Stay Away, Joe (song) explained

Stay Away, Joe
Artist:	Elvis Presley
Album:	Let's Be Friends
Released:	1968 (motion picture) April 1970 (on the album Let's Be Friends)
Recorded:	October 1, 1967

"Stay Away, Joe" is a song first recorded by Elvis Presley as part of the soundtrack for his 1968 motion picture Stay Away, Joe.

In 1970 it was released as the opening track of Presley's budget album Let's Be Friends.

Writing

The song was written by Ben Weisman (music) and Sid Wayne (lyrics).^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

According to David Neal and his book Roots of Elvis, the writers of the song "seem to have been at the very least inspired by the old slave song, "Pick a Bale's o'Cotton"", a "folk-blues classic", originally recorded by Huddie Leadbetter (better known as Lead Belly) in 1935.

Recording

Presley recorded it at the soundtrack recordings for the M.G.M movie Stay Away, Joe that took place on Sunday, October 1, 1967, at the RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee.^{[6] [7]}

Critical reception

According to George Batista Da Silva's book Música e Ecran (in Portuguese), "Stay Awaya, Joe" "can be considered a minor song in Elvis Presley's vast repertoire".^[8]

Track listings

7-inch EP (RCA Victor 20652, Australia, 1982)^[9]

1. "Stay Away, Joe"
2. "Goin' Home"
3. "All I Needed Was The Rain"
4. "Stay Away"

7-inch EP (RCA EX 2764, 2001) — released in 2001 as a bonus disc with the album Blue Hawaii - Collector's Edition

1. "Stay Away, Joe"
2. "Dominic"
3. "All I Needed Was The Rain"
4. "Goin' Home"
5. "Stay Away"

Notes and References

1. Book: Ernst Jorgensen. Elvis Presley: A Life In Music. 22 April 2014. St. Martin's Press. 978-1-4668-6855-7. 366–.
2. Book: Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. 1971. 698–.
3. Book: Catalog of Copyright Entries: Music. January 1970. U.S. Government Printing Office.
4. Book: Jean-Jacques Jelot-Blanc. CAMION BLANC: ELVIS A HOLLYWOOD Presley fait son cinéma. 3 January 2016. CAMION BLANC. 978-2-35779-747-5. 138–.
5. Book: James L. Neibaur. The Elvis Movies. 4 April 2014. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 978-1-4422-3074-3. 222–.
6. Book: Ernst Jorgensen. Elvis Presley: A Life In Music. 22 April 2014. St. Martin's Press. 978-1-4668-6855-7. 365–.
7. Book: David Neale. Roots of Elvis. 2003. iUniverse. 978-0-595-29505-0. 111–.
8. Book: George Batista Da Silva. Música E Ecran. 11 October 2006. Clube de Autores. 217–. PKEY:99031787.
9. Web site: australian-charts.com - Elvis Presley - Stay Away, Joe. 2017-01-07.