You’ll never guess who put this Elvis career retrospective together

/ TY / 6 Comments

With literally thousands of performances from which to choose, it is difficult to distill Elvis’ entire career down into a single disc.

One of Sony’s most recent attempt to do just that was the release Elvis 75, from 2010.

Here’s another list of songs chosen by someone else, many years before the Elvis 75 release:

  • That’s All Right
  • Tryin’ To Get To You
  • I Got A Woman
  • Hound Dog
  • Don’t Be Cruel
  • Love Me
  • Teddy Bear
  • Jailhouse Rock
  • It’s Now Or Never
  • Are You Lonesome Tonight
  • Hawaiian Wedding Song
  • Can’t Help Falling In Love
  • Little Sister
  • What’d I Say
  • How Great Thou Art
  • Johnny B. Goode
  • See See Rider
  • I Really Don’t Want To Know
  • Early Morning Rain
  • You Gave Me A Mountain
  • My Way
  • Fairytale
  • And I Love You So
  • Hurt
  • If You Love Me

Other than one or two out-of-place songs, this is a single-disc retrospective I could get behind. I like the way it incorporates well-known hits with some rarities (to the mainstream, general public, that is).

Take another look at this list. It should be familiar to most of you.

These songs have indeed appeared together on an album. Way back in 1977. It was the first album released after Elvis passed away.

That’s right, you are looking at the songs from Elvis In Concert, which compiled two shows from Elvis’ final tour.

Elvis receives a lot of criticism from fans for his concert set lists, particularly in later years.

Sometimes, looking at something in a different way – or sequence – can shed new light on a subject.

We can debate the quality of his performances, but the songs Elvis selected during those two nights represented a look back at his entire career. Sadly, they also became a final farewell.

Hey Sony, isn’t it about time for an Elvis On Tour boxed set?

/ TY / 7 Comments

I started to do this in reply to Mike Hermenet’s comment on my Trilogy post, but decided to make a new post about it instead.

Though the 40th anniversary of That’s The Way It Is in 2010 essentially went unobserved by both the main Sony label and its Follow That Dream collectors label, I’m with Mike in hoping that the 40th anniversary of 1972’s Elvis On Tour will capture Sony’s imagination in 2012.

Elvis On Tour deserves a 3-CD treatment on the main label:

Disc 1: April 9, 1972, Evening Show, Hampton Roads, VA
Disc 2: April 10, 1972, Richmond, VA
Disc 3: April 16, 1972, Greensboro, NC

And then, to complement the above, there should be an Elvis On Tour: The Rehearsals – Volume II CD on the FTD label.

Or perhaps swap out one of the concerts from the set and release it on FTD, and put the disc of newly released rehearsals on the main label boxed set instead – since some may find three concerts from the same week to be too repetitive for a mainstream release (who are these imbeciles?).

After last year’s poorly handled Blu-ray release of the film, I’m not holding my breath for Warner Brothers to release anything new as far as Elvis On Tour video footage next year. I hope I’m wrong on that account, though.

There is, at least, some hope for additional audio releases to go with those from the past.

Thanks for commenting, Mike, and for the quick post idea.

Elvis revamps his show

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Inspired by a recent eBay auction of Elvis’ handwritten rehearsals set list from August 1974, Thomas has a posted another creative piece over on his Elvis Today Blog. This is a must-read:

“The Handwritten Las Vegas Rehearsal Set List” — Elvis Today Blog

Sony’s Follow That Dream collectors label for Elvis fans documented the rehearsals on the 2-CD set From Sunset to Vegas. The unique opening show of this engagement is one of two concerts that appear on FTD’s 2-CD Nevada Nights.

“The Twelfth Of Never” and “Softly, As I Leave You” from the August 16, 1974, rehearsal first appeared on 1995’s Walk A Mile In My Shoes.

I always find it a little eerie while listening to “Softly” in particular to think that Elvis would pass away exactly three years later.

He felt himself start to die, and he took his notepad from the side of the bed, and he wrote, ‘Softly, I will leave you, softly. For my heart would break, if you should wake, and see me go…'” –From “Softly As I Leave You,” Elvis Presley version, August 16, 1974

Best wishes for Sonny West

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In case you have not heard, Elvis’ longtime friend and bodyguard Sonny West is in the hospital after suffering serious injuries from a fall last week. My thoughts and prayers go out to him for a speedy recovery.

After being fired by the Presley camp in 1976, Sonny was part of a trio of former bodyguards, including his cousin Red West and Dave Hebler, that co-authored the 1977 book Elvis, What Happened?

Published just two weeks before the singer’s death, the book is notable as the first to expose Elvis’ prescription drug addiction and abuse. Gossip columnist Steve Dunleavy wrote the tell-all, giving it a sensationalized and negative tone. After Elvis passed away, Elvis, What Happened? became a bestseller.

While mourning the loss of Elvis, many fans were understandably hurt by this book. At the time, none wanted to believe what most of us know today – with thirty-four years of perspective – to be its underlying truths.

In 2007, Sonny published another book about Elvis, but with an entirely different tone.  In Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business, Sonny fondly remembers his friend.

“I am forced to concede that [Elvis, What Happened?] was largely a failure,” he says in the introduction. “It didn’t save Elvis, and neither did it convey to readers how much I loved the man. By focusing so much on Elvis’ addiction and oddball behavior, I was remiss in not telling readers how much he meant to me.”

Thirty-four years is a long time, but, given the cold stories and comments on various Elvis sites about Sonny’s hospitalization, some fans unfortunately continue to hold a grudge against him.

We will never know, of course, what might have been, but I personally believe that Elvis and the Wests eventually would have reconciled had he lived.

Again, my best wishes go out to Sonny.

“That’s why I’m saved…”

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Let Yourself Go (2006)

Let Yourself Go (2006)

I gave the 2006 FTD release Let Yourself Go! a spin for the first time in quite awhile last weekend.

Due to its primary focus on segments for the production number medleys, it’s probably the ’68 special album I play the least – other than two or three of the rehearsal tracks.

On this listen, however, two of the non-rehearsal tracks demanded my attention.

Recorded for use in the gospel medley, “Saved” features as an alternate take here.

Unlike many of the other medley segments on this release, “Saved” works as a stand-alone track. In fact, it’s really cool finally to have “Saved” by itself!

Elvis’ exuberance on this version is so contagious that I prefer it far and above the comparatively subdued master take used in the medley. On the alternate, he even throws in a “whooh!” at one point, unable to contain himself. That’s what makes the comeback era so special, hearing such pure joy return to Elvis’ music.

Incidentally, if you have never heard LaVern Baker’s original 1959 version of “Saved,” do yourself a favor and find it somewhere. She does an incredible job on the song.

Anyway, I don’t remember the alternate vocal track of “Memories” jumping out at me when I first played Let Yourself Go! way back when. For some reason, this time, it really stood out. The difference between it and the master was not nearly as striking as it was for “Saved,” but the song is just beautiful.

Hearing a slightly different inflection on a few lines of a song I’ve played so often makes it feel new again. The sound quality on both of these tracks is superb.

I love re-discovering songs that have been in my collection for awhile. I wonder what will turn up next?

Fred Wolfe wins bragging rights for Elvis Trivialities #2

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Fred Wolfe was the first person to correctly answer Elvis Trivialities #2. Answering only eighteen minutes after I posed the question, Fred becomes the inaugural member of The Mystery Train’s Night Riders – a priceless honor that earns him a set of bragging rights. And the answer is…

Elvis was referring to Jackie Wilson when he said the following:

I heard this guy in Las Vegas [with] Billy Ward and His Dominoes. There’s a guy out there who was doing a take-off on me, ‘Don’t Be Cruel,’ and he tried so hard, until he got much better, boy, much better than that record of mine.”

Source: The Million Dollar Quartet, Elvis Presley, Colin Escott (liner notes), BMG Music, New York, 1990.

By 1957, Jackie Wilson had left Billy Ward’s Dominoes to pursue a solo career. He earned much success, with hits that included “Lonely Teardrops” (1958) and “Higher and Higher” (1967).

As Thomas commented yesterday, Elvis impersonating Jackie impersonating Elvis is one of the highlights of the December 4, 1956, “Million Dollar Quartet” jam session.

Elvis went on to repeat part of that impersonation when performing for the third and final time on the Ed Sullivan Show a month later. His January 6, 1957, appearance is also notable as the one where TV cameras shot him only from the waist up, a move that just increased his legend.

Thanks for playing, everyone. Congratulations to Fred.

Elvis Trivialities #2

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Back because you asked for it, here’s the next installment of Elvis Trivialities. Your question is:

Who was Elvis referring to when he said the following?

I heard this guy in Las Vegas [with] Billy Ward and His Dominoes. There’s a guy out there who was doing a take-off on me, ‘Don’t Be Cruel,’ and he tried so hard, until he got much better, boy, much better than that record of mine.”

This is such an easy question. See if you can be the first to post the correct answer in the comments below.