Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, May 26, 2019.

  1. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I really find Sylvia to be a hidden gem as well. I think it could have been a hit single in the United States, if it had been released in a timely fashion or featured in the movie ETTWII. Apparently, there was some consideration on the part of Elvis to include it in his Las Vegas shows, if Wikipedia is to be trusted. English songwriters Geof Stephens and Les Reed were both very successful tunesmiths and wrote many hit songs for everyone from Tom Jones to the Carpenters. Elvis gives an outstanding vocal performance and Norbert Putman and David Briggs string and horn arrangement is just outstanding to my ears.
     
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  2. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love

    Location:
    Norway
    I usually think that Elvis often had the definitive versions of songs he chose to cover. Not in this case. The original version by the song´s composer, Buffy Sainte-Marie, is without equal, IMO. It´s a great song in my book, but Elvis´ version never really gels. And that´s unusual in itself.
     
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  3. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Yes indeed, it seems like there are several songs by Gordon Lightfoot that might have suited Elvis's vocal style very well. I would loved to have heard Elvis take a crack at Sundown.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2019
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  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I thought that too, but I'm never sure where that line is with Elvis ... I thought it maybe too smutty in some respects "in the room where you do what you don't confess" idk ... fantastic song though
     
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  5. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Of course, one wonders why they didn't simply use shots from a different show on the cover, saving the time and expense of having Bonja take those Graceland photos. The Colonel must have been having an off day.
     
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  6. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I'm in the camp that finds Sylvia to be a substandard song. I can see why it sat on the shelf so long... the song is nothing special, nor does Elvis do anything exceptional with it in my opinion. To my ears, it doesnt even stand out here amid the weak 1971 material. Elvis also struggles a bit with the enunciation of the name, at times singing something that sounds more like "Siv-ya" and that's always bugged me a bit.

    This is also a relatively rare instance of Elvis singing a song with a woman's name in it, something he tended to avoid more than many other singers, presumably because he liked the greater universality a love song has when it's not directed at someone by name. I bet he did less than a dozen such songs over his career. The only others I can immediately think of are Judy and Susan When She Tried, though I'm sure there's a few more.
     
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  7. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Oh don't forget Queenie Wahine's Papaya!!!!
     
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  8. Dave112

    Dave112 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Carolina
    Cotton Jenny and Carefree Highway would be my two picks if I could pick two for Elvis to record.
     
  9. Yeah, not a fan of Sylvia either. It’s not terrible, but it seems Elvis is once again reaching for the notes. And those background vocals are obtrusive and unnecessary. The orchestra seems a bit much too, maybe a more mild arrangement would have suited it better?

    Lest anyone think I’m completely down on this album, I love Early Morning Rain. One, it’s such a great song. Two, Elvis delivers a sublime vocal that works perfectly for the lyrics. So glad he was able to cover this one. A highlight of the LP.
     
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  10. Sweet Angeline and I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen too. If you go a bit of a stretch, there’s Landry Miss Clawdy and Long Tall Sally. And Proud Mary and Polk Salad Annie.

    Doh, and Marie’s The Name of His Latest Flame. And Cindy Cindy. And Mary In The Morning. Frankie & Johnny. Sweet Caroline. Little Egypt. Marguerita.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2019
  11. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    That sums it up. Just a forgettable MOR recording with Elvis unable (or unwilling) to take command of the material along with another schmaltzy arrangement by Jarvis.
     
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  12. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Ha. I was thinking specifically of love songs though, and I'm pretty sure that isn't one, unless I'm missing some weird double meaning in there. Your post did remind me of Petunia the Gardener's Daughter though.
     
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  13. Dave112

    Dave112 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Carolina
    I like other artists' versions of this song but Elvis' version is my go-to version.
     
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  14. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Nah, I was just being silly.
     
  15. artfromtex

    artfromtex Honky Tonkin' Metal-Head

    Location:
    Fort Worth, TX
    I am a bit behind here, so I will keep my thoughts as brief as possible.

    "Elvis NOW" is just a weird mix of songs. If the Camden releases didn't confuse the public enough, this LP had to seal the deal. What was Elvis' artistic identity? His personal image was doing well. He looked great. Girls still adored him and guys thought he was cool again (except for the radical counter-culture types). Musically, this album is a mess. Having an eclectic mix of genres/styles is not the problem. It's the fact that many of these songs were the muck at the bottom of various barrels sitting in Felton's lap. First off, "Hey Jude" should have never seen the light of day. There were plenty of other songs in the can that were light years ahead of this dreck. It's even worse when you realize that people buying this album didn't know that this was a throw away attempt that was abandoned and unfinished. They thought this was "Elvis doing a Beatles song!". What a train wreck.

    Next up we have the two spiritual numbers. "Put Your Hand In The Hand" should have been on "He Touched Me" in place of "A Thing Called Love". The latter fits better with folk oriented songs like "Early Morning Rain". In addition, I would like to add the PYHITH is a personal favorite. I love the drum figure and it's a good old southern gospel hand clapper. "Miracle Of The Rosary" on the other hand is just not a very good song and it does deviate from Elvis' gospel style. He excelled at southern gospel and traditional hymns. This song has a vibe that just doesn't jibe with Elvis' natural sensibilities. This song had "CAMDEN" written all over it.

    The last song I want to talk about is "Help Me Make It Through The Night". This is one of my favorite songs by Elvis in the 70's. I think that his approach was perfect. His voice has a weathered tonality and I think that was a deliberate choice that suits the song. He sounds simultaneously desperate and manipulative. He needs this woman's company tonight because he is obviously hurt, but at the same time he has a power over this carefully chosen companion and he knows it. I am a big critic of Elvis' 1971 "shake voice", but here it serves as a useful tool.
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2019
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  16. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Fools Rush In
    Written By :
    Rube Bloom & Johnny Mercer

    Recorded :

    RCA's Studio B, Nashville, May 15-21, 1971: May 18, 1971. take 24

    Elvis does a really nice job of this, and the arrangement is really nice. It just seems a bit random.
    Going through this album song by song, for me, has shown that most of the songs are ok-pretty good, but we're more used to have some fantastic songs, and in some instances 1 or 2 disposable songs. Aside from a couple of good to very good songs, most of this is a little on the disposable songs, and although Elvis' people had never been particularly good at compiling albums, this one is likes a dog's breakfast melange of bits and pieces that have little in common with each other.

     
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  17. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago
    Written By :
    Adapted by Elvis Presley

    Recorded :

    RCA's Studio B, Nashville, June 4-9, 1970: June 4, 1970. take 1

    This is a pretty good rocking type of song. It starts awkwardly.
    This track is like a jam that starts in an unsure way and really starts coming together in the middle. These days "I'll lick the guy that says it isn't so" doesn't translate so well lol
    I like this song well enough, but in context with the rest of the album it is all a little underwhelming.

     
  18. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Fools Rush In is a great song, but it strangely reminds me of the 60s soundtracks!
     
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  19. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    Nothing wrong with either of these songs, but they're not tracks that I ever actively seek out. As much as I dislike the way I Was Born... spoils some key tracks on Elvis Country, the song itself works somewhat better when split up into tiny pieces than it does as a complete work, imo.
     
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  20. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Fools Rush In should have been the title of this LP. I was a fool for buying it in 1972. Yes, I consider the soundtrack years as the "fool me once" but the post 1970 years as "fool me twice".
     
  21. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I always appreciate you fantastic sense of humor on these reviews. Well, sure enough Elvis Now really never comes together as a coherent studio album, despite the fact that it has three or four performances on it that I really like. Funny enough, when I bought the album on vinyl in the late 70's, I only found I played one or two songs from it very often, Until It's Time For You To Go and Early Morning Rain, but I have grown to really appreciate Sylvia and Fools Rush In over the last few years. I almost envy the fact that you have reduced so much of Elvis's catalogue from your preferred Elvis library as it makes it a little easier to choose your selections for the day, although I have to say honestly, I would not trade places with you as I really love getting lost in such a huge supply of diverse material, and even Elvis's evolving baritone over the later years intrigues me a lot. Kenny Rogers once said he was very envious of singers like Elvis and Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers as "They could both sing down there where the real men do." I always thought that was funny as hell, because now it is tenor voices that always seem to be the darling of music critics and even a lot of popular music fans.
     
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  22. While not bad, Fools Rush In seems half-hearted. Wasn't this one done as a favor to James Burton, who played on the Ricky Nelson version? I like the full I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago, another highlight of the album for me. Still, it's completely out of place.
     
  23. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    It's a direct copy of Ricky Nelson's 1963 arrangement, even down to having the same lead guitarist play the exact same solo. Elvis copying Ricky Nelson is really a case of the tail wagging the dog.
     
  24. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    Outstanding record, and yes, the Aloha version is superior. Not bad for being at, like, 3am or some wild hour.
     
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  25. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    That is probably true enough, but I actually prefer Elvis's version as I don't dig Ricky's double tracked vocals on his version. It's funny too, because I really love the sonics on Ricky's late 50's recordings, but I like the nice reverb on Elvis's vocal for Fools Rush In. I guess it is just another case whereby the mere sound or technique of Elvis's vocals stand out to my ears, and I do love Burton's reprise of his stellar guitar solo as well.
     
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