Elvis Presley FTD CD reissues (part 6)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by hodgo, Feb 15, 2015.

  1. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Parker fell ass-backwards into the Singer Presents project because as everyone knows, he made a deal for a Christmas Special, with visions of Elvis singing Silver Bells by the fire place, hammering another nail into the coffin of his career. Steve Binder and Bones Howe had a plan, and saved Elvis at that point in his career. Parker had already exhausted the movie formula; the studio film work was drying up and Elvis' secular non-soundtrack music career was in the tank with no viable projects on the horizon. Even though Parker ultimately ostracized Binder from Elvis' world, it was Binder who not only saved Elvis' career at that point, but in doing so, he saved Parker.

    We can certainly argue the merits of the Las Vegas contract. While it was clearly undervalued, the bigger question remains, was Las Vegas even the appropriate venue for Elvis in 1969? It was clearly a very successful engagement, based on the attendance figures, but Elvis only earned roughly $9,000.00 per performance on average, working seven days per week. Parker later had it bumped up to $1 million, with no sliding scales or increases. He locked Elvis into a grueling, underpaid, soul-crushing project twice a year. The Las Vegas formula also laid the foundation for Elvis' subsequent touring work, and over the next seven years, Elvis essentially took a showroom show on tour across the nation, never deviating from the uninspiring formula, one that artistically had run its course by 1973. Starting in 1969, with hit singles and a soon-to-be successful gold studio album, one could certainly argue that Elvis should have embarked on a traditional mainstream tour of arenas nationwide, for far more money, greater exposure, and much less work. Elvis was one of the biggest stars in the world, a musical icon back in the public eye as a viable recording artist and performer thanks to the Singer Presents television special and his new recording work from Memphis. But Parker booked Elvis into Vegas, where he played a showroom to patrons eating steaks and drinking cocktails. We will never know how different things could have been.

    While Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Little Richard were Elvis' pioneering rock and roll contemporaries from the 1950's, they were hardly artists on the same scale as Elvis, especially circa 1969/1970. It isn't even a comparison.
     
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  2. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I agree with you on all these additional criticisms of Tom Parker's managerial decision making as the 1970's rolled ahead. While you and I can respectfully disagree about both the financial and critical benefits of the initial Las Vegas residency, we both seem to be like minded in our distain for the sheer amount of Las Vegas shows that Elvis was locked into performing and the redundancy of his non-stop arena touring schedule that Parker negotiated on Elvis's behalf. I personally think the wheels fell of the wagon around 1973, with Parker and Elvis not seeming to be able to come up with a coherent plan to top the Aloha From Hawaii worldwide satellite broadcast. And of course the artist's own health issues would worsen as the decade worn on, making Elvis's personal and professional life more stressful for himself and his fans.
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2021
  3. I333I

    I333I Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ventura
    I emailed them today and coincidentally got my shipping notice about ten minutes later. Looks like they are shipping!
     
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  4. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I just started listening to my copy of the His Hand In Mine Complete Sessions FTD and I do not believe this material has ever sounded any better, but to be quite honest, it sounded pretty darn fine on the classic album version from 2006. I have only gotten to the first disc so far, and I understand that a great deal of work went into the remixing effort for the additional two discs of outtakes, so I will try to get around to those tomorrow. I almost felt like there was a tad less distortion on the master version of Surrender as well, but I have not done a side by side comparison at this time. It was great reading the story about engineer Bill Porter being distracted from his soundboard duties with his own bout with the flu on that fateful night. I still cannot believe that this artist and these amazing group of musicians cut one whole gospel album and two magnificent singles in one single night at the glorious RCA Victor Studio B in Nashville.
     
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  5. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    The lack of vision and strategy by Tom Parker was astounding. Clearly the Aloha special was going to be monumental, Parker knew it. Yet, he had nothing planned to capitalize on it. Two weeks later, Elvis was back in a Las Vegas showroom, and the rest of the year was a mundane series of routine concerts, an additional soul-crushing casino engagement, a near-death overdose, and directionless studio sessions.
     
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  6. bobgeorge

    bobgeorge Forum Resident

    Location:
    Netherlands

    Its not about what you think whether Elvis took the role in ''A Star Is Born'', or not. Really, not at all. Its that Elvis wanted it, but ''mastermind'' Parker put down some demands, the project was blown off.

    Of course it isn't our concern, its the deal between artist/manager. Fact is, 50%, that's very uncommon, and therefore a good example of what kind of a rotten apple Parker was. That Elvis accepted this, his decision.

    Its quite unbelievable how people keep defending a man like Parker. Elvis was 100% responsible for is own way of living. That took his toll. And had a reason, so you might wonder why things turned out this way? Only 8 years of constant touring and performing in two different ''hotels''? Exciting. Besides, USA only. With an artists of this caliber? Parker is partly responsible for the decline of Elvis, which resulted in death.
     
  7. Flaming Torch

    Flaming Torch Forum Resident

    I guess following the Aloha special that would have been the time for a tour to Europe, Japan and Australia. By the 70s the big rock acts were playing much longer shows would Elvis have maybe needed to fill out his setlist a bit more?
     
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  8. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I do not think anybody on this forum is trying to defend Tom Parker as much as just trying to keep the historical record accurate. The Parker/Elvis relationship was very complicated and had its share of ups and downs. It probably resembled a father/son relationship in the early days, but it morphed into something quite different as time went on. Both were treading brand new waters in many respects, and they worked well together for many years. Elvis tried to stay out of the business side of things and Parker mostly kept out of the recording studio, besides dictating the restrictive publishing interests that Parker falsely assumed was beneficial to both Elvis and himself for far too long. I could most accurately describe the history of Tom Parker and Elvis by a famous movie title; The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly!
     
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  9. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    If Elvis really wanted to do A Star Is Born, he would have done it. By that point in his life, he was unmanageable.

    There’s no alternate reality where Elvis joined Creedence Clearwater Revival, devoted his life to recording Bob Dylan songs, or toured the UK and Japan with the Band backing him up. No one with his background, personality quirks, and lack of education was ever going to able to ride the hurricane he was thrust into to a happy ending. As we see with Brian Jones, Keith Moon, and Kurt Cobain, his story was hardly unique, and none of them had to deal with the fame and pressure he had to deal with, by himself, without a band around him. The story was always going to play out the way it did, and, rather than dwell on the negative, it’s rather miraculous that we got the twenty years of artistic achievements out of Elvis that we did. In the beginning, the Colonel did quite a bit of good for Elvis’s career and finances. It’s not the Colonel’s fault Elvis spent money like water. At the end, perhaps they could have brought in some sort of Allen Klein or Eugene Landy figure to try to make the trains run on time, but, again, the fundamental trajectory of the story was never going to change.
     
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  10. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    One of the most brilliant posts that I have ever read on this fine forum, and merely highlighted by me for emphasis. Every Elvis fan in the world should get an opportunity to read this post.
     
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  11. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Not true. Elvis did tell Parker he wanted to do it; Parker sabotaged the deal, by making excessive financial demands. If Elvis did not want to do the film, he never would have had Parker instruct William Morris engage in negotiations with Streisand and Peters (unless you believe Tom Parker's assertion that he did that song and dance to get Elvis out of the film pursuant to Elvis' instructions, rather than just simply decline the offer). There was no way Parker was going to let Elvis do that movie. When Elvis saw the deal breaking down and knew the opportunity was slipping away, he played the defense mechanism card and talked himself out of it. Now, we can all debate and speculate whether Elvis was capable of meeting the demands of such a project in 1975/1976 due to his drug abuse, but the fact of the matter is that Elvis had spent a couple of years in a professional and personal unproductive pattern, and the challenge and opportunity to star in a major motion picture outside of the B-level lightweight comedy formula that defined most of his 1960's film output could have been career and life-altering.
     
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  12. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Tom Parker certainly generated a lot of income for Elvis, especially in the 1950's and early 1960's, but the argument can be made that he did not necessarily do a lot of good with respect to Elvis' overall finances because he was very much against Elvis taking advantage of financial opportunities and investments that would have saved him from paying an enormous sum in taxes. Elvis never had a legitimate business manager for those needs, and it was another instance where he and his father relied on Tom Parker. Was that Elvis' fault? Theoretically yes, but he was unsophisticated and his father had an 8th grade level education, so it is not unreasonable that they would rely on the guidance of Tom Parker in that instance.
     
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  13. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I have to agree with your analysis regarding Elvis's initial enthusiasm for making A Star Is Born with Streisand. Everything I have ever read supports your statements above and for years I believed that this opportunity might have reignited Elvis's creative justices to some degree and snap him out of his slumber, but after seeing that dreadful movie, I am not so sure it would have worked out as well for Elvis. Now, if Elvis had lived long enough to make the version with lady Gaga, that might have been a whole other story. Now, obviously Elvis would have been too old to make the project with Gaga, but what I am referencing here is the overall quality of the effort. I enjoyed the Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga remake of A Star Is Born, but I found the Streisand/Kristofferson remake to be absolutely dreadful and quite depressing.
     
  14. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    It is important to remember that it wasn't viewed as a dreadful film in 1976; it was the second highest grossing film of the year, generating over $80 million (in 1976/1977 dollars), and it won a Grammy and Oscar. We can debate the artistic merits of the film all day long (well, actually it would only take a few minutes), but the point is Elvis would have been associated with an enormously successful, mainstream film and soundtrack project. That would have been a good thing. It was a lost opportunity, and it is telling that after its release, Elvis was dead within a year.
     
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  15. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    It was unconscionable and unethical (as were other aspects of Parker's self-dealing and deceitful practices), which was confirmed by the Tennessee court when they had Parker removed from managing the estate on Lisa Marie's behalf in the early 1980's. Yes, Elvis agreed to that commission fee, but that doesn't mean it was ethical or would have withstood legal challenges. And then of course, there are all of Parker's self-dealing side-deals and his majority stake in Boxcar. He fleeced Elvis in ways unseen before and after. No one can "agree" to be taken advantage of in that way, and it is unlikely that "Elvis agreed to it" would have been a viable defense.

    One of Elvis' greatest mistakes was not countering Parker's alleged $2 million demand for unpaid fees during the two-day firing in September 1973 -- if Elvis had hired an entertainment attorney, the bluff would have been called, and Parker likely would have backed down, or accepted a considerably lower payout to avoid an accounting of his books. But Elvis did not call Ed Hookstratten or anyone else, he conferred with his uneducated father and a few members of the Memphis Mafia (who also were limited with what they could advise), and because he was uninformed and fearful, he begrudgingly "rehired" Parker and his career continued to deteriorate for the next four years.
     
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  16. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    The project would have clearly motivated Elvis to some degree, probably inspiring him to lose some weight and work hard on the script and music. He would have been matched up with one of the biggest female stars on the planet and we all know how Ann Margret got his motor running, although I think that the chemistry with Barbara would have been of an entirely different nature, it still could have been very intriguing. As you stated so well, "It was a lost opportunity," to say the very least.
     
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  17. Ken K

    Ken K Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sayreville, NJ USA
    This was the main reason Eddy Arnold dismissed Parker. Once, Eddy told Parker to get a hobby. Parker responded, "Eddy, you're my hobby". If only Elvis could bring himself to dismiss Parker, who knows what else might have been accomplished and how much longer Elvis might have been around.
     
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  18. Ken K

    Ken K Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sayreville, NJ USA
    I received my set a couple of weeks ago, but haven't listened to it yet either, and probably won't have a chance until later this coming week. Let us know the sound/mix differences and improvements.
     
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  19. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    How can you accomplish more than the greatest body of work, stretching well into the 1970s, that any 50s rocker ever produced?

    What more do people want from Elvis? “He should have done more” ignores what he did do.
     
  20. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    I disagree. It simply states that he should have done more. It doesn't discount the great work he did produce.
     
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  21. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    The 70s A Star Is Born is one of the five or so worst films I have ever seen in my lifetime. I was forced to watch it in its entirety fairly recently, because my wife wanted to watch it on TV after we saw the Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga remake in the theatre. For all of the criticism of Elvis’s acting chops, I suspect he could have done a better job portraying a burned out rocker than did Kris Kristofferson, if only by showing up and simply being himself circa 1974/75. Kristofferson’s performance is beyond parody and beyond belief. Even if Elvis had gotten into fighting shape and delivered the performance of his lifetime, the film was never going to be anything but a horrific Valentine from Babs to her inflated ego, and I say it was for the best that Elvis did not take part in it.
     
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  22. Scott6

    Scott6 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    A mate of mine claims Elvis was originally offered the part of Han Solo in Star Wars but the Colonel turned that down as well. The Colonel had no right turning down major movie roles without discussing with Elvis first.
     
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  23. When In Rome

    When In Rome It's far from being all over...

    Location:
    UK
    Never heard that one before. Imagine Elvis would've been a bit old myself...
    But still...
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  24. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    That never happened.
     
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  25. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I have enjoyed everybody's input and speculation regarding A Star Is Born, and while I do think it would have at the very least temporarily jump started Elvis's movie career, I am not a fan of the Barbara/Kristofferson version of this movie incarnation. I am also reminded of what songwriter Paul Williams said about working with Barbara Streisand was like on the Academy Award winning song; “Writing a song with Barbra is like having an intimate picnic on an airport runway.” I am not sure how her personality and assertiveness would have mixed with Elvis's personality on that project, but I have a strong feeling it might have ended up very well, Lol.
     
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