Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

I really do struggle with which version of She Thinks I Still Care I actually like better. @czeskleba kind of convinced me on the merits of the alternate version, but I guess Dave Marsh was really implying in his quote that I cited previously that both versions by Elvis were highly original and far different from George Jones original hit version. I am glad that you reminded us of the strength of the album version, and I too love that ad lib by Elvis on his "priceless interjection of 'Oh Lord.' "

 

The 'Elvis in Concert' TV Special is to Elvis fans probably what the 'Star Wars Holiday Special' is to Star Wars fans and what the original 'Let it Be' movie is to Beatles fans. A rare beast lying dormant in the archives, beckoning many brave followers to seek out the beast, to dispel the underlying myths, to unravel the hidden mysteries and face the beast head on despite the dangers that may befall them. All in vain, of course, for all that tread that weary route come to the same, horrifying conclusion. What the frick were they thinking when they first unleashed these beasts? Many cry 'Begone foul beast, back where thee belong in the archives' but once witnessed, those devilish sights can never truly be purged from the mind...


Woah! I think I've had too many chocolate biscuits tonight, goodnight all!

 

Chocolate biscuits with special 'erb lol ....

I'm almost looking forward to listening to this, but just watching Unchained Melody again up there was painful enough, so I doubt I will ever watch the whole thing.
I tried to about six months ago, but had to let it be

 

That's probably doing a disservice to Let It Be, which is nowhere as depressing as its reputations suggests, whereas EIC is.

 

Well Pepi Jean added a photo of him listening to Elvis, and we all said that's a cool idea.
I forgot all about it to be honest, but the Mrs is out, and I thought I might play some tunes, so here's a picture of me about to play some Elvis tunes

 

It seems that sometime back in these threads, it was discussed about the difference between how the ladies and men responded to EIC Elvis. My dad never cared for Elvis one way or the other but I think he said very little about it since my mom and I liked him. I do remember watching the special with mom (dad was at work) but it's a funny thing. I remember my mom's reactions more than the show. She actually gasped when they first showed him come out. I think there was already buzz in the media about how shocking his appearance was going to be. Instead of looking down on him in some way, mom seemed to feel very sorry for him. I think she even said something to me about how they should have stopped the show and got him to a hospital. It was the first time I ever saw mom upset and mad at the television for the way, in her veiw, that they were making him do that show when he was clearly so sick (I don't think she had seen him on television since the Aloha concert).

 

Nice guitar, @mark winstanley !
But we don't need a guitar man, son!...

 

Just to throw my 2 cents into the discussion... this may ramble a bit. I apologize in advance When I was a teeny lil feller, before my dad gifted me his Elvis 8 tracks (wish I'd kept those) and I started building my own Elvis cassette collection, my only Elvis music I could listen to at will were my moms Elvis records. She had Elvis Gold records Vol 1 & 3, FEPB, Moody Blue and EIC. When I was very young (5, 6, 7 years old) I used to play EIC quite a bit. I thought It was ...okay, but I'd always wonder why Elvis sounded kind of strange especially when singing his hits.

Fast forwarding many years, I was able to download the original TV special off of Napster and finally got to see it with adult eyes. I had originally seen it during it's first showing back in 77 with my dad, but my memory of that is very vague and I can't remember my or my dads reaction to the show. Anyhow, finally seeing it as an adult, it was mostly embarrassing. I can no longer watch it... I realize Elvis was likely giving everything he had for these shows, but he was so impaired, what he had to offer was sadly, often not a lot.

VH1, I believe, sometime in the late 90's ran This Is Elvis. I was watching it with my former mother in law. When the movie got to the EIC section and she saw the clip of him getting ready to go onstage, she said "He just gave up" and started to cry.

I don't really see any harm I suppose in FTD releasing an EIC 2 or 3 CD set...I won't be buying it however, they already have arguably released worse live shows. But I am of the position that EIC should never see an official release in video form. If someone really wants to see it, it's out there, it can be found via the internet.

 

Elvis Fans Comments/ Opening Riff
I am not altogether sure that the comments add to this ....

 

Also Sprach Zarathustra

 

See See Rider
This has never been a favourite. This actually doesn't sound too bad.... not much different to many many versions I have heard on FTD's.
Elvis actually sounds pretty into it to be honest, and in the face of huge reservations about this album, aside from the awkward comments at the beginning, we're off to a good start.

 

That's All Right
Again this sounds pretty good, and certainly nothing to be freaked out about.
To some degree the vocal sounds a little strained in parts, but it doesn't sound bad at all.

 

Are You Lonesome Tonight
Here we have a pretty standard arrangement of this classic. I am very used to Elvis goofing on lyrics, and to be honest without knowledge of his problems, I just generally assumed that was just his sense of humour. This isn't bad either.
To be honest at this stage, I would buy this.... There is a vast difference between listening to this, and watching it. Watching it is so overwhelming from the perspective of seeing Elvis, not overweight, but puffed up because of opiates. Anyone that knows anything about opiates and their effects, knows that the visual on there isn't just an overweight man.

 

When I saw The Cramps at Festival Hall they used this as their walk on stage music, then they played Heartbreak Hotel at three times the speed and at the end Lux said 'Elvis always was and always will be the king'

 

See See Rider and That's All Right aren't bad, but they're pretty nondescript, imo. As usual, they almost serve as filler before we get to some of the meatier moments.

Elvis actually delivers a pretty convincing vocal on the sung parts of Are You Lonesome Tonight? I'd argue that there's more emotion there than on, say, the In Person version.

 

Yes and force their eyes open sitting in a straight jacket like Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange.

 

While the comments may or may not work in the film, they should have never been included in the record album. TTWII is a better movie when they took out most of the fan commentary from the original release. There are movie soundtracks that sometimes include a bit of movie dialogue with the music. I don't like that either. LPs and CDs should only have music unless dialogue is part of the performance. I WOULD like the two concerts that comprise EIC to be released on Sony Legacy. NO fan commentary please. And no overdubs either. I would listen to it once and then file it away in my collection.

 

Omaha 77 is considered by many Elvis aficionados as one of the worst concerts of his entire career — why would you want it released in its entirety via Sony Legacy as part of a mainstream release?

Also, with respect to overdubs, Joan Deary claimed Jarvis did not record the orchestra, so those overdubs would likely be necessary. It seems like an odd thing for Jarvis to omit, but at the same time he was well-versed with the Elvis live show circa 1977 and likely had a plan for overdubbing ahead of time to try to clean up the audio mess he knew he was going to face with the soundtrack project.

 

Because I do not like the piecemeal way EIC was released. Besides it is historical. History, good or bad is history.

 

Yes, EIC is part of the historical record, but that doesn’t mean it needs a commercial retail release. The two don’t go hand in hand.

 

Wow, you have a lot of guts to post that opinion around these parts my friend, and guess what, you are absolutely right. Well that is the crazy thing about the whole Elvis In Concert experience. If you had previously seen the hideous video or how bad Elvis looked as well as his slurring speech during the talking parts of the concert, it comes across as a complete train wreck, but if you can get that image out of your brain for awhile (I know its hard to not unsee those images, once they are stuck in the brain), and just listen to the audio of Elvis In Concert, his actually singing voice holds up a lot better than one might expect given the whole circumstances surrounding his health at the time. Writer Robert Matthew-Walker made the strong case for Elvis's vocal efforts in my previous post regarding the album, so I won't repeat it here. I will also tell you that many critics at the time remarked on the power and beauty of Elvis's voice during the highlights of the live concert, while at the same time being highly shocked and saddened by his appearance and overall demeanor. It was quite the juxtaposition for both his fans and popular music critics to fully digest. I had not played the concert in more than a decade, and in fact I had lost my original double vinyl and CD of the album, but I tracked one down about a year ago. I was stunned when I played it. I still hated the sloppy sequencing and lame fan comments, but the music and Elvis's actual singing ability held up far better than I thought it was going to given my low expectations.

 

Few will deny that Elvis sings the first verse leading up to the monologue very nicely, but as a complete performance, the In Person version trumps it.

Elvis and Charlie had their “routine” with Are You Lonesome Tonight? during that period, but in the Omaha footage, one can see Elvis is uncomfortable with what is transpiring knowing it is being taped for broadcast (and certainly Hemion and Smith could not have been happy with it), so it is no surprise two nights later in Rapid City, Charlie is nowhere to be seen. That said, Elvis badly fumbled the monologue, and it wasn’t intentional.

 

My profile pic is me playing and singing That's All Right at Sun Studio back in 2015.

We were the last tour group of the day, and when everyone left the room I asked the guide if she wouldn't mind if I went back in and pick up a guitar for a minute. She enthusiastically obliged and my day was made.

Really special to be in that room, just me and my mother (and the guide of course), hearing the music I was playing bounce around the walls and ceiling.

 

That's pretty cool! Show us it bigger, don't be shy!

 

My profile pic is me singing My Happiness, same place, similar circumstances

Edit, my guitars were in Little Rock lol