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Post by ausfan2 on Nov 22, 2012 0:50:10 GMT -5
New on Youtube:
Although it was never released as a single, Linda Ronstadt's '78 recording of "Love Me Tender" was edited together with the original by Elvis, creating a duet between the two that was played by many radio stations at the time. Elvis did the first verse alone, straight from his original recording, as Ronstadt didn't sing this verse on her version for some reason. It garnered enough airplay to chart at #59 on the Country chart.
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Post by sliderocker on Nov 22, 2012 1:24:30 GMT -5
This is a better version than an earalier version I heard on youtube, though I thought the earlier version wasn't bad either. The reason this wasn't a single was that neither RCA nor Asylum were willing to cooperate to make it available as a single. Both labels were wanting to release the song as a single but neither side was willing to settle for receiving a royalty from the other label in exchange for the artist appearing on a label other than the one they were signed to. Another problem I think that may have deep-sixed any single was I think Elvis's estate was still being managed by Parker on behalf of Elvis's father or with the approval of Priscilla (at the time) on behalf of Elvis's daughter. And Parker probably would've wanted a lot of money upfront from Asylum and RCA for the pairing, not only for Lisa but also mainly for himself. I also rather imagine Parker was the greedy sort who wouldn't have thought twice about insisting on Linda giving up most or all of her artist royalties.
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Post by erik on Nov 22, 2012 10:14:54 GMT -5
Quote by sliderocker:
Nothing should surprise anyone anymore about the Colonel's behavior towards either Elvis or Lisa Marie (and to be honest, I hardly think Lisa Marie's well-being was ever really on his mind).
But in terms of this splicing of Linda's version of "Love Me Tender" with Elvis', I do think it speaks well in terms of how big a deal Elvis' music was to her approach, both in terms of rock and roll and of the ballads, this and the fact that Elvis broke on the scene big time before she turned 10.
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Post by sliderocker on Nov 22, 2012 14:39:15 GMT -5
Nothing should surprise anyone anymore about the Colonel's behavior towards either Elvis or Lisa Marie (and to be honest, I hardly think Lisa Marie's well-being was ever really on his mind).
Elvis's passing should've brought an end to the gravy train for Parker, but he wasted no time in putting together a deal with Factors Etc for all those t-shirts that came out in the wake of Elvis's passing with his photos on them and words like "The King Is Gone." Of course, he made a killing but he made the deal first and then went to Elvis's father to get him to sign, using the pressure tactic of saying they had to sign with Factors Etc just so they could keep others out of the postmortem Elvis world and from making money without paying roaylties to the estate. Parker used Lisa as a bargaining chip in getting Vernon Presley to sign, saying something like "We've got to think of her future in this hour of sorrow." Of course, Parker was just thinking of his 50% commission from the hundreds of millions that could be made from Elvis's passing. Lisa's welfare was secondary and maybe not important at all to him.
But in terms of this splicing of Linda's version of "Love Me Tender" with Elvis', I do think it speaks well in terms of how big a deal Elvis' music was to her approach, both in terms of rock and roll and of the ballads, this and the fact that Elvis broke on the scene big time before she turned 10.
I think they would've worked well musically if they had worked together on a musical project. I'm less sure about getting along personally because Elvis became very conservative as he got older whereas Linda said in one video she was very conservative yet she became more liberal as she grew older. Still, it would've been nice to have seen them do something together since musically they were more alike than unalike.
The one thing I remember that was said about a possible 45 being released on the "duet" was that Linda's version was in the same key as Elvis's record, and that would've made it easier for the record company to have done a better job of blending their voices together. I know there was some talk of recording some additional instrumentation to help smooth over some parts of the two recordings to give the impression it was just one recording, but that idea went over like a lead balloon. And it was kind of premature, given RCA and Asylum hadn't even agreed on which label would have had the honor of releasing the record.
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Post by erik on Nov 22, 2012 21:48:28 GMT -5
One of the things I seem to remember Linda saying once was that her Elvis fixation was satiated first by her having bought stacks of Elvis' first RCA releases, including "Heartbreak Hotel", and then playing hooky from school to see Elvis' first film LOVE ME TENDER at the Fox Theater, which, as luck would have it, was right around the corner from her father's hardware store there in downtown Tucson.
It is definitely a shame that RCA and Asylum couldn't have worked out some kind of deal to put that splicing of both Elvis' and Linda's versions of "Love Me Tender", because I think the possibility of it being a freak hit in that fashion was pretty large. But the Colonel, of course, didn't like anybody gainsaying him, especially if that somebody was a female artist who, in terms of musical style and success, was basically Elvis' female equivalent in the 70s. He was likely still stewing over his own client going over his head with the 1968 NBC special and the 1969 American Sessions recordings.
Also, it is likely that Elvis was lucid enough in the 70s to know who Linda was, even if he was still a staunch Southern conservative; and Lisa Marie has often said in interviews that Linda was a substantial influence in her own approach.
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Post by sliderocker on Nov 23, 2012 3:24:33 GMT -5
One of the things I seem to remember Linda saying once was that her Elvis fixation was satiated first by her having bought stacks of Elvis' first RCA releases, including "Heartbreak Hotel", and then playing hooky from school to see Elvis' first film LOVE ME TENDER at the Fox Theater, which, as luck would have it, was right around the corner from her father's hardware store there in downtown Tucson.
Linda skipping school to see Elvis in LMT is one story I hope she shares in her autobiography. I'd like to know what the memory holds for her today, if anything.
It is definitely a shame that RCA and Asylum couldn't have worked out some kind of deal to put that splicing of both Elvis' and Linda's versions of "Love Me Tender", because I think the possibility of it being a freak hit in that fashion was pretty large.
With Elvis having been the bigger artist, I always thought Asylum should've been the "silent-label" partner on a single and allowed RCA to release the record. RCA could've placated Asylum, I think, by including the word Asylum and the Ayslum logo on its release. It shouldn't have been that big of a deal to have worked out a deal where both sides won and paired the only female singer worthy enough to have sung with Elvis, not including Elvis's daughter.
But the Colonel, of course, didn't like anybody gainsaying him, especially if that somebody was a female artist who, in terms of musical style and success, was basically Elvis' female equivalent in the 70s. He was likely still stewing over his own client going over his head with the 1968 NBC special and the 1969 American Sessions recordings.
I tend to blame Parker for the lack of a soundtrack release on "Viva Las Vegas," which after "Blue Hawaii," was Elvis's best movie musical. But, VLV had two Ann Margret songs and two songs where Ann sung with Elvis, and I thought Parker deep-sixed a VLV soundtrack because of Ann's solo songs and her duets with Elvis. The second duet was for a performance scene in the movie that was filmed but dropped because someone considered the scenes too steamy for release.
Parker was a weird, weird cat though. Just four years after the refusal to make a soundtrack album for VLV, RCA released a soundtrack album on "Speedway," which was the only Presley album to sport a guest artist track by Nancy Sinatra on which he did not personally appear, and a song sung by Elvis and Nancy which was in no way a duet, but Elvis singing most of the song with Nancy contributing a few lines near the end. "Speedway" was one of Elvis's worst charting albums - its highest chart showing was 82. But, the album album remained in print for a good long time, going out of print almost a year or so before Elvis passed and then reissued in the wake of his death. But, I didn't get what made "Speedway" a much better album than "Viva Las Vegas." VLV had the better songs whereas "Speedway" only had one or two bright spots amongst tunes otherwise very forgettable.
Also, it is likely that Elvis was lucid enough in the 70s to know who Linda was, even if he was still a staunch Southern conservative; and Lisa Marie has often said in interviews that Linda was a substantial influence in her own approach.
I think he would've known who she was - I'd be willing to bet that he did. Elvis may have been recording a lot of country-based tunes but he still maintained an interest in pop-rock but probably not finding much in the pop-rock genre he wanted to record. Elvis did seem to know a lot of female performers - he once asked Karen Carpenter out but she was discouraged from going out with him by another female performer. (Which had to be extremely ironic as part of what led to Carpenter's fatal struggle with the anorexia nervosa was a belief guys didn't find her attractive -the King of Rock and Roll asking her out should've dispelled any doubts as to her attractiveness.)
And one of the reasons the Sweet Inspirations opted to become of his backing groups was their discovery that Elvis not only knew who they were but also was familiar with their music. They met Elvis with their own preconceived ideas about him and were prepared to turn him down. Instead, they stayed with him professionally the rest of his life and remained loyal to him even after his death.
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Post by casinoman on Jul 5, 2015 10:43:46 GMT -5
I do have a 45. I assume it must be a promo..electronically produced studio recording.
Love Me Tender (mono and stereo) on a white label with Red printing
there is a drawing of a male and female singer
one side is stereo the other mono...elvis presley music bmi.
"elvis and linda" 101.
is it real?
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Post by sliderocker on Jul 5, 2015 11:39:51 GMT -5
I do have a 45. I assume it must be a promo..electronically produced studio recording. Love Me Tender (mono and stereo) on a white label with Red printing there is a drawing of a male and female singer one side is stereo the other mono...elvis presley music bmi. "elvis and linda" 101. is it real? It was real but it's a bootleg 45. The bootleg was what inspired the interest by RCA and Asylum at the time in trying to find a way to officially release the "duet." It never happened because the two labels couldn't come to terms. The bootlegger didn't pay any royalties whatsoever and I believe he actually went to prison for bootlegging records, and the duet was one of the records that got him caught. |
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Post by eddiejinnj on Jul 5, 2015 17:14:14 GMT -5
the video no longer exists on youtube it says. got pulled. eddiejinnj
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Post by sliderocker on Jul 5, 2015 18:10:11 GMT -5
the video no longer exists on youtube it says. got pulled. eddiejinnj There were two versions on youtube, one of which wasn't a good version and the other a very good version. Neither are available on youtube which is ironic given the huge number of music videos that are on youtube that are not authorized. This includes unauthorized extended remixes of songs where the party remixing adds additional instrumentation from an outside source. It's surprising someone familiar with the knowledge of how to make music videos for youtube and the editing skills hasn't come up with a "clean" version of Elvis and Linda dueting. There were some other videos on youtube touting Elvis and Linda duets but it was for songs which one recorded and released but not the other. For instance, I saw one for Elvis and Linda on "Trying to Get to You," which Elvis recorded but for which Linda never recorded or never publicly performed live that I'm aware of. Likewise, a Linda tune, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," Elvis never recorded or publicly performed live. The only other tune I'm aware that the two shared was a brief one, Neil Diamond's "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind," which Elvis recorded a full version om but Linda only sang the first verse and chorus in a medley on the Glen Campbell Show with Neil and Glen. Someone with good editing skills could put the two together, although most of the song would be sung by Elvis with Linda's one time chorus part repeating, either solo or mixed with Elvis's vocal. But, it's a shame the videos for Elvis and Linda on LMT were pulled. Be kind of interesting to know who had it pulled. |
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Post by Belle on Jul 6, 2015 5:57:32 GMT -5
That is strange that they were removed. There are so many youtube vids of other artists singing LMT.
I found one duet of Streisand and Presley even.
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