DID ELVIS SING , ALWAYS ON MY MIND LIVE?

[ericthevid]

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR REFERENCE,
BUT I DONT THINK HE EVER DONE IT LIVE? ANYONE

[Edwin]

No he did not. As far as we know from known recordings.

[dougkapp]

Why would he sing Always On My Mind - B-side of the single, if he didn't even sing the A-side - Separate Way - live?

[Thats_all_right]

it makes no sense that he didn't sing these live.

I will never understand why. If he didn't want to sing his oldies, why not his newer hits rather than all the covers? Like In The Ghetto, dropped after a couple of years. A song he must have been proud of and did extremely well in the charts. A mature song rather than the childish teddy bear he continued to sing.

Surely someone around him suggested these songs be added? It would have made sense even if only during the April tour after running through them in the mock session.

[ericthevid]

Why would he sing Always On My Mind - B-side of the single, if he didn't even sing the A-side - Separate Way - live?

i was asking if HE SANG IT LIVE,

[Ryan73]

it makes no sense that he didn't sing these live.

I will never understand why. If he didn't want to sing his oldies, why not his newer hits rather than all the covers? Like In The Ghetto, dropped after a couple of years. A song he must have been proud of and did extremely well in the charts. A mature song rather than the childish teddy bear he continued to sing.

Surely someone around him suggested these songs be added? It would have made sense even if only during the April tour after running through them in the mock session.

It does beg the question with over 50 gold records, 18 #1 hits and some 38 top ten hits.......how many were even touched in concert (and I"m not talking about one or two offs or a verse). Food for thought.

[brian]

it makes no sense that he didn't sing these live.

I will never understand why. If he didn't want to sing his oldies, why not his newer hits rather than all the covers? Like In The Ghetto, dropped after a couple of years. A song he must have been proud of and did extremely well in the charts. A mature song rather than the childish teddy bear he continued to sing.

Elvis would typically perform his most well known hits in the United States. Always on my mind wasn't one of Elvis's most well known songs in America and it was never an A-side. He never had a hit with it in America. As for Separate ways about half of Elvis's singles in the seventies he never bothered to perform them in concert. If Elvis had toured the UK maybe he would've performed Always on my mind because it was a hit over there and more popular there. Elvis was just throwing a bone to his U.S. fans by singing Teddy Bear because it was one of his most popular songs in America. He knew his fans wanted to hear it. Even though he had long grown tired of that song he was throwing his fans a bone by performing it.

[dougkapp]

Why would he sing Always On My Mind - B-side of the single, if he didn't even sing the A-side - Separate Way - live?

i was asking if HE SANG IT LIVE,

My friend, Always on My Mind was B side o the single. The a-side of the single was considered the main track that was most expected to be successful. If Elvis considered Always on My Mind a secondary track, why would he perform it live? Isn't it more logical that he would perform side A? Besides, the single Separate Ways/Always On My Mind didn't do well in the charts.

[Thats_all_right]

it makes no sense that he didn't sing these live.

I will never understand why. If he didn't want to sing his oldies, why not his newer hits rather than all the covers? Like In The Ghetto, dropped after a couple of years. A song he must have been proud of and did extremely well in the charts. A mature song rather than the childish teddy bear he continued to sing.

Elvis would typically perform his most well known hits in the United States. Always on my mind wasn't one of Elvis's most well known songs in America and it was never an A-side. He never had a hit with it in America. As for Separate ways about half of Elvis's singles in the seventies he never bothered to perform them in concert. If Elvis had toured the UK maybe he would've performed Always on my mind because it was a hit over there and more popular there. Elvis was just throwing a bone to his U.S. fans by singing Teddy Bear because it was one of his most popular songs in America. He knew his fans wanted to hear it. Even though he had long grown tired of that song he was throwing his fans a bone by performing it.

Yes true.

I just wish he would have done the same for EOT as during TTWII and at least perform the newly recorded songs if only for the camera. There are plenty of obscure songs performed once or twice in August 70. 20 Days, 20 Nights for example. Only an album track.

[FredAistair]

Why would he sing Always On My Mind - B-side of the single, if he didn't even sing the A-side - Separate Way - live?

i was asking if HE SANG IT LIVE,

My friend, Always on My Mind was B side o the single. The a-side of the single was considered the main track that was most expected to be successful. If Elvis considered Always on My Mind a secondary track, why would he perform it live? Isn't it more logical that he would perform side A? Besides, the single Separate Ways/Always On My Mind didn't do well in the charts.

Yet , unless my memory is playing tricks with me, were these not included as rehearsal clips in TTWII.

[Thats_all_right]

Why would he sing Always On My Mind - B-side of the single, if he didn't even sing the A-side - Separate Way - live?

i was asking if HE SANG IT LIVE,

My friend, Always on My Mind was B side o the single. The a-side of the single was considered the main track that was most expected to be successful. If Elvis considered Always on My Mind a secondary track, why would he perform it live? Isn't it more logical that he would perform side A? Besides, the single Separate Ways/Always On My Mind didn't do well in the charts.

Yet , unless my memory is playing tricks with me, were these not included as rehearsal clips in TTWII.

I could be wrong. But I think 20 Days, 20 Nights was performed but not included in the final TTWII. It came out through The Lost Performances I believe. But then there's Stranger in the Crowd. There Goes My Everything. Others?

[Jokerlola]

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR REFERENCE,
BUT I DONT THINK HE EVER DONE IT LIVE? ANYONE

He did sing it live for the EOT cameras in the mock recording session but it wasn't used in the movie. It was used in 'This Is Elvis'.

[FredAistair]

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR REFERENCE,
BUT I DONT THINK HE EVER DONE IT LIVE? ANYONE

He did sing it live for the EOT cameras in the mock recording session but it wasn't used in the movie. It was used in 'This Is Elvis'.

Yup, these are the ones I was thinking of

[FredAistair]

Whilst there's nothing to suggest that Always On My Mind was considered for inclusion in Elvis’s concerts, let alone performed, Separate Ways was rehearsed in January of 1973, making this a consideration at least. Although either would have been a fine addition to his set list at any time, of course.

Both are good songs and Elvis’s recordings are splendid, and with Separate Ways being the hit of the two on Billboard, as mentioned, this would seem like the more obvious choice. This said, Elvis was unpredictable in many ways. Whilst he did perform most of his singles from the 1970s in concert at one time or another.

agreed - and found the you tube separate ways link from EoT

[DarrylMac]

I think we often judge things with the benefit of hindsight. We look back now and think, "of course it's an Elvis classic, it's always on my mind", but at the time, it's entirely possible it was dismissed once recorded. It didn't get an album release - even Separate Ways only got a budget album outing.

Can you imagine how well an album with Burning Love, Separate Ways and Always On My Mind might have done in 72? The "Burning Love" album from a few years ago gives a good indication. It could have been a really well regarded, serious album to rival his best.

[brian]

I think we often judge things with the benefit of hindsight. We look back now and think, "of course it's an Elvis classic, it's always on my mind", but at the time, it's entirely possible it was dismissed once recorded. It didn't get an album release - even Separate Ways only got a budget album outing.

True. At the time Elvis and RCA didn't see the hit potential in the song. That's one they missed.

[dougkapp]

I think Elvis should have regularly included, in at least a Vegas season or tour, his latest single, side A and side B.

But the truth is that his repertoire, from 1972 on, started to get repetitive and with little variation, some fast interpretations, almost a parady... Its very sad hear with Hound Dog, Blue Suede Shoes, All Shook Up being sung in one minute. Not to mention that Elvis practically abandoned everything he recorded between 1960 - 1962 and 1969...

[Jokerlola]

I think we often judge things with the benefit of hindsight. We look back now and think, "of course it's an Elvis classic, it's always on my mind", but at the time, it's entirely possible it was dismissed once recorded. It didn't get an album release - even Separate Ways only got a budget album outing.

Can you imagine how well an album with Burning Love, Separate Ways and Always On My Mind might have done in 72? The "Burning Love" album from a few years ago gives a good indication. It could have been a really well regarded, serious album to rival his best.

I became an Elvis fan after seeing him in Vegas in Aug. of 73. Two of the first records I bought after becoming a fan were the Burning Love and Separate Ways Camden albums. I had heard both Burning Love and Separate Ways on the radio so I knew the songs. I liked Burning Love even before I was a fan but I really didn't like Separate Ways very much but I bought it anyway because it was like 75 cents. I remember "discovering" Always On My Mind upon first playing the album and being blown away by it! And even at 12 years old, I couldn't figure out why it wasn't the "A" side instead of Separate Ways! And I could never figure out why they wasted the 4 new recordings on budget albums of old movie songs? I remember playing Always On My Mind over and over again. To this day when I play it or hear it, I always hear (in my head) the beginning of "I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell, which I would try to jump up and pick up the needle before it started but never quite got to the turntable on time!

[DEH]

He still added new songs into his shows right through 1975.

[Christopher Brown]

And a couple of new songs in 1976.

[joshferrell]

maybe he connected the song too much with his divorce and thought it was too intense .

[nod3million]

I think we often judge things with the benefit of hindsight. We look back now and think, "of course it's an Elvis classic, it's always on my mind", but at the time, it's entirely possible it was dismissed once recorded. It didn't get an album release - even Separate Ways only got a budget album outing.

Can you imagine how well an album with Burning Love, Separate Ways and Always On My Mind might have done in 72? The "Burning Love" album from a few years ago gives a good indication. It could have been a really well regarded, serious album to rival his best.

Elvis and even Parker should have realised the songs you’ve mentioned belonged on one solid album with other tracks like “It’s a matter of Time”. Another missed opportunity.

[drjohncarpenter]

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR REFERENCE,
BUT I DONT THINK HE EVER DONE IT LIVE? ANYONE

Why are you YELLING at us?

[rickeap]

Why it was relegated to a B-side is another question.

[BrianTCB]

Whilst there's nothing to suggest that Always On My Mind was considered for inclusion in Elvis’s concerts, let alone performed, Separate Ways was rehearsed in January of 1973, making this a consideration at least. Although either would have been a fine addition to his set list at any time, of course.

Both are good songs and Elvis’s recordings are splendid, and with Separate Ways being the hit of the two on Billboard, as mentioned, this would seem like the more obvious choice. This said, Elvis was unpredictable in many ways. Whilst he did perform most of his singles from the 1970s in concert at one time or another.

Always love hearing your perspective, Greystoke.

Anyway...for our other viewers, here is the rehearsal of Separate Ways. Should give you a good idea of how these songs would have sounded live: