Interview with Alan Rush
Alan Rush is a writer,musician,singer,engineer and producer
for combine music group. He was directly involved in 5 of the six songs that
Elvis wanted to record in January 1977. Alan was a member of a rock group called
" Jubal " ( Elektra records ) in the early 1970's. Members of this
group besides himself included Dennis Linde, Bobby Ogdin, Randy Cullers, Rob Galbraith
and Terry Dearmore . Alan had songs recorded by ;Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison,
Brenda Lee, The Hollies, Robert Palmer, Oak Ridge Boys, Kenny Rogers, John Denver,
Roy Head, Delbert McClinton, Canned Heat, Don Williams, T.G.Shepherd, Tommy Overstreet,
Earl Scruggs, Roy Clark, Mel McDaniel and many more.
Alan Rush : First let me say it's my pleasure to talk with
you about some of my elvis studio experiences. The new CD "A Cold Night In
Nashville" is a treasure of the elvis pre-recording demos that few
people, outside of studios and publisher's offices, have ever heard. This will
be the first time his fans have been able to hear the demos that Elvis and Felton
Jarvis heard for the January '77 session- The " Cold Night In Nashville
".
FECC
: You
worked at Soundmaster in Nashville,TN as a musician ( guitar player and backup
vocalist ) on the overdub session for If You Love Me ( Let Me Know )
and Unchained Melody . Was it the first time you
participated on some Elvis Presleys studio recordings ? If not, what was the
first session you worked for and were you only used on overdub sessions ?
Alan Rush : I
first worked on Elvis tracks as a " booked " ( hired ) musician in january
'74 at rca's studio "B" playing guitar, bass, horn parts and vocals-in
effect whatever Felton needed to fill in, replace or improve instruments on the
tracks that had been cut earlier in Memphis. Musicians included the entire rock
group," Jubal ", who's members included Rob Galbraith, Bobby Ogdin, Randy
Cullers, Dennis Linde, Terry Dearmore and myself. Felton would play the tracks
and we all would make suggestions, try them and Felton would have final approval.
We went through everything -some would have nothing added, some just percussion
or an instrument or two and others would take more. Not all parts or songs were
listed on the timecard but Mr. Tunzi's new book, " Elvis Sessions III
"covers it more accurately than any book ever has. "Promised Land","
Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues ", " I've Got A Feelin' In My Body"
and other titles were overdubbed . I only worked on overdubs not any track
session.
FECC: Did you meet Elvis at any of these sessions ?
Alan Rush :I never met
elvis at any of these overdub sessions.
FECC: We all know that Elvis
was scheduled to record some tracks from January 20th to the 24th , 1977 at the
Creative Workshop in Nashville, TN. Unfortunately no selections were recorded as
Elvis didnt show up at the studio. Do you have inside informations that you
can share with us as to why he never showed up to the studio ?
Alan Rush : The January '77 sessions at Buzz Cason's
Creative Workshop were booked and started with the band cutting 5 tracks that I
know of, with one of elvis' background singers doing reference vocals ( Elvis'
parts ) for the musicians to follow. Full band tracks were cut for " That's
What You Do To Me ", " By Day By Day ", " Let Me On ",
" Energy " and " Yes I Do ". I know this because one of the
band members, who has to remain unamed, called me from the session to tell me
about my song. We found out later that Elvis was in town, went to the studio,
had some problem(s) and went back to Memphis. Felton told me Elvis would do the
vocal later in the year, which of course never happened.
FECC: We can assume that the producer ( Felton Jarvis ) was somewhat
nervous and irritated since he badly needed some cuts for the next album ( Moody
Blue ) and for the one to follow. Do you know what was the atmosphere in the
studio when it became evident that Elvis wouldnt show up ?
Alan Rush : Please understand I wasn't there but
good friends were playing on that session and we never knew Felton to ever be
irritated or nervous. He was always cool especially in the studio. They
respected each others talents and these were Nashville pickers- they play no
matter what.
FECC: Many songs were under consideration for these January 77 session
in Nashville, TN. According to the book Elvis Sessions II by
J.A.T. Publishing six were positively chosen including Yes I do
written by yourself. The other tracks were; Thats What You Do To Me ( Bob
Morrison ), Energy ( Bob Morrison ), Rainy Night In Georgia ( Tony Joe White ),
Day By Day ( Dennis Linde ) and Let Me On ( Layng Martine Jr. ). Can you confirm
that these songs were indeed positively chosen ? If yes, what can you tell us
concerning these tracks ?
Alan Rush :In addition to the five tracks I named
earlier, I know " Rainy Night In Georgia" was planned to be cut also.
FECC: Does your involvement with this session was limited to the
fact Elvis choose to record Yes I do or also under contract as a
musician for the January 77 session ?
Alan Rush : I wasn't booked for the track sessions
in January '77 , but would have probably overdubbed on them later. Bobby Ogdin
had joined Elvis' band playing keyboards and Randy Cullers joined as
percussionist- both were former " Jubal " members.
FECC: Was it the first time that you were submitting a song to Elvis ? If
not, does some of those songs were recorded by other artists ?
Alan Rush : Felton Jarvis and I had been friends for
a while ( we both loved "B" westerns and old cars ) and he asked me
why I hadn't given him anything for Elvis. I told him I had written a song for Elvis
but didn't want to play on our friendship. He said a hit is a hit no matter
where it comes from. I plugged ( pitched ) "Yes I Do" and he
took it to play for Elvis and they said we'll cut it. I never pitched the song
to anyone else-it was his song. The "Cold Night In Nashville" cd is
the first release of my song.
FECC: Do you know about other songs that were seriously considered for
Elvis to record at this session ?
Alan Rush : I don't personally know of any other
than the six I've mentioned, but like Hank Aaron's home run that broke Babe Ruth's
record, more and more people claim to be there everyday. There must be 80 or
more writers that claim to have had a song on the unfinished January '77
sessions but I only know of six songs and five tracks.
FECC:On behalf of all our readers we would like to thank you very much for
your kindness and for having took the time to do this interview with us. We
would like to wish you all the best of luck with your future projects.
CD Review : A Cold Night In Nashville
Details for ordering '' A Cold Night In Nashville '' at www.jatpublishing.com