Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

FRANKIE AND JOHNNY (LP)
(US) Pickwick ACL 7007
Released: November 1976



Pickwick reissue

Side one
1. "Frankie and Johnny" 2:32
2. "Come Along" 1:52
3. "What Every Woman Lives For" 2:27
4. "Hard Luck" 2:51
5. "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" 2:02

Side two
1. "Down by the Riverside" and "When the Saints Go Marching In" 1:56
2. "Petunia, the Gardener's Daughter" 2:59
3. "Beginner's Luck" 2:34
4. "Shout It Out" 2:17

Note

• "Chesay", "Look Out, Broadway", and "Everybody Come Aboard" were not included in the reissue.

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So if this isn't a bunch of weirdness.....
"Lets re-release a soundtrack that didn't really sell very well, and is actually fairly weak. Lets use the same cover that we used for Elvis Now! Lets put some photos from Aloha From Hawaii on the back ...... and for good measure lets take three songs off it ... it'll kind of look like a different album"

I really can't see what on earth this release is all about. It looks like management and the record company dropped some acid one day, and this was the result.

I don't really have much more to say about this.

I know you guys have my knowledge about this, so please, let us know what on earth was going on here.

Cheers
Mark

 

Thankfully, I don't think I've ever seen that atrocity out in the wild!

 

That should be "more Knowledge" ... sorry, running on fumes

 

The only explanation that I can come up with is that Pickwick somehow realized that they had the rights to this and decided to put a fresh paint job on an old car. They used some great photos for the artwork even if the cover is recycled. To be fair, Pickwick did have some crazy album artwork for some other artists' albums back in the day. I think that they acquired the rights to distribute the previously released Camdens around this time too. I'm glad they didn't change the artwork on those.

 

The Fifties Easy Reference guide
Elvis Presley the Albums and Singles Thread *

1959 - Feb 10 1964 - Reference guide -
Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

April 1964 - Sept 1967
Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

October 1967 - December 1969
Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

January 1970 - March 1974
Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

 

Does the appearance of this F&J abortion mean we are going to look at "Elvis In Hollywood" too? Yes, when Double Dynamite came out, so did all the Camdens reissued on Pickwick, plus this gem. Also around this time the midline reissue of His Hand In Mine came out. I just noticed you did not list WWGAH Parts 1 & 2 a Record Club issue. (on purpose I hope).

 

You may have not noticed I distinguished the difference between the decision to start an addictive substance and the struggle to recover. Two different subjects. I am pretty sure if I became addicted I would not have the strength to recover, hence I chose not to start. I made that decision when I was 8 years old. I saw what addiction does to people by that point.

And when I found out my childhood hero was an addict, well that just blew my mind.

 

WHAT IS HE POINTING AT????

 

Capitol also re-released some Beach Boys and Sinatra albums in the mid-70s that had a couple of tracks missing.

 

Reference Guide

May 2 1974
If You Talk In Your Sleep/ Help Me Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

July 1974
Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies
track 1 See See Rider Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies
track 2 I Got A Woman/ Amen Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies
track 3 Love Me Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies
track 4 Tryin' To Get To You Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies
track 5 Medley Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies
track 6 Why Me Lord Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies
track 7 How Great Thou Art Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies
track 8 Blueberry Hill/ I Can't Stop Loving You Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies
track 9 Help Me Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies
track 10 An American Trilogy Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies
track 11 Let Me Be There Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies
track 12 My Baby Left Me
track 13 Lawdy Miss Clawdy
track 14 Can't Help Falling In Love

Oct 1 1974
Promised Land/It's Midnight

Oct 1974
Having Fun With Elvis On Stage

Jan 8 1975
Promised Land
1 Promised Land
2 There's A Honky Tonk Angel
3 Help Me
4 Mr Songman
5 Love Song Of The Year
6 It's Midnight
7 Your Love's Been A Long Time Comin'
8 If You Talk In Your Sleep
9 Thinking About You
10 You Asked Me To

Jan 1975
My Boy/Thinking About You

Mar 1975
Pure Gold

Apr 22 1975
T-R-O-U-B-L-E/Mr Songman

May 7 1975
Elvis Today
1 Trouble
2 And I Love You So
3 Susan When She Tried
4 Woman Without Love
5 Shake A Hand
6 Pieces Of My Life
7 Fairytale
8 I Can Help
9 Bringin' It Back
10 Green Green Grass Of Home

Sep 24 1975
Pieces Of My Life/Bringin' It Back Home

Dec 1975
Double Dynamite

Jan 1976
Legendary Performer vol 2
Harbor Lights
Interview - Jay Thompson
I Want you I Need You I Love You take 15
Cane and a High Starched Collar
Award Presentation thanks @ClausH
Such A Night

Mar 21 1976
The Sun Sessions

1976
From Elvis Presley Blvd
1 Hurt
2 Never Again
3 Blue Eyes Cryin In The Rain
4 Danny Boy
5 The Last Farewell
6 For The Heart
7 Bitter They Are Harder They Fall
8 Solitaire
9 Love Coming Down
10 I'll Never Fall In Love Again

Nov 1976
Frankie and Johnny (Pickwick)

 

It is reminiscent of when Elvis showed interest in I Shall Be Released during the Nashville ‘71 sessions during the It’s Only Love takes, and instead of realizing Elvis was on to something potentially amazing, he let the opportunity pass him by and refocused Elvis on the mostly inferior song submissions for the session.

 

I vaguely remember this one being even cheaper than the usual Camden/Pickwick titles so I bought it (knowing the songs from the often-repeated F&J movie) probably not long after release. But yeah, even as a kid I wondered what was up with the cover art and why they didn't reuse the original.

 

Great post. But I feel I should point out that while For The Heart is an uptempo song, its lyrics are certainly melancholy. A different, slower interpretation of the song could change its appearance of happiness pretty darn quickly:

Had a dream about you baby
Had a dream about me and you
Had a dream and woke up crying
Well, I can roll but I just can't rock
And the time's goin' by, tick-tock
For the heart, I just can't love no one but you

Well, Im high and dry and lonely
Im as lonely as can be
And I stare out of my window
Well, I can play but I just can't win
And the weather's looking dim
For the heart, I just can't love no one but you

For the heart
For the heart
For the heart, I just can't love no one but you

 

I understand that completely. It is a tragic waste, but I don't think people necessarily entered into pharmaceutical abuse with open eyes back then. It is still a troublesome situation where even in these much more enlightened times, people go and see Doctors that prescribe and prescribe, and they are ignorant of the cycle.
To be honest until 2008, I was completely unaware of the huge, legal prescription issue. The way I found out about it was sad, but even more so, absolutely stupid.
I had a dog latch its jaws onto my face and tear it up pretty good. The people I was with took me to the hospital to get me stitched up. When I went to leave I had a five minute argument with them that I didn't need the Vicodin they wanted me to take with me, but they literally made me take them.
I gave them to the lady whose house I was staying in, and said I honestly don't need these, you can have them in case of some kind of emergency. What I didn't know was that someone at the house was a recovering pill addict ... next time I heard about it, they had relapsed, because of a bottle of f.....g Vicodin that I never even wanted ....
I am much more savvy to how things are over here now.

I think the majority of folks think that if it comes from a doctor it is safe and it is good. In the fifties and sixties, they were even more naive about these things.

What happened with Elvis, and even the more recent oodles of people keeling over because of pharmaceutical abuse, is absolutely tragic, but we are a sad, and often pathetic bunch, and these days people seem to think pain will kill them, and is unnatural. Pain lets me know I am still waiting for Jesus to get me the heck out of here

 

I guess I am one of the outliers that love both versions of She Thinks I Still Care, but I do have to agree with you that the alternate version might have been an even better choice for the album cut and flip side single choice on Moody Blue, despite the original single achieving number one double sided status on the Billboard Country Singles Chart. I think that alternate take reminds me of Elvis's highly original and bluesy version of I Really Don't Want to Know. You and @DirkM have both convinced me that the alternate version of She Thinks I Still Care was artistically more distinctive and should have probably been the chosen version for the album proper, despite the chart success on the Billboard Country Singles Chart of the original version chosen for the album.

 

Yeah, your absolutely right about that and even Moody Blue, which actually has the word blue in the title of the song, is a song about a girl driving a guy kink of nuts with her changing mood swings. The jovial nature of the melody and arrangement sort of disguises the true nature of that song as well, just like you point out in For The Heart.

 

Nevertheless, the overall lyrical content from the Jungle Room sessions is not much of a departure from the preceding several years of studio work. Look at From Elvis In Memphis; it isn’t as if the songs are a celebration of love and life.

 

I agree, but I still would have to say that the vast majority of the songs on From Elvis Presley Boulevard must have seemed highly personal to Elvis, and they do seem to capture his emotional state of mind in a pretty unique way. I guess that is actually what makes the album a standout to some of his fans.

 

Let's take a look at the emotional tone of the Jungle Room songs.

Downbeat/Sad:
"Hurt"
"Never Again"
"Danny Boy"
"The Last Farewell"
"Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall"
"Solitaire"
"Love Coming Down"
"I'll Never Fall in Love Again"
"She Thinks I Still Care"
"It's Easy for You"

Neutral:
"Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"
"He'll Have to Go"

Upbeat/Happy:
"For the Heart"
"Way Down"
"Moody Blue"
"Pledging My Love"

The melancholy material obviously tips the scales. The only reason Moody Blue seems like a more upbeat album is because of the live material. Elvis was at a point in his life when he gravitated to downbeat material--not surprising, considering what a shambles his life was in. The Jungle Room Sessions might not have been a planned expression of sadness like Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely, but they nevertheless show that Elvis was not in a glass-half-full state of mind, even if the sessions were not unrelieved gloom.

 

Interesting seeing it laid out like that.
Cheers mate

 

Yes indeed, that is a great breakdown you give there, Revelator, and I love the reference you make to Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely. I thought I might be the only person to ever have the temerity to compare those two very sad, but beautiful sounding albums in my life, but I personally think the comparison is a valid one. As you say so well, it very well might not have been a planned expression of Elvis's growing isolation and sadness, but it sure feels that way, when you listen to it some 42 years after Elvis first recorded the album.

 

Very nice way of laying it out, but lyrically I would put "For the Heart" and "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" as downbeat/sad, and "Moody Blue" as nuetral.

 

Regarding the chart success of that song, haven't we discussed how the b-side of double-sided "hits" didn't really garner much airplay at that point, despite its chart status? I remember hearing Moody Blue on the radio a lot, but I never heard anyone play Elvis' She Thinks I Still Care. And when my local station did their weekly chart countdown and played each hit in the top ten, it was Moody Blue that got played when it was number one, with no mention of She Thinks I Still Care.

 

It's worth noting that although people lump the Jungle Room sessions together these days, they were two distinct sessions for two different album projects. It's notable that of the four songs completed at the second session, only one fits into the "downbeat/sad" category. And if we look at the songs Elvis was supposed to do at Creative Workshop in January 1977, all of them except Rainy Night in Georgia are upbeat in both lyrics and tempo. If Elvis had completed the Moody Blue album as it was conceived, it would have been a much more upbeat album, not the downer that EP Blvd was.

 

There is no question in my mind that Moody Blue got the overwhelming amount of radio play, especially on the more contemporary country stations, but She Thinks I Still Care did receive some airplay as I know personally that KLAC AM in Los Angeles played it as their numbered one requested song on a particular night that I was listening to their country countdown. Billboard would not have been able to list it on their country singles chart as a double sided hit without some radio airplay of the B side single.