Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

Oh yes, they got together. She made some interesting and dubious claims about their sex life, largely refuted by other women, but she did find Elvis very sexy at least.

 

The 1992 CD was selling for pretty high prices a few years back (as you can expect, it didn't sell a lot of copies when initially released on CD before going out of print) but the prices have dropped to more reasonable levels. Worth picking up if you see one in nice shape for under $20 IMO.

 

Welcome To My World sales: Initial/total as of 2017. 400K/1.4M

 

https://www.amazon.com/Welcome-My-W...lvis+presley+welcome+to+my,popular,412&sr=1-1

Or you could buy this instead, the only real difference is better SQ and the master of Your Cheatin' Heart instead of take 9 on the 1992 CD. The LP also had the master (in ERS if I recall).
https://www.amazon.com/Elvis-20-Ori...original+albums&qid=1564608613&s=music&sr=1-1

 

Thanks Skatter, that second box set collection looks interesting and I was completely unaware of it. I just nabbed a copy on Amazon.

 

I passed on the CD when I saw it in the 90s. Just bought the record a month or two ago and I do enjoy it more than I thought I would.
Your Cheatin' Heart does stick out both because of it's age and for being in mono. I'd rather have a more recent recording there.

 

I suspect Petula Clark wasn’t the wildest free spirit of the 60s and 70s.

 

Considering its origins, Welcome to My World is a rather odd choice to include on a box set of 'presumably' Elvis' best 20 albums! But then, decisions around Elvis' music are often odd...

 

As far as He Touched Me goes, I did buy this one on CD in the 90s and again on record a couple of months ago.
The album is more contemporary sounding than Elvis' previous gospel releases and yeah, a little looser.
On the title track, I like the rich, full vocal sound of Elvis with the Imperials. (I guess I kind of said that on the Christmas album.)
Elvis' singing here is expressive with a lot of feeing, then that climactic ending.

I've Got Confidence - I like how Elvis and the band put the rock into it as pointed out by czeskleba. I sang this one in church once in the 90s and lent my Elvis CD to the music director so he could learn the song.

 

I am not sure they really meant these are the BEST 20 albums, as they omitted Elvis (2nd LP) and Back In Memphis. However, for me, Elvis For Everyone and Welcome To My World are worth the price of admission. The mastering is from various eras from the 90s through the 00s and 10s. Some people like this box for some of the original mixes used on a few albums. The soundtrack volume from this series are all 2007 or newer Vic Anesini masterings.

https://www.amazon.com/Elvis-Presle...=B00GG4E6XG&psc=1&refRID=WAEE2Z992JNMRY9Y17PR The Soundtrack box is worth it if only for the South African Jailhouse Rock album and Viva Las Vegas album alone!

 

I managed to pick up the Viva Las Vegas from the soundtracks box on Ebay - it's certainly one of the best of the 60s soundtrack albums.

 

Yes, I was hoping for another 20 disc box in this series but the 60 disc box came along and that pretty much took care of things.

 

Is there anything ‘rare’ on the 20 album set, version-wise?

 

No, not really. Just the unspliced take of Make The World Go Away, which is also on FTD. The mastering on Elvis For Everyone (except for the ERS on Tomorrow Night) is great.

 

And one more thing pertaining to the "Welcome To My World" Lp.

Who are the bloody hell was in charge of designing art ?

How could you actually Grace a cover, an Elvis Presley standard regular RCA Victor LP, with the thousands upon thousands of beautiful pictures of Elvis, especially in the 70's, that looks 20 times better than that ugly drawing !!!

Better yet, you even get a copy of it on the back cover as well.

This should be a felony, you get life !!!

 

She recorded at least three Serge Gainsbourg songs and is on a John Lennon single. Any wilder and her spirit would explode.

 

We're discussing Elvis' third studio gospel album AND whether or not he was angling for a threesome with Patula Clark and Karen Carpenter. I do enjoy these intersections we find ourselves at sometimes. Lol! Since we've opened the can of worms, I'll join in. It seems odd to me that this is coming to light nearly 50 years after it was alleged to have happened. If someone wants to get in the headlines, say something provocative about Elvis, JFK, or one of the Beatles and it will burn up the gossip news wire. Also there is no definite statement that Elvis did request a threesome with Clark and Carpenter, just that he was "angling". Lots of other wiggle room as there are no dates given, also Karen Carpenter (just like Elvis) isn't around to confirm or deny. Not that Elvis wanting a threesome is difficult to believe but from every source I have read, Elvis liked them young. Karen Carpenter may have caught his eye but Patula Clark? She was older than Elvis and he would be going very much against his "type". On the other hand, Mac Davis once said something like Elvis was a great and cool guy but it was as if he never personally matured past 19 or 20 years old. Some women would find that to be a deal breaker even if he was an "Adonis" as some have described his looks in person. It could have happened but I'll just put it on the shelf until more information is available. Ok, back to the gospel album(some smooth segue, huh?). Always good hearing everyone's take on these songs. I like how each different gospel album is the favorite of different posters here.

 

I was pretty lucky. For some reason, my local K-mart had a ton of Elvis CDs brand new, sealed and not cutouts. These guys were $5 a pop too! I pretty much filled out my Elvis CD collection from FEIM to Moody Blue in that shopping trip. This was about 1994 as I recall. I also have the Welcome To My World CD from that shopping spree. I always wanted a copy on LP but for some reason, I never got one until I found the CD. I remember as a kid seeing a well worn and in poor shape copy at a flea market in the early 1980s. The seller had a $50 price tag on it. Not wanting to miss a chance to learn something, I asked the seller what was the special thing about this copy of the album that made it worth so much? Was there an Elvis autograph on it? Was it some strange pressing? I dare not touch it because I didn't have $50 to pay for it if I dropped it or something. The seller gruffly replied "Because it's an Elvis album, they're all worth a lot of money!". I left wondering if there were many more adults that didn't know their butts from a hole in the ground. I found out in due time.

 

Amazing Grace
Written By :
Rev. John Newton of the Church Of England, Arranged by Elvis Presley

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, March 15-16, 1971 : March 15, 1971. take 5

Probably THE classic gospel song. Elvis does an excellent version, but again, the lyrics get messed up. The verses are out of order and a little unusual.
In spite of that the country/gospel/soul vocal carries the song anyway. Elvis and the backing singers do a very good job, and this is another good track on the album.

 

Seeing Is Believing
Written By :
Red West & Glen Spreen

Recorded :
RCA's Studio B, Nashville, May 15-21, 1971: May 19, 1971. take 14

Another song with a bit of kick. Starts off with a country-rock slant, and then moves into a bit of a rock swing, This track moves along nicely and is quite entertaining. Several feel shifts keep it at that interesting level. The vocal is good but not great. Burton puts in a nice lead break.

 

Those first three tracks were pretty well chosen and the flow is so good. After an impassionate start, we get a great r&b / rocker before launching into a magnificent cover of AMAZING GRACE (BTW, the version on the 70s boxset is even better with a wonderful bluesy feel). I do not care about the lyrics mess up as it's been part of the Presley tradition since 1954.

 

Yes, there were plenty of "adults" who didn't know butts and ground holes about the value of Elvis' records following his death and through the 1980s. In fact I still see Elvis LPs in antique stores to this day, say like a Pickwick LP with a hefty price tag on them. Any hobby that involves collectables is very item by item specific. I would be like pricing all your wheat pennies or all your steel pennies the same HIGH price, when only a handful of wheat pennies and only ONE steel penny is worth anything. And condition is EVERYTHING. A M- original issue of LPM1254 is worth 2-4 times what a VG++ copy would be worth. But something as rare as LPM3989 would command a decent price even if it were only a VG example.

 

This is a rare occasion where Elvis takes on a great piece of material and doesn’t do much with it. Perhaps it is the arrangement, but this is surprisingly a recording I rarely think about when considering the best of the ‘71 masters.

 

He Touched Me is really off to a bang here. As much as I love the version of Amazing Grace that is on the album proper, I so agree with you regarding the superiority of Elvis's "bluesy" take on the 70's box set, Walk A Mile In My Shoes. The female back-up vocalists stay out of Elvis's way a little more, and once again, David Briggs is playing the piano like a man possessed by the Holy Spirit. Well done all around.


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I wish I had the same enthusiasm for Seeing Is Believing, which is probably my least favorite song that Elvis friend and sometimes bodyguard Red West ever cowrote among his very fine songs for ELvis, but Elvis still delivers a very fine vocal and it is still a decent enough listen.

 

NYC 1972