Remembering ELVIS

[erik]

The King left "the building", so to speak, 46 years ago on this day in 1977. But instead of dwelling on the extraneous details of that terrible day, and the cigar-chomping shyster he had for a manager (and Overlord), here's a sample of songs he recorded at RCA's Nashville home offices in September 1967 and January 1968:

"Hi-Heel Sneakers" (the 1964 Tommy Tucker hit, recorded in September 1967):


"Too Much Monkey Business" (Chuck Berry's 1956 hit, recorded on January 15, 1968 with help from one Jerry Reed):


"U.S. Male" (written by Jerry Reed, recorded January 17, 1968):

[sliderocker]

Hi Heel Sneakers (the long version) should've been the A-side instead of being penned to the back of Jerry Reed's Guitar Man. Reed's song would've been more of a single for the country while Robert Higginbotham's song would've been better suited for the rock market. In some markets, radio stations played it over Guitar Man.

As for my choices to remember Elvis, the first is



Long Legged Girl (With the Short Dress On) was written by J. Leslie McFarland and Winfield Scott for one of Elvis's worst movies, Double Trouble. By 1966 standards, this song has one very tough hard rock guitar intro. The only trouble with the song is that it settles down after the intro into pure pablum that sounds dated right out of 1962. It's too bad Elvis and the band couldn't have taken the hard rock guitar intro and just pushed it all the way through the song. Maybe then it would've worked out to something better than a song that was only a minute and a half long. Tragedy.



The studio version of Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On. Recorded for Elvis's 1970-71 album Elvis Country, this was Elvis's version of the classic hit by Jerry Lee Lewis. Elvis had an affinity for the song as beginning in the 70s, he would do this song in his concerts, as part of a medley with Long Tall Sally. On the studio version, which was unedited from this version, he is just rocking and having a good time.



Stranger In My Own Home Town comes with a warning. This is a five and a half minute alternate version of the song that appeared on the Memphis half of From Memphis to Vegas/From Vegass to Memphis in 1969 and then as Back In Memphis in 1970. Elvis is in a very bluesy mood and the song is laced with some choice swear words. There's no electric sitar on this version of the song, just Reggie Young (and likely Elvis) playing guitar instead of the sitar. This version made its debut in 2016, and when I first heard it, I thought it might be an A.I. produced Elvis. But, that technology wasn't available in 2016. And I know there are other songs by Elvis out there where he lets go with the profanity, sometimes in the songs.

[erik]

If Elvis had been allowed to record "Long Legged Girl" just on an actual album, instead of doing it for one more formulaic movie, and continued with the song the way it began, I think it would have had the potential to be a sizeable hit. The Colonel, of course, didn't want his one and only client to mess around with a "sure thing". But by the time that song was done in 1966, Elvis' movies were no longer "sure things"--and besides, as the legendary director Stanley Kubrick once said, "Nothing is as dangerous as a Sure Thing".

Re. "Whole Lotta Shakin'"--One would have thought this had been in Elvis' wheelhouse from the start, but perhaps The King didn't originally want to compete with a former Sun Records label mate. I guess by the time he finally got around to it, he felt he could put his own spin on it.

Re. "Stranger In My Own Home Town"--That "blue" version, so to speak, seems to be Elvis just letting loose in a way that showed how much had been pent up inside of him for most of the 1960's. It was clearly a long-standing favorite of his (written by Percy Mayfield); and while the actual take of the song that ended up on From Memphis To Vegas/From Vegas To Memphis had none of the X-rated language, it was still Elvis in the way most people had hoped he would and could be once more.