Elvis Presley - Songs about Elvis?

Thought about this as a thread while watching Dire Straits do "Calling Elvis" on a DVD.

Has there ever been a compilation cd of songs about Elvis? Not an Elvis Tribute album, where people perform his songs, but just songs that reference him.

If there is a cd, what was on it?

All inputs welcome, even jibes at Elvis in song are not necessarily thread craps.

I'll start with an easy one : "My Boy Elvis" by Janis Martin.

 

Mojo Nixon's song: Elvis Is Everywhere

 

Anton Barbeau-"Black and White Elvis"
Fairfield Parlour-"Dear Elvis Presley"

 

"The King Is Gone" by Ronnie McDowell
"Walking In Memphis" by Mark Cohn

 

I think Gillian Welch's "Elvis Presely Blues" from Time (The Revelator) is excellent.

 

In the late 70's, after Elvis's death, I was reading a book that listed all the punk/new wave singles of the last couple of years, and there were a lot of anti-Elvis songs. Punk seemed to thrive on negativity. I remember seeing Randy Newman on Merv Griffin (I think that was the show) at the time, and he was upset because his son's band was doing a song about how much they hated Ted Knight.

The most famous Anti-Elvis song was "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy.

"Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant @%$& to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Mother@%$# him and John Wayne."
- Public Enemy, "Fight the Power"

 

I came across one track on a British LP that dealt with "There's a chap down at the Fish and Chip store who thinks he's Elvis" but I'm not sure of the title, and don't remember the artist? Anyone know it?

"We Remember the King" by Carl Perkins / Jerry Lee Lewis / Roy Orbison / Johnny Cash on a cd called Class of '55.

 

Yep - that would be Kirsty MacColl's "There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis".

 

Elvis On Velvet - Stray Cats

 

"Johnny Bye Bye" - Bruce Springsteen and Chuck Berry

She drew out all her money from the Southern Trust
And put her little boy on a Greyhound bus
Leaving Memphis with a guitar in his hand
On a one-way ticket to the promised land
Hey little girl with the red dress on
There's a party tonight down in Memphis town
I'll be going down there if you need a ride
The man on the radio says Elvis Presley's died

We drove down into Memphis, the sky was hard and black
Up over the ridge came a white Cadillac
They'd drawn out all his money and they laid him in the back
A woman cried from the roadside "Ah he's gone, he's gone"
They found him slumped up against the drain
With a whole lot of trouble running through his veins
Bye-bye Johnny
Johnny bye-bye
You didn't have to die
You didn't have to die

 

Thanks, can't recall if it was a really good song, but I certainly like Kirsty.

Lot's of cool info coming up here; I didn't know Bruce Springsteen had sung with Chuck Berry.

 

Bruce didn'ts sing with Chuck, Bruce just gave Berry a songwriting co-credit for pinching some lyrics from him. Bruce has typcially been open and generous in these cases...he similarly co-credited Sonny Boy Williamson on "Cross My Heart". (Bruce was sixteen when Sonny Boy died, the song definitely wasn't collaborative.)

 

Thanks for the clarification, I knew he'd worked with Roy Orbison and Gary US Bonds. Of course, he'd kinda hav to give Chuck some credit, or get sued

Another Elvis song "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles.

 

Canadian punk band Forgotten Rebels "Elvis is Dead". I will not quote the lyrics as I want to remain a member of this fine forum. Needless to say it was not complimentary.

 

Waylon Jennings cut a track with Don Was called "Nobody Knows (I'm Elvis)" that fits the bill here well. It was on his 1994 release "Waymore's Blues, Part 2". Clever wordplay, and a great rockin' tune!

Artist: Waylon Jennings
Song: Nobody Knows
Verse 1:
Well I nearly got caught at a Burger King
And a couple of times on a plane
I thought I was safe from detection
With all of the weight I had gained
But walking around in a jumpsuit
That didn't work worth a damn
So I bought me some Levis and grew me a beard
And you'll never guess who I am

Chorus:
Nobody knows I'm Elvis
Nobody knows this is me
After all of my tries...I've got
The perfect disguise
And I'm who I want to be
Nobody knows I'm Elvis
Nobody knows this is me

Verse 2:
Bet you thought I was ol'Waylon
With all of my rugged good looks
Swagger and walk,body and soul
I bet he had what it took
I've always envied his singing
The way he played a guitar
Black vest and hat,that's where it's at
That's what I call a star
Chorus.

Bridge:
I want to show you Graceland,baby
That's where you ought to be
I'll give you a call...but let's keep it all
Somewhere between you and me

Chorus.

 

Good one! I owned that disk once, and had forgotten about it.

BTW, I was thinking, looking at The Class of '55, that I don't know who Waymore is, figured he must be Farout's brother?

 

My favorite Elvis tribute is "King's Call" by Phil Lynott, with guest guitar by Mark Knopfler. Great great song!

It was a rainy night the night the king went down
Everybody was crying it seemed like sadness had surrounded the town
Me I went to the liquor store
And I bought a bottle of wine and a bottle of gin
I played his records all night
Drinking with a close, close friend

Now some people say that that ain't right
And some people say nothing at all
But even in the darkest of night
You can always hear the king's call
You can always hear the king's call

Well they put him away in Memphis
Six feet beneath the clay
Everybody was crying
Everybody said it was a plain grey day

Me I went to the liquor store
And I bought another bottle of wine and another bottle of gin
I played his records all night
And I got drunk all over again

I wonder if you're lonesome tonight
And I'd rather go on hearing your lies
Than to go on living without you

Now some people say that that ain't right
And some people say nothing at all I say nothing
But even in the darkest of night
You could always hear the king's call
You could always hear the king's call
You could always hear the king's call
Now the stage is bare and I'm standing here
They might as well bring the curtain down
I cried the night the king died



Living Colour also recorded a song titled "Elvis Is Dead."

 

I recall hearing that Legend In Your Own Time by Carly Simon was about Elvis Presley.

 

Black Velvet - Alannah Miles

 

Two more

"Riding With The King" --- John Hiatt

"Back to Tupulo" ----- Mark Knofler, Shangra-La


But I miss my copy of Mojo Nixon's "Elvis Is Everywhere"

 

Fight The Power is not an anti-Elvis song per se, even Chuck D. has acknowledged this. Rather, the songs points out how African-Americans are forced to live in an America where a parade of white heroes (Elvis, John Wayne etc.) are worshipped as worthy African-Americans go without recognition.

The racist remark of the lyrics was unfortunately born out of an urban legend that supposedly had Elvis saying "The only thing black people can do for me is shine my shoes and buy my music" which is totally false (see http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/presley1.asp).

Regardless, the song certainly is one of the most powerful statements in the history of rock/rap.

 

Elvis Presley and America - U2
Elvis Ate America - Passengers

 

GuyDon "Alannah Miles"

Had to check that out. Seems it is Myles

 

An understatement

Thanks to GuyDon, for the clarification of the Public Enemy story.

 

An early Clash B-Side called "1977" had the lyrics "No Elvis, Beatles, or The Rolling Stones, in 1977."