Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

The sad thing is I can sing "Confidence" from start to finish. I had this steaming pile of an album as a kid.

 

I had that one too, and it's also where I first heard Confidence. Crazy album - a couple of absolutely stellar tracks surrounded by some of Elvis' worst.

Editing to add, this album has a Platinum certification (per Wiki). I'm dumb-founded.

 

Confidence is the ultimate case study of "not giving a s**t". The band doesn't care, the arrangers don't care, the writers don't care, Elvis most certainly doesn't care. Listen to how he mockingly spits out the letters: "C and an O..." on the record master; he knows it's getting cut out for the film (not the album surprisingly, then again no one bought the album anyway) and makes it as nasty as possible and gets away with it. Can you blame him? If they didn't care why should we?

I know you don't like Guadalajara Andy but I think that we can both agree that a major revelation of the new Fun in Acapulco set was that everyone, including (especially?) Elvis was giving it their all. They likely decided in rehearsals that it was going to be a challenge to both perform and sing, hence the track and vocals being recorded separately and the final master being a composite of many different takes (not unlike recordings made today). And yet there is a distinct air of care and professionalism behind its recording that is utterly lacking from Confidence and many other recordings from the 1966-67 period, often for very good reason.

Everyone was tired and 1968 couldn't come soon enough.

 

Gosh, I remember seeing that album in the bins at record stores when I was a teenager. I always past it up for some reason. Just lucky I guess.

 

Wow, I knew that Elvis's Confidence seemed strangely familiar to my ears. I actually like High Hopes though.

 

I don't want to spend a lot of time looking backwards, but with the release of the 3CD FTD Fun In Acapulco complete sessions set (which is fantastic, IMO), I'm kinda wishing Elvis & Co. had released a non-horn / more rock 'n roll version of 'I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here.' I like what it ended up being, but it's a catchy tune that has more potential.

 

The first side of Clambake is probably the most unlistenable side of an Elvis LP I have heard so far. The compositions are annoying to say the least, I cannot believe that someone like Elvis was involved in this. If this is not his low point, what is? His lack of enthusiasm is also very obvious. In particular in Hey hey hey his timing would ruin the song, if there was anything to ruin. A House That Has Everything is a highlight in comparison with the other stuff, and in particular Guitar Man. But still... Guitar Man is the point I would expect Elvis to arrive at in 1967, given what he did up to 1960: he is no longer a force in the develoment of rock music but at least he tries to keep up with it, and spits out this song that is catchy and perhaps deserves a spin or two. It is not really a keeper though, it is just that everything below Guitar Man simply is not worthy this artist.

Luckily he cut some really great songs later in his career (even in my opinion).

 

Really? I think his Guitar Man is fantastic.

 

Thanks so much for drawing attention to this great article as I had no idea that Will Friedwald had any appreciation for Elvis at all. I only knew him as a great jazz critic and writer of articles on Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. He makes a great case for Elvis as a "crooner," something that Michale Bublé recently suggested in an interview that I posted on this thread. Of course, we all know that Elvis was a lot more than just a crooner as Bublé also pointed out in his interview. Elvis's vocal versatility was probably his greatest asset as a recording artist.

 

Oh yes, Hey Hey Hey, with such intelligent lyrics such as:

We got a magic potion that will help us win
I don't know how to spell it but dip right in
Blako-oxy-tonic phosphate, it's the latest scoop
But that's all right girls you can call it "Goop"

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Work the sandpaper, hammer that nail
Tote that paintbrush and lift that pail
Get a rhythm going, nice and easy
Come on and use a little elbow greasy

The outtakes on the Clambake FTD are entertaining though, Elvis getting lost in that dumb "goop" lyric

 

They probably figured Elvis had suffered enough just having to record it. Lol

 

This was the first Elvis and non-children's record that was mine and not my parents' record. I also know this album well from start to finish. It has some very good songs like Guitar Man, Big Boss Man, They Remind Me Too Much Of You, You Don't Know Me, and Long Legged Girl but it has some dogs as well. It's a perfect sampler to test if you are going to be a casual fan or a fan that will suffer through the junk to get at the good stuff.

 

See, this is what you get when you rely on online lyrics websites... blatant mis-trancriptions. The above lyric is totally wrong. It's supposed to be "Glyco-Oxotonic-Phosphate, it's the latest scoop/But that's all right girls, you can call it Goop." Goop is an acronym for Glyco-OxOtonic-Phosphate. The deeper meaning is totally lost by that mis-transcription you quoted, and the whole point of the song winds up being distorted.

Yeah, I'm just kidding. But the "goop" thing does make more sense as an acronym.

 

Don’t turn in to this guy when questioning lyrics:

 

...huh. I never made that connection before! I just thought that the writers went with "goop" out of pure laziness. It's sort of fun to realize that there's a method to the madness (such as it is).

 

The wonderfully misleadingly titled "Sings Hits From His Movies" album is one that's brought me far more joy over the years than it has any right to. The combination of They Remind Me Too Much Of You and Confidence is so hilariously absurd that I can actually tolerate a verse or two of the latter before reaching out for the skip button (unlike on Clambake, where I rarely sit through more than the first few bars).

 

All I can say is I'm so glad we're almost done with Elvis' dark ages.

 

Lol! Thanks for sharing that Shawn. I can't even remember who did something similar but it was a very professional announcer reading the lyrics to explicit rap and hip hop songs. This was back in the 1990s and it was funny then as well.

 

You Don't Know Me
Written By :
Cindy Walker & Eddy Arnold

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, February 21-23, 1967: February 21 & 22, 1967 and RCA's Studio B, Nashville, September 10-12, 1967: September 11, 1967. take 1

I think I have heard this song by a few people, and it is a song I like. I think Elvis does a good job of it.

 

Girl I Never Loved
Written By :
Randy Starr

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, February 21-23, 1967: February 21 & 22, 1967. take 9

This is another really good love song, and to me at least well done.

 

Here is the album master.

 

cheers, it wasn't coming up for me.

 

Absolutely love Elvis' cover of You Don't Know Me. He nails the phrasing, and a nice subtle performance by The Jordanaires. The organ deeper in the mix is a good fit too.

Not a big fan of The Girl I Never Loved. It's a fine recording and performance but it's just not to my taste. And it would probably be better served without Millie Kirkam's operatic vocals. In a way, I can see Elvis doing this circa 1972.

 

Despite having played the Clambake album at least a few dozen times in my life, I still can't remember a single bit about The Girl I Never Loved. I don't even remember if it's in the film or not...

The album version of You Don't Know Me is a stunner. Apart from the beautiful arrangement, it has to be one of the absolute best vocals Elvis ever laid down in the studio. You can feel all of the pain in the lyrics, in a way that no other version quite does for me. It's by far my favourite track on the album.

 

Side note - thanks in large part to this thread, for kicks I ordered a copy of this German double LP, The Complete Bonus Songs. Not that I don't have the songs already, but it will be a new experience listening to them in this way (and format).

Vinyl Album: Elvis Presley - The Complete Bonus Songs (1983)

Track listing is:

A1 I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell
A2 Love Me Tonight
A3 Slowly But Surely
A4 Echoes Of Love
A5 (It's A) Long Lonely Highway
A6 You'll Be Gone
A7 Animal Instinct
B1 Wisdom Of The Ages
B2 Sand Castles
B3 Tomorrow Is A Long Time
B4 Down In The Alley
B5 I'll Remember You
B6 It Won't Be Long
C1 Never Ending
C2 Blue River
C3 What Now, What Next, Where To
C4 Guitar Man
C5 How Can You Lose What You Never Had
C6 Big Boss Man
C7 Singing Tree
D1 Just Call Me Lonesome
D2 Five Sleepyheads
D4 Western Union
D5 Mine
D6 Going Home
D7 Suppose