totally fine -- but it's the first Elvis album to feel like pure product, lacking any strong hook.
It's also lacking any song as ridiculous as, say, "Song of the Shrimp" from Girls! Girls! Girls! -- the closest it comes is "Cotton Candy Land," a wannabe blues showstopper that never acknowledges its inherent silliness, and the toy box clatter of "How Would You Like to Be" -- but that absence only underscores the anonymity of the affair; it balances the ballads with pop tunes and light rockers, making sure that nothing sounds too messy.
A few cuts flirt with inspiration -- the opening "Beyond the Bend" almost works up a head of steam, as does the Otis Blackwell/Winfield Scott bopper "One Broken Heart for Sale" -- but this is a record where the songs merely go through the motions, so Elvis himself isn't particularly inspired to do much more than hit his mark, either.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beyond the BendDolores Fuller, Leith Stevens, Ben Weisman, Fred Wise | Elvis Presley | Play | 01:52 | 4 MB | 10 MB |
| 2 | RelaxRoy Bennett, Sid Tepper | Elvis Presley | Play | 02:21 | 5 MB | 10 MB |
| 3 | Take Me to the FairRoy Bennett, Sid Tepper | Elvis Presley | Play | 01:36 | 3 MB | 8 MB |
| 4 | They Remind Me Too Much of YouDon Robertson, Leith Stevens | Elvis Presley | Play | 02:32 | 5 MB | 10 MB |
| 5 | One Broken Heart for SaleOtis Blackwell, Winfield Scott, Leith Stevens | Elvis Presley | Play | 01:48 | 4 MB | 10 MB |
| 6 | I'm Falling in Love TonightDon Robertson, Leith Stevens | Elvis Presley | Play | 01:41 | 3 MB | 9 MB |
| 7 | Cotton Candy LandRuth Batchelor, Bob Roberts, Leith Stevens | Elvis Presley | Play | 01:34 | 3 MB | 7 MB |
| 8 | A World of Our OwnLeith Stevens | Elvis Presley | Play | 02:15 | 5 MB | 11 MB |
| 9 | Happy EndingLeith Stevens, Sid Wayne, Ben Weisman | Elvis Presley | Play | 02:10 | 4 MB | 12 MB |
| 10 | How Would You Like to Be | Elvis Presley | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 17 MB |
| 21 mins | 48 MB | |||||
| 21 mins | 107 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Barkan | Composer |
| 2 | Ruth Batchelor | Composer |
| 3 | Roy Bennett | Composer |
| 4 | Otis Blackwell | Composer |
| 5 | Dolores Fuller | Composer |
| 6 | Elvis Presley | Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 7 | Ben Raleigh | Composer |
| 8 | Bob Roberts | Composer |
| 9 | Don Robertson | Composer |
| 10 | Winfield Scott | Composer |
| 11 | Leith Stevens | Composer |
| 12 | Sid Tepper | Composer |
| 13 | Sid Wayne | Composer |
| 14 | Ben Weisman | Composer |
| 15 | Fred Wise | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |