1970

Review: A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW CD [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 21 when I wrote this review back in 1996 for The Elvis Beat #15, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

A Hundred Years From Now (RCA), recorded by Elvis Presley, 1970 and 1971, RCA Studios (Nashville). Released: July 1996 (CD).

A Hundred Years From Now is volume 4 of the Essential Elvis series. It contains 22 tracks recorded in 1970 and 1971, including 17 previously unreleased performances.

1970 is one of my favorite Elvis years, but A Hundred Years From Now is rather disappointing. Quite often alternate takes of Elvis songs are as good or better than the master releases. Or at least they are notable for the variations from the released versions. Unfortunately, most of the alternates on this album either are not significantly different from the originals or are surpassed by the originals.

“I Didn’t Make It On Playing Guitar” is an informal instrumental jam and a song never released before in any form. Although Elvis and the band sound great, unfortunately the track itself is boring and hard to listen to more than once or twice.

The other song never released before by Elvis on A Hundred Years From Now is “The Lord’s Prayer,” which is also disappointing and an informal recording.

The title song, “A Hundred Years From Now,” is great and was first released last year in the ELVIS: Walk A Mile In My Shoes – The Essential 70s Masters boxed set, though it sounds a bit different here.

The alternates of “I’ve Lost You” and “Just Pretend,” two of my favorite songs, are disappointing. The original master releases of these two incredible songs are far superior. The same could be said for nearly all the other songs presented here.

Two highlights are a beautiful performance of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and an extended version of “The Fool.” It should also be noted that this album, like most RCA releases in the last six or seven years, is beautifully packaged despite the poor quality cover art.

For collectors of Elvis’ 1970s songs, this album is a requirement in order to be complete. Others would be better advised to purchase the original source material, such as the album That’s The Way It Is.

Songs:

  1. I Didn’t Make It On Playing Guitar
  2. I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water
  3. Little Cabin On The Hill
  4. A Hundred Years From Now
  5. I’ve Lost You
  6. Got My Mojo Working/Keep Your Hands Off Of It
  7. You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me
  8. It Ain’t No Big Thing
  9. Cindy, Cindy
  10. Faded Love
  11. The Fool
  12. Rags To Riches
  13. Just Pretend
  14. If I Were You
  15. Faded Love
  16. Where Did They Go, Lord
  17. It’s Only Love
  18. Until It’s Time For You To Go
  19. Patch It Up
  20. Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On
  21. Bridge Over Troubled Water
  22. The Lord’s Prayer

Rating: 7 out of 10

New releases highlight Elvis in the 1970s [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 21 when I wrote this article back in 1996 for The Elvis Beat #15, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

“It don’t take much to spark you guys off,” proclaims Elvis to the studio band in A Hundred Years From Now, a new CD of alternate takes from RCA.

The disc features 17 previously unreleased tracks, including new versions of “I’ve Lost You” and “Just Pretend.” Nearly all of the songs were recorded in 1970, one of Elvis’ most productive years, while the remainder are from 1971. The album represents the fourth volume in the Essential Elvis series. Previous entries focused on the 1950s.

New from Lightyear Entertainment is the home video release of Elvis: The Alternate Aloha Concert. This dress rehearsal concert was taped as a backup before an audience two days prior to 1973’s legendary Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii television special. Elvis is much more relaxed and seems more into the songs than the formal version. Elvis’ hair is also longer in the rehearsal, as he had it cut before the actual show two days later.

Twenty songs are performed, including “Suspicious Minds” and “What Now My Love.” The song selection is nearly identical to the official Aloha From Hawaii show, for which three songs were added. Audio for this one was first released in 1988 by RCA on The Alternate Aloha.

Review: THAT’S THE WAY IT IS CD [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this review back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #5, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

That’s The Way It Is (RCA), recorded by Elvis Presley, produced by Felton Jarvis. Recorded June 1970, RCA Studios (Nashville) and August 1970, International Hotel (Las Vegas). Released: December 1970. Re-released: 1993 (CD).

That’s The Way It Is continued Elvis’ string of awesome studio work which had started at the Memphis sessions in January 1969. It is definitely one of the most outstanding albums of his career.

Over half of the twelve songs on the album were recorded in June 1970 at RCA’s Nashville studios, a recording session which eventually yielded the bulk of the songs on three albums.

The rest of the songs were taken from his Summer 1970 Las Vegas engagement, which was filmed for the documentary Elvis: That’s The Way It Is.

All twelve songs on the album are so great that favorites cannot even be chosen. Elvis does his own distinct versions of several previously recorded songs of other artists which far exceed the originals – “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” for example.

Fans of this album should also obtain the videos Elvis: That’s The Way It Is, which contains all of the songs in one form or another, and Elvis: The Lost Performances, which features excellent live versions of “Twenty Days And Twenty Nights” and “Just Pretend.”

Songs:

  1. “I Just Can’t Help Believin'”
  2. “Twenty Days And Twenty Nights”
  3. “How The Web Was Woven”
  4. “Patch It Up”
  5. “Mary In The Morning”
  6. “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me”
  7. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'”
  8. “I’ve Lost You”
  9. “Just Pretend”
  10. “Stranger In The Crowd”
  11. “The Next Step Is Love”
  12. “Bridge Over Troubled Water”

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review: LOVE LETTERS FROM ELVIS CD [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this review back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #4, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

Love Letters From Elvis (RCA), recorded by Elvis Presley, produced by Felton Jarvis. Recorded June 4-8, 1970, RCA Studios (Nashville). Released: May 1971. Re-released: 1992 (CD).

Despite the fact that Love Letters From Elvis was billed as an album of romantic songs, this is not “Love Me Tender” to the 12 power. In fact, along with the ballads, there are two religious songs and three up-tempo songs that are delivered equally as well as the love songs.

“Love Letters” is a re-recording of his 1966 single and is superior to that version. By far, the best song on this album is “This Is Our Dance,” which is very different from Elvis’ post-1971 ballads which tend to be sentimental pieces reflecting his problems with Priscilla.

Elvis picks up the pace with “Cindy, Cindy,” a song previously recorded with slightly different lyrics by Ricky Nelson under the title “Get Along Home, Cindy.”

The album concludes with “Life,” a song that manages to tell the complete story of the universe in under four minutes.

Love Letters From Elvis suffers from overpowering instrumentation on many tracks, a problem which was corrected for the most part on his future albums.

Songs:

  1. “Love Letters”
  2. “When I’m Over You”
  3. “If I Were You”
  4. “Keep Your Hands Off Her/Got My Mojo Working”
  5. “Heart Of Rome”
  6. “Only Believe”
  7. “This Is Our Dance”
  8. “Cindy, Cindy”
  9. “I’ll Never Know”
  10. “It Ain’t No Big Thing”
  11. “Life”

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Elvis and the Colonel: The Way It Was [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this article back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #4, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

One mistake after another occurred in the NBC television movie Elvis and the Colonel: The Untold Story, which aired in January. On the rare occasions when the movie’s makers did decide to check their sources, it appears the only reference they bothered to use was the 1979 TV movie Elvis starring Kurt Russell and directed by John Carpenter.

Below is a listing of some of the many factual errors which appeared in Elvis and the Colonel:

  • “Elvis” is shown giving his mother a pink cadillac after they were already living at Graceland. In reality, Elvis gave her the car in 1956, while they did not move into Graceland until May 1957.
  • “Elvis” is shown in Elvis and the Colonel filming the movie Change of Habit in the 1950s. In actuality, Change of Habit was filmed in 1969 and was his last acting role.
  • “Colonel Parker” mentions that “Elvis”‘ gold cadillac could be toured while he was in the Army. The real Elvis did not even purchase the gold car until after his service in the Army.
  • Preparations for the taping of the 1968 ELVIS television special (now known as ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special) are shown occurring in November of 1968. In reality, the special was taped in June of 1968.
  • The ELVIS special is a live broadcast in the movie. In actuality, ELVIS, as mentioned above, was taped in June 1968 and did not air until December of that year. It was the 1973 television special Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii that was broadcast live to some locations around the world.
  • “Elvis” is shown singing “Are You Lonesome Tonight” in a white, double-breasted suit during the ELVIS television special. In reality, “If I Can Dream” was the only song Elvis performed in the special wearing that suit.
  • “Heartbreak Hotel” in the movie concludes the ELVIS special. In actuality, “If I Can Dream” was the final song sung by Elvis in the special.
  • “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) opens “Elvis”‘ opening night performance in July 1969 at the Las Vegas International Hotel in the movie. The fact is, the real Elvis did not begin using “Also Sprach Zarathustra” until 1971.
  • “Elvis” wears a white jumpsuit for the July 1969 opening performance in the movie. In reality, Elvis wore a simple black outfit for his first concert in years. The jumpsuit worn by the actor is a distorted version of one worn by Elvis in the film Elvis: That’s The Way It Is, which was from an August 1970 performance.
  • “Elvis” sings “The Wonder Of You” at the 1969 concert in the movie, while the song was not really performed by Elvis until 1970.
  • “Elvis” is shown extremely overweight by September of 1971 in the movie, which escalates until a 1973 performance in which he appears obese. In reality, Elvis was at or near his ideal weight during these years, as proven by video and photographs.
  • “Elvis” is shown in the movie complaining to “Colonel Parker” about turning down A Star Is Born in August 1973. In actuality, Elvis had not yet been offered a role in this 1976 movie.
  • “Elvis” and “Priscilla” never divorce in the film! Despite the fact that the real couple divorced in October 1973, the movie “Elvis” tells of a nightmare in July 1976 in which he dreamed that “Priscilla” had left him. In a 1981 courtroom scene, the judge refers to “Elvis” as “Priscilla”‘s late “husband,” instead of “ex-husband.”

New Elvis CDs released [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 17 when I wrote this item back in 1992 for The Elvis Beat #3, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

The following new Elvis CDs have been spotted, in addition to the ones listed in our last issue, at local record stores as part of the “Elvis In The 90s” RCA series:

  • Elvis In Person
  • Back In Memphis
  • Love Letters From Elvis

New releases examine two phases of Elvis’ career [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 17 when I wrote this article back in 1992 for The Elvis Beat #2, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

Wednesday, June 24, was, perhaps, the best day for Elvis fans in the past 15 years. It marked the debut of two long-awaited releases.

The first new release is RCA’s ELVIS: The King Of Rock ‘n’ Roll – The Complete 50s Masters (List Price: $79.98), a five-CD set which contains every master studio take recorded in the 1950s, several alternate takes, live tracks, and previously unreleased material (140 songs in all). 500,000 units were pre-shipped to record stores.

Included are “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin,” the songs an 18-year-old Elvis paid to record for his mother in 1953.

The other release is even more monumental. The Turner Entertainment video Elvis: The Lost Performances (List Price: $19.98) contains an hour’s worth of never-before-seen outtakes from the 1970s concert movies Elvis: That’s The Way It Is and Elvis On Tour. 25 songs are performed on this video. See review on page 6.