Elvis Presley the Albums and Singles Thread *

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Aug 15, 2018.

  1. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Yes, I had wondered what exactly was the UK fans exposure to Elvis before the "Rock 'n' Roll" album appeared on the market. I found the answer here:

    Elvis Presley U.K. Discography
     
  2. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    You know, I always think it is amazing the amount of straight men in the celebrity world, who admit that Elvis was one of the most attractive people they had ever seen in their entire life, male or female. I mean musicians and producers and arrangers like Nashville legend Bergen White, who said he was simply stunned by Elvis's good looks when he first saw him in person. I lot of people said he was even more handsome in person than on television or in pictures, although Elvis seemed to be rather photogenic as well.
     
  3. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    His face translated into Bollywood, Arab, Hawaiian, Italian etc dark features. Hence a lot of his popularity.
     
  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    nice one, cheers mate
     
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  5. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    for sure, that screen test would have been a cakewalk lol, probably didn't even turn the camera on haha
     
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  6. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    $$$$ came into thee equation.
     
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  7. tomvox

    tomvox Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Wales
    UK distribution of the Sun material at that time was through London American. It is rumoured (but never proven) that London wanted to release Mystery Train to the UK market but Elvis's contract was sold to RCA. As RCA already had an existing agreement with HMV for UK release the London bosses passed on it.
     
  8. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Sun catalog uk wise didn't materialize till the seventies I believe.
     
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  9. BigBadWolf

    BigBadWolf Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kernersville, NC
    I think something a few people tend to forget is that nobody really knew how to guide the career of a superstar when Elvis came along. So yes, loads of mistakes were made. The fact that we're still talking about a man who died 41 years ago after a 23 year career says a lot about what went right. Realistically, his career should've died around the time his contemporaries did. But it didn't.
     
  10. I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves here, but Sun material appeared on the UK A Date With Elvis and Elvis (aka For LP Fans Only in the USA). Both released while Elvis was in the army.
     
  11. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Thinking Sun label.
     
  12. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    We had and have the iconic '56 RCA LP, very well worn. It might be the Canadian edition, but no difference from the U.S. that I know of. It was played a lot, I used to love Trying To Get To You for some reason! My Dad's early (to '65) rock & roll LP collection consisted of the first two from Elvis, three later ones one I remember was "a Date With', the first Gene Vincent LP 'Bop Street', the Ritchie Valens LP, Everly's best ofs for Cadence and Warners LPs, Buddy Holly 'That'll Be The Day', 'Buddy Holly Story' and 'Holly In The Hills', Beatles' Long Tall Sally Canadian Capitol LP, the first Beach Boys 'Surfin' Safari', Conway Twitty 'R&B 63', two Johnny Cash Sun label LPs (but not Sun inside, a Canadian pressing) and not sure we called much on them Rock, a Chubby Checker, and 'Having A Wild Weekend' Dave Clark Five Canadian Capitol LP. In with Hank Williams, Johnny Horton, Buck Owens etc. and lots of 78s (Johnny Burnette, Eddie Cochran, Bo Diddley, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, and the '50s people we had albums by). That first Elvis album, weak tracks or not, was real royalty in the collection! Albums all had weak filler kinds of tracks back then it seems to me. I'm not sure there was an 'all killer-no filler' album outside greatest hits collections until maybe Hard Day's Night the British one.
     
  13. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Million Dollar Quartet came out in 1980 in the USA( bootleg ) in the UK Sun label 1981, why the delay ?
     
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  14. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    yes indeed, a few sun songs spread about the early albums.
     
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  15. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    i actually love the whole thing, but you are certainly correct about the album situation. It seems people really didn't take albums altogether too seriously until about 65/66 in the rock/pop world
     
  16. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne


    My favourite track on the 1st album.
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2018
  17. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    This is such a great point and it should be made more often. Thanks for posting it! Just look what happened to most of his contemporaries as far as having any consistent chart sucess after the balloon bursted and The Beatles invaded. Elvis not only merely survived, but for a while he actually flourished.
     
  18. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Well I see we're keen to get into the songs. I normally get told I go too fast lol .... ok then
     
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  19. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I think that it might have been Elvis's favorite track as well, along with perhaps Lawdy Miss Clawdy. I cannot think of one occasion where he sang that song badly in concert, although I'm sure there's one out there somewhere. Wow, even on the last live album, Elvis In Concert, he sings the heck out of Trying To Get To You. The 68 special version is my favorite of course, but that really goes without saying. Of course I realize Lawdy was not on the US version of the album.
     
  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    "Blue Suede Shoes"
    [​IMG]
    Single by Carl Perkins
    B-side
    "Honey Don't"
    Released February 1956
    Format 7-inch 45 rpm, 10-inch 78 rpm
    Recorded December 19, 1955
    Studio Memphis Recording Service, Memphis, Tennessee
    Genre Rockabilly, rock and roll
    Length 2:14
    Label Sun
    Songwriter(s) Carl Perkins
    Producer(s) Sam Phillips
    Carl Perkins singles chronology
    "Gone, Gone, Gone"
    (1955) "Blue Suede Shoes"
    (1956) "Tennessee"
    (1956)
    "Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock-and-roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955. It is considered one of the first rockabilly (rock-and-roll) records, incorporating elements of blues, country and pop music of the time. Perkins' original version of the song was on the Cashbox Best Selling Singles list for 16 weeks and spent two weeks in the number two position.[1] Elvis Presley performed his version of the song three different times on national television. It was also recorded by Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran, among many others.

    Johnny Cash planted the seed for the song in the fall of 1955, while Perkins, Cash, Elvis Presley and other Louisiana Hayrideacts toured throughout the South. Cash told Perkins of a black airman, C. V. White,[2] whom he had met when serving in the military in Germany, who had referred to his military regulation airmen's shoes as "blue suede shoes". Cash suggested that Perkins write a song about the shoes. Perkins replied, "I don't know anything about shoes. How can I write a song about shoes?"[3]

    When Perkins played a dance on December 4, 1955, he noticed a couple dancing near the stage. Between songs, he heard a stern, forceful voice say, "Uh-uh, don't step on my suedes!" He looked down and noted that the boy was wearing blue suede shoes and one had a scuff mark. "Good gracious, a pretty little thing like that and all he can think about is his blue suede shoes", thought Perkins.[4]

    That night Perkins began working on a song based on the incident. His first thought was to frame it with a nursery rhyme. He considered, and quickly discarded "Little Jack Horner ... " and "See a spider going up the wall ...", then settled on "One for the money ..." Leaving his bed and working with his Les Paul guitar, he started with an A chord. After playing five chords while singing "Well, it's one for the money ... Two for the show ... Three to get ready ... Now go, man, go!" he broke into a boogie rhythm.[5] He quickly grabbed a brown paper potato sack and wrote the song down, writing the title out as "Blue Swade"; "S-W-A-D-E – I couldn't even spell it right", he later said.[6] According to Perkins, "On December 17, 1955, I wrote 'Blue Suede Shoes'. I recorded it on December 19",[7] for Sun Records, which released the second take of the song.[8] Sun's producer, Sam Phillips, suggested that the lyric "go cat go" be changed to "go man go", but the suggestion was not taken.[citation needed]

    Perkins' recording of "Blue Suede Shoes" was released in early 1956, as Sun 234. Two copies of the song on 78-rpm records were sent to Perkins but arrived broken. He soon discovered that the song was available in the newer 7-inch microgrooved 45-rpm format and was disappointed that he didn't have a copy in the older, more substantial 78-rpm format.[9]

    In Jackson (where Perkins lived) and Memphis, radio stations were playing the flip side of the record, "Honey Don't." In Cleveland, Ohio, however, disc jockey Bill Randle was featuring "Blue Suede Shoes" prominently on his nightly show, and before January was over the Cleveland distributor of the record asked Phillips for an additional 25,000 copies.[9]

    "Shoes" became the side of choice throughout the South and Southwest. On February 11 it was the number two single on Memphis charts; it was number one the next week and remained there for the next three months. Perkins made four appearances on the radio program Big D Jamboree[10] on station KRLD (AM) in Dallas,[11] where he played the song every Saturday night and was booked on a string of one-nighters in the Southwest. The Jamboree was broadcast from the Dallas Sportatorium, with about 4,000 seats, and it sold out for each of Perkins' performances. Music shops in Dallas ordered a huge number of copies of the record,[12] and at one point it was selling at a rate of 20,000 copies per day.

    A Song Hits review of the song, published on February 18, stated that "Perkins has come up with some wax here that has hit the national retail chart in almost record time. Interestingly enough, the disk has a measure of appeal for pop and r.&b. customers."[13]

    On March 17, Perkins became the first country artist to reach the number three spot on the rhythm and blues charts.[14] That night, Perkins and his band first performed "Blue Suede Shoes" on television, on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee[15] (coincidentally, Presley was on Stage Show on CBS-TV that same night, for which he also performed the song).

    Perkins was booked to appear on The Perry Como Show on NBC-TV on March 24, but on March 22 he and his band were in a serious automobile crash on the way to New York City, resulting in the death of a truck driver and the hospitalization of both Perkins and his brother. While Perkins recuperated from his injuries, "Blue Suede Shoes" rose to number one on most pop, R&B and country regional charts. "I was a poor farm boy, and with 'Shoes' I felt I had a chance but suddenly there I was in the hospital," Perkins recalled bitterly.[16] It also held the number two position on the Billboard Hot 100 and country charts. Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" held the number one position on the pop and country charts, while "Shoes" did better than "Heartbreak" on the R&B charts.

    Perkins never attained the stardom of Presley, who, according to Perkins, "had everything. He had the looks, the moves, the manager, and the talent. And he didn't look like Mr. Ed, like a lot of us did, Elvis was hitting them with sideburns, flashy clothes, and no ring on the finger. I had three kids." After Presley hit the chart with his version of "Blue Suede Shoes," Perkins became known more for his songwriting than for his performing.[17]

    By mid-April, more than one million copies of "Shoes" had been sold,[18] earning Perkins a gold record.[19] "Blue Suede Shoes" was the first million-selling country song to cross over to both the rhythm and blues and the pop charts.[20]

    Sam Phillips retained the rights to "Blue Suede Shoes", although it was represented by the New York house of Hill & Range as part of the agreement when Phillips sold Presley's contract. Perkins acquired the rights to the song, along with all of his other songs recorded for Sun Records, in 1977.[21]

    Recording cover versions of songs was a common practice during the 1940s and 1950s, and "Blue Suede Shoes" was one of the first songs RCA Victor wanted its newly contracted artist, Elvis Presley, to record. "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Shoes" rose on the charts at roughly the same time. RCA Victor, with its superior distribution and radio contacts, knew it could probably steal a hit record from Phillips and Perkins. Presley, who knew both Perkins and Phillips from his days at Sun Records, gave in to pressure from RCA, but he requested that the company hold back his version from release as a single. Presley's version features two guitar solos by Scotty Moore, with Bill Black on bass and D.J. Fontana on drums.[22]

    According to Moore, when the song was recorded, "We just went in there and started playing, just winged it. Just followed however Elvis felt." According to reports confirmed by Sam Phillips, RCA Victor producer Steve Sholes agreed not to release Presley's version of the song as a single while Perkins' release was hot.[23]

    Presley performed the song on national television three times in 1956. The first was February 11 on Stage Show. He also performed it again on his third appearance on Stage Show on March 17, and again on the Milton Berle Show on April 3.[24] On July 1, Steve Allen introduced Presley on The Steve Allen Show, and Presley, dressed in formal evening wear, said, "I think that I have on something tonight that's not quite right for evening wear." Allen asked, "What's that, Elvis?" "Blue suede shoes" was the answer, as he lifted his left foot to show the audience. Presley mentioned blue suede shoes a second time on this show: in a song during the "Range Roundup" comedy skit with Allen, Andy Griffith, and Imogene Coca, he delivered the line, "I'm a-warnin' you galoots, don't step on my blue suede shoes."[25]

    Moore has said that Presley recorded the song to help out Perkins after his accident. "Elvis wasn't really thinking at that time that it was going to make money for Carl; he was doing it as more of a tribute type thing. Of course Carl was glad he did. It really helped as his record started going down."[26]

    "Blue Suede Shoes" was the first song on the groundbreaking album Elvis Presley, which was released in March. RCA Victor released two other records with "Blue Suede Shoes" the same month: an extended play with four songs (RCA Victor EPA 747) and a double extended play with eight songs (RCA Victor EPB 1254).[27]

    RCA Victor released the Presley version as a single on September 8, one of a number of singles RCA issued simultaneously, all culled from the album Elvis Presley.[28] This single reached number 20, whereas Perkins' version had topped the chart.

    In 1960, Presley re-recorded "Blue Suede Shoes" for the soundtrack of the film G.I. Blues. While Presley's character and his band, the "Three Blazes", play a ballad at a Frankfurt nightclub ("Doin' the Best I Can", by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman),[29] a bored GI plays Presley's version of "Blue Suede Shoes" on the jukebox, remarking that he wants "to hear an original". When another soldier tries to unplug the jukebox, the audience erupts in a fight.[30] This studio re-recording was one of the few occasions in Presley's career in which he agreed to re-record a previously issued song. He did it on this occasion because the rest of the soundtrack was recorded in stereo, and thus a stereo version of "Blue Suede Shoes" was required. The 1960 version uses virtually the same arrangement as the 1956 recording. This version was included on the soundtrack album to G.I. Blues but was never released as a single in the United States.

    In 1985, RCA issued a music video of Presley's original version of "Blue Suede Shoes". The video featured a contemporary setting and actors (and Carl Perkins in a cameo appearance), with Presley shown in archival footage.[31]

    In 1999, Presley's version was certified as a gold record by the RIAA.[32]

    "Blue Suede Shoes" has been referred to in other songs, including Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven" ("Early in the mornin', I'm-a givin' you the warnin', don't you step on my blue suede shoes").

    "Blue Suede Shoes" was chosen by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". In 1986 Perkins' version was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame, and was included by the National Recording Preservation Board in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2006.[56] The board annually selects songs that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

    In 2004, Perkins's version was ranked number 95 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."[57] It is his only song on that list. Presley's recording of the song was also on the list, ranked number 423.

    In 1999, National Public Radio included "Blue Suede Shoes" in the NPR 100, in which NPR's music editors sought to compile the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century.

    The Grateful Dead's "U.S. Blues" features the lyric "Red and white, blue suede shoes, I'm Uncle Sam, how do you do?"[58]

    The song is referred to by the Beastie Boys song "Johnny Ryall", from their album Paul's Boutique. The title character, a homeless man, "claims that he wrote the Blue Suede Shoes".

    It is also referred to ("maybe some blue suede shoes") in The Lowest of the Low's 1991 song "Henry Needs a New Pair of Shoes", about a homeless man.

    The song is referred to by Marc Cohn in "Walking in Memphis," which begins, "Put on my blue suede shoes, and I boarded the plane."

    In 1971 Kevin Ayers recorded Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes which included the line (from the bartender) "we don't serve strangers in blue suede shoes".

    The song appears in the TV miniseries Elvis, in which Presley (played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers) performs the song at the Chicago International Auditorium in his famous gold lamé suit.

    "Blue Suede Shoes" is the opening number of the Broadway musical Million Dollar Quartet,[59] which opened in New York in April 2010.[60]

    A similar version of the song, with different lyrics, is performed by Susan Cabot twice in the movie Carnival Rock (1957) (at approx. 0:30 and 1:03) under the name "Ou-Shoo-Bla-D".

    This Morning presenter Matt Johnson performed the song as part of a medley, performed as Elvis Presley on week 3 of the ITV show 'Your Face Sounds Familiar'.

    "Blue Suede Shoes" can also be found in the game World of Warcraft as an item with the flavor text "Keep Off".[61]
    -----------------------------
    So one of the most iconic Rock and roll songs. It is the first track off the first album by the first superstar of modern music.
    As always Elvis puts his spin on the song and the results get everyone riled up. All the information you would probably want is written above there so I'll just leave you with an anecdote ...
    Yesterday I had to take one of my younger co-workers somewhere in my car, and of course at the moment I have Elvis in the player .... Hmmmm he started goofing "blue blue, blue blue" ha ha ha .... "(jibbering noises)" .... my reply "well this is going to be in my car for months mate, so give it a rest or walk" ... which also came with a lecture that all the stuff he likes would very likely not exist without Elvis, at the very least not in the same form.

     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2018
  21. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I'm Counting On You
    So there isn't much in the way of information about this track. This is a big ballad and I really like it personally. I think the UK album has it better positioned at track three, and I also think to myself how standard has that become for a rock band to put their ballad at track three. I guess the Brits loved Elvis as much as the US, and all those young un's took that album to heart and tried to replicate and beat it for the next 10+ years.
    I'm guessing RCA were playing it safe and making sure that something not so aggressive followed the very aggressive for the time Blues Suede Shoes and therefor we have this as track two. Elvis would sing ballads all his career, too much so to some people's taste, but he was excellent at putting across a big ballad and for me this is no exception.
     
  22. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    This is what I remember most from Elvis's version of Blue Suede Shoes apart from how iconic it was and the multiple versions of hit songs that would come out at the same time in the 1950's. Anybody else remember Tab Hunter and Sonny James twin hit versions of Young Love? The real amazing part of your quote here is that everything I have read in the past indicates that if Elvis had allowed RCA to rush his version of Blue Suede Shoes to radio, without a doubt it would have overtaken Carl's version and pretty much left him without having his career making hit record. Once again, Elvis would show some kindness and generosity to another performer. The same respect and kindness was not always given back in turn as with the case of Elvis's version of Memphis, Tennessee, which would more or less get stolen from him by another singer many years later according to many witnesses.
     
  23. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    I have a first pressing and a 1964 repress and the original sounds better than the repress, especially side 1, but Kevan Budd's excellent mastering from 2005 leaves both of them in the dust. Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley
     
  24. BigBadWolf

    BigBadWolf Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kernersville, NC
    Thanks for the kind words. All I'm trying to do here is give a point of view without putting people on the defensive. The industry has changed so much since it started that we shouldn't completely judge it by today's standards. Things were done differently to some extent. And now, I'll try to put some comments towards the music.
     
  25. BigBadWolf

    BigBadWolf Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kernersville, NC
    The 50s Elvis is probably my best known era. I think my parents have a recording of me around 2 or 3 years old singing "Mystery Train" along with my dad, who was playing it on his guitar. My dad did that a lot when I was growing up, playing his songs and singing. I just never knew that songs released on 45s at that time sometimes wouldn't be on albums.
     

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