Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

I'll Never Know
Written By :
Fred Karger, Ben Weisman & Sid Wayne

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, June 4-9, 1970: June 5, 1970. take 7

I like this song a lot too. I guess I have become old and mellow, because years ago, I would have appreciated this, but not really liked it. I find this to be well done, and its modulations add an intensity, and I find the melody to be very nice. I love the way the melody is constructed. I think the vocal is great and perfectly apt for the song. I guess the lyrics may be a little cheesy, but in reality most love songs tend to lean that way. Certainly not top ten Elvis, but for me at least, still a quality song that helps to keep this album in the arena for me.

 

CINDY, CINDY
Great tune, but even more awesome if you take out all the overdubs and listen to the strip down unedited master take as heard on FTD's "LLFE". Pure rock'n'roll.

 

Cindy, Cindy is an absolute joy. Be it the master or the undubbed version, it's a thrilling listen. I probably have a slight preference for the master, if only because the guitar is mixed too high on the undubbed version for my tastes (but then, the backing vocals are distracting on the master, and Elvis sounds more ferocious on the undubbed version, so whatcha gonna do?).

I'll Never Know doesn't irritate me the way that This Is Our Dance does, but it gets the skip button treatment anyway. There's just nothing going on, and even Elvis can't make me interested in it.

 

Cindy, Cindy is a standout track for sure. Even when RCA was scraping the bottom of the barrel to make a third album out of sessions that probably should have yielded only two, there was still strong material such as this.

 

I am probably less enamored with Elvis's faux rock 'n' roll version of Cindy Cindy than everybody else seems to be. I give him and the band kudos for ramping up their performance, but to me personally, it is a hyper attempt to make a very average folk song into a rather weak rock song. I know it is a thrill for us Elvis fans whenever he seems to go back to his early rock 'n' roll roots in his career, and I for one find some of my very favorite performances of his later career to be songs from this genre, songs like I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water, Burning Love, Promised Land, T-R-O-U-B-L-E, and Way Down, show some real verve and swagger to my ears. This re-vamped and turbocharged version of Cindy Cindy does not do a lot for me, although the vocal is great on it. There just isn't enough going on there lyric wise or melody wise to get my full attention.

I'll Never Know sounds like a movie song from the 60's, and once again Elvis is in fine voice, but neither the arrangement or the lyrics of the song stand out to me in any special way. It seems like the flip side of the coin of Cindy Cindy, a well sung, but very average song that Elvis elevates a little by his sheer vocal talent.

 

Can any of the experts on here help me. I have the double CD Elvis The Other Sides (first released on vinyl 1971?), five songs: Ask Me
Fame And Fortune
I've Lost You
Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello
Lonely man
are in stereo, my question is are they in mono on any CD? Thanks in advance.

 

Off the top of my head, the FTD of Gold Records Vol 4 has the following in mono:

Ask Me
Lonely Man
Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello

I'm guessing they're fold-downs.

The Legacy version of That's The Way It Is has the mono mix of I've Lost You.

I'm not aware of Fame and Fortune being released in mono on CD officially.

 

Thanks for the quick reply Shawn. I was rather hoping they'd be on regular CD's. I don't have any FTD or Legacy CD's, too expensive, you can spend hundreds going down that route. I've just won the vinyl box set of Elvis The Other Sides on e-bay so I'll take the songs off there Into my I-tunes library when I receive it.

 

Love Letters from Elvis stereo master.

 

As my user name would imply, why would you want any of the tracks you mentioned
in mono? They are all terrific stereo masters. Just curious.
However, the original vinyl of the "Other Sides" box was all mono, if that's what you want.

 

I like Cindy, Cindy, though I can see RSteven's point about there not being much melody there. I wouldn't agree with "faux rock" here like I might on some earlier movie tracks. E and the band rocked well on this and on Mojo, Whole Lotta Shakin', and I Washed My Hands. What was needed here from a rock perspective is a new rock song played and sung with the same intensity as those four album cuts that could be the next 45 instead of Life.

 

It's appropriate that I'll Never Know seems reminiscent of a movie song, given that it's the final Elvis compositional credit for Sid Wayne, who gave us both Do the Clam and Clambake, among a couple dozen others.

It's funny that Frankie and Johnny came up yesterday, because Cindy Cindy is basically the same thing... Ben Weisman and some collaborators taking an old folk song and turning it into an Elvis song. Obviously, the results are better than F&J. This one marks the final Weisman contribution to Elvis' catalog. Then end of an era. as Weisman wrote or cowrote more Elvis songs than anyone else.

 

For which he shall never be forgiven.

 

Totally understand about budget, but just so you’re aware the Legacy That’s The Way It Is is app. $12 on Amazon. Not bad for a 2 CD set with several 45 versions, the original album, outtakes and a concert!

 

Amen! My first exposure to this song was through Elvis's rambunctious version, so when I heard Ricky Nelson and Dean Martin gently sing it in Rio Bravo I thought "Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!!" Elvis blew up this song.

The arrangement is raunchy: first that ominous vamp from the rhythm section (Dun DUN DUN!) rubs up against the ADHD gallop of the drums, then the stinging guitar comes in like a dominatrix to whip everyone.

Elvis himself isn't as supercharged as the band--he's a notch behind, confident and lusty. From the opening lines his vocal is downright lascivious. Next to Ricky Martin's, this "Cindy" is R-rated. It would fit in with the whorehouse sequence from the Comeback Special.

Incidentally, here's the complete first take, including Elvis's naughty instruction at the end:

 

As I said, I have the 2CD version of Elvis The Other Sides, those five songs are on it, but in stereo & I just wanted them in mono as well. I listened to those five tracks in stereo yesterday & as you say they are very good stereo versions.

 

It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing)
Written By :
Alice Joy Merritt. Neal Merritt & Shorty Hall

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, June 4-9, 1970: June 6, 1970. take 9

I like this more traditional song in one sense, but the title does it no favours. It kind of sound like some double entendre .... but anyway. The song is a really cool little country tune with a nice arrangement.

 

Life
Written By :
Shirl Milete

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, June 4-9, 1970: June 6, 1970. take 20

Ok, I'm getting the impression that not many folks like this. I reckon it's really good. Lyrically this is really a layman's revision of life through a biblical perspective. It is somewhat of a rewrite of the introduction to 1 John. That suits me, but obviously not everyone. I like the musical accompaniment. I like its gradually raising intensity. I like Elvis' involvement, he seems to be into it, and for me does a great job of this. I think it is a good album closer, as it works like a final statement on these matters, to some degree.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Life is the most bizarre song Elvis ever sang. And considering he did songs like Do The Clam that's saying a lot! The lyrics have the subtlety of a hammer smashing glass. And that flute just needs to go. That this was released as a single must have been an RCA employee's idea of a joke.

 

I like It Ain't No Big Thing, the vocals, the guitar & harmonica, the easy sounding country instrumental break. The song has a moderate pace and Elvis doesn't go too big with the vocals. The protagonist is not happy with what he's seeing but I guess he's keeping himself together. Double entendre in title acknowledged.

 

Life is a very ambitious song thematically. Life, love, creation, the cosmos, greed, redemption. Musically, I don't think it's that interesting or enjoyable. It repeats and builds and tries to be majestic but there isn't that much of a tune to sing. Didn't sell as a 45. Could've been a B side if Elvis really wanted it on a 45. Need better A material that people can sing or move to to have a hit.

 

All of the Bill Porter material is simply the stereo folded down to mono. They are not unique mixes. So all you would need is a preamp with a mono switch (see my avatar). Many of the '60s soundtrack recordings are also mono fold downs (not all though). Now I've Lost You mono master is a different mix and even a different edit than the stereo master.

 

I agree that it certainly wasn't a single.
I just think it closes this album quite well

 

Life is dreadful.