No. 1

Remember the Elvis CHRISTMAS DUETS CD release of 2008? 

All Elvis/female duets. Yeah, I didn't much like it. But it did break into the US Billboard 200 at No.17. 

And what turns up 4 years later in 2012? Yes, another Christmas compilation, the CLASSIC CHRISTMAS album. Much better album cover! And on it? Material from Elvis' two original Christmas albums, the single If Everyday Was Like Christmas PLUS 2 duets from the 2008 CHRISTMAS DUETS album. 

They DID surprise us with a marvellous promotional video, though: Fantasy Martina McBride and Elvis '68. Guess what? The audio from this video has never been released. 

Fast forward 12 years. Out of nowhere the CLASSIC CHRISTMAS album shoots to No.1 on the Top ROCK Albums Chart.

A tip of the hat to all the new Elvis fans everywhere.  

First Million Seller

Can you believe the original handwritten lyrics for Heartbreak Hotel was kept?

At the 1955 Disc Jockey Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, (where Elvis was lauded as The Most Promising New Talent In Country Music), songwriter Mae Boren-Axton - known as the Queen Mother of Nashville - told Elvis she was going to write him his first million seller.

Together with Tommy Durden, she did. It was Heartbreak Hotel, which Elvis recorded in Jan 1956.

As you can see, the lyrics is handwritten in pencil and has various additions and corrections, and the lyric sheet is signed at the bottom by both songwriters.

No wonder it recently sold for a cool R3,2 million.

Grammy Award Songs

Elvis, the King of Rock 'n' Roll, won only 3 Grammy Awards for his music. All for Gospel. How can that be? 

The Grammys were founded in 1958. Elvis' heyday was from 1956-1957. Easy to see how he missed out on some possible major Rock 'n Roll Grammys. In total Elvis received 16 Grammy Nominations of which 6 were for Singles. 

If we dive into his Single Nominations, we found that he received two nominations each in the 50s, 60s and 70s, covering the R&B, Pop, Gospel and C&W genres. Once again, no Rock 'n Roll nominations in sight.

GRAMMY NOMINATED SINGLES

Elvis received the following Grammy Nominations for his Singles:

50s 

• A Fool Such As I: Record Of The Year
• A Big Hunk O' Love: Best R&B Performance / Best Top 40 Artist Performance.

60s 

• Are You Lonesome Tonight: Best Pop Single Performance / Best Male Vocal  Performance / Record Of The Year 
• You'll Never Walk Alone: Best Sacred Performance.

70s

• How Great Thou Art (Live, 1974): Best Inspirational Performance - WIN. 
• Softly, As I Leave You (Live, Posthumous): Best Male C&W Performance.

Elvis Live On CD (1971)

Via FTD we previously had two live 1971 Elvis concerts:

1. Dinner Show, 28-10-71, Las Vegas, NV, (The Impossible Dream) 
2. Evening Show, 28-11-71, Boston, MA, (Elvis As Recorded at Boston Garden)

As part of its ongoing live on tour series, FTD Records has released Elvis: Live In Vegas '71 as a 3-CD 5" digipak, featuring three 1971 shows recorded in Vegas, respectively on Jan 27-29.

FTD refer to this release as "having imperfections", but "the historic importance and rarity of these recordings were prioritized". Translated, it means "some of the sound quality might be poor."

To buy or not to buy...

CONS:

1. Some sound quality might ruin the listening experience.

PROS:

1. Directly from the original master tapes

2. Rare live songs are included

3. Elvis give the songs respectful treatments 

THE FINAL VERDICT might be a toss up between quality and rarity.

EVEN if these shows are of more historical importance than anything else, finally we have at least 5 concerts from 1971, making it no longer a "missing year!"

Thanks To Bill Porter

In November 2022 The Elvis Collector's label, FTD Records, released Elvis: Live In Vegas '71. Turns out the initial recording engineer was Bill Porter. 

CROSSING PATHS WITH ELVIS

After the '68 NBC-TV Special, Elvis recorded some songs at the beginning of 1969 to get into the charts again and cemented his comeback. There was a mixing problem on Suspicious Minds, around the unusual fade out. Elvis' record producer Felton Jarvis asked sound engineer Bill Porter to help. Bill helped and left.

A few months later Elvis returned to live performances in Vegas. Afterwards he called Porter and asked him to help fix the sound in the main showroom as he could not hear himself and a new Vegas run was scheduled for the beginning of the next year. 

When Elvis started rehearsals in January 1970 Porter attended and fixed the sound by replacing the stage monitors (that the hotel's engineers could not get working) with his own sound equipment and laying the column speakers on their sides on the lip of the stage, propping them up to aim at Elvis, who was very happy with the result.

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ELVIS COULD HEAR HIMSELF ON STAGE.

Elvis insisted that Porter mixed the sound of these January 1970 shows (even though Bill had no previous experience recording live sound). He quickly learned about acoustic feedback during the first song but backstage after the show film stars and musical artists kept complimenting Elvis that Porter's sound was "just like the album."

From then on Bill Porter mixed all of Elvis' live concerts.  

Elvis Songs With Spoken Segments

In the 1950s, talking over the music was big, especially on slow songs. The question is, what qualifies as a spoken segment in a song? The answer is, any of the following: a good poetry or dramatic reading, some idle chatter or everyday speech. Shout outs and cheering instructions to the crowd or band do not qualify.  

The goal of the spoken segment of a song is to give the singer a chance to take a step back and offer a type of director's commentary on proceedings. 

Quite a few Elvis songs feature spoken segments. Obvious ones are That's When Your Heartaches Begin, Are You Lonesome Tonight and I'm Yours. 

Let's have a closer look another few Elvis songs with spoken parts:

1. U.S. MALE

In 1965 Elvis recorded movie songs ONLY. In 1966 he recorded a Grammy Award-winning gospel album. In my opinion that's when his "comeback" started. From 1966-1968 it seems Elvis experimented different ways to go musically, but no one took notice. This talking blues was one of those early "comeback" songs. I bet Elvis was eager to cut his teeth on this one.

2. MAMA LIKED THE ROSES  

This one was recorded early in 1969 at the American Sound Studio in Memphis. According to accounts, Elvis loved this song but had laryngitis, so a backing track was laid down and Elvis overdubbed his vocal at a later stage. 

3. ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVED

Another one recorded at American. One time during the sessions they had to stop as the engineer heard a strange buzzing sound on the tape. Turns out it was a car idling outside. It seems Elvis found the song difficult to record as he reprimanded himself throughout but he prevailed and did 29 takes, of which the last take was seemingly used.

4. POLK SALAD ANNIE

This song, only recorded live on stage, is about the lifestyle of a poor girl and her family. Elvis introduced the showstopper at his 2nd Vegas season in Jan/Feb 1970. 

5. ARE YOU SINCERE

The July 1973 Stax Studio recording session had sound problems. One evening after noticing that his mic was gone, Elvis left and the band laid down tracks to be later overdubbed at Elvis' home in Palm Springs via RCA mobile truck. 

Also present at the dubbing session was VOICE, Elvis' new personal backing group. Elvis, excited to get the group on record, allocated most of his recording time to their demos. Resultantly, Elvis overdubbed only 1 of his required backing tracks and recorded 2 VOICE suggested songs, of which this was one. Parker was furious and ordered these tracks to be released as is, with no strings and horns overdubs.

If I Can Dream

Sony Legacy Recordings will bring us a new collaboration between Elvis and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with the imminent "If I Can Dream" CD, scheduled for release on 31 October 2015.

Interestingly the lineup includes five songs from the 70s, eight from the 60s (amongst them a possible hidden gem - for the mainstream public, that is) and one 50s song. Elvis sang most of these on stage during his concert years, so I wonder if the live or studio versions will be used (where applicable). I suspect the latter.

At least it's a different concept, with a duet or more incorporated. Elvis' voice, the best ever, together with arguably the best ever orchestra - it just might turn out to be a pretty cool fusion. Hopefully Classical fans might love it, too. Let's wait and see, or rather, hear.

A single, If I Can Dream, b/w Bridge Over Troubled Water, will accompany the album. It seems as if Sony will back this release with some promotion. It all depends who/what else is released at the same time. If the album/single makes a splash, it can take Elvis to the charts again. If there is one country that can make it happen, it might be the UK. Those guys are so devoted when it gets to Elvis releases. 

Currently you can get a copy at Takelot.