Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

Parker had a lot of control over Elvis, and while Elvis did get caught up in the moment on a few occasions and defied management, he typically deferred to management, automatically and at times begrudgingly. Parker manipulated and convinced Elvis early on that Elvis would not have his career and fan-base without him, and Elvis stuck with Parker out of fear, insecurity and paranoia.

 

And I would simply add; Out of a sense of loyalty as well.

 

Unfortunately, Elvis was easily manipulated. According to Marty Lacker, the reason Elvis didn't work with Moman again is because someone told him that Moman had been trying to get another artist to cover a song Elvis had recorded at American, and release it before Elvis released his version. I forget which song he said was the one in question (maybe Kentucky Rain?) but the accusation was that Moman was trying to beat Elvis to the punch and get a hit for another artist with a song Elvis was going to release. This accusation of course makes no sense at all (why would Moman want to screw Elvis out of a hit and sabotage his own relationship with him?) but Elvis chose to believe it despite Lacker trying to tell him it was bullsh!t. As a result, Elvis cut Moman off and never worked with him again. Lacker didn't say who the source of the rumor was but he clearly believed the Colonel was behind it.

 

As you know, prior to that Elvis wanted the American Sound band to back him in Las Vegas, but Parker low-balled the musicians, ensuring they would not accompany Elvis in his subsequent endeavors. One thing is certain; Parker and Jarvis made sure Elvis never worked with Moman again.

 

Wow, Elvis really was the least suited person to be biggest star of his time. He certainly was the strangest - hardest to analyze - celebrity ever.
Funny thing is on the surface it all looks kinda straight but in reality it was all so weird.....
Sorry, but something about that post upset me!

 

It has been established many times and is certainly referenced in Ernst’ book that Elvis had a ready made sales platform via his big fanbase which always guaranteed sales regardless of how good or bad the material was. You also need to keep in mind that people were double dipping in their purchases of Moody Blue because of the ‘blue’ vinyl pressing which also contributed to bigger sales. Apart from the two "A" side singles which were great, the Moody Blue album was a real hotch-potch of stuff that Jarvis had to assemble because Elvis had failed to get back into the recording studio in January 77 and RCA needed an album and even had to resort to adding a "live’ recording from 1974 to get the track numbers up to a satisfactory number.
RCA considered that Promise Land, Today and Boulevard were poor sellers despite them getting to #1 in the Country Charts and I suspect that the marketing department at RCA realising that the Moody Blue album was going to be difficult to sell came up with the idea of the "blue" vinyl pressing knowing that record collectors would also buy into it. I do not understand why some Elvis fans find the need to elevate things in the attempt to make certain records appear to have been regarded as a great release just because an album or single got to #1 in the country charts. It’s like fans getting super excited because the recent album, Where No One Stands Alone got to #1 in the Gospel charts and they act like it is a massive achievement ~ not exactly much competition there.

 

Which is a tragedy because as good as some of the tracks Elvis recorded in June ‘70 were, they did not come close to those Memphis ‘69 sessions. And after 1970, it was downhill from there.

 

This August 16th it will be 42 years since Elvis has shuffled off of this mortal coil. In a few more months after that it will be a point that he has been gone longer than he was living. Wow! I know how the story turns out but at this point I always feel like the guy in the movie theater yelling "Run! Don't let them get you!", except I'm mentally screaming "Dump Parker now! Any good that he ever did for your career is long over and he was lavishly compensated for it". Elvis' instincts at this time were excellent. It's no secret that Elvis was not business savy but at this point he didn't need to be. If he had dumped Parker, I think he could have acquired the necessary legal and management professionals that would serve him in this area pretty quickly. It would have taken a few years to untangle himself legally from Parker but in the meantime he would be off the leash and the offers would have been many and lucrative IMO. It's a shame that Elvis didn't continue on the trajectory he had going in '68 and '69. Even though I know it's of no use, I ponder what might have been if Parker was kicked to the curb by '70.

 

I already said it and i firmly believe it: Parker was the WORST thing that happened to Elvis. He destroyed the Blue Moon Boys, he disconnected Elvis from his greatest writers (Leiber/Stoller) and Producers. And he directly sabotaged the career of his client. Presley should have fired him as soon as 1957.

 

Jerry Schilling mentioned at the Grammy Theatre Q&A (included on 'The Searcher' blu ray) that during the brief period that he sacked Colonel in 1974, Elvis reached out to contacts in the industry to step in and manage him. The responses were, in a nutshell, that they were too afraid of the repercussions from the Colonel to take Elvis on. What I see is a consistent pattern here of many others besides Elvis being manipulated by the Colonel. And let's not forget how he threatened Leiber & Stoller with professional oblivion back in the 50s.

I'm not too keen on Alannah Nash's books with the exception of her Memphis Mafia book. However the one nugget that came from her book on the Colonel was the revelation that he was discharged from the US (army? navy? sorry can't remember which offhand) in Hawaii back in the 1940s with the clinical diagnosis of "psychopath". Now called 'antisocial personality disorder', some of the key symptoms include:

Disregard for right and wrong
Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or personal pleasure
Being callous, cynical and disrespectful of others
Repeatedly violating the rights of others through intimidation and dishonesty
Lack of empathy for others and lack of remorse about harming others
Poor or abusive relationships
Failure to consider the negative consequences of behavior or learn from them

Elvis was never going to break free of Parker. Ever. Sadly.

 

Way too many missed opportunities then and now.

I thought the HBO Doc "The Searcher" was going to relaunch FEIM, but unfortunately, it didn't.

 

Elvis should've cleaned house starting with Parker, then the MM guys and taken away all business decisions from his dad, to have had a chance, getting someone to take over as his manager imo.

 

I'm Movin' On
Written By :
Hank Snow

Recorded :
American Studios, Memphis, January 13-16 and 20-23, 1969: January 14, 1969. take 2

This track starts with a really nice piece of guitar. We have another song that in basically straight country, until we get to the first instrumental chorus, and then it kind of pumps up up into this kind of funk n roll section. The verses maintain a somewhat country vibe, but as soon as we hit that chorus section it is awesome. When the horns come in for the first time it is a real kick in the pants, and with eacj passing section it develops and builds.
This is another fantastic track, it has been covered by many artists also, but the whole vibe of these sessions seemed to lift everything to another level altogether. Again we have the nice subtle backing vocals that work perfectly. As the song progresses Elvis eventually joins in with the chorus singers, but almost in an adlibbed way.
Again we have this scenario where Elvis is fully involved and connected to the band and the music, and as much as I like the rest of the albums in his catalog, these American Sound recordings were close to the last time this would happen in a really organic way. Moman and the band connected with Elvis and everyone (except of course Elvis' manipulative lackies) were switched right on and focused in a way that is rare to match.

 

Sorry a bit rushed, running late this morning.

 

We are talking about Colonel Parker here, aren’t we?

For a moment I thought I was in a different thread...

 

The AFL1-4155 issue was in print in to the late 1980's. I have a copy that was contract-pressed at Specialty. PK-1456 (cassette) also remained in print.

 

Well then I eat my words! Nice to start the morning learning something new

 

Who would have been suited to handle Elvis’s meteoric rise to fame? All things considered, he handled it better than most would have, I think. It’s a bit of a miracle that he didn’t die or flame out in 1957 instead of in 1977.

 

Definitely.
Really the first modern mega-star. Drafted as his star rose ... Mismanaged beyond comprehension ... left to spiral into a deep depression due to the frustration of the mismanagement ... it is surely a red light warning to everyone that came after.

 

Born poor and poorly educated, then, just barely out of his teens, won the lottery to a degree that few people ever have. Despite the tragedy of his later life, his religious upbringing and abstention from alcohol and drugs during the 50s allowed to survive the tornado of his life better than most would have, I think.

 

You are right of course. There's only so much one can handle.... But I just can't forget Guralnick saying that for most of the sixties Elvis was actively thinking of becoming a monk.

 

I don't know, The Searcher was more about promoting itself and accompanying soundtrack. Any collateral sales of back-catalogue, which undoubtedly there must have been, was a bonus. Hard to imagine a scenario where a 50 year album, that never resonated with the public conscience, would ever receive a widespread relaunch. This is just one of those albums that will always have the legacy of being one of Elvis' best, but a legacy not well known outside of Elvis circles.

 

So the "quote" about being a "very expensive demo session", is that something Guralnick or Jorgensen came up with?

 

Listening to it in isolation right now, It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin' is better than I remember it being. Actually, I'm enjoying it quite a bit, particularly the "And I can't help it" part. In the context of FEIM, I think it suffers from coming after Long Black Limousine. Going from the album's heaviest, most emotional song to its lightest-sounding one was a poor move in this case, imo.

I'm Movin' On is decent, but it doesn't do much for me. I much prefer the Stones' rough & ready version.

 

Wow! I don't see what Parker could have done to frighten other professionals. Binder and Moman handled him pretty well and his only recourse was to turn Elvis against them (manipulation). Eddy Arnold kicked him to the curb in short order and did just fine afterwards. I doubt his b.s. would hold up in a courtroom setting with lawyers, accountants, and management that could see his sh!t show coming a mile away.