Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

I really doubt those creating/compiling Elvis LPs at RCA were paying attention to anything, let alone The Beatles, in putting together his releases.

 

Yeah, probably.

 

I’m going to take a contrarian stance on Mama Liked The Roses: I love it, and have zero problem with the sentimental or maudlin lyric, which is a feature of country somgs from Tammy Wynette’s I Don’t Want To Play House to George Jones’s He Stopped Loving Her Today. It’s just part of the genre, and certainly a part of the genre to which Elvis was drawn, as with You Gave Me A Mountain, Always On My Mind, and many other tearjerkers. The other feature of the song I totally dig is the spoken word recitation - “You know, I saved the family bible ...”, etc. From That’s When Your Heartaches Begin to Are You Lonesome Tonight to this song, Elvis was a master of this device. In everyday conversation, he could barely form a complete sentence, but, in the context of a song, he could declaim a monologue like a great actor and make you believe it. The soprano obbligato (by Millie Kirkham?) over the recitation is a great touch that makes the track.

The Wonder of You is, as I noted above, a first step down the road to Vegas schmaltz, but it’s a great soaring melody over minor and major seventh chords that Elvis really kills. I love the “play it James” right before the guitar solo and then how Elvis wordlessly sings the melody “oh ho ho ho,” etc. over the guitar solo - this is live music making, and you can hear Elvis getting lost in the music and the moment. The second of half of the seventies was a long slow decline that has understandably overshadowed just how good the beginning of Elvis’s Vegas period was, but, on this album, the combination of the expanded band, the gospel backing singers, and Elvis in peak form and fully engaged is often staggeringly powerful. This album is why fans put up with all the craziness and oddball aspects of Elvis’s career, because, when he was on, the music he made was unmatched.

 

I will defend your contrarian opinion on Mama Liked The Roses as well, but you have done it so well that I do not think I can add anything, other than to echo the point I made previously about his performance; Elvis was obviously emotionally connected to the song and gave one of his most sincere and delicate vocals towards the effort.

For me personally, The Wonder Of You/Mama Liked The Roses continues Elvis's stellar streak of awesome double-sided singles that really took off again in 1969 and will continue well into the early 70's.

 

Regarding the album On Stage, it’s one I really discovered when it was first released in the US on CD in 1991. It immediately blew me away. I had been rediscovering Elvis since The Memphis Record came out, and this was more fuel to the fire. Fantastic sound as many of you have mentioned, but what really got me was how good the band gelled and played. Killer drums, bass and guitar by all involved. It goes without saying that vocally Elvis was at a peak.

This was another weird incidence of several of my friends all getting this CD around the same time. We were all listening to the ‘new’ grunge scene material and other fresh movements in music so this was a throwback. But we raved about it as much as any of that other stuff. A few years prior I was in a band with some of these guys and we’d still informally jam and it wasn’t long before we were playing almost all of these songs amongst ourselves.

A couple years later I was working with (PR, marketing, etc.) this great band out of Chicago. They had a ton of strong originals but strangely these guys had On Stage too and worked Polk Salad Annie into their live show. Between us, we’d use the jokes Elvis said between tracks at the appropriate moments (‘does anyone here on stage have any idea of what’s going on cuz I’ve lost it’ etc.) much to everyone’s annoyance when we were hanging out.

 

We touched on this somewhere before, but the FTD edition of On Stage really sounds good. I don’t know if it’s a remix, or a straight mix of the live tapes minus any subsequent sweetening that got added to the original album, or if I’m just imagining it, but the FTD of this album is special.

 

Not contrary to me.
Agreed

 

I see you’re missing the Japan quadraphonic LP/mix

 

I always loved that part... and agree it seems like a sign of his enthusiasm in general when he joins in with the backup singers.

 

Note Mama Liked The Roses was the intended A side.

 

They got to use Aloha pics on singles and album covers years after the event. Expecting them to use it on the actual LP is asking a bit much.

 

That's certainly true. But did the album need to be rush released three weeks after the show? The program wasn't broadcast in the U.S. (and many other countries?) until April. Couldn't they have taken another week or more for the sake of quality?

 

The rush release was part of the plan. They experimented with the MSG album and got it down to a fine art.

 

Regardless of whether or not they could have used a photo from the actual Aloha show on the cover, there was no excuse for them using one of the most hideous pictures of Elvis I've ever seen (not to mention the gaudy font and tacky concept). But then, RCA had already spent a decade taking one of the planet's most photogenic humans and making him look less-than-stellar on many of his record sleeves.

 

There’s a similar moment in I Just Can’t Help Believin’ when the Sweet Inspirations are singing the title hook and Elvis looks over at them and whispers “sing the song.” Especially in 1970, Elvis wasn’t just the lead singer, he was also the arranger/conductor/bandleader on stage.

 

I’m a big Elvis 70’s fan. I like how 70’s Graceland is, the 70’s stereo equipment in the racquetball court is awesome, and of course I dig the 70’s albums!

 

I love the Graceland sessions, so I appreciate your appreciation of those recordings. I hope you stick with us as we review these 70's albums.

 

See See Rider
Written By :
Traditional, arranged by Elvis Presley

Recorded :
Live Recording, International Hotel, Las Vegas, February 15-19, 1970 : February 18, 1970

I have made peace with this song. I don't know why, but I used to hate this, and I think it is because it seemed to be the representation of the seventies for so long, and for some reason that irked me. These days I can appreciate it as a good uptempo country/rock that works as a show introduction,
The band is tight and Elvis' delivery is solid.

 

A Rehearsal

 

Release Me

Written By :
Dub Williams, Eddie Miller & Robert Yount

Recorded :
Live Recording, International Hotel, Las Vegas, February 15-19, 1970 : February 18, 1970

This is another song that I never liked, but it was only in the last 6 months that I even heard Elvis' version. Elvis version adds a grunting blues vocal delivery. It actually has a bit of grunt and a bit of passion. That lifts this song out of the trash and makes it an engaging piece. It's funny how someone just putting a twist on a song you don't like, can lift it out of the dross and into contention.
It's really nice hearing Elvis have a bit of fun with these songs, talking and interacting with the band, and the crowd.

 

SEE SEE RIDER
I knew - and loved - Chuck Willis and Lavern Baker's versions long before I discovered "On Stage, february 1970". This one is by a long mile the best Elvis version who takes an already R&B classic and transforms it into a Rock'n'roll romp. The vocals are perfect for a Blues rock number: hoarsy, agressive, full of passion. The band is tight, specially Bob Lanning drumming which is on fire. I think it is an improvement over Willis 1957 cover but Baker has still got the best rendition ever. You can't win them all.



RELEASE ME
Funny but not that really interesting. Maybe a little bit too Country for me.

 

I know it's completely irrelevant to this thread, but this is my favourite version of CC Rider lol
Old Crow Medicine Show - CC Rider

 

I always thought CC Rider was just his intro/outro music. I had no idea it was it's own song. Didn't even know it had a name.

 

This version of See See Rider is - IMO - so superior to every other one after 1970 that I almost consider it a different song.