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Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Let's be friends

Last night I got a call from my brother, also an Elvis fan, and he was angry, which is unusual. The reason was that he'd chose to comment the news piece "More Details July FTD Releases" (dealing with Love Letters from Elvis, among other things) on ElvisNews.com and gotten a nasty reply in return.

I turned on my computer and read what my brother had written:

I'm so glad Sylvia (and Sound of Your Cry) seems to be included, which hopefully means there will be no ftd classic album version of Elvis Now! Instead, I hope Ernst and Roger are considering a 1971 "lost" pop album as a 2 CD special instead. Sort of an "Lost Album" volume 2. Or maybe 3, counting an 1966-1968 Nashville Album ... Also, Rags to Riches and Where Did They Go Lord (which would have suited an Elvis Country ftd better) can mean that there will be a 2 CD Elvis Country ftd, with the original album + all songs without "10 000 Years Ago" in between. With the often few alternate takes of the Country songs, I think this will fit into a 2 CD package. Keep 'em coming!

Turned out he'd gotten two replies from the same guy, that went like this:

We don't know for certain that the bonus songs listed for "Love Letters" is correct. Second: The inclusion of "Sylvia", if correct, doesn't necessarily preclude a release on FTD of "Elvis-Now." After all "Crying In The Chapel" was included on "His Hand In Mine" And I can assure you it will be included on the FTD version of HGTA.

Marten: Have you been paying attention? Any FTD "classic" album always begins with the ORIGINAL album. For "Elvis Country" that means the first 12 tracks (the original album) will have the music snippet between the tracks. BTW: A case can be made for "Where Did They Go Lord" as a country song, but NOT "Rags To Riches". That song originates from Tony Bennett. Overwrought, big-voiced Elvis ballad, but not country in the least.

Reading this made me kind of angry, too. I think the tone in these comments is really awful, for example "I can assure you" and not the least "Have you been paying attention?" So rushing to by brothers defence, I gave my opinion:

I agree with Marten, I think it would be great to have Elvis Country both in its original form and then also without "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" linking all the songs together. I also think, like Marten, that one could argue that "Where Did They Go, Lord" and "Rags To Riches" would've suited the FTD Country album better, especially in a chronological sense, since they were recorded in september 1970, together with "Snowbird" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On'" (by the way not exactly a country song either, eh?). On the other hand I find it strange that "Something" was included on the FTD TTWII when Jorgensen himself states in his book A Life In Music that the song was considered for the Love Letters album. And as a final note: I think it's sad that you can't express your opinion on this page without running the risk of getting a nasty comment in return. Just my humble opinion, of course.

A while back I wrote an article about the FTD release Pot Luck With Elvis that was published on ElvisNews.com. That made me quite happy, but when someone commented "Clean out your ears and listen again" I felt no desire to send in any more of my reviews.

Maybe I'm overreacting, but then again, I don't think so. The two examples mentioned above are no solitary incidents, I've seen others getting jumped also. Certainly Elvis fans can't always be in agreement (and of course shouldn't) over everything. However, we should respect each others opinions, and not assault each other just because we disagree. Keep the conversation civilized, if you will.

I know a lot of fans feel the same way, as I've seen comments to that effect on ElvisNews.com in the past. ElvisNews.com is one of the best Elvis sites around and therefore it's even sadder when a few individual readers spoil it for all the rest.

4 comments:

Mike Edwards said...

I would not worry about any comments from anyone on that site. I think most of the people on it are a joke. I agree that all Elvis fans might not have the same opinions but most people that post on there think they are always right. I don't agree with most of what is said on there. I hardly read any comments though. Also, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on Pot Luck. I have been meaning to get around to posting something on it myself.

Thomas said...

Thanks for the support, Mike!

By the way, I think Pot Luck is a great album, you can read my thoughts on it here:

http://elvistoday.blogspot.com/2007/11/pot-luck-with-elvis.html

Mike Edwards said...

I will check it out, thanks!

Anonymous said...

I've had the same experience in the past and have stopped leaving comments as well.

ElvisNews have a membership of about 4,000 fans, I think, (don't quote me on that) but it is only a handful of (the same) fans leaving comments overall: Those that stay in the kitchen to stand the heat.

It is great to be able to comment on any site (such as here) as different thoughts make for interesting conversation and open up new perspectives.

It seems at ElvisNews (an excellent site, which I visit daily) some people have a problem in life and take it out on others. A pity.

Also - according to a friend of mine who did au pair work in Holland - Dutchmen are notorious for speaking their minds in no uncertain terms. Strangely enough, however, the fans leaving bitchy comments on ElvisNews are from all over the world. Interesting.