I wasn't that into Elvis until I heard the songs from the Sun Sessions. I'm not that into his more radio friendly stuff, but his early singles are just amazing.

Does anybody know what causes the laughing in the laughing version of Are You Lonesome Tonight? Is there something funny going on, or is it the drugs boiling over? If something really is funny, why isn't anybody else laughing? The backing singer lady gives her best without breaking.

I used to think this was Elvis at his worst, which it would have been hadn't it been for the laughter, but now I can't stop smiling while listening to it.

What causes the laughing is the King, apparently bored out of his skull at singing the song for the eleven-billionth time (and probably stoned on top of that), deliberately screwing up the lyrics ("Do you stare at your bald head, and wish you had hair?") and then collapsing into a fit of uncontrollable giggling - the kind of jag where, the harder you try to stop laughing and get back on track, the more impossible it gets. Somehow, the band and the backup singers are able to keep it together even when Elvis yells, "Shake it, baby!" between eruptions. The audience, of course, eats it all up, although I imagine it was considerably more uncomfortable to watch live than it is to simply listen to it.