Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

I used to think that all of the versions were pretty much the same but after reading these threads, I can hear the differences in the various mixes. Some differences are splitting hairs but some nuances in the mix do contribute to the overall feel of the songs.

 

Catching up a bit, interesting to see so many varied opinions on this album's contect. A few of mine:

Oldies Medley - I like it, a nice way to present the material if he's only gonna do a 30 second version of Jailhouse Rock anyways. Really nice to hear Flip, Flop & Fly.
Why Me Lord - this one blew me away when I revisited this album when the CD first came out. The barritone of JD gives it a solemnity but when that chorus comes in - wow! This is the Elvis I love hearing - full of emotion, depth and passion.
How Great Thou Art - So much has written about Elvis and this song there's not much left to say. Although how cool is it when Elvis say s 'sing it fellas.' Once again, it's sometimes the little, offhand things in these songs that make me smile.
Help Me - This was a track I was suprised Elvis covered, mostly due to the lyric of him singing 'help me'. Another one where to me he seems fully commited. The more Kristofferson Elvis does, the better.
Let Me Be There - A divisive track in fandom for sure. Put me on the side of someone who really likes it. What a great pop song! The band, especially Ronnie Tutt, eat it up. Love that horn line in the chorus too. Killer key change. Back in my band days, we'd occasionally throw this song in a set as it's such a blast to play. No one in our audience had any clue what the song was, but they always seemed to like it.

 

It really is a terrific live concert album and Elvis's voice and mood are just a thrill to hear. I have an unpublished Charlie Rich DVD concert at the Mid South coliseum in Memphis from 1974 and it finds Charlie in fantastic spirits as well. I got it from the producer/director of the film as he and I were trying to get in touch with Charlie Rich Jr. to see if we could find the original footage and get it remastered and restored properly. He also has some great interview footage with Charlie as well.

Yes indeed, something about returning home to Memphis that drove both of these artists to put in a little extra mojo for the crowd. Neither were actually born in Memphis, but they both spent most of their lives there over the years.

I should also mention that I love the last three songs on the live concert album as well, My Baby Left Me, Lawdy Miss Clawdy and even the always expected and obligatory Can't Help Falling In Love With You, all of which are sung by Elvis with some degree of enthusiasm and vigor. I really enjoy the big band and horn laden version of Lawdy Miss Clawdy, but of course it is still no match against his definitive version from the 68 Comeback Special.

 

One of Elvis's very finest double sided hit singles from the 70's. Perhaps Elvis's greatest Chuck Berry cover on one side, and a heart wrenching countrypolitan ballad on the other. Who else in the entire contempoary music world was showing this type of versatility? Linda Ronstadt would have some success blending country and rock 'n' roll, and the Eagles would give it a nice shot for awhile, but Elvis did this in such an effortless way and with some pretty fine results to my ears.

 

This single is almost like a throwback to the Sun days, with a deliberate R&B side and a country side.

 

Promised Land is without question one of Presley's greatest 1970's era recordings, with a commanding vocal and rousing arrangement. The same cannot be said for the b-side; It's Midnight is unnecessarily bombastic with an excessively schmaltzy arrangement. The first minute of the song is somewhat tasteful and restrained, and then the cringeworthy and pompous arrangement for the chorus kicks in (and the live versions are significantly worse). Both My Boy and It's Midnight are of the same variety, an exhibit of what went wrong with Elvis' recording career during the mid-1970's.

 

I didn't realize that. That makes sense and makes for better listening understanding that. Thanks.

 

Promised Land trumps Burning Love all day long. It is like finding a gem in a cow pie. I like it better than Chuck Berry's version. Although I DO like Dave Edmunds version a lot too.

 

I could not agree more with this statement. It's also quite interesting just what a small world is was at the time in Nashville. Larry Gatlin, who actually wrote Help Me, also sang background vocals on Kris Kristofferson's hit version of Why Me, Lord. As far as Nashville itself, it really was often six degrees of separation between the songwriters and the artists themselves on many occasion. I too would loved to have heard Elvis take a crack at Kris's Me And Bobby McGee or Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again). I also would have loved to hear Elvis do some more Mickey Newbury songs as well, like San Francisco Mabel Joy or Love Look At Us Now. Mickey's voice range and vocal passion were not unlike Elvis's to some degree as you can here on his stellar version of the latter song I mentioned above.



3:46NOW PLAYING

 

I think if a "Schmaltzy Only Elvis Fan Club" were started, there would be a HUGE following, much to our chagrin my friend.

 

Not much to say about this oddity, but I did notice this.

About 9:34 "...and then I met Colonel Parker" [audience laughter]

What Elvis actually said, I think, is "...and then I met Colonel Sanders...Parker..Parker."

If the Col. Sanders part was cut because Parker didn't like Elvis having fun on stage with his name, the result was actually to make it sound as if the audience laughed at the mere mention of Col. Parker.

 

What is even more astonishing is that RCA took delivery of this LP from Tom Parker as part of Elvis' fulfillment of the annual album requirement (for a number of reasons, including the fact that a number of consumers that it appealed to already acquired it at arena concession stands across the USA), rather than issue a directive that Elvis deliver new music, or defer the third required LP to the following year. This bizarre concert souvenir should never have been issued as a mainstream album release. Parker didn't care about the quality (or lack thereof) of what was delivered to RCA and RCA didn't care what it issued as long as the album jacket had Elvis' name on it. What a low standard for one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century.

 

I would assume that they didn't like it but at least it took it out of the hands of Parker. I thought that he made some talkies in the 1950's as a side hustle and RCA acquired those (at a nice sum for Parker I'm sure). Parker was so intertwined with Elvis in business that the glaring conflicts of interest would have been front and center in court if Elvis had ever truly wanted to be done Parker's management services.

 

Well said and I would buy a copy of that Charlie Rich concert video in a heartbeat!

 

Is this album actually included in the RCA Albums Collection? As far as I know it's never had an official stand-alone cd release - is that correct?

 

I had a buddy who swore that Having Fun With Elvis On Stage was a postmodern masterpiece. In retrospect, he may have been trolling me.

 

The last three songs on the live Memphis album aren't stand-out performances when taken individually, but taken together, they make for a quite effective finale to the album. It's almost like a mini-snapshot of Elvis' early career, from Sun (My Baby Left Me is basically a rewrite of That's All Right) to early RCA to the early 60s.

The original show slotted Funny How Time Slips Away in as the penultimate song, which, of course, doesn't work with this narrative. It's another reason why I prefer the original album edit to either of the reissues.

 

I don't think so.. I haven't heard it yet

 

Correct - it hasn't received an official release on CD. I'm waiting for the day it's paired with a soundboard concert for an FTD release.

 

It was still in print during the first half of the 80’s, but phased out of the catalogue when the labels transitioned out of vinyl. The bootleggers reissued it along with numerous subsequent volumes.

 

Not doubting you, but I don't ever recall seeing this LP in stores post-1977. I know there's a label variation that came in 1979 so it was certainly out there, but I wonder how many stores actually bothered to carry it.

 

I saw it in the early 80’s, but your point is well taken, it probably was not actively stocked.

 

And it also got a catalog number change in 1979.

 

Even the artwork, if you want to call it that, is outlandishly poor.

With all the beautiful pictures of Elvis in existence, 6 out of focus, black and white pictures of our man, ugh, no quality control at all ...