Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

Unlike certain other songs (heh) this is one where Elvis did make some notable changes in the arrangement compared to the original version. And the result is (to me) a dramatic improvement and the definitive version of this song. In particular, I love the drum accents that come after Elvis' lines ("When I said" da-da-da for example). To my ears, this is easily the best song on the album. EZ Listening Elvis is not always my favorite, but when he has great material and is truly into what he's doing, the results can be fantastic.

 

I never loved the final arrangement of this track. I think he was on to something with Take 1 in the studio, but the subsequent arrangements became less convincing.

 

I can see your point. We both agree that the piano, background singers, brass section, guitar, harmonica, and pedal steel guitar sound fantastic I gather. At a minimum, I would have turned down the strings a bit in the mix. Pretty much every ballad in this period had lush strings added regardless of artist but I think a little less would have been a lot more in this case. I think of the great arrangement of "I'll Remember You". It had a similar flow and had an accordion doing a similar fill as the harmonica in "Mary In The Morning". I think the background singers and some guitar fills in place of the buttery strings could have better complemented Elvis' already smooth but powerful performance in this song. I like the song as is and it has a prominent spot in rotation in my Elvis playlist but I always seem to think that the strings slightly take away from the recording.

 

You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
Written By :
Cynthia Weil, Barry Mann & Phil Spector

Recorded :
Live Recording, "That's The Way It Is", International Hotel, Las Vegas, August 10-13, 1970: August 12, 1970.

This song has a big history, and I'm not going to go into best versions, as there are a lot of them. This version is excellent though.
We start with just a bass guitar, then ever so gently a guitar plays in the background. Elvis comes in with the vocal. We build in intensity and Elvis tears it up on "Baby, Baby I know it". We then sink back down for the second verse. The use of dynamics here is excellent.
This is a little slower than most versions, which helps add to the intensity.
The iconic "Baby, Baby, I'd get down on my knees for you" section gets a remake, and it works really well. Elvis is directly in this song, and that's one of the reasons it works so well, to me at least.

Is this the start of the "suit's too tight" references? It always gives me a chuckle, yet doesn't spoil the atmosphere for me.

 

I've Lost You
Written By :
Alan Blaikley & Ken Howard

Recorded :
International Hotel, Las Vegas, August 11, 1970 Dinner Show

There really never seems to be a song on this album that I don't love. This is another one. The dynamics in this album are not tiring to me, they are just a great part of the colour scheme that appeals to me.
Here we have a piano arpeggio that has some gentle wind instruments adding colour. As we move to the chorus we get that intensity that makes this album so good. Elvis is in full control of his delivery, and I am starting to agree with the folks that say he was on top of his vocal control here. It very well may be his vocal peak.
I enjoy this stuff greatly.

 

Sadly, "I've Lost You" was just never one of my favorites. It never landed for me. To me, this is the first of many songs that would come later like "My Boy" "The Last Farewell" etc. A little too big and bulky. I know Elvis loved to tackle these type of songs but I need to draw the line somewhere!

 

This particular performance of You've Lost That Loving Feeling is my favorite by Elvis, and frankly I prefer Elvis' over all others.
I prefer the studio version of I've Lost You and I really like the song.

 

Here is the live version from the album with the reprise.

 

The version from the album. It's understandable that those weren't used in the documentary if they didn't have better footage.

 

While I never really cared for the song 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling' I really like Elvis' version (here, and throughout the early '70's). This is primarily due to the band, especially the drums which just kick the song in to overdrive. Plus they lock in to a killer groove at 'baby, baby I get down on my knees for you...' part.

 

The only version of You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' that I've ever loved is the Righteous Brothers version. The Elvis versions aren't terrible, but they don't have any emotional impact on me. I'm also not a fan of using it to open side 2. I've Lost You would have been a much better choice, imo.

 

YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVIN' FEELIN'

As everybody else, I discovered first the "TTWII" version taken from the August 12th midnight show. Now, something happened when I first saw the movie: I hugely prefered the movie version (specially that "It makes me just feel like crying" line which is so much better in the movie) but I could not find it anywhere. For years! Finally, I bought several years ago the "Writing for the King" FTD book and, surprise, here it was in its full glory. Nice memories.
Anyway, just like on I JUST CAN'T HELP BELIEVIN', I love the way Elvis gives some Soul to those Pop records. Vocally, it's pretty impressive but I wish he had performed it without the orchestra. Who knows: maybe there's a rehearsal (Elvis and the rhythm band, that's it) with it somewhere.

 

As someone who actually loved the original version of the song by the Righteous Brothers, I have to say that once I heard Elvis's version, I was just stunned by how he transformed an already great song into something even better to my ears. Elvis and the TCB just had a way of doing this very often during those prime years. I just dig the way Elvis slows the whole thing down just a notch and really gets every ounce of soul and passion out of the lyric, even throwing in his own ad libs like "Listen to me, talking to you." I have often been amazed that whenever I sing Elvis's version at a karaoke bar, somebody invariably comes up to me and asks me where I got that version and how much better they like it than the original.

I do as well, even though Elvis's live version is quite good, I miss the clarity and beauty of Elvis's full voice on the studio cut, and I also miss a couple of my favorite lines that Elvis skips in the live version of I've Lost You; "I've lost you though near me, and your body is still this kind, I've lost you on the journey, but I can't remember where or when, oh no." That lyric gets me every time I hear it, and I really miss it on the live recording.

 

My favorite version.

One of my absolute favorite Elvis tracks. I loved it the first time I heard it (MSG album) and I still get the same charge out of it nearly 40 years later. Killer.

 

At least we now have a more clear post of Elvis Live 69 on Amazon US with a price of $159.98 and some of the cover artwork within the package. I do not see any detailed tracklist as of this morning, but I am sure that will be coming soon. I think we all have a pretty good idea on that score already. I am excited about this package, but it also seems a little bittersweet as I said before, since it may be the last large deluxe CD box set we get on Elvis in the foreseeable future. The release date is August 9th.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PPVVYMQ/?tag=imwan-20

 

Nice looking package all around. Was hoping they'd be able to match the great cover from the RSD exclusive vinyl and looks like they have. But technically, they don't have a bad picture to work with from this period.

 

For the setlists, scroll down here to the correct date starting August 21st Midnight show as the start
https://www.keithflynn.com/essential_lists/concerts-1969.html

 

I've got a pre-order in, but really hoping for a price drop between now and August 9.

 

Cheers for the update mate

 

Here's something I don't quite understand about this set, and I know you guys will have the answer.

Elvis' run of International shows went from July 31 1969 until (roughly August 28) two a day, every day.

Are these shows on the box the ones recorded properly for Elvis In Person?

 

I'm not a fan of the Righteous Brothers and I've never liked this song. Elvis does a reasonable job with it but even he can't transform it into a song that I like.

By contrast, I really like "I've Lost You." As I've said, I like the EZ Listening stuff he does on this record far better than most of the similar stuff he'd do as the decade went on. I'm not sure what's different... I guess probably the energy and enthusiasm behind it, and the quality of his singing.

 

Yes, every show in the complete run was not recorded. Only these shows were multi-track recorded for the intent of producing the live album. There are soundboard recordings of other shows (ie the Return To Vegas FTD) but these are all the multi-track recordings.

 

This looks really good!

 

Interesting color scheme.

Curious to see how the damaged portions of 8/21/1969 MS are presented.

Small portions of 8/21/1969 DS were recorded. I wonder if they still exist, and if they'll be included?

 

Looking forward to this boxset!