19 Elvis Fans Can Be Polled: The ILM Elvis Presley poll roll out thread

https://i.imgur.com/TU4EdBL.jpg

27. Elvis Presley - “Milkcow Blues Boogie” 237 points, 8 votes

34. Elvis Presley - “Are You Lonesome Tonight?" 193 points, 8 votes, 1 number one

My number one! And the first of my ballot to appear!!

My ballot has
#29 Only the Strong Survive
#30 Lawdy Miss Clawdy

“Are You Lonesome Tonight?” didn’t quite make it

― 3-Way Tie (For James Last) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, July 31, 2018 2:34 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

LMC my no.8. I love the NBC special when he sings it because it was Scotty Moore's favourite from way back...

Almost forgot about “Milkcow Blues Boogie,” then ended up putting it #3

Re Scotty: Weird fact I just learned, H.P. Lovecraft’s dad was also a Winfield Scott

27. Elvis Presley - “Milkcow Blues Boogie” 237 points, 8 votes

waaay too low. any song that has elvis talking in it (cf. are you lonesome tonight) is a total winner. plus the whole slow fast thing in this one. and no drummer. just.

Mind you, who am I to talk, just checked my ballot and had MBB at no.12...

Highest average points per vote so far = Trying to get to you (31.29)
Lowest average points per vote so far = Always on my mind (17.00)

Hold it, fellows -- that don't move me. Let's get real, real gone for a change.

WELLLLLLLLL

https://i.imgur.com/GjSsLhL.jpg

26. Elvis Presley - “Return To Sender” 244 points, 10 votes

A+ image.

https://i.imgur.com/nr4h6ZE.jpg

25. Elvis Presley - “If I Can Dream” 245 points, 7 votes, 1 number one

I didn't expect a number one for this song, but it's cool!

Did Elvis' had problems with chronic migraines and glaucoma all of his life or just in the final years? Looking at the image I chose on "return to sender" and this one of him looking at a poster it seems to me like he needs to get too close to the object to see it properly. Maybe he needed prescription glasses all of his life?

https://i.imgur.com/PtgkJZK.jpg

Oh wait I see in that poster he's reading a very small print. So it makes sense for him to get so close to it.

https://i.imgur.com/bZQ2iSq.jpg

24. Elvis Presley - “Promised Land” 257 points, 8 votes, 1 number one

"Promised Land" was my #1. Fucking love that song, and the band absolutely tears it up. Those 1973 sessions at the Stax studio were really great, second only to the American sessions of '69 (in his late career, I mean).

https://i.imgur.com/1J3QSLB.jpg

23. Elvis Presley - “Promised Land” 259 points, 9 votes

ah shit

https://i.imgur.com/1J3QSLB.jpg

23. Elvis Presley - “Stranger In My Home Town” 259 points, 9 votes

man these last two cook

"Stranger..." was my #22.

I want to finish for the day so here's one last doozy

Mine:
15 Return To Sender
48 If I Can Dream

Slept on “Promised Land,” will revisit
“Stranger In My Home Town” never paid attention to, will review

https://i.imgur.com/utuPjWg.jpg

22. Elvis Presley - “One Night” 260 points, 9 votes

Slept on “Promised Land,” will revisit

Dude, it cooks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9YfEZtQBtY

“One Night” is another one that just didn’t quite make the Redd Hott 50. Need to get over the bowdlerized lyrics, maybe

https://youtu.be/XI_DaBGjQNA

I love how he switches the two versions.

It occurs to me that I've never read contemporary accounts of the 68 comeback special from other musicians. Like, did Lennon say anything about it? Elvis is so ferocious here, it's just completely different from, like, watching the rooftop concert a year later.

That concert makes me almost wish he retired for a decade after 1970. Get clean, enjoy life and eventually do a comeback... maybe he could've kept recording just without doing live performances which I feel are what really took a toll on him. He was a bit of a workaholic.

I think if he had retired 1969 or 1970 for a decade or so that 1968 performance would've been just as mythic in the rock pantheon as that rooftop performance of The Beatles.

xp "Promised Land" is one of the very few Chuck Berry covers that is better than Chuck's version ... Elvis' "Memphis, Tennessee" comes close too

What about Lonnie Mack’s “Memphis” instrumental, which features tangentially in my Doc Pomus story?

I loooove that Lonnie Mack guitar sound, but to me "Memphis" is about the message on the wall, the Mississippi bridge, and the twist ending

personally I am always ready for a Doc Pomus story

I didn't expect a number one for this song, but it's cool!

My number one, just such a committed performance which wrenches empathy and hope in dark times.

It occurs to me that I've never read contemporary accounts of the 68 comeback special from other musicians. Like, did Lennon say anything about it? Elvis is so ferocious here, it's just completely different from, like, watching the rooftop concert a year later.

― droit au butt (Euler), Tuesday, July 31, 2018 6:28 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

funny you should ask that Euler, and weird synchronicity that i had a day off work today to go buy some records and on the way found that elvis book that i'd never heard of before, because it mentions john lennon talking about elvis... i'll see what i can do.

In the HBO doc, Springsteen said it was a huge and exciting event for him, and he can remember exactly where he was sitting/where the TV was/etc. (Can't remember what else he says about it, though...should rewatch)

He was a bit of a workaholic.

Sadly I don't think this was the case. The Colonel had a huge stake in any revenues Elvis brought in, and a massive gambling habit. Elvis had a huge addiction to spending money (as well as many other addictions) and was not prepared to deal with that (or the other addictions), despite some periodic interventions from different members of his family or inner circle. Ultimately there was a sad downward spiral of spending and drgs which had to be mitigated by performances. The colonel, being the colonel, didn't do things by half measures. Once he knew he had got E off his ass he was going to milk each tour for as much as he could.

Whenever I think of the colonel i think of a quote from the elvis: what happened book that three of his close bodyguards wrote. That you could eat your dinner off the Colonel's driveway it was kept so clean by Mrs Colonel.

The HBO doc does a great job in using the electricity of that NBC show to give Elvis a real cultural grounding. The sit down black leather performances are so good.

I should go back and look at the cd/dvd sets of the NBC show just to be sure on the guitar front. As I remember it, Elvis starts the first sit down session with a (lovely) acoustic guitar. At some point (and this is the bit I need to refresh) he swaps guitars with Scotty, who has one of his beautiful Gibsons (I think). From then on Elvis plays the electric guitar like he's the leader of the group, and Scotty never gets to play any meaningful solos again. Elvis hogs the limelight and only plays the songs that he can do the lead guitar bits to, hence why there are lots of versions of 'Baby what you want me to do'.

So i think all that happened through accident in the first taping session, then for every other session that they recorded Elvis was on Scotty's electric guitar from the beginning.

Can't remember why the guitars got changed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsaFnfCISQg&list=PL5IvmzEBXO4DE3daD-3UpeCVEa5eLAI0J&index=15&frags=wn

Away all day so just catching up. One Night was way up there on my ballot, the version on the 68 comeback special is my single favorite Elvis live performance.

I know it's bad ILM poll form to guess the top songs, but what do we think will be the winner here? It seems wide open. Before the rollout, my money was on Mystery Train taking it, but based on the results I'm not so sure anymore.

No idea

"Poison Ivy League" or GTFO.

"Mystery Train"'s a good guess. From the hits, my guess would be..."Don't Be Cruel"? Or "Suspicious Minds" if it's Mature Elvis.

As someone who knows the results I’ll be honest to admit I had absolutely zero idea on what songs of his are the consensus picks. Before knowing them I thought songs like “Can’t Help Falling in Love” or “Devil in Disguise” were top 20 locks. There’s also like ten songs of his which I thought would be in the top 50 for sure and they didn’t make the cut (won’t tell which ones yet) goes to show how many great to good songs he had... he was always a top performer even at his most forgettable soundtrack work. Hell as someone who speaks Spanish I’ll admit even his traditional Mexican songs with bad accent are somewhat charming if only for the energy he puts into it, he very rarely half-assed a performance.

There’s many Elvis qualities to admire but I’m specially fond of how hard-working he always was. And he clearly didn’t do it for the money as he was always giving it away, he just really really loved his job.

Well, that and Parker keeping him on an exploitative schedule for almost a decade.

I took a nap instead of starting this. Let's see how far I can get today.

https://i.imgur.com/7dW2iQ3.jpg

21. Elvis Presley - “Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues” 290 points, 9 votes