Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

True. The only instances where Elvis went ahead and released a song after failed negotiations on publishing were Guitar Man and Suspicious Minds. And in both of those cases, the songs had already been recorded before publishing was broached, so not releasing them because of publishing was much less likely.

 

That may be true in the case of Jim Reeves song ( I always figured he was at another bar and calling a bar that she and her new friend were at dancing and chit-chatting). In Elvis' version that I've heard more times that I can count, I can swear he says "Tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low". Why would he be telling her to tell the man to turn the jukebox down if it was where he was located and calling from? I can see it now. The lost last verse of the song may explain it. The operator breaks in and says "Run girl! The call has been traced to the same bar that you're in!"

 

Huh... I'd completely forgotten that Elvis got the lyrics wrong. You're right that he says "Tell the man" the first and third times he sings it, and "We'll tell the man" the second time. I agree that the song makes much less sense with the incorrect lyrics. Although, maybe from Elvis' perspective it didn't, since he was a guy who never went out anywhere, especially not bars, so maybe he could relate more to the idea of being a guy at home calling bars looking for his girlfriend rather than the other way around. Or maybe it was just a simple error. At any rate, in the Reeves version he clearly says "I'll tell the man" so the song is supposed to be a classic "pathetic guy in a bar" type song.

 

I can surely see your point about Jim Reeves' version of HHTG. I've posted that version of the song AND the answer song on my little recording blurb group on that social media site that shall remain nameless. Since it was Jim Reeves' version, I left my guy and girl in a bar theory open to interpretation by just pointing out the giving of an ultimatum while she's with another man by the singer. I don't really take the answer song too seriously since its a parody. By that I mean it's not a direct challenge to the narrative of the first song like Kitty Wells' song It Wasn't God That Made Honky Tonk Angels or Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I'm sure that there is a solution to this. Most of us liked the solution to Kentucky Rain that Elvis was just looking for his lost dog. He could have turned the tables on the situation and made it seem that he didn't care what she did if he had changed a few words to: "Would you ask your friend that's with you if he's seen my dog?" Lol.

 

I don't think there's a problem needing a solution here. There's no doubt the writers of the song intended the narrator to be in a bar. In the original version by Billy Brown, he sings, "I'll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low." Jim Reeves also sings it that way. So did Solomon Burke, in his hit R&B cover version. Obviously, the person in the bar would be the one asking for the jukebox to be turned down. And it would not make sense for the narrator to tell the woman the other guy "has to go" if the two of them were at a bar together. He would ask her to leave and come home. It only makes sense for him to suggest the other guy has to go if the woman is at home.

So the Elvis version has the lyrics wrong, there's no doubt in that, and it changes the meaning. Whether it was a mistake on his part or intentional I do not know, but as I said I'm perfectly willing to buy the notion that it was intentional, and that Elvis found it easier to imagine himself as a guy at home phoning bars looking for his girlfriend, rather than a guy in a bar. Since Elvis never drank or went clubbing, maybe he felt the lyrical change fit his persona better. Marty Lacker mentions that when Elvis was holed up at the Nashville Sheration refusing to go to the Creative Workshop recording sessions, he spent most of his time calling Ginger on the phone or trying to reach her (she had not been willing to go with him to Nashville). So again, maybe he could more easily identify with being the guy at home trying to reach a woman who was out and about.

 

In Bob Stanley's book Yeah, Yeah, Yeah he's talking about Jim Reeves' He Has To Go and says if you're wife's in a bar dancing with someone else hang up the phone, you've already lost her.

 

Well, then Bob Stanley misunderstood the lyrics of the song.

 

So Stanley didn't misunderstand the song, but you misremembered what he'd written?

 

Pledging My Love
Written By :
Fats Washington & Don Robey

Recorded :
Jungle Room, Graceland, Memphis, October 29-31, 1976 : October 29, 1976. take 6

We move to a rick and roll revisitation. There are some nice harmonised guitars in this pretty tight arrangement. Stylistically this could be 1957. The production and overdubs, and Elvis changed voice tell us it isn't, but it still works well.
I think this works well and is another excellent song on the album.

 

Moody Blue
Written By :
Mark James

Recorded :
Jungle Room, Graceland, Memphis, February 2-9, 1976 : February 4, 1976. take 10

To me this is classic Elvis. James wrote another excellent song, and way down in the Jungle Room Elvis and the guys did a great job of it.
I think the intro is really well put together. Here Jarvis got the overdubs right in my opinion, and it all goes to enhance the track, rather than cover up bits he wasn't happy with.

 

There's a third party quote that Stanley quotes. It must be in a different chapter because I can't find it in the chapter about Country.

 

Elvis' version was probably inspired by this one from 1976:

 

Elvis' version of Pledging My Love isn't on the level of the Johnny Ace version (what is?); actually, it doesn't work at all as an interpretation of the song for me, but if I ignore the fact that Elvis is singing "Pledging My Love" and just imagine that he's singing some song I'd never heard before, his performance ends up being quite enjoyable. I still hate that guitar tone that they used for the solos, though.

There was a time when Moody Blue was my favourite Elvis song, and although I've cooled on it a bit since then, I still love everything about it, from the quasi-disco beat to the song itself to the string overdubs (I agree with Mark that the post-production enhances the final track). The way Elvis emphasizes "tell me who I'm talkin' to" near the end is magical.

 

When I was a kid, I thought this three song sequence on side B was perfection. I still enjoy it. IMO these three songs were worth the price of the album. When you throw in Unchained Melody and the super high energy Let Me Be There on side A, I couldn't help but love this album.
1. Way Down: One of my all time favorites to this day! Elvis last single was fantastic!
2. Pledging My Love: A great performance of this song by Elvis. I'm so glad he covered this one! I like the music and Elvis' 1976 vocals.
3. Moody Blue: I originally just liked this track for the wonderful chorus part of song. It has a great hook! As I got older and could understand the lyrics better, I realized that this song was not only quite deep but also very well put together as far as the lyrics and music complimenting each other. I agree with Mark that the overdubs were spot on perfect. Elvis and Jarvis had to be proud of this one!

 

Mark James's original from 1975. Reportedly a hit single in South Africa.

 

Without a doubt. From the Genuine Cowhide album, produced by Chip Young. Recorded at Chip's Young'Un Sound in Murfreesboro, Tennessee with some of the American Sound guys.

 

Pledging My Love is an odd one for me, it's a song I shouldn't like (it's a bit cliched sounding) and yet I enjoy it. Another one where the backing track wouldn't have sounded out of place on John Lennon's Rock 'n Roll sessions.

 

The "undubbed" mix of MOODY BLUE, lasting a bit longer than the standard version. Unfortunately you can hear Elvis' vocal shortcomings quite clearly

 

The unedited Pledging My Love. Elvis really sounds engaged here

 

One of the highlights from the Jungle Room recordings. While not a great Elvis Presley vocal (although he does sing with some gusto), stylistically it is a throwback to another time reminiscent of when Elvis was a creative and artistic force.

 

The only known live recording. It was released on the Unchained Melody FTD.

 

Unfortunately he runs out of steam right from the get go. You also hear on this release from the day prior where the band attempts the song but Elvis aborts it

 

Runs a bit too slow. Here's the unedited rough mix (take 10/M) from the FTD. Start at 1:00:50.

ELVIS PRESLEY - MOODY BLUE FTD CD 2

 

Clearly there was no attempt at a proper rehearsal to master the song. Elvis was so detached from his craft by 1976/1977 that he no longer cared about appropriate preparation.