Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

One Boy, Two Little Girls
Written By :
Bernie Baum, Bill Giant & Florence Kaye

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, September 29-30, and MGM Studios, Culver City, October 10, 1963 : October 10, 1963. take 2

This is a moderate tempo love song singing about a love triangle, and Elvis being in love with two girls. We get a nice little tremolo guitar and the piano playing its gentle little theme. This again is a pretty good little song. It has a certain melancholy and the music is really very appealing. It has a sweet mellow feel that really makes it appealing to me anyhow.

 

C'mon man, this one needs visuals:

 

so I see lol

 

All four of these songs are catchy little pop ditties, and Elvis still has that beautiful, smooth early-60s voice going for him. I have a lot of time for them. A lot of fans seem to hate Smokey Mountain Boy, but I think it's quite charming. Kissin' Cousins No. 2 is a bit short, but the extra verse in the unedited master is a bit disjointed, so I think they made the right choice in cutting it down.

 

When I was in grade school I had a teacher who was a friend to a Hollywood photographer. She had a huge collection of celebrity photos her friend took. We had a math contest and the winners could choose a photo from her collection. Well, I won and chose the photo below. I was initially denied it because of the images of bikini clad women and I had to get permission from my parents before she would allow me to take my prize. I eventually got it! It set in motion for my preference for bikini clad women to this day!



I lost the photo because I had slipped it into my Kissin Cousins LP jacket. My entire 1st pressing Elvis Presley LP collection was stolen back in the 80s at the peak of it value. I had all his first pressings, their inserts and in some cases interesting variants. This is one reason I love the 60 CD set "The Album Collection" so much. It brings back a lot of memories with its pretty accurate artwork.

 

Note: I never considered these to be bikinis, but merely two piece swim suits. At such a young age I already had an opinion on how skimpy a swimsuit should be to qualify as a bikini!

 

I am too amazed at how beautiful his voice is even on these "catchy little pop ditties" as you say so well.

Well, I have a confession to make as well. I use to avoid these soundtrack recordings like the plague, except for the obvious singles and well known cuts. I have to say that a lot of members on this board have made me re-evaluate some of the material as I had forgotten how well produced some of the records were and how great Elvis's voice was in the early 1960's mode. Now, I am probably a little bit of an outlier as far as Elvis fans go, because I really become a huge fan of his in the 1970's ( I can hear the gasps from @SKATTERBRANE and @PacificOceanBlue as I write this). Bear with me a second. I was born in 1960 and I did watch his movies growing up when I was a kid as my Mom discovered Elvis very early when he was on the Dorsey Brothers show, but I was too young to really get hooked on his music until later. Damn, somehow I did not get the chance to catch the 68 Special until after he died so that was a huge awakening to say the least when I saw that one.

I was very intrigued by the Aloha From Hawaii concert in 1973, about the same time I DISCOVERED the great Charlie Rich, who ironically ended up steering me towards Elvis by 1975 and 1976. I guess it is usually the other way around in Elvis fandom, but Charlie Rich was my first real music love. So hey, I came to Elvis late and you will understand a little better when I passionately defend some of Elvis's later 70's recordings that a lot of other Elvis enthusiasts cannot appreciate for a variety of reasons. I was blown away by Hurt, My Boy, It's Midnight, Moody Blue and even Unchained Melody. I could not believe the power and vocal range this rock 'n' roll singer brought to these ballads. So there is my confession and here is my deep hearted thanks to everyone who has given me a new perspective on some of the soundtrack recordings!

Now do not misunderstand me, we are about to enter some dreaded times here as Elvis's voice and material are going to suffer greatly through the mid 1960's and except for a song here or there, there is no making a Rolls Royce out of a Pinto, but I am sure I will find a song or two that I can say something nice about. I am an all era's Elvis fan, although I do have my favorite periods as well as recordings I try to avoid.

 

I too was blown away by Hurt and quite a few of the seventies tracks.
There is something about Hurt that really hits the ball out of the park for me.
I am looking forward to the seventies albums. I wasn't when I started the thread, but having given them a good listen I see a lot of value there. There are a couple of lackluster albums, but most of them are very solid.

 

As good has Hurt is, Danny Boy is the sublime performance on that album.

 

Elvis's version of Hurt is the song that really made me become such a huge Elvis fan as well as the rest of From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis Tennessee. I so appreciate your very wide and diverse music taste as I know when we get to Elvis's 70's material the Elvis fandom will split in many directions. I am so glad that you are guiding this thread along as you seem to have as much objectivity as anyone that has ever done any critical analysis of Elvis's albums over all the years. You do not seem to have any preconceived views about what is good and what is bad or what the pop music critics tell you should make of the material. It is very refreshing to say the least. For many years, I read the same type of analysis of Elvis 70's material from pop critics, "It's too syrupy and there are too many strings on the recordings," despite the fact that Elvis himself fell in love with that full orchestral sound after working with Billy Goldenberg during the 68 Comeback Special.

 

That was the other song I was going to mention that just blew me away!

 

I just call it how I see it. I think Elvis developed his own thing in the seventies ... almost but not quite his own genre, but certainly his own sound. I understand why some folks may not like it, but I think it works for him.
It's interesting to me that in later decades a lot of people went for that big live band for various tours ... almost an Elvis legacy thing

 

Dylan and Bowie were both inspired by Elvis' 70s sound.

 

Very true Mark, everybody from Justine Timberlake to Adele and even Michael Bublé have brought that full band sound to the live stage for their concerts. I think Elvis really does not get enough credit for creating his own sonic sound with the big band mixed in with a rock 'n' roll rhythm section. I call it the Elvis/Phil Spector road band.

 

I've never seen the film, and I haven't given the album a lot of listens so I just relistened to it. I would say it's easily his worst soundtrack up to this point... the songwriting just nosedives here. Whereas the previous soundtracks had some good stuff mixed in with the mediocre and bad, there's mostly just inferior songs here. The one song that's okay is "Once is Enough" but that really isn't enough. The album doesn't rock, and it also doesn't have any ballads with any kind of mature or thoughtful perspective (the departure of Don Robertson is keenly felt here, as he always was good for at least one ballad that had something of an adult perspective). I think part of the problem is the subject matter... there's a level of Beverly Hillbillies condescension in many of the lyrics here, and also a high degree of corniness. The way it was recorded also contributes to the malaise. Elvis' singing seems casual and lacking in energy, and I suspect singing to backing tracks on the soundstage rather than working with a live band in the studio is a large part of the reason why. On the plus side, it sounds good, which gives it a leg up over the horribly-mixed 1965 soundtracks that are upcoming. Still, it's a really significant decline in quality, and very unfortunately timed as it was hitting the theaters just as the Beatles were hitting the US shores.

 

The film is borderline unwatchable. If you thought the soundtrack was corny, the film is like a couple hundred acres of Kansan farmland. For instance, there are gaggles of scantily clad women who troll the mountainside, kidnapping the menfolk so that they can have their way with them and wrangle them up for some marryin'. Lord, its a goofy movie.

 

Catchin' On Fast
Written By :
Bernie Baum, Bill Giant & Florence Kaye

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, September 29-30, and MGM Studios, Culver City, October 10, 1963: October 10, 1963. take 7

This has that groovy late sixties feel, with the horns and the keys giving it a very defined in time sound. This is a cool little song also.
It seems that this album is one where there isn't really any terrible songs, they just aren't as top notch as we're used to.

 

Tender Feeling
Written By :
Bernie Baum, Bill Giant & Florence Kaye

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, September 29-30, and MGM Studios, Culver City, October 10, 1963 : October 10, 1963. take 1

This is a sweet track with some nice instrumentation and one of Elvis' sweet and tender vocals. Nothing super special, but still nice, and pretty good.

 

Not bad, but just kinda "there" to fill up space.

 

This one I like. Its got something going for it melodically and I can see it getting stuck in my head. Not amazing, but pretty good.

 

I think that is somewhat the problem with a few of these soundtracks coming up. They aren't terrible so much as a bit "been there, done that". There are a couple of bogus songs, but not really anything sensational to lift us up above the crowd.

 

A lot of people disagree with me on this but I think Elvis could have hanged right in there with The Beatles in the charts. He would have needed to have much better music to record though. Beatlemania would have still swept through but Elvis could have given them some stiff competition. I bought this album (Kissin' Cousins) when I was a kid and passed over the superior in every way "Pot Luck" LP. Normally, I would play a new (to me) Elvis record over and over but I can recall after about 3 plays, I put it away and didn't listen to it again for several years. I could recall "Barefoot Ballad" every time I looked at the cover and just kept flipping through my Elvis albums.

 

I personally have no doubt whatsoever that Elvis could have hung with the Beatles over the period of their existence. I am more surprised that some folks think he couldn't have.
If Elvis Is Back had received more promotion and a couple of singles had been released from the album, I can't see that we would have had the Blue Hawaii situation. If Something For Everybody had been sequenced in a normal fashion, and again, had a couple of singles released from it, I see no reason why it wouldn't have been a lot bigger.
I don't want to be constantly harping on Tom Parker, but I just think by this stage of Elvis career he had used up his usefulness and the ball was too big for him to play with.
I know Elvis wanted to make movies, but I have never heard that he didn't want to make albums, and it seems like the early sixties albums were treated as side projects and the focus went on the soundtracks, due in part to the big sales of soundtrack albums ....
Hindsight is 20/20 so I guess its easy to sit in forty years later and direct, but nothing they did over the 60-63 period makes any sense to me, and all lead to the 65 bottom out.....
I find it remarkable that From Elvis In Memphis didn't sell a million copies in the first month of release, and I can only imagine that it didn't due to the damage being done from 63/64 on.

 

Not only that but sales figures for From Elvis In Memphis is only 800K to this day! The reason Tender Feelin' has a great melody is because it is Shenandoah.

 

Here are the US sales figures for his LPs. The first figure is the initial chart run sales. The second figure is fairly recent total sales:
(the ones numbered are in the 60CD box)
1. Elvis Presley (1956) 300K/1.06M
2. Elvis (1956) 500K/1.04M
3. Loving You (1957) 350K/750K
4. Elvis Christmas Album (1957) 200K/3.5M
5. Elvis' Golden Records (1958) 150K/6.75M
6. King Creole (1958) 250K/600K
7. For LP Fans Only (1959) 200K/250K
8. A Date With Elvis (1959) 175K/250K
9. Elvis' Gold Records Volume 2 (1959) 100K/1.55M
10. Elvis Is Back! (1960) 300K/675K
11. G.I. Blues (1960) 700K/1.625M
12. His Hand In Mine (1960) 200K/1.525M
13. Something For Everybody (1961) 300K/600K
14. Blue Hawaii (1961) 2M/3.175M
15. Pot Luck (1962) 300K/450K
16. Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) 600K/775K
17. It Happened At The World's Fair (1963) 300K/375K
18. Elvis' Golden Records Volume 3 (1963) 600K/1.8M
19. Fun In Acapulco (1963) 300K/425K
20. Kissin' Cousins (1964) 300K/350K
21. Roustabout (1964) 450K/625K
22. Girl Happy (1965) 400K/525K
23. Elvis For Everyone (1965) 250K/350K
24. Harum Scarum (1965) 300K/400K
25. Frankie And Johnny (1966) 250K/1.025M (Pickwick too)
26. Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966) 225K/250K
27. Spinout (1966) 300K/425K
28. How Great Thou Art (1967) 200K/3.050M
29. Double Trouble (1967) 200K/250K
30. Clambake (1967) 175K/215K
31. Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4 (1968) 350K/800K
32. Speedway (1968) 175K/220K
33. Elvis Sings Flaming Star (1968) 500K/1.1M (including Camden)
34. Elvis (NBC-TV Special) (1968) 500K/1.050M
35. From Elvis In Memphis (1969) 500K/800K
36. From Memphis To Vegas/From Vegas To Memphis (2 discs, 1969) 300K/490K
37. Let's Be Friends (1970) 400K/1.1M
38. On Stage (1970) 500K/1.1M
World Wide Gold Award Hits volume 1 150K/700K
39. Almost In Love (1970) 400K/1.2M
In Person At The International Hotel 100K/1.025M
Back In Memphis 100K/175K
Elvis' Christmas Album 400K/10.05M
40. That's The Way It Is (1970) 500K/1M
41. Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old) (1971) 500K/725K
You'll Never Walk Alone 200K/3.15M
42. Love Letters From Elvis (1971) 300K/425K
43. C'mon Everybody (1971) 100K/750K
World Wide Gold Award Hits volume 2 50K/130K
44. I Got Lucky (1971) 100K/1.01M
45. Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas (1971) 200K/3.5M
46. Elvis Now (1972) 400K/550K
47. He Touched Me (1972) 200K/1.2M
Sings Hits From His Movies 130K/1.275M
48. Elvis: As Recorded At Madison Square Garden (1972) 500K/3.25M
Burning Love And Hits From His Movies 700K/2.6M
Separate Ways 300K/1.45M
49. Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite (2 discs, 1973) 2M/3.325M
50. Elvis (Fool) (1973) 200K/350K
51. Raised On Rock (1973) 200K/275K
A Legendary Performer Volume 1 750K/3M
52. Good Times (1974) 200K/225K
53. Elvis: As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis (1974) 500K/650K
54. Promised Land (1975) 300K/425K
Pure Gold 900K/2.25M
55. Elvis Today (1975) 350K/400K
A Legendary Performer Volume 2 750K/2.125K
The Sun Sessions 300K/350K
56. From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee (1976) 400K/600K
Welcome To My World 400K/1.4M
57. Moody Blue (1977) 400K/2.3M
Elvis In Concert 1.6M

What is surprising is the 50s LPs that did not do very well upon their initial chart run: the two Golden Records and the Christmas Album. Of course these became sales powerhouses over the years.