Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

Apologies for my brevity, a little unwell

 

By and By is a favorite gospel song of mine (the song in general, not necessarily Elvis' version). It's a blast to play in a band as you can really have some fun with the 'breaks'. While I like this version, I kinda wish Elvis had saved recording this one for the He Touched Me sessions as his voice would have been better-suited for it then. Probably would have had a slightly heavier arrangement then too. And this one has a fuzz guitar fer cryin' out loud

If The Lord Wasn't Walking By My Side is a great version, made all the better by the backing vocals (Ray Walker)?

 

I agree, at least with HGTA. I don't mind the reverent mood being kept throughout side 1. A few times lately I have even played my HGTA LP side 1 with the turntable set to repeat once.
I think on a rock album, I may be more inclined to want the fast songs and ballads interspersed. Maybe sometimes too many ballads in a row could get boring. Or I get restless to have the pace picked up. Side 1 of HGTA holds my interest throughout.

 

One of my favorite cuts on the whole album and the backing vocals are killer too. I like By and By well enough, but as Mark said in his earlier post, it is not nearly as good as So High.

 

No worries my friend as me and my gal both find ourselves in the same condition. Apparently, a spring head cold is going around these parts and we both caught it at the same time. May all of us have a speedy recovery.

 

Indeed ... it's better to get it at the same time .. it's a pain when you give it back and forth to each other

 

It wouldn't be Ray Walker, he was the bass singer (and it doesn't sound like him to me either). Probably Gordon Stoker.

Huh. I think "By and By" is a better track than "So High." Some really fine lyrics in there ("Temptation's hidden snares, often take us unaware, and our hearts are made to bleed by some thoughtless word or deed")... great stuff. And I love hearing a nasty fuzz guitar in a gospel song. One of the best tracks on the album.

 

One of my Pastors was always asking me to get some grunt in there with distortion lol ... I was happy to oblige ... We did a youth camp once and it was OTT I think the kids had a Jesus focused Rock concert every day, twice a day, for a week

 

I really do like all the upbeat songs on the album, but I think they picked wisely when they chose So High to lead off the second side of the album. Something about the melody that just catches my ear I guess.

 

Feel better soon my friend! I totally understand. This is always the first thread that I check out on SHF. I've learned so much and a few songs have found their way back into my playlists after considering other members' takes on them. This isn't true of the gospel music since I liked all of it before anyway.

 

Cheers mate
It's all good

 

I think all the uptempo songs are exceptional. The best rock and roll he'd done in years, strangely enough turning up on a gospel album.

 

Run On
Written By :
Traditional, arranged by Elvis Presley

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, May 25-29, 1966: May 25, 1966. Take 7

This is probably my favourite track on the album. We have that swinging bounce and there is a familiarity also, because this is a song that has been broadly covered across all genres across the decades.
I like the way the opening makes it seem like we have a ballad coming, and then we bounce into that great bouncy groove. This isn't a song that really makes for a vocalists showing off. This is a song that needs a good delivery, but there are no great big notes or wild vibrato, just a solid rhythmic delivery.

 

Where No One Stands Alone
Written By :
Mosie Lister

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, May 25-29, 1966: May 26, 1966. splice take 4 and 7

This is a big ballad and it is very beautiful. We have that mildly annoying church organ in the background, and for me that would be better gone, but even in spite of the this is a great song.

 

Crying In The Chapel
Written By :
Artie Glenn

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, October 30-31, 1960: October 31, 1960. take 3

I thought I had already done this track, but when I followed the link to link it ... It looked like I hadn't ... Anyway.
I always loved this song, even before I was a Christian I thought this song was pretty special. Whatever anyone actually believes, anyone who doesn't find that life is taken up with a lot of searching for truth and our place in this world (that we know less about than we would like to admit) is beyong my understanding.
This is a great song that somewhat surprisingly was a big hit for Elvis.

 

Where No One Stand Alone is probably my favorite track on the album. I agree, Crying In The Chapel is a special song. And anyone with half a brain would be compelled to want to know the truth about the important and meaningful things in life.

 

While Crying In The Chapel is wonderful, I feel it sticks out like a sore thumb on this album due to it being recorded six years earlier. I would have preferred that they recorded an additional song during the HGTA sessions and used that instead, but such things were not meant to be. Love Run On, my 2nd favorite song on the album. And Elvis gives a stunning vocal on Where No One Stands Alone.

 

Crying In The Chapel sticks out like a sore thumb because the sound quality brings the graininess of the HGTA sessions out by contrast.

 

SIDE B of "How Great Thou Art" is just marvellous, much closer to the black gospel tradition than the first side.
All uptempo renditions vary from truely-great to awesomelly-great but, still, my favorite track remains the bluesy Where Could I Go But To The Lord: it is plain perfect to my ears.
It was thrilling to hear Elvis revisiting the song for the Comeback Special a couple of years later. Too bad, it was only part of it, not the full song.

 

Run On is a fantastic track. Like Where Could I Go But To The Lord it’s a very catchy song, but the lyrical content interests me. It’s a bit like the Harper Valley P.T.A. of gospel songs in that it acknowledges the the hypocrisy of some of the faithful - “some people go to church just to signify / trying to make a date with the neighbor’s wife,” etc. Unlike the title track of How Great Thou Art, it doesn’t feature a straight “Jesus is the best, thank you Jesus” message, and, for that reason, it’s interesting.

 

I love this quote. It really made me stop and think about it too. Jason, I think you are spot on. Given the fact that the publishing interests had taken away any great prospects for getting any great rock 'n' roll material, Elvis returned to his roots in a very rock 'n' roll way with this album.

This might is my favorite upbeat track on the album. I love that soft gentle piano opening that belies the raucous rock 'n' roll that is headed your way. Just terrific. The lyrics are graphic and to the point. There is no hiding from the truth here. What a great song and powerful performance. Again, I see why Tom Jones wanted to cover Elvis's version so closely when he made one of his more recent and well received contemporary albums a few years back. He said the only thing he rally changed on his version was the key he sang it in.

I agree. Elvis's vocal is a showstopper and he does not hold anything back, but at the same time he never goes too far. Elvis author Peter Guralnick irritates me a little with his review of Elvis's performance in his otherwise pretty great biography. Occasionally Guralnick likes to show his critical bone fides by demonstrating where he thinks Elvis comes up short vocally and he sums it up this way in the book, "The song was really beyond Elvis range; it required a kind of projection that was not within his power at this stage." I wholeheartedly disagree. In his splendid first part biography, Guralnick points out the fact that Elvis and Charlie Hodge had worked hard to expand, "His now nearly three octave range," so I think the song was within his vocal compass. I think Elvis is skirting at the top of his capacity, but I never here his voice start to crack or break. I think Elvis nails this baby.

 

Definitely ... I always tried to pick relevant songs. One of my staple songs in church was Stained Glass Masquerade by Casting Crowns, it hit the spot for me. Nothing wrong with praise and worship, but it should be teaching as well

 

Did not Crying In The Chapel really belong on Elvis's His Hand In Mine album, both sonically and due to the fact that it was actually recorded during those sessions? I know they held it back until 1965 for single release, but to me it always belonged on HHIM.

 

Elvis did not think they had a satisfactory master for Crying In The Chapel, hence it was held back. RCA was desperate for studio material so they mined the unreleased tracks in the mid 60s, one of which was Crying In The Chapel. It, being a surprise hit, was put on HGTA "by request".

 

What the heck was Elvis hearing? This amazing song was a true slice of heaven. I have no idea how it could be improved in any way.