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For Ol' Times Sake

Rating:
4.5 / 5

Words & Music: Tony Joe White

Before you go walk out on me
Take a look around tell me what you see
Here I stand like an open book
Is there something here you might have overlooked
'Cause it would be a shame if you should leave
And find that freedom ain't what you thought it would be

The years we had were not all bad
In fact I know the good outweighed the bad
Now you say that you've grown tired
You want to be by yourself a while
It would be a shame if you should go
And find that freedom was a long time ago

I know that you can't stand the chains that bind you
They just keep on drivin' us apart
You could go where I could never find you
But could you go far enough to get away from your heart

So one more time, for ol' times sake
Come and lay your head upon my chest
Please don't throw this moment away
We can forget the bad and take the best
If you don't have nothing left to say
Let me hold you one more time for ol' times sake

If you don't have nothing left to say
Let me hold you one more time for ol' times sake

Recordingdate: 1973/07/23, first released on: single (album)

Musicians

Musicians who contributed to the first recording of For Ol' Times Sake:

(guitar)
(guitar)
(guitar)
(bass)
(drums)
(drums)
(piano)
(organ)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)

Availability

Find available albums with For Ol' Times Sake.

Lex wrote on April 08, 2008
One of the best ballads from the seveties, why oh why didn't Elvis do a "Sings Tony Joe White"-album?
ekravik wrote on May 21, 2009
A great song! If your down and out... put this on, and you'll feel even more sad -- in a good way however!
JerryNodak wrote on May 21, 2009
A favorite ballad of mine from the '70s. Definitely my favorite track from the "Raised On Rock" album.
Taprik wrote on May 21, 2009
Elvis, pouring his heart out...how can anyone be untouched...
NONE000000 wrote on May 21, 2009
I really like this one a lot too. Elvis was great at conveying any emotion through song, but in the 1970s he sure could put heartbreak and regret across very convincingly. This especially good undubbed and through headphones!
Steve V wrote on May 21, 2009
The only stand-out song on a poor album. I already had the single, so the album was a total letdown.
jeter wrote on May 21, 2009
I agree,great song...one of my favorites .Elvis sounding sad and emotional. Plus his voice was really sounding great,I believe from 1972 to 1977
Deano1 wrote on March 06, 2010
A stand out track on the LP "Raised On Rock", but not the only one. This one is beautifully delivered ballad and shows that the right song could spark an uninspired Elvis and it is a 4 1/2 star track. Not quite as good as "Sweet Angeline" from the same LP, and about equal with "Are You Sincere" (maybe a 1/2 star better than AYS). I also enjoy "I Miss You", "If You Don't Come Back" a lot from this LP. The title track, "Find Out What's Happening" and "Just A Little Bit" are good listens, but this LP needed twelve tunes and two of the 10 it did have ("Three Corn Patches" and "Girl Of Mine") should have been shelved.
Great Dane wrote on August 24, 2010
A great song on one of my favourite albums.I really like Elvis in the 70's. And the original album has some good sound also.
Ton Bruins wrote on August 24, 2010
One of my favorite ballads of all the ballads from Elvis..great song, great rendition from our man !
Sirbalkan wrote on March 10, 2011
Absolutely perfect. A great unknown song from Elvis. I wish the publice could hera this on the radios more.
old shep wrote on March 10, 2011
I wish Elvis would have recorded more Tony Joe White numbers. This is in my top 40 Elvis songs of the 1970s, a lovely ballad which deserved more attention when first released.
Pedro Nuno wrote on March 10, 2011
A GREAT ballad. One of the highlights from July '73 Stax Studio session. A track that remains fresh and actual even in today’s music standards. A fine way to "invite" a friend to find Elvis 70's work. And from an Album that, no matter what, I’ve always liked.
bajo wrote on March 10, 2011
One of these hidden classics in my book. A wonderful performance from the TJW songbook. Elvis should have cut even more TJW stuff. Elvis at his best when he puts feel and emotion into a song!
GEORGE (GK) wrote on March 10, 2011
"For Ol' Times Sake" without a doubt, is an"overlooked" Elvis ballad from the 70s. The casual Elvis /music fan isn't even aware of the song. It was the "B" side, of the single,"Raised on Rock". And a "gem" in my opinion. Other overlooked 70s "B sides", are "It's a Matter of Time" the "B" side of "Burning Love" and "Pieces of My Life" the flip side of "Bringing it back", among a few more.
dgirl wrote on March 11, 2011
One of the better 70's songs which has a sleepy sounding vocal but effective. It does standout on the LP, as the other songs while some good, none were really outstanding. For an album that was supposed to be a rock/blues LP it had more ballads. Still a better LP than Elvis Now and the Fool album.
Gorse wrote on October 26, 2012
I must admit until I saw the comments on here, I had never particularly listened to this song. Having remedied that fact I just can't get it out of my head after each listen, and it has grown to be one of my favourites. The soul expressed in this track is astounding and I now rate this a 5 star performance.
sugartummy wrote on March 05, 2013
Strange how fans commend on the other songs from these sessions of July 1973. Elvis sounded asleep; he had taken too much medication and other nonsence. Appearently on one song Elvis suddenly woke up in a clean state of mind. Sorry people, I don't buy that. We know for sure that the sessions of September 22, 1970 were influenced by medication, because Priscilla told the people there. But don't tell me he sounds asleep on Whole lotta shakin' goin' on, or do you think that's the difference in uppers & downers. Is there a doctor in the audience who can clear this one up? Superb song though.
Jerome wrote on November 25, 2013
I read somewhere it was first named "For Goodness Sake". But that may be untrue..
Lou A wrote on November 26, 2013
One of my favorite songs from the session. Elvis sings it with a lot of emotiion. Great arrangement and differant enough from the Tony Joe White version. Incidentally I saw Tony Joe White in concert about 2 weeks ago and he was excellant, but he didn't perform this song, or I Got A Thing About you Baby. Naturally he did his biggest hit Plok Salad Annie.
ElvisSacramento wrote on November 26, 2013
This is such a marvelous and underrated ballad and Elvis' rendition of it was stellar. I've never skipped it. The other songs that Elvis recorded that were written by Tony Joe White are "Polk Salad Annie" and "I've Got A Thing About You Baby".
Stevekimb1 wrote on March 22, 2015
A great ballad from the Stax sessions in Memphis. Both a heartfelt & heart wrenching appeal to his lost love.
Cruiser621 wrote on April 19, 2017
5-star song for sure. One of his outstanding efforts during the 1970's era.
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