A Dubya-load of songs... (updialers beware)

[ForrestGump]

I just uploaded the sons of bitches now but wrote the stuff below a while ago, when I was a tad more coherent than I'm feeling now, after I recorded them. I'm probably going to be off DU for a while, for the most part, so please excuse me if I don't answer PMs or anything, not that I've ever been especially good at that kind of thing during these past two years or so.



I recorded these a little while back (for a demo/audition project I'm still working on), during an epic stretch that included lots of vocalizing and little sleep. I'm stuck with the little sleep routine still -- here're some of the results of those long nights along with relevant (or irrelevant notes) related to their part in the career of the real deal, Elvis Aron Presley.

As always, these are MP3 files up on this server for seven days, so just click to download any that you want to hear.


The 'Fifties


June 18, 1955 Dallas, TX

Baby Let's Play House (1955)
Less than a month after Elvis' 20th birthday, a year short of national fame, he recorded this classic at Sun Studio. John Lennon later borrowed the line "I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man" for the Beatles' "Run For Your Life."


January 28, 1956 Dorsey Brothers' Stage Show TV appearance in NYC, two days before an RCA session

My Baby Left Me (1956)
In late January, 1956, two days after his first national TV appearance, Elvis started a session at RCA's New York studios that began with his version of Sun label-mate Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes." This one was the second song recorded that day, Elvis' take on a blues song from bluesman Arthur Crudup, the man who wrote the somewhat similar "That's All Right" that started it all for Elvis.


January, 1957 in a Los Angeles recording session

All Shook Up (1957)
Massive hit that, as Paul McCartney claims, tends to be one of those songs that just make bad moods dissolve. Songwriter Otis Blackwell, who wrote several of Elvis' hits, wrote the song on a bet from another songwriter that he couldn't write a pop song (no pun intended) based on a shaken-up bottle of soda.


May 3, 1957, in the studio on bass guitar for "Baby, I Don't Care"

Baby, I Don't Care (1957)
An iconic song from the Jailhouse Rock soundtrack. Elvis bass player, Bill Black, had such trouble playing the tune on his new Fender electric bass (he had always played an acoustic upright double bass) that he threw it down in frustration and left the session. Elvis picked up the bass and played the part himself, dubbing his voice over later. Elvis used the bass riff as his entrance theme when he came back to live performing in 1969.


The 'Sixties (studio -- non-soundtrack -- sessions)


March 8, 1960, at Graceland

Make Me Know It (1960)
The first song recorded during a Nashville session in March, 1960, that was Elvis' first since 1958. The post-Army Elvis recorded a diversity of songs in what were arguably some of the best recording sessions of his career, sessions that yielded excellent performances including massive hits like "It's Now Or Never" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"


March 26, 1960, taping the Frank Sinatra Welcome Home, Elvis TV special in Miami, FL

A Mess Of Blues (1960)
Another cut from the March, 1960 Nashville sessions.


July 1, 1961, at the wedding of friend Red West

His Latest Flame (1961)
A double-sided hit, with the classic "Little Sister" on the other side of the single -- both were recorded on the same day in late June (in fact, one after the other) during a two-day studio session in Nashville that fell between soundtrack sessions for the box-office giant Blue Hawaii and the quirky comedy Follow That Dream.


Some time in 1962, while riding his motorcycle around

Suspicion (1962)
Elvis recorded this in 1962 for a non-soundtrack album but RCA didn't release it as a single then and Terry Stafford (one of the earlier generation of Elvis 'soundalikes') had a huge hit with it in 1964, his voice almost identical to Elvis'.


Early 1963 - publicity photo for Fun In Acapulco

Witchcraft (1963)
Recorded during a non-soundtrack session in Nashville (increasingly a rare thing) in May of 1963, the same session that yielded "Devil In Disguise." I had to patch the backing track, and it shows...


May, 1966, in Nashville with backup vocalists The Jordanaires for the How Great Thou Art sessions (I think the day he recorded "So High")

So High (1966)
Elvis did this song during productive sessions in May of 1966 intended primarily to produce a gospel LP, a record titled How Great Thou Art.


January 17, 1968 press conference announcing the 1968 TV special, the day after he recorded "Too Much Monkey Business"

Too Much Monkey Business (1968)
For this January, 1968 session Elvis again had Nashville guitar legend Jerry Reed join the session to play guitar -- they started with this old Chuck Berry song, moved to some soundtrack loose ends for the film Stay Away, Joe, and on January 17 finished with Elvis' version of Reed's own "US Male."


January or February, 1969, in Memphis' American Sound studio with studio owner and producer Chips Moman

In The Ghetto (1969)
In January, 1969, Elvis entered American Sound studios to begin marathon sessions that yielded two critically-acclaimed LPs and several hit singles. The house band was very hot at the time, as was the studio's owner -- who also acted as producer to a great extent (Elvis also had his own RCA producer with him though the truth was that Elvis had always, since leaving Sun, acted as his own producer in the studio and these Memphis sessions were a rare occasion on which Elvis allowed someone else any significant creative control over the proceedings). This song was written by Mac Davis, who'd previously written a few songs for Elvis (including "A Little Less Conversation"), and was originally titled "The Vicious Circle."


January or February, 1969, with the American Sound studio band

Kentucky Rain (1969)
Another hit from the American Sound sessions, this one written by Eddie Rabbitt. This song typifies the more mature country/country-rock kind of song that Elvis recorded more and more of as he entered his mid 30s and that seemed to appeal greatly to him.


The 'Sixties (movie soundtrack songs)


Early 1967 - Clambake

You Don't Know Me (1967)
Recorded for the soundtrack of Clambake, the first of two films that Elvis worked on with Bill Bixby as a costar. Elvis liked the song and rerecorded it in a non-soundtrack Nashville session in September, seven months later, laying down the master in the first and only take. I've kind of melded the two vocal approaches because I like the Nashville one a lot better but I have a more clear-sounding backing track for the film version (Elvis' film version was only released on record decades later -- in the original 1967 soundtrack LP they used the Nashville remake).


Summer, 1967 - "Let Yourself Go" scene from Speedway

Let Yourself Go (1967)
One of the better songs from the latter '60s movies, from the film Speedway, that costarred Nancy Sinatra and (again) Bill Bixby along with lots of real stock car racers (including Richard Petty). This was the last of the really superficlal '60s movies, and the few that followed had fewer songs and generally somewhat grittier or more mature content and characterization. Exactly a year after the June session that yielded this song, Elvis was in the NBC studio laying down the first tracks for his pivotal 1968 TV Special and just over a year after that he returned to the concert stage.


The 'Seventies (studio sessions)


June 4, 1970, arriving at Nashville's RCA Studio B on the first day of recording, the day he recorded "Cindy, Cindy"

Cindy, Cindy (1970)
Elvis rocked up (and added words or discovered long-lost ones to) this traditional folk song for his June, 1970 sessions, when he recorded 36 songs (not including his trademark, lengthy, extemporized jams between songs or between takes) in five days.


June 5, 1970, arriving at the studio on the day he recorded "I Got My Mojo Working"

I Got My Mojo Working (1970)
Actually, a mixed-up pastiche of the old Muddy Waters blues and another called "Keep Your Hands Off Of It," this was a spontaneous jam not intended to be caught on tape. RCA edited it (shortened it and cut out a couple of expletives), 'sweetened' it (added horns and female vocals), and released it on an LP in 1971. Elvis was given to rip into jams that lasted up to a half hour on the same song, as a vocal warmup or just because he wanted to. The longest extant example is a 14-minute jam on Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" recorded in 1971, when Elvis was on a folk kick and allegedly jammed on a lot of Dylan songs (he also recorded a couple of Gordon Lightfoot songs that year, "Early Morning Rain" and "For Lovin' Me").


June, 1970, with the band inside Studio B

I Really Don't Want To Know (1970)
An old country standard from Eddy Arnold, bluesified by Elvis for the 1970 Nashville marathon and later released on the well-reviewed Elvis Country LP. Further proof that, at heart Elvis still mixed genres as fluidly as he did back in 1954.


June, 1970, with fans at the gates of Graceland

Faded Love (1970)
Another song that, like a lot of the 'country' songs recorded during these sessions, wasn't a planned recording (not that Elvis usually planned much for sessions, typically waiting until he was in the studio before he listened to demos)...many of those spontaneous additions were highlights of the sessions. This song started out slower, both in Elvis' initial from-memory run-through (he had to send someone to get the lyrics and recorded it three days later) and in the more straightforward original 1950 Texas-swing recording by Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys. Elvis nailed it on the first take.


May 20, 1971 in Nashville the day he recorded "It's Only Love"

It's Only Love (1971)
Released as one side of a single in 1971, to relatively little chart action, the song was reissued in the UK in 1980 and made it to #3 on the British singles charts. I've always loved this one, for some reason.


March 29, 1972, the day Elvis recorded "Always On My Mind" and "It's A Matter Of Time" (in the photo he is singing "Always On My Mind")

It's A Matter Of Time (1972)
The mellow flipside to the hit "Burning Love," recorded at the same Los Angeles session. Elvis did this song live, once, on the spur-of-the moment in Las Vegas in August, 1973.


December 23, 1973, outside a Memphis movie theater in one of his 'Superfly' coats and hats

Loving Arms (1973)
A song by Dobie Gray ("Drift Away") that Elvis recorded during excellent sessions in Memphis' Stax Studios in December, 1973, three weeks short of his 39th birthday.

January, 1974, in Las Vegas with Colonel Parker and monkey (the Colonel's the one on the left)

There's A Honky Tonk Angel (1973)
Another cut from the 1973 Stax sessions, recorded on the same day as the considerably more boisterous "Promised Land" and released on the LP of the same name.


March, 1975 - opening a show in Las Vegas

Bringing It Back (1975)
One of a few songs around this period that Elvis recorded that were written by members of his vocal backing groups. Elvis spent three days in a Los Angeles studio recording songs for a new album, the first session work he'd done since 1973, and then rehearsed for his imminent Vegas opening on a fourth day. He wasn't interested in session work any longer and had to dragged in to the studio but, once he was in, he gave some spirited performances. Brian Wilson dropped by, during one of these March sessions, to meet his childhood hero. Our very own johnnie, Sir John of Cleveland, got this backing track to me. Thanks, dude! :D


March, 1975 Las Vegas

Shake A Hand (1975)
An old song recorded during the same Los Angeles sessions. Elvis did this song live only twice, that I know of, though it was a natural for his concert setlist.


Early 1975, on stage

And I Love You So (1975)
Don McLean was so excited about Elvis recording one of his songs that he asked for the socks Elvis was wearing when he sang it -- he ended up with a pair of purple socks from Elvis. This song became a concert staple for Elvis in his last two years.


February, 1976, in Denver, CO, in his Denver police officer's uniform -- he'd been friends with a group of Denver policemen since he met them in 1970

Moody Blue (1976)
Recorded in the Jungle Room at Graceland in February, 1976, and released as a single that December, this song became the title track of the last new LP of material released during Elvis' lifetime (the LP came out during Elvis' last tour, in June of 1977). Elvis did this song live, on the spur of the moment, just one and a half times during his two concerts in Charlotte, NC, on his February, 1977 tour (the first night lack of rehearsal showed its face and the song fell apart, but they got it right the next night).

October, 1976

Pledging My Love (1976)
Another song from the Jungle Room, via a mobile recording unit RCA turned to in desperation for new material that wasn't culled from live concert recordings. This song came from the October sessions, recorded right after "Way Down" and before the last song Elvis ever laid down, "He'll Have To Go." The song was originally a posthumous 1955 hit for fellow Memphian Johnny Ace, who killed himself during a performance break while playing Russian roulette.


The 'Seventies (concerts)


April 16, 1972 (afternoon show) Jacksonville, FL

Proud Mary (live, 1970-1974)
Elvis did this song live during his second Vegas stint, in January-February, 1970, and then reintroduced it a year later, this time with more drumwork and a different, far tighter and more stylized arrangement, the kind heard here. He dropped it from setlist after his August, 1972 Vegas season (except for some airings in August, 1974).


April 18, 1972 San Antonio, TX

Never Been To Spain (live, 1972-1974)
Elvis debuted this song on opening night of his first 1972 Vegas season and sang it on the two tours that followed, including at his celebrated Madison Square Garden shows. He sang it once more, on opening night in August, 1974. The song was written by country singer Hoyt Axton, for Three Dog Night (he also wrote their "Joy To The World") -- Hoyt's mother, Mae Axton, cowrote "Heartbreak Hotel."


August, 1972 Las Vegas

You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (live, 1970-1975)
Elvis was a friend of Bill Medley and introduced this Righteous Brothers song into his repertoire for the August, 1970 Vegas season filmed for Elvis - That's The Way It Is. He performed it regularly through the next two years and then dropped it, reviving it a few times in 1974 and 1975. The versions from later in 1971 and 1972 featured more prominent drumwork -- the better to accentuate Elvis' martially-inspired moves -- and my vocal approach on this one sort of mirrors the backing track, which combines both the 1970 and 1972-style versions of the song (Elvis' voice soared far higher in later versions, though...I might get there, one day :D ).


january 14, 1973 Honolulu, HI

Love Me (live, 1970-1977)
This 1956 hit -- so big a seller that it hit on the singles chart even though it was never released on a single but on an EP -- was written by Leiber and Stoller (who wrote a lot of Elvis' '50s hits, starting with "Hound Dog") as a joke, but they changed their tune when they heard Elvis' recording. Elvis threw this one in a few times in 1970, a couple of times accompanying himself on his Gretsch electric guitar and extending it into an onstage jam, but it didn't become a regular part of the setlist until 1971 and Elvis performed it at most of his concerts thereafter.

[supernova]

1. Can't think of

anything to say except

:hug: :hug:

Please take care.

And I will enjoy the songs while you are gone. I'm glad to have such a talented friend. :D

[ForrestGump]

5. Thanks, Ms nova...

and :hug: is pretty eloquent...

:hug:

[merh]

2. Please take care of yourself ForrestGump

you are so special to so many -- thanks for sharing your talents and yourself with us. Remember, we are here when you need us. :hug:

And I do adore you! :yourock:

I'm a charter member of the ForrestGump fan club. :hug: :loveya:

Take care of yourself. :pals:

[ForrestGump]

6. Thnak you,

Ms merh!

Thou rocketh, too!

:loveya:

By the way, I've got a new shipment of signed 8x10s heading for the fan club's mailbox soon... :D

*modesty* <-- no, really

[merh]

10. You're just teasing me.

:blush:

You know that I would love a glossy 8 x 10! :bounce: :bounce:

You mustn't tease me that way. :p

:hug: :loveya:

[jus_the_facts]

3. Always in AWE....

...of Elvis and YOU!! You'll definitely be missed around here S! :loveya: :hug: :hi:

[ForrestGump]

7. Just gonna be busy, 'n stuff

I'll catch you upon the flipside, though, Ms facts :loveya:

Thanks! :headbang:

[argyl]

4. Great stuff,Forrest. Never noticed before,but the young Elvis in the b/w

photos and Gram Parsons bear a more than passing resemblance to each other.Both gone way too soon.

"His Latest Flame" and "Little Sister" both recorded on the same day? Wow,that'd be a helluva career for a lot of performers.

[ForrestGump]

8. You're right

They do, in that photo, and they both were gone too soon. They even did some of the same songs and, of course, had the country-rock thing in common.

Yep, June 26, 1961 was the day Elvis recorded both those songs and, yes, that WOULD be quite a nice career for many performers.

Thought of a couple more, from memory:

On July 2, 1956, Elvis recorded "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel," and "Any Way You Want Me" in a session -- they were the only songs he did ("Hound Dog" took a massive 31 takes before Elvis was happy with the master and I think he did 28 of "Don't Be Cruel" and a fair few of the third song) and all went gold. "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" were released as sides A and B of the same single, which kinda provoked an interesting question as to which, exactly, was the 'A' side. They both went to #1, anyway.

On the night of June 10-11, 1958, Elvis went on leave from his Army training and (wearing his uniform) completed a session in Nashville that yielded "A Big Hunk O' Love," "I Got Stung," "A Fool Such As I," "I Need Your Love Tonight," and "Ain't That Loving You, Baby." Every one of those songs went gold when released as singles.

:D

[Dangerously Amused]

9. .

My Baby Left Me

His Latest Flame

Faded Love

You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’



All my new favorite songs.

Thanks.