Best track on "Elvis now" LP 1972

[familyjules]

ELVIS NOW

Early Morning Rain
For Lovin' Me
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
The First Time Evere I Saw Your Face
Amazing Grace

I'll Take You Home Kathleen
It's Still Here
I Will Be True
Until It's Time For You To Go
Help Me Make It Through The Night

That's how it should have looked. The folk album. Shame it never happened.

Interesting, but I don't think putting three melancholy piano ballads together at the start of side 2 would ever have been considered for even a minute.

Jules

[Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man]

You're probably right Jules. Maybe it could have ended with them three instead.

[Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man]

So if this had been the ELVIS NOW folk album themed line up:

ELVIS NOW

Early Morning Rain
For Lovin' Me
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
The First Time Evere I Saw Your Face
Amazing Grace

Help Me Make It Through The Night
Until It's Time For You To Go
I'll Take You Home Kathleen
It's Still Here
I Will Be True


Then there'd have been room for a cracking little pop album:

Fools Rush In
It's Only Love
The Sound Of Your Cry
Where did They go, Lord?
Padre

Rags To Riches
We Can Make The Morning
Sylvia
Love Me, Love The Life I Lead
I'm Leavin'

There was also the "My Way" master but I think that one belonged on the cutting room floor, as much better versions were yet to come.

And with RCA's liking for budget 10 track Elvis albums at this time, it would have been a quality release!

The 72 Masters would have been left to appear on a 14 track album with the February Vegas Masters with a side dedicated to Live cuts and a side dedicated to the Studio tracks

FROM HOLLYWOOD TO VEGAS

Burning Love
Where Do I Go From Here?
Always on My Mind
Fool
For The Good Times
It's A Matter Of Time
Seperate Ways

Big Hunk Of Love
Never Been To Spain
Impossible Dream
You Gave Me A Mountain
It's Impossible
It's Over
An American Trilogy

Sorted!

And with only Trilogy and Never Been To Spain being duplicated at MSG, there'd have been room for that release too.

My favouirte period in Elvis' recording career - 1970-72 - done and dusted! Amen!

[dreambear]

"Love me, love life I lead" and "Padre" should have been left in the can in my opinion, and in the case of LM,LTLIL", also in Elvis´ opinion.

But more of that in a future poll....

//björn

[familyjules]

"Love me, love life I lead" and "Padre should have been left in the can in my opinion, and in the case of LM,LTLIL", also in Elvis´ opinion.

Even if LM,LTLIL had been left in the can initially, BMG or FTD would have released it by now.

Personally I quite like the song.

It certainly beats Padre!

Jules

[dreambear]

"Love me, love life I lead" and "Padre should have been left in the can in my opinion, and in the case of LM,LTLIL", also in Elvis´ opinion.

Even if LM,LTLIL had been left in the can initially, BMG or FTD would have released it by now.

Personally I quite like the song.

It certainly beats Padre!



Jules

Agree on both, but like the 1971 version of "My way", those should have been nice surprises on box sets, instead of average or poor material on original albums.

Regards//Björn

[Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man]

I agree that "My Way" studio version is dismal but "Padre" is good and "Love Me Love The Life I Lead" is excellent!!! Both have strong vocals and belong on original albums. "love Me Love The Life I Lead" is on par with "We Can Make The Morning" and "Padre" is "Heart Of Rome" Vol. 2.

[dreambear]

I agree that "My Way" studio version is dismal but "Padre" is good and "Love Me Love The Life I Lead" is excellent!!! Both have strong vocals and belong on original albums. "love Me Love The Life I Lead" is on par with "We Can Make The Morning" and "Padre" is "Heart Of Rome" Vol. 2.

Well, we can discuss this till death do us apart, but Elvis voice on those two tracks are very strained, but not the way it was strained in 1969 on "Long black limousine" (a cold) where the strained voice sounds like he deperately needed the money from the record sales. On the worst tracks in 1971, he just didn´t manage to pull it off.

But of course, there was some really great tracks from the 1971 sessions, but they where mostly low-key affairs like "I´m leavin´" or "Early morning rain".

Regards//Björn

[ColinB]

"Love Me Love The Life I Lead" is on par with "We Can Make The Morning" and "Padre" is "Heart Of Rome" Vol. 2.

Not saying much for either of them, is it ?

[dreambear]

"Love Me Love The Life I Lead" is on par with "We Can Make The Morning" and "Padre" is "Heart Of Rome" Vol. 2.

Not saying much for either of them, is it ?

Well the rythm of LMLTLIL reminds me of the rythm WCMTM. But I do prefer the later track. Heart of Rome is too overblown for my taste.

//Björn

[Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man]

I love Heart of Rome. It's one of my favourite elvis songs.

[dreambear]

"Early mornin´ rain" won a bombastic win here. I really should have been included on the Essential 70´s masters box.

Thanks for voting!

//Björn

[dreambear]

Well, I would certainly have looked like a square...

//Björn

[nealumphred]

FELLOW FECCers

Just curious, but how many of you are old enough to have forked over $5-6 for compilation albums such as LOVE LETTERS in 1971, ELVIS NOW in 1972, and ELVIS in 1973? I ask because I do believe that that experience colors one's perception of these records. . .

NEAL UMPHRED

[Mike Eder]

I got them in the mid 80's, and simply judged them musically. I am not a big fan of Love Letters, but I do like Now and Fool quite a bit as LP's,.The material may not have been recorded for one project, but I like what hear on those albums with one or two exceptions. Pardre being the worst to me.

[ColinB]

FELLOW FECCers

Just curious, but how many of you are old enough to have forked over $5-6 for compilation albums such as LOVE LETTERS in 1971, ELVIS NOW in 1972, and ELVIS in 1973? I ask because I do believe that that experience colors one's perception of these records. . .

Felt a bit let down that the renewed creative surge, so much in evidence in 68, 69 & 70, had begun to peter out in 71, was even less evident in 72, & had all but dissipated by 73................

Listening to them now, can find some redeeming tracks.

[nealumphred]

MIKE EDER

If you take the 31 tracks on those three LPs and eleiminate the worst of the batch ("Padre", "The Last Dance", "Heart Of Rome", and "Hey Jude" spring to mind), you can collect the rest into two fine, 12-track albums. Add the two best left-overs of that era, "The Sound Of Your Cry" and the glorious "I'm Leavin'", and they resultant albums get even better!

NEAL

[nealumphred]

COLINB

Exactly! I duly and diligently purchased each new Elvis record from 1965 through 1977. I was often embarrassed to consider myself a fan when I got home and heard such dreck as HARUM SCARUM, EASY COME EASY GO, or DOUBLE TROUBLE. My whole world changed with the '68 NBC-TV Special and FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS.

Colin, you state that you felt a "bit let down", with LOVE LETTERS and NOW. Well, my friend, I felt cheated and that the glory days were over after only two years of excellence. Had Elvis chosen to spend the rest of his career making records like ON STAGE and THAT'S THE WAY IT IS, I would have been a delighted fan, bragging endlessly of his wondrous voice and great records. Lo, such was not the case. . .

My point, I guess, is that those of us who bought the albums then have a bit of a difficult time responding to these albums without a patina of disappointment, even anger, caused by our having purchased and listened to them then.

Of course, on the other hand, we "elders" have a sense of excitement urgency wonder regarding ELVIS NBC-TV SPECIAL and FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS and even THAT'S THE WAY IT IS (forever a personal favorite) and ELVIS COUNTRY that younger fans will never have. To this day, when "Suspicious Minds" comes on the radio, I tingle all over. There are times that, when driving, I just have to pull over and close my eyes and get transported to the same place I was when I first heard the record in the summer of '69!

Ho hum. . .

NEAL

[Mike Eder]

MIKE EDER

If you take the 31 tracks on those three LPs and eleiminate the worst of the batch ("Padre", "The Last Dance", "Heart Of Rome", and "Hey Jude" spring to mind), you can collect the rest into two fine, 12-track albums. Add the two best left-overs of that era, "The Sound Of Your Cry" and the glorious "I'm Leavin'", and they resultant albums get even better!

NEAL

Hi Neal. I have long enjoyed your articles on Elvis, especally the two you did back 1997 on Elvis' LP's and 45's. Personally I find that I like many of my favorites even more as time goes by. Any album's or singles you see more favorably today?

I think you have an interesting idea here, the albums would have been better as full 12 track releases Certainly 10 tracks isn't too abnormal for a seventies release, but some of those singles would have added an extra demention. Also I think you brought up a good point in Goldmine about "Now", in that the tttle was a problem. Many fans and critics knew that the closing track had been part of "Elvis Country"m and was thus not Elvis "now". Still I do have a fondness for the 1971 sessions that some don't share and that of course means I enjoy it anyway.

[nealumphred]

MIKE EDER

Well, I sorta see Elvis' comeback as a set of sessions that decline chronologically:

A) the June '68 sessions, studio and live, for the Singer Presents Elvis television special can be argued to be his best since the Sun years and there is almost no dreck;

B) the January-February '69 sessions at American Studio can be argued to be superior to the '68 sessions and the dreck here is better than most of the studio material he had been recording since 1962;

C) the best of June '70 sessions in Nashville are on a par with the middle of the pack of the '69 sessions (as stated, THAT'S THE WAY IT IS and ELVIS COUNTRY are among my favorite albums of all time by anybody) although obvious dreck is present (tracks recorded as favor for friends who were now song-pluggers, etc.);

D) the best of the various Nashvile sessions from '71 are on a par with the '70 sessions (notably, HE TOUCHED ME and "I'm Leavin'" and "Merry Christmas Baby") while the dreck factor has risen (I would be quite content to never hear "Heart Of Rome" or "It's Only Love" again in this life cycle).

Note that the most marked difference between these sessiona is that the lesser material, the "dreck", plunges in quality in just two years. From this point on, only the brief sesssions in '72 and the December '73 Stax sessions can be argued to be "strong" overall sessions.

Again, like my previous statement, should one take the three mediocre, tentrack albums record in '73 (RAISED ON ROCK, PROMSIED LAND, and GOOD TIMES), exorcise the dreck and compile two twelve-track albums, Elvis' reputation would not have suffered as critically as it did at the time. Remember, while you state that ten-track albums were fairly common in the '70s, they were among country and pop artists; rock artists were issuing albums that approachwed forty minutes in length, and the brevity of Elvis' albums was held against him by every intelligent fan that I knew at the time.

Finally, I suppose the one track that I underestimated the most at the time was "Just Pretend", a track that I cherish today, although I wish that Elvis had chosen "How The Web Was Woven" as a single in lieu of "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me". . .

NEAL UMPHRED

PS: If you can find a copy of the first "Al;l Music Guide" book you find that I wrote all of the reviews for the Elvis albums. I throught I did a fairly even, balanced job of assigning stars. At least, the reader has one point of view to focus on and understand. Over the years, various other writers' reviews have supplanted mine and now there is a hodgepodge of perspectives, which may or may not assist the reader in understanding Elvis' catalog.

[nealumphred]

MIKE

Just checked out THAT'S THE WAY IT IS on "All Music Guide" site. As usual (that is, ever since they replaced my original review), they got most of it wrong, claiming that it is a live album from Vegas and the soundtrack to the film of the same name. Of course, it is neither and I entered a lengthy list of corrections in their contributor's section. Why am I skeptical that it will matter?

NEAL

[Mike Eder]

Yeah I have sent ignored corrections to the site myself, maybe as you have writen for them they will pay more attention. Good call on How The Web Was Woven.

[nealumphred]

SHANE

Okay. Perhaps "mediocre" was a bit harsh: PROMISED LAND is a good album, probably the best Elvis album post 1971. Nonetheless, I have found that by judging any artist in any field of artistic endeavor by his best work rather than his lesser gives one a far better understanding of his true talent, especially with an artist as protean, productive, and promiscuous as Elvis Presley (run for your dictionaries, guys and gas).

I often think of Elvis as the Picasso of popular music and I judge Picasso similarly: in his 70s, the artist produced a massive set of erotic engravings -hundreds and hundreds- the bulk of which were mediocre by PP's standards. But the best were collected into a set and a very limited number of prints were pulled from these plates and made available to collectors. This set, the best of the bunch, is ranked amongst Picasso's greatest achievements, a heady statement, indeed!

Similarly, my argument that, by condensing the thirty tracks Elvis recorded in 1973 to two twelve-track albums, one arrives at a much more accurate assessment of his abilities and achievements than by judging the three ten-track albums that were released. Unfortunately, RCA/BMG and Ernst have not seen things this way. . .

NEAL UMPHRED

[nealumphred]

SHANE

Hey! Just visited All Music Guide and they are still using my original review of RAISED ON ROCK, written for AMG when it was a book, not a website (how long ago???)

R

In July 1973, Elvis returned to Memphis, this time to the source of Southern soul, Stax Studios. Apparently, the very idea of working with Elvis was intimidating and the Stax musicians couldn't overcome their awe, so Elvis had to leave the building. In his absence, the rhythm tracks were laid down. He then returned to add his vocals, a practice only used during the last few years of the soundtracks, when he was too bored to show up and work.

From all of this, five songs were attempted and one was completed, and they're instantly forgettable. Elvis returned in December to Stax with a mix of his band and some Nashville cats, recording 18 tracks in a week. In between, he had tried a session at his Palm Springs home that didn't work, although three almost ponderously sincere ballads were completed. All in all, RCA had 30 new Elvis songs, enough quality material for two strong albums of 12 tracks each.

Unfortunately, the material was issued as three cheesily packaged albums of a mere ten tracks each. Raised on Rock, Good Times, and Promised Land all have something to offer, but the lesser material dilutes the impact of the strong and the sound ranges from O.K. to atrocious, thus producing more evidence of Presley's growing mediocrity.

NEAL UMPHRED

[nealumphred]

SHANE & MIKE

This is the opening liner for AMG's review of PROMISED LAND by Bruve Eder, which replaced my orginal review:

Promised Land came from the last recording sessions that Elvis Presley ever had in Memphis, the city where his fame and his legend started.

Gee, does this mean that RECORDED AT ELVIS PRESLEY BOULEVARD, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE was recorded in, oh, say, Nashville?

NEAL UMPHRED