I vote for this thread ending with EIC and the singles mentioned. I agree that Elvis was aware of an EIC special and LP to be released and it would have been released even if he had lived.
Elvis was contractually obligated to provide RCA with two albums per year. He only managed to produce one in 1976, and since the release of that album he'd only completed four additional masters towards the next album. Now here it was the beginning of 1977, and Elvis had just no-showed the Nashville session that was specifically designed to complete his next album. Given this, it's not surprising RCA took the step of manufacturing a compilation that's sorta designed to look like a new album. Their only other option would be to sue Elvis for breach of contract, and they clearly didn't want to take that step. As you noted, this record seems obviously aimed at his newfound success on the country charts. It more than "leans" country, it's 100% pure country. The strategy seems to have worked, as the album made it all the way to #4 on the country album chart, which is pretty impressive for a record of old material, none of which was a hit. And since it's all pre-buyout material, it was 100% profit for RCA and no royalties for Elvis.
There are a LOT of great posthumous releases, and a LOT of crappy ones too! I think that there may be less discussion about individual songs, but many releases can be discussed well on the whole. Example the 50s box certainly does not need to have every song run through again, but comments on it as a release and some of its previously unreleased material is going to be interesting.
It makes me wonder how a compilation of pre 1973 material could let Elvis off the hook of PROVIDING material for 2 albums and 3 or 4 singles a year? But I am sure RCA benefitted by looking the other way on this issue in this case.
Exactly. When there are no new albums to listen to, it's only natural to eventually go back and reassess the ones you didn't like as much the first time around, and see if you can find some enjoyment in them.
Yeah, it didn't literally let Elvis off the hook... he was still in breach of contract. But as you say, it was a case of RCA "looking the other way" regarding that breach, and releasing a stopgap compilation to fill the void in the schedule. If Elvis had produced the material his contract required, the Welcome to My World album would not have been released is what I meant.
I would be in favor of two options: Line of demarcation either being Aug 16 1977. OR that line being EIC and May Way on this thread and a new thread started with Unchained Melody single. I do not like the idea of carrying this thread up to 1980. I think the line of posthumous is a more significant line than an arbitrary calendar.
I don't think there was any serious discussion among those in charge about cancelling the special. The train was rolling too fast to stop it at that point... contracts had been signed, money had been spent to film footage. Cancelling the whole thing would have been a financial and public relations disaster. And I don't think the Colonel or anyone else in power had the insight to consider how the special might harm Elvis' reputation.
I think at minimum Elvis in Concert should be included. It was a project that was in the works at the time of his death, and would have been released in similar form even if he'd lived. It's the final new material released in his career. Excluding it makes no sense to me. It would be like doing a Janis Joplin thread and excluding Pearl, or a Gram Parsons thread that excludes Grievous Angel.
Yes, one of these two options seems to make more sense to me. I am okay with either one. I hope the rest of us (including myself) haven't confused the hell out of Mark. It is like trying to herd cats to get Elvis fans to go in one specific direction on anything.
Just like RCA accepting and recycling the abominable Having Fun With Elvis On Stage talking LP from Boxcar in 1974 in lieu of a proper, contractually obligated album of music recordings.
Yep. I’m not super familiar with the vinyl catalog releases from 1978 through most of the 80s, but starting with the CD releases of the Complete 50s Masters, The Number One Hits, The Top Ten Hits, The Memphis Record, The Sun Sessions CD, and the Essential Elvis series in the late 80s, there’s a whole new story to talk about. The first two Essential Elvis CDs were what really sent me down the rabbit hole of Elvis super fandom.
Well, so far we've gone with the "arbitrary calendar" splits. I mean, I guess the 50s to the 60s had a clear demarcation due to pre and post Army, but the split between 60s and 70s was entirely arbitrary, and resulted in us discussing the Kentucky Rain single in a different thread than the rest of the American sessions, which didn't make a lot of sense. So there's already precedent for arbitrary...
Nothing about that Kentucky Rain discussion made a lot of sense On a more serious note, after Aug 16, nothing was ever the same again. I’m not sure if you’re old enough to have memories of it, but to a young Elvis fan as myself it was tragic. Every single release from that point forward - including EIC - carries some of that loss, and a bit of ‘if only’. I’d like to use that date to reflect this.
I did consider that, but I didn't want to close the thread on his death .... Although I am pretty new to the whole history and in depth study of Elvis, I see the concert and single to be a coda to his death, in a sense. Almost too quick for the posthumous stuff to even be considered. I didn't want to start the posthumous thread with In Concert either, because it so significantly is a direct pointer to his death. I'm not sure it is possible to watch it, and not see the writing on the wall. Anyway we go is fine with me though.
I definitely agree with this and the Joplin analogy is a good one. Otherwise, we are stuck reviewing releases such as; He Walks Beside Me, Mahalo, Canadian Tribute and the all time classic Elvis Sings For Children And Grownups too. With that said, it would be fun to have a deep dive discussion into the 1980 Elvis Aron Presley (Silver Box.)
We'll be covering it all. Some will probably be one day acknowledgements, and some will require a little more than that.
There definitely are essential post-1977 albums: "Reconsider baby", "The complete Sun sessions" double lp, "The King of Rock'n'roll" 5CDs set, the "Essential" series, "The Memphis Album", "The great performances", "Elvis '56", "Get down & get with it", "Viva Las Vegas" double CD, "Elvis at Sun", "Such a Night in Pearl Harbor", etc. An awful lot of great releases and good music for sure.
Personally, I think we should finish this thread with EIC and the singles, but either way, I definitely don't think we should have an "80s" thread. If we keep breaking things up by decade, we'll get things like "Elvis Presley - The Albums & Singles Thread pt6 - The 2000s," which doesn't make much sense, imo. Much cleaner and more logical to have four threads: 50s, 60s, 70s, and posthumous. And yes, the decade splits are completely arbitrary, but I'm glad Mark designed these threads as he did. Some of the threads on this forum are just too long and intimidating. The decade-splitting helps to avoid this problem. Plus, it rhymes nicely with the decade boxes.
The posthumous thread would have to include all the US vinyl releases and as for the CD era, the highlights. To include EVERY RCA/BMG/SONY release would create more pages than all the Beatles threads combined. We can't let that happen, oh the horror.