Elvis Island Discs
I’ve been flicking through my old Elvis Special Annuals, published by Elvis Monthly UK. They were always good entertainment value back in the day, and a very welcome Christmas present. Come to think of it, they are still good entertainment value, packed with interesting opinions and information, and a devotion that is endearing if occasionally unbalanced. I have every one from 1963 to 1984 except 1970, 1979, and 1980. The articles are of uneven quality, with many eccentric views being advanced. But they are fun to read all the same. I noticed that a recurring theme (it occurred twice, anyway), was the game of picking your favourite eight Elvis songs to keep you company should you ever come to be stranded on a desert isle, in the format of the BBC radio show Desert Island Discs . Frankly, I wouldn’t mind being stranded anywhere so long as I had my Elvis collection for company. In fact, I have a feeling that people who spend time picking their favourite Elvis songs are somewhat in a world of their own as it is, if not exactly stranded. You are never stranded so long as you’ve got Elvis.
It looked like an interesting way to pass an hour or two, so I sat down with the express intention of picking my most cherished eight Elvis songs. With my usual genius, I made the task far more difficult than it is, drawing up a massive ‘shortlist’ of favourite songs. That is entirely the wrong approach to take. Elvis fans being Elvis fanatics will most likely produce a list with at least half of Elvis’ songbook on there. I’ll plead fairly guilty here, although I was incredibly selective by my usual standards. I was clear that I wasn’t necessarily picking Elvis’ best songs, nor even the songs that are my most favourite. You won’t find ‘Heartbreak Hotel,’ ‘Don’t Be Cruel,’ ‘All Shook Up,’ ‘In the Ghetto,’ or ‘Suspicious Minds’ in my list, even though these tracks would make any list of Elvis’ greatest recordings, including my own. Instead, I determined to choose songs that I love, for their own intrinsic qualities but also for the personal resonance that comes with them. These songs will mean something that is peculiar to me, recalling past events, moods and atmospheres of time and place, people I have known, people I amused and/or irritated/intrigued. Most of all, they recall the times when the people I loved and who loved me in turn were all alive and present. These songs keep all the things and people I have loved in life present.
I went in search of eight special songs. In the first instance I drew up a list of seventy songs plus…
In truth, the challenge is much easier than people who make lists make it seem. Whichever songs spring immediately to mind are your songs. You really don’t need to think to answer a question such as this. It’s like the question who is your favourite football team, singer, band, person, anything. You just know the answer without needing to think about it. But it’s more fun drawing up a ‘shortlist’ and presenting the rationale behind each possible selection. The trick, though, is to go down the list and select whichever song gives you the immediate buzz inside. It really is that simple. So I finally selected my ‘buzz’ songs. I was still well over the eight, mind. I’m an Elvis fan, after all.
‘Just Because’
‘Milkcow Blues’
It is well-nigh impossible to select any one recording from Elvis’ Sun sessions and rate it higher than the rest. In terms of sheer quality, you would be hard pressed to find a better track than ‘Mystery Train’ or ‘Tryin’ to Get to You,’ a song of boundless gospel/blues energy that always brought the best out of Elvis to the very end. But this is not a selection of the best Elvis songs, but of the songs which elicit the deepest, most emotional response, whether happy or sad.
I had a long spell in the 1980s when I not merely went off Elvis but turned against him with a vengeance. I started to believe the critics who dismissed Elvis as a derivative commercial artist whose best music was appropriated from other others and diluted for mass consumption. In time I came to realize that such views were wholly wrong and were based on distinctions between folk, art, and commerce that were utterly arbitrary and elitist. Some time in the early 1990s I started to investigate my old collection of Elvis albums, abandoned behind sideboard doors in the front room. I had bought The Sun Collection when it had come out in the UK in 1976 and had always loved it. The music was so fresh and spontaneous and joyous and, hearing it again, long after my youthful enthusiasm for Elvis had faded, it was a revelation to hear how … vital, alive, and uplifting it still sounded. I loved the entire sound of the Elvis Sun sides. It is spare but somehow full. It is just Elvis singing and playing rhythm guitar, Scotty Moore on electric guitar and Bill Black on stand up bass. That’s it. There is a bongo player on ‘I Don’t Care if the Sun Don’t Shine’ and a drums on a couple of the later sides. But basically it is just the three ‘Blue Moon Boys’ on every song. As I listened to the songs I found it impossible to keep my fingers from imitating Scotty Moore’s guitar licks. It wasn’t a good imitation. I can’t play guitar to save my life. My fingers were just mimicking the sounds. Two songs above all stood out for me when it came to playing along. ‘Milk Cow Blues’ is one of the greatest blues Elvis ever recorded, with Elvis right on the money with his phrasing. In terms of sheer quality, this should be the selection. ‘Just Because’ is not regarded as one of the great Sun sides. Producer Sam Phillips never issued it on a single and sold it on to RCA with Elvis’ contract. It’s slight, but effortless, bouncy, and breezy. And it boasts a couple of Scotty Moore solos that were guaranteed to get my fingers flying. In terms of the buzz factor, it was this and ‘Milkcow Blues’ that did it most for me with regard to all of Elvis’ Sun sides. 'Just Because' was also recorded by Billy Fury, my favourite singer from Liverpool.
'Blue Moon'
When it comes to the moody, mystical, and melancholic, it would be impossible to beat ‘Blue Moon.’ The haunting and eery quality of Elvis’ rendition of this standard puts it in a category of its own. I’m inclined to select it as one of the five greatest songs ever recorded. I also have ‘Danny Boy’ in that select group, with Elvis also delivering an extraordinarily moving version.
'So Glad You’re Mine '
In all honesty, if we were to sit down and compile a list of Elvis’ greatest recordings we would soon be mired in the impossible. It may be somewhat shallow and immediate, but you really have no option but to go with whatever gives you goosebumps, whatever catches your eye and ear, draws your attention (and keeps it), makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, the heart beat faster, gets the pulses racing and juices flowing, makes your skin move.
Which is to say that I could have chosen a dozen or more tracks from 1956, Elvis’ breakthrough year. In making selections for your favourites, though, it is always best to go direct, straight to the heart or elsewhere, and not spend too much time in the conceptual prisons of the mind. I once worked in an office with a biologist, who told me that ‘nature’s way is quick and dirty.’ I wouldn’t recommend it as a way of life – immediacy isn’t always the best politics, far from it – but it is a good guide as to what excites your passions. ‘Quick and dirty’ is a good description of ‘So Glad You’re Mine.’ It was written by bluesman Arthur Crudup, the man who also wrote ‘That’s All Right,’ the song which broke Elvis at Sun. Crudup also wrote ‘My Baby Left Me,’ which has a claim to be one of the greatest ten recordings of Elvis’ entire career, and maybe his greatest blues performance. I could easily have selected ‘My Baby Left Me.’ It is the first track on ‘Elvis’ 40 Greatest,’ the double album which was my main Christmas present of 1974. I have fond memories of that album and that Christmas. But ‘So Glad You’re Mine’ has a certain added thrill, not least for being much less well known than the other two Crudup recordings by Elvis. Here, I cannot but agree with Liverpudlian Howard Jackson, who writes that ‘So Glad You’re Mine’ ‘was the song that argued Elvis was more important than regional loyalties to The Beatles.’ (Jackson, Treat Me Nice p.107). I am a Merseysider myself and had the honour of sitting in the Yellow Submarine in Liverpool in 1967 (or 68). Jackson explains the good reasons behind any treachery against Liverpool here. In the chorus, Elvis ‘quotes his satisfied girl friend who cries, ‘Oowee.’ I was fifteen years old when I heard that ‘Oowee’ for the first time. In an instant, the listener was pointed in a direction away from The Beatles and he has never been tempted to alter his path ever since.’
Jackson goes on to write of the triumph of ‘authenticity’ and ‘simple pleasures.’ He also admits that it may be the least best of Elvis’ three Crudup covers, but iconic all the same. I was thirteen when I first heard that ‘Oowee’ in the song and had little idea what it meant. I did know it was thrilling. If it didn’t point me away from The Beatles – I love The Beatles – it did point me in directions of authentically simple pleasures unknown.
As for The Beatles, I was once on the Liverpool front and was approached by three guys from the good old USA. One asked me if it was OK to park. I had no idea. I don’t drive, never have. He then asked me for directions to The Beatles Museum. ‘What are you doing here?’ I responded. Elvis is in America, you should be back home. But seeing as they were now here, I did my best (I pointed in the distance and said ‘somewhere over there.’)
‘Paralysed’
In truth, I could have picked any number of the great songs that Otis Blackwell wrote for Elvis – ‘Don’t Be Cruel,’ ‘All Shook Up,’ ‘Return to Sender.’ ‘I love these songs, of course. The first two are leading contenders for being the greatest ever Elvis song, perfectly capturing all the verve, joy, and groove of the early Elvis. I love ‘Paralysed.’ When I sing Elvis songs I tend to sing the ballads and the slow numbers. I’m not so confident or comfortable on the rhythm numbers. But I love to sing ‘Paralysed.’ It is very much in the same vein as ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ and ‘All Shook Up,’ but has a certain fluidity of its own that I love. I also love to hear Elvis on the Million Dollar Quartet recording mimicking Jackie Wilson mimicking him on the song. Joyous and infectious with an effortless flow, the kind of song that birds sing for no other reason than being glad to be alive.
‘Got a Lot O' Livin' to Do!’
Being limited to just eight selections really forces you to compress your materials. I could easily pick two or three numbers from each of Elvis’ four movies from the fifties, but feel constrained to select just a couple. (That merely reveals the impossibility of selection. Immediately, I could name the title tracks of the films and use half my entire quota: ‘Love Me Tender,’ ‘Loving You,’ ‘Jailhouse Rock,’ and ‘King Creole.’)
Being limited to just eight selections forces you to make some incredibly hard choices. In the end, I opted for ‘Got a Lot O' Livin' to Do!’ It is direct and immediate, the affirmation of simple joy and pleasure. This was one of the first of Elvis’ early rock’n’roll numbers I heard. My introduction to Elvis had actually come through the ballads. But this track really upped the pace. I can also remember being taught ‘joined up’ writing at school, connecting the letters to enable you to write more quickly. We went through a b c d, with some genius writing the sentence ‘dad is a cad.’ I didn’t know there was a word ‘cad,’ and didn’t know how he managed to join the ‘is’ either. We were given an exercise in which we had to write as many words beginning with ‘b’ as we could. And boy was I struggling, as usual. I just started to sing Elvis songs in my head, and ‘Got a Lot O' Livin' to Do!’ was my first call. ‘There's a moon that's big and bright in the milky way tonight.’ ‘Big,’ ‘bright!’ Job done. I went through the entire song. ‘There's a balmy little breeze / That's whistling through the trees.’ I was on a roll! ‘Come on baby, to make a party takes two.’ I thought I ought to quit there. To have gone any further might have disturbed Miss Forkin.
‘Is It So Strange’
‘If in doubt, leave it out’ is usually a good rule of thumb. The problem is that I’m not remotely in doubt when it comes to the qualities of ‘Is It So Strange.’ It is a mysterious and moody ‘Is It So Strange.’ ‘Don’t’ was a huge #1 US and UK smash hit, but ‘Is It So Strange’ is its strange and distant cousin. I have a particular soft spot for it owing to its presence on the very first Elvis album I owned, 1972’s ‘Separate Ways.’ It stood out then. It was on of my least favourite songs on that album, owing to its moody brooding quality, and the fact that Elvis reaches into emotional depths that were far beyond the reach of my tender years. But it made an impression on account of it being so esoterically different.
'I Need You So'
I have no doubt about the qualities of the deeply delightful ‘Don’t.’ It’s a great song and was a huge worldwide #1 smash hit. The problem is that Elvis has any number of great songs and smash hits to his name. And it is often the songs that go under the popular radar that move you the most. Limited to just eight selections, you can’t pick them all. ‘I Need you So’ is a wonderful blues ballad written by Ivory Joe Hunter and is a particular favourite of mine, with an emotional upsurge which proved that Elvis had entirely outgrown any remaining comparisons to Johnnie Ray. It is certainly a song that always grabs me whenever I hear it, a song I was immediately drawn to. For me, it was the highlight of the ‘Loving You’ album, the song I would always look forward to at album's end.
Before moving on from 1957, I should mention Elvis’ ability to blend the holy and the profane. That is a dangerous thing to do, given that it not only pollutes the sacred, it can also pervert the profane in the most extreme and repressive forms. In the social world it always results in a bad religion and a bad politics. In the musical world, though, things can be more creative. This is nowhere more apparent than on ‘Peace in the Valley,’ a song written by Thomas A Dorsey, Reverend Thomas by day and Georgia Tom by night, a blues singer with the accent on the blue. Elvis recorded blues, pop, rock, ballads, and gospel at one and the same session. He could integrate the holy and the profane, giving his secular songs a religious charge. He could also respect boundaries. His versions of ‘Take My Hand Precious Lord,’ ‘It is no Secret’ and ‘Peace in the Valley’ are exemplary. I could easily have made the latter one of my essential eight selections.
‘Treat Me Nice’
I remember being absolutely bowled over when I first heard ‘Treat Me Nice.’ I can date the moment precisely, December 26th 1977, when ‘Jailhouse Rock’ was shown as part of an Elvis Christmas/new Year movie season. I didn’t much like the movie, which was tough and angsty, with Elvis playing a surly, ungrateful, arrogant character. The performance of ‘Treat Me Nice’ was thrilling, though. The track certainly has the ‘buzz’ factor plus. I loved the way it was performed in the movie, seemingly loose and spontaneous, with Elvis in the studio. (I love listening to the alternate takes of Elvis songs for the same reason). I would insist on the movie version of ‘Treat Me Nice’ to the version that was released. The version that was released as a single is perfectly fine. Elvis himself thought the song had much the stronger hit potential than ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and so worked hard on it. Maybe he worked too hard, making it more polished but less vibrant. I prefer the movie version on account of it being freer, looser, and viscerally exciting. I thought the performance of ‘Treat Me Nice’ in ‘Jailhouse Rock’ to be the highlight of that ten-film Elvis season over Christmas and New Year. And I remember being a little disappointed when I came to hear the version that was released on disc. The movie version is a real thrill. (The same can also be said of ‘Baby I Don’t Care,’ I should add).
'Crawfish'
There are half a dozen serious contenders for my desert selections on ‘King Creole.’ ‘King Creole’ is widely considered to be Elvis’ greatest movie, his greatest acting performance and a serious contender for his greatest ever soundtrack. There are many highlights, but my favourite is ‘Crawfish,’ an ultra-cool creole blues that possesses a most unusual quality. It is a song which is hard to place and hard to date. When I first heard it it reminded me of nothing other than a song that was out at the time (1974), and which has been long forgotten, ‘Slip and Slide’ by UK blues rock band Medicine Head. In a burst of remarkable good taste, my auntie had bought me (or found me) some singles for my birthday, and this was one of them (Cozy Powell’s ‘Dance with the Devil’ was another.) Memories are made of this. Elvis duets with R&B singer Kitty White in the opening scene from the film and the sound and imagery left an indelible impression.
‘A Big Hunk O’ Love’
‘(Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I’
In terms of sheer breathtaking quality, there is no separating Elvis’ best recordings. I could have easily filled half my quota of eight with ‘One Night,’ ‘I Need Your Love Tonight,’ ‘A Big Hunk O' Love,’ and ‘A Fool Such As I.’ Every single one of them could be included, and no-one would be able to disagree.
When I returned to Elvis in the late ‘80s, after a few years away, ‘Elvis’ 40 Greatest’ was one of the albums I would play. Rather than play entire albums, though, I would select certain songs that I used to love. On the 40 Greatest I would always select these four (they can all be found together on side two).
‘One Night’ is a cracking Smiley Lewis R&B number whose lyrics had to be cleaned up for an Elvis single release. Elvis did cut the original version ‘One Night of Sin’ (‘is what I’m now paying for’) but it lacks the intensity of the released version. Censorship put the edge on Elvis’ vocal. ‘One Night’ was the favourite song of the woman who ran the local fruit shop, Zelma. She and her husband Alan were Elvis fanatics. Although I hated shopping and running errands, I always enjoyed visiting the fruit shop to hear people chatting about Elvis.
As great as ‘One Night’ is, I always felt a great uplift and upsurge when hearing ‘I Need Your Love Tonight’ – that stunning Hank Garland guitar solo always had my right hand working in overdrive. Both these songs could easily have made my list. Even better, though, is ‘A Big Hunk O Love.’ It’s a towering rock performance from Elvis, with first a cracking guitar solo, then a crashing piano solo. Immense! It’s one of the hardest, loudest, heaviest tracks Elvis ever recorded, showing him firing on all cylanders on the brink of his national service.
‘A Fool Such as I’ is an old Bill Trader/Hank Snow country song ramped up by Hank Garland’s jazzy guitar and Elvis’ exuberant delivery. Between them, Elvis and Garland create a completely new, different, vibrant song.
‘Wooden Heart’
I am afraid that I am going to scandalize and outrage Elvis fans and music lovers all and completely skip the ‘Elvis is Back’ sessions as well as the tracks on Elvis’ first gospel album and select a track that very many consider to represent the point at which Elvis’ career went downhill. But what can I do? With a mere eight selections, I have no option but to go straight to the songs that do it for me, songs which seize me with an unthinking immediacy that cuts right past notions of art and impeccably good taste. And the simple truth is that the ‘Elvis is Back’ sessions, album and singles, produced so many high quality recordings that it is a mugs’ game to try to parse them out – ‘Fever,’ ‘The Girl Of My Best Friend,’ ‘Like a Baby,’ ‘It Feels So Right,’ ‘Such a Night,’ ‘Reconsider Baby,’ ‘Stuck on You,’ ‘It’s Now or Never,’ ‘Surrender,’ ‘A Mess of Blues,’ ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight.’ That’s the entire quota of eight more than blown in one session. Go ahead, you try and choose just one from that list. I could pick one at random and it could easily serve. And I’ve not even mentioned ‘I Gotta Know,’ a song I have a soft spot for on account of it being the song (in French translation) which won Francoise Hardy her first recording contract with Vogue Records in France. I simply can’t pick one over another, merely call 1960 a high-score draw.
Throw in Elvis’ first gospel album ‘His Hand in Mine,’ and I simply have to throw the towel in here, raise the white flag of surrender. I had Elvis’ ‘Known Only to Him’ as the song played at my mother’s funeral service. That’s something more than a ‘buzz’ song.
My mother loved the movie ‘G.I. Blues.’ It was a great day when she took my brother and I to see G.I. Blues and Blue Hawaii on an Elvis double bill. She also bought us the accompanying soundtrack albums. I think she possibly listened to them herself. For critics, this was the beginning of the end for Elvis. But both movies and their soundtracks were hugely popular. We loved them. I must confess that when it comes to the G.I. Blues soundtrack, there are a couple of songs which I would highlight on account of their superior qualities: ‘Pocketful Of Rainbows’ and ‘Doin' The Best I Can’ are songs that wouldn’t have been out of place on the stellar ‘Elvis is Back’ album. I also have a soft spot for ‘Tonight Is So Right For Love’ and ‘Tonight's All Right for Love,’ both based on European waltzes that we used to sing in the school choir. I was also known to sing, on occasion, as a small boy, ‘Didja Ever.’ I remember singing the line ‘didja ever have one of those girls,’ only to have my brother frown and question the general sissiness of such a thing. I stopped singing that one. A song I sing to this day is ‘Wooden Heart.’ Now you are talking. It was a long and slow back to normal after I had ditched Elvis in the early ‘80s. Rehabilitation took some time. I started to listen to my old records, picking out certain songs. But I started to pay attention to songs I heard on the radio. I heard Nanci Griffith sing ‘Wooden Heart’ and I thought, ‘what a wonderful song.’ I’d always loved it and, it seemed, serious country-folk artists did too. I pay no attention to those who criticise the song, it is delightful. And one I love to sing.
But what can I say? Or, rather, plead? Guilty, probably. There are any number of more worthy contenders for selection here. ‘Stuck on You’ comes across as a slinkier, more seductive, update of ‘All Shook Up.’ ‘It’s Now or Never’ is immense, and I loved it the moment I heard it. It was just so obvious why the song owned the #1 position. There are half a dozen songs on ‘Elvis is Back’ which merit selection. I have a soft spot for ‘Known Only to Him’ for family reasons. Then there is ‘Surrender,’ an operatic performance that has every extremity buzzing, and has you locating extremities where you never thought you had them. It’s not my fault; I have only eight selections.
‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’
Rather than select ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love,’ I’m inclined to leave it out and have everyone presume its selection. So obvious and universal is its appeal that I think I can have it as a silent selection. I particularly love Elvis’ performance of the song in the ’68 Special. There are, in fact, a couple of songs from ‘Blue Hawaii’ which are much less well known and which I love. I have never understood why ‘No More’ is not better known and more widely appreciated. It is another of those Elvis songs which are based on European, classical, or operatic sources. Elvis sings it as well as he had sung all the others, it is a fine song and performance. ‘Hawaiian Sunset’ is a soft and pretty ballad and a song I love to sing unaccompanied. It came close to making my selection.
‘There's Always Me’
‘There’s Always Me’ is my selection out of a considerable number of soft Elvis ballads. I first heard the song on ‘Elvis’ 40 Greatest’ and from the very first, at the tender age of nine, it made me nostalgic for a time I never had, a place I had never visited, and people I had never met. That, of course, is an interpretation that bears no relation to the actual lyric of the song. I was responding more to the mood and atmosphere and the feelings these conjure up. The song still has the same effect. As for the other contenders for this selection, pride of place goes to delicate piano ballad ‘They Remind Me Too Much Of You,’ ‘I Met Her Today,’ which was one the first Elvis album I ever owned, as were ‘In my Way’ and ‘Forget Me never.’ I also reserve special praise for ‘Lonely Man,’ particularly Elvis’ solo version. In the end, you just have to go with the biggest buzz.
‘Follow that Dream’
There are any number of selections that I could have made from Elvis’ early sixties films. Indeed, cruel critics might suggest that since I have selected ‘Wooden Heart’ over the stellar ‘Elvis is Back’ material that I have well and truly exhausted my film quota and should move on. Given that I have only eight selections, that may well be sound advice. But if I am allowed one last drink at the well – and I am not – then my selection is ‘Follow That Dream.’ It’s a song that never fails to pick me up. It is an instant tonic, working its optimistic magic with immediate effect. Running it close is ‘I Got Lucky,’ a gentle twist number that reduces the tempo. It is worth pointing out here that my introduction to Elvis came by way of those early seventies’ ‘budget’ albums, which gave those with a little money a little bit of Elvis to indulge themselves with. ‘I Got Lucky’ was the title of one of those albums, acquired the same day as ‘C’mon Everybody,’ another ‘budget’ album and another contender for the select eight. The song is my pick from the movie ‘Viva Las Vegas,’ a movie which made a huge impression on me when I saw it at the local theatre. The performance of ‘C’mon Everybody’ with Ann-Margret was the film’s highlight for me. A selection from leftfield here would be the piano jazz-blues of ‘I Need Somebody To Lean On,’ a song that always bored me rigid when young, but which is superb. I’ll put a big shout in for ‘Bossa nova Baby,’ not least for its memorable performance in Fun in Acapulco. But the song from that film which always has me buzzing on the tip of my toes is ‘Guadalajara,’ a Mexican song which Elvis sings impeccably. But there it is, you can’t have ‘em all.
‘His Latest Flame’
I’m feeling a little guilty at failing to select at least one of Elvis’ great rhythm tracks from 1960, and am becoming conscious of selecting a lot of softer, ballad material. Happily, 1961 produced four great rhythm tracks, any one of which I could have selected. ‘Little Sister’ might well be the pick of the bunch in terms of its sheer quality and originality, and of course I love it. I love it in 1970, in rehearsal and in concert, when Elvis cuts in The Beatles’ ‘Get Back’ when performing it. It has a great blues feel and groove, and elicited a great response record from Lavern Baker with ‘Hey Memphis.’ ‘I Feel So Bad’ is a tougher blues, written by Chuck Willis, with Elvis packing a real punch. It was a sizeable hit at US #5, which is remarkable, really, for the kind of song it is. ‘I’m Coming Home’ is a particular favourite, a jolly, upbeat number, which for the life of me sounds an awful lot like Dire Straits’ ‘Twistin By the Pool.’ My selection, though, is ‘(Marie’s the name of) His Latest Flame.’ It is a song that Elvis thoroughly transformed from the demo he received, pushing the basic Bo Diddley beat into another orbit entirely. There is a little personal history to my selection here. My introduction to Elvis on record came, in the main, through those ‘budget’ records of the early seventies. The pricier Elvis records, the ones with all the hits one, were out of my range. So in the first instance the first Elvis songs I heard tended to be songs rounded up from the films and a few other waifs and strays. I loved them. But I was introduced to an Elvis of an entirely other order when I received ‘Elvis’ 40 Greatest’ as a Christmas present in 1974. ‘His Latest Flame’ made an immediate impression, not merely for its rhythmic drive, its punch, its force, but for its sheer quality. It was probably this track that told me that, beyond the vagaries of personal choice, Elvis Presley was an artist of the highest calibre. The song had the mark of quality.
‘Suspicion’
Although this dates from the Pot Luck album of 1962, I first heard it as a UK single release from 1976. I must admit that it didn’t make a huge impression on me at the time, it seemed too low-key to be a hit. But it made the UK top ten. As the years passed, I came to be more and more aware of its qualities, with Elvis effortlessly moving through the register, from low to high and back again, often in the same line. It’s a hugely impressive performance. Elvis, at his best, has the ability to move you so much that you miss just how impressive his vocal performacne is. He makes the immesely difficult sound effortlessly easy.
'It Hurts Me'
We come to that ‘lost’ period in Elvis’ career, the time in which increasingly poor film soundtracks for increasingly poor movies came to predominate over studio work. Elvis released fewer and fewer albums, with the material slated for album release in 1964 coming to be broken up and released sporadically.
I have a real soft spot for ‘What Now, What Next, Where To,’ a song that was on my first Elvis album (Separate Ways). I read that it was rejected by Johnny Cash and, to be fair, I can hear why. It isn’t much of a song. I’ve said it many times before and I am sure I will say it many times more, but the genius of Elvis Presley lay in his ability to make more of the material than was contained in its qualities. I argue this not merely to the average material he was given to record, but to the best material. That’s why the ‘debate’ over where and from whom Elvis obtained (‘appropriated’) his material and the fact that he never wrote his own material is ill-conceived. It really doesn’t matter. The outstanding thing about Elvis’ songs is Elvis’ voice and not the songs themselves. We read of endless controversies over ‘Hound Dog’ and such like, but the fact is that the material is actually much less outstanding than what Elvis brought to it. Which is to say that Elvis made the songs – and by implication the songwriters – sound much better than they actually were.
The emotional power of ‘It Hurts Me’ struck me on first hearing, seized hold of me within, and never let go. It says something that when I started to listen to my old Elvis records again, ‘It Hurts Me’ was one of the songs on my immediate ‘go to’ list. I found that the song had retained all of its passion and power. I loved it in two versions, the single version with the Jordanaires’ vocal backing and the Italian release without the backing. I don’t mind the strings and choirs that came to be placed all over Elvis’ records as the years went by and don’t make a fetish of the ‘pure Elvis’ sound. I have to say, for all that, there is something special about hearing more of Elvis’ voice and much less of the choirs, instrumentation, and orchestration. ‘It Hurts Me’ is a great song. But the true greatness of the Elvis songs lies less in the material than in the quality of Elvis’ voice and the great emotional charge and depth he brought to the material. At risk of striking a controversial note, Elvis made many of the songs he sang sound much better than they are on paper. When he was presented with genuinely great material, the result is awesome. That’s the case with ‘It Hurts Me.’
‘Ask Me.’
‘Ask Me’ may be something of a controversial choice. It is not a particularly well-known, still less well respected, Elvis track. So why did I select it? The simplest answer to that question is that it always elicited a reaction from me, sweeping me away somewhere into the ether, to some unknown but much sought place, person or other. I also like the fact that it was written by Domenico Modugno, the man who wrote ‘Nel blu dipinto di blu,’ one of the great Eurovision songs (better known as ‘Volare.’) Elvis had a lot of faith in the track, recording it once and then returning to do an even better job. He seemed to imagine it as a powerful, Italian based, ‘now or never’ response to the Beatles’ invasion. It didn’t happen. Many critics – and Elvis fans – disliked the ‘girly’ vocal, with Elvis singing in his highest range. I like it. I sing high, too. And Agnetha out of ABBA likes it too, selecting it as one of her ‘Tracks of Our Years.’
I would just add that ‘It Hurts Me’ and ‘Devil in Disguise’ are the real choice cuts from this period, songs that I absolutely love. I should also give an honourable mention to ‘Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello,’ a track which Elvis seemed to think had huge hit potential. It is an unusual track, a blend of Latin and R&B in the manner of The Drifters. All these tracks were on Elvis’ Gold Records volume four, from which I would also select ‘Love Letters’ and ‘Indescribably Blue,’ a song I absolutely flipped over at the time and played over and again (had I been making my eight selections back then, ‘Indescribably Blue’ might well have made the list, although it is worth pointing out that my passions for certain Elvis songs has run through many phases). I remember raving about this Gold Records album to a friend, who invited me over to his house to play it. I went, only to find no sign of my friend. The only person there was his older sister, Mary, who was about a year older than me. She invited me in. I was there to play my new Elvis record, so she accompanied me to the living room and the record player. She sat with me as I listened. I was enjoying myself immensely when, five songs or so in, she stood up and left the room with the word ‘boring.’ Strange girl, I thought, imagining that her abuse was aimed at Elvis. I don’t know what she may have had in mind, but it is possible that she could have been referring to me. Of course, she should have waited until the penultimate track, ‘Ain’t that Lovin’ You Baby.’ Then ‘Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello.’ It made no impact on me at the time. I continued to sit and listen and, when side one ended, turned the record over to listen to side two. And when the record finished, I put it back in its sleeve and went home, to play it again. On reflection, the perfect song here isn’t so much ‘Ask Me’ as ‘Search Me.’
Having been born in 1965, I really feel the need to have a selection from that year, or at least around that year, as my own Elvis birthday song. There are a number of possible selections, but I am loathe to pick one merely to fill a contrived slot. Indicating that there is no one song with that extra special ‘buzz,’ there are a number of possible selections, some better than others, and many falling in the category of ‘guilty pleasures.’ I am nothing if not a pleasure seeker, and incredibly guilty at that. Well worthy of an honourable mention, though, is ‘Tender Feeling,’ a song which stands in clear line of descent from ‘Love Me Tender.’ ‘Love Me Tender’ was based on the old Civil War ballad ‘Aura Lee,’ ‘Tender Feeling’ was based on ‘Shenandoah.’ Had ‘Tender Feeling’ gone on to become a global #1 million selling smash hit, it would have been no surprise. Elvis is in glorious voice. As it is, the song was cut from that rather curious movie ‘Kissin Cousins.’ My guilty pleasure from that particular film is ‘There's Gold In The Mountains,’ which is basically Elvis singing about girls and their various treasures. Then there is ‘Once is Enough,’ a track which, had it been beefed up a little, had real hit potential. From my year of birth is ‘So Close, Yet So Far (From Paradise),’ a smouldering ballad from the unusual ‘Harem Holiday’ movie, and really a lost classic. The film and its soundtrack are generally considered the nadir of Elvis’ career (worse was to come). But I rather like the ballads ‘Kismet’ and ‘Mirage.’ Indeed, I sang both in a cabin of musos steeped in Americana in California. I don’t remember them being too impressed. I can also claim to have sung ‘Sand Castles’ in three different countries – the UK, the USA, and France. That’s something that even Elvis didn’t do. It’s a gentle little lullaby of a song. It was recorded for the film Paradise Hawaiian Style and, mercifully, some would say, cut (The least said about ‘Queenie Wahine's Papaya’ the better, a song so bad that there really must be some truth to the malicious rumour that there is an ulterior meaning). ‘This Is My Heaven’ is the best song in that particular movie, a beautiful song which is reminiscent of Slim Whitman.
As much as I love all of these songs, I couldn’t, when pushed, select any of them to take one of the precious few desert island slots. There are just too many other favourite songs in contention. Every place given to one selection is one less place available for other selections.
The same conclusion applies to the material from 1966-1968. There are some truly heavyweight contenders here, tracks of the highest quality.
‘Stand By Me.’
First of all there is the material from 1966. I could easily select half a dozen tracks from the Grammy Award winning gospel album ‘How Great Thou Art.’ A particularly strong track here is ‘Where No One Stands Alone,’ a vocally – and emotionally – demanding song that has Elvis rising to the height of his powers. Special mention, too, must be made of ‘In the Garden.’ My favourite, though, is ‘Stand by Me,’ a song of frailty and failure, which has heart-rending meaning for all those who have known pain and suffering and decline, ‘when I’m growing old and feeble, stand by me.’ I stood by my dad to the very end, as he stood by me, and now wonder who will stand by me. God, of course, is always standing by. I remember hearing Johnny Walker play ‘Stand By Me’ one afternoon on Radio One, around 1994 or so. ‘He really was the greatest,’ he said of Elvis when the record finished. He was, too.
I could very easily select either or both of ‘Fools Fall In Love’ and ‘Come What May.’ They are old fifties Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters R&B tracks, of course, which were a decade out of date by the time Elvis recorded them in 1966. For a long time my favourite was ‘Fools Fall in Love,’ but over time I have come to favour ‘Come What May.’ I love the fact that, having been put on the backfoot by The Beatles and all who followed in their wake, Elvis stuck by the music he loved. There were negligible commercial possibilities in these tracks, but Elvis recorded them out of his sheer love of R&B, nailing the myth once and for all that Elvis’ interest in R&B was fame and fortune. There was no money in these kinds of songs in 1966, only enjoyment.
‘Tomorrow is a Long Time.’
In all seriousness, how could one not select this? Bob Dylan declared this to be the favourite version of all the covers of one of his songs. But the truth is that I have never needed any references to tell me how great a recording this is. I first heard the track on the ‘Elvis in Demand’ album from 1977, an album containing a selection of songs chosen by Elvis fans. Even among a most eclectic and unusual song selection, this track stood out for its rare quality. It was long, acoustic, and reflective and Elvis was in superb voice. If someone declared this to be Elvis’ greatest performance I wouldn’t disagree.
Coming very close to selection is ‘City By Night.’ This track comes with an interesting personal story. I first heard ‘City By night’ when the movie it came from, ‘Double Trouble,’ was shown on British television. This was a year or so after Elvis’ death, if memory serves. I remember being absolutely bowled over by this number. You have to remember here that my dad was a jazzer who just about tolerated rock’n’roll and pop in order to keep the peace with my mother (and me). ‘City By Night’ sounded so much like jazz that I thought it certain to appeal to my dad and confirm Elvis’ musical credibility. There was also a certain feeling of loss and nostalgia creeping into my love of Elvis. The more that time passed after his death in 1977, the more it struck me that there would be no more music from Elvis, no more new singles to cheer up the charts, no more Elvis. Having heard and loved ‘City by night,’ I decided to store it away, forget I had ever heard it, and keep it as the promise of one more great Elvis song to come. That must have been in 1978 or 1979. I was true to my commitment. Even when I bought the ‘Double Trouble’ album I would skip ‘City by night,’ keeping it for some uncertain future, as if Elvis were still alive. I maintained this commitment into the new millennium, even as a mass of new Elvis material coming out made it clear that Elvis would always be with us. In the end, in my final trip to the USA, I decided to have a special listening to ‘City by night.’ I enjoyed it very much. I have to say, though, I now see it as more of a jazz-blues pastiche than the real thing. Jazz purists would be much less impressed than imagined my dad being back in 78/79. He never said one way or the other. He was a peacekeeper. (He knew that he was outnumbered by war mongers).
1967 coming into 1968 yields a number of genuine heavyweight contenders. Whilst ‘Guitar Man’ is an obvious choice, I was bowled over most of all by ‘Big Boss Man’ and played it over and again. I loved that blues shuffle along with the aggressive vocal. I also loved the bombast of ‘U.S. Male,’ which also became a huge favourite. Looking back, I can’t quite remember if I took the lyric to be serious or humorous, and I’m still not exactly sure how Elvis played it. It was a hit single, anyhow, placing fairly highly on the charts. It is also noteworthy for being the first track that the estimable dance troupe Pans People performed to on Top of the Pops. I have searched You Tube for footage but can find none. I like ‘You Don’t Know Me’ from this period, too. Towering above them all, though, is the immense ‘You’ll never Walk Alone.’ As a Liverpool football fan, you could expect me to rate this one highly. I do indeed. Elvis’ version of the song, however, owes little to Liverpool’s own Gerry Marsden and almost everything to the great R&B balladeer Roy Hamilton. One of the highlights of my life was to have been present in the hub of Radio Free Mt Baldy and have this track, along with other Elvis selections, played over the air.
‘Tryin to Get to You’
1968 means the one thing in the Elvis world – the ’68 TV Special, which came to be known as the Comeback Special. Elvis was back! The TV Special was basically split between the sit down boxing ring sessions and the set-piece performances. The show has to be seen in its entirety. There are many highlights from the boxing ring – ‘Tryin to Get to You,’ ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy,’ ‘Baby What do you want me to do,’ ‘One night’ are particularly strong performances. ‘Tryin’ to Get to You’ is my selection. This could easily have been the very first selection, dating from Sun in 1955. Elvis sang with a boundless energy and enthusiasm, utterly transcending any constraints of form. He does it again in 1968, singing as if he is breaking loose from all the shackles that have been weighing him down. The emotional charge of the song and its performance come clearly from its gospel roots. Elvis was singing as if not merely his life were at stake but his very soul.
I came very close to giving the selection here to ‘Tiger Man.’ Oddly, this track was cut out of the ’68 TV show and the album that accompanied it and issued first on the ‘budget’ album Elvis Sings Flaming Star. As it happened, that was one of the two albums bought on the same day, the first Elvis albums I heard. In other words, ‘Tiger Man’ was the first thing I ever heard from the ’68 Special. The performance was loud, raucous, and lively, a mayhem of visceral noise and excitement. It provoked an immediate response from my brother and I, as we laughed along. ‘Tiger Man’ was also my introduction to screaming and excited women. I heard their screams, too, on other cuts from the ’68 Special on the Legendary Performer volume one album. I thought they should have been told to make less noise or be escorted to the exit. It was all very thrilling, though.
‘If I Can Dream.’
Some time around 1978 I compiled an A-Z of all my favourite Elvis songs beginning with each letter of the alphabet. At the top of the paper – which I still have – I named ‘If I Can Dream’ as my all-time favourite Elvis song. I had very good taste for a teenage boy in the middle of the punk explosion. I stand by the view of my younger self. It’s not so much the song – which has a gospel soul quality which is right up Elvis’ street – nor even the lyrics – which are a general statement of peace and brotherhood – but the impassioned delivery from Elvis, which utterly transcends and transforms the basic features of the song. It is a remarkable performance of a remarkable song. ‘If I Can Dream’ is ‘Peace in the Valley’ in light of ‘A Change is Gonna Come.’
‘Clean Up Your Own Back Yard.’
The final few films of Elvis’ career offer a change of direction. It was less bold experimentation on the part of the Elvis film world than a desperate attempt to revive a badly failing formula. The films are curious and interesting, if far from being wholly successful. I rate ‘Change of Habit’ as one of Elvis’ best films, and I also find ‘Live a Little, Love a Little’ quite intriguing. The latter film boasts three strong songs – ‘Almost In Love,’ ‘A Little Less Conversation,’ and ‘The Edge Of Reality.’ I have a soft spot for ‘Wonderful World,’ too, a waltz which has its origins in the UK heats for the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s a simple ‘life is wonderful’ ballad, which Elvis sings as if it is a top aria. I love it. I also like ‘Let's Forget About The Stars,’ recorded for Charro, and the simple, heartfelt ‘Let's Be Friends,’ a song I always find to be most reassuring and soothing. The latter three songs here could easily make my selection. The drum and bass driven ‘Change Of Habit’ is even better, a real statement of intent on Elvis’ part. My choice from this group of songs, though, is ‘Clean Up Your Own Back Yard.’ I had always argued that the Elvis catalogue is packed with potential hit records if only they could be rediscovered. I was proven right when ‘A Little Less Conversation’ became a global #1 smash when revived in 2002. The track I always had in mind, though, was ‘Clean Up Your Own Backyard.’ It’s sassy and soulful, with Elvis fitting the late sixties sound as he were born for the part. Great guitar, great swagger, great song.
‘Long Black Limousine’
There 1969 sessions at American Sound studios produced a number of stellar recordings, any of which could have made my selection - 'Suspicious Minds,' 'I'm Movin On,' 'Gentle on My Mind,' 'And the Grass Won't Pay no Mind,' 'Only the Strong Survive.' In the end, I reduced the selection to two out of three. And it really could have been any two out of the three.
I have selected ‘Long Black Limousine’ because of the way that Elvis turns it into a stunning slice of country soul, because of the poignancy of the lyric in relation of what was to come for Elvis in the future, and because of the impact it had on me when I heard it on the radio. From the early 1980s I turned away from and then against Elvis. I had been a long time away. But slowly but surely I started to take an interest in those old Elvis records. I was still unsure. I had damned Elvis so often for so long I felt that there was no way that I could ever actually come to admit that he may have been somewhat talented, at least sometimes, without making myself look ridiculous. And then I heard Anne nightingale play ‘Long Black Limousine’ on her Radio One show some time around 1994. The impassioned performance made it crystal clear that Elvis Presley was one fine act indeed. He was good.
‘Kentucky Rain’
Christmas 1977 was the first Christmas without Elvis himself in person. But it was never Christmas without Elvis. I always had an Elvis record or annual or calender or an Elvis something. Christmas 1977 I received the ‘Elvis in Concert’ double album and the ‘Elvis in the Seventies’ compilation. The first album had me and other Elvis fans in defensive mode against critics who pointed to Elvis’ deterioration. I would point to the photos on the album and say ‘he’s not fat,’ I would highlight the odd strong point on the album and claim that Elvis was as good as ever. There was no need for such apologetics on the ‘Elvis in the Seventies’ album, which rounded up the stellar Elvis singles from 1970-1972. Many of these were not the huge hits they ought to have been, but there was no mistaking their quality. I always treated the album as the Elvis’ Gold Records volume 5 we were denied for decades.
On an album of standouts, I always thought that ‘Kentucky Rain’ stood out, and for a number of reasons. It was a story song, it was a musically and vocally complicated song, it was a song with a mature, brooding atmosphere. It was quite different from the usual Elvis song. In time I came to see it as a song that was similar to those great Jimmy Webb songs sung by Glen Campbell. And I would have loved to have seen Elvis do more in this vein. I should also point out that ‘Kentucky Rain’ was not, strictly speaking, a seventies song, but was recorded at American Sound in 1969, along with ‘In the Ghetto’ and ‘Suspicious Minds.’ The latter two were the enormous global smash hits from those sessions, and deservedly so. ‘Kentucky Rain’ was lined up as the follow-up smash to those singles, released early in 1970. It didn’t quite happen (US 16 UK 21). But it was always my favourite song from the American Sound Sessions.
'Long Black Limousine' and 'Kentucky Rain' are my two choices from my three American Sound 1969 candidates. The track that misses out by a margin so negligible as to be non-existent is 'Any Day now.' On this, Elvis' soul sings and soars. I give ‘Long Black Limousine’ the nod over ‘Any Day Now’ simply because of the role hearing it on Radio 1, as a former Elvis fan, played in my rehabilitation. It was a revelation. We were now nearly two decades on from Elvis’ death, past the shockwaves, past the controversies and the recriminations, past the movies and the jumpsuits. To the young folk of 1990s Britain, Elvis just sounded so damned good. It was hearing ‘Long Black Limousine’ on the radio that made that point clear to me.
‘The Next Step Is Love’
From Memphis in 1969, Elvis moved back to Nashville for a marathon recording session in early 1970. From this emerged some forty sides, which supported three albums, two of them bona fide classics. If pushed, I would name ‘Elvis – That’s the Way It Is’ as my all-time favourite Elvis album. It’s a smooth and polished album, a little mellow, a lot romantic, with the odd up-beat touch. The album is associated with fond family memories for me. I remember the day we bought it well. My mother needed a new coat. In times when money was scarce, buying a new coat was a big event, and a big day out. In those days, people bought things with a view to them lasting a long time. I accompanied my mother on a trip to the bigger and better shops in Wigan. For some reason, it was considered that Wigan had a much greater variety of choice than my home town of St Helens. It was a warm and sunny day, and we made the journey bus. My mother bought my complicity in the venture by promising me a pick of an Elvis album of my choice once the coat had been found and acquired. There followed one of the longest days of my entire life as my mother tried on every coat in Wigan. She was so long at these stores that customers started to approach her for advice and service, thinking she worked there (or lived there). In all that time I numbed my impatience with the thought that any day now I shall be released. The thought of rampaging through the record store with a free choice, for once, was something to savour at length. Finally, my mother found a coat she liked. Of course I said I liked it, just to end the ordeal. Secretly, I thought it looked awful, like an ostritch with a chequered body, but didn’t dare say until I had secured my Elvis album. And then we hit the record store! As a very young Elvis fan, you soon become addicted to ‘collecting’ – buying – Elvis records. RCA kept the product flying off the shelves, Elvis for all pockets. My pockets were tiny, placing me at the ‘budget’ end in normal times. I would get the expensive – exceedingly good – Elvis albums on special occasions, birthdays, Christmas, ‘events.’ This was an event. With a free choice, I went directly to the expensive and out of reach end of the market, and selected ‘Elvis – That’s the Way It Is.’ And there was still money over to buy a bar of Casbury’s Dairy Milk Fruit and Nut, ‘a mouth-watering combination of crunchy almonds and delicious dried grapes all engulfed in milk chocolate.’ As I devoured the squares one by one, I examined the new album, paying most attention to the little photos that accompanied each song on the back cover. Even before I heard the songs I already loved the album.The songs themselves possess a certain quality. They are romantic love songs in the main, rich and smooth, and very calming. ‘Just Can’t Help Believin’ and ‘You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me’ were the big hits on the album, which also contained a live performance of another hit, ‘I’ve Lost You.’ With towering performances of ‘You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ this is very much a heavyweight album. Eddie Rabbit’s ‘Patch it Up’ is a red hot, raunchy rocker, and ‘Stranger in the Crowd’ a superb rythmic number. My granny was impressed too. She would visit every Wednesday. The album was playing. ‘Mary in the Morning’ came on, and she listened quietly, before opining that she never knew that Elvis sang nice songs like that.
The album contains three particular favourites of mine. Again, I find that I am selecting any two from three essential tracks. My first selection is ‘The Next Step is Love.’ This is an unusual song, both for Elvis but also in itself. It’s an incredibly wordy song, combining strange evocative imagery with complicated tempo changes. It has a nostalgic, elegiac feel, Jimmy Webb’s ‘MacArthur Park’ and Beatles’ psychedelia reimagined in the manner of Elvis’ new romanticism. It shouldn’t work and critics, being critics, say that it doesn’t. For me, the song captures the almost perfect day, with promises of better to come.It’s the unusual, evocative, elegiac quality that gives ‘The Next Step is Love’ the edge over the other songs I love on ‘That’s the Way It Is.’ It has all the romanticism of those songs, but also a certain exoticism.
'Just Pretend'
‘How The Web Was Woven’ is a warm, big voiced and big hearted ballad. I could happily have this song as my only company on a desert island. It is just pipped in my selections here by ‘Just Pretend.’ I have long felt that ‘Just Pretend’ is a classic awaiting discovery, and am glad to see it receive the attention it always deserved in recent years. That the song sounds steeped in gospel soul is down entirely to Elvis’ voice. The song is actually British, written by Keith Flett, father of UK journalist Barbra Flett.
The song receives an immense performance from Elvis. That the song sounds so rooted in the southern soul is testimony to the extent to which Elvis would transform the material that came his way, performing an act of composition through his voice. On a personal note, ‘Just Pretend’ is a song I loved the first time I heard it. It is a cornerstone song on an album that contains a number of standouts. I was always surprised at how little comment the song attracted in the seventies and after. When my interest in Elvis rekindled in the late 1990s, I bought the video The Lost Performances and was thrilled to see a live performance of ‘Just Pretend’ on there. And what a glorious performance it was. I have fond memories of my mother regularly playing this video after 9pm at night. To see and hear these ‘new’ performances was like having Elvis back again, reviving those days when the world was young, like ourselves. Moving on another fifteen years or so, and I visited The Elvis Exhibition in Las Vegas. It was a most moving experience. I heard the opening bars of this gospel-soul drenched ballad, and looked up to the video screen to see Elvis performing ‘Just Pretend.’ Strange dreams of Heaven #546.
'I Really Don’t Want to Know’
1970 also saw the issue of ‘Elvis Country,’ an album which critics consider to be superior to ‘That’s The Way It Is.’ Since the songs were all recorded at the same session, any controversy here is merely one of song selection. The album contains many favourites. ‘Tomorrow never Knows’ and ‘I Washed my hands in Muddy Water’ are the standouts, but I would single out ‘I Really Don’t Want to Know’ and (the admittedly slighter) ‘It’s Your Baby, You Rock It’ as personal favourites. I also love what Elvis did with ‘Make the World Go Away’ and ‘There Goes My Everything’ (which are even better in live performance). I don’t know if there is an official genre of ‘country soul,’ but I do know that country soul exists, because that is precisely what Elvis sings on ‘I Really Don’t Want to Know.’ His rendition of the track was also one of the highlights in the ‘Elvis in Concert’ release of 1977 at the end of his career.
1970 also saw the release of the Elvis ‘On Stage’ album. And I just have to ask how you can’t choose at least one of the tracks on this album? ‘The Wonder Of You,’ ‘Polk Salad Annie,’ ‘Let it Be Me,’ ‘Proud Mary,’ ‘Walk a Mile in My Shoes.’ For many years, I thought Elvis’ ‘Polk Salad Annie’ the last word in cool. I still do, come to think of it. I love the ballads, too. If pushed, I would opt for ‘Let it Be Me,’ a great French song written by Gilbert Becaud and recorded by both The Everlys and Francoise Hardy.
But since you can’t pick them all ... I shall move on.
‘Until It's Time For You To Go’
1971 was Elvis’ ‘folk’ phase. He sang Dylan, Buffy Saint Marie, Ewan MacColl, Gordon Lightfoot (who rated Elvis’ ‘Early Mornin’ Rain’ as the best cover of any of his songs). And he also started to suffer from all manner of health problems, leading to these very promising sessions being constantly interrupted. The result was a Grammy Award winning gospel album, He Touched Me, containing the wonderful ‘Lead Me, Guide Me,’ a Christmas album, containing some remarkable folky, bluesy tracks ‘Holly Leaves And And Christmas Trees’ (a desolate cry for Christmases and people long gone), ‘I'll Be Home On Christmas Day’ and ‘Merry Christmas Baby, and enough secular material to cover two albums.
‘Until It’s Time for You to Go’ is one of the standouts. Elvis himself thought highly of the song and what he had done with it, selecting it himself for single release. It wasn’t the huge smash hit that Elvis thought it would be, peaking at US #40. But maybe the truth is that this delicate folk ballad isn’t the kind of song destined for huge commercial succes. It was never much of a hit for anyone else either, despite being much covered. In the end, you are left thinking highly of the song for its own intrinsic qualities, and for what Elvis did with it. I still say that it is a woman’s song, but Elvis did something special with it.
Writer Buffy Sainte Marie’s biographer Andrea Warner agrees: ‘Presley's interpretation amps up the song's sentimental side. His drawl tucks the words inside his mouth, like one of those enveloping hugs that makes you feel safe until you start to feel smothered. But his emotional treatment is effective — if you can listen to it in full with dry eyes, email me the secrets of your robot heart — and it's Presley's version that most people associate with the song.’
I first heard Elvis’ version of the song Christmas 1977 on the ‘Hits of the Seventies’ album. It made an immediate impression as an incredibly sad song. It was a time of punk, stadium rock, and disco, but it was sad songs like this that touched me deepest of all. Other songs on that album, such as ‘Rags to Riches,’ grabbed my attention in an immediate way, but this one was a stayer and a grower; it got under your skin and gradually took over your entire being. The song, and Elvis’ interpretation of it, has enduring qualities.
I'm Leavin'
I have long held that this haunting contemporary folk rock ballad is the most underrated track in Elvis’ catalogue. That may be an overstatement, since the track is not unknown, and is rated highly by most who hear it. It is exceptional. And it is prophetic. Elvis was at the height of his powers, with triumphs at Madison Square Garden and Hawaii via satellite to come. And yet here he is singing of pain, heartache, loss, separation, emptiness, endings, loneliness, failure, and goodbyes. ‘Living from day to day, chasing the dream, I’m leaving.’ He did, too.
Self-absorbed, and self-pitying, maybe. No one sang songs of loss and regret better than Elvis Presley. They were his songs of experience.
‘Always On My Mind’
Or ‘Separate Ways.’ I have always associated the two songs. Both songs headed up either side of the first Elvis album I ever owned, 1972’s Separate Ways. They were also paired for single release in 1972. In the US, ‘Separate Ways’ was the A side, reaching US #20. In time, ‘Always on My Mind’ emerged as the song which made the greater public impression, and is one of the songs most associated with Elvis. It’s a great song. I remember reading somewhere that it is bluesman B.B. King’s all-time favourite songs. I would just put in a good mention for ‘Separate Ways,’ which is softer, more resigned, less dramatic and apologetic expression of the same sentiment. I give the selection to ‘Always on My Mind’ for personal reasons. My granny, whom we called Nin, was a big Elvis fan. So we thought it a good idea to take up my new – and first ever – Elvis album to her house for her to look at. I never imagined that she would want to hear it. My Nin had one of those old-fashioned wind-up 78 RPM gramophone record players with the heavy needles … I know. It was obvious to me as it wasn’t to her that my new fangled piece of fragile vinyl wasn’t quite the thing to be subject to just an instrument. But she put it on anyway. She selected side 2, first track ‘Always on My Mind.’ As I stood paralysed listening to all manner of high pitched screeches and wails I remember thinking that adults are nowhere near as smart as I had been inclined to believe. ‘It doesn’t sound like Elvis,’ my nin said. It sure as hell didn’t. My first Elvis record had been scatched beyond repair and it’s been on my mind ever since. Still, you can’t blame someone for wanting to hear Elvis.
‘An American Trilogy’
Elvis was a magnificent live performer. I’ll stand correction on this (and am 99.9% certain that I won’t be), but I am sure that no one had more hit singles with live recordings than Elvis Presley. There is a whole raft of them (If I Can Dream, The Wonder of You, Polk Salad Annie, Steamroller Blues, My Way and more). His shows were full of setpieces and showstoppers. In 1973 Elvis performed live to a global audience via satellite. It was the ultimate triumph. The show had a celebratory quality, with Elvis covering all aspects of his multifaceted talent. What struck me, though, was that at this moment of triumph, it was the ballads that drew Elvis’ emotional commitment – ‘You Gave Me a Mountain,’ ‘My Way,’ ‘What Now My Love,’ ‘It’s Over.’ Perhaps most revealing of all is that Elvis sang ‘I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry’ in front of a global audience of 500 million people. He had never sung the song before. In fact, Elvis rarely sang Hank Williams. Everyone else did. It wasn’t that Elvis didn’t like Hank Williams, he did; it was that he felt that once Hank had sung a song, then it couldn’t be bettered.
‘An American Trilogy’ may seem like an obvious choice, but really isn’t. Elvis attempted to unite a divided nation with the song in 1972, but failed, peaking at a miserable US #66. It was a much bigger hit in the UK, making the top ten, where notions of Americana are mediated by romantic mythology. In the US, the divisions arising in the aftermath of the Vietnam War were running too deep to be smoothed over.
The song combines three songs from the 19th-century, "Dixie," a popular folk song from the South, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," a marching hymn from the north, and "All My Trials," a Bahamian lullaby related to African American. ‘All My Trials,’ sung poignantly by Elvis, is the crucial bridge. Only Elvis, with his genuine multiplicity in music and culture, could have pulled off the conceit. Those who point to the lowly chart position of the US single could claim, with justification, that he failed, but it all depends on what we are measuring. Elvis certainly transforms the song, from a low-key, regretful folk ballad in the hands of its writer Mickey Newbury, into something grand, dramatic, and also pompous and overblown. As I say, only Elvis could have pulled a conceit on this scale off. And I say that the remarkable thing is that he did. It is hard not to imagine that he is actually singing about himself and his own achievements. That’s how it appears in the Hawaii ’73 concert, and that is how fans have tended to see it.
I have a particular reason for making the song one of my selections. In my younger days (and not so younger, truth be told), I would mime and perform my favourite Elvis songs. I would set up the vacuum as a mic and use my guitar as a prop and put on a show as Elvis played. I was word perfect, and in perfect synch. One afternoon I did the entire ‘American Trilogy’ in the kitchen, the full works, the theatrics, the mannerisms, the lot. It was one of my greatest performances. Little did I know that a friend had called round, couldn’t make his knocks on the door heard over the loud music, and so peered through the letter box to see what was happening. I had left the living room and kitchen doors open, enabling him to see all the way through. Now that kind of thing could have exposed me to all manner of skitting and abuse. In truth, said friend was most impressed, he was it was ‘amazing.’ And who am I to disagree? It certainly felt amazing.
‘Loving Arms’
‘Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues.’
Reason tells me that I can only have the one selection here, but I really can’t split these two.
I have fond memories of being an Elvis fan in 1974 and 1975. Elvis was in the charts with singles like ‘My Boy’ and ‘Promised Land,’ both of them immense. He had first one album out, ‘Good Times’ (1974) and then another ‘Promised Land’ (1975). No one remotely suspected that the end was near. I loved the album ‘Good Times.’ I have since read that the album barely made the Billboard Hot 100 and was the first Elvis album to be placed in the "cut-out bins." That is a travesty, and goes a long way towards explaining why good time Elvis got the blues. ‘If That Isn’t Love’ is one of the most moving performances of Elvis’ entire career, and yet is barely known. It’s day will come.
When I returned to Elvis after a decade or more away, ‘Good Times’ was one of the key albums I reached for. In the first stages of my return, I would select the particular tracks I had always loved. ‘Loving Arms’ and ‘Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues’ were top choices. ‘Loving Arms’ is a soulful country ballad, right up there with Elvis’ best. ‘Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues’ is a song that I would play over and again, relishing James Burton’s sad, seering, weeping guitar.
‘The Twelfth Of Never’
Elvis’ version of this standard is remarkable. It is a rehearsal and was never intended for release. He never recorded the song in the studio and, to the best of my knowledge, never sang it in concert.
It makes me sad to listen to this song, because it makes me think of all the incredible songs he could have gone on to sing, as well as all the great ones that he did sing. He is the infinite well of song. Elvis forever.
I can never quite put my finger on what it is that sets Elvis apart. People talk about pitch, range, and such like, but I really don't think it is technical ability. Elvis had technique, and far more of it than critics ever acknowledge. His phrasing and intonation can be precise. He also possesses a three and a half octave range. He is a baritone who can reach bass and soar to tenor, in the same line. But there is much more going on. There is a loss and a yearning in that voice, something that transcends the actual notes. You can hear singers who are technically flawless, but they lack that soulful or haunting quality. You can be impressed by such singers, but they don't move you. Singing is about the emotions and that's what Elvis delivers on. He strikes a human chord.
‘Moody Blue’
As the end is approaches, I am having a hard time selecting some tracks over others. Elvis says so much at every stage of his career that it is simply impossible to select one track over another. It all depends on mood and memory. Elvis spans the entire range of emotions.
Whilst it seems obvious to choose a sad song to end, I don’t actually remember the final few years of Elvis’ life as being years of sad decline. I remember the big ballads and sad songs. But there were jolly and cheery songs too. We absolutely loved ‘Moody Blue’ when it came out as a single. And we weren’t alone. All the Elvis fans we knew in the nieghbourhood loved it too. It was played regularly on the radio. I did think that Elvis’ voice sounded a little weaker here and there, a little uncertain in parts. But what a gloriously upbeat tune this was! I thought it a certain #1 and wasn’t far off in my judgement, with the song hitting an impressive #6.
So I would select the song for memories of the happy early months of 1977, when it was a joy to be alive.
And now, the end is near … and I need an ending. I have two songs that fit a bill that requires just one. The first is one of the greatest songs ever written, the second isn’t.
'Danny Boy'
There are some who consider ‘Danny Boy’ to be the greatest song ever. I don’t know about that. I do know that it is one of my most favourite songs, and that Elvis Presley delivered one of the greatest performances of his career on it. Elvis loved the song. In fact, the song was played at his funeral service. It seems that Elvis first attempted the song in the manner of Jackie Wilson’s vocal gymnastics, but abandoned the approach. For which we should be thankful. I prefer a vocal that respects the deeply moving sentiment of the lyric rather than makes the song a vehicle for the demonstration of vocal prowess. Beyond range there is such a thing as interpretive skill and emotional intelligence. Elvis in the frailty of his final year brings both of these to the song in abundance. There have been many outstanding versions of ‘Danny Boy.’ Elvis Presley’s is one of them. And that’s a modest claim. From first to last, Elvis was a heart singer. He was the best of his kind, and his kind is the best.
‘The Last Farewell.’
‘The Last Farewell’ may well be considered an eccentric choice. It’s a song that few people have a good word for, either in Elvis’ version or Roger Whittaker’s original. It is maudlin and sentimental, and the version released on ‘Elvis Presley Boulevard’ is bloated by strings and choirs. Those doing the mixing were clearly attempting to cover the cracks in Elvis’ voice, hiding the imperfections and the infirmities. I say that the frailties make the song. My selection is not the released version, drowned in overblown arrangements, but the undubbed Take 2, which is basically Elvis’ soft voice and piano. Elvis loved the song and no one around him ever understood why. I think the reason is obvious.
One final note, my mother loved Roger Whittaker’s original ‘The Last Farewell’ and never knew until many years later that Elvis had recorded a version. She heard it around 2000 or so, and it pleased her. She never did hear the much softer, warmer, undubbed version that came out many years after her death. I think she would have preferred it.
In total, I am left with forty essential selections, which leaves me having to remove thirty two to leave my eight for the desert island... The only way to do it is to quickly go down the list and select the ones which yield the bigger ‘buzz.’ And abandon both reason and regret. It broke my heart to have to deselect ‘Wooden Heart,’ but there it is. Even with tough choices like that, I could still only reduce to ten. I am going no further.
My essential twelve:
‘Milkcow Blues’
‘Got a Lot O' Livin' to Do!’
'Treat Me Nice'
‘(Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I’
'It Hurts Me'
‘Stand By Me’ or 'Tomorrow is a Long Time'
‘Tryin to Get to You’
‘If I Can Dream.’
‘Kentucky Rain’
‘The Next Step Is Love’
‘I'm Leavin'
‘Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues.’
Elvis' 40 Greatest
I had to think long and hard over my selections. I love ‘The Last Farewell,’ but it is a sentimental choice that simply cannot compete with the sheer quality of the other selections. ‘Wooden Heart,’ too, is a sentimental selection, but one I was loathe to sacrifice. It is one of my most favourite songs to sing. ‘Crawfish’ is as cool as a cucumber, and maybe the very best scene in the Elvis movies. Rather than omit it from my top thirty, I decided to expand the list to forty and keep it in. That’s the way editing goes with me. I set out with the intention of reducing and instead end up expanding. And it was that expansion that allowed me to include ‘Just Pretend,’ with its sweeping, soulful romanticism is irresistible. I only excluded it because I felt there was room only for the one selection from ‘That’s The Way It Is,’ which was ‘The Next Step is Love.’ (‘How the Web Was Woven’ was omitted for the same reason). But it’s simply impossible. If I removed ‘Wooden Heart’ to make way for ‘Just Pretend,’ then there would be no selection at all from 1960, when Elvis was in peak form (‘It’s Now or Never,’ ‘Fever,’ ‘Reconsider Baby,’ ‘Like a Baby,’ ‘A Mess of Blues’ and many more). Impossible. I give up. I went for ‘buzz’ rather than balance.
The 40
‘Blue Moon’ - ‘Just Because’ - ‘Milkcow Blues’ - ‘So Glad You’re Mine’- ‘Paralysed’ - ‘Got a Lot O' Livin' to Do!’ - ‘I need you So’ -'Treat Me Nice' - ‘Is It So Strange’ - ‘A Big Hunk O’ Love’ - ‘(Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I’ - ‘Wooden Heart’ - ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ ‘- There's Always Me’ - ‘Follow that Dream’ - ‘His Latest Flame’ - ‘Suspicion’ - ‘It Hurts Me’ - ‘Ask Me.’ - ‘Stand By Me’ - ‘Tomorrow is a Long Time’ - ‘Tryin to Get to You’ - ‘If I Can Dream’ - ‘Clean Up Your Own Back Yard’ - ‘Long Black Limousine’ - ‘Kentucky Rain’ - ‘The Next Step Is Love’ - ‘Just Pretend’ - ‘I Really Don’t Want to Know’ - ‘Until It's Time For You To Go’ - I'm Leavin' - ‘Always On My Mind’ - ‘An American Trilogy’ - ‘The Twelfth Of Never’ - ‘Loving Arms’ - ‘Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues’ - ‘Moody Blue’ - ‘Danny Boy’ - 'The Last Farewell.'
Desert Island Elvis I need to choose eight tracks from twelve. ‘Milkcow Blues’ ‘Got a Lot O' Livin' to Do!’ 'Treat Me Nice' ‘(Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I’ ‘Stand By Me.’ 'Tomorrow is a Long Time' ‘Tryin to Get to You’ ‘If I Can Dream.’ ‘Kentucky Rain’ ‘The Next Step Is Love’ ‘I'm Leavin' ‘Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues.’
‘Milkcow Blues’ is a nailed on certainty.
I felt that there was room for one of either ‘Got a Lot O' Livin' to Do!’ and 'Treat Me Nice,' both upbeat rock’n’roll songs from fifties’ movies.
‘A Fool Such as I’ is a certain choice.
There may be only room for one ballad out of ‘It Hurts Me,’ ‘Stand By Me,’ 'Tomorrow is a Long Time' and ‘If I Can Dream.’ It should two.
‘Tryin’ to Get to You’ is a certain selection from the magnificent 1968 sit down special. (It could easily have been ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy,’ ‘Tiger Man,’ Baby what do you want me to do?, One Night.’)
That leaves three from ‘Kentucky Rain’, ‘The Next Step Is Love’, ‘I'm Leavin', ‘Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues.’ And that is impossible, because these are all equally essential choices for me.
This selection could change: ‘Milkcow Blues’ - ‘Got a Lot O' Livin' to Do!’ - ‘(Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I’ - ‘Tryin to Get to You’ - ‘If I Can Dream’ - ‘Kentucky Rain’ - ‘The Next Step Is Love’ - ‘Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues.’
I can’t for the life of me believe that ‘It Hurts Me,’ ‘Stand By Me,’ ‘Tomorrow is a Long Time,’ and ‘I’m Leavin’ have not made the final eight. I can believe that Elvis Presley is that good.