Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

GOOD TIMES

(US) RCA CPL1 0475
Released: March 1974


Good Times is the twentieth studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on March 20, 1974. The album was constructed by the first pick of a session held at Stax Studios in Memphis in December 1973 and two songs, "I've Got a Thing About You Baby" and "Take Good Care of Her", which were left over from the session at Stax in July 1973. The album includes a collection of songs that vary in style and genre. Released the same day as the recording of Elvis: Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis was being made, the title was taken from the song "Talk About the Good Times". Many of the songs are covers of hits at the time, like "Spanish Eyes" and "She Wears My Ring". Charting low at the time of its release, it was considered typical 1970s Elvis material and was his first album to hit the "cut-out bins". The album did have some success though upon its original release, becoming a Cashbox #1 hit and charting in the Top 50 in the UK.

Original copies of the LP with the sticker on the cover (stating the singles on the album) are very rare and sell for large amounts on auction sites.

The album released two singles, both hits: "I've Got a Thing About You Baby" rose to #4 on the Country charts, #39 pop; "My Boy" hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts, as well as #14 Country and #20 Pop.[4]

1. "Take Good Care of Her" Arthur Kent, Edward C. Warren July 21, 1973 2:53
2. "Loving Arms" Tom Jans December 13, 1973 2:49
3. "I Got a Feelin' in My Body" Dennis Linde December 10, 1973 3:37
4. "If That Isn't Love" Dottie Rambo December 16, 1973 3:31
5. "She Wears My Ring" Felice Bryant, Boudleaux Bryant December 16, 1973 3:10
6. "I've Got a Thing About You Baby" Tony Joe White July 22, 1973 2:23
7. "My Boy" Bill Martin, Phil Coulter, Jean-Pierre Bourtayre, Claude François December 13, 1973 3:21
8. "Spanish Eyes" Bert Kaempfert, Eddie Snyder, Charles Singleton December 16, 1973 2:22
9. "Talk About the Good Times" Jerry Reed December 14, 1973 2:22
10. "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues" Danny O'Keefe December 13, 1973 3:09
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For me this is a step up from the last few albums. Not that I dislike the last couple of albums, but they are a little weaker, and as some have pointed out, a little like the later movie soundtracks ... a little halfhearted, thrown together and just not up to the high standards Elvis had set for himself.
Here I think the songs are better, but generally the performances are generally better also.
The album steers things more to the country side of things, and with Elvis' seemingly obvious depression issues, he is able to get the right feel and delivery, pretty much naturally due to where his head is at.
We still get a couple of decent rockier numbers, but the focus is on the big ballad, and the semi-country, and full blown country tunes.

So give us your in and outs on this album and let us know how you feel about it.

Cheers,
Mark

 

I was surprised 'For the Good Times' wasn't on this album as a young' un. Apart from 'I Got a Feeling in my Body' which sounds a little strained to me, I don't mind this album as a whole...

 

I'VE GOT A THING ABOUT YOU BABY is a great Country Soul recording. It seems that Tony Joe White's tunes connected pretty well with Presley. Elvis' voice, while not as its best, has a nice groove that fits quite well to the rhythm section. Nice use of the maraca. Great bass line and backup vocals too. Also Glen Spreen's fine arrangement is really tasteful here. It's a shame the single stalled at #39. The latest releases ("Elvis" and "Raised On Rock") did not help, and neither did the B-Side of the single. I wish they'd have used PROMISED LAND instead of the very weak TAKE GOOD CARE OF HER. What a wonderful doble A-Side single it could have been!

 

Is this LP worth to buy?

 

My two cents: if you love C&W music, yes. For me, it's an average record, just a tad better that the previous one.

Side A
Take good care of her ... 1/10
Loving arms ... 7/10
I got a feelin' in my body ... 7/10
If that isn't love ... 4/10
She wears my ring ... 5/10

Side B
I've got a thing about you baby ... 10/10
My boy ... 5/10
Spanish eyes ... 4/10
Talk about the good times ... 7/10
Good times Charlie's got the blues ... 6/10

 

I can tell you that I paid $15 for an Elvis ticket in '75 and '77 and $10 for The Who in the same time frame, so no his ticket prices weren't cheap and in fact I saw a chart where he had some of, if not the highest prices at the time.

 

I like it, but it really depends on what you're looking for. We'll go through the whole thing over the next five or six days.
There are other albums I would recommend more, but again, it depends on where you're at with Elvis.

To me the essential Elvis albums are the four Golden Records albums (collecting the singles together for each period.

From the regular studio albums

Elvis Presley (56)
Elvis (56)
Loving you
King Creole
Something For Everyone
Pot Luck
That;s The Way It Is
Elvis Country
and I have a soft spot for From Elvis Presley Blvrd

The must have albums to me are

Elvis Is Back
From Elvis In Memphis
Back In Memphis

I love the Viva Las Vegas ftd, but that is 3 cd's and probably more for the enthusiast

 

We'd need to talk about that.

 

Yea, he seemed Ok in MSG interviews. But even in the '68 Special they had to edit like crazy to get a cohesive quote on what RnR was.

 

I heard this too more than once. It seemed to be part of the Elvis story at the time. It of course wasn't true.

 

Probably so, but a "hillbilly", no offense to anyone, can still be smart if uneducated. Lots of stars who probably weren't well educated or grew up in less than ideal conditions who turned out well. Take Jimmy Dean for example, I don't know his background, but growing up in the early south he turned a singing career into a food empire.

 

I think that "Hillbilly Cat" was the best way to describe his music, much better than "King of Rock'n'roll". The only issue here is that he really was the Hillbilly Cat from 1954 to, say, 1961 and from 1968 to 1971.

 

Good Times is probably my favourite of the three Stax LPs, though they're all pretty close in quality, imo. I may well be the only Elvis fan who thinks that Take Good Care Of Her is an excellent lead track and overall performance...

The cover is pretty weird; Elvis isn't striking a hideous pose like he was on ROR, but the actual quality of the photograph seems rather poor, especially on the FTD. I have to assume that it's Elvis' hand that we're seeing, but it almost looks as if someone's reaching in to punch him, like on the cover of the Professionals album:

 

There’s a difference between poorly educated and stupid. I think Elvis was poorly educated, but was naturally smart. I also think that his offstage shyness, manifested in stuttering and stammering when speaking, made him appear less intelligent than he really was.

 

I never looked at the cover that closely before, but it looks like Elvis is grasping his scarf with his left hand to pull it off & give to a fan. Not the best shot for a cover.

 

I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby is one of my top ten Elvis songs. So is Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues. This is the best of the three Stax albums, and one of the better albums of his career.

 

I'm looking through the FTD booklet right now, and hilariously, most of the internal memos/letters are in regard to...the cover photo! Apparently the Colonel wanted them to remove some of the pink on Elvis' sleeve, the Art Department took it upon themselves to "retouch...his left hand so that it does not cover part of his chin," etc. It hardly seems worth the effort!

 

Based on the microphone, jumpsuit, and scarf, it looks like the Good Times photo was taken at the same show as the Burning Love and Hits from His Movies photo.

 

IIRC, the cover picture was taken during the MSG gig.

 

But it was a good effort for the time! Though you'd think they would just pick another image to save all the bother, it's not like they were short of Elvis on stage images from that period...

 

To me, the Good Times LP is where things started to get better for Elvis in the 70's musically speaking, especially relative to the last few studio LPs. Poor cover photo notwithstanding. Design too - did someone spend even 5 minutes on this? The most basic of fonts, Elvis on the top and Good Times on the bottom. Nothing at all exciting, nothing to draw you in, nothing to make you think. And an even worse album title. Good Times? Really??? Was that tongue-in-cheek?

I know we'll get in to the tracks soon enough but I will say that I'll remain perpetually puzzled why I've Got A Thing About You Baby didn't chart higher / wasn't a bigger success. A terrific song on all levels.

 

I agree, it’s a brilliant song on every level. So often, we have observed how Elvis took a substandard song and made it better through the sheer force of his talent, but, on this album, Elvis is given two songs to sing that are great to begin with - I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby and Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues - and one that I rate very highly - Loving Arms, which has attracted interpretations from other artists, most notably the Dixie Chicks on their debut. Give Elvis good material to work with and of course the results will be good more often than not. And Elvis obviously had a special affinity for the songs of Tony Joe White. That I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby didn’t chart higher doubtless has more to do with the damage done by all of the Camden albums and scattershot official albums that preceded it, and with general changes in taste and fashion that caused Elvis to be viewed as uncool, than with the inherent quality of the song itself.

 

Interestingly enough, Barnes & Noble is carrying a store exclusive reissue of Good Times on LP. Red colored vinyl, issued by Friday Music and pressed at RTI. I bought one, more for the sheer absurdity of this LP being reissued as a 'store exclusive' and giving it quite a level of care. It sounds pretty good, but I haven't gotten around to a/b'ing it against my RCA Dynaflex (which I recall sounds pretty nice).

 

If I ran RCA and/or FTD, I would have issued the 3-CD Stax set that they did issue a few years ago, which is fabulous, and, instead of reissuing Good Times on colored vinyl, compiled a 10 to 12 song LP boiling down the best of the Stax sessions to a really super single LP, and deleted the three original Stax albums from the regular catalog, while leaving them on FTD for the super fans.

A few years ago, RCA issued this Record Store Day exclusive LP, which shows how well Elvis’s latter day material could have been presented to the public, if the Camden/budget/exploitation model had been abandoned. I recognize that this album draws from many different recording sessions over a period of years, but this is still the sort of album that could have been presented to the public in the 70s if anyone had cared enough to do so.



Side 1
1. I’m Leavin’ (3:52)
2. Early Mornin’ Rain (3:00)
3. Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues (3:10)
4. Until It’s Time For You To Go (4:02)
5. Help Me Make It Through The Night (2:51)
6. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (edited version) (2:45)
Side 2
1. You Asked Me To (2:52)
2. Gentle On My Mind (3:26)
3. Tomorrow Is A Long Time 5:24
4. I’m Movin’ On (2:56)
5. (That’s What You Get) For Lovin’ Me (2:11)
6. Loving Arms – TAKE 2 (2:52)

 

Although I had no way of knowing Elvis had already recorded For The Good Times in the studio, I had assumed that song would have to be on this album too. And when I much later found out For The Good Times was in the can, and a very decent performance at that, I SITLL wonder why in the heck it was not included as the lead track! I suppose it having been recorded BEFORE the buyout deal had something to do with it.