Music Review: "Hillelvis" Presley: Hebrew Hotel

Five Forks Up

Most posthumously released albums are usually pieces of junk-witness the Notorious B.I.G.'s recent Life After Death debacle, or the plethora of Beatles Anthology sets released in recent years. Nobody needs or wants to hear B.I.G. eating chicken, Paul McCartney brushing his teeth, or John Lennon having sex with Yoko Ono. Or the Notorious B.I.G. having sex with Paul McCartney brushing his teeth. Or any combination of the above, really.

On the other hand, sometimes an artist leaves behind a hidden cache of gorgeous material that, for one reason or another, was never released. RCA stumbled across such a cache when it discovered a young, thin, Jewish Elvis Presley singing traditional songs of his temporarily adopted faith.

Jewish Elvis, you ask? Well, apparently at some point in the early 50s, Elvis changed his name to "Hillelvis" and began playing bar and bat mitzvahs for extra cash. If not for Elvis? later, unexpected success with WASP America, RCAs collection of tapes containing studio sessions in which Presley recorded rockin', pelvis-gyratin' versions of popular Jewish songs may have been his entire catalogue.

The album starts out with a covers of the requisite "Hava Nagila" and follows it up with many, many songs that you're probably never heard of.

The King's version of "Y'rushalayim Shel Zahav" is executed with grace and beauty, much like the original song. It is surprising to hear Elvis sing such fluent Hebrew - his accent is just right. "Oifn Pripitchik" is a very rough recording (the tapes found vary in quality, from nearly fully produced and ready for radio, to rough draft demo type material), but the essence of the song is still there. Presley strumming on his guitar and crooning "Oifn pripitchik, oifn pripitchik! Oifn pripitchik!" will make any Jewish Elvis fan travel back to that Sabbath so long ago where he or she first saw Elvis perform on the Ed Sullivan show. The recreation of that that wondrous evening so filled with song and sideburns is worth the price of the disc itself.

Happily, though, there is much, much more Hillelvis on this disc. Other Jewish songs RCA is releasing on this two disc set are: "Erev Shel Shoshanim," "Bashana Haba'a," "Der Rebbe Elimelech," "Shalom Alechem," "Uva'u Ha'ovdim," "Y'did Nefesh," and "Rozhinkes Mit Mandlen".

But for all this joyous Judaism on the first disk, the real prize is the second, which is filled with revamped versions of future Elvis classics. From the rocking title track, "Hebrew Hotel", to the touching "Don?t Be Goy", to the just plain fun (although rather nonsensical) "Blue Suede Jews", Hillelvis serves up a smorgasbord of kosher fun for Jews and Gentiles alike.

This record is a requirement for all fans of Elvis, and certainly for all religious Jews, who will certainly want to serve up some King-sized tunes at their next Day of Atonement party.