Elvis Today

A Valentine Gift For You

2012-02-14T19:42:00.012+01:00

A Valentine Gift For You was the first of three "concept albums" from RCA to kick off Elvis' 50th anniversary in 1985 (the others being Reconsider Baby and Always On My Mind). Released in February in time for Valentine's Day it mixed lesser known romantic ballads with more famous ones.

The man behind A Valentine Gift For You was RCA's Greg Geller, who had this to say about it in an interview originally published in the record collectors magazine Goldmine.

That's his love songs, ballads, spanning the years '56 to '66. It uses cuts which have somewhat fallen by the wayside. Like "Tell Me Why," which was recorded in the '50s and never quite made any albums, never was released, came out as a single some time in the '60s, but was never highlighted. Another is "I Need Somebody To Lean On," from Viva Las Vegas, which I always thought was a great song, but is pretty obscure. I think it's a great album, one of my favorites we've done. Elvis loved to sing that kind of material.

Great album or not (it contained only previously released material), A Valentine Gift For You is a nice compilation of Elvis' love songs that makes for a smooth, romantic listening ride all the way. Personal highlights are "Tomorrow Is A Long Time," "Love Letters" and Greg Geller's favorite "I Need Somebody To Lean On."

SIDE 1
Are You Lonesome Tonight
I Need Somebody to Lean On
Young and Beautiful
Playing for Keeps
Tell Me Why
Give Me the Right
It Feels So Right

SIDE 2
I Was the One
Fever
Tomorrow is a Long Time
Love Letters
Fame and Fortune
Can't Help Falling in Love

This being Valentine's Day and all, why don't you give it a spin? And if you don't own a copy, maybe you can make your own playlist in iTunes including the songs from the album. It's time to get in that romantic mood!

PS: A Valentine Gift For You peaked at #154 on the Billboard 200 list on Mars 9, 1985.

Hilarious Duke Bardwell Video

2012-02-11T19:37:00.019+01:00

Elvis' bass player Duke Bardwell sure seems like a funny guy. I just watched a special YouTube video Duke recently recorded together with his trusty horse (!) to promote the April 2012 Original Elvis Tribute tour in Europe and especially the opening show at Vara Konserthus (Vara Concert Hall) on April 7.

It was Arjan Deelen, the tour manager, who sent me the link to the video. He also wrote that "Those of you who are fortunate enough to know Duke Bardwell (or ‘Unca Duke’ to his friends) will no doubt agree on the fact that he’s a big hearted guy with a wonderful sense of humor." And although I don't know him I'm inclined to agree. The video is hilarious.

Duke himself played bass on over 180 shows together with Presley back in the mid 70's. Looking back on his association with Elvis, he says in an interview from 2010: "It was the most magnificent thing musically that ever happened to me…"

Read the complete interview

Putt Joins Elvis Presley In Concert Tour

2012-02-09T20:16:00.014+01:00

A couple of days ago ElvisMatters reported that at least one show (the one in Slovakia) of the upcoming Elvis Presley In Concert video tour in Europe next month has been cancelled due to disappointing ticket sales ("an unconfirmed rumour off the record confirmed to us"). And also that a "second show in another country may be cancelled too."

As I've got tickets to the concert in Copenhagen on March 24 I was a bit afraid that was going to be that "second show." But according to an update from Elvis.com that I received today it's still possible to buy tickets to all the shows, including the one in Slovakia. So it looks like those unconfirmed rumours were false and I can put my fears to rest.

This will be the fifth time I see the video-projected Elvis reunited with his former band members live on stage, and though I'm not as excited as I was the first time, I'm still looking forward to it. Especially since Norbert Putnam, who played with Elvis' seventies studio band, has been confirmed as the bass player for the tour, replacing bass player Nathan East (who never played with Elvis), who in turn replaced regular TCB Band bassist Jerry Scheff.

As my brother is also going, I put forward the idea to bring along a big banner to the show, reading "Wake up, Putt!" (Elvis can be heard shouting this to him on "Merry Christmas Baby" recorded in May 1971.) As we got us seats on row 15, maybe there's a chance Norbert Putnam will notice it...

Graceland Service

2012-02-05T20:34:00.013+01:00

Tonight I attended a church service that was a little different. A couple of days ago my brother spotted a poster advertising a "Graceland service with songs by the King" in a church close to where I live (S:t Johanneskyrkan) and that sounded too good to miss. My brother joined me, as did my mother.

Soon the church was full of people. A woman playing the bass explained that she and the man that sang and played the piano had been doing the "Graceland service" since 2006, visiting different churches and performing together with the local church choirs.

Glancing at the program that was handed to me as I entered the church, I noticed that the songs weren't just religious ones. In fact, the whole service started with "Burning Love," followed by the more spiritual choice "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," where the audience was invited to join in the chorus.

After a prayer it was time for "I Want to Be Free" and then the actual sermon took place. "Crying In The Chapel" felt appropriate after that, as did "In The Ghetto" when people could approach the altar and light a candle. "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" was a surprise (after all, it's a home recording).

During the Holy Communion the choir and the band sang "Loving You" and "Can't Help Falling In Love," not exactly the choice of songs I would associate with that, but it worked well. As did "How Great Thou Art" where everyone in the church sang the chorus again.

After "Love Me Tender" and benediction it was time for "Amazing Grace" and then the service closed with "An American Trilogy." So ended the "Graceland service with songs by the King," and on my way home I thought once again how much Elvis' music means to so many people.

“It Was All So Unneccessary…”

2012-02-01T19:24:00.012+01:00

I've written quite a few posts about The Original Elvis Tribute, a production which features five of Elvis' original musicians. There are two reasons for this. The first one is that I will be attending the opening show in Sweden, at Vara Konserthus (Vara Concert Hall) on April 7. The second reason is that Arjan Deelen, who produces and manages the show, sends me copies of the e-mails he uses to promote the show, and they are often full of interesting information.

Yesterday I received the latest one, where one of the musicians, keyboard player Bobby Wood, remembers that fateful day 35 years ago when Elvis died. He also talks about his favorite memories of Elvis, one of them having to do with a "real cool looking ring." Here it is:

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley at the age of only 42 years. He died alone in his bathroom due to poly-pharmacy, a lethal combination of various sedatives that were prescribed by his physician Dr. George Nichopoulos.

Elvis’ keyboard player Bobby Wood (71), who played with Elvis on hits like ‘Suspicious Minds’ and ‘In The Ghetto’, still remembers that day well: “We were doing an album on R&B artist Joe Tex in Nashville when Elvis died, and Joe cancelled the sessions crying. He cried when he heard the news. He didn’t want to work anymore. We were all distraught… It was like somebody hit you in the stomach”.

Wood takes a dim view of the people that Elvis surrounded himself with, especially manager Colonel Tom Parker. “It was all so unnecessary. That was the worst of it all. He was so controlled by Tom Parker. Even though Parker helped him, especially in the early days, he also held him back as much as he helped him. The main thing about Elvis is… Elvis was a great artist that was mistreated by greed… Parker only cared about the money, at the expense of everything else”.

When asked about his favorite memories of Elvis, Wood answers: “Some of those times when we were kidding, just joking around in the studio. That was special for me. You know, this guy had the biggest heart in the world. I remember… I noticed a ring he was wearing when I was in the control room, and complimented him on it, saying that it was a real cool looking ring. He pulled it off and handed it to me. I was looking at it, and of course it was 14 sizes too big for me, you know. I handed it back to him and he said, ‘No, it’s yours’, and I said, ‘No, take it. Are you kidding, man? You’d have to cut half of it off to make it fit my hand!’. But there’s a lot of people that would have taken it, I’m sure. I just didn’t want to be one of those. I just thought too much of him to do that, you know. I really appreciated the gesture, and I know that that’s the way it was with Elvis”.

It will be nice to see Bobby Wood behind the keyboard again (last time was in Memphis during Elvis Week in 2005). According to Arjan Deelen there is only a few tickets left for the show in Vara, so it looks like it's going to be a full crowd. To quote a certain fellow fan from 1977: "I'm so excited, I just, oh, I can't wait!"

New FTD Releases Confirmed

2012-01-28T21:37:00.018+01:00

As is usually the case while waiting for new FTD releases to be announced, the rumour mill has been in full swing the last couple of weeks.

On January 12 someone wrote on the FECC forum that there would be "some very special news from the FTD people." After six days of discussions and guesses (ranging from the long awaited SUN project to an Elvis In Concert CD/DVD/Hardcover Book Box set project) Ernst denied this, saying that "an announcement will be made in early February - and it's just a regular announcement."

Two days ago, on January 26, the Elvis Information Network wrote that they had overheard that the new March FTDs could be 1) On Stage Album 2) 1975 soundboard concert - possibly Shreveport June 7 3) His Hand In Mine double-vinyl release. The post finished with the sentence that "These have yet to be confirmed by FTD."

Now, yesterday, ElvisMatters posted the news that the Elvis Express website could confirm that the rumoured 5" live album will be the concert from June 7 1975, Shreveport, Louisiana, and also that there was no confirmation yet of the other two titles.

And today, on January 28, ElvisMatters published an article titled "Official FTD news: March releases" where the one confirmed release (the Shreveport concert) turned out to be not so confirmed after all, as an Our Memories Of Elvis double CD had taken its place. (The other two rumoured releases turned out to be correct.)

I've written about this before, but FTD really should have their own website where the announcements could be made firsthand. That way, the rumour mill wouldn't have to swing so fast. Or, failing that, does like it says on the FTD releases News section on the official site of Elvis Presley: "Whenever a new release is ready to be announced, FTD provides information to EPE to post in the FTD News section here on Elvis.com and then provides information to its other distributors, fan sites, etc."

That was actually the case when the last announcements were made in October (Promised Land, Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas, Elvis Is Back (vinyl) and A Moment In Time (book). But when I took a look there today, there was no sign of the new FTD March releases.

But who am I to complain? As On Stage – February 1970 is one of my favorite albums, I'm happy that I can soon cross it out from my list over future possible releases in FTD's Classic Album series. And Our Memories Of Elvis looks promising also. In a way I guess it's a logical move to release it, just as FTD did with the Too Much Monkey Business CD back in 2000, featuring the songs re-recorded for the Guitar Man LP from 1981. Maybe this means that the This Is Elvis double album will also see a release in the future, who knows?

Finally, here are the confirmed new FTD titles set for release on March 6:

On Stage – February, 1970 Classic Album. A 2 CD 7" digipack with the regular 12-page booklet. As well as the Original Album (mastered by Vic Anesini) the album will include all of RCA’s multi-track recordings from three of Elvis’ shows.
Our Memories Of Elvis – a 2 CD 5" digipack version of the original albums, with an added bonus of the previously unreleased Volume 3 LP master tape plus six more cuts that series producer Joan Deary had prepared at the time. It comes with a 12-page booklet of relevant memorabilia and photos.
His Hand In Mine vinyl 2-album set. Special Limited Edition 2-disc 180-gram vinyl set.

Elvis Matters also announces that "There will be a separate announcement of book titles" soon. Maybe a CD/book combo from Elvis show in Shreveport 1975?

PS: Wouldn't the unreleased Our Memories Of Elvis Volume 3 be the perfect candidate for a "what if" LP from FTD? That's the concept I wish FTD would use for their vinyl releases.

Hawaii Sixtyone

2012-01-26T20:59:00.028+01:00

Earlier this week it was announced that the next CD/book release from the Memphis Recording Service (MRS) will be Elvis' benefit performance in Hawaii for the USS Arizona Memorial. Titled Such A Night In Pearl Harbor the press release promises a re-mastered CD where "The quality is of this concert is far superior than anything of this ever released before."

Also included on the CD is a 30 minute radio broadcast from Hawaii presented a week before Elvis’ arrival. It promoted the concert for the memorial fund, playing selected tracks from Elvis’ Christmas Album and His Hand in Mine, released at that time including words by Elvis Presley.

Now, the funny thing is, I learned of the existence of this broadcast only a few weeks ago. Visiting the excellent Elvis In Norway site I stumbled upon a bootleg I had forgot I had in my collection. It had been awarded to me aboard the bus used by the Danish fan club Elvis Unlimited during Elvis week 2005. I had a great time traveling with all those Danes and visiting Elvis places such as Memphis, Tupelo, Nashville and so on, but that's another story...

Now, this particular copy of the bootleg, titled Fever Pitch, was missing the backside of the cover so I really didn't knew what was on it (although I could make an educated guess as it featured a shot of Elvis from the benefit concert in Hawaii).

Unpacking all my stuff when I arrived back home in Sweden, I gave it a quick spin. But I skipped the second track after a couple of seconds when I heard it featured the song "House Of Sand." The rest of the CD included a couple of songs from the actual concert, an interview with Elvis made on the set of Blue Hawaii and rounded off with "Sand Castles." As I really didn't think the album offered anything new I put it away on a shelf and forgot all about it.

Anyway, reading about the bootleg on the Elvis In Norway site I noticed that track 2 was listed as "House of Sand" (one line only) followed by "Radio Broadcast." Digging out my copy of Fever Pitch I played track 2, and there it was, after 15 seconds of "House Of Sand," the radio broadcast promoting Elvis' benefit performance a week later. Turned out I'd skipped that track too fast while listening to the album seven years ago!

I found the broadcast interesting, featuring among others, a U.S. Navy admiral talking about the construction of the memorial and thanking Elvis Presley and his supporting troops in the show. After I played it, I made a mental note to write a post about it, suggesting that FTD release it together with the show in improved sound quality (after all, the audio restoration technique must have improved since 1980, when the show was released on the box set Elvis Aron Presley).

But the Memphis Recording Service (and apparently another label as well) beat me (and FTD) to it. Still, I hope FTD will go for the same concept, including the interview from the Blue Hawaii set as a bonus. In the interview, Elvis talks candidly to Hawaiian DJ Tom Moffet about the Arizona war memorial benefit show:

Tom Moffet: Where you happy with the turnout and the response in the show?

Elvis: Oh yeah, I sure was. And I was glad everybody was yelling and everything, it covered up my mistakes (laughter). Because I hadn't had any rehearsals, you know, and I'd been out of practice, hadn't been on stage since 1957. The band had forgotten the songs and I had forgotten the lyrics to most of the songs. In fact, a lot of times, I said the same lyrics over and over, used the same line.”

FTD: What Now, What Next, Where To?

2012-01-19T21:21:00.014+01:00

The last couple of days I've browsing my favorite Elvis sites regularly, looking for news about which new titles will be released from the Follow That Dream label (FTD).

Yesterday I noticed that Ernst Jorgensen had posted a comment related to an ongoing discussion taking place on the FECC forum that there would be "some very special news from the FTD people." Ernst denied this, saying that "an announcement will be made in early February - and it's just a regular announcement." So now I've stopped looking, bidding my time until next month.

That leaves room for a couple of more days of speculating and guessing, though. A year ago I wrote a post about which titles we could expect to see in the FTD Classic Album series, and here's what happened (I've crossed out the titles that were released during 2011):

Peace In The Valley EP (including all the binaural outtakes from 1957)
G.I. Blues
~~A What If Album featuring Nashville recordings from 1966-1968~~ (partially)
From Elvis In Memphis
Back In Memphis
~~He Touched Me~~
~~Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas~~
~~Promised Land~~
From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee
Moody Blue
Elvis In Concert

Now, taking into account some wise comments I got from Troy Y. (running The Mystery Train Elvis Blog) when I published the list, as well as some more speculation on my part, I present the following updated version:

Peace In The Valley EP (including all the binaural outtakes from 1957)
G.I. Blues Vol. 1
G.I. Blues Vol. 2
Flaming Star (one CD like Wild In The Country)
A What If Album featuring studio/movie recordings from 1968 and 1969
From Elvis In Memphis
Back In Memphis
On Stage - February 1970
Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden (including the afternoon show)
Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite (including the rehearsal show as well as the post-concert songs)
From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee
Moody Blue
Elvis In Concert

This list actually includes more titles than the one I wrote a year ago, so if I'm anywhere near the truth there's still material for three or four years worth of releases (If FTD continues with their ordinary release schedule of four classic albums a year).

As for more live material, there's still a couple of professionally recorded shows from the 1969 and 1970 summer engagements in Las Vegas that haven't been released yet. And let's not forget the concerts recorded for the movie Elvis On Tour, many fans are waiting for those too, me included. More soundboards are without doubt also on their way.

Finally, I'd love to see an FTD box collecting all the material from The 68' Comeback Special (after all, I don't see how a classic album treatment in the 2 CD format is possible for that one). Oh, I almost forgot, there's also the SUN project...

My Own Elvis Australia Page

2012-01-15T12:26:00.009+01:00

Troy Y. over at The Mystery Train Elvis Blog alerted me that I have my own Elvis Australia page now. Lately David Troedson at Elvis Australia has posted a couple of my FTD reviews on his fantastic site, and clicking on the link provided by Troy I was pleased to see that he has collected them under the headline "Elvis Presley Articles by Thomas Melin."
Check it out here.

Blood Harmony

2012-01-13T19:45:00.009+01:00

I'm really looking forward to April 7, when The Original Elvis Tribute will be performing in Vara, Sweden. This show has been touring Europe for the last couple of years, but for the first time Mary and Ginger Holladay will be among the musicians. Today I recieved an e-mail from the producer Arjan Deelen, titled "Ginger Holladay recalls her first meeting with Elvis" that I'd like to share with you.

Even though it’s now 40 years ago that she first met Elvis, Ginger Holladay’s memories of that January 1969 meeting still remain vivid in her mind: “Yes, it was when we were recording "In The Ghetto". A crowd of men laughing and joking walked into the studio and then parted and there he was, in the center of them all. He came over and introduced himself to us (as if we didn't already know...he was such a gentleman) and shook each of our hands”.

At the time, Elvis was recording at American Sound Studios in Memphis. These sessions rejuvenated Elvis’ career as a relevant recording artist. And he fell in love with the ‘Holladay Sound’: the girls ended up working on virtually every studio album he did between 1969 and ’75 (16 original albums in all), and their voices were even dubbed onto some of the live recordings. “We had a sound that someone described as blood harmony, a sound that only comes if you are family”, says Ginger, “Elvis liked our sound, as did Felton Jarvis, his producer for RCA”.

Mary and Ginger Holladay will be coming to Europe for the first time this April as part of the ‘Original Elvis Tribute’ show. These shows will mark the first time that the original backing vocals of classics like “Suspicious Minds” and “In The Ghetto” can be heard live in concert in Europe. They will be doing shows in Finland, Norway, Sweden, Holland and Luxembourg. “Bobby Wood suggested us to Arjan Deelen who is creating the shows”, Ginger notes. “We’ve worked together with Bobby for many years, but this will be our first time working with the other guys, and we are looking forward to creating a great show with them. According to Bobby and Arjan, it will be great fun creating music with them all. These shows are going to be filled with the "heart of rock n roll" because we are thrilled to be able to bring you the music of Elvis Presley, who is the King of it!”.

‘The Original Elvis Tribute’, which also includes a.o. Duke Bardwell, Bobby Wood and Jerome ‘Stump’ Monroe, will be doing the following shows: Vara Konserthus, Sweden – April 7; Sibelius-talo, Lahti (FI) – April 10; Tampere-talo (FI) – April 11; Savoy Theater, Helsinki – April 12; Deichhall, Ettelbruck, Luxembourg – April 13; Elvis Cruise Stena Lines, Oslo (NO) – April 14/15; Het Paard, Den Haag (NL) – April 21; 013, Tilburg (NL) – April 22. For more info, please go to: www.elvisnews.dk

The Holladay Sisters just recorded a special promo for the tour opening show in Vara, and you can see it here: http://youtu.be/Oi6Bu7sxne4

Sounds like I'm in for a treat together with all the other fans who will attend the opening show. (According to Arjan Deelen on The Original Elvis Tribute Facebook group, a month after sales started, they have already sold half of the tickets).

The Making Of "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day"

2012-01-09T19:45:00.011+01:00

The other day I read on the ElvisMatters site that they had sent Michael Jarrett (writer/composer of the song “I’ll Be Home On Christmas Day”) a copy of the recent FTD release Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas. A nice gesture, as this release includes no less than 16 outtakes of the two versions Elvis did of Jarrett’s song, six of them complete.

In a reply included in the same article Michael Jarrett expresses his thanks and says, among other things, that “I love how he works on each take making [it] his own song from his heart. He sang the melody just the way I recorded it on my original demo including those high notes on the last verse and all the bluesy nuances though out the song.”

My appetite whetted, I wanted to know more about how Michael Jarrett felt about Elvis recording his song (and two times at that!). So I decided to dig a bit deeper. Writing down a couple of questions, I e-mailed them to Michael Jarrett, receiving the following answer (on Elvis birthday, no less) that I’d like to share with you:

Elvis Today: What was your overall reaction after listening to all the outtakes of "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day?"

Michael Jarrett: I think for any songwriter that has the good fortune to have Elvis record their songs and; to be able some 40 years later to hear outtakes from the sessions is truly amazing. Hearing the process -the carving out- of my song is the fun part for me especially; after all, it's Elvis!

Elvis Today: As a musician yourself, what do you think of Elvis approach to the song?

Michael Jarrett: I believe he approached my song in his own special way, that is to say; he related to what the lyrics were saying and the overall sentiment the song conveyed to him during this time of his life. I believe he chose the song to record because it had personal meaning to him.

Elvis Today: Before one of the takes, you can almost hear him cross out a couple of verses on his lyrics sheet as he mutters, "one, two, three ... let's see ..." How do you feel about him leaving out the verse about your children?

Michael Jarrett: I had to laugh when Elvis said there were 8 verses, he was only joking of course. Actually, there were only 4, and when he recorded the one about my children I was completely surprised. I didn't know that he'd recorded this verse all these years until I heard the Alt. #9 version a couple of years ago.

I'm happy the decision was made to leave out the verse about my children in the final version for two reasons: First being that; the song plays much better with just three verses with changing keys on the last verse to give the song lift and the build up to the ending with tagging the last part of the last verse; it just feels better to the listener I think. Secondly, Little John, Michele, Christine and Kelly weren't his children and leaving that verse out made the song more [his] song on a personal level ..

Elvis Today: On the remake of "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day," recorded one month later, Elvis wanted to give the song a more solid and heavy beat. How do you like the result?

Michael Jarrett: I truly love both versions for different reasons. On that Christmas eve in 1969 when I wrote the song, I wrote it on guitar; which was more like Elvis' first version he recorded.

When I was recording the demos at Gold Star recording studio in L.A.; to give to Joe Esposito, I played "I'm Leavin" on guitar and decided to try "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day" on the piano. Strangely enough, I'd never played it on the keyboard before that day and sat down to give it a shot and played it through one time in a slow bluesy shuffle.

After I'd finished, the engineer in the control room said, "come in and listen to this" .. "listen to what", I said? Unknown to me, the engineer had recorded my run through of the Christmas song without me knowing it .. [an old trick many engineers use to get the best out of a player; when they don't know they're being recorded]. After listening to the play back we felt it was a good take 'straight from the heart'. So off it went, along with "I'm Leavin" to Joe Esposito and on to Elvis.

I think they liked the original bluesy shuffle .. just a guess on my part since they went back a month later and rerecorded it in that style. I do love both versions as they are heart felt. If I had to pick between the two, I would chose the first version because it's more "up close and personal".

Elvis Today: Finally, it must be a great experience to be able to listen to Elvis working with your song, after so many years. What do you think about the idea of releasing outtakes from Elvis recording sessions like this?

Michael Jarrett: This is an easy question and very simple to answer. For this songwriter, It's exciting beyond words to hear the King himself talking about and working up a song I'd written so long ago that is now part of Elvis' history ..

Thank you Elvis for letting us eavesdrop into your world in the making of this wonderful Album of Christmas songs ..

And thank you Thomas, for helping to keep Elvis' music and memory alive for future generations ..

My best to you and all the Elvis fans and Happy Birthday to The King!!

One Boy, Two Little Girls

2012-01-08T01:10:00.007+01:00

January 8 is always a day when I think a little extra of Elvis, and in my own humble way try to celebrate his birthday, maybe by watching one of my favorite movies or playing a record that has a special meaning to me. As he would have been 77 years today, for some reason I came to think of the Elvis In Concert album, recorded in 1977, so that will be my choice this time.

But today is also important to me for another reason. Twelve years ago I asked a pretty girl out on a date, and by chance that date took place on Saturday, January 8. I'm happy to report that the date went well, today that girl is my wife and we have a beautiful daughter.

In fact, the two of us always try to go to a restaurant on this particular day each year, and usually ends up joking about if it's Elvis or us we're celebrating. And all kidding aside, I'll be able to listen to Elvis In Concert together with my daughter during the day, and focus on my wife in the evening.

Happy birthday, Elvis! (And thank you, honey, for being the best wife there is!)

Elvis In Print

2012-01-03T19:14:00.014+01:00

In the last post for 2011 I mentioned that the greatest Elvis moment for me that year was the release of my The Elvis Today Blog Book, in March. Therefore I was surprisingly pleased to see that the book got another mentioning on the Elvis Information Network on Christmas Day, no less. The text ended like this:

The bibliographic resource Elvis in Print: The Definitive Reference and Price Guide includes this synopsis about The Elvis Today Blog:

The first 271 blogs by the author on his blog site, www.elvistodayblog.com. As you expect from a “blog”, the topics covered are eclectic. Melin ponders issues as diverse as Elvis in the shop window and archival media reports to new bootleg releases, the need for an FTD (Follow That Dream) website and the album that never was. All in all it makes for interesting reading. Includes listing of major Elvis websites and other Elvis related blog sites.

Reading this made my day. Not only was my blog book mentioned in a reference and price guide, it also received praise. At the same time I wanted to know more about Elvis In Print, so I did a search on google and got a hit that took me back to the Elvis Information Network, where it was mentioned among other general price guides:

Elvis In Print: The Definitive Reference & Price Guide, Nigel Patterson - scheduled book release listing details and values for more than 3,000 book and magazines about Elvis published around the world.

Reading this, I e-mailed Nigel Patterson whom I recognized as one of the guys running the Elvis Information Network site, and asked him if he could share some more information about his upcoming book.

He kindly replied that Elvis In Print is still in draft form and probably will be for some time. The manuscript currently exceeds 500 pages (without visuals), with more than 3,000 book and magazine listings (75% are books) from more than 20 countries. He also wrote that he expects the number of releases to spike over the next few years as more writers take advantage of the economical self-publish options for both physical and e-books. Finally, he told me that he expects Elvis In Print to be around 600 pages when it's published, with 3,500-4,000 listings.

I for one am looking forward to the release of Elvis In Print. After all, it's not everyday your work is mentioned together with renowned Elvis writers such as Bill Burk, Ernst Jorgensen, Peter Guralnick and Ger Rijff.

Blue Hawaii On New Year's Eve

2012-01-01T13:32:00.010+01:00

I celebrated New Year's Eve peacefully with my family, including my five year old niece. As she arrived, she told me she would like to watch an Elvis movie, and of course, I was happy to oblige. Paradise, Hawaiian Style being her firm favorite, we this time went for Blue Hawaii, me telling her that "Elvis plays an ukulele, just like the one you received for Christmas."

I was a little nervous she would find Blue Hawaii to be a bit boring and too serious (she didn't like Fun In Acapulco) but I didn't need to have worried. She enjoyed it from the start, pointing out that Elvis seemed to be a Casanova in this movie as well, first kissing a air hostess and then his girlfriend (Joan Blackman) waiting at the airport.

One scene she loved was when Elvis sang "No More" with some Hawaiian friends on the beach, another the one at the luau, where Elvis belted out a couple of numbers, such as "Ito Eats" and "Slicin' Sand." She also had a big laugh when Joan Blackman turned Elvis surfboard around so he fell into the water. Finally, I could tell she was impressed with the marriage ceremony at the end of the film and the clothes Elvis wore while singing "Hawaiian Wedding Song."

As we sat there and watched Blue Hawaii, I found myself enjoying it as well. The scenery was beautiful, the soundtrack very good and many of the co stars entertaining as well. Howard McNear, who played the boss of the tour company, was particularly funny, constantly forgetting that Elvis worked for him. And last, but not the least, Elvis seemed to be enjoying himself, looking relaxed and comfortable on screen.

So maybe my niece and I will catch another Elvis movie next New Year's Eve around. It sure makes me happy that she likes Elvis. At one time during the movie I had to go prepare some food, and she came rushing after me. "Can we continue to watch the movie and don't wait for you," she asked pleadingly. From a five year old, that's high praise for Elvis indeed.

Related posts:
Queenie Wahine's Papaya (Spetember 30, 2011)
Blue Hawaii - My Holiday Soundtrack (August 20, 2011)

What A Wonderful Elvis Year

2011-12-31T12:37:00.013+01:00

As 2011 draws to an end I find myself thinking about what a good Elvis year it has been. And browsing through the blog posts I've written during the last 12 months, here are some of my most memorable moments:

The absolute highlight was the release of my blog book, The Elvis Today Blog Book, in which I'd collected the 271 posts I penned from August 16, 2007 to January 8, 2010. As I'd worked hard with it since August the year before, it was a great feeling to finally hold the real thing in my hands.

Record wise it's been a fantastic year as well. The Follow That Dream label began the year with the fine release Live In Vegas, featuring the August 26 dinner show from Elvis' first Las Vegas engagement in 1969. Then, after the "what if" album Elvis Sings Guitar Man, the label took a dive with the two summer releases Stage Rehearsal and Amarillo '77. But Ernst Jorgensen and Roger Semon then made more than up for that, and closed the year with some excellent releases, such as 48 Hours To Memphis, He Touched Me, Promised Land and Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas.

On the Sony main label, Ernst Jorgensen compiled and produced the critically acclaimed 5 CD deluxe set Young Man With The Big Beat, that put focus on Elvis in 1956. The highlight on the set was Elvis' final show for the Louisiana Hayride on December 15, 1956, previously unreleased. And speaking of Louisiana Hayride, I must also mention Memphis Recording Service's release The Complete Louisiana Hayride Archives 1954-1956, collecting all of the surviving Louisiana Hayride material with Elvis on one disc.

I recall I was a bit nervous one day in March when I was interviewed by the editor of the official news magazine for the University of Gothenburg where I'm currently holding a position as a public relations officer. Two months later the magazine was published, featuring an article spread over two pages titled A Life With Elvis under the heading In My Spare Time. Soon I found out I wasn't the only fan in the building where I work.

Another Elvis experience I remember really made me feel good. One evening in April, I gave a presentation about his religious music in a church. it was a fantastic feeling being able to present and listen to Elvis' gospel music in its right element.

Finally, I have to mention the pleasant correspondence I had with a veteran from the U.S. Navy and its Patrol Squadron VP-45 regarding an "Elvis ... if he's out there we'll find him!" crew patch I bought many years ago.

So, what does 2012 hold in store? I for one hope we'll see From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee and Moody Blue released in FTD's Classic Album Series. After all, Jungle Room Sessions from 2000 is one of their most popular titles, and the interest for the bootleg series Welcome To The Jungle proved that the demand among the fans for more outtakes from 1976 is high.

Oh, I almost forgot. On March 24 I'll attend Elvis Presley In Concert when the show is playing Copenhagen, and two weeks later, on April 7, when The Original Elvis Tribute (featuring Bobby Wood and Duke Bardwell, among others) is performing in Vara, Sweden, I'll be in the audience as well. So, surely looks like I'm in for another great Elvis Year!

Happy New Year!

Promised Land - A Review

2011-12-28T21:58:00.015+01:00

Ever since Good Times was released by the Follow That Dream label two years ago I've been looking forward to Promised Land getting the classic album treatment as well, and earlier this month it finally arrived. After listening to the two CD's packed with alternate takes and interesting studio dialog as well as some rehearsals and undubbed masters, I can say that it was definitely worth the wait.

I've always liked Promised Land with its mix of rock, pop, ballads, country, funk and gospel, all songs recorded during a session at Stax Studios in Memphis, December 10-16, 1973. The FTD version follows the by now well known pattern with the original album and session highlights on disc 1 (including "the alternate album") and more outtakes on disc 2. It's a proven concept that works well this time as well.

The original album takes off with Chuck Berry's great rocker "Promised Land," and with the help of takes 2 to 6 we are offered a fly-on-the-wall experience of how it sounded when Elvis and his musicians recorded the song. One example of this is David Briggs trying out the intro on his electric piano, while Elvis asks if guitarist James Burton knows it. Another is the ending of the same take, having Elvis exclaiming, "Don't look at me. There's no more verses!" as the second guitar solo goes on and on. As for the outtakes, I love the longer take 5 (the one before the master), which has Elvis singing nearly the whole song again after the second solo.

Take 1 of the moving country number "There's A Honky Tonk Angel (Who Will Take Me Back In)" offers a more "naked" version than later takes, mainly due to Elvis emotional singing. Just listen to the line "Oh, when there's an old friend out there and she's waiting, yes she is" and you'll see what I mean. For some reason Elvis throws in an "I love you" in falsetto after the line " You never look at me and say I love you," destroying a nearly complete, beautiful take 7. But Elvis and the musicians share a laugh, and so do I.

Elvis nails "Help Me" in one take, and according to Jerry Hopkins in his book Elvis: The Final Years, he dropped to his knees to sing it. The false start and remixed master offers no clues to if this statement is true, but Elvis does say "Puh!" after the ending, something that can't be heard on the original master.

I've always thought of "Mr. Songman" as the weakest track on Promised Land, and I guess Ernst Jorgensen feels the same, as no outtakes have been made available until the release of this version of the album. The four outtakes (three of them complete) does nothing to change my opinion, but all the studio dialog makes for an interesting listening experience all the same. There's playful banter between the musicians, Elvis and Kathy Westmoreland as David Briggs plays the electric piano for Felton Jarvis' benefit before the first take, and it's interesting to hear someone in the studio halting the third take with the words, "Hold it, excuse me, I did it ... once again!" as he somehow makes a mistake at the beginning of the song.

Another song that hasn't been offered in any other format than the master before is "Love Song Of The Year," (probably not a favorite of Ernst Jorgensen either, it isn't even mentioned when he describes the sessions in his book A life In Music). But here we get the complete recording session, from the rehearsal and all through takes 1 to 7 (8 is the master). I haven't been a great admirer of this song either, but I have to admit that listening to the alternate takes has made me change my opinion. Without the heavy overdubs, it's like a veil has been lifted from the song, exposing the real meaning of the lyrics. Take one is a great example of this, it sounds more sincere than the master as Elvis sings with great feeling, accompanied by a much more prominent sounding piano. And the rehearsal is really funny, with Elvis changing the lyrics, for example the line "So I confess my loneliness" to "So I confess I made a mess."

"It's Midnight" was the first track on Side B of the original album, a dramatic ballad that Elvis clearly identified with, wringing every ounce of emotion out of it. (The previously unreleased takes 7 and 9 are good examples of this.) But that didn't stop him from having a good time while recording it, something that becomes apparent while listening to the outtakes, especially the first ones. "I've been rich since I was 21, it don't matter. I told you J.D., I've been a millionaire since 21, I don't care if we make it or not. It's just a hobby to me. Felton's working hard. (Laughing) You're all just starting to get rich and I'm blowing it for you," he jokes after the third take has been abandoned.

A song that took on a whole new meaning to me about a year ago is "Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming," when my daughter was born. Thanks to a guest blog by Troy Y. who runs the Mystery Train Elvis Blog I learned that the lyrics were about the songwriter's newborn daughter, and not a woman. No new complete outtakes are included here, but a couple of long false starts once more show us what a good mood Elvis was in. About two minutes into take 3 he sings a "be" instead of "do" resulting in "And I'm gonna tell everyone what good love can be-do-be-do-be-do-be-dooo" and then completely loosing it, exclaiming, "What's the difference between a 'be' and 'do' among friends?"

I've always counted "If You Talk In Your Sleep" as one of the highlights on the original album, and take 5 is a firm favorite, with funky guitars, lots of bass and drums, electric piano, an organ sneaking up from behind, shouting girls, and above it all Elvis in firm command. The incomplete take 6 offers yet another chance to study Elvis at work in the studio, listening to him singing snippets of "Find Out What's Happening" before the take and then hearing him cutting the take short with the words "I lost my earphones, the earphones are gone to hell and back."

"Thinking About You" is another great song from the album, and here we are treated with a rehearsal that leads to a swinging version ("Better quit Felton, they start playing jazz, man!"), as well as five alternate takes, three of them complete. In all fairness, the different outtakes sound very similar to my ears, but the previously unreleased take 6 is a real treat, a driving version that features two guitar solos at the end, with Elvis doing the chorus after each solo. The other takes only has Elvis singing the chorus once.

The original Promised Land album closed with the country flavored "You Asked Me To," and the FTD treatment of the album includes no less than four complete outtakes. Two of them are previously unreleased, the first one, take 3A, once again showing Elvis in a good mood. "Give me a key, or a sign," he says, as there is no intro in the song. Then follows the sound of a piano, bass and guitar, as the musicians try to be helpful. "OK, that's enough, not to many keys, shit, I get confused," he laughs, then launches himself into yet another session highlight.

As you've probably guessed by now, Promised Land is another winner from FTD. But what's a review without some criticism? First and foremost, the first take of the title track is missing, probably due to the fact that Elvis changes the line "And the poor boy is on the line"” into "And the mother****** is on the line." In a way this is a strange decision, as Elvis sings exactly the same thing on the second rehearsal version of "Promised Land" included on the FTD release From Sunset To Las Vegas. Another questionmark is the composite version of "There's A Honky Tonk Angel," spliced together from takes 5, 3 and 8. I think it would have been better to include the nearly complete take 3 instead, a take which apparently ends in a hilarious way. My third complaint is that the unedited master of "Thinking About You" is missing. The edited master used on the original album was faded out before Elvis started to sing the chorus, something that became apparent when a longer edit was released on Our Memories Of Elvis Volume 2 in 1979.

These minor complaints out of the way, Promised Land is without a doubt one of the best releases from the Follow That Dream label this year. It's one that I will return to many times, together with Good Times and Raised On Rock, the other two classic albums making up what could be called "The Stax Trilogy." Highly recommended.

Elvis plays Santa Claus ... with sly grin on face

2011-12-24T00:00:00.006+01:00

The following article by James Kingsley is reprinted with permission from The Commercial Appeal, where it was originally published in December, 1971. Merry Christmas!

Elvis Presley, the multi-millionaire squire of Graceland, is well known as the “practical joker.” He pulled off one of his best at his annual Christmas Eve get-together when he usually hands out envelopes stuffed with money and sometimes gold-plated automobile keys to employers and friends. Everybody remembered that last year some of his gifts included expensive Mercedes-Benz automobiles and the usual cash gifts that he likes to share.

As Elvis began to play Santa Claus this year he was in ha happy-go-lucky mood as everyone gathered in his den and living room expecting the usual gifts and maybe a “little something special.” With a sly grin on his face, the singer turned to his father, Vernon Presley, and asked: “Where are the envelopes please?”

Vernon reached into his coat pocket and produced the envelopes. “Well, it’s been a mighty lean year,” said Elvis, whose income probably exceeded four million dollars in 1971 with two appearances at the Las Vegas Hilton International Hotel, two tours of the country, and record royalties.

He had built them up for the kill. He knew inside the envelopes was a gift that would be worth a hamburger, french fries and a soft drink. As the envelopes began to be opened, the room felt silent. His special gift for 1971 was a 50-cent gift certificate to McDonald’s Hamburgers. His joke over, Elvis later distributed his real gifts which included envelopes stuffed with cash for his employees.

Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas - A Review

2011-12-17T12:46:00.066+01:00

One of the latest classic albums to get the FTD treatment is Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas, released timely earlier this month. With the help of outtakes not being overdubbed in any way, it reveals a more intimate and sensitive side of the Christmas recordings that took place in Nashville during two nights in May, 1971. (A remake of one of the songs, "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day," was done one month later but not used on the original album.)

Maybe it was the great big decorated Christmas tree that was placed in the middle of RCA's Studio B that got Elvis in the right mood for the session. Maybe Lamar Fike dressed up as Santa Claus did the trick. Whatever the reason Elvis seems to be having a good time from the start.

While producer Felton Jarvis and the musicians discuss the beginning of "It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You)" featuring a celeste, Elvis throws in a line of "Merry Christmas Baby." David Briggs follows suit, hammering away on the celeste. "I gotta hold you guys down, man," Elvis laughs.

Admittedly, he sounds a bit annoyed when the second take breaks down, complaining that the lyrics aren't written out, but then works hard through a couple of more takes before settling on take 7 as the master. The previously unreleased take number 5 is a highlight, with Elvis pushing the boundaries of the song, the result a more loose and less polished version than the master. Unintentionally or not, he even changes the line "Far too many miles are between" to "Far too many years come between" at the end of the song.

When released on the original album back in 1971, Felton Jarvis had just about used every trick in the book when it came to making overdubs on "If I Get Home On Christmas Day," adding strings, horns and a lot of backing vocals, creating what I like to call a "bombastic Elvis sound." Listening to the alternate takes, especially the early ones, you can almost be fooled into thinking it's another song, it sounds so much more intimate. No less than three complete takes are previously unreleased, all of them having Elvis singing "Somehow I know I'll get my chance this time" instead of "I know I'll get my chance with you this time" as used on the master.

Another intimate and sensitive song is the pretty "Holly Leaves And Christmas Trees," written by Red West and featuring a simple but effective arrangement for acoustic guitars and organ. The phrasing is a bit different at places on the previously unreleased takes 2 and 3. It must have been a treat for Red watching Elvis working with his song in the studio, recording no less than five complete takes of it.

One of the highlights of the album is the blues classic "Merry Christmas Baby," and here we get the complete studio performance as released on Memories Of Christmas in 1982, preceded by about 30 seconds worth of rehearsal, previously unreleased. Listening to Elvis saying "Yeah, just run it a couple of times and I'll come in there, you know, somewhere. Let's set the rhythm first," it's easy to imagine him in the middle of the studio with a mike in his hand, his musicians in a semi-circle around him.

For some unknown reason this unedited version switches to the original album master mix (with a guitar overdub) approximately four and a half minutes into the song, and then back again to the undubbed mix about one minute and ten seconds later. This was also the case on the version found on Memories Of Christmas, but not on the slightly shorter edit (7:19) included on Reconsider Baby released in 1985. It would be interesting if Ernst Jorgensen could shed some light on this.

A song that offers some interesting studio dialog and rehearsal is "Silver Bells," the last song to be recorded on the first night. Before tackling the first take Elvis says, "Charlie, why don't you guys do harmony with me and help me sing?" After a false start, Elvis tells engineer Al Pachucki that he don't want the harmony to be on the record, just hear it to get it right. In his book A Life In Music Ernst Jorgensen describes this episode as "an uncomfortable impasse," but listening closely, I don't hear anything suggesting this, Elvis sounds polite and Al doesn't seem to take offense. "OK, that's very good," he answers back, asking Charlie to turn an amplifier down.

The second night of recordings kicked off in great style with Michael Jarrett's "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day." Elvis seems relaxed and jokes around between takes. When Felton Jarvis suggests they need a sandpaper effect, one of the musicians jokingly remarks "He wants to do his fingernails!" to which Elvis responds laughingly, "Do that shit on your own time, Felton. You can get a manicure tomorrow, hell!"

As for the song itself, takes 3 (with extra verse) and 4 have been released before, on I Sing All Kinds (2007) and Platinum - A Life In Music (1997) respectively, but the studio banter between them has not. "Before we were doing eight verses, we'll cut it down to six," Elvis says, and you can almost hear him cross out a couple of them on his lyrics sheet as he mutters, "one, two, three ... let's see..."

Take 6 is previously unreleased, recorded after Elvis did his informal rendition of "The Lord's Prayer." It's a beautiful version, thankfully lacking the unnecessary overdubs found on the master. Elvis is in fine voice, conveying the message of the song perfectly. Another highlight.

The seasonal standard "Winter Wonderland" is on the other side of the spectrum. After a spiritless take 7 (the first six takes were on a reel that was erased) that finishes abruptly after the guitar solo when Elvis messes up the lyrics, laughingly throwing in some explicit language, he exclaims, "I'm getting tired of this damn song. Tired of it!" Do his credit, he then tries hard to get it right, rehearsing together with pianist David Briggs on how to come in after the solo.

Fortunately, "O Come, All Ye Faithful" proves a return to the better and a much more inspirational Christmas performance. The previously unreleased take 2 has Elvis making a mistake as he begins to sing the second verse too early, but is otherwise beautifully performed. It also runs longer than the master (take 1), featuring the first verse one more time at the end (this verse was spliced with take 1 on Memories Of Christmas). The voices singing with Elvis are unidentified, but according to the booklet it's most likely some members of Elvis' band and entourage, like Charlie Hodge and Red West. Incidentally, this is a song that I actually think benefited from the overdubbs made a little more than a month later, giving it a more "churchly" sound.

Of the remaining three Christmas songs recorded on the second night, no outtakes exists. "On A Snowy Christmas Night" was recorded on the same reel that included the first six takes of "Winter Wonderland" and was erased. And another reel, used while recording "The First Noel" and "The Wonderful World Of Christmas," is missing.

Compensation comes in the form of all the nine alternate takes (three of them complete) from the remake of "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day," recorded in June. For some reason Elvis wanted to give the song a more solid and heavy beat, the result being a bluesier version. "Rough, very rough," he exclaims after the take 2. The third take, previously unreleased, has Elvis slightly messing up the extra verse featuring Michael Jarrett's children. That doesn't stop him from delivering an enjoyable, funky version, urging the band along and telling them to add another verse. "That's a lot better like that, Elvis," Felton Jarvis can be heard saying right after the ending.

Obviously he's in a good mood here as well, kidding with the producer and the musicians. "I didn't like that, that was too good, he jokes after an abandoned intro. "Nothing went wrong so I couldn't criticize it." For some reason, he breaks up laughing during take 6, and after take 7 says, "Come to think of it, I liked the original version better," evoking laughter. It's hard to tell if he's joking this time, but the master was shelved, and not released until eleven years later on Memories Of Christmas. To finally have all the outtakes from this great remake on one release is worth the price of the album alone.

I also have to mention the booklet that displays some interesting memorabilia, such as an alternate album cover, a document ordering that "Miracle Of The Rosary" is to be deleted from the track list and a sketch stating that the title (or maybe subtitle) should be Christmas Songs For You From Elvis. Unfortunately the In And Outtakes section contains some minor errors as does the track list ("Silver Bells" doesn't include take 2, just take 1). A bit sloppy perhaps, but nothing to get upset about. The main thing is that FTD presents us with another winner in their classic album series - one that shows the 1971 Christmas recordings in a different light.

Blue Christmas UK Single Campaign

2011-12-12T21:38:00.012+01:00

Today I spent 9 Swedish crowns (about £0.80p or US$1.20) downloading "Blue Christmas" from iTunes. The reason for this is a campaign orchestrated by the British fan clubs where the goal is to get Elvis high in the UK download singles chart in time for Christmas.

Reading on the Elvis Information Network that hopefully fans from around the world can help them achieve their objective, I decided to do my part. After downloading the song I took a peek at the UK Single Downloads Top 40, but no trace of Elvis and "Blue Christmas" yet.

I for one would be pleasantly surprised if this campaign succeeds in getting Elvis back in the charts. On the other hand: "You'll be surprised what you can do if you will only try."

Elvis 1967 – That Wild Presley Beat (an imaginary press release)

2011-12-10T16:10:00.006+01:00

What if the follow-up to the critically-acclaimed and Grammy-nominated Young Man With The Big Beat box set turned out to be something called That Wild Presley Beat, focusing on 1967? I recently wrote a guest blog in the form of an imaginary press release for The Mystery Train Blog that throughout 2011 has commemorated the 44th anniversary of 1967.

Check it out over at The Mystery Train Elvis Blog

From Elvis Today To Elvis Australia: Two FTD Reviews

2011-12-08T20:12:00.009+01:00

Elvis Australia has posted a review Troy Y. and I wrote of Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis: Recorded Live On Stage In Richmond, Virginia – March 18, 1974, a recent Follow That Dream Records release. The review is a consolidated version of a discussion that first appeared on our blogs, Elvis Today and The Mystery Train.

Check it out here.

Speaking of Elvis Australia, about two weeks ago the guy running it e-mailed and told me he would very much like to use my review of FTD's classic album release of He Touched Me. As Elvis Australia is one of the best Elvis sites around I was happy to oblige. And honored.

Check it out here.

Merry Christmas Baby

2011-12-07T19:02:00.022+01:00

One of my all time favorite Christmas tracks with Elvis is "Merry Christmas Baby," recorded in Nashville on May 15, 1971. It also ranks high on my list over all the songs Elvis recorded. I remember reading somewhere that the song is so cool that you can enjoy it even on a hot August day.

From the first time I heard it, I've always loved the rhythm provided by bass player Norbert Putnam and drummer Jerry Carrigan, David Briggs strumming on the piano and the bluesy harmonica, courtesy of Charlie McCoy. And above it all, Elvis altogether at home with the song, delivering an impassioned performance, urging his fellow musicians along. This is how Ernst Jorgensen describes the recording in his book A Life In Music:

Pushing everyone else to eke as much emotion out of the song as he was ("Dig in, James," he cajoled; "Wake up, Putt"), he cruised through more than six minutes on the first take. There was ease and menace and delight in Elvis's after-hours performance, and the result has led more than one observer to lament that it wasn't a blues album rather than a Christmas album that had brought them together that night.

In fact, the take lasted about eight minutes, and listening to the complete studio performance as released on Memories Of Christmas (1982) it's evident that Elvis doesn't want to let go of the song, repeating the lyrics over and over. "Well, I'm feeling mighty fine," he sings, and it's obvious that he does.

When originally released on the album Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas in October 1971, "Merry Christmas Baby" was edited down to 5 minutes and 45 seconds and featured an overdubbed guitar solo by Eddie Hinton. The single release a month later (coupled with "O Come, All Ye Faithful") was a minute and a half shorter than on the album.

An edited version with strings overdubbed (2:49) was used in the movie This Is Elvis from 1981 and can be found on the soundtrack (not yet released on CD). Four years later, in 1985, "Merry Christmas Baby" closed the excellent blues compilation Reconsider Baby (1985), this time a long edit without guitar overdub running for about 7 minutes and 20 seconds. Interestingly enough, this edit was included instead of the original one when Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas was released on CD.

Later this month will see the release of the FTD version of Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas. According to the track list the second CD will include "Merry Christmas Baby" - take 1 (unedited version) with a running time of 8 minutes and 29 seconds. My guess is that those extra 30 seconds will turn out to be the studio banter described by Ernst Jorgensen in A Life In Music: "Just run through it a couple of times, Elvis told the rhythm section; "I'll come in somewhere."

Read about two other Christmas favorites with Elvis:

"Santa Claus Is Back In Town" (posted August 26, 2011)
"I'll Be Home On Christmas Day" (posted December 24, 2008)

Learn more about why Elvis shouted "Wake up, Putt!":

Wake Up, Putt! (posted March 20, 2010)

Guest Blog: At Your Service

2011-12-03T19:15:00.010+01:00

It is inevitable to compare Memphis Recording Service's releases with the ones from Follow That Dream, and what comes to mind regarding their latest album, The Complete Louisiana Hayride Archives 1954-1956 is half the price – twice as good.

It's a simple, yet real classy package, with the format being just a little bigger than a usual digipack, but with a hardback binding including a 92 page book. And what a book! Most of the pictures I have never seen, and with additional stuff like Elvis' first Hayride contract and ads, and a real informative text, it's worth the admission alone. And the layout is nice, too.

My favorite pictures are those from March 1956 with Elvis in a sleeveless shirt. Boy, does he look mean! There are also a lot of photos from December 1956, his last Louisiana Hayride visit. And that brings us to the music, a full CD of all the surviving Louisiana Hayride material.

You can have your doubts about the December 1956 material being included, since it was on Sony's Young Man With The Big Beat just a few months ago, but it runs longer here and it sounds as if everything is from the same source. I can't imagine why Sony left out the classic ”Elvis has left the building” comment, but here it is.

Since the first part of “Heartbreak Hotel” is missing, MRS used the start of the song from the Tupelo concert, recorded half a year earlier. It works fine. The back cover boasts that the show has been speed corrected, and comparing it to Sony's release, I think they are right.

Even without the December 1956 material, this CD would have been great, since it collects all the Hayride material on one disc. Why Sony hasn't done that is way beyond me. (The only previously released live material from 1954-1955 which is not here is the Houston concert from March 1955 and could have been included as a bonus if it hadn't been for the December 1956 songs.)

My favorite part is the August 1955 segment, with Elvis – and Bill Black – all geared up! Their treatment of “Maybelline” is fantastic and it was nice to hear it again. And everything is unedited, like it should be. This was not the case when parts of this material was officially released in 1999 on Sony's Sunrise.

I'll return to this album over and over again. It's Elvis live in the fifties, dammit! Not much can beat that. Or this release.

/Mårtenbrother

No Christmas From Elvis In Hollywood 2

2011-12-01T20:10:00.008+01:00

It totally slipped my mind while writing about Elvis films where it's snowing: there's actually another one where a first glance at the soundtrack could have you believe it had something to do with Christmas - at least if you live where I do. I'm talking about Viva Las Vegas and "Santa Lucia," a song that is closely associated with the celebration of Christmas in Sweden.

But just like Live A Little, Love A Little and Girl Happy, Christmas and snow is nowhere in sight when Elvis sings "Santa Lucia" in Italian, just summer and sun. In fact, Elvis isn't visible either, just his shadow, as he is standing behind a curtain, singing to Ann-Margret in his rival Count Elmo Mancini's hotel room.

Being a Swedish-American maybe she, for the briefest of moments, got a bit of a "christmassy feeling" while humming along, who knows? (If she did, all thoughts of Christmas must've gone out the window as Elvis then entered the room belting out "If You Think I Don't Need You.")

If you want to know more about this "missing" Christmas song, I wrote about it last December. I was happy to see that Troy Y., who's running The Mystery Train Elvis Blog, included it this year in his post Christmas Dreams 2011: An Elvis Playlist for the Holiday Season.

No Christmas From Elvis In Hollywood

2011-11-26T21:57:00.012+01:00

Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent, but I cheated and started celebrating the Christmas season today, listening to my favorite Elvis Christmas compilation album If Every Day Was Like Christmas. Elvis' Christmas songs play an important role in helping me get in the "Christmas mode," and while listening to them it struck me that the same certainly can't be said about his movies.

Come to think about it, isn't it a bit strange that no Elvis movie ever took place around Christmas? After all, a lot of pictures do. But in the case of Elvis, sand was a lot more common property than snow.

At the top of my head, I can only recall two Elvis films where it's snowing, and in one of them the snow isn't even the real thing. In Live A Little, Love A Little, Elvis charachter and fashion photographer Greg Nolan has a busy time working two full-time jobs for separate magazines.

One of them is called Classic Cat Magazine, and in one scene Elvis is shooting studio photos of a lightly dressed model standing on a stump in a landscape covered in snow. Fake snowflakes are whirling around the model, thanks to a giant fan. (When Elvis orders the model's skirt raised, the guy handling the fan gets a little too excited and unintentionally sets it at full blast, leading to the destruction of the whole set.)

In Girl Happy, made four years earlier, real snow is falling down in Chicago. Rusty Wells (aka Elvis Presley) and his combo is playing at the nightclub 77 Club, and the snow is clearly visible outside the big windows as they perform the title track at the beginning of the movie.

Not that it's Christmas, though. No, it's Easter, and Elvis will soon have changed the snow for–yes, you guessed it–sand, and sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There he and his three band members have to secretly chaperon the daughter of their employer, the nightclub's owner. About as far from a Christmas story as it gets.

No, if you want to get in the Christmas spirit with the help of Elvis, you'd better stick to his Christmas recordings. And while you're at it, why don't you try out Christmas Dreams 2011: An Elvis Playlist for the Holiday Season, by Troy Y. over at his The Mystery Train Blog.

He Touched Me - A Review

2011-11-20T11:16:00.047+01:00

Unlike Elvis' first two religious albums, His Hand In Mine and How Great Thou Art, his third and last one, He Touched Me, was a mix of traditional gospel and more contemporary Christian music. Recorded in Nashville in March, May and June 1971, the recently released FTD treatment of the album opens the door to RCA's Studio B to let us experience these recording sessions first hand. It makes for a fascinating visit.

Listening to Elvis and his musicians at work, one gets the feeling that it was the modern Christian material that demanded their attention the most. (With the exception of the rocking "I've Got Confidence" that Elvis nailed in two takes.) Maybe not that big a surprise, as Elvis was probably already familiar with the traditional gospel songs selected for the album, such as "Bosom Of Abraham" and "I, John."

One example of a song that stretched the bounds of the strictly sacred is "Seeing Is Believing," written by Red West. Elvis runs through 14 takes with his players and singers to record a master to his satisfaction, and ten of the outtakes (four of them complete) are included. This really gets you an idea of how Elvis worked with a song, from discussing the intro, ("No man, the drummer was right ... yeah, I like that bass thing") to working out how the female backup singers should sing with him. ("I think if you do it straight ... seeing, seeing, seeing is believing ... yeah right!) and deciding on a new ending ("We just fade this thing out, let's not do that stop ending"). Of the complete outtakes (two of them previously released), my favorite remains take 7, more funky than the master, and released by FTD on I Sing All Kinds in 2007.

"Reach Out To Jesus" is another treat. Here we get to hear no less than seven abandoned starts of the song. Not that Elvis minds, he is in a laughing mood, throwing in an "Oh happy day" now and then after a failed introduction, evoking laughter from him as well as the musicians. When they finally get past the piano introduction, what follows is a beautiful gospel performance (take 9, the one before the master).

A third chance to study Elvis craft is offered through the seven takes of Jerry Reed's "A Thing Called Love" as well as the rehearsal, where producer Felton Jarvis decides to let bass singer Armond Morales of the Imperials have his own mike. The reason for this is that he's singing in unison with Elvis throughout the song. Elvis is in good spirits here as well, throwing in a verse of "Listen To The Bells" before the forth take. It's also interesting listening to Felton Jarvis blaming Joe Moscheo of the Imperials ("A bad chord on the piano") after a take falls to pieces. "I didn't make that mistake," Joe answers back, and as far as I can tell he's right.

Many of the takes included on the two CD's have been released before, but not with as much studio banter. The second take of "He Touched Me" illustrates this, as we for the first time get to hear the Imperials and Elvis working out the introduction together. Elvis exclaiming "god damn" after the ending because his voice gave out was a new listening experience as well.

Another example is the banter before the second take of "Amazing Grace" (following the first abandoned one) which has Elvis saying "I hit the wrong words, I was singing 'Love Me Tender'," and one of the musicians answering, "You was singing the hell out of it, whatever it was." I think he's right. I actually prefer the bluesy take 2 over the more conservative master.

A third song that offers some interesting studio banter not heard before is "Bosom Of Abraham." "You're the rhythm section," one of the Imperials says after take two falters and comes to a sudden stop. "You're supposed to get it right. We're the singers."

In one instance, the opposite is true as well. When originally released on FTD's Easter Special (2001), the first take of "He Is My Everything" had Elvis singing a bit of "Mean Woman Blues" before trying out the beginning of the song. Here that part is gone.

FTD's He Touched Me follows the formula for the classic album series with the outtakes evenly spread out among each other, that is, not all the outtakes from one song placed after one another. "Makes for more listening pleasure," I think Ernst Jorgensen's explanation was when asked about it sometime. In this case I'm glad for that line of reasoning, as it would have been a bit demanding to listen to five complete, very similar outtakes of "An Evening Prayer" in a row, no matter how sincere Elvis sounds.

The informal performance "The Lord's Prayer" is also included, as is the incomplete "Johnny B. Goode" jam, after which Elvis fools around with a couple of lines from "The First Noel." It would have been nice to get this jam in its continuity, that is, together with the religious song that then followed. Maybe the jam was just found as a snipet on a tape in the way it's presented and that just wasn't possible. Neither the CD's, nor the cover or booklet offers any leads.

Speaking of the cover and booklet, here I have to lodge my only complaint. The track list mentions that "He Touched Me" (take 3) and "He Is My Everything" (take 4) are incomplete, but fails to do so with "I, John" (take 1) as well as "A Thing Called Love" (take 7). I also have a hard time understanding why stage photos of Elvis not wearing the same jumpsuit as on the cover of He Touched Me are featured so prominently.

These are minor details, however. If you're interested in Elvis' religious songs and how he recorded the album that won him his second Grammy, He Touched Me in the classic album series is for you.

One final note. In his book Careless Love, Peter Guralnick writes that Elvis' "attention continued to wander" during the sessions when the songs for He Touched Me was recorded. Maybe that was the case, but it's not something I found evidence of while listening to the outtakes provided by FTD's treatment of He Touched Me.

Reviews From The Past 2

2011-11-18T18:57:00.013+01:00

Reading the other day that Elvis Country will be the next Elvis legacy release from Sony (coupled with Love Letters From Elvis) made me remember my brother telling me of the high praise the album received in a review by Rolling Stone's Peter Guralnick when it was originally released.

My brother had read the review after bying a box set called Rolling Stone Cover To Cover, featuring a searchable digital archive on DVD, from the first issue in 1967 through 2007. He recently gave me the box set as a gift, which enabled me to study the review first hand. I'd like to quote one of the passages Peter Guralnick wrote in issue 77, published on March 4, 1971:

It's the singing, the passion and engagement most of all which mark this album as something truly exceptional, not just an exercise in nostalgia but an ongoing chapter in a history which Elvis' music set in motion. All the familiar virtues are there. The intensity. The throbbing voice. The sense of dynamics. That peculiar combination of hypertension and soul. There is even, for those who care to recall, a frenzied recollection of what the rock era once was, as Elvis takes on Jerry Lee Lewis' masterful "Whole Lotta Shakin'" and comes out relatively unscathed. He has never sung better.

While reading this, I imagined how exciting it must have been being an Elvis fan back then, reading the review and then buying the record and listening to songs such as "Tomorrow Never Comes," "Funny How Time Slips Away," "I Really Don't Wan't To Know" and last but not least, the hard-driving "I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water."

Four months later, though, I bet it wasn't as fun to read what reviewer Jon Landau had to say about Love Letters From Elvis in Rolling Stone issue 87, from July 22, 1971:

The first cut is "Love Letters" and it's a beautiful song. Presley's voice is all there and then in comes the schizoid background, half funk and half muzak. And thus it goes for two sides of Presley's latest. The voice is there, some of the material is OK, James Burton is picking away, the rhythm sounds passable, but oh those strings, horns, background voices, and what not. It's enough to drown a grown man - precisely what it does to Elvis on this album. Love Letters is the most discouraging event of the last three years of Presley's career.

So, do you agree with these reviews from the past? After reading the one by Peter Guralnick I gave Elvis Country a spin, and have to concur with what he wrote: Elvis has never sung better.

From Sweden To Richmond/From Richmond To Sweden: A Little More Conversation

2011-11-13T23:40:00.017+01:00

Welcome to the first ever simultaneous post of Elvis Today Blog and The Mystery Train Blog. We're going to try something a little different and present a discussion of Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis: Recorded Live On Stage In Richmond, Virginia – March 18, 1974, one of the latest CDs from Sony's Follow That Dream Records collectors label for Elvis fans.

The Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis title reflects that Elvis closed out his tour two days after the Richmond concert with a show in Memphis - portions of which became the 1974 album Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis.

Troy [The Mystery Train Blog]
I'm glad you thought of this idea, Thomas. I've probably lost all sense of objectivity on this particular release, since it was recorded in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia.

Thomas [Elvis Today Blog]
Yeah, well, it must have been exciting when you heard of this release. What was your first impression when you listened to it?

Troy

That this was obviously the best Elvis Presley release in history, as I'm sure you'll agree! Just kidding... The first time I played it, I just tried to imagine being there, in the Richmond Coliseum that night.

Thomas
I would've loved to be there, that's for sure. The atmosphere during that particular tour in the southern states obviously was an indescribably electric one, and the shows were of high quality. Have you noticed the joyful laughter from one person in the audience when "Also Sprach Zarathustra" begins? A safe bet is he's one excited man.

Troy
That almost nervous laughter was the first thing I noticed. My other first impression, I was really happy to hear Elvis make Richmond-related references not once, not twice, but three times during the show. I think you've heard more Elvis concerts than I have, Thomas, but I believe it is rare for him to mention what city he is in - outside of Las Vegas, that is.

Thomas
And multiple times at that! Also, I was pleased that he mentioned Sweden as well!

Troy
This is probably the only concert where he mentions both Richmond and Sweden. That's another reason for us to do this post as a joint effort. Now that I think about it, I suppose he very well could have mentioned both during the March 12 show in Richmond, too. This March 18 Richmond show was added because the March 12 one sold out so quickly. So there might be two concerts where he mentions both Richmond and Sweden

Thomas
The reason Elvis mentioned my country is because Sweden's Per-Erik "Pete" Hallin was playing piano for the group Voice at the time. I actually interviewed him once, but that's another story.

Troy
He was a second piano player on the stage at the same time as Glen Hardin? Or just when Voice was opening?

Thomas
I think he was just playing the piano when Voice was opening, and then sang together with them on stage while Elvis was on. Elvis actually mentions Pete at the end of this concert, during "Can't Help Falling In Love," when he sings "... some things, you know, Pete, are meant to be..." He did this two days later in Memphis as well, where he also introduced Pete and the other members of Voice individually.

Troy
I had always wondered who "Pete" was on the Memphis show, so that clears it up. Funny that he gets the exact same mention here on the Richmond concert. As far as I could tell, it is just Elvis doing the same joke, not an audio repair or anything where they pulled it from the Memphis show.

Thomas
I agree, it's the same joke. Elvis obviously liked to recycle his jokes, like the "I saw J.D., with baldheaded Sally" that was used both in Richmond and in Memphis during the "Rock Medley."

Troy
I'm also pretty sure, outside of Vegas, I've never heard Elvis reference the hotel where he stayed. After the introductions on Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis, he thanks Richmond's John Marshall Hotel.

Thomas
Yes, I was actually surprised to hear him mention the hotel. That is unusual.

Troy
So, that first time through, I was really happy with this CD. I was all kinds of worried that I would be disappointed with either the sound or the show itself.

Thomas
Glad you liked the show as well as the sound. Now there's been a lot written about the sound, this being a newly discovered 2-track copy of a 16-track tape.

Troy
Right, we should address the sound controversy. I was already excited about this release when it was first announced. This represents the first official release of an Elvis concert in Richmond, after all. However, when the news later came out that the source of this concert was a 16-track professional recording, rather than the expected soundboard, I think that brought the rest of the Elvis World to where I already was in anticipating this CD.

Thomas
Yes, I was excited when I heard of this, also. A newly discovered 16-track professional recording, where did that one come from?

Troy
That's right. All the fans were excited until FTD essentially said, "Oops, did we mention this was mono?" Then, I think FTD took a lot of heat for that. Some of it deserved, for poor communication. At the same time, I think the reaction by some fans was way overblown. But, hey, I guess that's what Elvis fans do. How did you feel when you found out Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis would actually be in mono?

Thomas
At first, a little disappointed, maybe, but I was looking forward to the album anyway, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to the show for the first time. I think the sound is great!

Troy
I agree, the sound is incredible, especially considering that it is from a mono tape. I was glad to be able to put that concern to rest. I'm not someone who hates mono recordings, though. After all, Elvis has quite a few more mono songs that maybe a few of the complainers should try hearing someday. Such "unknowns" as "Mystery Train," "Jailhouse Rock," "One Night," "Baby, Let's Play House," "Love Me," "Santa Claus Is Back In Town," and "Don't Be Cruel" - to name but a few. There are also some 1960s movie soundtrack songs that I think sound better in mono than their stereo counterparts. "Viva Las Vegas" is one that immediately comes to mind. You can never please everyone, though.

Thomas
Yes, they should give them a spin. I remember when RCA made "electronically created stereo" out of a lot of the mono albums - they sounded terrible!

Troy
I'm glad they didn't try that here.

Thomas
Yeah, me too. Thinking about it, it's really incredible that a show in this sound quality surfaces so many years after it was recorded.

Troy
That is the real mystery here, and the liner notes really do nothing to clear that one up. Just the same kinds of speculation all of us were doing when we first heard.

Thomas
Anyway, I bet you're happy it was Richmond they choose.

Troy
37 years late, but yeah!

Thomas
So, what about the actual show, Troy? No doubt Elvis is in good spirits and enjoying his work, wouldn't you agree? He sounds happy and close to laughter on many occasions. "Fever" is probably as close to a laughing version as it gets. "That's a fun song to do!" he says. At the same time, he delivers good, solid renditions of many of the songs. "Steamroller Blues" is one of the highlights to me, as is "Polk Salad Annie" and "An American Trilogy." Not to mention "Trying To Get To You," where he really uses his voice to the fullest.

Troy
Well, jumping right into "Fever," I've never been a big fan of the "I light up when you call my name... ELVIS!" versions of this song, for some reason. So, that is my least favorite track on the album.

Thomas
In a way I agree, but I think the version two days later in Memphis is even worse.

Troy
I agree that the Richmond Fever is better than the Memphis Fever, but it's a bad bug, either way. At times, "Let Me Be There" also grates on my nerves, and don't even get me started on J.D. Sumner's "Amen" dive-bomb routine. However, those are just about the only negatives I ultimately found about this show.

Thomas
Maybe that was a song that was more fun to watch than only hear.

Troy
I was also worried about "Suspicious Minds" - a favorite of mine. I was really disappointed by the Memphis live version of that one when it finally came out a few years ago. So, I was worried that I wouldn't like the Richmond version, either. But it's great, very energetic. It would've been great to see.

Thomas
Yes, by this time he'd performed "Suspicious Minds" for five years or something, and I always thought he was tired of it, when I heard the version from Memphis. But in Richmond he does sound happier with it, that's true, Troy!

Troy
The other highlights for me were "Also Sprach Zarathustra"/"See See Rider," for the excitement of imagining Elvis taking the Richmond Coliseum stage by storm. "Steamroller Blues," which I might like even better than Memphis version, my favorite rendition until this point.

Thomas
I just love the way he shouts "Aargh!" at the intro of "Steamroller Blues," and what then follows really lives up to the song's name.

Troy
Let's see, I also enjoyed the "Rock Medley" - what a great idea for Elvis to link together all those songs. Rather than just do the typical "Hound Dog" throwaway, I think it worked somewhat better like this, at the tail end of the medley. It's still too fast, but not as disappointing as most of the other post-1970 Hound Dogs.

Thomas
For some reason I thought the "Rock Medley" rocked even more than it did in Memphis, and I love the tail end too!

Troy
Yes, the "Rock Medley" was another one that Elvis performed better than its Memphis counterpart. No doubt due to the incredible crowd of Richmonders there to inspire him!
"Polk Salad Annie" was one I didn't care for on Memphis, but loved it in Richmond.

Thomas
I always enjoy hearing Elvis saying things I've never heard in songs before, like during the guitar solo in "Polk Salad Annie" by James Burton where he says something like "Sneak up on him, Ronnie!" I can just imagine him casting a glance in Tutt's direction while saying this.

Troy
Yeah! I guess because we've heard so many of his shows, that's the kind of stuff that stands out to us. While the general public would say, "Why do I need another 'Polk Salad Annie'?"

Thomas
The two songs that got the most serious renditions were the gospel songs, "Why Me, Lord" and "Help Me."

Troy
I was relieved that "Why Me" wasn't a laughing/joking version. Not that I mind some joking, but it seems ill-suited for a gospel song. I think I like the Memphis version of "Why Me" better, though.

Thomas
Elvis cared deeply for that kind of music.

Troy
You know, that's one of the terrific things about his show, especially from this time period, the way it brings together so many kinds of music - gospel, country, blues, rock 'n' roll. What other so-called "rock star" could do that?

Thomas
That's true, Troy, Elvis sang "Something for Everybody." Speaking of the gospel stuff, I did miss "How Great Thou Art." But hey, that's a minor complaint.

Troy
Funny, I was just about to say the same thing about "How Great Thou Art," which of course featured prominently on the Memphis concert album. I had a slight twinge of disappointment when I saw the Richmond track listing and it wasn't there.

Thomas
I just love it when he sings the ending one more time in Memphis. And his voice, so powerful, it gives me goose bumps!

Troy
At least the Grammys got that one right. So, what did you think about the bonus songs, recorded in Tulsa and Memphis? I thought it was cool to hear "Sweet Caroline" in 1974. I don't remember hearing that one outside of 1970 before. Also, "Johnny B. Goode" is always welcome.

Thomas
I think the most important thing was that they showed what a difference there is in sound quality between a soundboard and the professionally recorded Richmond concert. And once again I was reminded how very similar "My Baby Left Me" and "That's All Right" sound.

Troy
It was really awesome to hear a 1974 version of "That's All Right" in Memphis. That live performance was just a few months shy of the 20th anniversary of Elvis first recording it at Sun Studio there - the record that started it all.

Thomas
I hadn't thought of that. That is indeed awesome!

Troy
What do you think about Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis being presented in the oversized, 7-inch digipack format usually reserved for FTD's Classic Albums series?

Thomas
I thought it was great that it was presented this way. I'm a bit tired of the live material not getting treated as serious as the classic album series.

Troy
Agreed. If I remember correctly, they originally planned this treatment for As Recorded At Boston Garden last year, but a production issue or something caused them to put it in the standard, smaller format.

Thomas
Or was it the latest 1969 concert, I don't remember.

Troy
That's right, it was actually the Live In Vegas release they originally planned for the larger format. Maybe, FTD now intends to use that format more often? Perhaps, at least on "special" releases of live material where the sound and/or show is of a high quality.

Thomas
Here's hoping the last couple of August 1969 and 1970 concerts will get this treatment.

Troy
That would be great. I hope that's the case as well.

Thomas
Hopefully the 1972 concert in Richmond will also get an official release soon, together with the other shows recorded for Elvis On Tour.

Troy
Yes, that is the Richmond show that has the best chance of also getting an official release in my lifetime. I just hope it's sooner, rather than later. Until Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis came out, I always assumed the Elvis On Tour show would be the first Elvis in Richmond concert I would be able to hear. Do you think the release of this 1974 show will mean that there will be less of a chance of the 1972 Richmond show coming soon?

Thomas
I hope not, Troy. I've heard that Ernst Jorgensen is waiting for Turner/Warner Home Video to make a move with the unreleased footage, to do a combo of sorts, but that won't happen anytime soon, I'm afraid. I just hope he realizes this and releases the shows from Elvis On Tour anyway. For now I'm really pleased with FTD for releasing this Richmond show, it's not an album that's going to collect a lot of dust on the shelf for a long time yet.

Troy
I'm definitely happy about this release as well. This is a special CD that I'll be playing often for the rest of my life. What are your final thoughts on this CD? What are you going to remember most about it?

Thomas
You know what I thought halfway into listening to it the first time? It hit me how happy I am being an Elvis fan, and what a pleasure it gives me to listen to a great concert like the one from Richmond. Also, that Elvis was in great shape during the March 1974 tour, delivering the goods in style! But I guess, I'm gonna remember the most how incredible it is that a professionally Elvis concert like this can suddenly make an appearance out of the blue. It was almost as exciting waiting for it as listening to it. Well, not really, but hopefully you see my point.

Troy
Yes . . . it shows hope that there is still more out there, waiting to be discovered. Things not even rumored to exist.
For me, it was really something to finally hear an Elvis concert recorded here in Richmond. This is something I have dreamed of since I was a little boy, reading over the lists of cities that he visited, wishing that there was a Richmond album to go alongside As Recorded At Madison Square Garden, Aloha From Hawaii, and all the others. It's still hard to believe I now hold that album in my hands.
He appeared here 15 times. This is number 14, yet he still sounds engaged, like he's having a great time. Obviously, everyone here was, too. It was a fantastic show. Though he came back here once more in 1976, my understanding is that this 1974 concert was his last great show in Richmond. The only thing that could potentially top this feeling for me would be Warner releasing Elvis On Tour: Richmond 1972 on Blu-ray.

Thomas
In that way, I envy you, Troy. As he never came to Europe and Sweden, I can't begin to imagine how great that must feel.

Troy
Thanks again, Thomas. This has been a fun little experiment, but I wonder if people will enjoy reading this kind of post?

Thomas
I sure hope so. At least it was enjoyable to write, so thank you, Troy!

Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis

Live At The Richmond Coliseum, March 18, 1974
01) Also Sprach Zarathustra/
02) See See Rider
03) I Got A Woman/Amen [edited with Memphis, March 20, 1974]
04) Love Me
05) Tryin' To Get To You
06) All Shook Up
07) Steamroller Blues
08) Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel
09) Love Me Tender
10) Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On/Your Mama Don't Dance/Flip, Flop & Fly/Jailhouse Rock/Hound Dog
11) Fever
12) Polk Salad Annie
13) Why Me
14) Suspicious Minds
15) Introductions By Elvis
16) I Can’t Stop Loving You
17) Help Me
18) An American Trilogy
19) Let Me Be There
20) Funny How Time Slips Away
21) Can’t Help Falling In Love/
22) Closing Vamp

Bonus Songs
23) Sweet Caroline [Tulsa, March 1, 1974]
24) Johnny B. Goode [Memphis, March 17, 1974]
25) That’s All Right [Memphis, March 17, 1974]

King Creole - The Music

2011-11-11T19:50:00.028+01:00

This evening I sat down and listened to the CD included with the King Creole - the Music book/CD combo while at the same time leafing through the book. This FTD release from 2010 was a birthday gift this year from my wife, but for some reason I haven't taken the time to fully study it until today.

The book is divided in two more or less equally large parts including more than 200 photos, the majority of them never before published, from the recording session and the filming of the song scenes for the movie.

The highlight for me is the first part, showing Elvis at work at Radio Recorders on January 16, 1958, the second day of the sessions (when he recorded "Dixieland Rock," "Lover Doll," "Don't Ask Me Why," "As Long As I Have You," Steadfast, Loyal And True" (first version) and "As Long As I Have You" (movie version). The "audiovisual documentary" concept works well here, studying the photos while listening to the accompanying CD puts you right there in the studio. Or as Piers Beagle writes in his review on the Elvis Information Network website:

There are 92 pages of Elvis recording, playing the piano, talking with the band, Charles O’Curran [Choreographer Paramount] and Hal Wallis [Producer, Paramount] etc. Some of them are truly fascinating. You can feel the music being created – it is almost a movie with plenty of images obviously taken seconds apart.

Speaking of Piers Beagley, I found myself agreeing 100 per cent with his thorough review. And not only about the positive things, such as the brilliant photos in the second part of the book of Elvis giving "King Creole" his all, the sweat stains on his shirt clearly visible.

Just like him I can't understand the decision not to include the extended version of "Crawfish" as well as the instrumental version of "King Creole" (both were released on Hits Like Never Before, Essential Elvis Volume 3 in 1990). It's not like there's any lack of space on the CD - it runs for only about 36 minutes. According to the text on the back of the cover it "includes all known surviving Elvis recordings from the session," but obviously this isn't the case.

And what's more, other tracks could also have been included, such as the song "Bananas" sung by Liliane Montevecchi (like FTD did with "The Climb" by George McFadden on the Viva Las Vegas classic album). After all, five pictures of her performing this song are included in the book. Not to mention the overdubbed movie versions of "King Creole" (with drum roll on the line "he holds his guitar like a tommy gun") and "New Orleans" (with extra Jordanaires vocal backing and finger clicking).

That said, I enjoyed listening to the unique soundtrack from what is probably Elvis' best movie, simultaneously studying him at work during the recording sessions. After all, photos of Elvis in the studio are extremely rarel, and in this quality even more so (only Alfred Wertheimer's famous photographs from 1956 comes to mind). And it's certainly not everyday you get a chance to see Elvis singing his heart out in striped socks!

Poster For The Original Elvis Tribute 2012

2011-11-07T20:21:00.011+01:00

Just a short post to tell you that I have received the poster for "The Original Elvis Tribute" show that's playing in Vara, Sweden, on April 7, next year. Arjan Deelen, who's putting the show together, e-mailed it to me today.

I like the way it's retro styled and inspired by the artwork for the 1968 NBC TV Special.

Read more about "The Original Elvis Tribute"

A Thing Called Love

2011-11-05T15:54:00.012+01:00

One of the topics I try to cover here on my blog are personal memories I've had through the years having to do with Elvis. After more than four years of blogging I thought I'd exhausted that particular subject, but yesterday another Elvis memory came to me.

While listening to "A Thing Called Love" from the He Touched Me album I suddenly remembered the first time I heard that song. In my mind I was transported back in time and place, to a summer evening at my grandparents cottage in Denmark, where I spent all my summer vacations.

Like a lot of my Elvis memories some parts are still clear while others are more blurred. I do remember sitting in the sofa with my grandparents' old transistor radio in front of me on the table, turning the tuner knob on the AM band, trying to find some Elvis music. I think the reason for this was that the it was August 16, 1982, five years after Elvis death, but I'm not 100 percent sure.

But this I remember vividly: suddenly the radio noise transforming itself to an Elvis song sounding from the speaker that I'd never heard before. Yes, you guessed right, it was "A Thing Called Love." With the help of the tuner knob I tried to make the sound as clear as possibly, and was rewarded with even more Elvis music.

As it turned out, I'd stumbled over some kind of Elvis radio special. Here my memory fails me again, but I think it was a broadcast from West Germany, playing from 9 PM to midnight. I do recall my grandparents going to bed (my grandpa after smoking his pipe in his rocking chair), leaving me with the radio and Elvis. I also remember hearing other Elvis songs for the first time, I think "It's Midnight" was one of them.

I'm glad this particular Elvis memory returned to me yesterday. It made me think of, not only the first time I heard "A Thing Called Love," but also of all the happy vacations I spent with my grandparents at their summer house.

The Original Elvis Tribute Is Coming To Sweden

2011-11-01T19:50:00.009+01:00

A couple of months ago I wrote that “The Original Elvis Tribute” will return for another tour in Europe in April 2012. This week Arjan Deelen, who produces the show, sent me an e-mail where he let me know that he was adding Sweden to the tour schedule.

The news thrilled me as I missed the show the last time it visitied my country, back in 2009. Now it looks like I'm getting a second chance. So I asked Arjan if he could write something about the show that I could post on my blog to share with you. And here it is:

I’m very pleased to announce that ‘The Original Elvis Tribute’ will be back in Sweden next year. The show will take place at Vara Konserthus on Saturday, April 7th, 2012. This show promises to be very special and will include five people who have worked with Elvis:

* Bobby Wood on keyboard - A true music industry giant who has worked with artists like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Neil Diamond. Mr. Wood’s work with Elvis includes playing on the comeback album FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS (1969), as well as on classics like “Suspicious Minds” and “In The Ghetto”;

* Duke Bardwell on bass – A phenomenal singer / songwriter who did more than 180 shows with Elvis as his bassplayer, and who also worked in the studio with him in 1975;

* Mary & Ginger Holladay on backing vocals – a widely respected backing group who sang on numerous hits, in Elvis’ case on a.o. “Suspicious Minds”, “In The Ghetto”, “The Wonder Of You” and “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me”. Elvis loved their voices, and they sang on 14 of his original albums! Ginger Holliday is one of the very few people who actually got to sing a duet with Elvis in the studio. The Holladay Sisters have never been in Europe before for an Elvis tribute tour, so this is a real scoop;

* Jerome ‘Stump’ Monroe on drums – Mr. Monroe was a part of the Elvis Presley show from 1969 – ’77, primarily to play drums for all the warming up acts. However, on those occasions where Elvis’ regular drummer was unable to do the show, Monroe played drums for Elvis, which he did in ’71, ’75 and ’77. He was the last drummer to play “Love Me Tender” and “One Night” with Elvis.

Leadsinger is the charismatic Robert Washington, who has dazzled audiences in the US, Europe and Japan with his fantastic voice and showmanship. Mr. Washington’s singing voice is remarkably close to Elvis’. Both Elvis’ friends and family have praised him, and he won the title “The World’s Best Elvis” in Memphis on several occasions.

Here’s a few clips from the shows in May ’11:
http://youtu.be/alqy2JOKaHk (How Great Thou Art)
http://youtu.be/qqYut7QBFx8 (Young & Beautiful + Mystery Train / Tiger Man)
http://youtu.be/pjGclv8672g (Always On My Mind)
http://youtu.be/f2kaSgKJ-6U (Walk A Mile In My Shoes)

This show will be an exclusive for Sweden, and Vara Konserthus only has a capacity of 500, so order your tickets today if you want to avoid disappointment. The price is 395 kr. per ticket and they can be ordered from the venue: www.varakonserthus.se

After the show, there will be a meet and greet with plenty of opportunity for everybody to talk to these legendary musicians or have your photo taken with them. ‘The Original Elvis Tribute’ has played for ecstatic audiences everywhere it went, so don’t miss this remarkable show. Let’s commemorate the 35th anniversary of Elvis’ passing in style and join us for a one-of-a-kind celebration of the man and his music at Vara Konserthus on April 7th, 2012. Additional info on www.elvisnews.dk

Promised Land - FTD Light Version

2011-10-27T20:15:00.011+02:00

Of course I had to do it - just like I did with He Touched Me and Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas - that is, create my own "FTD light version" of Promised Land. This I did today by collecting all the outtakes that have been released officially so far.

The difference this time was that I had access to the real tracklist that's already been announced for the "full version" of Promised Land a couple of days ago. So I followed that one as closely as possible to see how many unreleased outtakes we can expect from this eagerly awaited FTD album.

THE ORIGINAL ALBUM
01 Promised Land
02 There’s A Honky Tonk Angel (Who Will Take Me Back In)
03 Help Me
04 Mr. Songman
05 Love Song Of The Year
06 It’s Midnight
07 Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming
08 If You Talk In Your Sleep
09 Thinking About You
10 You Asked Me To

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
11 Promised Land - take 4
12 Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming - take 10
13 If You Talk In Your Sleep - take 5
14 Thinking About You - take 4
15 You Asked Me To - take 2
16 Promised Land - take 5
17 It's Midnight - take 11

SESSIONS - THE MAKING OF
o1 You Asked Me To - take 1
02 Thinking About You - take 3
03 Promised Land - take 2
04 Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming - take 4
05 There's A Honky Tonk Angel - take 1
06 It's Midnight - take 10

Comparing my "light version" with the real one, it's obvious that we're in for a treat when it comes to unreleased material. Counting conservatively (one complete take/track), I make it 19 complete unreleased outtakes, in addition to another 16 incomplete outtakes as well as two unreleased rehearsals and three undubbed masters.

The only question mark I have so far is what I've read on different forums concerning take 1 of "Promised Land" which isn't included (although the tracklist is said to be still under development). Apparently this take contains some rough language, so maybe that's the reason for its absence.

After all, this has happened before, like on From Sunset To Las Vegas, where the first version of "It's Midnight" was omitted, probably because of Elvis cussing. On the other hand, other FTD albums do have Elvis using "bad" language. Just listen to the "Ode To A Robin" poem after the last track on Made In Memphis.

Still, it's a minor point. I've waited a long time for Promised Land getting the FTD classic album treatment, and judging by the tracklist I have to say it was well worth waiting for.

The “FTD light version” of Promised Land was done by using all of the alternate takes that have been officially released so far. They can be found on Platinum: A Life In Music, Today, Tomorrow And Forever, Rhythm And Country: Essential Elvis Volume 5 and Made In Memphis.

Promised Land Among New FTD Releases

2011-10-24T19:53:00.019+02:00

I'm happy to report that the Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain got it right this time. Promised Land will be one of the upcoming releases from the Follow That Dream label available early December.

And not only that. Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas is due for release at the same time. This means that three of the four titles I speculated about in January will receive the FTD classic album treatment this year.

In addition to Promised Land and Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas, FTD is also releasing a vinyl version of Elvis Is Back, as well as a 192-page book, A Moment in Time, that promises a stunning look at four days of Elvis’ life in 1956.

It's going to be a Christmas, Elvis style, that's for sure! Just check out the tracklists for Promised Land and Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas below.

TRACKLISTS

“PROMISED LAND” (Tracklist still in development)

DISC 1
THE ORIGINAL ALBUM
01 Promised Land
02 There’s A Honky Tonk Angel (Who Will Take Me Back In)
03 Help Me
04 Mr. Songman
05 Love Song Of The Year
06 It’s Midnight
07 Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming
08 If You Talk In Your Sleep
09 Thinking About You
10 You Asked Me To

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS – THE ALTERNATE ALBUM
11 Promised Land – take 4
12 There’s A Honky Tonk Angel – takes 3,2,7
13 Help Me - take 1 (undubbed master)
14 Mr. Songman – take 2
15 Love Song Of The Year – take 1
16 It’s Midnight – take 9
17 Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming - take 10
18 If You Talk In Your Sleep - take 5
19 Thinking About You – take 4
20 You Asked Me To – ?

MORE SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
21 Promised Land – take 5
22 Love Song Of The Year – take 7
23 It’s Midnight – take 11
24 Thinking About You – takes 5,6
25 You Asked Me To – ?

DISC 2
SESSIONS – THE MAKING OF
01 It’s Midnight – takes 1-4, 8,7
02 You Asked Me To – ?
03 Mr. Songman take 1
04 Thinking About You – rehearsal
05 Thinking About You – take 3
06 Promised Land – take 3,2
07 Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming – takes 2,3
08 Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming – take 4
09 There’s A Honky Tonk Angel – take 1
10 Love Song Of The Year – rehearsal
11 Love Song Of The Year – take 2
12 It’s Midnight – take 10
13 If You Talk In Your Sleep –takes 6,7, 8
14 Mr. Songman – takes 3,6
15 Love Song Of The Year – takes x,y, 8 (undubbed master)
16 You Asked Me To – take 3B (4 ??)
17 There’s A Honky Tonk Angel – takes ?
18 It’s Midnight – takes 15,16
19 Promised Land – take 6 – undubbed master
20 Thinking About You – ?
21 Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming – take 8
22 Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming – take 9

“ELVIS SINGS THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF CHRISTMAS”

DISC 1
THE ORIGINAL ALBUM
01 O Come, All Ye Faithful 2:48
02 The First Noel 2:09
03 On A Snowy Christmas Night 2:49
04 Winter Wonderland 2:17
05 The Wonderful World Of Christmas 1:57
06 It Won’t Seem Like Christmas (Without You) 2:41
07 I’ll Be Home On Christmas Day 3:48
08 If I Get Home On Christmas Day 2:51
09 Holly Leaves And Christmas Trees 2:52
10 Merry Christmas Baby 5:44
11 Silver Bells 2:26

BONUS SONG
12 I’ll Be Home On Christmas Day – remake master 3:43

FIRST TAKES
13 It Won’t Seem Like Christmas (Without You) -takes 1-3 4:36
14 If I Get Home On Christmas Day - take 1 3:37
15 I’ll Be Home On Christmas Day - takes 1-3 7:54
16 Holly Leaves And Christmas Trees - takes 1,2 3:13
17 Silver Bells - takes 1,2 4:41
18 I’ll Be Home On Christmas Day – remake takes 1,2 5:48

DISC 2
01 I’ll Be Home On Christmas Day – take 4 4:58
02 If I Get Home On Christmas Day - takes 2,3 3:51
03 Holly Leaves And Christmas Trees - take 3 2:27
04 I’ll Be Home On Christmas Day – remake take 3 4:24
05 It Won’t Seem Like Christmas (Without You) - takes 4,5 3:03
06 O Come, All Ye Faithful – take 2 4:28
07 If I Get Home On Christmas Day - take 5 3:00
08 The Lord’s Prayer 3:01 (Public Domain)
09 I’ll Be Home On Christmas Day - takes 5,6 4:26
10 Holly Leaves And Christmas Trees - takes 4 2:36
11 It’ Won’t Seem Like Christmas (Without You) - take 6 3:14
12 Merry Christmas Baby – take 1 (unedited version) 8:29
13 I’ll Be Home On Christmas Day – remake takes 4-9 7:24
14 If I Get Home On Christmas Day - take 7 2:57
15 Holly Leaves And Christmas Trees - takes 5-8 3:39
16 Winter Wonderland – takes 7,8 3:53

Special Moments With FTD 12

2011-10-23T17:03:00.015+02:00

This post is dedicated to Michael Jarrett.

”This is a hit for sure,” David Briggs says after the first take and looks up from his piano.

From the other side of the room Terry Blackwood and Joe Moscheo, two of the members of the gospel group the Imperials, nod their heads in agreement.

Elvis, clad in a black, wide-shouldered, V-necked, high-collared jacket trimmed with leather and gold, shares their confidence. The song seems to offer him the challenge he needs, after the assignment of recording his second Christmas album as well as material for a third religious album.

Gone is the Christmas tree with its empty wrapped boxes that has been standing in the center of the room, and with it the drudgery of working on Christmas songs in the midst of spring.

On this the second-to-last night of the session, producer Felton Jarvis is determined to get Elvis to record some contemporary material that can give them a much-needed hit. And the first song of the evening, Michael Jarrett and Sonny Charles’ “I’m Leavin’,” might be just what they are looking for.

But it’s a demanding song. The second take lasts for only about a minute before Elvis stops singing.

“No, me, sorry, I was a little behind on that ‘lonely’, right?” he asks the Imperials that sings harmony with him.

Together they run through, very informally, the unusual structure of the song, starting with the last part of the first short verse and the start of the next, then discussing the ‘la la la’ refrain and the bridge.

“After that first bridge we did ‘la la la la la la …’.” Elvis starts singing to demonstrate.

Then Charlie Hodge, easy recognizable in his white and blue patterned shirt, turns to the Imperials to explain.

“We got it. We know what it is. It’s just the ‘la la’s’ done twice, each line twice, Joe Moscheo answers back, a slight note of irritation in his voice.

“Ah, yeah, we’ll try that too in the middle,” Elvis says to smooth things over.

“OK, we’re rolling, count it out,” Felton Jarvis then orders.

What follows is a beautiful third take of the song, to which Elvis and his musicians commit a good deal of hard, sustained effort.

Elvis changes the quality of his voice to emphasize the despairing nature of the lyrics. This, together with the delicate acoustic guitar work by James Burton and Chip Young, as well as the harmony between Elvis and the Imperials, lends the song a haunting quality.

“Phew, man that’s tough,” Elvis declares after the ending. “But this thing is worth working on.”

To listen to the studio outtakes of “I’m Leavin’,” play tracks number 5 and 18 on disc 2 of FTD's Elvis Now released last year. (Take 3 was first made available on FTD’s I Sing All Kinds in 2007.) This post was inspired by the article “The terrible beauty of I’m Leavin’” by Paul Simpson published at the Elvis Australia website.

The Meaning Of Elvis

2011-10-20T20:03:00.014+02:00

My wife recently bought me a copy of the September/October issue of the Intelligent Life magazine published by The Economist. The reason for this was a big picture of Elvis on the front cover as well as an article inside titled "The King And I" by Ray Connolly.

The article looked promising enough, as Mr. Connolly actually got to go to Las Vegas in 1969 for the London Evening Standard and interview Elvis. Unfortunately I wasn't too impressed after finishing it.

You see, I've read many articles on the same theme through the years. I bet you've seen them too, paying tribute (rightly) to Elvis in the 50's, then pointing out the huge mistake that Elvis did heading for Hollywood ("Elvis, the great inventor, was turning into a plump pudding of banality"), and finally, after admitting that he had a couple of good years around 1968-1972, describing the decline ("He was a drugged-out carricature of himself").

But what about Ray Connolly's meeting with Elvis? Well, after seeing a couple of the shows in August, 1969 ("He didn't [... let us down...] But Elvis did race through several of his biggest hits as though bored with them, and the kung fu moves [...] were plain silly."), he finally got to meet Elvis ("And, in truth, what I got that night was more of an audience at court than an interview.")

In all fairness, reading about the meeting was interesting enough, with Mr. Connolly asking questions about the movie career, praising the Elvis Is Back album (that Elvis liked too) and Elvis talking about doing a world tour.

But Ray Connolly then goes on ventilating his disappointment over the fact that Elvis never did recorded another album like Elvis Is Back, that he never played more serious parts and that he never did a world tour. And then, near the end of the article, he writes something that clearly is a reconstruction that doesn't hold true (but makes for a good ending).

At one of his last concerts in 1977, filmed for TV, he even apologised before singing a song he’d first recorded at 20. His voice, he said, had been a lot higher then. It must have been a bleak moment of self-realisation. That lightness of touch he’d once enjoyed, the way he’d been able to soar and dip effortlessly, often bestowing on a song more mellifluousness or passion than it might have deserved, was gone.

Now, if there was one thing going for Elvis in 1977, it was his voice. Also, he'd used that line about his voice being a lot higher then, since he first started doing "Trying To Get To You" in 1974.

So, what is my conclusion of all this? Troy Y. over at The Mystery Train Elvis Blog pointed me in the direction of a blog penned by Sheila and a post called "I Refuse To Be Sad About Elvis Presley."

It is my personal opinion that focusing on regret when one focuses on Elvis is not the way to go [...]. If one focuses on regret, and the what-might-have-beens, then his entire career starts to look tragic. [...] But change the filter just slightly, move the prism a quarter-inch to the left, and the entire thing seems completely improbable, first of all, as well as totally triumphant, second of all. Who could survive making such a string of bad movies [...] and still come roaring back in 1968, as he did, not only relevant, but dangerous? That 1968 special is dangerous and it wouldn’t have been possible without Presley having been boxed up in a daunting movie contract for the entirety of the 60s.

Maybe if writers like Ray Connolly looked at Elvis in this light instead, their articles would hold much vore value. At least to fans like myself who's interested in more than the 50's and the '68 Comeback Special.

I've Got A Thing About You Baby

2011-10-15T19:21:00.006+02:00

Today we celebrated our daughter's first birthday together with family and friends. Though she didn't receive any Elvis gifts like she did a year ago, his music was of course playing in the background.

And speaking of Elvis, I couldn't help looking up how he celebrated Lisa Marie's first birthday. According to Elvis Day By Day the celebration took place in Aspen on a ski-and-snowmobile vacation.

Then, while leafing through the adjacent pages, it hit me how many important and crucial career moves Elvis made during the year following Lisa Marie's birth.

He proceeded to make movies in a more adult vein (Live A Little, Love A Little, Charro! and The Trouble With Girls).
He did his 1968 Elvis television special, later referred to as the '68 Comeback Special.
He (or rather the Colonel) accepted a deal to perform at the yet-to-be-built International Hotel in Las Vegas in July 1969.
He choose to record at American Studios in Memphis instead of Nashville, cutting songs such as "In The Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds," the latter turning out to be his first number-one hit since 1962.

Looking back at my own year since our daughter was born, I'm of course nowhere near an impressive score like that. Still, it's been the greatest time of my life, becoming a father and spending time with my daughter. And Elvis continues to take a part in my life as well.

I Got Lucky

2011-10-11T20:13:00.012+02:00

At the end of last month a lot of Elvis sites reported that Elvis once again has been rewarded more RIAA Gold and Platinum awards - some of them somewhat unexpected. I was pleased to notice that two of the first Elvis albums I ever listened to were among them.

You see, when I first started to take notice of Elvis I borrowed a couple of his albums from a friend at school. They were Elvis In Concert, A Canadian Tribute, C'mon Everybody, I Got Lucky (now awarded Platinum) and Mahalo From Elvis (now awarded Gold).

I guess every fan gets to know Elvis in a different way. For those who had the privilege to follow his career during his lifetime that way was more chronological than for fans such as myself who discovered him after his death.

To this day I can remember the excitement listening to all those movie songs featured on I Got Lucky and C'mon Everybody. Today I know that the majority of the songs originated from four of Elvis soundtracks (all of them originally released on EP records), but back then I didn't have a clue. But that wasn't important.

What mattered was how happy I felt listening to songs such as "What A Wonderful Life," "Riding The Rainbow," "Fools Fall In Love," and "If You Think I Don't Need You" to name a few.

And although I didn't know a lot about Elvis' career at the time, I quickly realized that he was a versatile singer. A record like Mahalo From Elvis was proof enough. One one side of the LP were songs done in a slow tempo with a Hawaiian feeling (I later learned they were recorded immediately after the Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite show), as opposed to the different sounding movie songs on the other side.

My point is, although far from being Elvis' greatest, albums such as I Got Lucky and Mahalo From Elvis played an important role in me becoming an Elvis fan. That's why I'm glad they were among the new RIAA album awards. I sure got lucky borrowing them from my classmate all those years ago.

Elvis At Fresno Air Terminal Footage

2011-10-06T19:28:00.016+02:00

It's always exciting to learn of new footage with Elvis. Today was no exception. Thanks to the Elvis Information Network I found myself watching a clip on YouTube of Elvis at the Fresno Air Terminal as he departs the day after performing his two back-to-back sold-out shows at Fresno's Selland Arena, April 26, 1973.

Lasting about three and a halv minutes,the footage shows the yellow "flying banana" DC-9 aircraft from Hughes Airwest as it arrives at the terminal, then one of the flight attendants looking excited with a camera in her hand, and finally the arrival of two limousines, Elvis exiting the last one, looking cool in one of his Cisco Kid suits, waving in the direction of the camera.

Other familiar faces include Vernon, Red West (wearing a Super Fly hat), Charlie Hodge, Dr. Nick, Joe Esposito and James Caughley a.k.a. "Hamburger James."

Watching the footage I noticed that more than one super 8 camera must have been present as the sequence of Elvis climbing aboard the plane is shown twice, from different angles. Another proof of this is the camera capturing a woman bouncing with happiness, movie camera in hand, as the plane is taxiing away.

I was pleased to see that the closing credits proved me right, stating that the "footage was taken by my mom & aunt¨." Reading this I also understood who the happy boy and girl featured in the footage were, and I smiled to myself as the next line scrolled over the screen: "Of course we missed school that day ;)"

Also check out:
Louisville footage (posted June 1, 2010)

Screaming From Start To Finish

2011-10-02T20:12:00.010+02:00

It must've been an incredible experience being in the audience during Elvis' final show for the Louisiana Hayride on December 15, 1956. Thanks to Sony’s RCA/Legacy label and it's release of the 5 CD box set Young Man With The Big Beat it's now possible to join the mass hysteria that took place that night at the Hirsch Youth Center of the Louisiana Fairgrounds.

The third CD of the box set features the show from start to finish (although the first half of "Heartbreak Hotel" is missing) and it's great finally being able to listen to all ten songs from this historical occasion.

From the start it's clear that the audience is going crazy over Elvis. The 9,000 fans that attended are screaming, cheering and yelling constantly during the half hour the show lasts. Lee Cotten describes it as "waves of noise washing across the stage," and that's exactly what it sound like. If it isn't mass hysteria, then I don't know what to call it.

The show kicks off with "Heartbreak Hotel" and already the place is cooking. Elvis then introduces the next number with, "Here's a sad song," and launches himself into a breathtaking version of "Long Tall Sally."

"Hey, are we on radio," he jokes before doing "I Was The One," exaggerating the line "She lived-ahhh, she loved, she laughed, she cried," sending the audience in a frenzy, then changing the line to "I'll never know, I wish it would snow," interestingly enough getting no reaction at all.

"We'd like to do a song from the movie, friends, from which I got blasted... yeah, right here," he kids the audience and then delivers a fine version of "Love Me Tender," extra verse and all. "Now we'd like to do one of my biggest records for you, friends, it's a song called ..." Elvis does "Don't Be Cruel" in a style similar to the one he did eleven days earlier, during the Million Dollar Quartet session, that is, Elvis imitating Jackie Wilson imitating Elvis.

"Love Me" follows, in a version that stays true to the one on his second LP album. The crowd is going absolutely wild. So is D.J. Fontana during the next song, a frantic "I Got A Woman," that drives the audience crazy again. The Jordanaires does a great job on "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again," a version sounding very much like the studio recording as well.

Then it's time for the only known live recording of "Paralyzed." "Nobody move, I think I see Moby Dick," Elvis says before he starts singing, and it's easy to visualize him lifting the microphone stand, just like he would 12 years later right before singing "Don't Be Cruel" during the shooting of his 1968 Comeback Special. Of course, the audience is as far from paralyzed as can be during the song, shouting at the top of their lungs.

Elvis then closes the show with the rousing, extra-long version of "Hound Dog," released in 1984 on the LP titled Elvis: The First Live Recordings. Only this time we get the whole song, including a spoken introduction by Elvis as well: "As a great philosopher once said ... and we quote ... You ain't nothin' but a Hound ..." Awesome!

So, simply put, this is a show you can't afford to miss. And you don't even have to buy the complete Young Man With The Big Beat box set to join the mass hysteria, as the individual tracks are available as downloads on iTunes and Amazon (although the tracks are off limits on Amazon for those of us living in Sweden, while iTunes works just fine).

Promised Land Next FTD Release?

2011-10-01T12:29:00.017+02:00

If one is to believe the Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain one of the November releases from the Follow That Dream label will be Promised Land. In their October/November magazine it's listed as a November 20 release (2 CD 7" Gatefold, track listing to be announced) together with the Four Days In 56 FTD book.

If this is true then it's certainly great news. Promised Land is one of the titles I've been really looking forward to in the classic album series, especially since the top notch Good Times release from FTD in 2009. I actually thought Promised Land would follow shortly after, but apparently the FTD people have been having some difficulty with the tapes, as reported by EIN contributor ElvisSessions from Elvis Week this August.

Ernst discussed “Promised Land” as an example of why it's never a sure thing which FTDs will be coming out in what order. He said he expected that album would have been out more than a year ago, but they were having some trouble with the tapes and had to call in an expert to figure out why the sound wasn't coming out as they expected. Does that mean that project is still in limbo? I wouldn't assume so, just that it is an example of unexpected delays.

Well, maybe the problems have been sorted out and Promised Land has been getting the FTD treatment and is ready for a November release. On the other hand the British fan club has been wrong before, as recently as this summer the June/July magazine reported that G.I. Blues was "understood" to be one of three July releases.

I for one hope the fan club got their facts right this time. He Touched Me and 48 Hours To Memphis followed by Promised Land sounds almost too good to be true.

Queenie Wahine's Papaya

2011-09-30T22:47:00.015+02:00

The movie Paradise, Hawaiian Style generally ranks as one of Elvis' worst. But to my five year old niece, it makes for an exciting adventure.

A couple of weeks ago her father borrowed my DVD copies of Paradise, Hawaiian Style and Fun In Acapulco. She's heard me talk a lot about Elvis, of course, and I thought she might enjoy them as they feature child actresses (Donna Butterworth and Larry Domasin).

Fun In Acapulco didn't go down that well – I think she thought it a bit boring and too serious – but Paradise Hawaiian Style she loves.

Having already seen it about five times, she invited me to watch the movie earlier this evening, her father serving us popcorn and peanut butter and banana sandwiches. It was a joy to see her jump up and down in the sofa, telling me in an excited voice what was about to happen, then running to her room to change into a skirt so she could dance just like they did at the Polynesian Welcoming Festival.

She loved the scene where Elvis and Donna Butterworth sang "Quennie Wahine's Papaya" and hummed along with the music. She then went on to explain to me that Elvis had a lot of female acquantances, one at every hotel.

During the helicopter scene where Elvis sings "A Dog's Life" she told me very seriously how sorry she felt for the dogs, and when Elvis found his partner with a broken leg beside his crashed helicopter she had to look away as it was "a bit scary to watch." But the rest of the movie was smooth sailling, and I noticed she thought it pretty cool that Elvis and the dancers actually froze during "Stop Where You Are."

All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening for me as well. I enjoyed Paradise, Hawaiian Style in a way I've never done before, thanks to my niece.

Lousiana Hayride: Box Set, iTunes Or MRS?

2011-09-24T22:22:00.002+02:00

I've had a hard time deciding if I'm going to order the Young Man With The Big Beat box set. As stunning as it looks, the only previously unreleased material on it (except a couple of extended interviews) is Elvis' final performance on the Louisiana Hayride.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really looking forward to hearing the Hayride show in its entirety. But if the set is made available on iTunes or the like, and the tracks can be bought individually, I might go for just bying the unreleased stuff that way. After all, such a solution will make for a much smaller hole in my wallet.

But now it looks like there will be a third option. Yesterday the UK based label the Memphis Recording Service (MRS) announced that it will release a CD in association with ‘Joseph A Tunzi’ (JAT Productions) featuring the complete live recordings of the Louisiana Hayride performances by Elvis Presley.

According to MRS the CD (titled The Complete Louisiana Hayride Archives 1954-1956) "will also contain the recent discovery of Elvis’ last performance on the Louisiana Hayride in December 1956. This will be a more complete version of the show and for the first time, be speed and pitch corrected, which Sony has failed to master for their upcoming release."

A safe bet is that Ernst Jorgensen can't be too pleased. Especially since MRS also promises that "The 100 page bonus book has many rare and newly discovered photographs that were due to be shown first, in the upcoming FTD Sun book." Is JAT Productions playing both sides?

I talked to my brother about this release today, and according to him the Louisiana Hayride show is public domain material due to the fact that it's a radio broadcast that was released to the public in 1956. He also told me that radio shows featuring Hank Williams have been released this way. If so, the MRS release is a legal one.

The Memphis Recording Service has always impressed me with their releases, such as Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley and The Rise Of Elvis Presley 1955. Collecting all the Louisiana Hayride recordings on one CD is another creative move. Three and a half years ago I put forward a similar idea, a concept that featured all the available live material from the 50's on an FTD box.

At the same time, it isn't often an Elvis box set comes along these days. Especially not a deluxe edition such as Young Man With The Big Beat. So maybe I should buy them both and make that hole in my wallet a really big one?

Yet another Swedish Connection

2011-09-18T20:35:00.010+02:00

Living in Sweden, I'm always on the lookout for new connections between Elvis and my country. There are more of them than one might think, and last week I discovered another one. Or rather, a colleague at work made me aware of it.

It's not the first morning I've found something waiting for me in my post-office box having to do with Elvis. This time it was an article from a daily newspaper (DN) about a Swedish ashtray and a meeting that took place between a freelance journalist from Sweden and Elvis in Hollywood 1963.

The journalist, Bo Hanson, had a tough time getting through the entire wall of agents and studios people, but was finally granted a ten minute interview. After waiting for two hours, the doors were thrown open and there he was: Elvis Presley. Bo Hanson later described the meeting in an article published in the Swedish magazine Allers, on May 3, 1964.

He' so handsome, so beautiful in his white, tight pants, his bright red shirt and the most adorable little white bolero jacket, that it almost isn't true.

Elvis understood how disappointed the Swede was that the meeting was so short, so he suggested that they should meet in his dressing room when he was done shooting for the day. That they did, resulting in a two hour long interview.

In it, Elvis talked about his record debut, his military service in Germany and his love for his house in Memphis, Graceland. Bo Hanson also learned that Elvis didn't feel ready to marry yet, but that his co-star Ann-Margret (yet another Swedish connection!) in the movie Viva Las Vegas, is a wonderful girl, although they are just friends.

At the meeting, Bo Hanson presented Elvis with an ashtray from the famous Boda glass factory. The resulting photograph of Elvis with the ashtray, designed by Erik Höglund, is nowadays used as advertising for the glass factory. But where the ashtray itself is located today, the article doesn't say. On a table in Graceland, perhaps?

Reviews From The Past

2011-09-15T22:24:00.009+02:00

It's a safe bet to assume that a lot of fans, me included, can't wait to get their hands on the upcoming FTD release 48 Hours To Memphis, featuring a multi-track recording of Elvis' March 18, 1974, concert at the Richmond Coliseum. Until then, you could do worse that to listen to the show recorded two days later at another Coliseum, this one located in Memphis, to get a taste of things to come.

Released under the name of Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis in July 1974, the album features the majority of the songs from the tour's last concert which took place at the Mid-South Coliseum in Elvis' hometown. As you probably know, it won him his third and final Grammy award, for the performance of "How Great Thou Art."

But how was the album received at the time? In the 10 October, 1974, issue of Rolling Stone magazine, this is what reviewer Paul Gambaccini had to say about it, among other things:

This is the first Elvis Presley album in years from which we get the sense of an individual human being who feels and cares. Presley cares about his God, his late mother and rock & roll, and the themes strike home repeatedly in a varied program. A rock & roll medley running the gamut from "Long Tall Sally" to "Mama Don't Dance" is delivered with the convincing force Presley has recently lacked. A gospel pairing of "Why Me, Lord" and "How Great Thou Art" is so intensely delivered it is genuinely moving, regardless of one's own convictions.

So why don't you give Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis a spin? (Preferably the FTD version from 2004 which contains the entire concert, including great versions of "Steamroller Blues" and "Polk Salad Annie.") It will definitely help you to get in the mood for 48 Hours To Memphis.

If I Can Dream

2011-09-11T19:44:00.011+02:00

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, RCA/BMG released an Elvis Presley single titled America The Beautiful, to raise proceeds to benefit the American Red Cross Liberty Disaster Relief Fund. In addition to the songs "If I Can Dream," "America The Beautiful" and "Amazing Grace," it included a video track of "If I Can Dream" taken from Elvis' '68 Comeback Special.

I remember buying the single, listening to it and then viewing the video clip. It was an emotional moment. Today, on the day marking the 10th anniversary of the attacks, I pulled out the single and played it again. It just felt like the right thing to do. And watching Elvis perform "If I Can Dream," the lyrics took on a whole new meaning, just as they did 10 years ago.

If I Can Dream
(W. Earl Brown)

There must be lights burning brighter somewhere
Got to be birds flying higher in a sky more blue
If I can dream of a better land
Where all my brothers walk hand in hand
Tell me why, oh why, oh why can't my dream come true
Oh why

There must be peace and understanding sometime
Strong winds of promise that will blow away
the doubt and fear
If I can dream of a warmer sun
Where hope keeps shining on everyone
Tell me why, oh why, oh why won't that sun appear

We're lost in a cloud
With too much rain
We're trapped in a world
That's troubled with pain
But as long as a man
Has the strength to dream
He can redeem his soul and fly

Deep in my heart there's a tremblin' question
Still I am sure that the answer, answer's gonna come somehow
Out there in the dark, there's a beckoning candle, yeah
And while I can think, while I can talk
While I can stand, while I can walk
While I can dream, please let my dream
Come true, ohhhhh, right now
Let it come true right now
Oh yeah

Charro! It Just Wasn't Different Enough

2011-09-09T22:00:00.008+02:00

Earlier this week I sat down to watch Elvis' 29th film Charro! The reason for this was an article in the latest issue of the Elvis The Man And His Music magazine, titled "Charro! What Went Wrong?"

According to the writer, Gerry McLafferty, this dramatic western didn't work due to the following reasons:

The actors Elvis was working with were much better in, for example, Flaming Star.
Charro! suffered badly from sloppy editing and continuity goofs.
The final script was a very uneven, disjointed piece, full of patchy dialogue.
The original script had considerably more violence and nudity that was toned down.

As the end-credits rolled I had to agree. When it came to acting, Solomon Sturges, for example, who played the younger brother of Elvis' antagonist Vince Hackett, gave an exaggerated performance, to say the least.

As for goofs, in one scene I watched a disarmed Elvis riding his horse without his shotgun behind the saddle, in the next the shotgun was there. And during the final shoot-out the canon was falling from the wagon to the ground upside down, then in the next scene it was rolling downhill the correct way up.

And yes, the violence was minimal and the scene having Ina Balin emerge from a bath (filmed from behind) was missing. Another reflection I made, that Gerry McLafferty didn't mention, was that the film could have used a couple of more extras. When Elvis entered the town of Rio Seco on horseback, it seemed almost empty. Surely more than some ten or twenty people must have lived there.

That said, I have to agree with McLafferty's opinion that Elvis' best moment in the film is the scene following the branding of his neck. He did convey "horrific pain and anguish" and the branding itself was violently realistic. And the music score, composed by Hugo Montenegro, was used effectively throughout the film.

Also, Elvis really looked the part of a tough gunfighter. It was indeed "A Different Kind of Role, A Different Kind of Man," as the promotion of Charro! read. But like Gerry McLafferty points out in his excellent article, "it just wasn't different enough."

Audio For A King: The Microphone Encyclopedia?

2011-09-04T21:20:00.006+02:00

When the 500 page book Fashion For A King was announced in July this summer, I put it on my Christmas wish list. Produced for FTD by Pål Granlund of the Norwegian fan club Flaming Star, it focuses on Elvis' stage suits from 1969 to 1977, and comes with two live CD's from 1974 and 1975. But having read two reviews of the book this week, it's off my wish list.

Both reviewers looked forward to it but ended up equally disappointed. Here's an example of what Bryan Gruzska has to say in his guest blog "Fashion For A King doesn't fit diehard fan" over at The Mystery Train Elvis Blog:

The text was bland and repetitive and followed exactly the same format in each section: Elvis’ tour lasted from this date to this date, he wore XYZ jumpsuits during the tour and he had Y band members with him. While the descriptions of which jumpsuits were worn on what dates were sadly lacking, oddly, the authors saw fit to inject commentary within the descriptions about Elvis’ health, state of mind, girlfriends or spending habits, often in the form of generalizations.

In the latest issue of the Elvis The Man And His Music magazine, reviewer Fr. Conor Stainton-Polland shares the same opinion, pointing out that the book "is weak in detail" and that "the same phraseology is used for each suit description." He's also irritated that the text it full om textual errors, for example that "which" is spelled "witch" throughout the book.

Just as Bryan Gruzska, Fr. Conor Stanton-Polland thinks it's odd that the microphones used on each tour are described in such great detail, in fact in a much more orderly way than the jumpsuits! In his review he gives an example, ironically stating that the mics seemed to be ornamental:

Elvis wore several different types of microphones [...] The microphone used was AKG D-224 E with blue tape (white tape on the microphone on the microphone stand first two songs (page 278).

In the end, the only thing that seems to save Fashion For A King from a complete disaster, are the two accompanying soundboard CD's (July 1, 1974, Omaha Nebraska and December 14, 1975, Las Vegas Hilton). But with a price tag of over $100 US, of course it's not nearly enough. I for one will wait until the two concerts are re-released without the book. After all, that has happened several times before.

Looking back at a summer with three disappointing additions to the FTD catalog (the two others being Stage Rehearsal and Amarillo '77) I'm glad the next couple releases will include He Touched Me and 48 Hours To Memphis.

PS: Thanks for lending me the title to this post, Troy!

Why No On Tour Shows?

2011-09-01T20:56:00.003+02:00

In the letter section - Shout It Out!- of the September issue of the Elvis The Man And His Music magazine that I received this week, a fan from New Zealand asks if anybody knows why FTD has never released any of the concerts from April 1972 that were recorded for Elvis on Tour. Apparently the editor knows how to get in touch with Ernst Jorgensen because he received the following answer:

FTD has been holding back on the three unreleased live shows from Elvis On Tour in order to include them on a release to coincide with whatever Warner Brothers might want to do with the unreleased footage from this project. As you know, Elvis On Tour was released on DVD in its original form, and we felt that this wasn't really the opportunity. I'm sure we will release these performances eventually, but at this time we don't have them scheduled. We have more than enough other great material to work with.

I have to admit I have difficulties understanding Ernst Jorgensen's line of reasoning. It took ages until Warner Brothers decided to release Elvis On Tour on DVD, and when it finally happened, combined with a special presentation of the movie at theaters across the United States, Ernst Jorgensen didn't feel that was "really the opportunity?!" Amazing.

A while back Troy Y. over at The Mystery Train Elvis Blog wrote a post titled "Hey Sony, isn't it about time for an Elvis on Tour boxed set?" In it, he expressed his hopes that the 40th anniversary of Elvis On Tour in 2012 will capture Sony’s imagination, and that it deserves a 3 CD treatment on the main label featuring the three unreleased concerts from the movie, together with an Elvis On Tour: The Rehearsals – Volume II on the FTD label.

I think that's an excellent idea, but admit I would be equally happy if the three shows were released as a box set by FTD. But I don't hold my breath, especially after reading Ernst Jorgensen's answer. If he's waiting for Warner Brothers to release unreleased footage from Elvis On Tour, I think he's in for a long wait. And that means the fans will be too, when it comes to the three concerts (from April 9, 10 and 14, respectively) being released officially on CD, be it on the FTD or the Sony main label. Such a shame.

From Blog To Television

2011-08-29T21:03:00.002+02:00

Fellow blogger Troy Y. over at The Mystery Train Elvis Blog made an impulsive decision about two weeks ago that led to him being on television talking about an upcoming Elvis release.

What Troy did was take a chance and e-mail various local news media in Richmond (where he lives) when FTD announced that their September release 48 Hours To Memphis (featuring Elvis' performance from March 18, 1974 at the Richmond Coliseum).was a multi-track rather than the expected soundboard.

Later the same day a reporter from WTVR CBS 6 contacted him. Troy went over the basics of the release, but turned down an interview, as he couldn't have a camera crew visiting him at work. But the reporter, being persistent (as reporters usually are, I know, I've been one) called back the next day and asked if Troy would do an interview after all. So, at his lunch break he went over to the studio and did the interview.

As Troy himself explains at the For Elvis CD Collectors forum, "The reporter was great to deal with and very enthusiastic throughout the whole thing. Overall, I was happy with how it turned out and felt it presented a positive view on Elvis."

I agree, I enjoyed watching it and felt that Troy was taking care of business. Hopefully, Ernst Jorgensen has seen it as well. It's not every day an FTD album gets promoted on television. How about sending Troy a free copy of 48 Hours To Memphis, Ernst?

Elvis at the Coliseum live in concert to be released (WTVR website)

Christmas Blues

2011-08-26T21:46:00.006+02:00

This week I wished that I could travel back in time, setting the date to the evening of September 7, 1957. The location was a given: Radio Recorders in Hollywood. This is what would take place, had it been possible:

Standing by the Christmas tree that producer Steve Sholes has arranged to have in the studio, I'll glance into the mix room and see Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller at work, asked to come up with something not sounding like a Christmas standard.

A short while later I'll notice the songwriting duo emerge and approach Elvis. Running through the song with Stoller at the piano and Leiber singing in his hoarse way, Elvis smiles approvingly and says, "Okay, let's make it."

He then knocks the song off in seven takes, singing about Santa arriving in a big black Cadillac instead of a reindeer, in that tough bluesy way. It's the highlight of the whole time travel trip. And, judging by the smiles on their faces, it's a great moment for Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as well.

This post is dedicated to Jerry Leiber who passed away earlier this week, on August 22.

To My Surprise!

2011-08-22T21:20:00.004+02:00

Having returned from my one week holiday in a Danish cottage where I had no way to access the Internet, I immediately sat down in front of the computer to get an update about what had been going on in the Elvis World.

One news item stood out from all the rest, the announcement made by Ernst Jorgensen during Elvis Week in Memphis that the upcoming FTD September release 48 Hours To Memphis is, in fact, a multi-track recording of the concert in Richmond, Virginia, on March 18, 1974.

As Troy Y. writes in his post "Elvis Shocker: 1974 Richmond concert is a muti-track recording" at The Mystery Train Elvis Blog, many questions abound:

Did RCA record Richmond as preparation for that Memphis concert album? Or did RCA originally conceive the album as a tour compilation? How did RCA seemingly lose this multi-track recording and any record that it ever existed?

In the booklet accompanying the FTD release of Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis (featuring the last concert of the tour in Memphis on March 20), there is a reprint of an article in The Commercial Appeal on March 21, 1974, titled "Elvis' final taped for release in June." In it the reporter writes, among other things, that:

Elvis said he turned down requests from other cities on his current tour to record in order to save the recording show for his hometown fans [...] Presley and Felton Jarvis, his record producer, said there was some discussion aobut his recording at the Houston Astrodome and other cities.

My guess is that it will remain a mystery why the concert in Richmond was nevertheless recorded. Not that it matter that much. What does is that the fans will get to hear a second professionally recorded Elvis concert from the same tour. The last time something like that happened was when RCA/BMG released An Afternoon In The Garden in 1997. So be sure to enjoy this release!

Blue Hawaii - My Holiday Soundtrack

2011-08-20T21:41:00.012+02:00

This week my family and I were on vacation in Denmark, where we rented a cottage on the west coast. In a way Elvis was present too, as he provided the soundtrack for the holiday. The day before we left I imported the Blue Hawaii FTD classic album to my iPod, as I thought it would provide the perfect music while walking to the beach or looking out over the sea. It was a wise choice.

Not only did the songs from Blue Hawaii fit the Danish scenery nicely, but the FTD version of the soundtrack also offered a fascinating insight into the making of one of Elvis' biggest selling albums. Admittedly, I bought the FTD 2 CD set when it was released in 2009, but it was only this week that I listened to it thoroughly. I'm glad I did.

The first takes of "Rock-A-Hula Baby" are worth the price of the album along. When Elvis for some reason stops singing 40 seconds into the second take, the band just keeps going, seemingly unable to stop. "Hold it," Elvis shouts, then laughs, before launching into the third take, delivering a wild and cooking performance.

Another highlight is the making of the movie version of "Can't Help Falling In Love," Elvis going through 26 takes of the song (12 of them are included on the FTD album). "Damn pants too tight," he says before take 14. The following takes shows Elvis having trouble with the slow tempo of the song "I can't hold a note worth a damn," he sighs after abandoning take 22.

"Slicin' Sand" might not be called a classic, but many of the 12 takes included are fun to listen to. One example is take 6 which has Elvis throwing in an extra verse: "Sand in my toes, sand in my hair, sand in my sandwich but I don't care."

Elvis worked hard with "No More," going through take after take of the song. As they all sound pretty similar, I was wondering about this, until I read today in Ernst Jorgensen's A Life In Music that the writer of the song, Don Robertson, was invited to the studio that day. Elvis obviously wanted to show him that he was serious about the song.

The last song I'd like to mention is also the one that sadly didn't make it into the movie or onto the original album. "Steppin' Out Of Line" is one of my favorite numbers from FTD's Blue Hawaii and I actually prefer the record version (with Boot Randolph's saxophone) over the movie version. Also, the record version has a much better ending.

And so ends my post about Blue Hawaii, my soundtrack for the past week. You'll find a thorough review by Piers Beagley over at the Elvis Information Network. And needless to say, Blue Hawaii, FTD style, is a release I wholeheartedly recommend.

Elvis Today ... And Every Day!

2011-08-16T08:00:00.003+02:00

Today, on August 16, fans all around the globe remember Elvis Presley. It's been 34 years since he died, and if anything he's as popular now as then.

The most memorable anniversary date of Elvis' passing I've had so far was during Elvis Week 2005 when I attended the Candlelight Vigil. It was an emotional experience to participate, walking up the driveway to Elvis' gravesite together with thousands of other fans, each of us carrying a candle in remembrance.

This year I'll remember Elvis Presley while on holiday, spending the day in a Danish cottage by the sea with my wife and daughter. I've actually prepared this post in advance, as there will be no Internet available. But I'll be sure to bring along my faithful iPod and enjoy Elvis' music a little extra on August 16.

Incidentally, August 16 was also the date when I started my blog Elvis Today, four years ago. And it so happens that this is post number 400. So I'll celebrate that too, even if Elvis will be foremost on my mind.

Thank you for reading Elvis Today. And thank you Elvis, for always being there for me with your music. It means the world.

How The Web Was Woven

2011-08-12T14:33:00.005+02:00

Nearly three years ago The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain launched a website on the Internet. As some of you might remember, I wasn't overly impressed, among other things it was poorly updated.

Well, I'm happy to report that the British fan club has a new website up and running, one that is much more professional looking. Granted, the content is a bit limited: an on-line application form, latest news (not updated that often), some information about the travel club (which takes members to Memphis), an image gallery (containing about 25 photos of Elvis), a shop (including the Follow That Dream collector's label CD's and books) and a link to Radio Caroline where Todd Slaughter hosts an Elvis Hour once a week.

That said, the site is a major improvement over the old one, and certainly a step in the right direction. So is the fan club's decision to join Facebook. Unfortunately the same can't be said of FTD, their site is still "currently under construction" (as it was over two years ago).

Destination USA 1972

2011-08-11T19:56:00.010+02:00

Yesterday saw the start of Elvis Week in Memphis, and as usual it made me think of my trip to the U.S. and Elvis Week 2005. It was one of the best Elvis experiences I've ever had, meeting fellow fans from all around the world and musicians who played for Elvis. But reading an article in the latest issue of the British fan club magazine, I was reminded that there are those who have experienced even greater things when it comes to Elvis.

The article is titled "Destination USA 1972," and in it Rita Overhead describes the first British Elvis Presley Fan Club trip to America to see Elvis during his Las Vegas engagement in the summer of 1972. It's an amazing story. Not only did she get to see no less than 10 shows, she also met Elvis.

After attending the midnight show on Saturday, September 2, she waited for the extra Sunday morning show together with a couple of other fans outside the showroom. Suddenly the door to what was the manager's office opened and there was Colonel Parker chewing on a long cigar. After "a nice little conversation" with him he asked how many they were and told them to come along.

It must have been an incredible experience, following the Colonel through a "No Exit" door and then down a corridor and realizing they were being taken down to see Elvis. As they entered a large room they noticed The Stamps, The Sweet Inspirations and Kathy Westmoreland sitting down watching a small television.

They were then shown into a small room, first being introduced to Vernon Presley. Then all of a sudden Elvis appeared in the doorway. He asked them if they had a good journey to USA and if they enjoyed the shows. The author of the article also received a kiss.

She then forgot her own name when Elvis was about to sign a menu she had from one of the shows. "You must have a name," he kidded and when she finally remembered it he answered, "Rita, are you sure?" He then signed the menu "I love Rita, Elvis Presley."

To have such a memory of Elvis must be priceless, and while I enjoyed the article immensely, I was also a little bit saddened that I never saw Elvis in person. That one will always be an impossible dream. On the other hand I've done the next best thing: going to Memphis in 2005 was a dream come true, and something I will never forget.

The Essential Gold Record In Sweden

2011-08-08T14:32:00.015+02:00

Here in Sweden we have an Elvis album doing pretty well in the charts right now, and its success reminds me of the ongoing chart performance of An Afternoon In The Garden in the US. I'm talking about the 2 CD compilation The Essential Elvis Presley, a greatest hits collection.

When released in 2007, it topped the album chart in Sweden. At the end of July this year it re-entered the Swedish album chart at #22, and last week rose to #17, the best position the album has been listed on since it left the Top 10 back in September 2007. It is currently certified Gold, reports ElvisMatters.

I think one can draw parallels with the success of An Afternoon In The Garden. First of all, both albums are sold at places where a lot of casual byers passes through (I've spotted The Essential Elvis Presley at supermarkets and gas stations). Secondly, none of the titles cost that much, and they offer great value for money. In the case of The Essential Elvis Presley you get a total of 40 songs that are indeed essential, spanning from "That's All Right" to "Moody Blue."

In fact, when I passed the train station yesterday, I visited a tiny record store located there, and noticed that The Essential Elvis Presley was on sale there too. Incidentally, the cover isn't the one that ElvisMatters has included in their article, but the one I think is used for the U.S version as well. At least that's the only one I've seen here in Sweden.

Elvis Is Number 1 In Sweden (an earlier post about success for Elvis in Sweden)

Photographing The King

2011-08-05T09:51:00.027+02:00

I first heard of photographer Sean Shaver and his book Photographing The King in 1982, when I saw an add for it in an issue of the British fan club magazine (that was the year I became a member). Little did I know at the time that I would get my hands on a copy of the book almost 30 years later, thanks to winning a bidding at the Swedish eBay site Tradera.

Sean Shaver became an Elvis fan as early as 1955. In 1967 he met and photographed Elvis. From then until Elvis' death he devoted himself to capturing him on film. In Photographing The King he shares some memories and many of the approximately 80,000 photographs he shot of Elvis.

In the introduction Sean Shaver states that he is not a writer. After reading the book last week I agree it's a bit unstructured. At the same time I found some of his stories fascinating. And a lot of his photos are really great, especially those from 1975 and 1976 (in early 1975 he started to use a new type of film and a special strobe).

Between February 1970 and right up until the last concert in June, 1977, Sean Shaver shot about 500 shows. How he managed to drive from city to city during all the different tours and catch all those concerts, financially as well as physically, I have no idea. And to make the conditions even worse, Colonel Parker didn't want him to take any pictures.

It's amusing to read about all the ways Sean Shaver tried to outsmart security in Las Vegas (where the rules against cameras were very strict). Many times he would go into the showroom with a camera attached to his ankle by a bandage, or have a girl sneak a camera into the room in her purse. He even used a pair of binoculars which were actually a camera.

Over the years Sean Shaver became closer and closer to Elvis and his entourage, although Colonel Parker continued to dislike him. He spent time with Elvis' pilots and even took pictures of Lisa Marie taking off, at Elvis' request. In fact, there are a couple of shots in the book of Elvis boarding or disembarking his plane, one of them having Elvis waving his finger at Shaver's camera.

One story I found particularly interesting was that Elvis' record producer Felton Jarvis asked Sean Shaver to get a shot of Elvis at the piano playing and singing "Unchained Melody." According to Shaver, Felton thought this would be the ultimate album cover. Sean Shaver got Felton Jarvis the shots he wanted, but when Colonel Parker heard about it Felton sent the pictures back.

Maybe it's a bit ironic that while no photos taken by Sean Shaver ever graced an Elvis album during Elvis' lifetime, they do today. The Follow That Dream release America, featuring Elvis concert at the City Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska, on April 22, 1976, is one such example.

After reading Photographing The King I tried to learn more about Sean Shaver by Googling the Internet. I can report there isn't much out there. I found a web page dedicated to Sean Shavers work, and some discussions on different forums, but that's about it. I couldn't even verify if he's alive or not. Can you help me out?

A Best-Selling Afternoon In The Garden

2011-08-02T22:31:00.016+02:00

I was a bit surprised to see that An Afternoon In The Garden, featuring Elvis' matinee show at Madison Square Garden on June 10, 1972, is the best-selling Elvis album this year in the U.S. After all, it was released 14 years ago, in 1997.

According to the Elvis Information Network, An Afternoon In The Garden has once again re-entered the Billboard 200. Not only that, its chart performance and sales are actually better than all the "new" Sony mainstream releases from the past three years, including Viva Elvis and Elvis 75.

Discussing this with my brother on the phone the other day, he gave me the answer. He'd read on the For Elvis CD Collectors forum that its success is related to the fact that it sells for $5.00 in Wal-Mart, one of the few places to still buy cd's in most areas. Scanning the forum today, I found a plausible explanation provided by the signature midnightx:

The casual consumers are buying "An Afternoon At The Garden" because they are at Wal-Mart for other reasons and see a cheap Presley title in the bargain bins for $5. They figure, it is cheap, it is Elvis, it has a cool looking cover, it is related to Madison Square Garden, and worth picking up for all those reasons. Most probably don't even know it was released back in '97.

Yet, I think it's pretty amazing that an album that didn't chart when it was released in 1997 is doing so today. And the casual CD byers at Wal-Mart are to be congratulated, they get a great show with Elvis delivering more than 20 songs during one intense, breathless hour.

In fact, I'm listening to An Afternoon In The Garden as I'm writing this post, and right now "Polk Salad Annie" is blasting through my headphones. Closing my eyes I can see the audience screaming at the top of their lungs as Elvis ends the song in a flurry of karate chops. It's as far from Amarillo '77 as it gets.

"My Third Movie Was Called Jailhouse Rock"

2011-07-31T16:31:00.013+02:00

While listening to "Jailhouse Rock" on the Amarillo '77 FTD release last week, I was reminded that it isn't always the originals versions that get people interested in Elvis' music. At least that's the way it worked for a buddy of mine while we were attending high school in the early eighties.

I don't remember the exact details, but I know I played him a cassette tape of Elvis In Concert, maybe at his place. I guess the tape was in the Sony Walkman I carried with me where ever I went (just like I do with my iPod nowadays).

Anyway, at first I didn't get the reaction I was hoping for, you know, a sign that he was digging the music. But when he heard "Jailhouse Rock" he started to beat time with his feet and when the song ended he demanded that I play it again.

I think he really went for the machine gun tempo of the song, the pumpin' piano and Elvis singing, never mind that he forgot some of the words. If memory serves me right, I had to play it many times in a row. Not that I minded, of course.

A couple of days later, when I visited again, I noticed an Elvis LP in his room. I picked it up and identified the album as 20 Greatest Hits Vol. 1, sporting a publicity shot of Elvis from the 50's on the cover. Looking at the track list I noticed the songs were mainly from the 50's as well. The fourth track on the B side was "Jailhouse Rock."

Glancing at my friend I saw he had a disappointed expression on his face. "That's not the version we listened to last time," he said. "This sounds completely different."

I tried to tell him that the version on his LP was the original one, and a great one at that. I also explained to him that he should've asked me which album to buy if he'd wanted the "Jailhouse Rock" that we'd listened to, as there existed many versions of the song.

Unfortunately I don't remember if he bought the Elvis In Concert album to get "the right" version. Maybe I gave him my tape and recorded a new one for me. Since we no longer stay in touch I don't know how much of a fan he became, either.

But, thinking back, I recall I thought it was great that he liked a live recording with Elvis from 1977. And that the song in question, "Jailhouse Rock," was featured on an album that has always been a favorite of mine.

Elvis' Worst Overall 1977 Tour?

2011-07-28T21:53:00.012+02:00

Geoffrey McDonnell puts it well in his review of the recently released FTD album Amarillo '77 on the Elvis Information Network website:

Having heard this tour ‘represented’ here one sadly realises this isn’t as good a CD as the ‘Spring Tours’ FTD CD because the performances are weaker. No Polk Salad Annie, Unchained Melody and really it's only How Great Thou Art, My Way or Hurt as the powerful songs left. [...] he sounds tired most of the time and simply worn out- I wonder whether this tour was Elvis’s worst overall 1977 tour?

The Amarillo '77 CD features most of the Amarillo concert from March 24 (Band introductions are from the March 27 show in Abilene), as well as eleven bonus songs from the same tour (23-30 March). Strangely enough, two of the bonus songs – "Trying To Get To You" and "Fever" – are featured on the Spring Tours 77 FTD from 2002.

While the Amarillo show isn't the worst Elvis concert released by FTD (that doubtful honor goes to New Haven '76), it comes close. Elvis does indeed sound tired and worn out and it's painfully clear that his nine days of vacation in Hawaii before the tour was no way near enough to get him in better shape.

He messes up "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and has to start the song all over, abandons "Reconsider Baby" (intro only) and does a forgettable job on "Hound Dog." Having said that, I enjoyed "Little Sister" as well as "That's All Right," which unfortunately is incomplete (the first couple of songs from the show are missing).

"My Way" is an ambiguous affair. I've always thought the song held more meaning in 1977 and love his performance of the song from Rapid City on June 21, featured on Elvis In Concert. The Amarillo version isn't as good, but emotional nonetheless.

Before I sign off I have to mention the terrible editing between some of the bonus songs, which worsens the listening experience even more. Just listen to the abrupt start of "Why Me, Lord" and you'll see what I mean. It's sloppy work. And the use of depressing color combinations on the cover does nothing to lighten the mood, either.

I agree 100 percent with Troy Y. who runs the excellent The Mystery Train Elvis Blog, Amarillo '77 is for completists only. If you want to listen to Elvis in 1977 then pick Elvis In Concert, Spring Tours 77 or Unchained Melody instead.

"They're White Chicks, But They Sound Black"

2011-07-27T20:38:00.011+02:00

The last three years "The Original Elvis Tribute" has been touring Europe successfully. Arjan Deelen who produced and managed the show sent me the following e-mail a couple of days ago:

'The Original Elvis Tribute' will be back in Europe for April 2012 but the big news this time is that the tour will be even more special with Elvis' backing-vocalists Ginger and Mary Holladay joining the band in Europe for the first time ever! Elvis' other musicians Duke Bardwell, Bobby Wood and Jerome 'Stump' Monroe will still be there along with the outstanding lead presence of Robert Washington. The Holladay sisters were among the leading female backing vocalists in the 60s and 70s, and their powerful voiced are featured on countless hits & classics. Elvis lover their voices, and he always made sure that Felton would use the Holladays for his recording sessions. Ginger and Mary can be heard on hit-singles like 'Suspicious Minds", 'In The Ghetto', 'The Wonder Of You' and 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me', as well as on numerous Elvis albums like 'From Elvis In Memphis', 'That's The Way It Is', the Grammy award-winning 'He Touched Me', 'Good Times', 'Promised Land' and 'Today'. Their voices were even overdubbed on live-recordings like the 'On Stage' album.

I for one like the idea to present original musicians that people haven’t seen, or at least those that haven’t been overexposed, and try to present them in a different context. That is, by combining musicians from different periods of Elvis' career, as well as live/studio musicians.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the show when it visited Sweden in 2009, and in 2010 and 2011 it didn't play my country. Here's for hoping that the tour in 2012 will include Sweden. It would be great listening to sisters Mary and Ginger Holladay, who Elvis once described as, "They're white chicks, but they sound black."How about it, Arjan?

For more information, visit "The Original Elvis Tribute 2011" spotlight over at the Elvis Information Network. There you'll find, among other things, the duet version of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" between Ginger Holladay and Elvis. (Now why wasn't that one included on the Elvis Now classic album release by FTD?)

A Reconstructed Rehearsal

2011-07-23T20:25:00.031+02:00

It's almost like Ernst Jorgensen and Roger Semon didn't want it to sound like a rehearsal. That's one of the impressions I have after listening to FTD's latest release Stage Rehearsal, featuring the show rehearsal Elvis did on August 10, 1970, the same day as the opening show of the engagement.

This rehearsal was first made available on the bootleg Hang Loose back in 1991, where it was presented in it's original recorded form, that is, with almost all of the takes being incomplete because the starts were missing. Owning a copy of it, I've spent a great deal of time today comparing it with the official release. Here are my thoughts.

What really works in favor of Stage Rehearsal is the great sound quality, much better than the one offered by the bootleg. With that in retrospect, on some level I can understand the decision to reconstruct the opening of the incomplete performances, using live versions recorded on the same 16-track tape machine. But I still think it was the wrong one, as it's manipulation and doesn't present the songs in a historically correct way.

What's more, the live intros are just that, and in some cases applause can be heard, like on "I Just Can't Help Believin'" and "Something," totally destroying the "rehearsal feeling." And speaking of "Something," the live version is used longer than necessary, obliterating the original text ("Attracts me like no other mother"). Another low-water mark is the use of the same intro on both versions of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me."

But what really, really annoys me, is "Polk Salad Annie," which is a splice/edit of the two versions Elvis did on his show rehearsal, both of them available on Hang Loose. My guess is this was done to avoid some suggestive lyrics by Elvis, but parts of it can still be heard anyway, sounding far away, like the line "... overweight old woman ..." The end result is a more "plain" version than the two original ones, one of which has Elvis having fun with the line "Polk A Little Sock Salad" (not included on the spliced version). Why it isn't even mentioned in the sparse liner notes on the inside of the cover that "Polk Salad Annie" is a combination of two takes is beyond me.

The same technique (editing out some of Elvis talk) is used on the second version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," where lines like "Won't you hold the bass right here" can be heard just barely on the official release. And on one of the few songs that was caught on tape with the intro intact – "Sweet Caroline" – Elvis muttering "All right, all ready" before the start of the song has been removed too. Why this method was used I have no idea. To me it only serves to erase all traces of listening to a rehearsal and make it more of a live experience.

As you've without a doubt guessed by now, I would've preferred if Ernst Jorgensen and Roger Semon had left the recordings alone in their original format, with late starts and all. Or at least included both the reconstructed and the incomplete recordings. With a running time of about 78 minutes that would've been possible, by removing the bonus songs (rehearsals from 1972 and 73). While interesting enough, these could've been included on another release.

Stage Rehearsal is an FTD album that I suspect will divide the fans. You'll either like it (after all, the reconstructed opening of songs is technically perfect) or, like me, wished the label had opted for a more historically correct approach, without new intros and vocal edits. I for one also find it hard to forgive the tampering with "Polk Salad Annie" in the way it was done.

Oh, I almost forgot. A second take of "I've Lost You" is featured on the bootleg Hang Loose, but not included on Stage Rehearsal. Probably because it's incomplete at the ending as well (tape stops). But as there are plenty of live versions available that particular ending could've been reconstructed too, surely?

He Touched Me - FTD Light Version

2011-07-22T15:06:00.013+02:00

I was glad to notice the other day that He Touched Me will be among the three new releases on the FTD label in September (together with a soundboard titled 48 Hours To Memphis, recorded on March 18, 1974 in Richmond, Virginia and Elvis Sings Guitar Man on vinyl). He Touched Me is one of four titles I've tipped would get the classic album treatment this year, and I'm looking forward to it.

So much, in fact, that I've created my own "FTD light version" of the album with the help of iTunes, just like I did with Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas about half a year ago. By using what has already been released officially from the sessions that resulted in Elvis' third and last gospel album, I came up with this:

THE ORIGINAL ALBUM / SIDE 1

01. He Touched Me
02. I've Got Confidence
03. Amazing Grace
04. Seeing Is Believing
05. He Is My Everything
06. Bosom Of Abraham

THE ORIGINAL ALBUM / SIDE 2
07. An Evening Prayer
08. Lead Me, Guide Me
09. There Is No God But God
10. A Thing Called Love
11. I, John
12. Reach Out To Jesus

INFORMAL RECORDING
13. The Lord's Prayer

THE OUTTAKES
14. Amazing Grace - take 2
15. He Touched Me - take 2
16. I've Got Confidence - take 1
17. Bosom Of Abraham - take 3
18. An Evening Prayer - take 2
19. Seeing Is Believing - take 4
20. A Thing Called Love - rehearsal
21. He Is My Everything - take 1
22. There Is No God But God - takes 1 (false start) & 2
23. Bosom Of Abraham - take 4
24. An Evening Prayer - take 5
25. Seeing Is Believing - take 7
26. A Thing Called Love - take 1
27. Bosom Of Abraham - take 7

BONUS SONGS (Elvis On Tour "jam session")
28. I, John
29. Bosom of Abraham
30. You Better Run
31. Lead Me, Guide Me
32. Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus/Nearer My God To Thee

As you can see I included the informal recording "A Lord's Prayer," a title that could as easily be featured on a future Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas FTD release as it was recorded between takes of "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day". As an afterthought I also added the gospel jam that was captured on tape (and film) on March 31, 1972, as part of the Elvis On Tour documentary.

The "FTD light version" of He Touched Me has a running time of about 80 minutes. It was compiled using all of the alternate takes that have been officially released so far. They can be found on Walk A Mile In My Shoes – The Essential 70's Master, Platinum: A Life In Music, Today, Tomorrow And Forever, Easter Special, I Sing All Kinds and A Hundred Years From Now – Essential Elvis Volume 4.

Hoop And A Holler And I'll Be There

2011-07-18T22:24:00.018+02:00

Battling a cold on the first day of my vacation, I decided I could do worse than lying down on the sofa watching an Elvis movie on DVD. Why I picked Stay Away, Joe, I really don't know. Maybe it had something to do with the photo of Elvis from that particular film that my wife discovered a couple of weeks ago in one of the windows in a nursery school. Or maybe it was because it's been ages since I last saw it. Whatever the reason I had a pretty good time in front of the TV.

Shot on location in Arizona in 1967, Stay Away, Joe is a western comedy based on a bestselling book from 1953 dealing in a satirical way with the relationship between the government and the Native Americans. Elvis plays Joe Lightcloud, a half-breed Indian rodeo rider returning to his family's reservation home with a herd of cows and a bull, thanks to a deal with an aspiring congressman.

Although the plot is a bit thin at times, there's a lot of comical moments. My favorite one is when Elvis sister comes to visit, bringing along both her fiancé and mother in law. The visit becomes a disaster, the fiancé falling through a hole in the floor of the flimsy house, then through the paper thin walls. Well, if you've seen the scene, you know what I'm talking about.

There's also a lot of womanizing, done in a far more adult way by Elvis than in his earlier movies. Also, there's plenty of fight scenes. In fact the movie ends with a fist fight that leads to the destruction of the whole house. "Man, that's what I call one hell of a fight," exclaims Elvis as he rises from the remains.

Doing a little research after watching the movie, I learned that Stay Away, Joe received criticism for the film's "quaint and patronizing view of American Indians as brawling, balling, boozing children," as The Hollywood Reporter put it. On the other hand, The Film Daily thought that "It doesn't matter that credibility is stretched. What matters is that that the picture evokes a mood of mirth and happy frenzy that is catching."

So, maybe the truth lies somewhere in between. What's for sure is that Stay Away, Joe offered a major change for Elvis regarding his screen roles and broke the established formula of his movies. But unlike his singing career, which also received a boost that year with the recordings of "Guitar Man" and "Big Boss Man" among others, it was too late. (And I guess that the terrible song "Dominic" didn't help much, either.)

But today, 44 years after it was made, Stay Away, Joe helped me forget my cold. I enjoyed the movie and Elvis seemed to have a good time as well.

Did Rhoticity Kill The Hillbilly Cat?

2011-07-17T18:46:00.013+02:00

Recently I found out that I'm not the only Elvis fan in the building where I work at the University of Gothenburg. One morning, I received an envelope with the internal mail. In it was a copy of a study in English, written by Mats Mobärg, a researcher and teacher at the Department of languages and literatures.

Turned out he'd read the article about me and my interest in Elvis in the official news magazine for the university, and thought I'd be interested in the study, titled "Did rhoticity kill the Hillbilly Cat?" that he wrote in 2001.

In short, what Mats Mobärg sets out to do, is trying to answer the question if Elvis Presley (a white pop singer) accommodates his singing pronunciation to a southern black model, in a way that resembles European singers aiming at an American target and northern American singers at a southern target.

He does this by investigating something called non-rhoticity, i.e. the absence of an [r] sound in words like arm and here. Non-rhoticity, he explains, "was traditionally a feature of black accents and white traditional upper-class accents, rhoticity being characteristic of white lower-class accents.

By comparing Elvis singing and speaking pronunciation he demonstrates that there is a dramatic increase of non-rhotic forms in his singing as compared to a spoken recording he used as a control (excerpts from an interview in Lakeland, Florida, August 1956, available on Elvis–A Legendary Performer Volume 3).

Mats Mobärg then goes one step further, checking out, among other things, rhoticity and period as well as rhoticity and tempo. It turns out that Elvis as the rock and roll hero of the mid and late fifties to a very great extent is non-rhotic, whereas Elvis the Hollywood crooner of the sixties puts his [r]'s in 50 per cent of the time. Also, that his up-tempo songs, especially the rhythm & blues songs, exhibited non-rhoticity to a remarkably high degree. Mats Mobärg has this to say on the last page of his study:

This would seem to indicate that there may indeed be a accommodation to a black model, since, among the genres tested, rhythm & blues by definition represents the black musical tradition, and non-rhoticity is a primary characteristic of black southern speech. It cannot be claimed, on the basis of the present analysis, that Presley consciously wanted to accommodate to a black style, but it is likely that there was a strong sense of appropriaetness of style in his adaptation of music, which led to the same result.

Are you with me? In any case I thought it cool that a fellow fan working in the same building as me has done scientific research on Elvis Presley.

The Elvis CAC 4 crew patch

2011-07-12T20:30:00.008+02:00

I have yet to receive an answer from the U.S. Navy and its Patrol Squadron VP-45 regarding my "Elvis ... if he's out there we'll find him!" crew patch, that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. The veterans from that squadron acted quickly though, just one day after I sent the e-mail, I got a reply from Buck Jones, the president of the Patron Four Five (VP-45) Association.

Although on a Sunday he went to a lot of trouble answering my letter, and later that day, a couple of follow-up questions that I had. Among other things he told me the:

The Elvis CAC 4 [Combat Air Crew 4] crew patch is not an authorized VP-45 Patch. All Navy Patrol Squadron's usually allow individual flight crews to wear unique crew patches on flight gear (suits/jackets). Since most Navy Patrol flight crews stay together for 18 months or less the patches are purchased by the crew as a one time buy and are usually changed or modified with each new group.

As far as I know only one CAC 4 crew had the patch. I served in VP-45 from 1963 to 1970 (flight crew) and 1979 to 1981 (maintenance material control officer). There were times when I was on flight crews that all 12 crews had a unique patch. There were also times when no crews had unique patches. I have no idea when a crew 4 wore the Elvis patch.

He also explained that several military units have used that particular Elvis patch [same message/different picture of Elvis] for crews or unique units. Also, that the U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue units have used the Elvis patch as well.

So, thanks to the president of the Patron Four Five Association I learned a lot, not only about the Elvis patch, but about VP-45 as well. I'd like to take the opportunity to once more thank him for taking the time to answer my questions on a Sunday.

But the story didn't end there. About the same time I received an e-mail from fellow Elvis blogger Troy Y. who runs The Mystery Train Elvis Blog. He'd read my post and found variants of the patch I wrote about, which comfirmed the use of the Elvis patch among other military units.

SAR team shares stories (Whidbey Crosswind)
Some new patches (U.S. Militaria Forum)
Defense.gov News Photos (U.S. Department of Defense)

Elvis Now - Now And Then

2011-07-09T20:06:00.008+02:00

What part Elvis should take in my life a particular day is often decided by myself, for example by way of a CD or a DVD. But he can also pop up in different ways when you least expect it, and quite often he does. The following story illustrates this.

Last month I spent a couple of days with my parents together with my wife and daughter. My mother had dug up a couple of old children's books from when I was little, including one in German called Lottes Tagebuch (Lottes' Diary).

Even though my German is rusty, to say the least, I decided to leaf through it, showing the pictures in it to my daughter. About halfway there was a picture showing Lotte browsing through some records in a rack, while in charge of the music at a friend's party. And, to my surprise, the record at the very front was titled Elvis Now.

I quickly went back to the inside of the front page, earning me a confused look from my daughter. I noticed that the book was printed in 1972, the year Elvis Now was released, so I came to the conclusion that's why that particular title was chosen. Now, why an Elvis album was at the front, I don't know. Maybe the author, Margareta Lööf was an Elvis fan and had recently bought Elvis Now.

That's the part Elvis played in my life that day. Not the biggest one by far, but a nice one, nevertheless. And it made me listen to Elvis Now when I came home again. But that's another Elvis experience altogether.

Elvis Now- An Appraisal (my review of FTD's classic album version)

"First Impression Is Not So Good"

2011-07-06T21:41:00.022+02:00

Yesterday I found an update about the recent FTD album Stage Rehearsal on the excellent Elvis In Norway website. This is the first official release of the show rehearsal Elvis did on August 10, 1970, in Las Vegas, which pleased me when it was first announced. What I read about it did not.

Out now, but first impression is not so good! The sound quality is great, but too many edits are evident. The most HOPELESS of all is the vocal edit on 'Polk Salad Annie' (Polk A Little Sock Salad'). You can still hear Elvis talking about "overweight little woman etc..., but it is only a bleed from other microphones. This vocal edit is utterly pathetic, really!! What's the harm!? FTD is obviously going for the old Parker - good clean fellow - philosophy! I'm embarrassed by this, really.

Songs that are incomplete from start are patched together with a live take of the same song, with audience reaction and everything. And it do so NOT WORK. Most annoying is 'Something', but also two versions of 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling' have lost their charm with the same opening sample on both takes... Ouch!!

According to the short review of the same album at ElvisNews.com, the liner notes stated that there was some repair necessary because the intros were missing, but I never thought much about it. Until now.

I probably could understand the decision to tamper with the material in this way if Ernst Jorgensen was aiming for the general public. But the Follow That Dream label is a collectors label for the fans. And as one of them, I want the material presented in the way it was recorded, with late starts and all. Surely not manipulated in this way.

I'm also disappointed that Ernst Jorgensen didn't tell us about his approach to this material when the announcement about the June releases was made.

It's been ten years since we had an official release featuring rehearsals from That's The Way It Is, and when another one finally comes along it's done like this. What a shame!

The Handwritten Las Vegas Rehearsal Set List

2011-07-02T22:17:00.024+02:00

Sitting behind his desk in his California home at 144 Monovale, in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, Elvis looks down at the canary yellow lined legal sheet where he so far has scribbled only the words "RCA STUDIO REHEARSALS."

He sighs, leans back in his comfortable, green leather chair, at the same time casting a glance at the photo on the desk showing him proudly shaking hands with Richard Nixon, who only days before, on August 9, 1974, has resigned the office of the presidency.

But Elvis has other things on his mind than the Watergate scandal. The fact is, he's as weary as his critics of the predictability of his own show, and is determined to work up an entirely different repertoire for his August 19 opening in Las Vegas.

Tomorrow is the first of three days of rehearsals at RCA's Sunset Boulevard Studio, and Elvis wants his long time friend and stage director Charlie Hodge to have a list of songs he can show to the musicians. It's the way they always do it before going in the studio. "The 2001 introduction has to go and I ain't gonna use my guitar," he mumbles to himself and starts writing with his gold plated fountain pen.

About fifteen minutes later, Linda Thompson, passes the door to the combined office/TV/living room, and casts a quick glance at Elvis. Things aren't that great between them right now, and she knows he's hitting on other girls, including twenty-one-year-old Sheila Ryan, who was on the cover of Playboy magazine that previous October.

Linda tries to catch Elvis' eye, but he doesn't look up from the paper on which he is writing. She knows better than to disturb him and walks away.

Elvis haven't even noticed her. Truth is, he's invigorated simply to be reinventing the show, introducing recent material such as "Promised Land," "It's Midnight" and "If You Talk In Your Sleep," and omitting the medley of past hits.

He also throws in songs he's never done live before, including, surprisingly, "Down In The Alley" recorded back in May 1966. "Janie, Janie, Janie, Janie, Jane, Jane," he sings out loud as he remembers how fun he was having in the studio with that one, clowning around with Charlie Hodge. Some old favorites, such as "Proud Mary" and "I'm Leavin'" also end up on the sheet.

Finished at last, he puts the fountain pen in its holder and looks with satisfaction at the list in front of him. He notices that he's managed to spill some coffee on it and that "Just Pretend" is written twice. No matter. "OK, anytime you're ready," he says to himself as he gets up from the chair, the set list in his hand.

(This post was inspired by an auction on eBay)

Stay Away Joe, Oh Yeah

2011-06-27T22:59:00.006+02:00

Even if it's more than a year until our daughter will start attending nursery school, we're already looking at which one to wish for. You see, in our part of town there's a lot of kids and not too many nursery schools, so your first choice isn't always the one you get. But today my wife walked by one that I feel must be a winner.

Looking at this particular nursery school, my wife thought she spotted a photo of someone familiar in one of the windows. So what she did was take a picture of that particular window that she showed me triumphantly when I arrived home from work.

Although very granular, I recognized the motive instantly. ”That's Elvis,” I blurted out. ”From the movie Stay Away, Joe”. My wife smiled at me. ”This must be a great nursery school, don't you think,” she kidded.

I went to the computer to download the photo from the camera and manipulated it as best as I could in Photoshop. A search on the Internet for images from Stay Away, Joe then made it possible to identify the photo as the one used on the cover of the ”U.S. Male”/”Stay Away” single.

Surely it must be a sign. A nursery school with Elvis in the window has to be our first choice. And of course it helps that it's the one located closest to our home as well.

Elvis ... If He's Out There We'll Find Him!

2011-06-25T21:55:00.013+02:00

It's not everyday I contact the U.S. Navy. But a year and a half ago I sent an e-mail to the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) of the Patrol Squadron FORTY-FIVE (VP-45). It went like this:

Dear Sir!

My name is Thomas Melin, I'm living in Sweden and I'm a great fan of Elvis Presley. Many years ago I bought an Elvis patch at a store that sold military surplus stuff that I recognized as some kind of aircrew patch. This patch "resurfaced" a couple of days ago when I found it at a bottom of a drawer in my desk. This time I decided to try to find out what the patch was all about, so I searched for it with the help of google. The first thing I found out was that VP-45 is a patrol squadron, and I found it very interesting to read about its proud history on http://www.vp45.navy.mil/

Unfortunately, there was no mentioning about the Elvis patch, so that's why I've decided to try to contact you, to see if you can help me out. (I've also contacted the VP-45 Association with the same question.) I actually got one google hit mentioning the patch as an unofficial patch, but the link didn't work so I couldn't read more about it.

I would be very grateful if you could tell me more about the patch, what it means that it is unofficial, what year it was used and so on. I think it's a really clever and cool patch, telling whoever reads it that VP-45 is a squadron that gets the job done. As I also have an Elvis blog, I thought it would be interesting to write about the patch and its history there: http://www.elvistoday.blogspot.com/

Thank you very much and merry christmas and a happy new year to you!

Yours sincerely,

Thomas Melin,

Gothenburg, Sweden

Unfortunately I never received a reply, nor from the VP-45 Association. For some reason I came to think about this yesterday and dug out the patch from the drawer where it's still residing together with another military patch with an Elvis connection.

I then sent the Patrol Squadron VP-45 another e-mail, with the old one attached, explaining that I never received a reply, and would be grateful if the present PAO could help me out this time around. Of course I realize that he has more important things on his mind than starting asking his squadron mates questions about an old aircrew patch with Elvis on it, but I just had to try one more time.

As soon as I hear anything, I'll let you know.

In The Garden (3:12)

2011-06-19T21:48:00.012+02:00

Some days Elvis plays a bigger part in my life than others. Yesterday he was abscent most of the time, but for one song in the morning. Yet that was all it took to get me in a good mood.

As on every other Saturday morning, the radio in our kitchen was tuned to a nationwide radio show called Ring så spelar vi (loosely translated to Call and we play) during breakfast. The concept of the show is to have ordinary people call the program, wish for a song and then try to answer a question correctly. If they do, they win a CD. The song they wish for is played regardless of the result.

As you can guess Elvis is among the artists people want to hear, and yesterday was no exception. "The laughing version of 'Are You Lonesome Tonight' is one of the most wished for songs," the host told a woman calling in who wanted to hear a slow Elvis number.

"I bet she goes for 'Love Me Tender' or 'Can't Help Falling In Love'," I told my wife who sat on the other side of the table. I then glanced to the right at my eight months old daughter, but she didn't offer an opinion in the matter. The woman then surprised me by telling the host she wanted to hear "In The Garden."

Three minutes and 12 seconds. As I listened to Elvis delivering his beautiful version of this reverent church traditional my spirits rose. The tiredness I felt after a night with only a couple of hours sleep (courtesy of our daughter) vanished and like countless of times before I once again thought about how lucky I am to be an Elvis fan.

Young Man With The Big Beat

2011-06-16T20:52:00.023+02:00

Over three years ago I learned that Ernst Jorgensen had bought a tape of Elvis performing his last show for the Louisiana Hayride, on December 15, 1956. The problem then, according to Ernst, was that the show wasn't commercial enough to release on Sony/BMG. Yesterday I found out that he's fortunately changed his mind and is going to make this historical recording available in September as part of a Sony Legacy 5-CD box set devoted to Elvis incredible achievements in 1956.

Centered around his two first long playing albums Elvis Presley and Elvis (which will be released as a 2 CD Legacy Edition, too), the box set will also include the rest of the 56 masters as well as live recordings, outtakes and interviews. As all the outtakes have been previously released, as well as the live material from Las Vegas (May 6) and Little Rock (May 16), it's the complete show from the Hayride that excites me the most.

The first time I learned about this show was back in 1984 when I bought an LP titled Elvis: The First Live Recordings. On it were never before released songs recorded live at the Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, Louisiana in 1955 and 1956. The last track on Side B was a breathless rendition of "Hound Dog" from Elvis final appearance on December 15. Listening to it now, I have to fully agree with the sleeve notes written by Richard Goldstein.

He'd returned [...] for a final performance at the Hayride, before an audience of 10,000 teenage girls. As he sings, their screams wash over him like a tide of shards. No synthesizer can duplicate that innocence in the face of ecstasy. But through this remarkable recording, we can be present at the creation. And ready for its return.

Soon we can be present at the creation of the whole show (see track list below). Judging by the versions of "I Was The One" and "Love Me Tender" (not found on any BMG/RCA releases but featured on several Louisiana Hayride compilations, such as the Music Mill Entertainment release Good Rockin' Tonight), there will be screaming from start to finish. I can't wait to join the mass hysteria.

Track listing for the final Louisiana Hayride show, December 15, 1956:

Heartbreak Hotel
Long Tall Sally
I Was The One
Love Me Tender
Don’t Be Cruel
Love Me
I Got A Woman
When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
Paralyzed
Hound Dog

Shake That Tambourine

2011-06-12T20:24:00.007+02:00

Of course my eight month old daughter isn't the only child interested in rattles. But the way she uses them to great effect while listening to "Shake That Tambourine" must be somewhat more unusual.

It was when I noticed her interest in shaking toys that then rattled that I got the idea to play her track number six on my Harum Scarum CD. Sitting on the floor, her eyes immediately lit up when she heard the intro featuring the tambourines and her hand clutching the rattle started moving purposefully as she looked up at me.

I picked her up and started humming along with my daughter in my arms. A smile animated her face as she looked at the loudspeakers from where the music emerged.

Shake... the little tambourine
Shake a-ring a jing -jing a-ling
Shake, shake my little dancin' queen
Shake that tambourine, that tambourine

From then on that's been her favorite music number. Maybe even more so after receiving a pair of castanets from a friend of ours about a week later. Talk about the perfect present!

I admit I even went so far as to play my daughter a couple of unreleased takes of "Shake That Tambourine," courtesy of FTD. But listening to Elvis loosing it after singing "Bracelets keep a-clinking, on their' TEENY feet" only seemed to confuse her, so pretty soon I returned to the master.

By the way, Elvis actually did at least 38 takes of "Shake That Tambourine," as the master is a splice of takes 24 and 38, according to Ernst Jorgensen's A Life In Music as well as Joe Tunzi's Elvis Sessions III. It was the only song he recorded on February 24, 1965.

Special Moments With FTD 11

2011-06-08T19:27:00.016+02:00

As the door to the studio opens and Jerry Reed walks in, Elvis looks at him and says, "Lord, have mercy, what is that?" Jerry, not having shaved in about a week and still wearing the clothes from his interrupted fishing trip, nervously approaches Elvis with a battered guitar case in his hand, his old clogs making a clattering sound on the studio floor.

Elvis gets up from the armchair where he's been sitting and chatting with his friends Joe Esposito, Charlie Hodge and Billy Smith. "Ahh, Jerry, sorry to bother you on a Sunday and all," he says politely as they shake hands. "Man, I just love your recording of 'Guitar Man,' but these here guys can't make it sound like it did on your record," he continues as he points in the general direction of guitar players Scotty Moore, Harold Bradley and Chip Young.

It's September 10, 1967 and the location is RCA's Studio B in Nashville. The aim of the session is to record some singles and a couple of bonus tracks for the upcoming Clambake soundtrack album. A few hours earlier, the session kicked off with a rundown of "Guitar Man," a song whose driving accoustic sound Elvis haven't been able to get out of his head since he heard it on the radio in LA while making the movie Speedway that summer.

But the musicians couldn't get the groove, particularly the guitar sound, which plays a major part in the song. So producer Felton Jarvis wisely told Elvis that if he wanted that distinctive Jerry Reed guitar sound they'd have to get Jerry Reed himself aboard. "Get him in," Elvis answered.

After tracking him down on a fishing trip on the Cumberland River outside of Nashville, Jerry Reed arrives at the studio, looking like "a sure-enough Alabama wild man," as Felton Jarvis later likes to tell the story. In contrast, Elvis is trim-looking, wearing a casual black suit and a bright shirt with the topp buttons opened.

Jerry, a whirlwind of energy, hooks up his electric gut string, tunes the B-string up a whole tone, and tones the low E-string down a whole tone. "So I can bar straight across," he explains to his fellow guitar players. He plays a couple of tones with his fingers.

Felton glances at Elvis who is standing at the microphone, looking expectantly at Jerry. "We're rolling, this is 'Guitar Man' take one," Felton says, as Jerry continues to run through some guitar licks, trying to get his fingers up to speed. Elvis laughs as Jerry excuses himself, "I ain't played all weekend, Elvis." "I know, you're house is a mess, Reed," Felton kids him. Elvis, fascinated by the man, chimes in, "That's a mess, man." "It is ... a mess," answers Jerry as he starts working out the intro.

"No man, there ain't no way you can get them both, they'll just sound like a room full of spastics, or something," Jery Reed tells Chip Young, who nods his understanding that it's not possible to do all the guitar parts from his original recording at one time. Then, after a couple of tries, he turns to bass player Bob Moore, "It's long on the record, I forgot it's like this," he says and plays the intro just right. Elvis' face lits up.

What follows is a take abandoned after the first verse, but during those 35 seconds there's no mistaking Elvis sounding energized and engaged, focusing on the music. Instead it's Jerry Reed making the mistakes, "I may wonder of in the parking lot. Stay with me, or I'll get to you-sometime tonight, he jokes. "I can do that better... one two, three four."

And better and better it gets. Elvis, responding well to the shot of musical adrenaline injected by Jerry Reed's guitar sound, really gets into it. Take 5 is the first complete take, and at the end of take 10, when the guitars and the rhythm is just right, Elvis starts singing "What'd I Say."

As the band adds power, steel guitar player Pete Drake, wearing his customary flowered shirt, glances as Elvis and a thought runs through his mind: "Is this really the same guy that I played for in June, and whose last recording was that silly song, what was it called again ... yeah, the one with the corny title ... "He's Your Uncle, Not Your Dad?"

To experience this historical session, play track number 16 on disc 1 of FTD's Elvis Sings Guitar Man and then tracks 11–13 on disc 2.

A Great Big Fairytale

2011-06-04T19:46:00.006+02:00

Just a quick post today to point you in the direction of a great article written by Troy Y. over at his The Mystery Train Elvis Blog. Titled "The Once And Future Album" it's a 1967 review of the album Elvis Sings Guitar Man (one of FTD's latest "what if" albums), set in a universe where Elvis took a stand and demanded the album be released instead of the Clambake soundtrack with bonus songs.

The article is cleverly written, telling the reader that the 1963 platinum selling release Elvis Sings Memphis Tennessee (another "what if" album released by FTD in 2008) came about the same way. That is, with Elvis threatening to fire his manager Colonel Tom Parker if he didn't give in.

After the actual review we are told that Elvis is expecting his first child with "longtime sweetheart" Ann-Margret early next year. Also, that the shelved songs from Clambake might be combined with the songs from last year's canceled Spinout soundtrack album on an Elvis Double Feature Album.

Great stuff, Troy, and I love the stenciled and type written Mystery Train Elvis Newsletter (November 1967) illustration!

Elvis 1967: The Once And Future Album (The Mystery Train Elvis Blog)

"A Book About Elvis And About Us"

2011-05-30T20:15:00.012+02:00

As you who follow my blog know, I wrote a press release when my The Elvis Today Blog book was finished a few months ago and sent it to all the big Elvis websites. What I didn't expect was how difficult it was going to be to get the majority of them to include that piece of news.

I was especially disappointed to learn that one of my favorite sites, ElvisNews.com didn't want to mention my book in their news section as "It’s just not about Elvis, but about an Elvis-site."

Fortunately, the Elvis Information Network thought otherwise, "looks great, have added it as front page news," as did fellow Elvis blogger Troy Y, who has posted a review of the book on his Mystery Train Elvis blog. It begins like this:

Don’t let the title of this book fool you. The Elvis Today Blog is not a book about an Elvis site. Without a doubt, The Elvis Today Blog is a book about Elvis. However, it turns out that The Elvis Today Blog is also a book about us - modern Elvis fans. By relating his personal experiences, author Thomas Melin crafts a unique volume that follows the triumphs and trials of being an Elvis fan in the post-1977 era.

It really made my day reading that (as well as the rest of the review). After all, it's not every day someone tells you that you've written "not only a great book about Elvis but also an essential examination of contemporary Elvis fandom." Like Elvis used to say, "It makes it all worthwhile."

Read the whole review (Pieces of our lives: A look at modern Elvis fans)

Stage Rehearsal

2011-05-22T20:22:00.017+02:00

I was pleased to notice that one of the upcoming releases from the FTD collectors label will be a CD titled Stage Rehearsal. Dealing mainly with Elvis' show rehearsal at the International Hotel in Las Vegas on August 10, 1970, it offers a couple of bonus rehearsal tracks recorded on the same stage during other engagements as well.

Basically, the album is an upgraded version of the bootleg CD Hang Loose, released in 1991 by the Bilko label. Studying the complete track list for the rehearsal, published in FTD's first audiovisual documentary The Way It Was (page 21), I noticed that "You Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (released back in 1980 on the Elvis Aron Presley box set together with "Sweet Caroline" from the same rehearsal) was not included on the bootleg.

Then, comparing the list with the Stage Rehearsal CD, I was a bit surprised to discover that not only is one take of "Polk Salad Annie" missing on the upcoming FTD album, but also a take of "I''ve Lost You" (two takes of each song are featured on the bootleg Hang Loose).

Here's for hoping the track list presented by FTD is incorrect and that the two songs will be included. I know I'm not alone in looking forward to this release, and if the sound quality is anything like it is on the Elvis Aron Presley box set (a vast improvement over the one offered by Hang Loose) we should have a winner.

A final thought. I wonder why the August 10 rehearsal wasn't recorded in its entirety? As it is, all the tracks are labeled "Incomplete - Late Start." Strange, isn't it?

An Album That Would Have Never Been

2011-05-20T19:27:00.011+02:00

A great looking cover, a nice booklet and above all Elvis in excellent voice. Yet I have some reservations when it comes to FTD's latest release Elvis Sings Guitar Man featuring songs recorded in Nashville 1966-67. My reasons are threefold:

1. Only two complete unreleased takes are found on the album, and to make matters worse, both of them are versions of "Singing Tree," the one song that differs a lot in quality from the rest. 2. No alternate takes of "Mine" are included, only the master, although outtakes exist and have been released. 3. I do miss the January 1968 recordings, especially "U.S. Male" and "Too Much Monkey Business" that I feel share a connection with the September 1967 sessions (mainly due to Jerry Reed's guitar acoustic guitar picking).

Don't get me wrong, the songs contained on Elvis Sings Guitar Man are among some of the best that Elvis recorded during the 60's. I just feel that the two disc classic album format in this case limits the value of the release. At least, if you like me, already have all the outtakes (except the two takes of "Singing Tree") on other FTD and BMG releases. Why not go for a three disc release instead, including alternate takes of "Mine" as well as ones from January 1968? That would've made more sense to me.

That said, I have to mention the making of "Guitar Man" from the September 1967 session. Listening to Jerry Reed taking command of the recordings is fascinating stuff, as is the studio banter between him and producer Felton Jarvis. "I haven't played all all weekend," Jerry mutters as he and the musicians works out the intro of "Guitar Man." I actually found myself jumping to the second disc after the first takes on disc 1 to be able to follow the progression of the song.

Another highlight is the recording of "Big Boss Man" that in all fairness features a couple of incomplete, unreleased takes, showing Elvis having some trouble with song. "Elvis, you're jumping just a hair early," Felton cautions. "Alright, which hair is it?" Elvis deadpans.

So, am I being too critical? Maybe. But imagine a three disc version of Elvis Sings Guitar Man, with a couple of more unreleased takes, the January 1968 material (including outtakes) and as a special bonus Red West's recordings of "Indescribably Blue" and "I'll Remember You" from June 1966 (he filled in for Elvis as the musicians laid down backing tracks). That would've made an ever greater "album that would have never been."