KING & EYE
UNCLE WILLIE'S HIGHLY OPINIONATED GUIDE TO THE RESIDENTS
The King & Eye is an album of songs which were
originally recorded by Elvis in the 1950’s. These versions
are not so much covers as they are utter reworkings,
stripping songs like “Viva Las Vegas,” “Teddy Bear,” and
“His Latest Flame” to their barest essence and recording
them with the intent of the original authors in mind. The
Residents have put the pain, anguish and even fear back
into these songs. The songs are woven together by a fable,
“The Baby King,” which tells of a baby’s search for love
and acceptance.
Cole Gagne in his book, Sonic Transports, says, “The
Residents are eyeballing the archetypal tale of an American
original lost to dependency and consumerism. They see Elvis
more firmly enthroned in death than he was in life.”
The music never leans on the cheap shot of ridiculing the
King of Pop Music. Rather it makes an attempt at
establishing a “pop” sound of its own, being true to Elvis
and the innocence of American culture in its own
way.
-Uncle Willie