Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

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

  1. Hooperfan

    Hooperfan Your friendly neighborhood candy store owner

    Location:
    New York
    In the video footage of "And I Love You So", Elvis really struggles on the low notes. He sounds off pitch on the line, "The day you took my hand"... He obviously notices this because he is kinda half laughing at how off it is. Somehow on the official release it sounds better
     
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  2. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    As we move on to the posthumous releases, which are ALL compilations one way or another (except for the straight reissues of course) I am hoping we drift away from Elvis' career, life, drugs, and the like. And spend more time on the faults and virtues of the releases themselves. I hope we emphasize the ALBUMS and comment on the new material, such as alternate takes or even a few new songs here and there. Maybe talk about sound quality, packaging, sales. I like talking about the LP or CD itself. But that is just my preference. After all from here on out Elvis is not recording in the studio or live on stage from here on out. (I have appeared dead before, but........) So NONE of the releases after EIC did Elvis have any say. It is all on RCA/BMG/Sony's shoulders now.
     
  3. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    For sure
    I'm just laying down the road, you guys drive on it as suits you best
     
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  4. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I agree. But then, I have little interest in biographical discussions anyway. It's all about the music and the releases for me.
     
  5. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Of course this would ultimately deprive some members who seem to rely on using Elvis's drug problems as a sort of general battering ram against some of Elvis later 70's music that they simply don't like on its own merits. I mean, how many of these same people would have taking a strong liking to Elvis's versions of Padre, Rags To Riches, My Boy, It's Midnight, Solitaire, It's Easy For You or Unchained Melody, even if Elvis was as drug free as Mother Teresa, when he actually recorded them?
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2019
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  6. Dave112

    Dave112 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Carolina

    "Smart aleck!" Lol
     
  7. Dave112

    Dave112 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Carolina
    I agree with czeskleba that if EIC had not been controversial and was regarded highly like Aloha, they probably would have found a way to cram EIC into the album collection. They were "saved by the bell" of it being a posthumous release so they didn't have to go there.
     
  8. Dave112

    Dave112 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Carolina
    I'm a huge 1970s Elvis fan but I can see some of the criticism of the recordings. Even though I like Elvis to the last note of EIC, I have to admit that the drugs noticeably colored/hindered his performances for the last four years of his life.
    My wife and I are DJs part time and both of us love to hear all kinds of music. One thing that I've learned doing DJ gigs is that people will say that they like an artist but I have to make sure that they clarify what they like about an artist. We've DJ'd the get togethers that aren't high school reunions and the host might tell me "oh yeah, I love Elvis! Play lots of his stuff!". I will ask for examples. Almost without fail, I will get the tracklist to Golden Records Vol 1 with maybe Blue Suede Shoes,That's All Right, and Shake Rattle and Roll thrown in. They have made it clear that they want pre-army Elvis greatest hits. I can tell from experience that they will not appreciate even 1969 American Studio stuff much less the later recordings. They may even say play lots of CCR, Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen but usually they want the greatest hits and no deep cuts, no matter how cool they might be. I want the host to have a good time so I withhold my hoard of ultra cool songs that they have no idea would be better. Lol. ( I still pepper a few "gems" in our pre-show set list. I have had many people of all ages come over and ask me or my wife about a song that we played. That always makes our day!) The thing I love about Mark's thread(s) is that everyone here is a fan of most of Elvis' music. When someone is critical of a performance, I will do my best to look at it from their argument. Usually, I wil still disagree. I must say that DirkM has definitely given me a greater appreciation of the soundtrack songs for example. Since coming to these threads, I have a whole new appreciation for Elvis' recordings. Even the criticisms point out things that I overlooked or chose not to hear. PacificOceanBlue, for example, has written some great opinions that run counter to my view. It's like hearing these often played songs with different ears many times. It's all been enlightening!
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2019
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  9. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    That's one of the things I have enjoyed most also. I always find it remarkable how wide and varied most people's opinions are on most artists.
    With this thread I have really enjoyed the fact that for the most part we have all been able to talk about this stuff without getting that annoying personally hurt that someone disagrees
     
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  10. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Little Sister
    This is a serviceable version of the song. Elvis does sound not quite right in a couple of spots, but if I didn't know the history, I feel it wouldn't be as obvious. This is another track that I have no problem with on here.

     
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  11. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Early Morning Rain
    This is one of those tracks in a live scenario that really interests me. It isn't an uptempo rock song and in isn't a big ballad.... it is a smooth and easy going ballad. It is slightly disappointing that this version is so short. I don't think there's anything wrong with this version at all, except its brevity.





















     
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  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    What'd I Say
    The start of this is a little unusual, and it goes for just two lines or something. I can hear that someone would say that Elvis is out of breath, but it seems like he is kind of just goofing on this song. Telling someone to sit down, missing the first lines ... again if not for our knowledge of the behind the scenes goings on ... I'm pretty sure most folks would just think that Elvis was having a goof around again...... That's one of the things I like about Elvis' live shows, he never seemed to take himself too seriously .... and it sort of helps to humanise him.
    I don't think this is a highlight of the show or anything. I actually find the super-shortening of the songs a little irritating, but in the guise it is, it is acceptable.

     
  13. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Johnny B Goode
    This is another extra truncated version of a song. Elvis has a slight rhythmic flaw in part of the verse, but for the most part the only thing wrong with this is the extra truncated version .... for me at least.

     
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  14. Daven23

    Daven23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hyde Park NY USA
    Early Morning Rain, Whatd I Say and Johnny B Goode are versions that Elvis and his band played during band introductions. That’s why they are so short and goofed around. Jarvis edited the intro parts out to make it just the songs, which I quite like that they edited out some of the bloat. But that explains the shortness of the songs
     
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  15. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    And I Love You So
    This, as someone has said, is such a strange track to end on. I don't think this is terrible, though the low end vocal is a little out of his range here in the first verse. For the most part this is also acceptable.


     
  16. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Cheers I didn't know that
     
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  17. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    This has been an interesting album to look at. I know it created some unnecessary side roads, but even those have been interesting to me to some degree.

    I really don't hate this album. Except for a couple of minor sidelines, which are mainly the same sideline problems with most Elvis live albums of the seventies, I think this is a decent album, that doesn't really deserve as much maligning as it gets. Sure Hound Dog is a waste of space on the show and the album, but he seemed to feel he needed to do that.... and for me Hound Dog generally was generally stuck in there, almost against everyone's will or something.

    The final side of the original vinyl isn't awful, but a little ponderous. If I was editing this together, I wouldn't have put those tracks as close out tracks. To me the needed to be assembled as somewhat medleys in the middle somewhere. Being such truncated numbers, they hardly give the show a crescendo feel on vinyl, they somewhat leave the listener thinking "wow, he couldn't wait to get out of there",,, with the effect that coming in at the end seems like he is rushing to squeeze in some song so he can leave.

    I don't particularly have a problem with And I Love You So, I just think it really doesn't need to end the album. All I can assume is the Jarvis didn't want to end yet another live album with Can't Help Falling In Love .... but it is a live album, and that's what Elvis Always did.....

    Maybe one day I will watch the whole video, but I do personally find it a little painful to watch, mainly due to the fact that I know what is going on with Elvis, and because I know what is going on, I can see why he is going to die .... That would make me uncomfortable if it was Paul Doolittle from number 5 to be honest.... It is just a reminder of such futile waste.

    To some degree as fans I think we, or at least I, am/are a little defensive about this album due to the fact that Elvis was unfairly maligned ever since most of us can ever remember, and to some degree this album has become the scapegoat for that. Certainly we can hear the shortcomings, but I don't think it is terrible.

    I guess it comes down to a human nature thing. People like to cut down the tall poppys because it makes them feel better about themselves in their own meager little lives, but this isn't really as shameful of an album as some feel, from what I here. It has some poor sequencing , but frankly sequencing seems like it is just an impossible thing for RCA or Felton or whoever to actually get ... most of his albums seem to suffer from a complete lack of understanding about album flow ....

    It is sad to some degree that one of the greatest ever singers is reduced to a mediocre album to finish his career, but to be honest, I somewhat blame Parker,
    Management, CBS and RCA. Stay with me for a minute here .... If this was just being released now, as the long lost final concert recording of Elvis Presley. If it didn't have that awful thing of being the blockbuster immediately post-death tv special stupidity attached to it ... even with all its flaws, I reckon we would be glad to have this as a final document, down the track......
    The fact that is became one of the biggest broadcasts of the year or whatever, because Elvis had just died, and the leaches used it to suck some extra cash out of the faithful, to draw the attention of the interested onlooker ... isn't the fault of the concert, it is the fault of greedy and undiscerning management types.

    The sad thing is that all the curious Johnny's that tuned in because they knew of, but didn't really know Elvis, were left with the opinion that this guy really wasn't as good as people always said, and frankly he just wasn't their cup of tea .... So really Elvis management did a disservice to those people and Elvis' memory, but rushing this onto the tv to be the biggest tv concert goodbye ever. Doing more damage than good, and permanently scarring a wonderful legacy, for a few dollars more.
     
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  18. MarkTheShark

    MarkTheShark Senior Member

    Wow, this is one of my absolute favorite Elvis songs and I had no memory whatsoever of it being on this album. My parents gave me EIC for Christmas that year. It is "somewhere in storage" and I think I need to pick up the CD while I still can.
     
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  19. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    It is a great song ... I always Enjoyed the live version with Robert Plant and Rockpile also. It was a nice little out of the box tribute
     
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  20. ZoSoUK

    ZoSoUK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cambridge UK
    these E>I>C conversations never end well lol ! but we're all friends and adults here !!!
    ive never understood the fascination with wanting this footage released ! it must be that morbid thing humans sometimes have, just like Elvis himself used to pay visits to the morgue - tho again god knows why ???

    im with 'pacificOceanBlue ' 100%

    E.I.C is appalling ! It IS embarrassing and it has done way more damage to his reputation & legacy than "harum scarum " ever did !
    This is a man who at his absolute peak once looked like the healthiest best looking man on the planet and had the voice to match it - he has none of that here ! i know he was only human and having an understanding of addiction i dont hold that against it - i think he did better than i would have ! but he simply shouldnt have been active at that point, let alone being filmed destroying his reputation in the process!

    it is an absolute car crash of the highest order !
    its 1 thing to listen to it & i cant even do that, nor do i want to!
    seeing it play out visually - NO ONE needs that !

    its not so much hes falling apart on stage from his addiction - thats already happened, the biggest issue is he went on stage absolutely out of his tree, he is stoned to the highest degree ! hes dressed in the worst outfit in his wardrobe, he had some wonderful 2 piece suits that would have been much more forgiving , even the phoenix suit would have worked better - he looked crap in that suit in 74 ! he may aswell borrowed an outfit of Elton John !

    hes huge and bloated and he couldnt have looked more screwed up and unhealthy if it was a scripted movie , his voice is all but gone, and hes also an emotional depressed mess ! the only place he should have been was in a clinic!

    its equivalent to jim morrison going on stage in miami after 3 bottles of brandy, that was equally a disaster and pretty much destroyed their career!

    elvis never should have been on stage in that condition and no one should have been rolling film ! its despicable , where were the ethics in his world ! ???? EVERYTHING was always simply about money ! their are far more important things than money, self respect being the biggest ! ethics & morals & respect another !

    ive already mentioned my own addiction battles and i really dont mean to make this about me BUT what i can tell you is back in those days when i was wasted i couldnt even face myself in the mirror, i knew i was a huge mess -
    i didnt & couldnt face that reflection and i certainly didnt allow or encourage photos or film BUT predictably being the Iphone age there would end up being film & pics & i always made sure they we're deleted and actually they we're generally fun moments cos i could be pretty funny - but all i could see was me "f***ed up" & knee deep in trouble ! i saw shame & embarrassment , not humour & good times!
    i would have been mortified by 1000's of people witnessing it and it being broadcast on TV & filmed for eternity ! i imagine elvis would have too, had he had any clarity!

    im pretty sure HAD he lived , a cleaned up, clear headed elvis he would have been extremely embarrassed by it and would have made sure it was never revealed to the public - tho i assume he signed a contract that would have left him with no control but im sure he would have hated it!

    there are hours of out-takes from TTWII including the stunning "little sister " and hours from " on tour " - that is the footage we should be desiring ! the CBS footage should have been thrown on fire and erased from history

    as a fan, you/we can be very forgiving and even become blind to certain things !
    many many people think he already looks washed up & a mess in aloha - yet hes lean & in great voice when he WANTS to be ! but his eyes speak volumes !

    you dont think its embarrassing ? i tried to get my last GF to see the genius of our man - she was french (feel free to hold that against her lol) and 35, highly educated with a doctorate in chemistry (not that its relevant) -

    i showed her "one night " from the 68 comeback and she shrugged & said " its alright but i cant see the appeal " - how can ANYONE not see the brilliance of that performance but plenty of people DONT !!

    i persevered : " i just cant help believing " (i just couldnt help believing she didnt get it and this time the girl wasnt gonna stay lol) and on & on !

    nothing worked ! zero appeal - she thought it all sounded just really dated ! i wouldnt have dreamed off showing her 1 second from E.I.C & i would never ever show it to anyone else either !

    a previous G/F - the 1 i was with during my alcoholic period - she fortunately DID take to elvis, very much so & i subjected her to " on tour " way too many times but she used to pretty much cry at " ALOHA " & felt real sorry for him !
    i made sure she didnt even know E.I.C existed tho even tho she never judged him !

    i dont actually give a crap about the younger generations or what they think of Elvis etc but ive mentioned im at university - im surrounded by late teens & early 20's !

    to really put things in perspective, they consider "oasis" old hat - i was recently playing some "KASABIAN" loud - most people in this thread are probably not even aware who they are but they are a current band, albeit one thats been around since about 2003 and people we're saying "stop playing this old **** man, play some new stuff " !!!!! - what the hell do you think they would think to elvis ???

    let me repeat i dont care about opinions of teens who are all a bunch of dumb sheep anyway ! however dont think putting elvis in concert out in hi def is gonna do him any favours ! to anyone who is not really already a fan - 90% of elvis catalogue is just not going to appeal at all! but then why would it ??? when i was a teen i wasnt listening to jazz from the 30's or glen millars albums & thats how they see it !

    i think whats important is not that hes a joke in the modern age to non fans but that he was the biggest star on the planet when he was living ! but lets face it, elvis was laughed at from the day he wore pink 'pants' to humes high school and that never changed ! his sales & achievements show he wasnt just a justin bieber but you will never convince people that dont get it ! its like trying to be a jehovah witness!

    bottom line is the CBS shows we're the worst career move he ever made and for all the wrong reasons - it should never be released - its a huge shame its even available to the world in any sense ! its not commendable he went ahead & struggled through it ! thats the embarrassing part - its like your totally drunk embarrassing uncle getting up at the end of a wedding & murdering 'my way' as everyone cringes - thats not commendable, he should have stayed at the bar !
     
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  21. shanebrown

    shanebrown Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    Well, it's not really a song as such - it's simply pulled out of the introductions of the band, which gives an indication of how desperate they were to fill up a second disc. In fact, they might have been better off including the entire introduction sequence on the 2nd album, as that would make this song as Johnny B and Early Morning Rain be within their proper context. The problem with that is that I Really Don't Want to Know had already been included on disc 1 in the TV broadcast.

    Considering the amount of recordings that Felton had made during the spring tours, one has to wonder why they didn't use that material for the 2nd disc. OK, it's not that much better than the June leftovers, but it would have given more choice (especially with some overdubbing as had happened on the Moody Blue album), and fans at the time probably wouldn't have known that the recordings were from other concerts. They had, after all, tried to pass of the June 19 and 21 shows as a single show - and two songs on On Stage had been from August 1969.
     
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  22. ZoSoUK

    ZoSoUK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cambridge UK
    no you have it completely backwards - they ARE doing their jobs by keeping it locked away ! yes FTD may aswell put out an upgraded cd - afterall they put out total crap like NEW HAVEN76 ! but the footage is best on the shelf !

    what the hell is important about it ????? the only thing thats a tenuous link is that it was the last time he was ever professionally filmed but he shouldnt have been so that doesnt mean it should be put there !

    if you had viewed his dead body in graceland , would you have taken a selfie because it would be the last pic you could take off him so its important???

    i dont know what you do for a living but we all have bad days & make screw ups and /or make inferior work - would you want the absolute worst of your work made available to the whole world to represent you ????
    i can tell you as an artist that is not the M.O !!!! no artist wants to parade the worst of their work ! ONLY the BEST !!!!

    john lennon said in the 70's he would go back & re-do all the beatles hits everyone loves - not just then but still now, 50 -60 yrs later ! the stuff we all found brilliant, moving, unique etc etc - he would have wiped the slate clean & started from scratch !
    that tells you a lot & i actually get that attitude , theres hardly a photo ive ever taken that im proud off & feel i got what i wanted !
    sadly elvis had the exact opposite attitude - do you think the beatles would have done 1 take of something like "this is our dance " & said "thats good enough put that out "

    remember there was a time Elvis would do 31 takes of hound dog - so he had it once but he lost that fire & passion ! there has to be a time when you call it quits - if anyone knows about the guns n roses "Chinese Democracy" situation - that was kinda going the other way ! if an artist has no pride in their work though the results will speak for themselves & with elvis they often did !
     
  23. I do like that version of Early Morning Rain. It's a bit of an odd one to perform live (even in the context of it being used in/around band introductions) but there's a nice flow to it.

    I somehow missed the discussion on O Sole Mio / It's Now Or Never - call me crazy but I really enjoy this version. Elvis uses dynamics to good effect but it's the horns that really do it for me, completely emphasizing the musical origins of the song. I also appreciate that Elvis had the original version performed, especially throwing it on a crowd of Elvis fans.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2019
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  24. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Lets not get drawn back into that.

    We aren't talking about video, and I don't want the end of the thread to be a battle about it.

    I set up a thread for any who want to argue about that..

    Thanks
     
  25. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I made a suggestion. I would not be in favor of limiting free speech, or telling people what to say or think. However I was critical of most of Elvis post 1970 output since back in 1971. I was not even aware of his drug use until 1977. Up until then I thought Elvis NEVER took drugs! So, my opinion of his voice, song choice, style etc had NOTHING to do with his taking of drugs back then. And if his voice would have stayed in the same condition as it was in 1968-1970 IN SPITE of his drug taking, and had he not recording almost exclusively MOR and "Contemporary Country" post 1970, I would not be critical of the 70s.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2019
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