Anne Murray : Elvis Presley's favourite female singer

[TCB-FAN]

... does it show he liked the singer or that he simply liked the song?

We can speculate on this for a long time, but I think in most instances he liked a little bit of both.

Not in the case of John and her two big 70s hits.

"Let Me Be There" = ~178 performances, 1974-76
"If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" = ~222 performances, 1974-77

In the above examples, Olivia ruled the Presley set list. Elvis liked the song and the singer; bad singer, he'd avoid the song.

Bob Dylan must have been a good singer. I love his work,dislike his voice.

Dylan's voice on the xmas album he did a couple of years ago was beyond horrendous & hideous. He made me hate xmas music forever.

[bquick]

I feel Lavern Baker would be near the top...he did cover "tweedle dee," "saved," and may have been familar with her version of "cc rider."

[Steve G]

The only contemporaries of Elvis who were featured on the Elvis: Christmas Duets CD were Anne Murray and Olivia Newton-John. Surely they were invited to participate due to the high esteem in which Elvis held both of them.

[DarrylMac]

Must have been quite a project, Doc, counting those performances. I'll take your word for it.

Steve, if you've not checked it out before, have a look the concert database on Fransesc's excellent site. You can, as in this example, search by song title and find the number of known times he sang it live. You can look for particular suits, band colours, cities etc, by year if you like. It's a great resource, and you're right about it being quite a project - I know took a lot of hard work to develop.

The answers are the same - 222 for If You Love Me and 178 for Let Me Be There. Perhaps the Doc has his own source, but if he did refer to Fransesc's excellent database, perhaps a nod in that direction Doc, give Fransesc some credit?

[drjohncarpenter]

The answers are the same ...

So nice of you to care, but my numbers are not the same.

My manual count is an approximation, as denoted by the symbol '~' before each figure.

I used this page as my reference, check it out sometime:

Welcome to Ciscokings' Corner
http://ciscoking.jordans-elvis-world.com/

[rickeap]

Doc you've got too much time on your hands if you've got time to do a manual count of Elvis' ONJ covers, although your tenacity can't be doubted.

[drjohncarpenter]

Doc you've got too much time on your hands ...

It might be argued that so does the ... dutiful DarrylMac.

[promiseland]

Doc you've got too much time on your hands if you've got time to do a manual count of Elvis' ONJ covers, although your tenacity can't be doubted.

I would say Doc having "all that time on his hands" makes Doc a lucky man lol

[DarrylMac]

It might be argued that so does the ... dutiful DarrylMac.

quite the opposite, which is why I appreciate such a fantastic resource as the concert database on http://www.elvisconcerts.com.

Looks like I saved myself an awful lot of time - I could have counted each performance individually, and managed to get the exact same number as a 30 second search on that site. Imagine how irritated I'd have been then!

[drjohncarpenter]

It might be argued that so does the ... dutiful DarrylMac.

quite the opposite ...

Really? That's funny. How many Elvis forums do you belong to, darrylmac?

[DarrylMac]

Really? That's funny. How many Elvis forums do you belong to, darrylmac?

I'll give an honest answer to an honest question Doc. This is the first forum I joined, way back on the original board going back years and years, and I still love coming here. Like other members here, I'm sure, I've been a member of other sites that have come and gone. Fransesc had a forum for a while, TCB World. Are you really suggesting people who have time to visit more than one Elvis related website have "too much time on their hands"? My life, work, family and sport all take a slice of my time, but when I have free time, I spend some of it on Elvis sites.

Having said that, it has little to do with this post Doc - I was genuinely astonished that you might have had time to count individual shows that contained 2 different songs when there's an excellent resource available - one that current and previous members of this site put a lot of hard work in to. Wasn't Steve M involved in creating that database among others?

In my original post, I did say you may well have your own source Doc - and it's clear you do, with Ciscokings excellent resource. No biggie.

So, how many sites / forums do you peruse Doc?

[drjohncarpenter]

I was genuinely astonished that you might have had time ...

Genuine? Good one. Please tell some more stories for us.

[DarrylMac]

Sorry Doc - think you're barking up the wrong tree here. Not everyone who visits the other forum is out to continually "bash the doc", as you can see from my history of posts here.

If you read my posts, I initially was guiding Steve to a great tool on the web should he need / want to do his own research on particular songs / shows etc. You then posted about counting performances manually from Ciscoking's site on Jordan's Elvis World - I wouldn't have time to look at tracklistings for released shows, i'm surprised you do, and the fact you could have done all of that work in 30 seconds on Fransesc's site and got the same "approximate" answer seems like a waste of your time. All I was suggesting was that if you did / do use the database on http://www.elvisconcerts.com, you give it credit / a quick mention, so others here can find it if they don't know it's there.

Yet again, a good, interesting thread is derailed by mind games - why ask about other forums I visit Doc? What does that have to do with how you came up with your answer? I answered your question Doc - how about you answer mine?

[drjohncarpenter]

Sorry Doc - think you're barking up the wrong tree here.

OK. You can stop typing now.

Yet again, a good, interesting thread is derailed by mind games...

Maybe in the future you'll think twice next time before causing a topic derailment. Here's hoping!

[DarrylMac]

Any chance of an answer to my question Doc - which other Elvis forums / sites have you been spending time on? I gave you a straight answer...

[DarrylMac]

I see you just edited your previous reply after I repeated my question Doc, rather than answer my question.

I'm not the one who tried to deflect by asking about other forums - that would be you. I didn't derail the thread - I merely pointed Steve in the direction of a great resource, one run on a website belonging to a well known and respected member here.

I also note that part of my reply to the doc about forums I, and others visit has been edited by the mods without explaination. I'll await a response from them before making any further comment, but that seems very petty, especially as it was an honest answer to a loaded question by the Doc. Surely there's room for more than one Elvis forum on the web? Any reason they can't co-exist?

[drjohncarpenter]

I see you just edited your previous reply after I repeated my question ...

Wrong again. I made my edit -- expanding my original comment -- before your topic was posted.

You can stop typing now. Thank you.

[DarrylMac]

No, Doc, you didn't. I'm more than capable of reading, and your post wasn't edited when I made my reply.

Still no answer to my question. The moment has passed now, so I won't ask again, but it's clear you have an interest in what's being said over at "the other forum", else you wouldn't have asked the question in the first place.

As you say, you really can stop typing now. No doubt you'll find a away to have half my comments removed, or edit a post you made 3 days ago, but I've lost interest.

[ElvisLife]

Did Olivia or Anne ever cover Elvis songs as solo on LP/CD?

[r&b]

I think he must have liked Brenda Lee and Wanda Jackson, two early rockabilly female artists , influenced by Elvis, who turned later to country. Didn't Brenda Lee record Always On My Mind before Elvis did? He probabaly also liked Connie Francis in the 50's. Who didnt?

[Steve G]

Did Olivia or Anne ever cover Elvis songs as solo on LP/CD?

Elvis and both women covered some of the same songs, but for the most part they haven't done songs originally associated with Elvis.

Olivia performed an Elvis medley during her Vegas stage shows around 1978 or 1979. She and Elvis both recorded Loving Arms, Help Me Make It Through the Night, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, and of course he covered Let Me Be There and If You Love Me (Let Me Know).

Anne's recordings associated with Elvis are found on her 2002 2-CD set, Country Croonin', including Can't Help Falling in Love, Are You Lonesome Tonight, Help Me Make It Through the Night, Loving Arms, I Really Don't To Know, (Now and Then) There's a Fool Such as I, Always On My Mind, For The Good Times, and She'll Have to Go. Elvis recorded Snowbird and Put Your Hand in the Hand.

There are several Christmas songs they all recorded as well. including Anne's version of Blue Christmas found on the 2008 CD Anne Murray's Christmas Album.

[Cool Cat]

I love everything about Anne Murray, her music was played in my home by my Mother all growing up, and a funny side note, my Mothers maiden name was Ann Murray.

[drjohncarpenter]

Did Olivia or Anne ever cover Elvis songs as solo on LP/CD?

Elvis and both women covered some of the same songs, but for the most part they haven't done songs originally associated with Elvis.

Olivia performed an Elvis medley during her Vegas stage shows around 1978 or 1979. She and Elvis both recorded Loving Arms, Help Me Make It Through the Night, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, and of course he covered Let Me Be There and If You Love Me (Let Me Know).

Anne's recordings associated with Elvis are found on her 2002 2-CD set, Country Croonin', including Can't Help Falling in Love, Are You Lonesome Tonight, Help Me Make It Through the Night, Loving Arms, I Really Don't To Know, (Now and Then) There's a Fool Such as I, Always On My Mind, For The Good Times, and She'll Have to Go. Elvis recorded Snowbird and Put Your Hand in the Hand.

There are several Christmas songs they all recorded as well. including Anne's version of Blue Christmas found on the 2008 CD Anne Murray's Christmas Album.

That's not an Anne Murray cover, it's inspired by the 1971 #2 pop hit single by Ocean.

[Steve G]

That may be, but Anne's version is the original and another song both singers have in common in their respective repertoires.

[drjohncarpenter]

That may be, but Anne's version is the original and another song both singers have in common in their respective repertoires.

"May" be a cover of Kama Sutra 519 by Ocean? Their hit peaked at #2 in Billboard on May 1, 1971. The tune was still #12 on the "Hot 100" when Elvis cut his version in Nashville on June 8. He's not channeling Anne Murray.