Elvis Today Blog

Elvis news . . . in a flash

/ TY / 2 Comments

Now that we’re starting to get back to “normal” here on The Mystery Train Elvis Blog after wall-to-wall coverage of Elvis On Tour, I thought it would be a good chance to catch up on some of the other things going on in the Elvis world.

Too much, plus tax

While I’ve got some book and Blu-ray reviews in the works, one upcoming Elvis release I’m not likely to be reviewing anytime soon is The Complete Elvis Presley Masters collection, formally announced by Sony Legacy this week and available for pre-order. This 30-CD set checks in at $749 US, plus tax and shipping.

The initial run is limited to only 1,000 units worldwide. You get 814 recordings, a new 240-page hardcover book, and a display case.

Don’t get me wrong here. This looks like a terrific set, and I’m drooling over it as we speak! $749 is simply too much for me personally, especially considering I already have all of the songs (though not always in the same sound quality as what will no doubt be included on this set).

Checking out the other Elvis blogs

Over on Elvis Today, Thomas recently reviewed the FTD edition of How Great Thou Art. He notes, “Getting a front seat in RCA’s Studio B in Nashville and being able to listen to Elvis’ new producer Felton Jarvis directing the session with his supportive comments and encouragement, offers a valuable insight into how the recordings took place and how the songs evolved.” Certainly, a must-read post and, apparently, a must-listen CD set as well.

Phil has some great coverage this week on ElvisBlog about what he calls “Two Very Rare, Weird, and Valuable Elvis Records.” Each one of those rare records will actually cost far more than the 30-CD set referenced above, by the way. One features “Doncha’ Think It’s Time” by Elvis accidentally pressed by RCA on a record labeled as “One For The Money (Part 1)” by The Whispers. How Elvis’ 1958 recording ended up on this 1976 single is anyone’s guess.

This reminded me of a similar mistake that Sony Legacy recently made – in reverse! Some editions of their 2-CD reissue of On Stage-February 1970 have an Alice In Chains album as the first CD – though it is still labeled as Elvis. Sony is offering a disc exchange, but that’s one I’d recommend keeping if you happen to have it, even if you don’t like Alice In Chains. It’s kind of a double collectible, for Alice In Chains fans may want to obtain this unique disc as well.

Continue keeping Myrna Smith in your prayers

One of the beautiful voices you’ll hear on the real version of On Stage is that of Myrna Smith. Because of Elvis, I’ve been listening to Myrna for all of my life.

I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, but I want to bring it up again. If you’re going to be in Memphis during Elvis Week, be sure to attend Elvis Unlimited‘s Back In Memphis concert, which will benefit Myrna – a founding member of the Sweet Inspirations vocal group that backed Elvis in concert performances from 1969 until his death in 1977. Myrna is hospitalized with a serious illness in California and the medical bills are quickly adding up. Kudos to Elvis Unlimited for taking the initiative to bring fans together to help her.

Even if you can’t attend the show, keep Myrna in your prayers, everyone. May she recover soon.

Some final thoughts on an Elvis weekend [The Film Frontier blog]

/ TY

Yesterday marked the 32nd anniversary of Elvis passing away. I was out most of the day, but I did make a point of observing it by listening to FTD’s All Shook Up (August 26, 1969, Midnight Show, Las Vegas) and watching Sit-down Show #2 (June 27, 1968, 8 PM, Burbank) from ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special-Deluxe Edition DVD.

One of my favorite little segments from that sit-down show gave me an idea for a future post. After the first couple songs of the show, Elvis mentions on a whim that they should have had audience members fill out cards to ask him questions.

Though I can only imagine what some of those questions would have been (“Elvis, will you kiss me?” “Elvis, will you please buy me a Lincoln?” “Elvis, what’s your secret with women?”), I think this would have been a great concept.

Elvis’ buddy, Charlie Hodge, unfortunately dismisses it. He quickly moves Elvis on by saying, “I’ve got a question . . . what’re you going to sing next?” and then prods him into starting “That’s All Right.”

To my knowledge, Elvis never executed his answering fan questions concept during his shows over the next nine years. I have heard of shows with a “request box” where people could ask that he perform certain songs, but that’s not quite the same thing. I wish he had tried this a couple of times (and maybe he did, who knows, there were well over a thousand shows).

So, if you could ask Elvis one question, what would it be? I’ll have to think about that one for awhile. So, for now, I’ll just say, “To Be Continued. . . .”

Read some great news over on Elvis Today that the Elvis Collectors label, Follow That Dream Records, is not dead! With no new releases announced lately, I was beginning to share Thomas’ concern that the end was near for FTD after ten years.

Turns out that there are three more albums in the Classic Albums series currently in the works. Meanwhile, the next release will contain rehearsals from August 1974. As someone who does not buy bootleg material, I’m glad FTD is getting around to releasing official versions of material like this. I’m also glad that I won’t have to wait until the Twelfth of Never to buy more FTD releases.

I forgot all the words

/ TY

I wrote this guest post in 2009 for Elvis Today.

First up, I want to thank Thomas for offering me this guest blog spot on Elvis Today. I’m a frequent visitor, but it’ll certainly be strange to see my thoughts above the comments line this time.

When I was trying to think of ideas for my post here, I ran across a rather critical review of the 1970 concert recently released as The Wonder Of You by FTD.

Referring to the song “Stranger In The Crowd,” the reviewer writes:

“The rest of the lyrics are a jumble of right and wrong renditions. A lazy performer who again could not be bothered to learn the words to his own songs?”

So, I started wondering, does Elvis forgetting the words to a song in concert ruin the performance? The odds are you’ve heard more than a couple of Elvis concerts, so you already know that he forgot the words to songs all the time. I don’t think it was due to a lack of caring on his part, though.

In Elvis: That’s The Way It Is, we see him stressing about forgetting the words to “I Just Can’t Help Believing.” He rehearses it over and over, yet continues to worry about it so much that literally seconds before hitting the stage for the opening night show, he asks that the lyric sheet be placed on a nearby stool. The performance of the song shown in the movie is actually from the next day, but he’s still reading the words.

The documentary, of course, also captures other rehearsals and “Stranger In The Crowd” in The Wonder Of You is from that same engagement. Did the presence of the camera crew distract Elvis too much during the rehearsals? It’s possible, for he hams it up quite a bit. He does get down to business at times, too, though.

Perhaps the real issue is that Elvis never took himself as seriously as a lot of fans seem to today.

I find a fun show like The Wonder Of You, messed up lyrics and all, to be much better than, say, Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite, where he is serious most of the time and sings most of the lyrics correctly. He had some help during the technically flawless Aloha, though. Watch carefully during “Burning Love” and you’ll see someone holding up cue cards with the words to the song printed out for Elvis to read.

During the rehearsal show a couple days before, as heard on The Alternate Aloha, Elvis flubbed the words to “Burning Love,” among others. He covered it well, though, as I suspect most of those present had no idea until he shyly admitted, “I forgot all the words,” after the song.

Supposedly, Elvis had to be pressured into recording “Burning Love” the previous year, so could that be why he didn’t learn the words? Perhaps, but Elvis was also known to forget the words to songs he liked.

During the second sit-down show for the ’68 Comeback Special, released on Tiger Man, Elvis introduces “Santa Claus Is Back In Town” as his favorite Christmas song of those he had recorded (not “Blue Christmas” as an edit back in 1968 on the original album made everyone believe for years).

He then proceeds to mess up most of the words to his favorite Christmas tune. His bluesy rendition, wrong words and all, was one of the best songs of that show.

Indeed, Elvis’ performance transcended the lyrics. The words no longer mattered. No one else could have pulled that off.

If you insist on perfect songs, then stick to the studio versions. Otherwise, just relax and have fun.

That’s what being an Elvis fan is all about.

By the way, this post was originally going to be a lot better than this. Unfortunately, I forgot all the words that I planned to write. I hope you liked it anyway.

/TY, The Film Frontier