Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

Good to hear.What i read this morning didn't have it as a number one ... and I could have sworn it was, but I was at work, so I didn't have my stuff to cross reference.
Thanks for the correction

 

Good Luck Charm is a great song but I really liked Anything That's Part Of You. As much as I like Are You Lonesome Tonight?, I like Anything That's Part Of You even more. One of his underappreciated songs for sure.

 

'Good Luck Charm", for me, is a fairly forgettable one. And Elvis looks really terrible on the single sleeve. What were they thinking there?

 

Follow That Dream

Follow That Dream is an EP by American singer Elvis Presley, containing four songs from the motion picture of the same name. The EP was released by RCA Victor in May 1962.

It was simultaneously certified Gold and Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on March 27, 1992.[1]

Recording sessions took place on July 5, 1961, at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee. Six songs were recorded for the film, and a distressed Presley insisted that the worst song, "Sound Advice," be omitted from release when it came time to assemble a soundtrack.[2] "Sound Advice" would be placed on the compilation Elvis for Everyone, and a sixth soundtrack song, "A Whistling Tune," would be saved for the next film Kid Galahad, the version recorded at these sessions later released on Collectors Gold in 1991.[3] Presley sang a few lines of "On Top of Old Smokey" in the film, but the recording was made on the movie set. The issue of quality would continue to be a sore point in his soundtrack material for the remainder of his film career.

Issued as an extended play record, the Follow That Dream soundtrack EP was released in April 1962 to coincide with the film's premiere. The record sold very well, especially for an EP in the Sixties. The title song received Top 40 radio air-play and reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It became a platinum record. The extended play record was the number-one EP in the UK for 20 weeks. [4]

Side one
1. "Follow That Dream" Fred Wise and Ben Weisman July 2, 1961 1:39
2. "Angel" Roy C. Bennett and Sid Tepper July 2, 1961 2:39
Side two
1. "What a Wonderful Life" Sid Wayne and Jerry Livingston July 2, 1961 2:27
2. "I'm Not the Marrying Kind" Sherman Edwards and Mack David July 2, 1961 1:51

• Elvis Presley - vocals
• The Jordanaires - background vocals
• Millie Kirkham - background vocals
• Boots Randolph - saxophone
• Scotty Moore, Hank Garland - electric guitar
• Neal Matthews, Jr. - acoustic guitar
• Floyd Cramer - piano
• Bob Moore - double bass
• D.J. Fontana, Buddy Harman - drums

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I don't think I have ever owned an EP in my life, but I guess that's just how it goes. I am pretty sure if I had been around at the time, given that this album didn't have an LP, I would probably have bought this.

 

Follow That Dream
Written By :
Ben Weisman & Fred Wise

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, July 2, 1961 : July 2, 1961. take 6
The song peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 5 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart.[1]

Bruce Springsteen said "Follow That Dream" was one of his favorite Elvis songs.[2] He began performing a rearranged version of the song on the European leg of the River Tour in April 1981, at a much slower pace and with altered lyrics[3]. (Audio from a May 1981 performance may be heard here ). This version appears in a bootleg vinyl recording of the same name. He later further revised the lyrics, and recorded the song during the Born in the U.S.A. sessions, although it remained unreleased. He performed the song in July 1988 in Switzerland (video may be viewed here ), and many times in succeeding decades.
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Perhaps this isn't one of Elvis' most revered songs, but I have always loved it. It's a really fun and uplifting song. I'll be honest and say that"the Dream" was always in my mind a woman/girl. I really like girls/women ... what can I say ....

 

Angel
Written By :
Roy C. Bennett & Sid Tepper

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, July 2, 1961 : July 2, 1961. take 7 spliced with vocal overdub take 3

When i first heard this on the album collection, I was a) surprised that I knew it b) surprised that it wasn't on the sixties box set ... but I guess there was logical reasoning to exclude the movie songs from that set.
Anyhow, I really like this song. Another laid back ballad type song with a somewhat Latin american rhythmic feel. Sung beautifully and another one to remind how silly we can get around women we find beautiful.

 

"Follow That Dream" is a class tune! I love it. Wow, it's short, though -- couldn't somebody have written a nice middle section?

"Angel" is a great track, too. Some nice drama, a clever rhythm, and for once some very effective backing vocals — I guess that's Millie Kirkham, hitting the high notes that accompany the King's “a-a-angel” refrains. A dreamy and blissful track. Well done.

“What A Wonderful Life” is uptempo pop, lyrically celebrating the life of the aimless vagabond (maybe this song would have belonged better to Roustabout? Anyway...). It's kind of disposable, but gets by on charm. Really nice vocal!

“I'm Not The Marrying Kind” is not to my taste, however:
So I say, "You know what?"
She says, "What?". I say, "What?”
The lyrics are hokey, as is the tune.


The movie itself, Follow That Dream, is actually not bad and is certainly one of Elvis's best 60s' films. Elvis does some decent acting in the courtroom-hearing scene near the end:

 

The haircut he was sporting at the time (with his hair piled up about a foot above his head) was not real flattering. Turns up on the equally-bad Pot Luck album cover which we'll be seeing soon.

 

I liked his hair in that period. Mind you (gazes up at the thinning dad/buzz cut adorning own bonce) I like any hair...

 

yep ... I am growing an aversion to mirrors ... I saw myself in one last night lol
Almost didn't realise it was me

 

Back in the day, I bought ALL of Elvis' LPs. I typically only bought the singles and EPs that had a song or songs not on LP. Two Camden releases made 4 of my EPs redundant: I Got Lucky and C'mon Everybody. It took an LP from South Africa for me to retire my Jailhouse Rock and my Anyway You Want Me EPs. Heck, a few EPs and a few singles didn't find their way to LPs for quite awhile until after Elvis died.

 

Finally in the mail today I got the three disc Viva Las Vegas, the two Jailhouse Rock discs and Live a Little from FTD ... looking forward to giving them a spin. Very fancy packaging in the big EP sized packs.

 

Oh, you silly young-ins. Just shave your head and be glad you don't have to mess with that ritual anymore. Hair is for the young so embrace your inner Savalas.

Angel is sooooo early 60s and I love it! I kind of resent the British for invading us yet again and pushing music like this off the airwaves. King George's revenge. Nah, of course I love the music of the 60s but that encompasses all phases. '60-'63 gets short shrift and that's just tragic.

 

My head is so lumpy it'll scare folks lol
Twelve years of Australian Rules Football and an incident with a chainsaw hahaha

 

What A Wonderful Life
Written By :
Jerry Livingston & Sid Wayne

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, July 2, 1961 : July 2, 1961. take 7

This is a really cool song, and I don't think I have ever actually heard it before..... Well I have listened to the C'mon everybody album once, so I must have... It bounces along nicely and is really a feel good song with a moderate to quick tempo.

 

I'm Not the Marrying Kind
Written By :
Mack David & Sherman Edwards

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, July 2, 1961 : July 2, 1961. take 8

Another cool song that seems to be a bit of fun with Elvis over emphasizing the "What" ...
This is a really fun little EP and must stand as a successful soundtrack in my book, even if it was just an EP

 

I bought the Follow That Dream and Kid Galahad EPs before I saw the movies. I loved both the EPs and the movies. Something about the movies had an "indie" feel (though I had no idea what an "indie" was back then). And the soundtracks had their own feel to them not found on other soundtrack recordings of his. A touch of Folk infused into the songs I guess.

 

I really like the songs from Follow That Dream, especially the great title track that Bruce Springsteen admired so much and even I'm Not The Marrying Kind, which Elvis turns from a very average ditty to something pretty charming with his fine vocal delivery and enthusiasm.

 

Agreed. I don't think we have entered the forbidden zone yet, but even in there, there are things I really like

 

Oh yeah, the forbidden zone starts in a couple of years. But thankfully it also only lasts about three years.

 

I didn't find the soundtracks to be that bad overall, as long as I kept in mind that they were recorded to be part of a story that I haven't seen yet. Though there is questionable quality to some tracks, I might add. But right now, we're only up to '61-'62, so the laziness in writing, both film and songwise, hasn't crept in too much.

 

There's a couple of soundtracks coming up that, for better or worse, i really like

 

I love the 'Follow That Dream' soundtrack and I love the film but it's a travesty how the 'Follow That Dream' song sequence in the movie is just kind of thrown away...

 

Follow That Dream and Wild In The Country are actually two of Elvis' best films of the 1960's IMO. While I like some of the songs from his other films (a few), the plot is usually pretty bad. A lot of people knock Elvis' acting but I've read that none of his movies ever lost money. That is quite a feat that few major movie stars can boast. When one also considers that not even Lawrence Olivier could pull much more from the screenplay, I give Elvis some credit for doing as good of job as he did with those terrible scripts. I only wished he had demanded better movies and music after this as the quality quickly deteriorated.

 

Pot Luck


Studio album by Elvis Presley
Released June 5, 1962
Recorded March 1961 – March 1962
Genre Pop rock, rock and roll
Length 28:11
Label RCA Victor
Producer Steve Sholes, Joseph Lilley

Pot Luck with Elvis is the seventh studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victorin mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2523, in June 1962. Recording sessions took place on March 22, 1961, at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, and on June 25 and October 15, 1961, and March 18 and March 19, 1962, at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee. It peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Top LP's chart.[4]

The album is dominated by the songwriting team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, who had written the chart-topping "Surrender" and the double-sided hit single "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" backed with "Little Sister".[5] The tracks "Kiss Me Quick" and "Suspicion" would be pulled off for a Top 40 single almost two years later in April 1964, following a hit cover version of the latter song by Terry Stafford (an Elvis sound alike). [6]The rest of the tracks originated from regular Presley contributors such as Don Robertson, Otis Blackwell, and Paul Evans, with Blackwell's "(Such an) Easy Question" also being used as a single release in June 1965 and climbing to #1 and #11 on, respectively, the Billboard Adult Contemporary and Hot 100 charts, during a time when Presley was involved mostly in feature film and soundtrack work.[7]

"That's Someone You Never Forget", with concept and title by Presley, was written in conjunction with Red West and possibly in memory of Elvis' deceased mother, Gladys Presley.[8] The song would later go to number 92 on the BillboardHot 100 in May 1967 as the B-side to the single "Long Legged Girl (With the Short Dress On)". [9] Another song from these sessions, "You'll Be Gone", written by Presley and West, this time with fellow "Memphis Mafia" cohort Charlie Hodge, would appear as the b-side to "Do the Clam".[10] The song "Steppin' Out of Line" is an unused track from the sessions for Blue Hawaii.[11]

Although like its predecessors in 1960 and 1961 – Elvis Is Back! and Something For Everybody, – Pot Luck easily made the top ten on the album chart, all three had been vastly outsold by the soundtrack albums G.I. Blues and Blue Hawaii, a pattern that would continue to hold for Presley through the mid-1960s.[12] The soundtracks had the advantage of the films as a promotional tool and Colonel Tom Parker went against standard practice in the American record industry by refusing to include hit singles on albums, which would have likely increased sales.[12] As a result, Presley would concentrate on his movie career, and not make another non-soundtrack, non-gospel studio album for another seven years, until From Elvis in Memphis.

The July 13, 1999, Compact Disc reissue altered the running order of the album, and included five bonus tracks in two sides of one single, one b-side, and two tracks from the 1965 compilation album LSP 3450, Elvis for Everyone. The three single sides had been recorded at the sessions that yielded the balance of the album on March 18 and 19, 1962. One single had both sides written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, while "You'll Be Gone" had been issued as a b-side in 1965. Given the nature of the Elvis for Everyone LP, compiled from sessions spanning a ten-year stretch, RCA opted not to include it as part of its reissue program, appending its songs as bonus tracks to other albums as appropriate. The bonus tracks were all recorded at Studio B in Nashville.

Pot Luck was reissued on the Follow That Dream label in 2007 in a deluxe 2-disc CD collection containing the original album along with numerous alternate takes from the original recording sessions.[13]

• Elvis Presley – vocals, guitar
• Scotty Moore – guitar
• Hank Garland – guitar
• Tiny Timbrell – guitar
• Harold Bradley – guitar
• Grady Martin – guitar, vibes
• Floyd Cramer – piano, organ
• Dudley Brooks – piano
• Gordon Stoker – piano
• Bob Moore – double bass
• D. J. Fontana – drums
• Buddy Harman – drums
• Millie Kirkham – backing vocals
• The Jordanaires – backing vocals
• Boots Randolph – saxophone

Side one
1. "Kiss Me Quick" Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman June 25, 1961 2:46
2. "Just for Old Time Sake" Roy C. Bennett and Sid Tepper March 18, 1962 2:08
3. "Gonna Get Back Home Somehow" Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman March 18, 1962 2:27
4. "(Such an) Easy Question" Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott March 18, 1962 2:18
5. "Steppin' Out of Line" Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Dolores Fuller March 22, 1961 1:54
6. "I'm Yours" Hal Blair and Don Robertson June 25, 1961 2:21
Side two
1. "Something Blue" Paul Evans and Al Byron March 18, 1962 2:57
2. "Suspicion" Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman March 19, 1962 2:34
3. "I Feel That I've Known You Forever" Doc Pomus and Alan Jeffreys March 19, 1962 1:39
4. "Night Rider" Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman October 15, 1961 2:08
5. "Fountain of Love" Bill Giant and Jeff Lewis March 18, 1962 2:12
6. "That's Someone You Never Forget" Elvis Presley and Red West June 25, 1961 2:47

1999 reissue with bonus tracks
1. "Kiss Me Quick" Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman June 25, 1961 2:46
2. "Just for Old Time Sake" Roy C. Bennett and Sid Tepper March 18, 1962 2:08
3. "Gonna Get Back Home Somehow" Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman March 18, 1962 2:27
4. "I Met Her Today" (released on Elvis for Everyone, LSP 3450, August 10, 1965, #10) Hal Blair and Don Robertson October 15, 1961 2:42
5. "(Such an) Easy Question" Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott March 18, 1962 2:18
6. "She's Not You" (released as a single, 47-8041,July 17, 1962, #5) Doc Pomus, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller March 19, 1962 2:08
7. "I'm Yours" Hal Blair and Don Robertson June 25, 1961 2:21
8. "You'll Be Gone" (released as a single, 47-8500b, February 9, 1965) Elvis Presley, Red West, Charlie Hodge March 18, 1962 2:23
9. "Something Blue" Paul Evans and Al Byron March 18, 1962 2:57
10. "Suspicion" Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman March 19, 1962 2:34
11. "I Feel That I've Known You Forever" Doc Pomus and Alan Jeffreys March 19, 1962 1:39
12. "Night Rider" Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman October 15, 1961 2:08
13. "For the Millionth and the Last Time" (released on Elvis for Everyone, LSP 3450, August 10, 1965, #10) Roy C. Bennett and Sid Tepper October 15, 1961 2:05
14. "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" (released as a single, 47-8041b, July 7, 1962, #55) Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller March 19, 1962 1:51
15. "Fountain of Love" Bill Giant and Jeff Lewis March 18, 1962 2:12
16. "That's Someone You Never Forget" Elvis Presley and Red West June 25, 1961 2:47
17. "Steppin' Out of Line" Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Dolores Fuller March 22, 1961 1:54

2007 Follow That Dream CD reissue
1. "Kiss Me Quick" 2:49
2. "Just For Old Time Sake" 2:11
3. "Gonna Get Back Somehow" 2:31
4. "(Such An) Easy Question" 2:22
5. "Steppin' Out Of Line" 1:56
6. "I’m Yours" 2:22
7. "Something Blue" 3:01
8. "Suspicion" 2:36
9. "I Feel That I've Known You Forever" 1:42
10. "Night Rider" 2:11
11. "Fountain of Love" 2:16
12. "That's Someone You Never Forget" 2:52
Singles
13. "She's Not You" 2:11
14. "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" 2:00
15. "You'll Be Gone" 2:26
Bonus Songs
16. "For The Millionth And Last Time" 2:08
17. "I Met Her Today" 2:45
First Takes
18. "Kiss Me Quick" (take 1) 3:03
19. "Just For Old Time Sake" (take 1) 2:12
20. "Gonna Get Back Somehow" (take 1) 2:39
21. "(Such An) Easy Question" (take 2) 1:53
22. "I’m Yours" (take 1) 2:21
23. "Something Blue" (take 1*) 3:27
24. "Suspicion" (take 1*) 2:42
25. "I Feel That I've Known You Forever" (take 1) 1:47
26. "Night Rider" (take 1) 2:22
27. "Fountain of Love" (takes 1, 2) 2:52
28. "That's Someone You Never Forget" (take 1) 2:53
29. "She's Not You" (take 1) 1:34
30. "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" (take 1) 1:54
31. "You'll Be Gone" (take 1) 2:35
32. "For The Millionth And Last Time" (take 1) 2:08
33. "I Met Her Today" (take 1) 2:51
March 1962 Session
1. "Something Blue" (take 2) 3:11
2. "Something Blue" (takes 3, 4) 3:30
3. "Gonna Get Back Somehow" (take 2) 2:44
4. "Gonna Get Back Somehow" (takes 3*, 5) 3:02
5. "(Such An) Easy Question" (takes 1, 3) 3:34
6. "Fountain of Love" (takes 4*, 9*) 3:00
7. "Just For Old Time Sake" (takes 2*, 3, 4) 3:28
8. "Night Rider" (takes 2, 3) 2:59
9. "Night Rider" (take 5) 2:28
10. "You'll Be Gone" (take 2) 2:30
11. "You'll Be Gone" (take 4) 3:19
12. "I Feel That I've Known You Forever" (takes 4*, 3) 2:29
13. "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" (take 2) 1:57
14. "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" (take 4) 2:07
15. "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" (take 5) 1:49
16. "Suspicion" (takes 3*, 2) 3:17
17. "She's Not You" (take 2*, WP take 4) 3:45
October 1961 Session
18. "For The Millionth And Last Time" (takes 10*, 7*) 2:46
19. "I Met Her Today" (take 4) 2:45
20. "I Met Her Today" (takes 8, 9) 3:07
21. "I Met Her Today" (take 16) 2:47
22. "Night Rider" (takes 1-FS, 2) 2:31
Junes 1961 Session
23. "Kiss Me Quick" (take 4) 3:00
24. "I’m Yours" (take 2) 2:46
25. "I’m Yours" (take 4) 2:26
26. "I’m Yours" (take 5) 2:17
27. "That's Someone You Never Forget" (take 5) 2:54
28. "That's Someone You Never Forget" (take 7)
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I don't know what the general opinion is, but I reckon this is a great album, I hate the title, I really don't know who was naming these albums, but they needed a good hard slap.
In terms of the album not having the singles on it, I don't think that should really matter. In all reality there is no reason that a couple of these songs couldn't have been released as singles in order to promote the album, rather than be released a few years later to try and counteract poor sales due to the Colonel's ineptitude. It seems here we have a classic case of the Colonel not having any idea what he was doing and damaging his product.
It is a musical travesty that the soundtrack albums were outselling the real albums by such a large margin. This is the first time I was aware of this, and again, it just shows inept management. If you have the most popular musical artist in the world as your client and can't get the sales, there is something incredibly wrong with your set up.
Anyhow, in hindsight, this is a really good album and should have outsold GI blues and Blue Hawaii quite easily (with no negative connotation to those albums, as I like them both).
This album has a much better lay out and flows better than Something For Everybody. Essentially, I think that's what gives this album the edge for me. On the whole, merely songwise I think they rate pretty closely together.

So anyhow ...
What are your opinions on this album?
When did you first hear it?
Has your opinion changed over the years?

Let us know anything and everything that comes to mind and we'll hit the first couple of songs tomorrow.
Cheers
Mark