Monday, October 01, 2018

When Japan Summits Elvis Presley's Hit Jailhouse Rock


This posting is not about Japanese Elvis Presley Tribute Artistes but about the interpretation of the song Jailhouse Rock. Listen to how the Japanese lyrics combine well with the English words used. They really locked it. Oooooh!



You heard and witnessed the Hindi or Bollywood version earlier; here are two more versions from the land of the rising sun. Compare them, as both are serious interpretations, one a Japanese copy but the other a totally new ideal about county jail conditions.

 Masaaki Hirao with Jailhouse Rock (1958). Video from Legends Never Die. Thank you.

Listen first to the copy version, from JEPTA (Japan's Elvis Presley Tribute Artiste) Masaaki Hirao's and the other a true depiction of what really happened in that jail that used to house Elvis, with sound effects and all.
Please take these musicians seriously 😎.
Because they do.

And a big thank you to the people behind these wonderful videos without whom these postings would never have been available.

Read this one too. Click connection:

Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock Video by rotocanum. Thank you very much.

This posting is for good friend Michael Bangar, whose understanding of the pop music world, both locally and internationally is beyond many of us. I am sure he has much to say about these interpretations.

Images and Videos: Google and YouTube.

13 comments:

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

I love how the song is interpreted differently, one, a copy by a popular singer and the other by a combination of both the traditional and the modern orchestra.

STEPHEN HAN said...

Nothing like the real king, Elvis Presley

MICHAEL LEE (SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA) said...

Anyone, Jailhouse Rock in any language or musical style is still Jailhouse Rock - Rock and Roll.

Which version is better depends on who is the listener?

Cheerio.

DAISY KOH said...

So cool... he even sounds a bit like Elvis in certain parts... right tempo...but, of course, he can’t measure up to the King of Rock n Roll.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thanks to all for comments and LIKES, especially Daisy, who takes time off just to write in; must be so busy this month.

LL said...

The orchestral version is really boring.

PETER CHUA (TALENTIME 70'S FINALIST, SINGER) said...

Cute.

HIROSHI DEGUCHI (JAPAN) said...

"Thanks to the arrangement by the cool jail guards, a party is thrown in the county jail. As the prison band starts to play, even the prison wall swung." So the singer Hirao Masaaki sings in Japanese. This may sound funny and is surely different from the original. But to tell you the truth, I got caught up in it because I understood the lyrics.

It was when I was only eight years old that I first heard Elvis sing the song on the radio (of course TV didn't exist in our region at the time.) It was shocking. We had never heard anything like it. I never liked it. It sounded to me something from another planet. Because like many other Japanese, I was not used to English, western scales and blue notes.

Those Japanese version Rock'n'Roll music, however, played an important role in popularizing Rock music in Japan. They made Elvis, Neil Sedaka and Connie's songs understandable to the general public. They made us familiar with Pop songs, then we started to listen to the originals. I remember I was more moved and cried with "Hey Paula" sung in Japanese than the one by Paul and Paula.

MICHAEL LEE (SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA) said...

Hi Andy -
Just like what Hiroshi said Listening to the same tune in a different language is a different experience. "O sole mio" and "It's now or never" is the same tune but the experience you get listening to both songs is different.
Cheerio.

KOH SUI PANG FB said...

I love listening to the original Jail House singer..The Late ELVIS PRESLEY ....the best ..1111 !!!!!

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thank you very much, Hiroshi for being so cool to explain your feelings and the Japanese lyrics. I think our FB friends and readers, including myself, are appreciative of what you did. And to Michael and Sui Pang, thanks for acknowledging the post too.

Thanks to everyone who acknowledges this post. Many thanks too for the videos posted by the two groups of people from YOUTUBE.

FACEBOOK said...

Thanks to the following who LIKE this posting

JOHN CHER
ROSE KHOO
JENNIE LAW
MARTIN ONG
KOH SUI PANG
PETER CHEONG
HIROSHI DEGUCHI
VAN DER BEEK PHILIP
TAN SER KIONG
TOM TAN

MICHAEL LEE (SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA) said...

Hi Andy

Elvis version and singing is excellent. However, I find this Spanish version interesting and it is still Jailhouse Rock even though I don't understand a single word.

Cheerio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwXnov56ebI