45 Years Ago: Elvis Passes Away (08/16/77)

[erik]

It's hard to believe, but it has been forty-five years to this very day since the world lost the man whose explosive entry onto the music scene in 1956 forever broke the staid conformity that had held sway in American culture since the end of World War II. Elvis Presley was sadly found unresponsive in an upstairs bathroom of his Graceland mansion by his then-girlfriend Ginger Alden early in the afternoon on August 16, 1977. He was only 42 years old; and however his death came about, whether it was an enlarged heart, an abuse of prescription pills, or both, it was far too soon for him to go.

Instead of dwelling on how Elvis died, or how shabbily his manager treated him (as a natural carnival barker, The Colonel saw Elvis more as a freak show than as the transformative artist he really was), on this somber day, it is important to remember what The King brought to this world.

Therefore...

"Heartbreak Hotel"--the one that made him a household name in 1956:


"Down In The Alley"--his 1966 recording of The Clovers' 1959 R&B classic:


...and last but not least, the (in)famous live version of "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" done in Las Vegas on August 26, 1969, in which he literally cracks up:
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[sliderocker]

Elvis trivia: The 45th anniversary of Elvis's death this past Tuesday was the same day in 1977 when he died.

Forgotten trivia: Just days after Elvis died in Memphis, Groucho Marx died the same week, on Friday, August 19, 1977, age 86, in Los Angeles. Groucho's death had been expected. Elvis's death had not been expected, which is ironic given the weight and health issues that plagued him the last three and a half years of his life. And complicated by being on the road too much of the time with not enough time to recover between the tours.

Scary trivia: Priscilla Beaulieu referred to the Elvis's 45th anniversary of Elvis's passing as his birthday. And a photo snapped of Priscilla at Graceland by some photographer, Priscilla comes off looking like some high priestess.

[sliderocker]

With regard to Elvis's music, over the past year, I've listened to many different Elvis songs and some came to mind as being potential singles but strangely, were not released as such.

For example, two songs from Elvis Is Back, both songs with Girl in the titles:

Cliff Richard covered The Girl of My Best Friend in the UK and had a hit with the song, yet Elvis's own version was not released as a single. Released on album only. Elvis or RCA had the same strategy the Beatles would later have when it came to the release of their singles and albums: songs released as singles would not be on the albums. It was a marketing strategy which helped sell the singles. You wanted the song, better buy the single. It won't be on the album.



And then there was Girl Next Door Went A Walking, which as far as I know hadn't been covered by another artist prior to its release by Elvis. By 1960-61 standards, it and The Girl of My Best Friend had the potential to both be Top 40 charting singles, if not Top 10s. Missed opportunities.

[erik]

Quote by sliderocker:

It was a marketing strategy which helped sell the singles. You wanted the song, better buy the single. It won't be on the album.

Pity then that so many of Elvis' best songs during the mid-to-late 1960's, singles and otherwise, were included as "filler" on so many of the movie soundtracks, because they were almost universally a hell of a lot better than the movie songs (though the blame for that, of course, could be laid at the feet of Der Colonel, and not the writers themselves).

I'd point out, though, that "In The Ghetto", the last track on From Elvis In Memphis, was released as a single in mid-April 1969, about six weeks before the album itself. Given that the Colonel, being penny-wise and pound-foolish, told him not to record anything so "socially conscious" (e.g., "If I Can Dream"), it was quite funny that anytime Elvis bucked the Colonel in this way, he scored huge. "In The Ghetto" got up to #3 in mid-June, so......

[sliderocker]

Aug 18, 2022 13:25:05 GMT -5 erik said:

Quote by sliderocker:

It was a marketing strategy which helped sell the singles. You wanted the song, better buy the single. It won't be on the album.

Pity then that so many of Elvis' best songs during the mid-to-late 1960's, singles and otherwise, were included as "filler" on so many of the movie soundtracks, because they were almost universally a hell of a lot better than the movie songs (though the blame for that, of course, could be laid at the feet of Der Colonel, and not the writers themselves).

I'd point out, though, that "In The Ghetto", the last track on From Elvis In Memphis, was released as a single in mid-April 1969, about six weeks before the album itself. Given that the Colonel, being penny-wise and pound-foolish, told him not to record anything so "socially conscious" (e.g., "If I Can Dream"), it was quite funny that anytime Elvis bucked the Colonel in this way, he scored huge. "In The Ghetto" got up to #3 in mid-June, so......

Totally agree many of the best songs on the albums were the bonus songs, but even some of the bonus songs were written by the men and women who wrote the soundtrack songs. And one needs to remember those who contributed to the movie soundtracks included Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Otis Blackwell, Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, Don Robertson, Sid Tepper and Roy C Bennett and Ben Weisman. The last three gentleman wrote a few hits in the 50s and early 60s. Weisman was the most inspired of Elvis's songwriters. Elvis recorded 57 of his songs.

Tepper and Bennett wrote a lot of songs using melodies that were in the public domain, but remembering Col. Greed Parker took as much as he could get from the songwriters, songwriting royalties were puny indeed and split 50/50 between the publisher and songwriters. Elvis's publishing companies (ran by Parker and Hill and Range) took the publishing revenue the songs earned, but then in order for the songs to get placed into rotation for Elvis's consideration and if the songs were recorded, the songwriters had to give up as much of their songwriter royalties to Parker as a guarantee Elvis would record the song. Elvis didn't know what Paarker was doing on the publishing end.He put a stop to Parker claiming part of the songwriting royalties for Elvis but in reality, Parker simply didn't claim Elvis as co-writer when taking what he could from the songwriters.

I first thought Tepper and Bennett were hacks because they were using melodies of songs that were in the public domain. I didn't know Parker was robbing them and other songwriters blind. The men and women who wrote songs for Elvis's movies were capable of writing great songs, but writing a good song can involve an investment of time to come up with a good song.Dave Marsh's definition of a hack is someone who could write a song in very little time. Well, Paul McCartney and Barry Gibb can both crank out new songs in fifteen minutes. Are they hacks? Hell no! But, they didn't work for Parker and Parker didn't take everything from them except for 1/100th of a cent.I would love to have written some songs for Elvis but I wouldn't have given Parker all of the publishing and songwriting royalty in exchange for Elvis recording the song. Parker was a thief when it came to songwriters and to the greatest talent the world ever knew.