Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Oct 7, 2018.

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  1. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    In a small town high school, I was made fun of for liking Elvis. But I am the kind of person who if made fun of I exacerbate it by OVER expressing myself rather than demurring. I wore blue suede shoes to school for example. So, one of the Elvis detractors told me Elvis had a new song, In The Ghetto. I had not heard it yet. I asked him if it was any good. He replied, "ya know, it's not bad". Yes, Elvis wasn't so bad after all for a few years to some of my peers, 1968-1970.
     
  2. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Again this story reminds me a little of myself. I loved arguing about music with my high school friends. I of course was totally not with the in crowd, because of the music I listened to, which was country, Charlie Rich, Elvis, Waylon Jennings and female singers like Olivia Newton John and Linda Ronstadt.

    Now my best friend's favorite story from this period. I was stuck in registration needing a last elective class to fill some credits and my counselor and I were running out of ideas as the classes were rapidly filling up. He saw a class called In The Moog, which of course was based upon learning that instrument. Now, I was clearly never a musician and could not read music to save my life, so I asked the counselor. "What do you do in this class?" and he simply replied, "Oh, you just sit around and listen to music all day." So naturally I said to him, "Sign me up!"

    Well, I come to class the first day and there is this silver metallic Moog Synthesizer in front of the class, which was in a small theater like building for music and drama classes I guess. The teacher said, "You are all going to learn how to play this thing." Oh gosh, I must have turned bright red with fear or embarrassment as I could not read music and had no discernible music talent other than the fact that I had a pretty good singing voice. Well, from this day forward, I dreaded with fear going to this class and my best friend would just laugh at me as I headed for In The Moog every week. Finally, during the Monday of the second week of class a very shaken and distraught teacher informed all of his students, including yours truly, that he had terrible news, the Moog Synthesizer had been stolen over the weekend and they would not be able to secure a replacement, so I quickly inquired of the teacher as to what we were going to do for the rest of the semester and he said, " Oh, we will just sit around and listen to music all day, and you can do a speech on your favorite artist or band for your main grade." To say I was relieved was a vast understatement, but my best friend looked at me rather suspiciously during the next few days, finally asking me, "You didn't have anything to do with the disappearance of the synthesizer did you?" Of course he knew better, but he liked teasing me about the whole thing for the rest of the semester. Oh, I choose to do a project on Charlie Rich, which my teacher loved, but the rest of the class was probably bored to death with it. Oh yeah, I got an A in the class for my Charlie Rich speech.
     
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2019
  3. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Hey, did you happen to see the most wonderful Moog I stole?
     
  4. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I am slow tonight, that actually took me a minute to get. Pretty darn funny too. Charlie Rich, "Hey did you happen to see the most beautiful girl in the world?"
     
  5. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Only The Strong Survive
    Written By :
    Jerry Butler, Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff

    Recorded :

    American Studios, Memphis, February 17-22, 1969 : February 20, 1969. take 29

    We start with a snare crack and the Backing Vocals lead us in. Elvis talks the intro, like a prologue. Again we have a wonderful arrangement, with a sliding guitar motif that colours the canvas nicely, the backing vocals here, to me are excellent and very much suit the style of song we have. There is subtle use of strings that work as highlights for the main track.
    I understand that some folks don't like the backing vocal and string overdubs, but for me they turn a great sketch into a beautifully coloured painting. Having said that though I also think that the overdubs have been done with taste and I don't feel that they are heavy handed or bloated, which, again for me is what makes all the difference.
    Elvis vocal here starts off as the talking intro and then moves into a beautiful, plaintive soulful vocal. This is a mature Elvis, the early sixties perfection is gone, but possibly the mature voice suits these recordings better. There is an edge, and a world weariness that give the lyrics more resonance and makes the songs believable in context. Part of what makes this album and its songs so good to me is the fact that all the ingredients were right. The making of this album and these songs would have been balancing on the edge of a knife, at any time it would have been very easy to overcook these songs, but i believe they got the ingredients and the bake time spot on.
    With have a nice feel change between the verses and the choruses, and the pulsing bass adds to the feel ... How cool would it be to record with a band that naturally understands how much is enough, and manages to retain a groove and a feel that sounds like they could just be jamming.
    As I said yesterday, I was listening to a disc on youtube that said it was disc nine of the American recording studio sessions, and they obviously did quite a few takes, with this being take twenty nine. During the course of those takes, Elvis was obviously struggling to get the feel he wanted for the vocal section and then as can happen in the studio he was getting the feel and messing up the words, which led to some rather blue adlibbing and for the most part the band and Moman just kept things rolling and there are almost full versions of what end up being quite hilarious takes on this song. It was one of those situations where the joke took a couple of takes to wear off and there was much Elvis laughter and I really enjoyed it .. but back to the actual version we have here.
    In reality Elvis captures the soul vocal quite wonderfully, the band captures the feel beautifully and the overdubs, again in my opinion, were done with great taste and a controlled hand and it leaves us with a wonderful studio track that continues on from the first track in a different direction but beautifully sequenced to create, as we have already seemed to conclude, Elvis most successful and well thought out album structure.
    This is another 10/10 for me and this album never fails to deliver 10/10 songs and arrangements, which is why I count it among my top albums of all time, along with all the albums that folks say Elvis couldn't hang with of the day ... obviously I disagree with that.


     
  6. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
  7. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

  8. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Oct 10 1967
    Clambake - Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 1 Guitar Man Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    full take with What's I Say Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 2 Clambake Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 3 Who Needs Money Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 4 House That Has Everything Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 5 Confidence Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 6 Hey Hey Hey Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 7 You Don'tKnow Me Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 8 Girl I Never Loved Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 9 How Can You Lose What You Never Had Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 10 Big Boss Man Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 11 Singing Tree Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 12 Just Call Me Lonesome Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Jan 3 1968
    Guitar Man/ Hi Heeled Sneakers Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Jan 22 1968
    Elvis Golden Records Vol 4
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Feb 27 1968
    U.S. Male/Stay Away Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Mar 26 1968
    You'll Never Walk Alone/ We Call On Him Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    May 21 1968
    Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby/ Let Yourself Go Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    May 26 1968
    Speedway
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 1 Speedway Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 2 There Ain't Nothing Like A Song Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 3 Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 4 Who Are you Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 5 He's Your Uncle Not Your Dad Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 6 Let Yourself Go Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 7 Your Groovy Self Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 8 Five Sleepy heads Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 9 Western union Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 10 Mine Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 11 Goin' Home Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 12 Suppose Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Sept 3 1968
    Almost In Love/A Little Less Conversation Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Oct 29 1968 (two days before my actual birth :) )
    If I Can Dream/ Edge Of Reality Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Oct 1968
    SINGER PRESENTS ELVIS SINGING FLAMING STAR AND OTHERS - Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 1 Flaming Star Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 2 Wonderful World Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 3 Night Life Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 4 All I Needed Was The Rain Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 5 Too Much Monkey Business Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 6 Yellow Rose Of Texas/ Eyes Of Texas Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 7 She's A Machine Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 8 Do The Vega Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 9 Tiger Man Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Nov 22 1968
    Elvis - NBC TV special
    - Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    part 1 Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    part 2 Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    part 3 Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    part 4 Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    part 5 Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Feb 26 1969 Memories/Charro
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Mar 25 1969 His Hand In Mine/ How Great Thou Art
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Mar 28 1969 (rerelease) Flaming Star
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Apr 15 1969 In The Ghetto/Any Day Now
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    June 1969
    From Elvis In Memphis
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 1 Wearin' That Loved On Look Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    track 2 Only The Strong Survive Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties


    Misc reference
    Press conference Mar 7 1960 Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Interview Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Interview Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Interview August 1962 Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    interview 72 Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    Rare Footage Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    The missing album "For The Asking" Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties thanks @czeskleba

    Ginny Tui Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
    Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

    news clipping Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties
     
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  9. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    Only The Strong Survive is one of my favourites from FEIM, and along with Wearin' That Loved On Look, it makes for one of the best opening 1-2 punches on any Elvis album. It's one of those songs that could easily come off as hokey or trite, but Elvis completely sells it.
     
  10. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    Agree on the spoken-word intro, Mark. As always, it fascinates me that the guy who could barely stammer out a complete sentence in an interview can, in the context of a song, deliver a spoken-word monologue with the confidence of a great dramatic actor: “I remember my first love affair ...”. As with the spoken interludes of Are You Lonesome Tonight and That’s When Your Heartaches Begin, Elvis nails the recitation here, and then proceeds to kill it on a song that is worthy of his talents. I don’t really have anything to add to your comments about the American Sound band and their incredible musicianship: I will say that on this material I often find myself tuning out the rest of the band and even tuning out Elvis and focusing on Tommy Cogbill, who, in my opinion, is one of the most gifted bass players of all time. So melodic, so talented, but, as you note, he and the other musicians on this session understand how much is enough, and they never show off or overplay, but rather serve the song and create a musical bed on top of which Elvis can shine.
     
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  11. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    That's what I'm talkin' about!
     
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  12. PepiJean

    PepiJean Forum Resident

    It's a beatiful Rhythm And Blues song with a strong message that our Man could "easily" relate to. Elvis' vocals are both soulful and supreme: the conviction in his singing is just as powerful as in IF I CAN DREAM. Another 10/10 for me too. (Note: that bassline is just wonderful.)
     
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  13. Pelvis Ressley

    Pelvis Ressley Down in the Jungle Room

    Location:
    Capac, Michigan
    "Dear Georgie..."
     
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  14. artfromtex

    artfromtex Honky Tonkin' Metal-Head

    Location:
    Fort Worth, TX
    :biglaugh:
     
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  15. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
     
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  16. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Oh man, I could not agree with you more here about the subtle, but elegant use of the strings and backing vocals. They even wait to put in some brass until nearly the fade-out of the song. As much as I appreciate the rawness of hearing this song without the overdubs that @ClausH was kind enough to post, it just sounds too stark and is missing some magic to me. The thing that makes someone like Chips Moman such a great producer is his ability to see how these musical spaces and textures can be enriched by the careful layering of strings or horns. Country Music Hall of Fame producer Billy Sherrill was another master of hearing the whole sonic picture in his head during the actual session as noted by Nashville arranger Bergen White, who was hand picked by Elvis to arrange his stupendous version of Polk Salad Annie in 1970. Bergen said that Sherrill was very specific with his instructions for the overdubbing of his string arrangements on classics like George Jones' The Grand Tour as the producer would say to him, "Now, bring in the strings right here, and then I want you to get out right there and just leave the rhythm section by itself, until the chorus, and then come back in right there."

    The song itself was "almost tailor-made for Elvis, couched as it was in a mother's advice to her son" as Peter Guralnick points out in his book, and he also quotes the beginning spoken narrative of the song, which Elvis delivers so fantastically as @Spencer R so well noted above.

    Boy, I see you settin' out there all alone
    Cryin' your eyes out
    'Cause the woman that you love is gone
    Oh, there's gonna be, there's gonna be
    A whole lotta trouble in your life
    So listen to me, get up off your knees
    'Cause only the strong survive

    If anybody is wondering why Elvis did 29 takes to get this song perfect, just remember how close Elvis was to his mother and how much he must have thought about her when he recorded this gorgeous masterpiece.

     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2019
  17. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    Agree with everything again. I just listened to this song because of this thread, and, yes, the brass at the end is just right: a great embellishment that isn’t overused to the point of overkill. I also love the use of female backing vocals on these sessions. In the case of In The Ghetto, I prefer the undubbed alternate takes without the female singers, but on pretty much every other song, I love the backing vocals.
     
  18. artfromtex

    artfromtex Honky Tonkin' Metal-Head

    Location:
    Fort Worth, TX
    Absolutely right. He did finally nail it, too. A great performance.
     
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  19. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    and at least 5 or 6 takes after "Dear Georgie" were filled with a virtually hysterical Elvis, laughing and adding in much humourous craziness
     
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  20. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Dirk, my favorite go to version of From Elvis In Memphis is the FTD release from 2013, with what I think are fantastic mixes by Vic Anesini and Sebastian Jeannson and great sounding mastering from the latter engineer. It is just terrific sounding and besides the original album masters, it also has 12 first takes of the material from the album and 12 outtakes, with ten additional undubbed masters thrown in for good measure. This might be my very favorite FTD release ever of an Elvis studio album.
     
  21. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Elvis breaking up and having a comedic pause or two during the recording of such a heartfelt and passionate song, reminds me of how in a really scary movie a great writer or director breaks up the tension with a very humorous scene. I think Elvis used his outstanding sense of humor to his great advantage in this case, so he and the band could get some temporary relief from their laser-like focus on the task at hand. I do not think Elvis was necessarily doing this consciously or it was planned out this way, but it sort of came naturally to him, without him even thinking about it, and I believe that most of the time it served him well.
     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2019
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  22. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    No doubt. That is what is so beautiful about listening to those sessions.
    I am sure that it was necessary to break the ice/tension so to speak, and a lot of folks laugh, rather than cry.
    To be honest, I had never consider the Mother angle until you mentioned it, and it would seem incredibly likely
     
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  23. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    Yep, I have that one as well, but unfortunately, it just sort of seems to exacerbate my issues with the album. The outtakes are mixed in that same vintage style (drums hard-panned left, etc.), the undubbed Gentle On My Mind is one of my absolute least-favourite Elvis outtakes (honestly, I even prefer the horn overdub version of Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On), and I could do without so many takes of In The Ghetto when I don't even really like the original. Also, the "early takes" section doesn't sound as engaging to me as similar sections on other FTDs.

    For my money, the Back In Memphis FTD is much more interesting and entertaining to listen to. The mixing issues are still there, but I tend to enjoy the songs more, and in some cases, I much prefer the outtakes to the masters. Plus, it has the entire Suspicious Minds session (albeit split up over the course of the album), which alone would probably give it the edge over FEIM for me.
     
  24. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    The extreme drums and bass seems to be a signature sound for the American studios at the time. I have the original mix of some Neil Diamond songs that have the same thing going on. But I have a couple of the same songs remixed with bass and drum centered and other aspects panned left or right. MUCH BETTER. (Holy Holly comes to mind) Now I do not mind when the drums are mixed so that you can perceive the placement of each individual drum or cymbal, but the bass drum should be anchored in the center. I also want the lead vocal to be centered. But when there is a duet vocal, I want one slightly right and one slightly left of center. In short I want a REALISTIC stereo soundstage, each instrument having its own place in space and most of the time a standard arrangement of instruments. There are exceptions of course.
     
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  25. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    Yeah, and even on something like Sweet Caroline where I don't mind the hard-panning as much as I do on a tougher-sounding number, the narrower mixes (here I'm thinking of the one on His 12 Greatest Hits) still sound much better to me. But quite a few 60s stereo mixes are all but unlistenable to me.
     
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