Maybe “His Latest Flame” is so endearing because Elvis is losing for once. Not that you’d know from the airy arrangement – or from the first verse, the song saving its unpleasant twist for a little while. It rests on a tweaked Bo Diddley beat, an undercarriage of such pedigree and power that the rest of the band can afford to give the music a little space and delicacy. Sonically it’s Presley at his lightest, but that seems to bring out the best in the man. Presley tackles the song with authority, the showboating of his recent hits left behind: he respects its simplicity and gives a more subtle performance than you might expect. Listen to him in the final, repeated bridge and verse, how he hints at despair and anger before settling on defeat. It’s not that he couldn’t fight for Marie – this is Elvis Presley singing, after all – but it’s that there’s suddenly nothing worth fighting for.
Score: 7
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