Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

Although Elvis seemed to be the exception here in the US in the 1960's, compared to other bands like The Byrds, Beach Boys, Doors, Stones, Beatles, etc. etc. etc. who - in the states - had singles on the LPs.

 

I thought Blue Suede Shoes from the first and Paralyzed from the second got single releases

 

Paralyzed was not a single in the US. ALL of the songs from the first LP were issued as singles well after the album's initial chart run. It was not to promote the album, but to simply sell more product in the form of singles. Blue Suede Shoes charted on the strength of its performance from the first EP, the single never charted.

Buy the 60 CD Album Collection and all this information is well documented in the book.

Paralyzed, Love Me and When My Blue Moon..all charted because of the success of the EP Elvis Vol 1.

 

That's right ... it seems a long time since we started this lol ... I'm already forgetting stuff.
I guess it's because from a musical awareness point of view I'm an Eighties teen and the way they were doing it back then doesn't make sense to me

 

80s and 90s alternative and new wave music is probably my favorite genre.

 

I think the singles were kept off the albums to sell the Golden Records compilations. I think the first three volumes are great. Volume four became a collection of non-album tracks that weren't really big hits but it was difficult to compile that album because there were so many soundtracks during that period and because the singles were sometimes included as bonus songs on the soundtracks. There were a few b-sides that were from the mid-sixties that were never released on any album during Elvis' lifetime (Tell Me Why, Come What May and Hi-Heel Sneakers).

 

I'm actually very fond of Vol 4 ...
I suppose it's all benefit of hindsight, but I would have released one single per new album 2-3 weeks before the release of the main album as a teaser ... and I would still have released the other singles due to it being the singles era.
I guess there was no early eighties FM stations running new album tracks all day, so I can't figure how people heard the new music.

 

Tell Me Why was released on World Wide Gold Award Hits Volume 2. I am also a big fan of Gold Records V4. Love Letters and Indescribably Blue deserved to be bigger hits than they were and really they are the only two songs that were not truly Gold Records. All the other songs were either hits or B-sides of hits. Two songs were from a double sided hit single. (And in a couple of cases the B-sides on this album were much better than the hits).

Well, I do not think ANYONE could have heard the Elvis album tracks until they bought the album. For Elvis fans that was not a problem, but it was for the public at large.

 

Seems Counterproductive to me. I guess they were resting on their laurels ... or perhaps they forgot that it was tv performances and live shows that sold all the records in the fifties

 

I think you can make a pretty good case for this being as good a record as Elvis ever made. Elvis uses just about everything he had in his vocal tool box from his wide range to grunts, moans and unmatched power. There was sheer lust in his voice and the production was as good as it gets.

This song has held up well too and not just Elvis's unmatchable version, but Michael Bublé just cut a brand new big band version that is pretty good as well. It usually surprises people to hear that Bublé's very favorite singer is Elvis, despite the fact that his vocal style and phrasing are way more suited to Frank Sinatra, whom he also admires greatly. I love to see artists reaching back to some of these great songs and exposing them to a new generation to appreciate even when they do not match the greatness of the original.

 

The original version:

 

"Poor Ol' Johnny Ray"

 

Bublé's version reminds me of Bobby Darin.

 

Yes indeed, it probably surprises some people to know that Elvis's version was not the original version. You can see too why Elvis really admired McPhatter's vocal stylings too! A truly remarkable singer in his won right.

 

Other than the soundtracks (and sometimes not even then) few songs Elvis did were THE original version. He just plain did them better than just about everybody else.

 

Like Clyde's it's just not as smooth ... The smoothness Elvis Gives that song is what makes it a favourite for me

 

Absolutely, and that is the artist that he really emulates the most I think and quite naturally. The funny thing about Bublé is that he is a really fine songwriter as well, having written or co-written the vast majority of his hit singles, including Home, Haven't Met You Yet and his beautiful new original song Forever Now that he wrote about his son, who fought through a cancer diagnosis these past couple of years. He does not get a lot of love on this board, but having seen his live show at MSG in 2014, I can say he is terrific performer, and when he sings his last song without a microphone or amplification, it really fills up the arena (An old Tony Bennet trick).

 

Roustabout

Soundtrack album by
Elvis Presley
Released October 20, 1964
Recorded March 2 & 3, April 29, 1964
Genre Pop
Length 20:05
Label RCA Victor
Producer Joseph Lilley

Roustabout is the ninth soundtrack album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2999, in October 1964. It is the soundtrack to the 1964 film of the same namestarring Presley. Recording sessions took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California, on March 2 and 3, and April 29, 1964. It peaked at number one on the Billboard Top LP's chart.[2] It was certified Gold on May 20, 1988 by the Recording Industry Association of America.[3] The album would be Presley's final soundtrack to reach number one and his last number one album until 1973's Aloha From Hawaii: Via Satellite.[2]

Payments to Presley for each film amounted to between $225,000 to $1,000,000 up front, often half the budget for production, with a 50% share of the profits.[4] These movies were being shot in sometimes as little as three weeks, with the complete scoring and recording of the soundtrack albums taking no more than two weeks.[4] It fell to Freddy Bienstock, the assistant of Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to ensure that the soundtrack songs fit into the profit equation with the publishing controlled by Elvis Presley Music or Gladys Music, the Hill and Range Publishing companies owned by Presley and Parker. As a result, successful writers such as Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott, and Don Robertson lost interest in adhering to the needs of the grind.[4] It was interlocking self-promotion, causing one MGM employee to remark that the movies "didn't need titles. They could be numbered. They would still sell".[4]

Blackwell and Scott in fact submitted a candidate for the title track, "I'm a Roustabout" recorded on March 3, only to find it substituted by a song from a different team of writers.[5] This recording was eventually released by RCA on the 2003 compilation 2nd to None.[6]

Presley and his coterie of top session musicians gamely plowed through all of this, and eleven songs were recorded for the twenty-minute soundtrack LP. Four songs from this album appeared on the 1995 soundtrack compilation, The Essential 60s Masters II: "Roustabout", "Little Egypt", "Poison Ivy League", and "There's a Brand New Day on the Horizon".[7]

• Elvis Presley – vocals
• The Jordanaires – backing vocals
• The Mello Men – backing vocals (on "Roustabout")
• Boots Randolph – saxophone
• Scotty Moore – electric rhythm guitar
• Billy Strange – electric lead guitar
• Tiny Timbrell – acoustic rhythm guitar
• Floyd Cramer – piano
• Dudley Brooks – piano
• Bob Moore – double bass
• Ray Siegel – double bass
• D. J. Fontana – drums
• Buddy Harman – drums
• Hal Blaine – drums

Side one
1. "Roustabout" Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye April 29, 1964 1:56
2. "Little Egypt" Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller March 2, 1964 2:15
3. "Poison Ivy League" Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye March 2, 1964 2:02
4. "Hard Knocks" Joy Byers March 2, 1964 1:42
5. "It's a Wonderful World" Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett March 2, 1964 1:48
6. "Big Love Big Heartache" Dolores Fuller, Lee Morris, Sonny Hendrix March 3, 1964 1:57
Side two
1. "One Track Heart" Bernie Baum, Bill Giant, Florence Kaye March 3, 1964 2:15
2. "It's Carnival Time" Ben Weisman and Sid Wayne March 3, 1964 1:32
3. "Carny Town" Fred Wise and Randy Starr March 3, 1964 1:19
4. "There's a Brand New Day on the Horizon" Joy Byers March 3, 1964 2:00
5. "Wheels on My Heels" Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett March 3, 1964 1:19
---------------------------------------------------------------
I seem to remember seeing this on one of the Saturday afternoon movie things on TV in Perth in the late seventies, early eighties, and I seem to remember enjoying it.
My memory is telling me I really like this soundtrack ... I've been a bit busy and although I have had my cursory listen, I haven't had my deep listen yet ... but one thing I know is that I have always loved Little Egypt ... for the longest time it was one of my favourite Elvis songs. I don't think we have a dropping of quality here, even if this isn't quite as good as an album as the unreleased Viva Las Vegas.
Anyhow
What are your feelings, memories, opinions of this album?
Give us the lowdown and we'll hit the first two songs tomorrow morning.

 

A decent soundtrack, but wow is it short coming in at 20 minutes.

 

... and a breakthrough in cover design from the Elvis camp.

 

Just got this twofer and love it. I had the ep and the girls girls lp as a kid. Sound is great, except foer title tune of girls girls girls, the soundtrack for this is great. I do have to admit the band letting go in gurls girls girl track is great. Th kid galahad extended versions are pretty good. Missed hearing home is where the heart is.

 

Lot of albums those days clocked in less than 30 minutes when a plethora of songs barely breaking two minutes, twelve on an album was the norm. Beatles concerts would be over in a half hour. Kid galahad had only five or six songs, played on a 45 size disk, ergo shortened versions. Real treat to have full versions on the twofer with great sound.

 

I thought a mess of blues had one of greatest endings .

 

You'd be surprised how many Elvis soundtracks are in the 20-25 minute range. Roustabout is a decent album. Big Love, Big Heartache and One Track Heart are my two favorites. I wish they had used I'm A Roustabout too. After all there were two Kissin Cousins songs. I'm A Roustabout is a better song than any of the 11 actually used. The other songs I like are Roustabout, Little Egypt, Wheels On My Heals and There's A Brand New Day On The Horizon. The other songs are "meh" to me, not good, not bad, but boring or forgettable.

 

Roustabout is a nice little album that makes for a very pleasant listen whenever you just want something tuneful and passive to put on in the background. If this sounds like damning with faint praise, I don't mean it that way: I very much enjoy the album, and it captures a carnival vibe better than It Happened At The World's Fair (though I probably prefer that earlier album overall). The sound is a vast improvement over Viva Las Vegas, and I think it hangs together as an album better than any hypothetical VLV configuration would have. To be sure, the best moments of VLV are far better than anything on Roustabout, and the 3-CD VLV FTD is an infinitely more enjoyable experience than the almost-pointless Roustabout FTD, but when it comes to sitting down and listening to all of the masters...I'll take Roustabout.