Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

"Spinout"

Picture sleeve for the U.S. vinyl single, with "All That I Am" in smaller font
Written By :
Ben Weisman, Dolores Fuller & Sid Wayne

Recorded :
Radio Recorders, Hollywood, February 16-17, 1966 : February 17, 1966

Single by Elvis Presley
from the album Spinout
A-side "All That I Am" (released as B-side in some editions and/or countries)
Released September 13, 1966
Format 7" single
Genre Rock and roll
Length 2:32

"Spinout" is a song first recorded by Elvis Presley as part of the soundtrack for his 1966 motion picture Spinout. In 1966 it was released on a single with "All That I Am", another song from the same movie, on the opposite side.[1] It peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100[2] but would continue to sell over 400,000 copies.[2] ("All That I Am" also charted, peaking at number 41.)[3]

John Floyd, the author of the book Sun Records: An Oral History, considers "Spinout" a great song, naming it along other great songs from "Presley's seriously underrated sixties and seventies work": "Can't Help Falling in Love", "You Don't Know Me", "Long Black Limousine", "Suspicious Minds", and "I Can Help".[4]

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I tend to agree with this John Floyd Character here. I reckon this is a really good track.
It is interesting that someone compared this soundtrack/movie to Viva Las Vegas, because listening to this, this morning, it brought that movie to mind. There is a lightness and fun about most of this soundtrack that reminds me of Viva Las Vegas.
So far I am enjoying this soundtrack a lot, and am considering this is one of the soundtracks I might get the FTD for. The soundtracks are the only ones that aren't instant additions for me. I have all the regular albums releases and some of the concert albums, but the soundtracks don't sit in the same place for me .... but that's another story.

 

Smorgasbord
Written By :
Roy C. Bennett & Sid Tepper

Recorded :
Radio Recorders, Hollywood, February 16-17, 1966 : February 16, 1966. take 7

This track isn't too bad, but it is a bit of a cringey lyric lol
It's nice to have this album with a little more of a rock and roll feel. It seems predominantly the movie relevant lyrics that detract here.

 

Nothing wrong with either Spinout or Smorgasbord. (or I'll Be Back).

 

Spinout is decent enough, but I can't help but feel that it doesn't quite reach its potential. Elvis doesn't sing well enough to fully compensate for the lack of a memorable melody, and overall, the performance doesn't have as much punch as it should. I'm also not really a fan of the arrangement. The organ, in particular, feels weak to me. I'd have liked to hear the song recast as one of the production numbers for the Comeback Special; just as Let Yourself Go was transformed into something truly wonderful, I think Spinout could have benefited from a more robust, aggressive arrangement and vocal.

I much prefer Smorgasbord, mainly because it has one of the best hooks on the album. It also helps that the sax gives it some colour (Spinout, by comparison, feels monochromatic). Elvis could have sung it better, but overall, I think it's one of the better Spinout tracks.

 

Smorgasbord.... Just the title alone gives an idea of the quality. Incidentally, it was the first song recorded for these sessions

 

I seem to remember finding the outtakes more enjoyable than the master.

 

'Spinout' needs to be heard and seen for full appreciation:



I was surprised they left in his voice cracking at app. 2:00, might have been intentional I guess.

 

Yes that sounds about right to me. I was thinking that the chart reveal on the newspaper happened on a Tuesday, which would have been the day of his death, so obviously its number one placement was not based on any sales that occurred after his death as you point out. I think what a lot of people do remember is Way Down's peak on the Hot 100 chart was influenced by his death as it regained a bullet on Billboard and reached a new high peak of 18 following his death, but nevertheless, as far as country radio was concerned, Elvis was now a juggernaut at the country format, having placed two double sided hits and four songs in the number one position in less than two years and both singles were from the same album, Moody Blue. There were also more country music stations than any other format in the U.S. at this time, which remains so to this day as well.

 

I am pretty much with your sentiments on everything you say here. As someone who usually avoided most of the soundtracks altogether, I still do not find a lot them essential releases, but I have found several to be stronger that I ever imagined, including the notorious Harm Scarum soundtrack and now the Spinout album.

I like both Spinout and Smorgasbord well enough, although I do agree with Dirk that the organ is a little cheesy and sounds a little dated to my ears. I am really not a big fan of organs in general until the more modern sounding Hammond B-3's came along later. They have a way hipper sound to my ears. I also like the fact that this album does have some light rockers as well. Despite the fact that I love Elvis as the ballad singer, I still really love his up tempo recordings too. In fact, I wish Felton Jarvis or his song publishers had found Elvis more quality upbeat material like Burning Love, T-R-O-U-B-L-E, For The Heart, and Way Down later in his career. Why? Because he sang those country rockers so damn well!

 

I like Spinout (the song). I agree that Elvis doesn't sing as well as he could, but I think that's true of pretty much every soundtrack song from the 1965-66 era, as will become abundantly clear when we reach the bonus tracks. There's something "off" about his soundtrack singing from this era. My guess is lack of effort/enthusiasm showing in his work. Still, the title song is an okay little rocker, and as I said earlier I'd rather hear him sing mediocre rockers than mediocre show tunes or exotica.

Not surprisingly, I disagree with you about Smorgasbord. Sometimes the silly movie songs don't bother me (or I even enjoy them a bit). But all three of them on here (Never Say Yes, Beach Shack, Smorgasbord) really annoy me.

 

First thing I heard this morning and it has been stuck in my head all day.

And, that little voice crack is intentional. He does it twice in the song at that same turnaround.

 

I have to listen closer, but I think it's there twice as the song is 'looped'?

 

I agree that one could level the same criticism of Elvis' singing to most of the other soundtrack recordings from the time, but I guess it doesn't bother me as much because I can forgive performance deficiencies in pop music as long as I enjoy the melodies. Conversely, I'm not really interested in rock songs unless the performances are strong. Our preferences are pretty much opposite in this respect; assuming equal performance quality, I'd much rather hear Elvis (or anyone) sing a mediocre show tune or pop song than hear him sing a mediocre rocker.

 

Same for me here: i prefer a little rocker ala Bo Didley, for example, over another belting of You Gave Me A Mountain or It's Over.

 

I'll Be Back
Written By :
Ben Weisman & Sid Wayne

Recorded :
Radio Recorders, Hollywood, February 16-17, 1966 : February 17, 1966. take 1

I like this track, and I think it winds up the soundtrack section of the album well.
For me this is a good soundtrack album, and miles ahead of the last three.
We start with some boisterous guitar and a steady driving rock and roll beat. They aren't the most mind blowing lyrics, but this is a rock and roll song.

 

Tomorrow Is A Long Time
Written By :
Bob Dylan

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, May 25-29, 1966: May 26, 1966. take 3

Elvis Presley recorded the song on May 26, 1966 during a session for his album How Great Thou Art. The song originally appeared as a bonus track on the album Spinout. Dylan once said that Presley's cover of the song was "the one recording I treasure the most"[4] and that this was his favorite cover of any of his songs.[5]

According to Ernst Jorgensen's' book Elvis Presley: A Life In Music - The Complete Recording Sessions, Presley first heard the song via Charlie McCoy, who had previously participated in the Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde sessions. McCoy played the 1965 Odetta album Odetta Sings Dylan before an Elvis session and Presley "had become taken with 'Tomorrow Is A Long Time.'"

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This song is a treasure. I am a big fan of Dylan, yet I have never heard his version to be honest, and feel no need to.
We have a kind of country/blues going on here and the stripped back instrumental leaves plenty of space for Elvis and his vocals to take the front and center position. This must be one of Elvis' longest track sup to this point I have to assume, as most tracks from the fifties and sixties normally clock in at 1:30 - 2:30.
We get that nice bent string riff played in standard style on a dobro, or so it sounds to me. The song rolls along with a few lead licks from the dobro and the other acoustic just sways along with the bass and trap set keeping the sway moving along.
This track is simple, but in such a way as to draw attention to all the right things. Great track!

 

Tomorrow Is A Long Time is without any doubt the highlight of a rather mediocre soundtrack. I love too that Folk Blues feel and I wish Elvis had made a studio session with Dylan in the early 70s.
By the way, Presley would record a second Dylan tune in May 1971: Don't Think Twice, It's All Right. A rather dull and too short version would be published on the 1973 "Fool" album but, twenty years later, Ernst Jorgensen would edit a very nice 4 minuites version (that includes two accoustic guitar solos) with, again, that Country Folk / Blues feeling.

 

I'll Be Back is a solid little number. Nothing remarkable, but I enjoy it.

Elvis' version of Tomorrow Is A Long Time is nice to have, particularly as it sounds like nothing else in his canon, but I'm afraid that, for me, it pales next to Sandy Denny's interpretation (and to Dylan's shouty 1978 rehearsal version, for that matter). I just don't get any emotional hit off of Elvis' version, whereas Sandy absolutely nails the lyric:

 

Also, around the same time as he recorded Tomorrow Is A Long Time, Elvis made a home recording of Blowin’ In The Wind that I find very interesting.

 

Blowin' In The Wind is by far my favourite of Elvis' Dylan covers. On one hand I wish he'd cut a studio version, and on the other, I don't know if he could have recaptured the mysterious magic of the home recording.

 

I agree, but I wonder how much better this song would have sounded had it been recorded by Bill Porter for the Elvis Is Back! album. Imagine a little guitar figure by Hank Garland and a touch more reverb on Elvis's voice on the track (My apologies to @SKATTERBRANE). Elvis's voice surely could stand a little more grit on in it as well. I think he really liked this song, but the tone of his voice does not really show it. I still think it is a decent effort all around. Just imagine what it could have sounded like with the above additions.

Ah, exactly the way I would express it, and I usually love to check out the original songwriter/artist version of an Elvis cover, but there is simply no need to here, because how do you compare any other effort or interpretation with sheer perfection. Elvis sings this gorgeously written song with the same commitment and passion that he would bring to You Don't Know Me and In The Ghetto during the next few years. The modulation on Elvis's voice, the instrumentation and his great use of his lower range is just a fantastic combination. We have all talked previously about whether this cut should have been released as a single and what difference it might have made on the trajectory of Elvis's career, but as @PacificOceanBlue correctly pointed out in another post, his label buried this song and the other splendid cuts on the backside of another decent by my ears, but irrevalent soundtrack recording. Go figure.

 

“DTT,IAR” really was an unrealized recording. Elvis and the band started jamming to it, but it had little form and Elvis was not armed with the complete lyrics. There are moments of inspiration and Ernst’s 4 minute edit brings together a relatively spirited version. Still, it is disappointing that Jarvis did not try to mold the loose jams into something arranged and complete — it was a list opportunity. The same thing can be said for Elvis’ impromptu “I Shall Be Released” from the same session.

 

I really like Elvis’ version of Tomorrow Is A Long Time. In hindsight a lot of people wish it wasn’t buried on a soundtrack. And while I certainly wish it was more prominent, I think folks tend to forget everyone was doing Dylan covers back then, and it wasn’t a particularly big deal to have done a Dylan cover. Heck, even Sebastian Cabot did a whole album of Dylan covers.

 

I'll Be Back is another blues pastiche by Weissman and Wayne (who wrote Hard Luck on F&J). Again it's gratifying to hear Elvis do something bluesy, but the song itself is nothing special, and is let down by the poor mixing.

The contrast between hearing this and then Tomorrow is A Long Time back to back is huge. Elvis sounds almost like a different singer.... There's a feeling of soul that has been missing from all the recent soundtrack work, a sense of emotion and genuineness.

Like all the tracks from the May 66 session, Elvis hews very closely to the earlier version he's familiar with (in this case the Odetta version). There little creativity in the arrangement, he treats Odetta's version like a demo. But it's such a pleasure to hear him singing with real feeling again.