Home > Encyclopedia > SongBase
U.S. Male
Words & Music:
Jerry ReedNow, I'm a U.S. Male 'cause I was born
In a Mississippi town on a Sunday morn
Now Mississippi just happens to occupy a place
In the southeastern portion of this here United States
Now that's a matter of fact, buddy
And you know it well
So I just call myself the U.S. Male
That's M-A-L-E, son. That's me!
Now I said all that to say all this
I've been watchin' the way
You've been watchin' my miss
For the last three weeks you been hot on her trail
And you kinda upset this U.S. Male
You touch her once with your greasy hands
I'm gonna stretch your neck like a long rubber band
She's wearin' a ring that I bought her on sale
And that makes her the property of this U.S. Male
You better not mess with the U.S. Male my friend
The U.S. Male gets mad, he's gonna do you in
You know what's good for yourself son
You better find somebody else son
Don't tamper with the property of the U.S. Male
Through the rain and the heat and the sleet and the snow
The U.S. Male is on his toes
Quit watchin' my woman, for that ain't wise
You ain't pullin' no wool over this boy's eyes
I catch you 'round my woman, champ
I'm gonna leave your head 'bout the shape of a stamp
Kinda flattened out, so you'll do well
To quit playin' games with this U.S. Male
You better not mess with the U.S. Male my friend
The U.S. Male gets mad, he's gonna do you in
You know what's good for yourself son
You better find somebody else son
Don't tamper with the property of the U.S. Male
Sock it to me
All right...now I'm gonna tell it like it is son
I catch you messin' 'round with that woman of mine
I'm gonna lay one on ya. You're talkin' to the U.S. Male
The American U.S. Male Recorded:
1968/01/16, first released on
singleReactions
Elvis starts the song slower than Reed with better effect. Sadly enough he found room for the Jordanaires to do their trick, whereas Reed did it without backing vocals. Still 5 solid stars for this one. Elvis doing a Jerry Reed song, a combination that just couldn't fail.
A nice double header with the flip side Stay Away, this was a style and recording a little bit out of the ordinary for him.
Slightly menacing but delivered tongue in cheek it should have charted higher than 28 in the USA, but did make the UK top twenty.
Great single, at last Elvis was a leader again. Shades of Dixieland Rock on this rap type recording. This and Guitar Man were, in my mind, the singles that told the world, Elvis is still here. Wasn't it great to hear things getting better after those 2 ~ 3 years of second rate recordings.
A great song and and an even better performance by Elvis. Fun, sassy and coupled with it's flipside "Stay Away", it is one of my top ten favorite Elvis singles.
Jerry Reed should have written more stuff for Elvis...This one is awesome !...The Jordanaires sound good too on it...They must have felt the young Elvis from 1956 performing with them for the very last time !
Great single. I've always liked this more than 'Guitar Man.' Pure country-rock.
She's wearin' a ring that I bought her on sale. And that makes her the property of this U.S. Male, sock it to me one more time... what a great song and great lyrics... pure rock'n roll and Elvis had surely fun to record this song !
One of my ALL-TIME favorites. Elvis sings like he means it, with that great Southern accent.´I´m Gonna Stretch Your Neck Like A Long Rubber Band´ . WOW!!! Thats tough boy, that IS rock and roll!! .... This is SEX man!!
After years of lame singles to promote lame movies, this & Guitar Man marked the return of Elvis to making real solid music again. I remember this even getting spins on the jukebox at the candy store where I hung out. I felt proud once again to be an Elvis fan.
Finally a glimpse of the real Elvis again! Always loved the drawl with which Elvis sang it.
always liked this song, after the sillyness of all those movies the man and his music started to get in shape again, but the sad point with this is: he was entering his last decade already...
This Elvis hit single and Guitar Man marked an Elvis revival in the late sixties after a lean period in the charts. I think that Elvis handled this Jerry Reed song well, tongue in cheek and plenty of humour. Jerry Reed's guitar playing and Elvis' renewed enthusiasm make this an above average track.
Tough lyrics, but Elvis' rendition is a bit tame. If he had sung it like he belted out some of his fifties rockers it would have ranked higher on my favorites list.
Available Alternate Versions