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Post by erik on Aug 16, 2012 9:24:56 GMT -5
On this day thirty-five years ago (YIPE!), we lost arguably the single most important American pop music icon of the second half of the 20th century, when Elvis Presley was found dead in his Graceland mansion of a drug-induced heart attack at the age of 42.
And while it may be tempting to think that the final few years of his life were only about his onstage deterioration, you may want to listen to these Top 40 hits of The King's for another perspective. He may not have been able to get another Top 10 hit after "Burning Love" in 1972, but that doesn't mean he stopped making great music. He did this right up to the bitter end:
"If You Talk In Your Sleep":
"Promised Land":
"It's Midnight":
"My Boy":
"T-R-O-U-B-L-E":
"Hurt":
"For The Heart":
"Moody Blue":
"Way Down" (the last Top 40 hit Elvis had while he was still alive):
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jimi
A Number and a Name
Posts: 24
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Post by jimi on Aug 16, 2012 13:58:11 GMT -5
Thanks a lot Erik. I treasure Evis' 70s recordings a lot, and as the 5-cd set Walk a Mile in My Shoes bears witness of, Elvis did some of his best and most spirited work in that period. - Of the ones you've chosen, I find Promised Land very special, talk about dynamism. James Burton does breathtaking guitar work here, and Glen Hardin on piano proves that Jerry Lee did not sweat in vain.
... and like a lot of you, I'm sure, I still remember vividly what I was doing when I heard of Elvis' death.
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Post by erik on Aug 16, 2012 18:44:13 GMT -5
What I wanted to do here was to show that there was more to this man than just the drug-addicted Vegas lounge lizard that he had become in the eyes of the media. He still recorded a lot of stuff with all the enthusiasm and power he could muster, and with his faithful band (Burton; Hardin, et. al.) and producer (Felton Jarvis). He'd still trump all of these so-called "stars" of today (IMHO), through the sheer, almost superhuman will that he had. even if he died much too young.
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Post by sliderocker on Aug 17, 2012 14:09:25 GMT -5
I would say that almost all of Elvis's choices for singles in the 70s were pretty solid with maybe one or two being questionable. And it was strange that some of the songs didn't as well as they should have or could have done. "It's Only Love" missed out on the Top 40 altogether while "I'm Leavin'" barely made the Top 40. According to the booklet notes for the just reissued "Our Memories of Elvis" (volumes 1 and 2 plus a previously unreleased volume 3), RCA believed the problem of Elvis's recordings struggling in the charts and on sales was because of producer Felton Jarvis overdubbing too many horns and strings on most songs, believing that Elvis's recordings didn't need the additional instrumentation. RCA wanted to dump Jarvis and get a new producer for Elvis but Elvis said no to that idea. Certainly, the success of "Burning Love" and "Promised Land" demonstrated that they had a point but then you also had singles like "If You Talk In Your Sleep" and "My Boy," which did well in the chart and on sales and which featured horns and strings and which probably helped the songs by having them on there. But, I think that maybe the main problem was Elvis not having access to previously unheard songs. Parker had been cut off from his demanding a quarter of the publishing on an already published song, yet he (or the people who worked for him) never brought any songs to the recording studio on which they could've had 100% of the publishing. Of course, part of the problem on having 100% of the publishing was that Parker also wanted as much of the writer's share of the songwriters-publishers royalty as he could get and most songwriters were not willing to give up what few measly pennies they were getting. So Elvis was left with songs that mostly were recorded by someone else. That's not to say he didn't get a song that no one else had touched or rarely known about: "T-R-O-U-B-L-E," "For the Heart" and "Way Down" I don't believe were recorded by anyone else prior to Elvis recording them. And it's ironic in that those three songs were all solid rockers with only "Pieces of My Life" and "Moody Blue" released in the last two years of Elvis's life. Elvis still had a rock and roll heart and what a pity his friends and Parker couldn't find him enough rockers for a solid rock album. I hear all those who were around him say he was into ballads and countryish material but I sometimes wondered if they were bringing songs to Elvis they just happened to like?
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Post by erik on Aug 17, 2012 14:39:16 GMT -5
If there was anything that some of Elvis' later records could be faulted for, it's that some of the orchestral arrangements were over the top and bombastic (maybe an outgrowth of his Vegas spectaculars?). And when it came to getting great songs on a consistent basis, whether they were ever released as singles or not, the Colonel sure didn't help. The publishing debacle that kept Elvis from recording "I Will Always Love You" (after which Linda took it to her heart) should be proof of that.
It may have been said so many times in the past, but it bears repeating: The Colonel's business practices always seemed to interfere way too much with Elvis' art. And that is why you do have to wonder how the Colonel was circumvented by his client when Elvis recorded "Promised Land", which everyone must have known there would be no publishing deal taken on. Maybe Elvis, for one of the final times in his life, basically said "f**k you" to the Colonel, recorded this Chuck Berry classic, and basically took off with it, publishing cut be damned.
A lot of the songs Elvis did in the last few years of his life were ballads, but were largely MOR/pop-oriented, with not much in the way of country in them (unless the songwriter's name and reputation gave it away). But for some strange reason, a lot of those songs charted far higher on the C&W charts than on the Hot 100 itself, even as barn-burning a rocker as "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" (which got to #11 on the country chart, but struggled just to get to #35 on the pop chart in June 1975). Even stranger and sadder, "Way Down" topped the country chart the week Elvis died, but only peaked at #18 on the Hot 100, and even that wasn't until six weeks after he died, given all the outpouring of grief over his untimely passing.
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Post by Dianna on Aug 17, 2012 15:08:59 GMT -5
Seems like yesterday when we lost Elvis.
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Post by erik on Aug 17, 2012 17:40:31 GMT -5
Quote by dianna:
To those of us who grew up listening to The King, yes, it does feel only like it was yesterday. Unfortunately, we've had about two generations since then who only know about Elvis through video footage or movies, and not necessarily through his albums or singles; and too often, the image they have is a distorted one. They don't understand how innovative he really was.
But that's how the game is. George Klein, a Memphis DJ and a close friend of Elvis, put it this way once: "If you're a fan, no explanation is necessary. If you're not, no explanation is possible."
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Post by sliderocker on Aug 18, 2012 21:07:12 GMT -5
If there was anything that some of Elvis' later records could be faulted for, it's that some of the orchestral arrangements were over the top and bombastic (maybe an outgrowth of his Vegas spectaculars?). And when it came to getting great songs on a consistent basis, whether they were ever released as singles or not, the Colonel sure didn't help. The publishing debacle that kept Elvis from recording "I Will Always Love You" (after which Linda took it to her heart) should be proof of that.
Dolly was already established as a songwriter and singer yet even her career was hampered by her manager and singing partner, Porter Wagoner. In 1973, she was already wanting to spread her wings and start mixing in pop and rock in with her country songs. Wagoner wanted her to remain hard core country. But, I think his managing left a lot to be desired as her sales were not that great in the 60s and early 70s. They were fair and reasonable by country standards but a country album was judged a success if it sold 100,000 copies. After she had split from Wagoner and started selling in the millions, Wagoner wanted his cut, money he wouldn't have seen if Dolly had listened to him.
Parker's attempt to grab the publishing on IWALY is also what short circuited Elvis getting "I Honestly Love You." Songwriters Jeff Barry and Peter Allen actually wrote the song for Elvis and I'm not sure why it was such a big deal if Elvis's publishing was given 100% of the publishing. As it was, IHLY had three music publishers at the time (1973-74). I've never understood any song having so many publishers. I recall seeing one song written by one songwriter with five different publishers listed. As said, the songwriter-publishing royalties were the measliest of royalties back in those days (.0275 cents), usually split 50-50. A million selling record was good for $27,500, of which the publisher got half. Divide that half among five publishers, you had to wonder if having a 20% interest was worth it. The same for a quarter interest. Things are slightly better now but the royalties are still pretty measly (9.1 cents). More if the songs have long run times - which explains why some artists have songs that run seven minutes or longer - more money!
It may have been said so many times in the past, but it bears repeating: The Colonel's business practices always seemed to interfere way too much with Elvis' art. And that is why you do have to wonder how the Colonel was circumvented by his client when Elvis recorded "Promised Land", which everyone must have known there would be no publishing deal taken on. Maybe Elvis, for one of the final times in his life, basically said "f**k you" to the Colonel, recorded this Chuck Berry classic, and basically took off with it, publishing cut be damned.
Having all or part of the music publishing wasn't and isn't a bad idea, but the way Parker ran Elvis's publishing companies after the movies came to an end wasn't the way to run them. He should've opened the doors to songwriters wanting Elvis to record their songs, and even if Elvis didn't record the songs, that was no reason why his publishing companies couldn't have handled the publishing. The usual argument is that with their own publishing houses, songwriters didn't need outside publishing companies. But, not every songwriter had their own publishing company especially in Nashville, where if you wanted a hot country performer to record your song, the publishing had to be through established music publishers. Otherwise, those country artists would never hear your song. I don't know what happened to Parker (besides his greed) on the publishing but he just went about it the wrong way.
A lot of the songs Elvis did in the last few years of his life were ballads, but were largely MOR/pop-oriented, with not much in the way of country in them (unless the songwriter's name and reputation gave it away). But for some strange reason, a lot of those songs charted far higher on the C&W charts than on the Hot 100 itself, even as barn-burning a rocker as "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" (which got to #11 on the country chart, but struggled just to get to #35 on the pop chart in June 1975). Even stranger and sadder, "Way Down" topped the country chart the week Elvis died, but only peaked at #18 on the Hot 100, and even that wasn't until six weeks after he died, given all the outpouring of grief over his untimely passing.
I've always been suspicious of the chart rankings in Billboard because at the time of his death, "Way Down"/"Pledging My Love" topped the country charts, even though neither were country records. RCA had some two million singles available in the stores and every single one of them was snapped up by the public in the wake of Elvis's death. Add the number of Top 40 radio stations playing WD, it should've been a number one. Even before his death, he had records that were certified gold (million sellers) that didn't do all that great in BIllboard while some of the records that were ahead of Elvis's records never received gold status. Part of the reason for this is that the record companies may not have belonged to the RIAA - like Motown - and thus their records couldn't be certified. But, another reason is that the certification process costs some big bucks for the companies that are members of the RIAA. But, given the number of Elvis records that have been certified gold (like "I'm Leavin'") and had poor showings in Billboard, either Billboard missed some sales or radio airplay or both and possibly and intentionally didn't count them at all.
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Post by erik on Aug 18, 2012 23:10:25 GMT -5
Such is the weird, warped wisdom of the record labels, the RIAA, and Billboard Magazine when it comes to Elvis.
I might also want to point out that Elvis had many big Adult Contemporary hits during the period we're talking about, which might account for the reason some of the singles that either didn't or were barely able to crack the Top 40 on the pop chart sold well all the same. He had topped the AC chart four times in the 60s--once in 1962 ("Can't Help Falling In Love"), and three times in 1965 ("Crying In The Chapel"; "Such An Easy Question; "I'm Yours"); but the flood of AC hits came fairly fast beginning with "In The Ghetto" in 1969, and continuing up to the posthumous release of "My Way". Of course, plenty of those were in the Top 40.
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Post by sliderocker on Aug 19, 2012 0:41:13 GMT -5
Such is the weird, warped wisdom of the record labels, the RIAA, and Billboard Magazine when it comes to Elvis. I might also want to point out that Elvis had many big Adult Contemporary hits during the period we're talking about, which might account for the reason some of the singles that either didn't or were barely able to crack the Top 40 on the pop chart sold well all the same. He had topped the AC chart four times in the 60s--once in 1962 ("Can't Help Falling In Love"), and three times in 1965 ("Crying In The Chapel"; "Such An Easy Question; "I'm Yours"); but the flood of AC hits came fairly fast beginning with "In The Ghetto" in 1969, and continuing up to the posthumous release of "My Way". Of course, plenty of those were in the Top 40. Elvis also had several extended play singles that were number ones in Billboard, but I don't know which chart it was where those extended play singles were charting in. It's funny but those records are never mentioned or credited by Billboard because they usually were 7" singles that played at the 45 RPM speed. By all rights, they were just regular singles with extra songs. For a time, "Love Me" was treated as a number one song because it was released on an extended play that made it to number one. Treated as a number one until Billboard decided they couldn't have that. Same with "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel." They were separate number ones until Billboard decided no, they were the same 45, so they only count as one. The question is has Billboard applied the same rule to other double sided number ones or was Elvis the lone exception? It's curious to note that initially the Beatles's A-side "Something" highest Billboard chart ranking was number three while B-side "Come Together" was a number one. That is, until someone at Billboard decided that both songs were a number one. In light of the fact that they took away one of Elvis's number ones, did they take away any of the Beatles's double sided number ones? Fair's fair, but of course, I believe Billboard has a bias for all things Beatle and a bias against all things Elvis. I'm a Beatles fan as much as I am an Elvis fan but I don't believe Billboard shrunk the number of number ones in the column for the Beatles. With regard to Elvis's showing in Billboard's country and AC charts, I sometimes had to wonder if that is the reason some of his singles didn't do so well in the Top 40 pop chart? That is, because Elvis was crossing musical genres, was there an attitude of "let him top the charts in these genres, we'll just lowball him in the pop charts?" Many times, the artists who were in the AC charts (or easy listening charts as it was also known by) were also in the Top 100 or Top 40. Some were also in the Top 20 and Top 10 pop charts yet an Elvis record would still do worse than what those records would do in the pop charts. Credibility and integrity go hand in hand and one would think Billboard wouldn't tamper with the accuracy of their charts but changing past chart positions suggest they have no problem doing so when it suits them. |
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Post by erik on Aug 19, 2012 12:59:18 GMT -5
What I think had to have affected his chart standing in the 1970s to some extent was the perception that he had become the ultimate Vegas lounge lizard. This may not have mattered to his most dyed-in-the-wool fans, but the rest of the music-buying public certainly thought the fire that had been rekindled by the 1968 NBC Special and the 1969 American Studios sessions was being drowned out by the mere need to please by sticking to a musically conservative formula. It points out the fact that Elvis was at his best when he was challenged to give his all and then some, and at his worst when it all became merely routine.
I don't think it helped either that his mood sometimes wasn't what it should have been to record anything as transcendent as he used to do. When he and his band came to do some recording at RCA's L.A. studios in March 1972, for example, Elvis himself was pre-occupied by his slowly crumbling marriage to Priscilla, and this was reflected in a lot of the material they were doing: "Fool"; "Separate Ways"; and "Always On My Mind." But when his producer Felton Jarvis lobbied for him to do "Burning Love", Elvis told him initially that he just didn't feel up for it. This was at a time when he had had just three songs breach the Top 40 in the past year, and even those barely did so. It took a lot of persuading on Jarvis' part, probably everything short of outright blackmail, to convince Elvis that he needed to do that song. Finally, they got it done in six very good takes. End result: the single biggest hit the King had had since "Suspicious Minds." Sadly, though, whether because of chart finagling on Billboard's part, or the competition in the business itself, it was the King's last such hit of that size.
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Post by sliderocker on Aug 19, 2012 14:18:48 GMT -5
What I think had to have affected his chart standing in the 1970s to some extent was the perception that he had become the ultimate Vegas lounge lizard. This may not have mattered to his most dyed-in-the-wool fans, but the rest of the music-buying public certainly thought the fire that had been rekindled by the 1968 NBC Special and the 1969 American Studios sessions was being drowned out by the mere need to please by sticking to a musically conservative formula. It points out the fact that Elvis was at his best when he was challenged to give his all and then some, and at his worst when it all became merely routine. I sometimes think people did have the perception that Elvis was the ultimate Vegas lounge lizard, although he never had that many Vegas stints in any given year. He never could cop the title of ultimate Vegas lounge lizard because that title rightfully belonged to Wayne Newton, who worked fifty weeks out of fifty-two playing in Vegas for decades. I sometimes wondered how Newton ever managed that because he only had a couple of big hit records, but I guess he put on quite an entertaining show because Vegas paid him millions of dollars each year for years. But, what I though could've hurt Elvis wasn't that his choice of material wasn't bad but just that in his concerts, he did the same songs over and over again. He'd sometimes include what was his latest single but almost never any of the songs from his latest album. Were the omissions an admission he didn't care for the songs he was getting? I could see him not liking some of the songs and only doing them because he had to have enough songs to fulfill his contractual agreements with RCA. I don't think it helped either that his mood sometimes wasn't what it should have been to record anything as transcendent as he used to do. When he and his band came to do some recording at RCA's L.A. studios in March 1972, for example, Elvis himself was pre-occupied by his slowly crumbling marriage to Priscilla, and this was reflected in a lot of the material they were doing: "Fool"; "Separate Ways"; and "Always On My Mind." But when his producer Felton Jarvis lobbied for him to do "Burning Love", Elvis told him initially that he just didn't feel up for it. This was at a time when he had had just three songs breach the Top 40 in the past year, and even those barely did so. It took a lot of persuading on Jarvis' part, probably everything short of outright blackmail, to convince Elvis that he needed to do that song. Finally, they got it done in six very good takes. End result: the single biggest hit the King had had since "Suspicious Minds." Sadly, though, whether because of chart finagling on Billboard's part, or the competition in the business itself, it was the King's last such hit of that size. "Burning Love" is a good example of RCA not giving Felton Jarvis credit in getting Elvis to record the song. It should've been a number one in Billboard (was in Cashbox) but somehow Chuck Berry's naughty novelty tune "My Ding a Ling" (now a forgotten oldie) was the song that made it to number one despite not selling as many copies as what "Burning Love" sold. It was interesting that the March 1972 recording session produced not only BL, but also "It's a Matter of Time," "Separate Ways," "Always on My Mind," "Fool" and his version of "For the Good Times," which went unreleased for years. FTGT wasn't as good as the other songs recorded during the session, yet one has to wonder why Elvis didn't record a few more songs them which could've been released collectively as an album? Instead of letting Parker parcel the singles out on low budget Camden albums with reissued material. It was also Jarvis who talked Elvis into recording "Way Down," which was a departure from the gloom and doom songs Elvis was recording at the time that reflected his own mood. Except for "For the Heart" and "Way Down," and the never completed Jerry Scheff hard rock song "Fire Down Below," one has to wonder how many people associated the songs with what Elvis may have been feeling? I say may have been feeling because only those around may have known for sure and even then, he may not have let them know totally. As for the lack of rock songs on Elvis's albums, I truly believe Elvis wanted to do more than what was on the albums but as he had said at the New York press coneference when asked about it, he said he wanted to do more but it was difficult to find them because he wasn't getting them. That's what I meant about his aides bringing him in songs that they personally liked as I don't know that Elvis liked those songs all that much. In her book, Priscilla wrote what I consider a very telling anecdote about trying to get Elvis to record songs by artists and bands she was into at the time, only to be told to back off by him. She said everyone around Elvis was telling him to record this song or that song and that was driving him crazy. I think everyone around Elvis wanted to get some kind of credit for bringing Elvis this song or that song, like his version of James Taylor's "Steamroller." Two or three of his Memphis buddies all claimed credit for finding the song and getting Elvis to do the song. I don't know if they truly were the ones who got Elvis to do the song as at his rehearsals for his concerts circa 1971-72, he did a few songs he never performed in concert or released on record, such as Neil Diamond's "Holly Holy," George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord," Leon Russell's "Delta Lady" and the Mark James-penned hit for B.J. Thomas, "Hooked on a Feeling." It was obvious Elvis had quite different tastes yet those songs are or were never mentioned by Elvis's buddies or rarely mentioned by them. Only the ones that were released. You get the imrpession Elvis couldn't have done it wityhout them, sort of like he couldn't have done without Parker. I tend to think he could've done it quite well without them. 
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Post by erik on Aug 19, 2012 19:41:10 GMT -5
Quote by sliderocker re. "Steamroller":
It's understandable that they all want to take credit for finding that song for Elvis, but you have to wonder how hard it could have been, giving that JT's Sweet Baby James, which is where the song can be found, was a big seller in 1970. The miracle of it is that Elvis included it in his Aloha From Hawaii concert, and put a lot of himself out there on it in his performance. And it became a sizable hit when released as a single, peaking at #17 in early June 1973.
Re. March '72 sessions:
One can probably never know the wisdom (or lack thereof) of RCA, though you do have to wonder if they weren't just a tad bit intimidated by the Colonel. I think even die-hard fans suspected by that time that something seriously wrong, on the artistic level anyway, was happening to Elvis, though they never could put their finger on it.
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Post by sliderocker on Aug 20, 2012 3:13:22 GMT -5
It's understandable that they all want to take credit for finding that song for Elvis, but you have to wonder how hard it could have been, giving that JT's Sweet Baby James, which is where the song can be found, was a big seller in 1970. The miracle of it is that Elvis included it in his Aloha From Hawaii concert, and put a lot of himself out there on it in his performance. And it became a sizable hit when released as a single, peaking at #17 in early June 1973.
I don't think it was that hard as Elvis had also included in previous live shows, his versions of "Proud Mary" (CCR, for whom he was a big fan of), "Never Been to Spain" (Three Dog Night), "For the Good Times" (Ray Price) and later studio recordings of "Fairytale" (Pointer Sisters, which he described their song as the story of his life), "I Can Help" (Billy Swan) and "Solitaire" (Carpenters, although on an alternate recording of the song, he references one of the song's songwriters, Neil Sedaka). His aides who claimed the credit for bringing Elvis so many songs never claimed credit for these songs - though I'm sure George Klein who had the least contact of all with Elvis would be happy to claim he was the one. That's not to say his aides didn't bring him songs but one gets the impression Elvis was totally dependent on his aides for songs and I just don't think that was an absolute truth.
An aside about JT: at the time Elvis recorded his version of "Promised Land," James Taylor's also recorded his version of "Promised Land." It's curious that both release their version at about the same time although James Taylor's version stayed on his album rather than released as a single. James's version was a little more laid back while Elvis's version was full of rock and roll energy from the opening. I don't think JT's version would've been a hit had it been released as a single although thankfully, he didn't release his version as a single. No replay of the Johnny Rivers fiasco of 1964 when Rivers's version of "Memphis" was released ahead of Elvis's planned released of his version as a single.
Re. March '72 sessions:
One can probably never know the wisdom (or lack thereof) of RCA, though you do have to wonder if they weren't just a tad bit intimidated by the Colonel. I think even die-hard fans suspected by that time that something seriously wrong, on the artistic level anyway, was happening to Elvis, though they never could put their finger on it.
I think RCA was more than just a tad intimidated by Parker. As far as I know, they only stood up to Parker when Elvis stood up to Parker over the publishing dispute on "Suspicious Minds." It was said that when Parker was at the top of his game and renegotiated Elvis's contract in 1965, one of the deals was that RCA had to press up a million copies of each and every single, no matter what. This meant that for RIAA purposes, all those singles shipped gold automatically, regardless of how well or how poorly they actually sold or charted. Parker also had it stipulated the stores couldn't return the unsold singles to RCA for credit. RCA went along only because Elvis's records were good for sales along those lines and even more. I think the fear RCA had was you could only get to Elvis by going through Parker and if you displeased Parker, he'd just take Elvis to another record label.
In a sense, that was a good fear to instill into a record company and it was only because Elvis had the sales to back up such a threat. If Elvis's hadn't had the sales, I don't think RCA would've been hesitant at all in calling Parker's hand and telling him to take Elvis elsewhere.
That's not to say Parker didn't commit any goofs. When he renegotiated Elvis's contract in 1965, he didn't get him a hefty raise in his artist royalty rate on singles or albums. Or get him a producer's credit for essentially producing his own sessions. People like Jarvis, Chet Atkins and Steve Sholes only served as producers on the engineering side of the recordings. Elvis called all of the shots on the musical side of the recordings. Only a year later, RCA would be paying Jefferson Airplane an artist royalty rate of a dollar per album for signing with the label. Elvis's royalty was 50 cents per album. Parker didn't have a clause in Elvis's RCA contract that stipulated RCA had to match or exceed the highest royalty rate that was being paid to another artiist on the RCA label. Airplane's dollar royalty was incredible given they were (then) newly signed to the label and hadn't produced any revenue and hits (at the time) for RCA. Elvis's sales by the time the Airplane was signed to RCA was already over 150 million, possibly over 200 million. I find it hard to believe that Parker was afraid to ask RCA to raise Elvis's royalties as such a request would've been more than justified. It's even more surprising RCA didn't just raise his royalties automatically as no doubt, Parker wouldn't have objected. It wouldn've meant more money for Elvis and himself.
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Post by erik on Aug 20, 2012 9:02:58 GMT -5
Quote by sliderocker:
I too don't believe Elvis was totally dependent on his Memphis Mafia to find him good songs, but he certainly encouraged them to do so, especially when he had agreed, on the urging of both Klein and Marty Lacker, to work with Chips Moman at American Studios. In truth, many of the songs to come from those sessions were things that Elvis himself had either recently come across and knew instinctively were right for him, or that he had had in mind to want to do for years. And even though there was a lot of fury and bluster on the Colonel's part that Elvis was doing this outside his manager's purview (if the publishing rights imbroglio over "Suspicious Minds" and "Mama Liked The Roses" was any indication, and which wrecked any chance of Elvis recording there again after '69), he had made the right move at the right time, with four Top 20 singles, all million-sellers, plus two hugely successful albums (artistically and commercially speaking).
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Post by sliderocker on Aug 20, 2012 11:25:22 GMT -5
Quote by sliderocker: I too don't believe Elvis was totally dependent on his Memphis Mafia to find him good songs, but he certainly encouraged them to do so, especially when he had agreed, on the urging of both Klein and Marty Lacker, to work with Chips Moman at American Studios. In truth, many of the songs to come from those sessions were things that Elvis himself had either recently come across and knew instinctively were right for him, or that he had had in mind to want to do for years. And even though there was a lot of fury and bluster on the Colonel's part that Elvis was doing this outside his manager's purview (if the publishing rights imbroglio over "Suspicious Minds" and "Mama Liked The Roses" was any indication, and which wrecked any chance of Elvis recording there again after '69), he had made the right move at the right time, with four Top 20 singles, all million-sellers, plus two hugely successful albums (artistically and commercially speaking). I quite agree that Elvis encouraged the members of the Memphis Mafia to find him songs and bring them to his attention, but except for Marty who worked in the music business and Lamar Fike, who represented Elvis's publishing companies, and Red West who was a songwriter in his own right, I think the claims by others that they brought this song or that song to Elvis would be questionable at best. Maybe Charlie Hodge did because he had been in the music business although almost always as a backup singer and musician for someone else, never for himself. With Parker and the hassle over the publishing over "Suspicious Minds" and "Mama Liked the Roses," I think one possible scenario there was he didn't want anyone making any extra money off of Elvis. He and his aides always viewed Elvis's MM buddies bringing him songs with suspicion and jealousy, the idea that they were making money for placing songs with Elvis, that there was something wrong with that idea. Marty in particular brought songs in from a particular music publisher and Parker and his aides just seethed over the notion that he was making money off of Elvis for his trouble. What did Elvis need these outside music publishers for when he had songs he could get from his own publishing companies? And because Chips Moman had the publishing on SM and MLTR and some of the other songs, I think Parker just didn't like the idea that Moman was going to make a few dollars more from Elvis's Memphis recordings. Of course, Parker should've been wise to the fact Elvis didn't like the majority of songs that were coming from his own publishing companies, especially when it came to songs with the potential to be hits. Given Elvis's publishing company only supplied one original song to the Memphis sessions was especially telling. Parker's stable of writers couldn't deliver and most of the quality songwriters he had at one time had moved on to other pastures. If Parker recognized the quality of songs coming from Elvis's publishing companies were not top notch, it's little wonder he wanted 25-50% of the publishing on a song already published. But, a better solution would've been soliciting original songs from known and unknown songwriters who wanted Elvis to record one of their songs, with the stipulation the songs had to be published by one of Elvis's publishing companies. I don't think Parker would've had any trouble finding songwriters willing to make the deal. |
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Post by erik on Aug 20, 2012 12:58:54 GMT -5
Quote by sliderocker:
To some extent, maybe the Memphis Mafia did what they did for a few bucks for themselves. On the other hand, though, they had seen Elvis struggle with the movies in the 60s, and the increasingly bad songs he was doing for them; and when it came time to work at American, he made it a point to tell them to find good songs, regardless of where or who they came from, and regardless of whether he could get a publishing cut on them. He may have had some initial reservations in the studio about recording them (like "In The Ghetto"), but he was encouraged to stretch and challenge himself with them, especially by Moman.
As to the one song that Elvis' publishing company bought to the table for the '69 sessions, I'm willing to bet it was "Power Of My Love", because the writers of it were the same ones that supplied some of the movie stuff. It kind of makes you wonder why this tough R&B/blues rocker wasn't pitched to Elvis sooner.
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Post by sliderocker on Aug 20, 2012 15:27:48 GMT -5
To some extent, maybe the Memphis Mafia did what they did for a few bucks for themselves. On the other hand, though, they had seen Elvis struggle with the movies in the 60s, and the increasingly bad songs he was doing for them; and when it came time to work at American, he made it a point to tell them to find good songs, regardless of where or who they came from, and regardless of whether he could get a publishing cut on them. He may have had some initial reservations in the studio about recording them (like "In The Ghetto"), but he was encouraged to stretch and challenge himself with them, especially by Moman.
I'm pretty sure the MM made a few bucks for themselves and that they sometimes did it for themselves. Some complained about how much Elvis paid them yet the salaries they collected were still quite a bit better than what most jobs paid at the time. And then there were the fringe benefits like getting a new car or motorcycle every so often or getting your house paid for with no thought of having to repay Elvis. Not to mention the really generous Christmas bonuses. It's sad to think some of the people working for him complained about the pay they were getting. I bet a lot of people would've been willing to take on their jobs with no complaints.
But, his MM buddies knew exactly the misery he was in from making movies which he didn't like for the most part and having to record songs he hated even worse. With the '68 comeback special, Parker had demonstrated he was more than willing to wreck Elvis's career with the idea that Elvis should sing twenty-six Christmas songs. Then he or his aides tried to talk Elvis out of recording the songs from the outside music publishers in favor of the songs they had assembled from his publishing companies from his established songwriters. As for Moman, he got the best out of Elvis but I think the two of them may not have gotten along all that well. Moman wasn't above criticizing Elvis when he felt Elvis wasn't doing a good job and he didn't like some of Elvis's song choices. While I could see criticizing Elvis if warranted, the choice of songs to record were still Elvis's decision to make, not the producer's - unless you happened to be Phil Spector. The producer was not the artist yet some of the producers acted like they were the artist or maybe a co-artist. Moman had a good track record for producing hits yet Elvis wasn't no slouch at producing hits himself. And his track record easily bested Moman's.
As to the one song that Elvis' publishing company bought to the table for the '69 sessions, I'm willing to bet it was "Power Of My Love", because the writers of it were the same ones that supplied some of the movie stuff. It kind of makes you wonder why this tough R&B/blues rocker wasn't pitched to Elvis sooner.
It was "Power of My Love," from the team of Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye. It's possible the team did submit the song to Elvis at an earlier time for one of his movies but someone decided the song was suitable for the movies. Giant, Baum and Kaye had also penned "Edge of Reality" - one of of Elvis's better movie songs as well as "Wisdom of the Ages" and "Animal Instinct," two more not half bad songs intended for, but not included in "Harum Scarum" and "You're the Devil in Disguise," a non-movie song - and a hit! - among the many songs they wrote for Elvis. They also wrote a few clinkers like "Night Life," and the even worse "Do the Vega," both for "Viva Las Vegas" and both unused in the movie.
There were some other songs from the Memphis sessions on which Elvis's publishing companies had the publishing: "The Fair's Movin' On" (one of the nicest songs he ever did), two songs from the guys who would later write the Barry Manilow hit "Can't Smile Without You." Those three songs had come from European music publishers on which Elvis's publishing companies had gotten the U.S. publishing rights. The songs may not have been written exclusively for Elvis although it's possible they were.
Elvis also had the publishing on "Long Black Limousine," although that song still carried the name of the original music publisher. Elvis, through Parker, had acquired the company in the 60s and kept the company active rather than fold it up as part of Elvis Presley Music. Most of the songs published by Elvis's publishing companies ended up on the "Back in Memphis" album. Curiously, Elvis's publishing has the publishing on another song, "You'll Think of Me," but at the time of its release (as the B-side of "Suspicious Minds"), it was published by another publisher. I don't know when Elvis acquired the song but he or someone must've liked the song well enough to acquire the publishing on the song. It's still among the songs in Elvis's publishing company today.
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Post by erik on Aug 20, 2012 20:56:28 GMT -5
Quote by sliderocker:
From what I have read, Moman did make minor suggestions to Elvis, and Elvis knew exactly what to do, since he was working with someone who operated with him musician-to-musician. Moman may not have been thrilled with every song choice Elvis made (even "Hey Jude" was a bit half-hearted in my opinion), but it still worked in the end. What soured it later, though, was the Colonel's interference via planting stories about Moman in Elvis that were categorically false. As far as I know, Moman never forgave the Colonel (and rightfully so) for his interference in the recording process. But he and Elvis got along really great for the twenty days worth of recording that got done.
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Post by sliderocker on Aug 20, 2012 22:59:24 GMT -5
From what I have read, Moman did make minor suggestions to Elvis, and Elvis knew exactly what to do, since he was working with someone who operated with him musician-to-musician. Moman may not have been thrilled with every song choice Elvis made (even "Hey Jude" was a bit half-hearted in my opinion), but it still worked in the end. What soured it later, though, was the Colonel's interference via planting stories about Moman in Elvis that were categorically false. As far as I know, Moman never forgave the Colonel (and rightfully so) for his interference in the recording process. But he and Elvis got along really great for the twenty days worth of recording that got done. I can't be sure but I think it was said Moman actually objected to the country material like "It Keeps Right On A Hurtin'" and "I'll Hold You In My Heart," even though on the latter song, Elvis put a pop-blues spin on it (similar to the way he had done on "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and delivered one of the best performances of his recording career. Moman himself had been the one who solicited Mac Davis for the songs he came up with, which Davis recalled later as Chips saying he wanted some country song and he didn't know what Moman meant. And with Billy Strange, Mac had already written some songs for Elvis, so maybe the request had come from Elvis via Chips? Elvis certainly sounded half-hearted on his version of the Beatles's "Hey Jude," but here again, I think I read that Elvis didn't know all of the words and from the way it sounded, it may not have been intended for commercial release but ended up being released because of contractual album obligations. Its inclusion on 1972's "Elvis Now" was questionable because it was a three year old track by that point though most of the other songs were already a year or two old as well. "It's Only Love" and the last song written for Elvis by the team of Giant-Baum-Kaye, "The Sound of Your Cry" from late 1971 would've been better choices for that album. It's incredible that Elvis believed anything Parker had to say about anyone he worked with, especially given Elvis's own dislike of Parker. Parker basically wanted to be the one coming up with all of the creative ideas in Elvis's career and feared other people gaining some control or favor with Elvis if they managed to enhance Elvis's career. I think Parker was to some degree psychotic because he couldn't write a song or movie script, so he had tor ely on outsiders to write the songs and the movies. Why he didn't encourage Elvis to write songs - well, maybe he feared that possibility as well because if Elvis didn't need someone else supplying him with songs, maybe Parker feared the possibility of Elvis not needing to rely on him to a great extent. I always felt that Elvis could write songs if given the time (Red West said the same thing) and opportunity, but I think Parker scheduled the four to five movies Elvis worked on in in any given year. That, taken together with the recording sessions of mostly lousy soundtrack songs left Elvis very little time to do anything else. And after the movies, it was the concerts although from some accounts I've read, Elvis preferred being on the road as a means to avoid being in the studio and having to deal with the headaches and the hassles over the publishing. |
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Post by erik on Aug 21, 2012 8:43:40 GMT -5
Quote by sliderocker:
It wouldn't surprise me...unfortunately. Being on the road a lot also meant that he'd expose himself to a lot of the stuff that eventually kill him.
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