Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, May 26, 2019.

  1. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Critically acclaimed is debatable, but your point is well-taken. Factions of the music press continue to fawn all over Radiohead, but Radiohead’s avant-garde, largely inaccessible present-day music is not really a viable comparison for the purposes of this topic, which is more about commercial returns from commercial albums by recording stars.
     
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  2. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    It is a dud. Even though a number of fans like the alleged cohesiveness of Today, the album is not without its clunkers.
     
  3. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Please let me know if you can figure out that instrument as I am curious myself. I came at the song a little differently as my Mom really loved the Statler Brothers and I loved their four part harmony on the original single. I was curious about Elvis's version when the Today album first came out, but I didn't find it as enjoyable as the original. Now I've come to really appreciate his splendid vocal and arrangement, but I still love the original quite a bit as well.

    As a man who was raised in a family with a lot of very strong women around him, in fact, our matriarchal leader was my aunt on my father's side, who was the first woman to ever own and manage a television station in the United States, I have no trouble admitting I rather liked the performance Elvis gives on Woman Without Love. My mother was one hell of a woman as well, and oh yeah, she just loved Woman Without Love. I will stick up for the song as well, both in memory of my mom, who actually was the first one in the family to appreciate Elvis, and also because I find Elvis' vocal quite haunting and sincere. I know the lyrics sound terribly dated by todays's standards, but I really think that the any man that admits "to being half a man, is actually no man at all, in my opinion, so I can get past those seemingly chauvinistic lyrics a lot easier than most (all) people on this fine thread.
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2019
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  4. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Don't even get me started on how highly underrated Elvis's Harum Scarum soundtrack is to my ears, despite how God awful that movie actually was. If we could just get Vic and Sebastian to remix and remaster that album, I think people would be surprised by the quality of the musicianship on many of the songs on that album. I still think Animal Instinct could have easily been a top twenty hit if it had been released at the time.
     
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  5. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I'd rather listen to Old MacDonald a hundred times before sitting through Woman Without Love once. Now that I think about it, I might even argue that Woman Without Love is the worst song that Elvis recorded. At least the bad movie songs have some camp value to them. Like the guy who assembled the Elvis' Greatest S*** bootleg said, the songs are bad, but they're funny-bad.
     
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  6. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I'd say that it has a cohesive sound, regardless of the quality of the material or performances. I do agree that the album has some clunkers; side 1 is rough going for me, whilst I love all of side 2.
     
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  7. Sear

    Sear Dad rocker

    Location:
    Tarragona (Spain)
    This LP seems stronger than Raised on rock which is the only Stax sessions album I have
     
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  8. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I think This and the last two are considerably stronger than raised on rock
     
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  9. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    actually with all the bits and pieces albums, let me be more clear
    Today
    Promised Land
    Good Times
     
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  10. I think Clambake is stronger than Raised On Rock ;)

    I kid, I kid... although it is kinda close.
     
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  11. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    :)
     
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  12. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I like MORE than half the songs on Clambake. I like all of side two and a few from side one.
     
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  13. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    The original Statler Brothers version of Susan When She Tried is deeply imprinted on my memory from childhood, so it's one of those songs that's weird to hear someone else sing. Beyond that, I don't think it's musically a great match for Elvis' style. He definitely pitches it too high, and his voice sounds like it's straining to hit the higher notes on the chorus. As others have noted, the backing track is nice though.

    It's not merely today's standards. When I first heard this song over thirty years ago, the sexism in the lyrics stood out to me like a sore thumb... and I was just a dumb college kid at the time. I suppose I'd be more willing to overlook that line if it was in the middle of a really fantastic song, but it's a mediocre ballad without much else going for it. Fortunately, the album gets better after this...
     
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  14. garyt1957

    garyt1957 Forum Resident

    Location:
    mi
    I remember reading a great review from Rolling Stone on the Today album. I think some guys are pretty tough on Elvis' output. I like every song on Today. I had no idea most were recent covers.
     
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  15. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I find it a pretty strong album as well and I really don't find any weak performances on here at all, even the match maligned Woman Without Love by legendary country tunesmith Jerry Chesnut is sung with sensitivity and tenderness. I just found a very interesting version by Brook Benton, which I also find quite listenable. I understand the issue many have with the lyrics, but it won't stop me from enjoying the song. Here is Brook's great take on the song:

    [​IMG]
    2:39NOW PLAYING
     
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  16. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    I don't want to derail this thread, but A Moon Shaped Pool, the most recent Radiohead-Godrich album, went top 10 pretty well everywhere, including #1 in the UK and #3 in the USA, so I certainly think Radiohead still qualify as 'commercial returns from commercial albums'. But lets return to Elvis!
     
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  17. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Yeah, no reason to go into a deep debate over Radiohead on an Elvis thread of all places, but I think you significantly overestimate the importance and influence of Radiohead as a commercial force by today’s music consumers.
     
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  18. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    I don't really have an opinion either way, just going on chart figures - a top 10 album must count as commercially successful whoever the artist.
     
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  19. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Chart figures in 2019, especially for physical product, are not necessarily indicative of general appeal, particularly if the albums do not have staying power on the charts — often suggesting an existing fan base making first/second week purchases before the albums fade away. I suspect a lot of music fans between 15-30 are not overly familiar with Radiohead.
     
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  20. Dave112

    Dave112 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Carolina
    Once again I'm the thread contrarian. I've never really gotten into Elvis' version of Susan When She Tried. I don't hate his version but the Statler Brothers totally nailed that song and Elvis' version just makes me want to skip it and hear the difinitive Statler Brothers version instead.
    Woman Without Love isn't a great song but it has always interested me that Elvis would go into these darker (almost taboo today) areas of relationships. I put this in a catagory with other darker themed relationship songs like Twenty Days And Twenty Nights, It's Easy For You, and The Sound Of Your Cry. For that reason, I find Woman Without Love interesting.
     
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  21. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Yeah, I also don’t find Susan When She Tried to be some sort of notable highlight. It is a fine rendering of the song, but mostly forgettable like so much of the album.
     
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  22. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    That is a very interesting group of songs that you have wisely linked together. I have always found it especially noteworthy that It's Easy For You was actually written for Elvis by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, which really makes it quite fascinating by itself.
     
  23. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I never heard the Statler Brothers version of Susan When She Tried before today, but after listening to it on YouTube, I confess that I don't get the appeal. It's not bad by any means, but there's just nothing about the recording that leaps out at me, whereas the Elvis version hooked me from the very start.
     
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  24. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Well, it's a Statler Brothers song. They wrote it, it's got their trademark sound all over it. It's not their best song by any means, but if you like them it's a good example of what they do... basically, "barbershop country." To me it's weird to hear Elvis do it because I heard the original version a lot when I was a kid. And it seems somewhat outside Elvis' wheelhouse in my opinion.
     
  25. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I really wonder how important our first exposure to a particular song is for all of us. I was enamored with the Statler Brothers version of Susan When She Tried and it was such a huge hit at the time. It was really kind of a sexy song when you think about the lyrics, "There's never been a woman, who could make me weak inside, and give me, what I needed, like Susan When She Tried." I loved that "barbershop country" harmony that Jason refers to in his post above. The Statler Brothers and the Oak Ridge Boys really perfected that quartet sound at country radio in the 70's that Elvis first fell in love with many moons ago. It actually took a long while for me to really warm to Elvis's version, but now I appreciate it on its own merits, but the Statlers will always own that song for me personally.
     

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