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

Another distinction is that even when it's the same songwriters it could be Elvis hearing the song from a previous hit version... or directly from the songwriters' demo. For example, "Hound Dog" and "Jailhouse Rock" are both Leiber-Stoller but only the former had been a hit record. "Jailhouse Rock" was written expressly for Elvis.

(*Elvis's "Hound Dog" was evidently derived more from Freddie Bell and the Bellboys' version btw).

Then there's a song like "Gentle On My Mind," which was basically mandatory for albums released in 1968 and 1969, including From Elvis in Memphis. Roger Miller, Tammy Wynette, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin...fucking everybody recorded that song.

and he still bodies the fuck out of it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vhFnTjia_I

I just read that Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" was produced by Chips Moman et al. at American Sound in Memphis

somehow Elvis managed to get a little different sound there

Yes, in fact I believe that the story is that when Elvis went to record at American a Neil Diamond session was already scheduled and Neil had to be bumped. Which didn’t sit well with the musicians as this is kind of a session musician no-no. Leading to some Q&As at the time of the form
Q: Are you looking forward to recording with Elvis?
A: Well, it’s not like he’s Neil Diamond or anything

The story about the session being bumped is true; I suspect that's why Elvis recorded "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind," which Diamond wrote. It was payback for the use of the studio, and ended up on Back in Memphis, the "sequel" album.

Thanks. Found the quote in Sweet Soul Music, which I always assume was written when the bumping of Neil had yet to be revealed, making the quote seemed somewhat puzzling without the extra context:

There was nothing really special about it, says Wayne Jackson, who played trumpet on the session; it was just another date. “We had been doing Neil Diamond just before Elvis came in, and Neil was a big deal to us. I mean, we were thrilled about Elvis, but it wasn’t like doing Neil Diamond.”

This article provides all sorts of detailed context for the events leading up to and through that session. Opened my eyes when I first read it and still packs a nightly (karate) punch. Ho!
http://www.furious.com/perfect/elvis69.html

Can’t seem to find anything else that guy wrote but damn if writing that article doesn’t constitute a one hit wonder, Have A Nice Day, thank you very much

Chip's exact words were, "Fuck Neil Diamond. Neil Diamond will just have to be postponed. Tell Elvis he's on."

Interesting (to me) to see that the original version of “Suspicious Minds” was on the Scepter label. Which led me to find that BJ Thomas also cut a version at American with the Memphis Boys which I have yet to hear. Forgot about the Fine Young Cannibals version.

BJ Thomas version uses exactly the same arrangement with the same players, with maybe some slightly more in your face horn lines peeking out like that extra piccolo trumpet line in the alternative version of “Penny Lane.” And a little more blue-eyed soul shouting on some of the vocals, I guess, which is kind of interesting. Sounds a little like The Box Tops (d’oh!) but really a little more like The Buckinghams.

lol @ this thread title

I’d like to think the thread title was inspired by my ballot title, but only Elvis Preston knows for sure.

Dwight Yoakum version of “Suspicious Minds” is pretty good. Retains some of the hooks, particularly in the backing vocals, but changes stuff up as well, such as playing a (simplified) variant of the rhythm guitar lick a little more louder and upfront.

Sorry, Dwight Yoakam not
Pappy Yokum

Pronounced duh-white yolk-ham

“This is ‘Dwight Yoakam,’ and it’s Take 1! Take 1”
“It’s, it’s ‘yolk-ham,’ actually.”
“What did I say?”

Ah, the Scepter connection deepens. Dionne Warwick also recorded an album at American.

Also had overlooked the Billy Strange connection and forgotten the rest of this Mac Davis story, from Guralnick’s Careless Love

even the Colonel seemed to sense there was something special about Strange’s twenty-seven-year-old protégé, whom he had met for the first time at the Charro! session. “That first night Colonel Parker said [to me], ‘Are you the boy who wrote that “Little Less Conversation”?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘You a pretty good-lookin’ boy, you’re going to be a star.’ I said, ‘Well, thank you very much.’ He said, ‘You want the Colonel to rub your head?’ I’m looking around, and I’m thinking he’s really putting me through the grease, but these guys with him are dead serious, they’re all just looking at me. So I bent over, and he put his hand on my head, like Oral Roberts, and he said, ‘You’re going to be a star. You tell everybody the Colonel touched your head.’

And here is the original, pretty-much-identical except-for-the-vocal version of “Suspicious Minds,” performed by the composer, Mark James. No need for any advanced degree in Kingology to recognize what Elvis brought to the song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFP0EP-Oi2I

A little lessmore pre-rollout preamble posting from a different point of view:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9psq4wzl98

Seems that Mark James also wrote "Hooked on a Feeling" and, um, "Always on My Mind."

(xpost) A bunch of songs about or referring to Elvis:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_about_or_referencing_Elvis_Presley

My favourites are X's "Back 2 the Base" and R.E.M.'s "Man on the Moon."

Yeah, those are two good ones.

Presumably “The King Is Gone (So Are You)” as posted up thread is also mentioned

Elvis is such an all-encompassing subject, I wouldn't doubt that there are a few dozen songs not on that list where, if you asked the songwriters, they'd tell you they were elliptically writing about Elvis.

Forgot about Mojo Nixon and Gillian Welsh songs.

Yes, he is such a wide-ranging subject that if you can hang on as you dive into the omphalos of his belt buckle, you end up appreciating whole worlds of other music other than what he himself actually recorded.

One thing not on that list that explicitly references Elvis is the Odds' "Wendy Under the Stars."

In parallel to this thread, something just made me remind myself of the interesting story of how the Grand Ole Opry got its name, but sleep is coming so I will save it for another day or another thread.

Doing the images from this poll and damn there's so many good photos of him. He was a very photogenic, gorgeous looking man.

It also makes it very noticeable how bad his health got in his final year. He looks out of shape in 1975 and early 1976 but he still looks great in front of a camera... the spark in his eyes is still there. Then in one year it seems like he aged ten years.

otm. the Wertheimer photos in particular completely slay me

Larry Geller had a good gig putting the L’Oréal into Elvis’s hair every few weeks.

Yeah. For years had the poster on my wall for Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love with the Wertheimer “kiss” on it. http://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/ten-days-with-elvis-presley

this photo from 76 haunts me, he looks so ...clammy. like you can see his chemical dependence completely catching up with him & overtaking him physically

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fe/a8/c5/fea8c5fe7adb083a637411d01ab1d6da.jpg

I guess we should wait until the American day to get this going? the King never made it here to Olde Europe so it's only right to wait

He didn’t get up early to see a moon launch, apparently, so I suppose you are right

Well, good eveningmorning
Don’t that sun look good going downcoming up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK0x6U1aPuk

it's time to take care of business

TCB in a ⚡️

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nX6vC_GKlr4/VfFgiJW76bI/AAAAAAAByLA/NxfZOobP-U0/s1600/1970.%2BNail%2BSwirl.jpg

thanks to Moka for the images

https://i.imgur.com/BO1V4eI.jpg

50. Elvis Presley - “Love Me” 112 points, 5 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNMKIGD07F8

classy but the following one is definitive I think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxS0xRpsfgY

https://i.imgur.com/bn4Mgty.jpg

49. Elvis Presley - “Always On My Mind” 119 points, 7 votes

Treat me like a fool.....

Love the images. Always On My Mind too low!

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

48. Elvis Presley - “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear” 127 points, 5 votes

(Have to admit I’ve never taken the time to understand how the points weighting works on these polls)

I gave 50 points for a number 1, 49 for number 2, and so on.

i have a soft spot for this song. and it has a good bouncy rhythm

That’s the first one I voted for here, but don’t mind the other two, just maybe voted for similar stuff in their “slots.”

https://i.imgur.com/e6INzqs.jpg

47. Elvis Presley - “It's Now Or Never” 128 points, 7 votes

Any Day Now was my #1. For me it's the pinnacle of the American Studios sessions. The band came up with an unbeatable arrangement (I love Reggie Young's descending intro lick), and Elvis's vocal is impeccable. BTW, Ronnie Milsap was working out of Memphis at the time, appearing nightly at a club called TJs, and Elvis went to see him several times. Milsap recorded over a dozen sides at American and was also a background singer on the Elvis sessions. He did a fine version of the song but doesn't communicate anguish like Elvis does.

― Ρεμπετολογια, Monday, July 30, 2018 2:10 PM

Did Ρεμπετολογια die? otherwise I am confused:(

Yes, sorry. Rolling Obituary Thread: 2020

oh wow. I don't normally look at that thread. RIP indeed

Bunch of these showing up in one of my Made For You algorithmic playlists. I must have been revisiting last summer.

Unless the algorithm mixes various summers together and is reaching back to years past.

this poll only getting 19 ballots taught me a good lesson about the alleged breadth of ILM listeners. it's nevertheless a good music message board, but in essence a pavement fan club. RIP

Yup. Same for this POLL: Wishin' and Votin' - the BURT BACHARACH SONGBOOK Poll Results, speaking of Ρεμπετολογια's #1, "Any Day Now."

yeah, that one too.

I listened to Lonnie Mack's "Memphis" earlier today, speaking of something we talked about on this thread.

listening to the s/t debut and thinking about scotty moore's 25 watt echosonic, which is discussed in detail here with lots of interesting photos:

http://www.scottymoore.net/echosonic.html

this poll only getting 19 ballots

still regret not finding the time to do a ballot :/

here too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCKO9eQAK7o

here too

here three

i’d love to do this rollout again & comment some more on the tracks - i really enjoyed this poll & still love nothing more than talking about the King

i’d love to do this rollout again & comment some more on the tracks - i really enjoyed this poll & still love nothing more than talking about the King

― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, October 11, 2020 7:19 AM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'm up for this

Bassist Norbert Putnam looks back at the legendary Nashville Cats recordings with Elvis Presley

Sock a little polk salad to me.
Don’t you know I need a meal.

“Steamroller Blues” released as a streaming single yesterday. The Aloha from Hawaii version that is, don’t know from the Royal Philharmonic version.