Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

For those that prefer the nude version

 

It was all about comfort for Elvis. Besides, the final word was always his, starting in 1956. I don't know about Billy Strange doing Blues and Country that Felton provided, or got into with Elvis at the beginning... Elvis was the most underrated producer of all time, in my opinion.

 

I won't argue with that. Most folks don't even think he could play an instrument, never mind produce.

 

WAIT. They RE-RECORDED "I Feel That I've Know You Forever" for this movie?! Is this really true? I never heard this before and didn't notice any difference in the movie or the FTD soundtrack to the standard version (was it on "Pot Luck"?).

 

I don't dislike the backing singers on the master of The Fair's Moving On, but I do think they're unnecessary and ultimately distract from the beauty of Elvis' voice. I always loved the master; the undubbed version is even better. Either way, it's one of my favourites from the American Sound sessions. Granted, the lyrical metaphor is a little weak, but the melody is strong, and, as usual, Elvis is absolutely convincing (he really does shine on these dramatic choruses).

 

This is mainly because we all have to pay for excellent journalism. But unfortunately most of us don't want to pay anymore for newspapers, magazines, deep researching via online magazines etc. It's much more convenient to click through some google/ facebook results and find something for free. Unfortunately most times it's just thrown together passages where the sources aren't clear or "articles" automatically created by programs. And of course they aren't proofread at all. So we really don't have to wonder about this situation anymore.

 

It is true. The re-recorded version has never been released.

 

I loved The Fair Is Moving On ever since I bought the Clean Up Your Own Back Yard single. For me it was another great double sided 45. I think Elvis had an incredible string of double sided singles in the late 60s and early 70s. It recalls the 50s in that regard.

 

Agree that this is a great song, somewhat old-fashioned to modern ears, perhaps, as it’s built around the extended metaphor of the fair moving on and is very wordy, parts of it verge on the sort of dramatic spoken word recitation that Elvis so good at on tracks such Are You Lonesome Tonight - I’m thinking of “the horses in boxes with the big Ferris wheel” bit in particular. I like the undubbed take, but I agree that the finished product with the backing vocals and all of the production is better.

 

I wonder how much of it was from the stink that the Colonel made with the TV Special and Moman sessions? Elvis could see the great results from working with people like Binder and Moman and could have put his foot down to worked with many others. Elvis also had that insecurity and would usually go along with the Colonel to his own detriment.

 

It's merely speculation, but I assume somewhat, that all these little things are what were the build up to the big fight in 1973. Elvis would have known he was taunting Parker during the "Closing Night" performance, and it seems from an uninformed assumption, that years of being under this thumb, and accepting all these poor decisions, and Parker controlling nature, Elvis with some Pharmakeia under his skin would have rode that pony home.

 

I think I've already made clear my opinion of The Fair's Moving On. One of my least-favorite tracks on the record. Once again, an average song elevated by a great vocal by Elvis, which unfortunately happens a few too many times on this record.

 

Parker was no fan of Felton Jarvis either, and he certainly was not the reason Elvis hired him away from RCA. Elvis really liked Felton, and initially, he was galvanized by their initial collaboration in the studio at a time when Elvis' recording career had careened off the road due to his deteriorating soundtrack work, which was what he was predominately recording. Elvis was impulsive, and ultimately wanted Felton to be his guy, just like when he got caught up in the moment and hired Voice to be at this beck and call. Elvis also liked having control, and having Felton on the payroll meant he would essentially have another sycophant at his disposal, rather than a producer that would prod and push him in the studio. Nevertheless, the professional relationship had diminishing returns and had run its course by the early 1970's -- any benefits derived from that professional relationship were long gone was the two men continued to work together throughout Elvis' final six years.

 

The love for this song seems split from the responses that I've read. I have liked it from the first time I heard it. Am I the only one that thinks this would have been a wonderful song in "Roustabout"? That thought always pops in my head when I hear it.

 

I don't think Binder was going to do anything for Elvis after 1968. In my opinion, Moman brought "the stink" unto himself. Had he been smart as Jerry Reed (with publishing and getting what he wanted) in a cordial manner, it might have been a different story about possible future collaborations with Elvis.

This is a brilliant piece about Elvis's 1970's studio work. I quote:

"The problem was often that Elvis simply did not want to work. The confrontational producer is a romantic idea that fans like. "You gotta tough with these artists." But a confrontational producer with an artist who doesn't want to work will result in an artist walking out of the studio. As anyone who walked through these waters in real life knows, "tough love" is a very dicey proposition. If it's not done just right and with the right subject you very often lose or alienate the person.

Felton said he tried to sway Elvis towards recording more rock type songs but Elvis was not as interested in those type songs as he once was. In a session like July 1973 he's barely interested in anything. That you got a song like "Burning Love" the year before is a minor tribute to Felton because that song was from his publishing connections, not Elvis, and he basically had to enlist the entire MM to beg Elvis to record it. That record contains probably Jarvis' most inspired production stroke in the electric guitar overdub by Dennis Linde. It's the difference between a good and a great record.

He had his problems as a producer. The chief of these was the fact that he was very tied to the commercial country and western scene of his era and it was an era that favored big productions. The most successful commercial country producer of the time was Billy Sherrill who could make Felton sound positively restrained. (Although Sherrill did manage to collaborate on some choice records with Tammy Wynette, George Jones and Charlie Rich among others.)

The other problem with Felton was that he was old news by the mid-1970s. Throughout his career, Elvis responded best to novelty, challenges and changes of scenery. Eventually, he got bored with things.

There is no question that Felton "got" Elvis. The first night they met they stayed awake past dawn talking about music long after the other musicians had gone home. And for the most part their early collaborations were splendid How Great Thou Art, the "Guitar Man" sessions, even the June 1970 sessions which I guess you could consider the middle period and which yielded Elvis' only concept LP. The trouble with Felton was that by 1973 he was same old, same old. He had given Elvis most of what he was going to give him from his end. And because Felton was now an employee rather than a stimulating outsider, and also because of Elvis' boredom and disinterest in recording, Felton's ideas and opinions became less interesting to him. By 1973 they had a dozen studio sessions in the can not counting live work and the stuff with Moman. It would get a little stale. All the other productions that people point so longingly towards were very short collaborations. Moman two times in two months. Binder one time. (Counting all the sessions there as one.) Leiber and Stoller three sessions in about nine or ten months. Sam Phillips the longest of these production relationships took place over a period of approximately 16 months. That's it.

Elvis was with Felton for 12 years. And it was every studio session. It wasn't no Sinatra I'll use Billy May here, Gordon Jenkins (they were mostly arrangers but you get the point) there. It was Felton every time out. Save the Moman session and Felton was still present at that. This for an artist who burned through things extremely quickly.

Felton was no hack. He was no Phil Spector, but he was no hack. In sports there are two types of coaches; the one soothes the players egos and gets them to play that way. The other challenges the player's manhood and gets him to play that way. Over the years, they've both gotten results. It's worth noting though that the second type of coach is almost non-existent in today's environment.

Finally, it's worth noting again and again that the definitive producer on any Elvis record was Elvis himself. It's also worth noting that very little got through without Elvis' overt approval. To paraphrase Robert Christgau's assessment Elvis liked the goop."

Harley P Payette

 

Well said. Every now and then the confrontational producer works: I know it’s a common fantasy among Paul McCartney fans that “Paul is surrounded by yes men: if only someone would challenge Paul like John Lennon and George Martin did, he’d do great work,” and, on Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Nigel Godrich had the clout and the energy to do just that. But, as with Elvis and Chips Moman, McCartney pretty clearly didn’t enjoy being pushed and told to try harder and to re-write songs, and he’s never worked with Godrich again. I get the fantasy of “why couldn’t Elvis keep working with Moman for a decade, and make an album as good as From Elvis in Memphis every year?”, but that’s not how most artistic careers work, or every Beach Boys album would be as good as Pet Sounds, and every Bob Dylan album would be as good as Blood on the Tracks. We should be grateful for the two-and-a-half albums’ worth of great material Elvis and Chips did produce together, not upset that they didn’t make five more albums equally as good.

 

Exactly, and that is why the exclusive professional nature of the relationship went well past its expiration date.

 

After reading his excellent comment I wanted to read and find out more about Harley P. Payette. Turns out he was a journalist, regular at the For Elvis CD Collectors forum (under the name Like The Bike), and frequent contributor to Elvisinfo.net. Sadly he died at the very young age of 43 in 2013. I can only imagine how much he would have enriched this already great thread with his presence.

 

I remember likethebike. A great contributor and greatly missed.

 

That would be a little too "on the nose". Plus, this song is way too somber for one of his movies.

 

I would disagree. For some reason in my part of the U.S., they played three particular Elvis movies in heavy rotation in the late 1970's and 1980's on the TV matinee and late show. The three were Blue Hawaii, Roustabout, and Spinout. In Roustabout, Elvis' character is a somber guy with a chip on his shoulder. I could see The Fair's Moving On being worked into the story line fairly easy.

 

Good points. The advent of the 24hr news cycle is also to blame: hours to fill but an unwillingness to pay enough people to write well/proof-read properly. My younger bro works for Al Jazeera English and reckons there are Pulitzer-Prize-winning journos out there that can't get jobs, there's hardly anyone left working past 40 and that the producers of said 24hr news organisations who decide on what stories to run are just as likely to come from a film background as have any kind of journalist training. Anyway, I digress...

 

What you say makes sense. Both Binder and Moman took Elvis out of his comfort zone and didn't so much push him but made him push himself it seems. They also put the brakes on the giant entourage of yes men that Elvis surrounded himself with. With the sycophant echo chamber turned down, Elvis took his music to another level. I like a lot of Elvis' recordings with Jarvis but it was rarely at the Moman level. The term "diminishing returns" is a perfect description of Elvis' studio work through the 1970's as much as like his work from that time.

 

I would add that as long as Elvis had something to prove, he would give his best.

• The Memphis Boys were not that impressed to do an Elvis session and it took him some time to prove them that he was there to really work. (Something so obvious during the recording session of LONG BLACK LIMO.)
• Binder was no fan until Elvis demonstrated him how focus and, as a result, how good he could still be even after years and years in Hollywood.

It seems like those challenges moved him. Still, he was not able to stay too long away from his confort zone (yes-men, etc.) and, at the end, that destroyed him.
Someone said once (I don't remember who) that, at the end, "Elvis was yessed to death." Sad but true.

 

You'll Think Of Me
Written By :
Mort Shuman

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

We again have the sitar sound, as stated probably the choral sitar, and it is effective and the melody line is very nice. I'm not sure what it is, I like the choral sitar, I just have a mild aversion to it on Elvis songs for some reason. This is a great song though.
Elvis again puts on a masterful vocal performance and we have a moderate tempo song to balance out the wealth of ballads.
The first verse is a nice spacious arrangement and when we move into the second verse we have a nice depth created by the full band and backing vocals. Towards the end the strings come in and full the sound out a little more. The arrangement the cuts back to the rhythm section and the backing vocals and halfway through that verse we have the full arrangement kick in.
The song is very well put together and sung, and shows clearly how much higher in quality the American sound team were with the idea of Elvis songs than anyone else that had worked with Elvis in a long long time.