In the Ghetto

Infobox Single
Name =In the Ghetto


Cover size =
Border =
Caption =
Artist =Elvis Presley
Album =
B-side ="Any Day Now" (Burt Bacharach, Bob Hilliard)
Released =April 14, 1969
Format =
Recorded =
Genre = Rock
Gospel
Length =2:45
Label =
Writer =Mac Davis
Producer =
Audio sample? =
Certification =
Last single ="His Hand In Mine"
(1969)
This single ="In the Ghetto"
(1969)
Next single ="Clean Up Your Own Backyard"
(1969)
Misc =“In the Ghetto” is a song written by Mac Davis and was originally titled "The Vicious Circle". The song was made popular by rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. It was released in 1969 as a 45 rpm single with "Any Day Now" as the flip side. It is a narrative story of a young boy who grows up in the ghetto, steals and fights, and eventually is shot and killed.

The song was Presley's first Top 10 hit in the US in four years, peaking at number 3, and his first UK Top 10 hit in three years. [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=469 “In the Ghetto”] at Songfacts]

Original record

“In the Ghetto” was recorded during Presley's session in the American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. It was Presley's first creative recording session since the '68 Comeback, and the songs recorded here probably owed some of their financial success to that. Other hits recorded at this session were “Suspicious Minds”, “Kentucky Rain”, and “Don't Cry Daddy”. There were initial fears that the song would damage Presley's reputation for being politically unbiased,Fact|date=January 2008 but he loved the song and recorded it anyway.

Lisa Marie Presley duet version

The song was recorded by Lisa Marie Presley as a duet to raise money for the Presley foundation. The song was released on iTunes, it reached # 1 on i tunes in the US. The song's video stirred up controversy for its stark depiction of guns in the crib with toddlers.

Cover versions

After Elvis Presley, the song has been performed by many other artists. Among them were, most notably, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Cranberries, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Leatherface, Three Six Mafia, Frank Flynn and Natalie Merchant. The KLF used a sample of the Elvis recording in their ambient DJ album Chill Out.

Parodies

Paul Shanklin recorded a parody called "In a Yugo" for Rush Limbaugh, in which an environmentally conscious family buys a Yugo to save gas, only to get killed by a truck after swerving to miss a duck. [http://mfile.akamai.com/5020/wma/rushlimb.download.akamai.com/5020/shanklin_archives/In%20A%20Yugo.asx]

Ian Stuart of Skrewdriver recorded a parody called "In The Ghetto" about "White Ghettos" and a mother who "cried White Pride."

El Vez recorded a version titled "En el Barrio" that mixed humor with details about Chicano struggles.

Ashley Tisdale allegedly recorded a reworked version with producer Timbaland where "ghetto" refers to Jewish ghettos in Germany during the Holocaust. The song has remained unreleased by Disney for fear of negative public reaction, despite the fact that the song is meant to educate a new generation about the horrors of the Holocaust.

In Popular Culture

In South Park Episodes 210-Chickenpox, and 612-A Ladder to Heaven, Cartman sings the song in order to make fun of Kenny, one of the four main characters who is from a "poor" family with an alcoholic unemployed father and mother.

References

External links

* [http://www.dollyon-line.com/archives/lyrics/itghetto.shtml “In the Ghetto” lyrics] at Dolly Parton On-Line
* [http://www.spinner.com/2007/08/16/video-premiere-elvis-and-lisa-marie-presleys-in-the-ghetto/ Elvis and Lisa Marie Presley: “In the Ghetto”] (music video) at Spinner.com