Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt2 The Sixties

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Oct 7, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I agree. Any two of your suggestions would have raised the quality of this LP.
     
    mark winstanley and czeskleba like this.
  2. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I like Sound Advice a lot. Another too short ditty that was burned into my head as a kid form the movie Follow That Dream. I know it may seem like a simple melody with a simple minded lyric to some, but I could never get it out of my head, and I actually find it clever in the most basic way.

    Santa Lucia is another short, but splendid example of how easily adaptable Elvis's voice and vocal range were to these Neapolitan styled light opera songs. I think he should have done a whole album exploring this style of music that he was clearly drawn to since his very earliest musical inspirations like Mario Lanza, but I am probably in the minority on this sentiment.
     
  3. artfromtex

    artfromtex Honky Tonkin' Metal-Head

    Location:
    Fort Worth, TX
    I am with ya here. I have always liked these little ditties.
     
    mark winstanley and RSteven like this.
  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I Met Her Today
    Written By :
    Don Robertson & Hal Blair

    Recorded :

    RCA's Studio B, Nashville, October 15-16, 1961 : October 16, 1961. take 18
    One of Elvis' many beautiful ballads/love songs. This track is piano led and has Elvis singing in that gentle high voice that has all the longing and heart break required to sell this song. This song really is quite beautiful and touching.

     
  5. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    When It Rains It Really Pours
    Written By :

    William Robert Emerson

    Recorded :

    Sun Studio, Memphis, November 1-4, 1955: November 1-4, 1955
    Radio Recorders, Hollywood, February 23-24, 1957: February 24, 1957 (A New Version Of The Song). take 8

    Here we have a great way to close the album. Elvis belting out some blues rock in that convincing fashion that put him on the top of the pile.
    I first became aware of this song on my fifties masters box and it just seems strange for it to be here in the middle of the sixties.
    We have an unusual and sloppy, fast picked lead break, which sometimes I love and sometimes scratch my head over. On the whole though it's a great song to close this unusual compilation of odds and sodds.
     
    Tord, RSteven and Brian Mc like this.
  6. When In Rome

    When In Rome It's far from being all over...

    Location:
    UK
    On the original album it had much more added reverb than the versions we have on CD now, I kinda liked it for that. I know some prefer dry but there you go...
     
  7. NumberEight

    NumberEight Came too late and stayed too long

    I didn’t know that: thanks for pointing it out.

    It occurs to me that adding reverb may have been RCA’s attempt to disguise the fact that the tracks came from a wide variety of sources.

    If so, do you think it worked?
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  8. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Sounds like sabotage, doesn't it? :)
     
    RSteven likes this.
  9. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I wish the FTDs had accurately replicated the albums as originally released (I'll probably never pick up For LP Fans Only or A Date With Elvis for this reason, because I'd primarily be interested in hearing the originally released versions, warts 'n' all).

    Either way, I Met Her Today is an absolutely gorgeous performance from Elvis and the band. The lyrics are simultaneously depressing and hopeful. It's the clear highlight of the album for me.

    As with Ain't That Lovin' You, Baby, I much prefer the slower version of When It Rains, It Really Pours. The RCA version sounds rushed, whilst the Sun version has a spooky magic about it. My go-to version is the one on the 50s box (as opposed to the cleaner versions on Elvis At Sun and A Boy From Tupelo), because I think the somewhat murky sound on the 50s box makes the performance even more otherworldly.
     
  10. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Here we have possibly the best two songs on the album. I am so glad they used the drier version of I Met Her Today. I hate added reverb on ANY recording and 90% of pop recordings have it. (and there is still some here as well). And When It Rains It Really Pours is a great bluesy songs sung in much the same voice as One Night. How can it be wrong?
     
    RSteven and mark winstanley like this.
  11. NumberEight

    NumberEight Came too late and stayed too long

    Yes, it feels so right that way. ;)
     
  12. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
  13. When In Rome

    When In Rome It's far from being all over...

    Location:
    UK
    If you can get your hands on the Japanese paper sleeve version of Elvis For Everyone that is the warts and all masters just like the original album. I love it!
     
    Dave112, DirkM and mark winstanley like this.
  14. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    The Japanese Paper sleeves ones have warts and all for A Date With Elvis and For LP Fans Only too. (and they sound like crap because of it).
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  15. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I set out to collect all the Japanese Paper Sleeve series. I can't remember all the few I got. But when I bought For LP Fans Only and A Date With Elvis, I stopped. I sold the few I had and I also have a sealed promo copy of A Date With Elvis that no one has bought yet.
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  16. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I feel exactly the same way. I Met Her Today is sheer country-pop perfection in my mind. A finely crafted ballad by one of Elvis's all time favorite songwriters, with a vocal performance by Elvis that sounds like it was piped down from heaven. I feel the same way about When It Rains It Really Pours, which reminds me of his great recording of Reconsider Baby, only the great band and Elvis sounds even looser and more wide open on this cut than that splendid one recorded for Elvis Is Back.

    I am also in total agreement with @SKATTERBRANE that there is enough reverb here and it did not need to be enhanced or tampered with in any way.
     
  17. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    When It Rains It Pours (which has been mistitled on Elvis releases since 1965) is one of three tracks he recorded at Sun and then remade at RCA. It's the only one where we have both versions to compare. The key difference on the 1957 version is DJ Fontana, whose work is powerful and far better than the plodding Johnny Bernero drums on the Sun version. The Sun version sounds unfinished, like they were still working out the arrangement, and that probably is the case. And the Sun version is drawn from the vocal slapback tape only so it has kind of a weird sound with Elvis' voice a little too far out front.
     
    mark winstanley and RSteven like this.
  18. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I always really liked Scotty's solo in "Too Much" because it's so bizarre... it's like he gets lost in the middle of the solo, and then has to find his way back to civilization. The solo on "When It Rains It Pours" is even more abstract. It's basically just a bunch of freeform riffing all over the place. On the chatter between takes of the Sun version, you can hear Sam Phillips tell Scotty "don't make it too damn complicated in the middle there." On the RCA version it's almost like he's saying "in your face" to Phillips... "I'll show you complicated."

    I just gave a fresh listen to both versions, and that reinforced my strong preference for the RCA version. The Sun version is definitely not a finished master take. They are still working things out, and more telling is that Elvis adds jokey lyrics at the end: "you really opened up my nose." And having only the vocal slapback tape gives it a really boxey, wimpy sound, with the band far too quiet. It would fit right in on Harum Scarum soundwise, and that's not a good thing.
     
  19. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Great post. You echo all my thoughts on that great guitar solo by Scotty as well. "I'll show you complicated," indeed!
     
    czeskleba and mark winstanley like this.
  20. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Here is what the original LP sounds like ERS, "warts and all"

     
  21. prostx23

    prostx23 Somewhat Gentleman of Mediocre Sophistication

    Location:
    Quakertown, PA
    Thank you so much for posting this SKATTERBRANE. I was born in 72 and literally my earliest childhood memories are listening to Elvis (on my Dads portable 8 track player and my Moms Elvis records). Anyhow, I had watched repeatedly, One Night With You, which had aired on HBO I believe in 84 and I really loved that song, One Night With You, from the special. Shortly after, I had seen a commercial for a Greatest Hits mail order deal that had his 50's version of that song and based on the short clip they played, I wanted to hear the full version BADLY. I asked my Pops if he could get me a cassette that had that version of the song on it. When he came by to pick me up for our Bi-weekly visit, He presented me with 2 cassettes. Elvis (the 68 comeback album) and Elvis For Everyone. I was a bit bummed that he wasn't able to find a cassette that had the 50's version of One Night With You (or he misunderstood my request). Anyhow I played both cassettes to death and I really liked EFE. At the time, all I had to play them on was one of those boxy tape recorders which added to the lo-fi nature of the album. When it got to the point that my EFE cassette was ready to give up the ghost years later , I made a dub, which added a sweet layer of tape hiss to it, lol. Having played that album so many times as a kid, that sound has become ingrained in me, so every "cleaned up" reissue of EFE has been disappointing. I haven't pulled my EFE dub out in years so listening to this has brought back a lot of great memories, Thanks :)

    Mike
     
    Shawn, mgb70, DirkM and 4 others like this.
  22. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I'm Yours
    Written By :
    Don Robertson

    Recorded :

    RCA's Studio B, Nashville, June 25-26, 1961 : June 26, 1961. Splice take 6 and take 2 end

    This track was on Pot Luck, but has a slightly different master for the single version.

     
    Tord likes this.
  23. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Long Lonely Highway
    Written By :
    Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman

    Recorded :

    RCA's Studio B, Nashville, May 26-28, 1963: May 27, 1963. take 1
    This track was on Kissin Cousins but the single version is take one, rather than the albums take 2.

     
    Tord and artfromtex like this.
  24. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Blue Christmas/ Santa Claus Is Back In Town

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    These were released as a gold series reissue single, although they hadn't been released as singles together previously.
     
    LoveandTheft likes this.
  25. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine