Little darling ( the song )

[tcb4]

Hello

do you like this song "Little darling" ?

do you think it was a good idea from the king to do this song ?

[midnightx]

Skip. An embarrassing parody. Man, how low Elvis' creative and artistic direction had dropped by 1977.

[drjohncarpenter]

do you like this song "Little darling" ?

do you think it was a good idea from the king to do this song ?

Do you mean "Little Darlin'"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Darlin

The 1957 R&B original by the Gladiolas is wonderful, and I even like the hit cover by the Diamonds.

You can hear Elvis doing bass vocal parts while the Diamonds single plays on the hi-fi, on a recording made at friend Eddie Fadal's Waco, TX home in May 1958. That's pretty cool, too.

However, the live cover done by Elvis between 1975 and 1977 was nothing more than a tongue-in-cheek throwaway, as if Elvis had suddenly joined Sha-Na-Na or something. It's another example of his misplaced attitude about the era.

If Presley had lived longer, I am hopeful he would have changed his outlook, what with the chart-making, rockabilly revival of the early 1980s (Stray Cats), and positive critical reassessments of the early days of rock 'n' roll.

[Brian Quinn]

Personally I do not like Elvis' version of 'Little Darling'.To me it was a 'throw-away' song for him. I bought and loved The Diamonds version. Still do.

Brian

[drjohncarpenter]

What are your thoughts on Elvis' version of "Little Darlin'"?

[brian]

What are your thoughts on Elvis' version of "Little Darlin'"?

I think Elvis did a good job on it

I find his version to be hilarious

[midnightx]

What are your thoughts on Elvis' version of "Little Darlin'"?

I think Elvis did a good job on it

I find his version to be hilarious

And tragic all at the same time.

[dreambear]

It´s a kind of joke, but at the same time a relief, compared to the sombre songs on "Boulevard". The falsetto ending is brilliant and not sung by Sherill Nielsen as on th overdubbed version of Unchained melody from the same album.

But to be true, the instrumental overdubs, probably makes Elvis´ version sounding better than it really is.

A masterpiece? No!

A disaster? No!

A bit of fun? Yes!

Kind regards Björn

[BigredG]

"If you buy that, you'll buy anything"

Why did he sing that song in concert? Not sure, but he knew it was a bit of fun, and fun was an integral part of the live Elvis Presley experience.

It's another one of those elements of the live shows that does not transfer well to the medium of repeated listening. As such, it's inclusion on Moody Blue can be seen only as an act of desperation, and the single release, as an act of expediency.

[Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man]

Ok. Red just nailed it.

Being AT the show, it would have been good fun and a surprise inclusion. As I've said before, the 77 shows were always jolly affairs, and the 75 shows were too. I can see it fitting in well as a quick diversion.

The overdubbs on MOODY BLUE version are actually better than the performance. It sounds like a studio cut. Had he not pissed about with the naration ("your little foot ...er...hand .... do somethin' woman, don't just stand there!") it would have been a rather good master of a, well, novelty song. Nothing wrong with that.
It sounds out of place on the album though. It's one of those Elvis tracks that only works as part of a full (or edited) concert - y'know, when heard in context. As a stand alone album track, it's definitely a case of scraping the barrel. If they'd delved deeper into the barrel though, they'd have found the much superior 1975 version of Tiger Man from the Elvis Today sessions and this woud have sat better on MOODY BLUE.

[Rob]

It's just a little tune that Elvis had fun doing on stage. I like it for that reason.

[Denman]

Have to agree with Rob here.

[midnightx]

Ok. Red just nailed it.

Being AT the show, it would have been good fun and a surprise inclusion. As I've said before, the 77 shows were always jolly affairs, and the 75 shows were too. I can see it fitting in well as a quick diversion.

The overdubbs on MOODY BLUE version are actually better than the performance. It sounds like a studio cut. Had he not pissed about with the naration ("your little foot ...er...hand .... do somethin' woman, don't just stand there!") it would have been a rather good master of a, well, novelty song. Nothing wrong with that.
It sounds out of place on the album though. It's one of those Elvis tracks that only works as part of a full (or edited) concert - y'know, when heard in context. As a stand alone album track, it's definitely a case of scraping the barrel. If they'd delved deeper into the barrel though, they'd have found the much superior 1975 version of Tiger Man from the Elvis Today sessions and this woud have sat better on MOODY BLUE.

While the impromptu 1975 version of Tiger Man certainly would have been an improvement over Little Darlin', it is still a pretty bland, uninspired performance. Elvis simply did not record enough material for a proper album.

[Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man]

Ok. Red just nailed it.

Being AT the show, it would have been good fun and a surprise inclusion. As I've said before, the 77 shows were always jolly affairs, and the 75 shows were too. I can see it fitting in well as a quick diversion.

The overdubbs on MOODY BLUE version are actually better than the performance. It sounds like a studio cut. Had he not pissed about with the naration ("your little foot ...er...hand .... do somethin' woman, don't just stand there!") it would have been a rather good master of a, well, novelty song. Nothing wrong with that.
It sounds out of place on the album though. It's one of those Elvis tracks that only works as part of a full (or edited) concert - y'know, when heard in context. As a stand alone album track, it's definitely a case of scraping the barrel. If they'd delved deeper into the barrel though, they'd have found the much superior 1975 version of Tiger Man from the Elvis Today sessions and this woud have sat better on MOODY BLUE.

While the impromptu 1975 version of Tiger Man certainly would have been an improvement over Little Darlin', it is still a pretty bland, uninspired performance. Elvis simply did not record enough material for a proper album.

I think it's quite raunchy! A good version. The instrumentation is superb.

[BigredG]

I think it's quite raunchy! A good version. The instrumentation is superb.

Yeah, it's pretty good. Bit more bluesy than the "usual" version, but for a warm up jam it's fantastic!!

[midnightx]

I think it's quite raunchy! A good version. The instrumentation is superb.

Yeah, it's pretty good. Bit more bluesy than the "usual" version, but for a warm up jam it's fantastic!!

Elvis certainly isn't fantastic during that performance.

[BigredG]

Elvis certainly isn't fantastic during that performance.

Oh boy.

[midnightx]

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[jeanno]

midnightx

Elvis simply did not record enough material for a proper album.

He did: he had 16 new tracks in the can by November 1976. But, as always during the last 3 years, RCA prefered to do two 10 tracks album instead of a more solid (or less flawed in this case) single one.

[midnightx]

midnightx

Elvis simply did not record enough material for a proper album.

He did: he had 16 new tracks in the can by November 1976. But, as always during the last 3 years, RCA prefered to do two 10 tracks album instead of a more solid (or less flawed in this case) single one.

No he did not, by the time Moody Blue came around, Elvis did not have enough recorded for a proper album.

[Rob]

Which is pretty obvious since they had to use live tracks, including one previously released.

[drjohncarpenter]

... he had 16 new tracks in the can by November 1976.

No.

By November 1976 Elvis had only 4 new tracks in the can, from the just-completed, second set of Graceland sessions.

All 12 of the February 1976 Graceland masters had been issued in March ("Hurt" / "For The Heart"), May (From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee) and November ("Moody Blue" / "She Thinks I Still Care").

Producer Felton Jarvis hoped to fill the gap with January 1977 sessions in Nashville, but Elvis only made it as far as the Nashville hotel before blowing off the scheduled dates.

Jarvis then began taping tour shows to capture something he could use on album, and finally grabbing a 1974 live cut to finish off Moody Blue.

Those were desperate times.

[BigredG]

Elvis certainly isn't fantastic during that performance.

If you can raise your game above the "cute" one liners, could you explain what it is that causes you to feel so badly about this performance?

[midnightx]

Elvis certainly isn't fantastic during that performance.

If you can raise your game above the "cute" one liners, could you explain what it is that causes you to feel so badly about this performance?

It has already been explained. First of all, I never claimed it was a bad performance. Some of you guys are overrating it by calling excellent. It was a nice find for the 70's box set. After putting aside the initial excitement of Elvis jamming to Tiger Man during a 1975 studio session, the overall results are loose and low-key. Elvis certainly isn't bad, but he doesn't let loose and take it to the next level either. A mediocre vocal performance at best.

[drjohncarpenter]

The March 1975 studio jam of "Tiger Man" is just that -- a jam. The band really shines, though, especially Burton.

When bass player Duke Bardwell was asked many years later about its discovery, he did not even remember it, which may go to show how signifcant it seemed at the time to those present.

Why any of this needs to be "explained" is beyond me.