Elvis Presley: Classic Or Dud?

Crazy - after Elvis's death, Ronnie Tutt joined the Jerry Garcia Band, and is now Neil Diamond's drummer!

wow, I didn't know that

A bunch of the TCB guys backed Gram Parsons on his solo joints, but you knew that already.

Crazy - after Elvis's death, Ronnie Tutt joined the Jerry Garcia Band, and is now Neil Diamond's drummer!

― 誤訳侮辱, Thursday, April 25, 2013 2:39 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Weird, I didn't know that either! Kinda almost makes me wanna go see Neil Diamond. Almost.

Ron, Jerry Scheff and James Burton were also on Elvis Costello's King of America. Scheff was in EC's touring band for a while, dunno if any other TCBers were.

Kinda almost makes me wanna go see Neil Diamond. Almost.

That urge came over me for a second, too. Then I remembered the Neil Diamond songs I know and changed my mind.

I like how effortlessly Elvis can hit all the low notes in Sweet Caroline that Neil struggles with

what i love about the colonel is he was actually a pretty shitty businessman -- like outright incompetent -- who managed to fool everyone into thinking that he was this slick master operator just by acting like everyone's cartoon image of what a slick, devious businessman was like.

been reading a bio on Colonel Parker, he's from my hometown, anyway if you've seen Mae Wests I'm No Angel, the Colonel is like Big Bill and Slick combined. he's a sheister, a sideshow man.

in the thirties the Colonel was working for some kind of local animal rescue organisation (!) in Florida, at some point he thought he figured he could sell people gravestones for their animals (it worked) then he figured maybe sell 'em flowers as well (like the Colonel would provide flowers on the pet graves for all times) now the real Colonel thing isn't that, it's that he actually went to some florist and said 'say can I pick up your unsold flowers in the evenings'. 'Yeah sure, glad to get rid of 'em', and the Colonel put those on the pets graves. When people remarked "hey those flowers are sloppy" the replied: 'you should've seen 'em yesterday, they were marvellous"

i was in a very depleted fopp today when this full on version of 'suspicious minds' came on.
massive band sound and thumping instruments etc.

sounded ace, and made me think damn, i love this.

it was only as the track progressed i thought i need this version as its not the same as the epic live/studio versions i have.
turned out it was from that 'viva elvis' show ..

of course this being ilm we have to hate such projects, but fuck it, the song is strong enough to withstand such a makeover
- especially as the vocals were original.

nothing though beats the full 7 minute 'on stage' version (same goes for 'polk salad annie', 'proud mary' etc ... )

otm

"Polk Salad Annie" is the Mount Rushmore of Vegas-era Elvis.

really enjoying this revive, also taking notes on records to look up, thanks y'all. I've only read the Guralnick books, and I have the two old RCA #1 box sets, but I have a vivid memory of hearing a killer live recording around 15 years ago and I bet one of these is it.

I got caught up last night in watching EAP videos from the 70s on YouTube. Every damn song he sang, he just completely owned. Watch his version of Bridge Over Troubled Water. Dude was as high as the UP Building, but it didn't stop him from greatness.

Man, even something as outdated and cheesy as the American Trilogy, when he gets to that part of "Hush, little girl and don't you cry..." My heart melts.

I dunno if it was in the Binder interview or somewhere else I read it, but after the 68 comeback special, he enjoyed the experience so much he said to that he wouldn't ever sing a song he didnt believe in or work with musicians he didn't like, because the whole movie experience had sucked the soul out of him creatively. I think that's why, right up until shit really hit the fan performance-wise & he was visibly deteriorating, that he could still be so affecting. For me, his power as a singer was in his ability to convey a full range of emotion, not just the big ones but the subtle ones inbetween...and when he felt it, you felt it.

Listening to the 30 #1's compilation as an album the other day, I really noticed the hollowness in those midperiod songs...it *sounds* like Elvis, and I enjoy some of those songs a lot, but they don't feel like Elvis, in that ~hits you in the feels~ way that characterizes him for me.

i've always kind of wanted to go through the '60s soundtrack stuff and see if there were any lost gems. crazy to think that elvis spent so many of the prime years of his career making so much throwaway crap.

he was thrown in with a lot of people who didnt know or care about his rock n roll roots, or rock n roll in general...the job was just hits and lots of them

but it's that classic thing though, like with The Beatles, even his B materisl is still just fine. It's not horrible; it's just he set the bar higher than a lot of those collaborators could reach

Picked up the Legacy edition of Elvis Country yesterday (this guy) and, only really knowing the Sun stuff and the first two RCA albums, I was floored at how good it is.

I mean, it's cheese, but it's really good cheese.

cos of this revive .. i have all the legacy editions/68 special boxset all lined up for the day ..

so chuffed there are others here rediscovering elvis.

There was a boxed set, Command Performances, that culls the best of the movie soundtrack songs, but I've never listened to it. I'm certainly not gonna buy it, not at $51 for two CDs...

Listening to the 30 #1's compilation as an album the other day, I really noticed the hollowness in those midperiod songs...it *sounds* like Elvis, and I enjoy some of those songs a lot, but they don't feel like Elvis, in that ~hits you in the feels~ way that characterizes him for me.

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, April 26, 2013 1:06 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is OTMFM. I've never been able to get into his 60s material (pre-'68, that is). There's the obvious clunkers, but even the better songs fall short -- obviously, they fall short compared to most of his 50s work, but they also don't measure up to his 70s records.

I can't recommend the 70s box enough (Walk A Mile In My Shoes). All killer, no filler.

A big part of the problem with that era was that the Colonel didn't want Elvis to record any songs that their publishing company didn't own. Eventually various songwriters gave up even thinking of submitting material because of this, never mind those that were frozen out like Leiber and Stoller because they had gotten too chummy with The King and were giving him career advice about taking more challenging movie roles. This changed, at least for a while, when Elvis went to Memphis to record at American. It was he who decided to record "In The Ghetto" without asking his manager's permission.

Wondering how something like "Viva Las Vegas" by Pomus and Shuman got through. It was released as a B-side, the A-side was a version of "What'd I Say"! But that was 1963 so maybe it was still early on enough.

I guess the answer is that the publishing for that song WAS controlled by Hill and Range.

if you haven't heard it, i highly recommend the first post-army album, 'elvis is back!' it's a little uneven, but there's some killer moments -- 'reconsider baby' is as good as anything he ever did.

as is "Such A Night"!

I was listening to the Moody Blue/From Elvis... twofer last night cause of this thread. "The Last Farewell" is kinda amazing.

My three biggest blind spots: Shakespeare, the bible, and (four or five singles and half the Sun Sessions excepted) Elvis.

kinda sorta ditto here,

Any Search recomendations for albums that give some nice deep cuts, the odd hit and a bit of oddness?

i've got a compilation called 'suspicious minds' that collects i think almost all the elvis-in-memphis stuff from '68. i'd try that one and 'elvis at sun,' which despite its fame is mostly made up of stuff you never hear on the radio. shakespeare, i'd go for 'merry wives of windsor.' you're on your own with the bible.

if you haven't heard it, i highly recommend the first post-army album, 'elvis is back!' it's a little uneven, but there's some killer moments -- 'reconsider baby' is as good as anything he ever did.

the legacy edition of this album packages it with another album, something for everybody, that aint all that as its full on cheese, but then they add some extra tracks from an ep, that just kill : his latest flame, little sister, good luck charm, and anything thats part of you.

oh and 'elvis is back' has one of my all time fave tracks : 'the girl of my best friend'

the vocal swagger, the doo wop backing ..

shivers up my spine every time ..

xposts to Clem: if you happen upon the deluxe dvd of Elvis: That's The Way It Is in the cheapie bins, grab it. Two cuts of the film: the newer one is all rehearsal and concert footage, while the original has several fan interviews raditiating pre-Cristopher Guest weirdness.

that film is amazing

the pathos of the final concert shot (Elvis shot from behind, facing an opulently attired but thinning and sort of half-interested dinner theater-type crowd), belting out "I just can't help falling in love with you" ... that is some epic tragedy shit

yeah, that's prob my favorite concert film ever.

Any Search recomendations for albums that give some nice deep cuts, the odd hit and a bit of oddness?

http://www.dejkamusic.com/images/album/large/elvis_presley/from_elvis_in_memphis.jpg

you know another aspect that never ceases to amaze me is the brevity of the songs.
on the live albums the songs are over and done with before you can catch your breathe.
if a band had a full orchestra set up like that these days, anything of value is stretched out to the max (gotta get value for money out of the musicians i guess !), whereas elvis just performed the guts of the song and moved on.

I fervently hope that Bear Family issues a "Elvis Rocks!" comp of his best uptempo numbers. Their selection is always outstanding.

A Date With Elvis from 1959 was sort of of a mishmash of Sun Sessions, Jailhouse Rocks tracks and some other stuff that turned out to be a real solid and exciting album. I bought it because Greil Marcus recommended it and never looked back. Seems to be on Spotify.

I'm telling you guys, run don't walk to your date with Elvis.

I like "On Tour" better than "That's the Way it Is". The version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" on there is a triumph. He owns it.

his abuse of his backing singers is next level. "tomorrow we'll get Mahalia Jackson in here"

A friend of mine asked me what was so great about That's The Way It Is, and first thing I thought of, Well, there's this one part during "Love Me Tender" where he kisses every woman in the room.....

And there's this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2akVrPYBMA

such a great clip ...

this is all time classic elvis ..

relaxed, swagger-n-curled lip, prime time band clearly loving the groove, the shirts etc.

fucking love this clip ..

Even the sycophancy is amusing. There's one song in the studio where they're all jamming and Elvis' mic there slips to where it's impotently pointing at the floor. He points at it and grins a little, and the whole room goes nuts.

totally.
i chanced upon these clips a year ago and have them favourite'd ..
they just underline all that i love re the man ..
he had so much more talent than the colonel ever allowed him to give.

oh hey looky here amazon prime has 'on tour' streaming free :D

I'm kind of obsessed with late '60s/early '70s Elvis - basically, everything from From Elvis in Memphis on, but especially the trilogy of 1973/74 albums Good Times, Promised Land and Raised On Rock. I have the limited edition 2CD versions of all three, which are jammed with alternate takes, studio rehearsals, etc.

The recent deluxe edition of From Elvis in Memphis is a 2CD set, too, with Back in Memphis (the 1970 album that gathered the rest of the sessions) appended, plus the non-album singles. Totally worth getting. Elvis Country is a 2CD set now, too, and I'm thinking about picking that one up soon.

i have come into a new appreciation of his gospel stuff too.

Mum loved Elvis, but she only mostly had his gospel albums, and one compilation of his movie songs...I used to get so mad that she didn't have any cool Elvis. And it wasn't like she was terribly religious. I think she just really loved his singing voice, and she was right that that's kinda where the key to him is. I really quite enjoy the gospel stuff now, damn it's moving. That gospel interlude in 'On Tour' just made me bawl like baby

Mum used to get *so* mad when we made fat Elvis jokes, or talked about how fucked up he was. She wouldnt hear a word against him, bless her heart lol

the "Good Rockin Tonight" boxset is really good!

C. Grissom and J.D.: I've actually got a decent amount of core Elvis...Sun Sessions, both Worldwide Hits boxes, another four or five albums. I just can't ever think of a time when I was as caught up in Elvis as I was with Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, or Bo Diddley at various points in my life. And I've never quite been able to figure that out. The big early hits are dead for me ("Jailhouse Rock" maybe the one exception), and some, like "All Shook Up," I never much liked in the first place. The operatic stuff like "Now or Never" I really dislike. "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" is my favourite Elvis song, which tells you something about how out of it I am when it come to him. I like "Kentucky Rain" and the comeback singles. And "Mystery Train." And I love talking to students about his impact. But I haven't put an Elvis album on the turntable in 30 years.