Elvis' 89th Birthday

[erik]

If he hadn't left us far too soon, he would be 89 years old today. Elvis Presley, a.k.a. The King, remains arguably the single most important American pop music figure of the second half of the 20th century, and really for all time.

So here's a look at the important period in Elvis' life/career that happened at the time he was celebrating his 34th birthday.

It was January 1969. The previous month, Elvis had scored a major triumph with his NBC-TV special, defined by many as a "comeback" (even if he himself wouldn't admit to it openly) after all those formulaic B-grade movies and movie songs that had degraded his status for most of the 1960's. And he did so by doing the one thing he had never really done before--going over the head of his manager Colonel Tom Parker, who wanted the special to be your standard Christmas special. With the encouragement of producer Bones Howe and director Steve Binder, Elvis had gotten his former sidemen Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana to help him get back to his roots in earthy rock and roll, R&B, and even Gospel. The major ratings success of that show and the huge hit that came from it, "If I Can Dream", had made Elvis relevant once again with the public, and had also galvanized him. So much so that, on the urging of his Memphis Mafia, instead of entering either of RCA's home offices in Nashville or Los Angeles, he instead put himself in the hands of legendary producer Chips Moman and his American Studios crew who were ensconced at their HQ a mere seven miles from Graceland. Once more, Elvis went over the head of the Colonel and his cronies, doing things his way, and the result was an artistic and geometrical triumph of the highest order.

As was well known, Moman was a no-nonsense guy who wouldn't take any s**t from anyone, least of all The Colonel (which sadly is also why he and Elvis never hooked up again, seeing that Parker was just a pain in the a**). But when he and Elvis were in the studio one-on-one, they were like a house on fire. What became known as The Memphis Sessions spanned all of the first two months of 1969, and yielded arguably the most important music of Elvis' entire career. In that time, and regardless of whether he had publishing rights to any of them, Elvis recorded the songs that he, not The Colonel, wanted to do; and that included R&B-flavored versions of country classics like "I'm Movin' On", "Gentle On My Mind", "From A Jack To A King", and "Long Black Limousine"; straight-ahead R&B ("Stranger In My Own Hometown"; "Without Love [There Is Nothing]; "Any Day Now"; and much more. Two massive hit albums came from those sessions, From Elvis In Memphis, and the 2-LP From Memphis To Vegas/From Vegas To Memphis; both sold in excess of one million copies each, being the biggest-selling non-soundtrack albums Elvis had had prior to 1963.



Just as big a deal was the fact that he was having major hits once more coming out of his work with Moman, after only having had one Top Ten hit between 1963 and 1969 ("Crying In The Chapel", originally recorded in 1960, but finally released in April 1965, reaching #3 that May). "In The Ghetto", a powerful piece of protest against the poverty in the Negro community written by Mac Davis, reached #3 on the Hot 100 in June 1969, continuing the success of "If I Can Dream". Near the end of August, "Suspicious Minds" came out, and it would peak at #1 that November, becoming (officially at least) his eighteenth chart-topper, and, sadly, his very last one. Another Mac Davis-penned ballad, "Don't Cry Daddy", peaked at #6 in January 1970; and two months after that, he hit #16 with "Kentucky Rain" (written by Eddie Rabbitt). Another song from the Memphis sessions, "Mama Liked The Roses", was chosen as the B-side of his live recording of the Ray Peterson hit "The Wonder Of You", which hit #9 at the end of June 1970.

Although he would succeed massively with his four sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in June 1972, and the Aloha From Hawaii TV special in January 1973, Elvis never quite overcame The Colonel's neo-dictatorial machinations. Endless tours of America (but none overseas, because apparently the Colonel had some, how shall we say, immigration issues), and equally endless engagements in Las Vegas, were to wear him down, causing the collapse of his marriage to Priscilla; and his rapidly escalating addiction to various pain killers and a bad diet, combined with possible an enlarged heart, eventually led to his girlfriend Ginger Alden finding him dead in the upstairs bathroom at Graceland on August 16, 1977. The King was sadly gone from this life at the far too early age of 42. He had indeed left the building.

But his legacy still lives on, particularly in that monumental two-month period of recording in his hometown at the beginning of 1969, when he got back in the game and cemented his legacy for all time.

[sliderocker]

After Elvis's tremendous success with Chips Moman, it was surprising to me Elvis didn't work with Chips again. What we didn't know then that we know now is that Colonel Greed sabotaged any further possibility of Elvis working with Chips again by whispering bad things about Chips in Elvis's ear. Or he had his subordinates and others bad mouth Chips in Elvis's ear. It's strange because after a seven year period where the best Elvis could do to put a record in the Top 10 of Billboard was a 1960 recording of "Crying in the Chapel," Chips comes along in Elvis's life and he's having Top 10 records again, four major 45s, "In the Ghetto," "Suspicious Minds" and "Don't Cry Daddy" -- the last 45 having "Rubberneckin'" on its B-side which also counted as a hit because part of the sales and radio airplay was for it as well as "Don't Cry Daddy." Billboard's new policy on only counting one side of a 45 seemed to apply only to Elvis. It didn't apply to the Beatles ("Come Together"/"Something") nor did it apply to the Monkees ("Someday Man"/"Listen to the Band"). The Beatles 45 did better than did the Monkees 45 but both records, both sides of their 45s got individual placements in Billboard magazine. Elvis's double sided 45, only the A-side was ranked. The B-side was notated with an F designation for flip side being played. Billboard has always asserted there was nothing against Elvis, but their 45 policy of only the A-side charted and the B-side being given an F for flip side being played only applied to Elvis 45s. No other artist who had a double sided 45 was treated in such a manner.

Anyway, back on track on Elvis and Chips, Elvis would chart in 1970 with "Kentucky Rain," showcasing that under Chips's supervision, Elvis could do no wrong. Elvis, however, went back to work with Felton Jarvis and the Billboard results were noticeable. Out of 34 songs produced during a massive June 1970 recording session, only Elvis's remake of the Dusty Springfield hit, "You Don't Have to Say You Love" and its attending B-side, the rocker "Patch It Up" would come close to the Top 10. Jarvis had also done well earlier in the year with "The Wonder of You," although that one was from Elvis's February 1970 engagement in Las Vegas. Despite its solid production, Jarvis couldn't help but to sweeten the arrangement in Nashville with additional orchestration and background singers. Not slight Jarvis as a producer as one had to wonder if it was RCA not promoting Elvis's 45s ormore of Billboard's shenanigans in Elvis's chart placements. The first 45 from the June 1970 session was "The Next Step Is Love" b/w "I've Lost You," which stalled at 32 in Billboard for the A-side and the B-side getting the F-designation. It was surprising that was the best either song could do. The A-side was penned by Paul Evans (who had been writing songs off and on all through the 60s) and Paul Parnes. The B-side was the second song to be written by British songwriters, Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard. Both songs were good pop productions and it's hard to fathom why neither song did any better than 32 and F. I would've bet on either song making the Top 10 in Billboard, along with "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" and "Patch It Up." Both 45s and their B-sides had pretty good showings in radio airplay and Cashbox, Billboard's competitor.

But, Jarvis wasn't without some of the blame. RCA frequently objected to Jarvis sweetening many of the songs Elvis would record under Jarvis's supervision. RCA felt many of Elvis's recordings didn't need the orchestrations though Jarvis would always tell RCA that he agreed with them but it was what Elvis wanted on the records. Jarvis was also responsible for getting Elvis to record more rockers. He had talked Elvis into recording "Burning Love." Elvis had a preference for the big ballads (similar to our lady's preferred taste) and as for rockers, well, again, the practices of Colonel Greed got in the way of Elvis getting solid rockers or big ballads. If a songwriter wouldn't give the poor ol' Colonel (as he liked to be called) a quarter interest in the song, well, there was no way a song was going to work its way to Elvis. And the Colonel didn't like for Elvis to get songs without going through the proper channels and hassles.

If Elvis had been placing 45s in billboard's Top 10 singles chart and his albums had been solid efforts of good, quality material, I have to believe Colonel Parker never would've offered Elvis's large catalog of songs he had recorded to RCA for sale to RCA. RCA got an amazingly good deal for the price they paid, Elvis got very little, having to pay the Colonel a third in commissions, and the Colonel got a little more from RCA that didn't have to go to Elvis. It's bizarre the judge who oversaw the trial in which the estate charged RCA and Parker had colluded to cheat Elvis didn't vacate the sale and return the rights to all songs to the Presley estate. The estate had to pay two million dollars to Parker for papers he had on Elvis and an assortment of Presley-related memorabilia. RCA had to pay the Presley estate a dollar per each album sold after April 1 1973 and additionally, a dollar for each album using a photo of Elvis on the cover. The estate may not have got the catalog back but Parker was exposed for what he was and RCA got to keep the catalog but became the first record company to have to pay a royalty on just a photo.

And even though Elvis finally put an end to the Colonel's practices, the Colonel never stopped hassling a songwriter or publisher for a quarter interest. Contrary to what Dolly Parton has long claimed about Elvis wanting to record "I Will Always Love You," the only Dolly song Elvis expressed an interest in was "Coat of Many Colors." Dolly may have proffered "I Will Always Love You" by going through his manager, but because she wouldn't give the Colonel a quarter, the song never went to Elvis. Songwriters had to give up a quarter just to have it submitted to Elvis, and there was a possibility Elvis would've passed on the song.

No question 1972 was the pivotal year which began to wear and tear at Elvis as long time health concerns would begin to flare up in 1972. The nonstop tours and two shows per night in Vegas each time Elvis appeared wore on his health. Elvis and Priscilla were splitsville and had actually split the year before. Elvis would tell his Memphis Mafia boys that he didn't really love Priscilla and was glad she was gone, yet it was very odd he wanted to get back at Mike Stone for stealing her from him. As some members of the Memphis Mafia said, Elvis's anger with Mike Stone had more to do with his pride than anything else. He was worried more the press would see it as Elvis couldn't keep his wife. Because of their daughter, he wasn't going to strike out at Priscilla on their divorce through the newspapers and magazines.

Some within the Presley camp liked Priscilla. Others did not. She did not see that Elvis's friends also worked for him and that included working around his estate. Maybe she did have a point about some of them being around 24/7, but that was still Elvis's decision to make, not hers. Various stories about Priscilla did paint her as being more concerned about the money than concern about Elvis, yet to give credit where credit is due, she did manage to work the estate back up to around $400 million from almost near bankruptcy. I don't believe Elvis would've liked Priscilla amending the terms of his will in which his estate was to have passed onto Lisa on her 25th birthday. Lisa didn't see her father's estate until she was almost 40, money wise.

And in all the years Priscilla was executrix of Elvis's estate after Vernon's death in 1979, she would make almost $55 million off of Elvis's estate as a result. One might say she had a vested interest in making sure Lisa didn't inherit her father's money until late in life. After Priscilla and Elvis divorced, Priscilla was forbidden by the court from using the Presley name following. She wasted no time in claiming the Presley name after Elvis died. I don't know if she broke the law in reclaiming the Presley name, but she did violate the terms of the divorce. But, who was going to object? Her daughter? Ironically, it was said Lisa objected to her mother using the Presley name and hadn't gotten along for several years prior to her death last year. Lisa objected to the "Priscilla" movie, especially as the movie presented her father in a negative light. She wrote to Sofia Coppola, asking for the scenes in which her father was painted in a bad light to be removed. Coppola ignored her. It might have helped Coppola's movie if she had listened. When the news broke about Lisa's request, coming on the heels of her death, Coppola's "Priscilla" bombed in the theaters. Priscilla, who was executive producer, must have fumed. Lisa getting back at her from the spirit world, no doubt with help from Elvis, and not a thing she could do about it.