Experience Elvis in Lake Tahoe with High Sierra

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High Sierra cover (concept art)

High Sierra cover (concept art)

In May, Follow That Dream (FTD) Records is releasing High Sierra, a new CD containing Elvis’ May 21, 1974, show at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel (now the Horizon Casino Resort). Rounding out the set are six bonus songs from the same engagement, as well as an 8-page booklet. The track listing certainly has my attention:

01 See See Rider
02 I Got A Woman/Amen
03 Love Me
04 Trying To Get To You
05 All Shook Up
06 Love Me Tender
07 You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me
08 Hound Dog
09 Fever
10 Polk Salad Annie
11 Why Me Lord
12 Suspicious Minds
13 Introductions
14 I Can’t Stop Loving You
15 Help Me
16 Bridge Over Troubled Water
17 Let Me Be There
18 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
19 Big Boss Man
20 Can’t Help Falling In Love
21 Closing Vamp
Bonus Tracks
22 Johnny B. Goode
23 Steamroller Blues
24 Spanish Eyes
25 How Great Thou Art
26 It’s Now Or Never
27 I’m Leavin’
28 Introducing Billy Eckstine

What a great and varied collection of songs! I don’t collect every FTD CD, but this one looks like a potential must-have to me. I’m especially looking forward to hearing “I’m Leavin’,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “It’s Now Or Never,” “Spanish Eyes,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me.”

FTD is Sony’s Elvis collectors label, aimed directly at fans rather than the general public. FTD releases are like official versions of bootlegs. The Elvis bootleg industry is huge, but FTD provides a legal alternative with releases focusing on alternate takes and live performances. While the mainstream is listening to yet another greatest hits compilation, the hardcore fans are listening to FTD releases. The FTD releases are available from ShopElvis.com and other online Elvis retailers.

Also coming in May is Showtime! Birmingham/Dallas ’76, a two CD set containing Elvis’ December 28 (Dallas) and December 29 (Birmingham), 1976, concerts.

For those of us in the United States, FTD releases (which are imports) are normally about one month behind. So, we can expect to see these two titles in June.

From Elvis Presley to Moody Blue in 21 Days

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The covers of Elvis Presley's first and last albums

The covers of Elvis Presley’s first and last albums

Though I’m a huge Elvis fan, I don’t listen to my favorite singer exclusively. Variety is the spice of life, and I enjoy all kinds of music. Back on Saint Patrick’s Day, though, before I even created The Mystery Train, I began a marathon of sorts where I’ve been spending all of my music time listening to Elvis.

Starting with 1956’s Elvis Presley, I listened in order to every album that Elvis released during his lifetime. I skipped previously released tracks on compilation albums, meaning I only listened to each individual recording once. Between albums, I sprinkled in the few unique singles that never appeared on albums while he was alive (e.g., “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”).

My Elvis odyssey ended earlier this week when I reached the conclusion of 1977’s Moody Blue. In 21 days, I had listened to just about every Elvis track released during his lifetime, over 700 in all (more than 30 hours of music). It turns out I am missing five song variants, which I have started tracking down.

Going from beginning to end with Elvis was quite an experience. Other than the doldrums of the worst of his 1960s movie soundtracks, the quality of his album output was actually a lot better than some folks would have you believe.

Starting with two or three tracks on 1966’s Spinout, though, you can feel the approaching storm and revitalization of his 1968 comeback. Finally, when “Tiger Man” closes out the surprisingly great Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star And Others, the anticipation for the very next album, the milestone ELVIS-TV Special, reaches its height.

From that point on, everything is different, and Elvis begins releasing the best music of his life. Despite what people will try to tell you, that holds true all the way to the end – with the stunning and heartfelt From Elvis Presley Boulevard and Moody Blue albums, both recorded at Graceland.

I’m not sure if I’ll ever listen to Elvis’ album output in sequence again, but it was an amazing experience.

What Graceland’s broken gates reveal about us

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Over the weekend, I was happy to see a portion of one of Thomas’ Elvis Today blog posts picked up by no less than Elvis Information Network and ElvisNews.com.

While at ElvisNews.com, another story also caught my eye: Graceland Gates Damaged.

In the middle of the night on Friday, a motorist apparently crashed through Graceland’s famous music gates, shouted something to a security guard, and then fled the scene.

Appalling behavior, of course, but what I found even more appalling were the views of some of the Elvis fans that posted reactions on ElvisNews.com.

Attention immediately focused on the suspect’s race, while some called Graceland’s surroundings a “ghetto” and a “hood” and suggested that the whole area be bulldozed and its occupants evicted. To top it off, insults were hurled at the entire city of Memphis.

I have a simple question. How can people who spend so much time listening to Elvis manage never to hear his message?

There was a guy who said one time, he said, ‘You never stood in that man’s shoes, or saw things through his eyes. Or stood and watched with helpless hands while the heart inside you dies. So help your brother along the way, no matter where he starts. For the same God that made you, made him, too – these men with broken hearts.'” –Elvis Presley, 1970, quoting Hank Williams, Sr.

Though often associated with extravagant wealth, Elvis rose out of a poor background. From his early days of fame all the way through to the end, he often gave to his community. Though he eventually had everything, he obviously remembered what it was like to have nothing.

People don’t you understand? A child needs a helping hand, or he’ll grow to be an angry young man some day. Take a look at you and me, are we too blind to see, or do we simply turn our heads and look the other way?” –From “In The Ghetto,” Elvis Presley song, 1969 (written by Mac Davis)

The answer is not to extend Graceland’s walls out and create an antiseptic Disneyland for Elvis fans. The answer is not to kick out Graceland’s neighbors in the name of “improvement,” but rather to help those same neighbors improve their community.

Yes, there is crime in Shelby County. Yes, there is crime in Memphis. Don’t look too far out of your own backdoor, though, because you might find out that crime is closer than you think.

Graceland is a part of Memphis, just like Elvis once was a part of Memphis. To ignore Memphis, to ignore the context of Graceland – whether in the past when Elvis lived there or in the present day when thousands of fans spend money to visit there – is to turn visiting Graceland into something no more real than visiting the Magic Kingdom. Sure, it’s a lot of fun, but at the end of the day, it’s all meaningless illusions.

Is that really what Elvis fans want for Graceland? I think we can do better.

If I can dream of a better land, where all my brothers walk hand-in-hand, tell me why can’t my dream come true?” –From “If I Can Dream,” Elvis Presley song, 1968 (written by W. Earl Brown)

Elvis On Tour Blu-ray/DVD coming August 3

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Elvis On Tour (1972)

Elvis On Tour (1972)

This week, Warner Home Video and Elvis Presley Enterprises announced the Elvis On Tour Blu-ray and DVD release date as August 3. There will also be a special screening of the movie on August 14 in Memphis during Elvis Week.

You read that right, we’re only four months away from the Elvis On Tour release!

Elvis On Tour features Elvis on the road and in rehearsals in the spring of 1972. Sandwiched between 1970’s colossal That’s The Way It Is and 1973’s Aloha From Hawaii, MGM’s Golden-Globe-winning documentary often seems to be overlooked among Elvis events. The second documentary produced about him, Elvis On Tour also represents Elvis’ 33rd and final movie.

Previously available in wide release only on VHS, Elvis On Tour is finally making its debut on Blu-ray and DVD. So, it is a little late to the DVD party, but just in time for the high-definition Blu-ray party!

While there will apparently not be any previously unreleased footage in this release, the press release does mention a number of songs that were featured only in the 1992 home video Elvis: The Lost Performances.

My hope is that the 1972 songs from The Lost Performances will be available as fully restored bonus features, along with the original theatrical version of the film. Blu-ray movies also allow for the possibility of “branching” — where you can choose between variations of a movie.

As we count down the months to the Elvis On Tour release, The Mystery Train will have more articles celebrating this event. Keep checking back, folks.

This is a great time to be an Elvis fan!

Return of the Rocker Starts an Obsession

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Close-up of Return of the Rocker (1986)

Close-up of Return of the Rocker (1986)

In my childhood, I mostly listened to Elvis through borrowing records from my Mom and brother.

That all changed in 1987. Back then, you could still hear music on AM radio, and Oldies stations still played more than the same 200 songs they recycle today.

A local AM radio station was playing the live version of “I’ve Lost You” by Elvis that very morning as I waited anxiously on the phone. I was 11-years-old and on a strange winning streak. It seemed just about any contest I entered at that time, I won.

This radio call-in contest was for the prize to end all prizes, though. The winner of this contest would receive an Elvis LP record album, Return of the Rocker.

I had been trying for a week or two to win this one. To win, you simply had to be the tenth caller once they announced the contest each weekday morning. They had been giving away the album for some time, as my brother had won it over a month before. I was determined to win as well.

Usually such call-in contests went like this for me:

  1. Dial the number.
  2. Hear busy signal.
  3. Hang up.
  4. Hit re-dial.
  5. Hear busy signal.
  6. Go back to 3 until it finally rings, someone answers, states there has already been a winner, and hangs up.

The phone was ringing, and sooner than normal this time. The DJ, “Large” Larry, answered by simply saying the name of the station. I paused, as this had never happened before. “Am I a winner?” I asked sheepishly.

“Yes, you are!” He said. Realizing (and, looking back, probably surprised by) my age, the DJ asked me a few questions about what grade I was in and whether or not I thought my teacher was good-looking.

I didn’t care about the DJ’s shenanigans, though. I had just won my first-ever Elvis album! A week or two later, a certificate arrived in the mail that could be redeemed at the now defunct Peaches Music for a free copy of Return of the Rocker.

I would eventually spend a lot of time browsing the Elvis Presley section in Peaches, but I believe this was my first time in the store. I didn’t browse too long that day, just grabbed Return of the Rocker, checked out without problems, and hurried my Mom on the car ride home so I could finally play this record.

The record player I had back then was a hand-me-down from my older sister. It was vintage 1970s, I think, and kind of folded up to be carried around – though it was really too heavy to do that since it had a couple of bookshelf speakers as well.

I gently placed the needle on Side A of Return of the Rocker and was instantly rewarded with a rousing saxophone intro to an Elvis song I had never heard before, “King of the Whole Wide World.”

“The poor man wants the oyster,” Elvis sang, “The rich man wants the pearl, but the man who can sing but he hasn’t got a thing, he’s the king . . . of the whole wide world. Come on and sing! Sing, brother, sing!”

I was blown away. My life was never the same after that moment. Over the next few weeks, while pondering the incredible front and back cover art by Mark Chickinelli (I would love to find a print of his full cover art painting someday), I must have played the record dozens and dozens of times.

The rest of it was just as good as the opener, and it was full of songs that were new to me.

Side A
King of the Whole Wide World (1961)
(Marie’s The Name) His Latest Flame (1961)
Little Sister (1961)
A Mess Of Blues (1960)
Like A Baby (1960)
I Want You With Me (1961)

Side B
Stuck On You (1960)
Return To Sender (1962)
Make Me Know It (1960)
Witchcraft (1963)
I’m Comin’ Home (1961)
Follow That Dream (1961)

Return of the Rocker may have just been a compilation record of previously released songs, but that record was everything to me.

The Elvis Adventure Is Just Beginning

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Elvis Presley in 1968

Elvis Presley in 1968

Have you ever noticed that the first post on a new blog is almost always boring? Let’s get the mundane one out of the way.

Welcome to The Mystery Train, an Elvis Presley blog. I’ve been toying with the idea of starting an Elvis blog for about two years now. In the meantime, I’ve been using sporadic posts on my mostly sci-fi blog as an outlet for writing about Elvis. In addition, I’ve guest blogged over at Elvis Today and ElvisBlog.

In fact, it was a recent post by Elvis Today’s Thomas that encouraged me to finally take the plunge and start an all Elvis blog of my own. Though I will no doubt decrease the number of posts about Elvis on my sci-fi blog, I will continue being available for guest stints on other Elvis blogs.

I actually started writing about Elvis nearly twenty years ago. From 1992 to 1997, I was the president of an official Elvis Presley fan club. I’m not sure how many there are now, but there were about 450 official clubs back then. Mine was only a “club” in the loosest sense of the term, though.

At its peak, my Elvis fan club had maybe fifty concurrent members. During all of those years, we never held a single meeting! In reality, the club existed solely as an excuse for me to create and write a quarterly newsletter about Elvis (kids, we had to use an archaic delivery system back then – consisting of items called “paper,” “envelopes,” and “postage stamps”).

I was 16 when I started that club, certainly one of the younger fan club presidents at that particular time. It was not exactly popular for 16-year-olds to like Elvis back then. While I may have been young, I had grown up listening to Elvis and had a lot to say about him.

These days, I am rapidly (and I do mean rapidly) approaching 35. All those years have gone by, yet Elvis is still there providing the soundtrack to my life – and I still have a lot to say about him. That’s why I’m here.

As for you, hold on tight, this train’s leaving the station! Enjoy your ride.

 

A refreshing portrait of Elvis after the Army [The Film Frontier blog]

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I run across cool stuff every now and then that I just want to point out to you. Peter Guralnick’s Last Train To Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley represents the definitive account of Elvis’ early years. Though many herald it along with Last Train, his follow-up volume, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, often leaves something to be desired.

Guralnick at least treats his subject with a sympathetic eye, which is better than most Elvis biographers, but his disdain for much of Elvis’ post-Army career is still evident. As someone who happens to love and enjoy this later Elvis, I do not like to see those years so easily dismissed. The great thing is, someone else has already said all of this far better than I ever could.

Drjohncarpenter over on the For Elvis CD Collectors message board recommended “Elvis In The Dark” by Daniel Wolff. It contains a critical look not only at the post-Army Elvis, but also at Guralnick’s biography. Wolff is the author of a Sam Cooke biography as well as a couple of volumes on Bruce Springsteen. After reading this piece, one of the best I have ever seen about Elvis, my hope is that Wolff will write a Presley biography some day as well.

* * *

There was a sad announcement this week in the Elvis world. Sylvia Shemwell recently passed away. She was a member of the Sweet Inspirations, the vocal group that backed Elvis on stage from his return to live performances in 1969 through his death in 1977.

Before becoming part of Elvis’ show, the Sweet Inspirations were already a Grammy-winning gospel group that once backed Aretha Franklin. Outside of their time with Elvis, their best known hit was “Sweet Inspiration,” released in 1968.

Sylvia appears with Elvis in the documentary movies That’s The Way It Is (1970) and Elvis On Tour (1972). She also appears with him in the television specials Aloha From Hawaii (1973) and Elvis In Concert (1977) as well as countless live concert albums.

You see a more recent photo of her over on ElvisNews.com: Sylvia Shemwell Passed Away.

As for the official Elvis site, as far as I could find, there was no mention of her in their news section. They did, however, find the time to promote a so-called Elvis “Tribute” Artist competition.

My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends during this time. Sylvia: Thank you for the music.

* * *

Myrna Smith, another member of the Sweet Inspirations who backed Elvis during the same time and events, was recently hospitalized in Great Britain. It sounds like she is doing better, though, and will hopefully be released soon.

John Wilkinson played rhythm guitar for Elvis in the 1969 through 1977 era, again appearing in those same events. Wilkinson is battling cancer and was recently hospitalized in Missouri.

I was thinking the other day, because of Elvis, I have been listening to these people for pretty much my entire life. I wish all of them well.