Elvis Presley: Classic Or Dud?

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.

Recorded Live in Memphis, 1974

Kentucky Rain is beautiful. Some days it's my all time favorite

On Tour was great!

How great are JD Summer & that quartet, and the Sweet Inspirations? Damn they are talented, and so perfectly matched for Elvis.

from elvis in memphis is like an all-time top ten record for me, that shit smokes.

you all kind of need this bootleg, although here it is in most of its glory on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IOAOCduoa4

if you're skeptical, scroll to 58:00 and listen.

you also get to hear elvis cuss a lot on this album.

Wow. "Got My Mojo Working" is aces.

When I worked at a used record store about ten years ago, we had a five disc player and usually four employees on staff and Cut Me and I Bleed was almost always the consensus fifth pick. It's funny as hell, but worth repeat listens.

I picked up the Legacy Edition of Elvis in Memphis today. Even though it's my first time hearing the album in full, I was surprised at how much of the material I already knew. Still, hearing it all at once like this, wow. Win for including the mono single mixes at the end of disc two as well.

Slight bummer though: they forgot to put a booklet in the one I bought.

i love how in the cut me & i bleed outtake stuff elvis will slip from these profane asides to singing with utter fluency and conviction in a heartbeat. guy was such a natural.

WHATCHU THINK I AM?

Elvis At Stax 3CD set coming out in August. No word as to what's on it, though.

(I mean, presumably his Stax sessions, but no further details)

Amazon says there's also gonna be a 1-disc version. Kinda interested to know what's on it, but since I already have the 2CD Follow That Dream deluxe editions of Good Times, Raised On Rock and Promised Land (the three albums that include Stax recordings), and they're jammed with bonus tracks, outtakes, etc., I'm pretty sure I have all I need already.

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.

yeah "Only the Strong Survive" is FUCKING AMAZING. Btw in my copy "I'll Hold You in My Heart" has a great false start and I've always wondered if that was on the original album when it was released or not.

Recently I found a book in a thrift store called "The Most Incredible Elvis Presley Story Ever Told", which is really quite batshit insane. Basically it is a take on Elvis faking his own death, as told by a woman who wrote a book of fiction about a singer called Orion who faked his own death, and the bizarre circumstances surrounding the release and suppression of her book at the same time as the release of an Elvis sound-alike named Orion:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Orioningold_photo_by_Shelby_Singleton.used_with_permission.JPG/220px-Orioningold_photo_by_Shelby_Singleton.used_with_permission.JPG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_%22Orion%22_Ellis

It's pretty darn entertaining, if more focused on the conspiracy to suppress her book than prying apart facts surrounding Elvis's death. The greatest parts are when she slips in anonymous anecdotes about people running into Elvis randomly and the 'lost tape' transcribed at the very end of the book that more or less amounts to Elvis telling his fans he's doing OK (just chillin' in Hawaii, dating again, jamming on tunes now and then, etc) and she makes a very strong effort to insert "uh"s often enough to make it seem like something he would say. It's pretty entertaining. Apparently she wrote the Orion book using some kind of New Agey automatic writing techniques or something.

whoa can anyone hit me up with Cut Me & I Bleed?

I think I remember that book and if my recollection is correct, they actually sold the tape with the book!

here it is

http://cdn2.sulitstatic.com/images/2010/1025/080615990_dscn6924.jpg

http://tiptopwebsite.com/photos4/lindahoodsigmoncom/GailsbookonEbay.jpg

http://www.basedefotos.com/files/images/2011/11/fotos-de-elvis-5.jpg

i saw elvis in the freehold raceway mall standing in front of macy's. he just looks like a normal seventysomething but the sideburns were the giveaway.