Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

And let's not forget the 'He Touched Me' 45 issued at the wrong speed (@ app. 35 rpm)!

 

There is just something about this song.

It's right on all the levels just like "In The Ghetto" was for me. This song just sights right.

 

I am pretty sure I've never heard this song..ever!

 

There could be a separate thread only pertaining to releases with erroneously released alternate takes and the like. At least two alternate takes of Anything That's Part Of You have been released on LP or CD. (Elvis In Nashville, and the CD release of WWGAH)

 

Stay Away Joe on the original edition of the Almost In Love album is the movie version.

 

If I'm a Fool For Loving You
Written By :
Stanley Kesler

Recorded :
American Studios, Memphis, February 17-22, 1969 : February 21, 1969. take 9

This is a very nice country blues. A nice remnant of the American sessions. The strings are playing some really nice harmonies and counter melodies and the vocal is a really nice one. This track lifts us out of the poor intro to the album, and makes this feel a more worthy listen.

 

Lets Be Friends
Written By :
Chris Arnold, David Martin & Geoff Morrow

Recorded :
Decca Universal Studio, Hollywood, March 5-7, 1969: March 5, 1969. take 3 and work part

This is again a really nice little song. The piano theme is cool and for this track the stripped back arrangement gives it a good feel.
This is a pretty nicely written song and the chord progression really does give it a good flow.

 

That's unbelievable!

 

Great song. Should have been put on something more substantial than a Camden album. Especially when you consider that the abysmal "Hey Jude" made it onto a mainstream RCA album. How much better would "Elvis Now" be with this song in its place?

 

Agreed

 

I really love If I'm A Fool (For Loving You), and I'll go so far as to say I prefer it to most of the American Sound masters. I was always shocked that it didn't make it onto either FEIM or BIM. The bridge is particularly attractive, especially with the lovely string overdubs.

Let's Be Friends is a pleasant listen that somehow manages to not be cheesy in the slightest. It's not something that I ever listen to outside of the Let's Be Friends album or the Live A Little DF comp, but it's quite enjoyable in both of those contexts.

 

I think I seemed to be aware that If I'm A Fool had to have been recorded around the same time as FEIM and BIM, because of the distinct sound. On the other hand I had no idea that Let's Be Friends was a Change Of Habit outtake at the time. Anyway two very good songs here. Let's Be Friend album is top tier Camden. I had already seen A Change Of Habit when I bought it and was excited to see the title song include here. But I was disappointed Let Us Pray was NOT included. (Little did I know it was coming soon).

 

If I'm A Fool For Loving You is simply a marvelous song and features a stellar vocal effort from Elvis. It is really nice to see Mark and Dirk's appreciation for that outstanding string arrangement on the song as well. Whenever I see the term "counter melodies" that Mark referenced in his fine quote above, I always think of the great orchestral arranger, Percy Faith, who made a living with his ability to come up with gorgeous counter melodies during his heyday period in the 1950's and early 1960's. His signature hit, Theme From A Summer Place, is the longest running instrumental hit to this day on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, scoring a run of 9 consecutive weeks at number one, and also earned a Grammy for Record Of The Year in 1960.

I was not previously familiar with the title track of the album, Let's Be Friends, and I just love Elvis's rather sublime vocal on it. Interesting too that songwriters Arnold, Morrow and Martin wrote all four songs that Elvis recorded specifically for him in 1969, and Chris Arnold himself said that This Is The Story, "was in contention at one stage for release as a single."

 

I'm already on record as being a big fan of "If I'm a Fool for Loving You." I think it's better than at least 80% of the tracks that made it onto the Back in Memphis album, and I'm really puzzled that it didn't receive a better fate than being burned off on a Camden record. A great vocal from Elvis, and even better, he plays guitar... I'm always a sucker for songs where Elvis plays guitar. The strings are very Sherrill-esque and work well, and Bobby Wood plays some nice Floyd Cramer-style piano.

The song was written by Stan Kesler, who of course wrote two of Elvis' Sun sides (I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone and I Forgot to Remember to Forget). The original artist to release the song was: Bobby Wood. Here he talks about it:

Q: In 1964, you had a hit. Can you tell us when Elvis covered it?
A: Yes, 'If I'm a Fool' in 1964 was a pretty big hit for me and so Elvis had known about that and his dad came in one night at the studio while we were recording Elvis. And he said, 'Dad, I'd like to have you meet somebody here'. And so he brought him over and I shook hands with him and then he introduced us and he said, 'Do you know who this guy is?' And he said, 'No, I'm not sure'. So Elvis said, 'What's your favorite record'. And he said, 'If I'm a Fool'. And he said, 'This is the guy that sang it'. And of course his father just said, 'Woah'. So Elvis went on and did it for his dad because that was one of his dad's favorite songs at the time.

And here's Wood's version:

 

Agreed, although I would not go so far as to stay I prefer it to most of the other American Sound masters. It is a tastefully arranged recording with a committed and controlled vocal. Without question I think it should have been included as part of Back In Memphis.

 

Well
I was listening ahead, as I had to do a bit of driving, and On Stage, Almost in Love, That's The Way It Is and Country are albums I'm really looking forward to ... I particularly love That's The Way It Is ... but I digress

 

I dig "On Stage" and I love "Elvis Country".
Not a fan of "That's the Way it is" and "Almost in love" is a joke of an album.
By the way, you did not mention "50 Worldwide Hits", a terrific 4 LPs compilation from 1970.

 

That is coming as well, but I don't have it ... I assume I have the songs off it, but I don't have the actual album.

 

Hold your horses fellas

 

Sorry

 

It’s like asking why Crying In The Chapel was shelved for four years. Elvis recorded the songs and then there was no rhyme or reason to how they were released.

 

You know, it strikes me that if you added the two missing Change of Habit songs (and deleted Mama and Stay Away Joe) Let's Be Friends could be a good-old mid-60s style Elvis soundtrack album with "bonus songs." Obviously at this point they didn't see much of any commercial value with tying an album to a movie. Amazing how times had changed since 1961, when a movie association could have an exponential effect on sales.

 

Almost In Love "a joke of an album"?

 

Sits together amazingly well for the variety of sources.
By far my favourite of the Camdens

 

Sorry, I'm not a fan of those Camden records: there are some good songs on them surely but the whole thing was done in a hurry (Elvis is selling again, let's flood and saturate the market!), with no real artistic vision. A song like RUBBERNECKIN' deserved to be in a proper album ("Back in Memphis" maybe), not buried in that kind of hodge podge.