Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Oct 7, 2018.

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  1. And that version is even more painful than Elvis' to listen to.
     
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  2. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Jason, wasn't Elvis talked into selling the Circle G ranch because of the cash drain on his income?
     
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  3. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    Home on the Circle G Ranch

    On that February morning in 1967, during “Elvis hours” (2 or 3 a.m.), Alan Fortas (another member of the Memphis Mafia), Elvis, Priscilla, Sandy, and Jerry had driven out to Lennox Farms in a double-cab pickup truck to purchase a Tennessee Walking Horse for Elvis’ father, Vernon. “We’re driving back to Graceland, and it’s dawn, and Elvis sees this beautiful white cross overlooking this lake,” Jerry says. Elvis told Alan to pull over.

    “I know it was mystical to him because this was a time when Elvis was doing a lot of spiritual reading.”

    Elvis had Alan knock on the door of the farmhouse right then and there. The property’s owner, Jack Adams, who also owned the Twinkletown Airport in Walls, asked $437,000 for the house, cattle, farm equipment, and 160 acres of land. Elvis wasn’t one to negotiate or wait for anything he wanted. He agreed to the price, and within a day or so, his crew began moving in.

    ...

    Soon after the purchase of Circle G, Elvis stocked the stables with 40 horses and began buying mobile homes (from Jerry’s memory: for Alan Fortas, Elvis’ cousin Billy Smith and his wife Jo, Stevie and Larry Geller, Joanie and Joe Esposito, Richard Davis, and Jerry and Sandy). He also bought El Caminos or Ranchero trucks (some branded with a Circle G logo) for everyone to get around the expansive country landscape, tractors, and all sorts of gear for their newfound country lifestyle. Within a few weeks, Elvis had spent nearly a million dollars. “It was a beautiful idea and it was really well-meant,” Jerry says. “But I think it went out of hand. The spending started costing more than the ranch.”
     
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  4. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    So, if the online inflation calculator I used is accurate, in just “a few weeks” in 1967, Elvis managed to drop roughly seven-and-a-half million dollars in today’s money impulsively buying a ranch - and giving away horses and pickup trucks left and right to his entourage. In 1969, he sold the ranch for $3,000 more than he had paid for it, which meant he dropped nearly $3.5 million in today’s money buying the horses, trucks, buildings, etc. and playing cowboy for two years. And this was in 1967! Before he was really using prescription drugs and on his downhill slide. His spending was insane throughout his life.
     
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  5. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    The real difference between Elvis and a lot of celebrities that gain great and fantastic wealth in a short period of time is the fact that Elvis often spread that wealth around a great deal to friends, family and sometimes even complete strangers. I find that trait quite commendable to be honest, despite the fact that it did not always serve his own best interests at times.
     
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  6. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    I’ve talked about this one before, but, in 1960, Elvis spent $65,000 tricking out a new Cadillac with “diamond-flake paint” and a gold TV inside. That’s roughly half a million dollars in today’s money. No wonder he cranked out two or three movies a year, no matter how much he may have complained about the scripts. He had to work at that rate to support his lifestyle.

    Elvis Presley’s 1960 Gold Cadillac
     
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  7. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    Sharing your good fortune with friends and family is absolutely to be commended. But, just as the return to live performance in 1969 was a great idea and a triumph that had been run into the ground by 1977, somewhere along the way Elvis’s generosity was perverted from a commendable quality to something darker. And it’s not just Ginger Alden who noticed that the entourage around Elvis in the 70s was more like the backstabbing entourage around the queen in the recent movie The Favourite than it was like a healthy circle of friends and family. As Guralnick recounts in the story quoted above, if Elvis bought something for one of his inner circle, everyone else wondered “where’s my car?” The stories of Elvis giving away cars and other presents to complete strangers likewise often strikes me as more a display of dominance and power (“Look at me, I can literally afford to set money on fire”) as much as it does true generosity.
     
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  8. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    If you mean "insane" in a colloquial manner, then I would agree... Spending money like that does seem crazy. But if you are suggesting that his spending was indicative of a diagnosable major mental illness, then I would disagree. This type of behavior is not uncommon for people who suddenly come into a great deal of money, be they lottery winners or other celebrities (MC Hammer comes to mind).
     
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  9. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    I don’t know whether his spending was part of a diagnosable mental illness, but, yes, it was insane in the colloquial sense of the word. And I agree with your second point, that people who win the lottery frequently exhibit the exact same behavior. Which is the point I was trying to get at when someone took a shot at Vernon for siding with Col. Parker that Elvis had a contractual obligation to show up and film Double Trouble. Elvis did have an obligation to show up and make that movie, and all the other bad movies, that he cranked out in the 60s. And it wasn’t just because Tom Parker was a cheap carny or a con man. It’s because, throughout his entire life, Elvis spent money like it was water, a behavior he learned from his father, who was jailed for writing a bad check during the Depression. Even before Elvis released That’s All Right, he was wearing expensive clothes from Lansky’s and other Beale Street tailors. Elvis (and Vernon and Gladys) did hit the lottery in 1954, and I think it’s not very realistic to fault Vernon, of all people, for encouraging Elvis to show up to work to pay for Elvis’s profligate lifestyle. Neither Elvis nor Vernon were prepared for the insane tornado of wealth and celebrity that hit them, and, while I’ve argued before that Elvis deserves credit for not immediately succumbing to a James Dean- or Kurt Cobain-style flameout, he never did learn how to handle his wealth. If Elvis had had any idea of how to manage his money, he could have retired after the Army, invested in IBM and AT&T stock or some other rational investment, and never worked again if he didn’t want to. But the bad movies in the mid-60s and the sad tours in the late 70s were initimately bound up with his inability to save or invest even a fraction of the fortune he earned throughout his career. He had to work constantly because he spent his millions as fast as he earned them.
     
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  10. Dang it, I've had Old MacDonald stuck in my head all day now...
     
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  11. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    This is exactly where Parker failed him completely once again. A competent manager helps to steer his client to a very good financial advisor in order to secure future revenue when their career cools off. Sy Rosenberg, Charlie Rich's manager, advised Rich to invest in Wendy's Hamburger chain and it earned Rich a multi-million dollar return that enabled him to basically retire for the last few decades of his life in fairly comfortable style. Although Parker's initial deal in Las Vegas was lucrative and matched or exceeded any previous deal by any other headliner, Parker and Elvis foolishly passed on a stock option in the hotel as Barbra Streisand's management was smart enough to insist on. Elvis did not have the skills or education to manage his money on his own and any manager worth his weight would have made sure that Elvis had a financial manager heavily involved on his team, if he himself did not have that skill set as Sy Rosenberg apparently did for Rich.
     
  12. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    Elvis, Vernon, and Parker all had their own bad habits with money. I completely get the distaste for all of the self-dealing and shady decisions that Parker engaged in as time went on, but, if Parker hadn’t brokered the initial RCA buyout of the Sun contract, and then helped to get Elvis on TV in New York, I’m not sure there would have been millions to squander. The tragedy is that millions were squandered, and that horrific decisions such as allowing RCA to buy out Elvis’s royalties in 1973 were made. Parker bears a huge share of the blame for that, but Elvis ultimately always could have said “no,” but Elvis was addicted to buying cars and planes as much as Parker was addicted to gambling, and, sadly, he pretty much always chose the quick cash infusion over the rational long-term strategy.
     
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  13. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    Honestly, I've always found Old MacDonald to fall into the "funny bad" camp. For a long time I dreaded hearing Elvis' version, in part because I'd heard so many awful things about it, but mainly because I've always hated the song itself (even as a kid I found it annoying). And then I heard it, and I kind of liked it. It's intentionally ridiculous, going out of its way to be absurd. "And when those chicks got out of line/Chicken Fricassee." OK, it's not exactly Seinfeld, but I get a kick out of it.

    Perhaps someday Elvis' label will issue an "Elvis In The Lounge" themed CD, and if so, City By Night deserves a slot. It's certainly no I Need Somebody To Lean On, but it conjures up a nice smoky atmosphere. The mix does let it down somewhat, though.
     
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  14. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Some psychologist think that if you are deprived of something in your youth/formative years, you ALWAYS feel deprived even if your fortunes change for the better as an adult. This is especially true when it comes to the essentials like food, shelter, clothing, safety/security, love and money (the means to achieve the others).
     
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  15. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I have always stated the fact that Tom Parker's role as Elvis's manager is more complicated then some make it out to be. Some of his early moves were actually quite astute; The securing of the RCA Victor contract; The strategic and well timed use of television appearances; Parker's concept to limit Elvis's exposure on television to huge media events; And his careful planing of Elvis's record releases while Elvis was serving in the army. Unfortunately for Parker and Elvis, the entertainment industry outgrew Parker's natural shrewdness and limited business savvy. Parker never really understand Elvis's artistry as well in my opinion, so both of these factors become huge obstacles in managing Elvis's later career.
     
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  16. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I think that this very astute observation about Elvis's circumstances while growing up probably explains his behavior later in life as well as anybody ever could.
     
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  17. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    I agree, and think that Elvis never forgot, and was shaped by, the poverty of the Presley family during his childhood. One of the anecdotes I recall about Elvis is that someone once made a slightly critical comment about the décor of Graceland, implying that it was too modern, and suggested that Elvis buy some antique furniture, to which Elvis replied “Man, I saw enough old things in Tupelo to last me a lifetime. I like new things.” Another reaction to his childhood is that he never wore jeans as an adult, always slacks or dress pants of some sort, because he associated jeans with poverty.
     
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  18. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    Parker’s later greed and probably outright fraud, certainly breach of his ethical duties to his client, are unforgivable, but I think it’s a little harsh to condemn him for not, say, more quickly grasping the changes in the music industry that took place in the 60s. A 1966 album of Elvis Sings Dylan or a quicker abandonment of the travelogue movie musical formula are tantalizing possibilities to consider, but I’m not sure very many other managers wouldn’t have milked a winning formula, or what they thought to still be a winning formula, just as Parker did.
     
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  19. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I don't think there's much evidence that was his motivation, in terms of what's been said by people who knew him. We all know how deeply insecure Elvis was, and I think he gave things away to make people like him, and because it made him feel good to make others happy. Whether it was "true generosity" is something that's always a subject of debate with altruism. If you do something nice for someone else in part because it makes you feel good, is it really an altruistic gesture or is it selfish, in the sense that you are making yourself feel good? Probably a bit of both.
     
  20. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Parker made some astute moves in the 50s, but there were always elements of malfeasance too. According to Marty Lacker, Parker negotiated himself a side deal with RCA as part of their buyout of Sun (meaning, they paid him extra secretly, without Elvis' knowledge at the time) so there were elements of double dealing and putting self before client right from the very beginning. But yes, he did so some things well in the 50s, and his marketing strategy probably did help make Elvis more successful than he otherwise would have been in that decade.
    Parker's biggest flaw is that he didn't understand the concept that focusing on quality will ultimately lengthen the life of a product and its overall success over time. His approach was all aimed at the quick buck and on doing things as cheaply as possible. Doing this devalued his "product" over time. It's not so much that Parker failed to change with the times as that his approach was always focused on Elvis as a gimmick rather than a quality product.
     
  21. Dave112

    Dave112 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Carolina
    Another question for my learned friends. The myth of a role in True Grit with John Wayne has been put to bed already. I've read that Elvis was offered the lead in Midnight Cowboy. Is this another urban legend? That role would have been a big departure from any Elvis movie made up to that time.
     
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  22. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Apparently the source of this story is actor Kevin O'Neal, who claims he heard it from director John Schlesinger. He says Schlesinger told him that he approached the Colonel about having Elvis play the role of Joe Buck, and the Colonel asked how many songs would be in the film. Schlesinger responded that it would give Elvis a new look, and the Colonel said "We're not interested in a new look, we're interested in more money." That's as far as things apparently got and Elvis never even knew about it.

    To my knowledge Schlesinger never confirmed this story so all we have is this secondhand account, but it seems plausible enough so I'd file it in the "probably true" category. Elvis could have had the hit with "Everybody's Talkin'" if he'd been in the film...
     
  23. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I agree with you on this point. The fact that an artist as smart and sophisticated as Eddy Arnold fired Parker because of the underhanded way that Parker operated, really tells you everything you need to know. Some people just have standards for themselves and the people that work for them, and Mr. Arnold was one of those people, according to everything I have ever read or heard about him.
     
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  24. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    In Careless Love, Guralnick describes how, in July 1975, Elvis bought Col. Parker a surprise gift of a Gulfstream Jet, which even the Colonel turned down with the comment “you have got to be kidding,” then, two days later, went on a $140,000 shopping spree at a Cadillac dealership, giving away fourteen Cadillacs, including at least one to a random woman he met on the lot. Then be August, he bought a $500,000 private jet, which he flipped two weeks later to buy a $900,000 private jet.

    I know you have been, rightly, critical of Guralnick’s tendency to adopt an omniscient perspective and to describe people’s thoughts that he has no real way of knowing, but, I do think he comes close to the truth when, of Elvis’s spending and giving sprees, he writes:

    “Some of the [Memphis Mafia] showed open signs of contempt for [Elvis’s] generosity, even as there was a mad scramble to get in on it. All sorts of explanations were advanced ... but none of them could get at the sheer mindlessness of it all. In many respects it was no different from the [Circle G] ranch ... once the floodgates were open, [Elvis] simply couldn’t stop. And it was as if, in another way, he were seeking to still some profound disquiet, cover up a need he couldn’t quite bring himself to recognize, and expiate some deep inner guilt.”
     
  25. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    If you subtract the psychobabble and Guralnick's florid prose here, he's basically saying the same thing I said upthread: Elvis was deeply insecure, and did this kind of thing to make himself feel better. And in this case, the insecurity and resultant behavior were likely exacerbated by the degree of his substance use.
     
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