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. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    You can argue forever over how RCA should have packaged and marketed the American sessions, but here we are on track one of the second, and supposedly weaker, of the two albums compiled from the sessions, and we have another winner. As I’ve noted before, Inherit The Wind is maybe not the greatest song in the abstract, but Elvis works his usual magic on it. Unlike Suspicious Minds, this is a very low key, restrained vocal delivery from Elvis that works well.
     
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  2. Iceman08

    Iceman08 Forum Resident

    Who knows, maybe Elvis even would have lived longer if the Colonel had less time for him. For example he could have stepped back a lot more during the time (around filming "Spinout") he tried to find out with help from Larry Geller and his books suggestions who he was/ what his aims were/ what he should do with his life and so on. But then also nearly all of his "friends" and even Priscilla were against his questioning thinking process. Maybe he would have become more balanced, purposed, more structured and self-assured.
     
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  3. PepiJean

    PepiJean Forum Resident

    Not the best track from the 69 sessions but still a 100% more interesting and soulful than what Elvis had been recording for the last 6/7 years. Stellar vocals + Country Soul context = great opener.
    The song was penned by the guy who also wrote KENTUCKY RAIN (Memphis, feb.1969) and PATCH IT UP (Nashville, june 1970). Quality stuff, IMO.
     
  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I never realised they were Eddie Rabbitt songs as well. Interesting. Cheers
     
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  5. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I think my main issue with Inherit The Wind is the intrusive background vocals (I might dislike them even more than the Jords cluttering up Scotty's solos on Hound Dog). They actively ruin the song for me. I'm listening to take 1 right now, and I'm enjoying it much more than I've ever enjoyed the master. There's also some nice piano/guitar work going on that gets drowned in the master's overdubs, not to mention a rather fine vocal from Elvis.

    Still, it's easily my least favourite of the three Eddie Rabbitt songs that Elvis covered, and it makes for a rather weak album opener, imo.
     
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  6. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Dropping the needle on Back In Memphis was not as much as a shock for me as was FEIM. But I immediately liked Inherit The Wind. I think it is a perfect opener. Had Stranger In My Own Home Town opened, it would have all been down hill from there. I like the pacing of Back In Memphis just fine.
     
  7. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Inherit The Wind really does get a fine performance out of Elvis and Eddie Rabbit was a very underrated songwriter. He showed the unique ability over the years to write both stone cold country songs like Pure Love for Ronnie Milsap and Rocky Mountain Music for himself as well as great upbeat ballads like Patch It Up for Elvis and his very own Drivin' My Life Away or I Love A Rainy Night for his own catalogue.
     
  8. Ace24

    Ace24 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ohio
    I enjoy the IP version more too.

    I've always especially liked the rhythm of the interplay between Elvis (in unison with the soulful Sweets) and the piano run and strings from about 0:38 to 0:54
     
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  9. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Inherit the Wind is a pretty good song musically, but to my ears not as good as almost everything on FEIM. It's a solid performance from Elvis though and a decent arrangement. Maybe the main problem I have with it is that it embodies a lyrical theme that was really popular around that time, but which I really dislike: the whole "I'm a rambling man, you can't expect me to be faithful, a stallion has to roam free" trope. For some reason this was a really popular theme in the late 60s on through the 70s, but it grates on me, this glamorization of immaturity and selfishness. And unfortunately it's not the only song along these lines on this record. To me the best Elvis songs are about unabashed love or lust, or personal heartbreak. Those are the themes where his persona works best. An unironic "who cares how you feel" selfish attitude doesn't work as well for me.
     
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  10. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Nice point
     
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  11. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

  13. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

  14. Dave112

    Dave112 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Carolina
    True! Elvis had so much versatility that he had to branch out into a multitude of genres. My point was that John Lennon and George Harrison wanted free of a Beatles box to explore things individually but at the same time wanted Elvis in a 50's box that they thought he ought to be in doing the stuff that they liked. I find it interesting.
     
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  15. Dave112

    Dave112 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Carolina
    A perfect candidate for seasonal listening for me. I put this on every year when that first crispness of fall is in the air!
     
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  16. kreen

    kreen Forum Resident

    You'd feel differently if the north wind flowed through your veins. Did YOUR dad have a dream in his brain?
     
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  17. PepiJean

    PepiJean Forum Resident

    :D:D:D
     
  18. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    But it sure fits with the current MGTOW movement due to toxic feminism.
     
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  19. Revelator

    Revelator Disputatious cartoon animal.

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Jorgensen notes that “Inherit The Wind” had been submitted "at literally every session since August of 1967." That said, it's one of the better third-tier songs recorded at American. Interestingly, Elvis liked "Inherit the Wind" enough to play it live in '69, though only once (you can hear it on the FTD release Live In Vegas, which covers the show from August 26).

    The American Sound Studios songs that were played live can be divided into two groups. First, the four big hits that were obvious choices:
    "Don’t Cry Daddy"
    "In The Ghetto"
    "Suspicious Minds"
    "Kentucky Rain"

    Second are the curiosities:
    "This Is The Story"
    "Inherit The Wind"
    "Rubberneckin'"
    "True Love Travels On A Gravel Road"

    Only the last song is a really first-rate track, so I wonder why Elvis decided to introduce minor songs like 'This is the Story" into his live act and neglect many far more deserving American tracks.

    We know that Elvis rehearsed "Stranger In My Own Home Town" and "Any Day Now" but never played them live, which is a shame. And lots of other songs from those sessions were more deserving of live performance than "Inherit the Wind," such as:

    "Long Black Limousine"
    "Wearin’ That Loved On Look"
    "Without Love"
    "Power Of My Love"
    "After Loving You"
    "Only The Strong Survive"

    Jorgensen also notes that during rehearsals Elvis and the band had considered several songs by other artists, such as “Slow Down,” “Green, Green Grass Of Home,” “Yellow Roses,” “You’re The Reason I’m Living,” and “Matchbox.” Some lesser-known songs from Elvis's own back catalogue were also considered but rejected, including “I Need You So,” “Memphis Tennessee,” and “Judy.”
     
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  20. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I had to google MGTOW, never heard of it before. Sounds like a modern version of these guys:
    [​IMG]
     
  21. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Well, the north wind used to flow through my veins, but my doctor gave me a round of antibiotics and cleared it right up.
     
  22. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    It really is peculiar. I think part of the reason Elvis went for covers from other artists rather than new stuff from American is that he wanted to be doing songs that the audience might be familiar with. But if that was entirely the case, he could have selected songs from the American sessions that were already well-known from other versions, like Any Day Now, Gentle on My Mind, or I'm Movin' On. And that doesn't explain why he'd do This is the Story, a decidedly lesser song from the sessions.
     
  23. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Just a fantastic post, Dave.
     
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  24. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    This Is The Story
    Written By :
    Chris Arnold, David Martin & Geoff Morrow

    Recorded :

    American Studios, Memphis, January 13-16 and 20-23, 1969: January 13, 1969. take 2

    This track has such a beautiful melody, and the little guitar riff at the end of the verse lines in great.
    This, to me, is the kind of song that Elvis really excelled at during the seventies. I can only assume that all the regrets and sadness that the problems with his relationship with Priscilla fueled the emotion in a lot of these. I know it's still 69 still but this seems to be a thing from now on.

     
    Last edited: May 17, 2019
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  25. EPA4368

    EPA4368 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento CA
    Mark, your post and Dave112's "Sometimes we get so wrapped up in these artists' music, that we forget that they have lives and interests beyond music." are spot-on.
     
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