Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

Too bad, no exact date here:
CAL-2533 I Got Lucky
Modified: September 9, 2015
Release: RCA Camden CAL-2533 I Got Lucky (LP)
Artist: Elvis Presley
Release Date: 10/1971

 

Mark I am surprised you do not generally like Christmas songs, whereas, maybe equally surprising I do. BUT! Only from the day after Thanksgiving through noon on Christmas Day. And I HATE when Christmas songs are on general compilations and/or on non Christmas albums.

 

Yes, other than the actual song Love Letters, it was not the voice that was the problem on the LP, but rather at least 1/2 of the material. Whereas the Christmas LP the material was fine, but about 1/2 of the performances were not.

 

All of Elvis' other Christmas LPs, EPs and Singles were released in either October or November. September seems a bit early from an objective perspective. (Of course these days Christmas season begins the day after Halloween or even earlier).

 

That's why I put the info in the post, because it seemed unusual, but Elvis Discography Menu , tends to be more focused and accurate than wiki, so I went with it.

 

As far as I know it was on a 1988 CD issue of this album. I do not know of any US LP pressing that included the TV Special Blue Christmas.

 

And did you notice your link actually has the LP's pictured in sequence on the home page, putting I Got Lucky ahead of WWOC? I agree with you about WIKI however, not the most reliable source out there. Your source is even in conflict with itself, similar to the 60 CD box is. I think too many "journalists" copy each other's mistakes.

Even A Life In Music has two mistakes on the sequencing of songs on WWGAH Volume 2 and one on C'mon Everybody. The 60 CD box repeats the sequencing error on C'mon Everybody. I fear if Sony does a Legacy of WWGAH they will commit the same sequencing errors as found in A Life In Music. I guess A Life In Music copied from another source that originated these errors. And Sony carries on the tradition.

 

Sorry but this minutiae tends to be more interesting to me than it is to most people.

 

elvisrecords.com is one of the most reliable sources for release dates that I've found.

 

Yeah, baby. And he is diligent with updating information constantly. He is not afraid of publishing evidence that may conflict with the status quo. His most recent and astonishing discovery (via a subscriber's discovery) is the Just For You EP with Don't Leave Me Now (Loving You version) on the cover, label AND grooves in lieu of Is It So Strange. Apparently while awaiting Faron Young's relinquishing 1/3 royalties to Elvis they released the EP for a VERY SHORT time with Don't Leave Me Now (which is logical as that completed the 12 songs from the Loving You LP on the 3rd EP from that album).

 

I really don't know why ... I like singing them well enough, once a year ... I just don't listen to them. I think I am just annoyed by Christmas all round really ... Love me some Jesus, but like valentines day, Resurrection weekend and all these other things, to me, it is a constant, or it is nothing, and I sort of flinch at the idea that everybody needs to get presents all the time for these "occasions" ... I guess I'm just a grumpy old man lol

 

I will certainly check it out.
The thing I liked about the site I'm using is (except it seems for this glitch) all the singles, ep's, lp's, camdens and compilations are in one chronological list.

I started off with the idea of just doing the albums, but of course we took all the singles and ep's on also, and the logistics of trying to run them chronologically was a nightmare before finding the sergent site, because everybody seems to list them all separately

 

I love reading about this kind of minutia! The plethora of information about alternate mixes, accidentally-released takes, confusion about release dates, etc. on this thread is one of the many reasons why reading it is the highlight of my day.

 

I don’t disagree. The Christmas LP was an uneven, mixed bag like the secular and gospel recordings from the same session work. Perhaps miraculously, Elvis delivered a handful of high quality vocals on this material.

I’m sure it was an overall disappointing release during the era, particularly on the heels of Love Letters, but in hindsight, the album had a few gems.

 

I'm with you on this! For me, I think it's a combination of the sense of obligation ("It's the Christmas season; you have to be happy!") and the fake cheer that suffuses so many Christmas songs. That's probably why I love Holly Leaves & Christmas Trees so much. Apart from being a beautiful song performed wonderfully by Elvis, it takes a look at the darker side of the holiday.

 

I think you are doing a great job. And your source is definitely a efficient and convenient way to get this done. But when I see an entry that seems to be out of order, I just have a natural reaction to question it. Carry on, carry on.

When I get up in the morning expecting It's Only Love/The Sound Of Your Cry and discover Christmas is coming even earlier this year I think: There is a disturbance in the force or there is a glitch in the matrix.

 

The (barely legible) listing notice for Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas is dated 7-9-71 for release September, 1971.

The listing for "It's Only Love" b/w "The Sound Of Your Cry" is dated 9-8-1971, received by the listing department September 10, 1971, and the accepted release date as September 21, 1971.

The listing notice for I Got Lucky is dated 7-14-71 for release October, 1971.

 

Ah that might explain the discrepancy. The planned and actual release date are two different dates. Thank you.

 

Your dates are also consistent with the discography in the Walk A Mile In My Shoes box.

 

Well, Christmas music is one of my passions as I now have over 300 holiday albums in my CD collection, and The Wonderful World Of Christmas does feature some of Elvis's most sublime vocals of the 70's. I never thought I would get directly involved in the music business that my family was so intimately with for so many years back in the 50's and 60's with top 40 radio, but last year I managed to convince Real Gone Music to reissue a classic RCA Victor Living Stereo version of John Klein's A Christmas Sound Spectacular, along with his follow-up Christmas album from 1964, in a beautiful remastered twofer CD done by Vic Anesini's associate at Sony's renowned Battery Studios in New York, Mark Piacentini. Sorry for the shameless plug, but we sold out of our initial run and had to re-order more copies from Sony, so it was a thrill for me to get my father's favorite Christmas album back out into the public domain. I was thrilled to write the liner notes as well for the project.

I really think TWWOC is one of the most interesting and hidden gems in Elvis's entire album catalogue. It has some of the most soulful and laid-back vocals that Elvis ever sang on an album, and I'm not just talking about his stupendous take on Merry Christmas Baby, but his truly subtle, but bluesy takes on It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You), I'll Get Home On Christmas Day, If I Get Home On Christmas Day, and Holy Leaves And Christmas Trees, and all of those are original songs more or less, if I am remembering correctly. I think if these last four original songs were not based in the holiday genre, this part of the album might have been considered a masterpiece, but holiday music seldom gets any great love from music critics or sometimes even dedicated Elvis fans, except for his diamond certified blockbuster compilation based on his 1957 Christmas album, but that is buoyed by the iconic single, Blue Christmas. I really appreciate and respect @PacificOceanBlue's distinct appraisal on Elvis's very fine vocals on this wonderful and far too underrated gem of an album. This album rarely gets the praise it deserves, despite its 3x platinum status.

 

I love this album. I had this on cassette. Every December school was out for two weeks. Next to summer vacation, this was the event I looked forward to more than anything. The cassette of this album was the emblem, for me, of this time of year. I would listen to it over and over. To this day, when I see that album cover or listen to this album, I can recall that wonderful feeling of anticipation that a kid feels around Christmas as well as the joy of being off from school for two weeks.

 

The alternate master/remake of I'll Me Home On Christmas Day is pretty darned good too.

 

I just put that John Klein two-for on my wish list. I am looking forward to the sonics, as I LOVE RCA Living Stereo stuff. Your song selections of: "Merry Christmas Baby, but his truly subtle, but bluesy takes on It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You), I'll Get Home On Christmas Day, If I Get Home On Christmas Day, and Holy Leaves And Christmas Trees," I would have to agree with. I am also a fan of the opening track. It is the "old man vibrato" vocals on Silver Bells, Winter Wonderland and The First Noel that get my goat.

 

I don't know why I'm apprehensive about the Christmas album ... I could have just listened to it while running around, but I just couldn't bring myself to put it on lol

Anyhow, What do we want to do guys?

I'm happy to put Christmas on hold for a week if we prefer?
Let me know please

 

A week? Wouldn't it just be one day on hold, so that the single could be covered first? I Got Lucky has no new material and has already been discussed as a comp during the discussion of C'Mon Everybody, so that doesn't warrant several days of discussion. On this presumption, I'm gonna proceed with general comments about the Christmas record, which it seems we should get to either tomorrow or the next day.

I love Christmas music almost as much as Steve does. It's all I listen to from the Sunday after Thanksgiving through December 31st. Even given my bias toward Christmas music, I'd say this is a solid Elvis album. The music represents the full range of his abilities and styles as a performer... there is pop, soul, country, and blues here. I agree that his voice started to sound different in 1971, and the difference was not an improvement, but his singing on balance is still quite good. There is a solid mix of material... secular and religious, standards and originals. The originals are all decent songs... maybe none of them is a masterpiece or has become a standard, but they all have fine arrangements and decent performances from Elvis. Best of all, there are no non-Christmas songs shoehorned in here, as there were on the 1957 album.