U.S. Male

"U.S. Male" is a country music song first recorded by country musician Jerry Reed in 1967, to be included on his 1967 debut album The Unbelievable Guitar and Voice of Jerry Reed.^[1] Elvis Presley covered the song in 1968 for a b-film he was starring in that year, and marginally gave the song a slightly more country music-influenced rock 'n' roll vibe (sometimes called rockabilly, although that term as well was becoming less common as mainstream 1960s rock, country rock or outlaw country started to develop into distinct genres and replaced rockabilly as a blanket, umbrella term. Presley's cover remains better known and more likely recognized than Reed's original.

Jerry Reed recorded and released "U.S. Male" in late 1966 and Elvis Presley recorded his cover of the song in January 1968 for the B-movie Stay Away, Joe. It reached number 28 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the spring of 1968.^[2] The song was recorded in January 1968 and did not deviated much from the original rockabilly tune, albeit Presley madea track that can more accurately be called country-rock and roll, or rockabilly, sound that Presley had already used in September 1967, while recording another Jerry Reed original, "Guitar Man," turning the rockabilly original into a in that same recording session, Presley also recorded his relatively unique version (jazzy blues-rock version) of the blues original by Jimmy Reeves "Big Boss Man" and .^[3] Presley recorded these three songs accompanied by Reed on lead guitar. It paved the way for Presley's famous '68 Comeback Special, filmed in June 1968 and broadcast on NBC on December 3, 1968.

Despite being viewed by some as a satirical social commentary on the American idea of masculinity and jingoism, it remains considered one of Presley's worst songs.

Dave Marsh included the song in his collection, The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made^[4] as song #655.