Yes, it appears this film will follow a lot of the same cliches and apparent exaggerated larger than life moments that other movies like this have followed. But here's the difference. With Elvis these moments aren't exaggerated. He was that big, that much of a craze and that revolutionary. This isn't aimed at Elvis fans, it's aimed to educate those who don't watch documentaries or watch YouTube clips but will go to the movies and then be motivated to look up the genuine article
Yeah, I’m sure it’s something like that! But Elvis did say he ‘hated’ it, whatever the reasons were: According to Gillian G. Gaar in Goldmine magazine, for one segment of the 1968 “Comeback Special,” costume designer Bill Belew originally wanted Presley to wear an all-gold suit, based on the Nudie creation. When he pitched the idea, Elvis said, “Billy, I have to be honest with you. I always hated that suit, and I won’t wear it.” After Belew dropped the gold pants in favor of black ones and showed Presley the proposed jacket fabric, Elvis said, “Fine. I’ll go with that.” The Story of Elvis Presley’s Gold Lamé Suit
That quote is so interesting because that is exactly what he did with the original gold lame suit. Elvis dropped the gold pants in favor of black slacks. Elvis knew when to take it down a notch, Lol.
A little birdie told me that Jake Rowley is the actual voice we will be hearing for the 50's era music in this movie, not Austin Butler.
According to Mr. Luhrmann in a recent interview, it is Austin Butler's own vocals in the 50's and mainly Elvis's voice blended with Butler's in the following two decades. All I hear on Suspicious Minds and Unchained Melody is Elvis's voice. I would like to think I know Elvis's voice pretty well, since I have been listening it since the 1960's, when my father use to bring home many of his 45's that he played on the airwaves when he was President and PD for powerful top 40 radio station The Mighty 690 in Southern California.
Interesting. I was under the impression that Austin Butler was cast for part no just for his acting abilities but being able to sing (which he did for the film's audition). Luhrmann has already stated that he'll be singing the 1950's material. An interview from February 17th (Memphis Commercial Appeal): Butler has spent close to three years essentially being Elvis "I didn't look at or read anything that didn't have to do with Elvis for a period of time". He participated in almost daily "voice coaching" lessons for about a year before shooting started, so he could sound as much like Elvis as possible (the film features a mix of Elvis recordings and Butler recreations). Butler also spent time in Nashville, recording with gospel singers and original Elvis session musicians. Said Butler: "I stood in the center and tears just poured down my face and I got chills down my spine and it's a glorious experience." The plot thickens when you look at Jake Rowley's Facebook page. He's photographed with Austin Butler with this photo caption: Congratulations to all involved with Baz Luhrman’s upcoming Elvis biopic. Austin Butler as Elvis Presley. Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker. We’re in for a treat this June. What a thrill this was Is it possible he was vocal coaching Austin instead of actually doing the singing?
They freely admit that Austin Butler did not do all of his own singing, and I think they're using a combination of the "real" Elvis voice and an impersonator for the singing. It sounds to me like Butler does a pretty good impersonation of Elvis' speaking voice, so I gotta give him that. Ehhhh, I don't think that's Butler's voice on that opening "WELLLLLLLLLLLLLL" at the Louisiana Hayride in the trailer. It's fair to say "it's a Hollywood movie," so everything you see and hear is carefully prepared and tweaked and modified to create a specific dramatic result for the audience. You could say it's an "illusion," no less than a great magic show.
The following article is fairly unequivocal that it's Butler singing. The film will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Elvis: Baz Luhrmann on his Elvis Presley bio-pic
This is a great quote from that article: “The life of Elvis Presley could not be a better canvas in which to explore America in the ’50s, the ′60s and the ’70s,” he said. “That 42 years [until his death in 1977] is three great lives put into a short period of time.”
Or it's possible they are lying about Butler doing the singing. Or perhaps Butler's singing has been supplemented by Rowley's, and they are trying to keep that secret.
The more I think about it, the more I am starting to believe it was a brilliant stroke by Baz to use Austin Butler's voice as the young Elvis and Elvis's actual voice for the later years. The actor gets the challenge of trying to duplicate the young Elvis singing voice, which though quite spellbinding in its early years, was not yet fully developed into the magnificent instrument it would become by 1960. Elvis himself spent the better part of his time off in Germany trying to widen his vocal range with Charlie Hodge, and it payed off in spades. Even legendary songwriter Doc Pomus has talked about the increased vocal range that Elvis brought to the table with his 1960's records. I cannot imagine anybody but Elvis trying to sing In The Ghetto, If I Can Dream, Suspicious Minds, and especially that spine-tingling version of Unchained Melody. Those are difficult songs to sing, even without trying to emulate Elvis's wide vocal compass or silky vibrato, and I am afraid any attempt would just pale in comparison to the actual voice of The King's.
Elvis's early recordings weren't multitrack, so you cannot isolate Elvis' vocals. That is why they had to come up with a solution.
Not to mention that they were nowhere near the audio quality of the later era tracks. Artificial intelligence technology to separate instruments into new tracks, like the MAL software that programmers at Park Road Post invented for the Beatles's Get Back project has improved dramatically but was probably not available to Baz Luhrmann's production company.
That article is actually an abridged version of this more in-depth article which appeared in The Memphis Commercial Appeal: 'Elvis' movie 2022: Baz Luhrmann, Austin Butler preview new biopic
I don't know why they would. Ronnie McDowell doubled Elvis on vocals in numerous projects over the years and that was never a secret. Butler is pretty good though. Still no Orion, of course
On the flipside, most of the work Marni Nixon did dubbing vocals for various actresses was kept secret, or minimized. Ego and/or the image they want to portray of the film and it's star might be reasons for concealing it.
This is a star making turn for Austin Butler, but he's not one yet, so it's not like they need to protect his fragile ego. He's currently in the "working character actor" category. Thank you so much for that. I'm reading it currently, and this was a great quote: Luhrmann said that the time he spent doing research in Elvis' longtime hometown of Memphis and in Elvis' birthplace of Tupelo helped him realize that "the number one thing about Elvis Presley's journey is that Black music and culture isn't a side note or a footnote or a bit — it's absolutely the canvas on which the story is writ. Meaning that if you take that out of the Elvis Presley story, there's no story. "I mean, he grew up in the (Black) community (in Tupelo) from the get-go," said Luhrmann, 59. "The idea of him on Beale Street, sometimes being the only white face in Club Handy... You have the civil rights movement emerging, you have him becoming a problem in terms of jumping the race line... He's a problem, it's dangerous. "And eventually, the journey of Elvis is to get back to who he really is, and who he really is is gospel music, and gospel music is spiritual. And something I've learned — and Austin didn't just learn it, he lived it — something I learned about Elvis I never knew — the number one thing is that man was spiritual, he was a spiritual being."
If an actor's ego is damaged because they can't sing exactly like Elvis Presley, they're probably not going to make it very far
In less than three full days, the trailer for the Elvis film now has over five million views. I think I've watched it at least five times myself, Lol.
