Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

My brother always wanted a motorcycle as well and finally got one for a short time. His best friend was a very gifted orthopedic surgeon and tried desperately to talk him out of buying one as he spent a lot of his nights getting called on emergency to go put people back together after bad accidents. My brother had a few close calls himself and got rid of it. As he said to me, no matter how careful he was on the bike, he could not stop other cars from making some bonehead moves.

 

I was a super hyperactive, manic depressive, adrenaline junkie lol

 

That is always the constant, and I have seen it myself. The longer the world goes on the more self absorbed we all seem to get

 

This was something I noticed in quite a few songs. Not this particular melody, but some songs sounding like another popular tune, but changed just enough that copyright lawyers weren't suing. Unlike today's environment.

 

I was just re-listening to the album one more time. Although (as I've said) I don't think there's sufficient data to conclude that amount of takes indicates amount of effort, I have to say I do agree that side 2 is substantially weaker than side 1. Once you get past One Track Heart it's a pretty significant decline. The two carnival songs are have dopey lyrics (though "Carny Town" is okay musically). "There's a Brand New Day on the Horizon" strikes me as another instance (like "What'd I Say") where Elvis is pitched too high, and it makes him sound strident. Not wild about "Wheels on My Heels" either. It's interesting that someone earlier on the thread (I forget who) was suggesting Elvis' singing was exceptional on this album. On side two in particular, his singing strikes me as very average, like he wasn't much engaged in what he was doing.

 

It's always a hard call. I've been in the studio, it's my favourite place to be, and it is quite random. Although I was multi-tracking, because I was playing most of the bits... sometimes it all just flows. I am not one to do too many takes. I think the most I ever did was five, but it is substantially different when it is one piece rather than a few at a time.....
It must have been terribly annoying to put down a great vocal but the guitarist messed up ....

 

People tend to presume that if they really like a piece of work, it must mean the artist was really trying hard and giving an exceptional effort to create that work. But that is not always the case. Sometimes a person can create genius casually and without much effort. On the flipside, too much effort can sometimes lead to something that is overworked and stilted. As we've noted, Elvis was definitely someone who at times really worked hard to get songs perfect, but at other times created greatness casually and quickly. And on the flipside, we know he sometimes also worked hard to try vainly to create silk out of a sow's ear, while at other times he knocked out bad songs quickly and didn't care.

Regardless, my own opinion remains that he probably wasn't too excited about these songs, because most of them are unexceptional, and even the best ones pale before the absolute best stuff he had in 1960-62. But I guess if a person likes these songs more than I do, they might suspect Elvis liked them more, too.

 

You make so many excellent points here and I think you are totally spot on. I guess because I've had lower expectations on these movie soundtracks and I have sort of avoided them over these years, I am little more surprised by some of the decent to great quality of some of the songs on these last few soundtracks. I think my new found love for this type of material is going to drop of drastically on the next few soundtrack recordings. I think I am in for a rough ride, but we will see. I am just glad that I have found some new gems to play in Elvis's catalogue, thanks to this great thread that @mark winstanley started and all those who have contributed to it like yourself.

 

Yeah, I had the same reaction when I started listening to (some of) the soundtracks more in depth a few years ago. The 1960-63 ones generally are better than they are made out to be. I have to admit this thread has even made me lighten up on Kissin' Cousins, one I never gave much of a chance before. "Barefoot Ballad" aside, it's really not as bad as its reputation, and "Once is Enough" has become one of my favorite deep Elvis cuts. I've tried giving Roustabout a fresh listen too, but my opinion is not changing. It and Girl Happy still feel to me like transitional albums, transitioning between the generally pretty good 1960-63 soundtracks and the quite bad 1965 recordings. I will be surprised if there's any gems to be found in the Harum/Frankie/Paradise triumvirate.

 

Jason, thanks for heads-up on: "Once is Enough", decent cut, good sax also.

 

There is always at least one gem to be found on even the worst Elvis LPs.

 

Carny Town - definitely a throw away, but I still kind of like it.

There's A Brand New Day On The Horizon - is probably my favorite track on the album and in the film- even though it is derivative as hell I find it uplifting and a great 'happy ending' song.

Wheels On My Heels - love this one as well. Its pretty typical of this album in that its anything but high art, and yet I always find myself having a good time listening.

 

Ain't That Lovin' You Baby
Written By :
Clyde Otis & Ivory Joe Hunter

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, June 10, 1958 : June 10, 1958. take 4



It was recorded by Elvis Presley on June 10, 1958, but wasn't released as a single by him until September 1964 (with no comma in the title) when it reached number 16 on the Billboard chart, with "Ask Me" as the flipside.[2] It is a standard shuffle in E major. The song, along with "Ask Me", was later included on the 1968 compilation album Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4, and an alternate take with a faster tempo was released in 1985 on the compilation album Reconsider Baby.[2

• Elvis Presley - lead vocals
• Hank Garland - lead guitar
• Bob Moore - double bass
• Floyd Cramer - piano
• D. J. Fontana, Buddy Harman - drums

------------------------------------------------------
In another bizarre release schedule, this track is from 1958 but not released until 64. It sounds like an earlier song also, which isn't a bad thing. Perhaps they felt that it would give the punters a rethink about who Elvis is and was. Perhaps they would have just been better to rethink their publishing arrangements and get some good writers back in the stable ...
This is a good fifties rock song and is definitely worth being released, but to some degree it seems to be bad management and bad decisions that lead to the need for it to be released.

 

I bought this soundtrack when I was in Jr. High school In the late 70's. I played it a fair bit at the time, but besides "Bossa Nova Baby" it wasn't one of my favorites. At the time I got a kick out of the goofy novelty songs like "The Bullfighter Was A Lady" and "There's No Room To Rhumba In A Sportscar".

In the 80's I found a very clean mono copy for $1.50. I prefer the stereo version.

As for the movie itself, As a kid I thought it was kind of boring. I might like it better today but it's been years since I saw it.

 

Ask Me


Written By :
Domenico Modugno, as the Italian song "Io". Bill Giant, Bernie Baum & Florence Kaye wrote English lyrics.

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, January 12, 1964 : January 12, 1964. take 11

One of Elvis' beautiful love songs. We have a great chord pattern and arrangement and the song really works well.

 

The fast version.

 

Ain't That Loving You Baby is fantastic, one of my absolute favourite songs that Elvis cut in the 50s. The fast version never did anything for me, because it's just too fast, too lacking in subtlety. The slower version ironically has more bite, attack, and energy. I always thought they should have put it on Elvis For Everyone. Releasing it as a single was an odd decision, but on the plus side, it works surprisingly well on Gold Records Vol. 4, throwing the listener a curveball for the penultimate track before returning to the more familiar early-60s Elvis sound with Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello.

Ask Me is sort of a cousin to I'm Yours. Both have a sort of dire, moody, almost depressing arrangement, leaving it up to Elvis to try to impart some of the optimism of the lyrics. I like songs with contrasting moods, so Ask Me is one that I enjoy quite a bit, even if it makes for rough listening at times.

 

I too much prefer the master over the fast version. I never understood why Elvis did not think it was suitable for release back in 1958. (The same goes for Your Cheatin' Heart). Ain't That Loving You Baby/Ask Me is another great double A sided single. Ask Me is another Italian melody with new English lyrics (like No More, It's Now Or Never and Surrender). And Elvis' voice is so well suited for this kind of dramatic/dynamic Neapolitan flavored song.

Yes, it surprising it was pulled out for a single, but it sold fairly well, so at least it ended up the right decision. Back in the day I had no idea it was recorded in the 50s. I thought it was a contemporary recording. But I was GLAD Elvis was singing in his 50s voice and style when I heard it.

 

This really is another great doubled sided hit by Elvis and once again shows his great range and versatility. Well, he sure loved Ivory Joe Hunter and of course invited him to Graceland in 1957. Elvis would end up recording almost a half dozen of his songs, including those that Elvis would play with his own piano accompaniment in the 1970's. I wish that Elvis had recorded the one that he and Ivory sang that day at Graceland in that all day impromptu performance, I Almost Lost My Mind. Here is Charlie Rich's great version from one of his early Epic albums with the great Billy Sherrill in the producer's chair.

 

For those who were around in 1964, did people realize that Ain't That Loving You Baby was a track that was six years old, or did most think it was a relatively recent recording?

 

I thought it was a recent recording and was encouraged that Elvis could sound and rock like he did in the 50s. Tell Me Why did NOT fool me though. I could absolutely tell it was recorded around the time of Peace In The Valley sessions. Of course, being a kid I thought all albums were recording in one day. (Like Something For Everybody was for example). I did realize Elvis For Everyone was a collection because of the shocking sonic differences with almost every song.

 

This was one of the songs that was stockpiled at his final session just prior to his induction, to be used during his time in the army. So I don't think it was a case of it being deemed unsuitable for release. Rather, they simply chose to release other singles ahead of it, and by the time it would have come up for release he was out of the army and had recorded a bunch of new material, so it was no longer needed.

 

Edited excerpt from "A Life In Music":
"....but for Elvis and the rest of the band it was considerably less natural than the rest of the cuts.......when they finally decided to leave the song and move on.....Elvis was chasing something he heard in his head; if he couldn't get it down on tape he'd just abandon the song and keep RCA from releasing it, as he did for six years as he did with Ain't That Loving You Baby?.

There are several songs whose release was delayed because Elvis thought he could to better with a re-recording. Sometimes the re-recording was never gotten around to. Sometimes the re-recording wasn't better so they used the original recording. But just about every song Elvis recorded in the studio that he was not quite happy with was released during his lifetime. Many times offered only in compilations out of fiscal desperation (on RCA's part).

There was plenty of room in the release schedule for another single Ain't That Loving You Baby. With only two singles for 1959, when typically there would have been four. Ain't That Loving You Baby/Your Cheatin' Heart or /When It Rains It Really Pours could have been another million seller..easily. But Elvis did not consider them a finished product worthy of release.

Elvis even had to be persuaded by the Colonel to release One Night! Imagine if his high standards had been intact consistently for the rest of his career?

 

Aha, I stand corrected. Ernst doesn't cite any direct evidence in his comments which you quoted above, so I had assumed he was just speculating. But according to Keith Flynn, the original session logs do confirm that no take was considered good enough to be the master at the time. It's interesting that over the course of the upcoming year, there was a relative avalanche of 50s outtakes released.

 

Yes, and issuing older 60s album cuts on singles as well, due to the LACK of decent quality contemporary material. After all the likes of Harum Scarum takes priority over any decent artistic recording sessions.