nostalgia

Education, Elvis Style (Part 1)

/ TY

At this time of year in the United States, high school and university graduations are taking place. It is customary to send friends and family members gifts once they reach this milestone. Particularly for high school grads, these gifts often come in the form of money – intended for use in further education.

I graduated from high school in the early 1990s and sure enough, in the last few months of my senior year, checks from various friends and family members arrived in the mail. At the time, I was still working on obtaining my first summer job. When it came to money, I basically had none.

That had never stopped me from spending time browsing record stores, though. I can remember drooling over two Elvis CD releases in particular that had been out for about a year by that time: ELVIS: The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll – The Complete 50s Masters and Elvis Today.

The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, of course, was the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed 5-CD boxed set that collected his 1950s material together in a coherent fashion for the first time. I can remember just staring at the track listings on the back of the box, marveling over the song titles.

Cover of 1992 Elvis Today CD

Elvis Today was the CD debut of a 1975 album previously available only on vinyl. Since RCA had inexplicably deleted the original album from its catalog, I had been trying to track it down for years before the CD release. I only had three of the songs on it and wanted desperately to hear the others.

Both releases were part of RCA/BMG’s “Elvis In The 90s” series, which had the mission of bringing all of his master recordings to the CD format.

As I dutifully wrote out thank you notes for the gracious graduation gifts people had sent me, a plan began formulating in my head. Sure, I was starting university classes in a few months, but what did I need for that right now? I had a better idea.

Soon enough, I was at the record store and spent most of my graduation money on The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and Elvis Today. I had just enough left over to buy a reference book I had also been eyeing up for some time: ELVIS: His Life From A to Z by Fred L. Worth and Steve D. Tamerius.

People had sent money for me to further my education, and that was exactly what I intended to do.

To be continued. . . .

Return of the Rocker Starts an Obsession

/ TY / 5 Comments
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.

How To Spend An Extra Day [The Film Frontier blog]

/ TY

“The only thing worse than watching a bad movie is being in one.”
–Elvis Presley

Finally, February is over and spring is almost here.

Though I’m no fan of February, it does have one redeeming factor: Leap Day. I spent part of 2008’s extra day watching Superman Returns. February 29 is Superman’s kinda-sorta birthday, after all. It has been nearly a year since I last watched this movie, and I continue to be impressed by it. I hope that both Bryan Singer and Brandon Routh will return for a sequel within the next two or three years. I have seen rumors on both sides, but no confirmation either way.

I also watched some Star Trek episodes on Leap Day. No real connection there, I just felt like watching. I watched the original versions of “The Apple,” “Mirror, Mirror,” and “The Deadly Years.” Turns out that “The Apple” is also this weekend’s episode of Star Trek: Remastered. This is not an episode I could watch twice in the same weekend, though.

No Star Wars on Friday, but I did sneak in an Elvis movie – Harum Scarum. Definitely not one of his best, but interesting to me as an Elvis fan since I  had not watched it in a long time.

When I was a kid, the local UHF syndicated station seemed to show Elvis movie marathons nearly every Saturday afternoon. Coming from a family of Elvis fans, I spent a lot of time watching them. I will not lie to you and tell you that Elvis made the best movies, but most of them do have a quirky fun about them. He had a real gift for comedy that a lot of the mainstream really does not know about. Check out Viva Las Vegas, for instance.

Elvis made 31 scripted movies, but some of them seemed to turn up on those Saturday afternoons more often than others. Harum Scarum and Easy Come, Easy Go, for instance received a lot more airplay back then than, say, Jailhouse Rock or Change of Habit.

When the UHF station was not playing Elvis movies, it filled Saturday afternoons with Godzilla and other monster movies instead. I watched a lot of those, too. My favorite of these was Godzilla vs. King Kong-mostly because of the epic nature of such a bout. Elvis never made any monster movies, but it sure would have been cool to see him take down Godzilla with a karate chop and then nurse the beast’s wounds with a song in Elvis vs. Godzilla. You know, maybe I watched too much TV as a kid.

Hey, I wonder if Quantum Leap fans use Leap Day to celebrate their franchise? There’s even an Elvis connection to Quantum Leap. The last episode before the series finale featured Sam leaping into the body of none other than Elvis Presley, on the brink of being discovered. Though filled with inaccuracies regarding Elvis, it is still a fun episode.

One neat bit of trivia is that when Sam looks in the mirror to see the face of the body into which he has leaped, Elvis is portrayed by Michael St. Gerard – who had also played him on the short-lived ABC television series Elvis. He also appeared as Elvis in the Jerry Lee Lewis biopic Great Balls of Fire. St. Gerard actually looks enough like Elvis that my local paper once accidentally put a small picture of him next to an article about the real Elvis, with the caption: “Presley.”

Due to an unforeseen circumstance, I had the day off on Leap Day this year, though I probably would have requested it off anyway. It only seems fair that Leap Day should be a worldwide holiday for everyone.

Does your employer or school really deserve an extra day of your life? It is the perfect day to catch up on time, life, and movies.

We will start the Leap Day Holiday movement right here on The Film Frontier. We will all work really hard on it – every four years or so.

General comments on SUNRISE [Elvis reflections]

/ TY

I was 24 when I wrote this item back in 1999. This is part of a series of archival Elvis writings — informal pieces originally written for family, friends, other purposes, or just me. They reflect how I was engaging with Elvis’ music in the years between The Elvis Beat and my blog writing.

Sunrise (1999)

  • I haven’t had time to compare Sunrise with The Complete 50s Masters to see if the quality is the same, better, or worse. My initial reaction when I played it for the first time a few months ago, though, was that the tracks sounded slightly better than the ones on The Complete 50s Masters. I could’ve been fooling myself, though. I’ve done that before.
  • The first four songs on Disc 2 are, of course, Elvis’ historic first acetate recordings. The first three had been released before, but “It Wouldn’t Be The Same Without You” was included for the first time here. That’s actually one of the main reasons I bought the set, because I wanted to have the remaining pre-professional recording. I believe that’s the last of them.
  • Track 10 on Disc 2 starts mid-song. No explanation was given in RCA’s liner notes. It is, after all, an alternate, so it may be that the beginning of the song did not survive or was unusable. Although I’m not sure RCA considers anything “unusable” anymore, as you’ll find later on Disc 2.
  • Tracks 12 and 13 on Disc 2 are acetate recordings of moderate sound quality.
  • Tracks 14-19 on Disc 2 are all live acetate recordings. The sound quality is, to say the least, horrible. I’m not sure why RCA chose to release these particular tracks, other than an excuse to slap a “previously unreleased” star beside more songs. The horrendous sound quality makes them of little real value. Clearer live versions of nearly all of the tracks from the same time period were already available. Oh well.

Tracklist

Disc 1

  1. That’s All Right
  2. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
  3. Good Rockin’ Tonight
  4. I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine
  5. Milkcow Blues Boogie
  6. You’re A Heartbreaker
  7. Baby, Let’s Play House
  8. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone
  9. I Forgot To Remember To Forget
  10. Mystery Train
  11. I Love You Because
  12. Harbor Lights
  13. Blue Moon
  14. Tomorrow Night
  15. I’ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin’)
  16. Just Because
  17. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone (slow version)
  18. Trying To Get To You
  19. When It Rains, It Really Pours

Disc 2

  1. My Happiness
  2. That’s When Your Heartaches Begin
  3. I’ll Never Stand In Your Way
  4. It Wouldn’t Be The Same Without You*
  5. I Love You Because (alternate take)
  6. That’s All Right (alternate take)
  7. Blue Moon Of Kentucky (alternate take)
  8. Blue Moon* (alternate take)
  9. I’ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin’) (alternate take)
  10. I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine (alternate take)
  11. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone (slow version) (alternate take)
  12. Fool, Fool, Fool
  13. Shake, Rattle & Roll
  14. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone* (live)
  15. That’s All Right* (live)
  16. Money Honey* (live)
  17. Tweedlee Dee* (live)
  18. I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine* (live)
  19. Hearts Of Stone* (live)

*Previously unreleased

10 favorite Elvis albums & songs [Elvis reflections]

/ TY

I was 23 when I wrote this item back in 1999. This is part of a series of archival Elvis writings — informal pieces originally written for family, friends, other purposes, or just me. They reflect how I was engaging with Elvis’ music in the years between The Elvis Beat and my blog writing.

What are your 10 favorite Elvis albums and why?

  1. That’s The Way It Is
    Elvis at his musical best. Songs such as “Just Pretend” and “I’ve Lost You” could easily be hits today if RCA took the proper marketing steps.
  2. The Memphis Record
    The best compilation of Elvis’ incredible 1969 Memphis Sessions, and many tracks are mixed better than their counterparts on ELVIS: From Nashville to Memphis – The Essential 60’s Masters I.
  3. Elvis In Person At The International Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
    This is his best live album, containing definitive versions of some of his classic hits as well as some terrific new songs.
  4. Elvis On Stage – February 1970
    Another impressive live album. Unfortunately, only a handful of Elvis’ live recordings from this year have been released by RCA so far.
  5. ELVIS – NBC TV Special
    Most notable for containing his finest song, “If I Can Dream”, and also includes some stirring live performances.
  6. Elvis Country – I’m 10,000 Years Old
    Although the “I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago” interludes between each song are somewhat annoying, this one has some great recordings such as “Tomorrow Never Comes” – one of the best songs of his career that is unfortunately often overlooked.
  7. From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee
    This album is certainly one of his finest when considered as a whole. It has a definite theme to it, unlike many of his other albums. Gems such as “Solitaire” and “Never Again” can only be found here.
  8. Today
    A remarkable album that is notable for being 15 years ahead of its time, since many of the songs sound like 90s country music. “Bringing It Back” and “Fairytale” are not to be missed.
  9. ELVIS: Walk A Mile In My Shoes – The Essential 70’s Masters
    Overall, the 1970s is a severely underrated musical era for Elvis, so I felt this compilation should be included to represent that. Unfortunately, the collection was assembled in an uneven fashion. A 10 or 15 disc “Complete 70s Masters” would have been much better, even if split across multiple releases.
  10. Elvis’ Golden Records
    A good overview of his 1950’s hits with RCA.

10 favorite Elvis songs

  1. “If I Can Dream” (1968)
  2. “Mystery Train” (1955)
  3. “Always On My Mind” (1972)
  4. “Baby, What You Want Me To Do” (1968)
  5. “One Night” (1957)
  6. “Baby, Let’s Play House” (1955)
  7. “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” (1960)
  8. “Jailhouse Rock” (1957)
  9. “Trying To Get To You” (1955)
  10. “Just Pretend” (1970)

68 Special [Elvis reflections]

/ TY

I was 23 when I wrote this item back in 1998. This is part of a series of archival Elvis writings — informal pieces originally written for family, friends, other purposes, or just me. They reflect how I was engaging with Elvis’ music in the years between The Elvis Beat and my blog writing.

Leaving out the studio production numbers (such as the gospel and road medleys), I’ve put together this list of recording dates for the ’68 Special. I also left out “one line” songs, such as “Tiptoe Through The Tulips” and “MacArthur Park.” Except for the dressing room rehearsals, all of the following songs were taped for the special, although not all of the video footage has been officially released yet.

Dressing Room Rehearsals (June 24-25)

(Informal audio recordings)
Note: Not a complete list of songs

  • I Got A Woman (Platinum: A Life In Music CD)
  • Tiger Man (Platinum: A Life In Music CD)
  • Blue Moon/Young Love/Oh Happy Day
  • When It Rains, It Really Pours (Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special CD)
  • Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special CD)
  • Baby, What You Want Me To Do (Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special CD)
  • Blue Christmas
  • Are You Lonesome Tonight/That’s My Desire/That’s When Your Heartaches Begin
  • Love Me
  • When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
  • Blue Christmas [#2]/Santa Claus Is Back In Town

6:00 PM “Sit Down” Show (June 27)

(Complete show released on Elvis: One Night With You video and Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special CD.)

  1. That’s All Right
  2. Heartbreak Hotel
  3. Love Me
  4. Baby, What You Want Me To Do
  5. Blue Suede Shoes
  6. Baby, What You Want Me To Do [#2]
  7. Lawdy Miss Clawdy
  8. Are You Lonesome Tonight?
  9. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
  10. Blue Christmas
  11. Trying To Get To You
  12. One Night
  13. Baby, What You Want Me To Do [#3]
  14. One Night (“No Strap”) [#2]
  15. Memories

8:00 PM “Sit Down” Show (June 27)

(Complete show released on Tiger Man CD.)

  1. Heartbreak Hotel
  2. Baby, What You Want Me To Do
  3. That’s All Right
  4. Are You Lonesome Tonight?
  5. Baby, What You Want Me To Do [#2]
  6. Blue Suede Shoes
  7. One Night
  8. Love Me
  9. Trying To Get To You
  10. Lawdy Miss Clawdy (ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special video)
  11. Santa Claus Is Back In Town/Blue Christmas
  12. Tiger Man (ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special video)
  13. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
  14. Memories

6:00 PM “Stand Up” Show (June 29)

  1. Heartbreak Hotel/One Night
  2. Heartbreak Hotel [#2]/Hound Dog/All Shook Up (Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special CD; ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special video)
  3. Can’t Help Falling In Love (Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special CD; ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special video)
  4. Jailhouse Rock (Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special CD)
  5. Don’t Be Cruel (Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special CD)
  6. Blue Suede Shoes
  7. Love Me Tender (Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special CD)
  8. Trouble
  9. Baby What You Want Me To Do (Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special CD)
  10. If I Can Dream

8:00 PM “Stand Up” Show (June 29)

  1. Heartbreak Hotel/Hound Dog/All Shook Up
  2. Can’t Help Falling In Love
  3. Jailhouse Rock (ELVIS: NBC TV Special CD; ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special video)
  4. Don’t Be Cruel (ELVIS: NBC TV Special CD; ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special video)
  5. Blue Suede Shoes (Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special CD)
  6. Love Me Tender (ELVIS: NBC TV Special CD; ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special video)
  7. Trouble/Guitar Man (Memories: The ’68 Comeback Special CD; ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special video)
  8. If I Can Dream

“ELVIS” – Original NBC Broadcast – December 3, 1968 (9:00 PM)

  1. Trouble/Guitar Man (studio)
  2. Lawdy Miss Clawdy (6/27 8 PM)
  3. Baby, What You Want Me To Do (6/27 6 PM, #2)
  4. Heartbreak Hotel/Hound Dog/All Shook Up (6/29 6 PM)
  5. Can’t Help Falling In Love (6/29 6 PM)
  6. Jailhouse Rock (6/29 8 PM)
  7. Love Me Tender (6/29 8 PM)
  8. Are You Lonesome Tonight? (6/27 6 PM)
  9. Where Could I Go But To The Lord/Up Above My Head/Saved (studio)
  10. Baby, What You Want Me To Do (6/27 6 PM, #3)
  11. Blue Christmas (6/27 8 PM)
  12. One Night (6/27 6 PM, #2)
  13. Memories (6/27 6 PM)
  14. Nothingville/Big Boss Man/Guitar Man/Little Egypt (studio)
  15. Trouble/Guitar Man (studio/6/29 8 PM)
  16. If I Can Dream (studio)

Elvis Notes [Elvis reflections]

/ TY

I was 23 when I wrote this item back in 1998. This is part of a series of archival Elvis writings — informal pieces originally written for family, friends, other purposes, or just me. They reflect how I was engaging with Elvis’ music in the years between The Elvis Beat and my blog writing.

Here are some notes on several of the songs:

Stranger In The Crowd / I’ve Lost You / How The Web Was Woven / Just Pretend
I don’t really have anything to say about these songs except that I LOVE them! All of them are from the 1970 album That’s The Way It Is – which is his best, in my opinion.

You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’
This has always been one of my favorite songs, and it took a while for Elvis’ version to grow on me. Now that it has, though, I think it’s the best version I’ve ever heard.

Always On My Mind
Probably my second-favorite Elvis song. This was a musical apology of sorts to Priscilla after their separation. Willie Nelson recorded a popular version in the 80s.

You Don’t Know Me
I first heard this song in the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day, performed by Ray Charles. At the time, I thought it sounded like something Elvis would have recorded and I wished that he had. Hah, well my wish came true! A couple years later, I discovered this song by Elvis on a boxed set. Ray Charles probably did a better job, because Elvis recorded this in an “off” year. However, I like Elvis’ better anyway, because…well, it’s Elvis! This is probably the saddest song I’ve ever heard.

Can’t Help Falling In Love
I consider this, and not “Love Me Tender,” to be Elvis’ greatest love song. This particular version is an alternate take, shorter than the original release. I like it better for some reason, though. Elvis closed most of his concerts from 1969-77 with this song, as a message to his fans.

Promised Land
Elvis’ version of this Chuck Berry song was recently featured in the movie Men In Black.

Are You Laughing Tonight?
In this live version of “Are You Lonesome Tonight?,” Elvis ad-libs a new line, which supposedly inspires an audience member on the first row to remove his toupee and spin it on his finger – causing Elvis’ initial laughter. Whatever the initial cause, his contagious laughter likely continues because the background singers and band keep performing the song as if nothing is happening. Someone once said the world would be a much happier place if everyone listened to this song each morning. I agree with that.

Separate Ways
This is a companion piece to “Always On My Mind.” Note the verse which refers to Lisa Marie.

You’ll Never Walk Alone
This is an alternate take of this classic song. Elvis is on the piano, which was apparently his favorite instrument – not the guitar.

If I Can Dream
This is a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated in Elvis’ hometown of Memphis on April 4, 1968, and Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in Los Angeles a couple months later. It closed Elvis’ ‘68 television special. My favorite song.