FTDs Out

Mr. Joergens of FTD was right to bring out a long time ago...the FTD From Elvis' Jungle Room (in fact we got already an idea how the outtakes sound from that session...) now becoming available to fans, years later. So good commercial thinking but in a way ripping off fans again (same materials that we already bought, except a few new outtakes). Some of those are good. Hope there's more bonus songs on this double CD FTD pack. I also can't wait to buy E Back in Memphis in Dec sometime (especially for the outtakes we haven't heard yet...)

Not interested, we all al ready have it, don't we ? duplication, duplication, duplication....

I have all the available Jungleroom outtakes but I would luckyly re-buy this material if it wasn't for Ernst's unneccessary faking the takes and banters to make them easier to listen to. I would love to buy Boulevard again for the improved sound but instead I trade my good bootleg material agains faked studio snippets with dialogues and oneliners often cut to places where they don't belong. Thus wasting my money. I'm suspicious when it comes to Ernst's session-work. And no matter what masterpieces he releases ... you never know if the session-part you are listening to is reality or 'tinkered together' by Ernst. Sad, very sad. At least they seem to use the fantastic Sony Masters box versions for the latest FTD. So everybody is able to get big parts of this expensive box.

Duplications of sub-standard material. Pass

I have all the "outtakes" that are available from the "76" sessions by owning all the bootlegs "Welcome To The Jungle", a perfect serie of those "76" sessions, there can't be any "new" on this one...

FTD has not much left to surprise us I guess...but still a wonderfull label for Elvis fans...

JUngle room sessions was a good release,but should have been a 2 cd set,and then had volume 2. Same for the american sessions.

Hey Capt_Canary no need for sarcasm is there? You dont like Tom Jones? Fine. I'll take his last 2 albums over ANYTHING Elvis did in the 70's with the exception of Elvis Country. He is amazing for a dude in his 70's. You know what? I think Elvis' last 2 albums were terrible and he was past it at only 42. I'm sure there are others who feel this way. He didnt care about recording anymore and it showed. He was also a lazy live performer after 1973. So make fun of me for Jones, Beach Boys whoever. They are still producing good music even if you dont like it. I also am getiing the new Van Morrison, Dwight Yoakum, and probably one or two others. I wouldnt have this release for free because I will never play it and make myself miserable. I grew up with Elvis and was sort of blind to everything he did because he was great. But looking back at these releases now, I have come to realize a lot differently. I see this album for what it is. A downer from a once great artist.

Steve,i like your taste,i bought the new yoakam cd,it was $10 and i got the exclusive at target and got 2 bonus songs. About 14 songs,and there new material,compare that to $35 for ftd's with shipping,ep blvd was a sad depressing album. Ftd has very little to offer that will interest me ,take off your blinders folks not everything elvis & ftd is good.

Capt_canary you always seem to speak my mind before I myself get the chance but thank you for that. I guess people like us just don´t get it ( because we are blindfolded !?), we should learn from "The mature FTD hater " and the " I just tell it like it is Steve", who are not afraid of "speaking the truth about Elvis career" WTF. Before I ever read a single line about Elvis music my favourite album was Moody Blue, but then again I didn´t know it was sub standard !! About the bootlegs, I have non of those so almost everything FTD put out is new to me, so yes I think Ernst does an amazing job. I have one Tom Jones album and one Beach boys, both Greatest hits, and that is enough for me, while I like both I have never in my life considered them Elvis equal no matter what "Elvis years" you put them up against. And one last thing, There is a big difference between being worn out and being lazy.

Capt_Canary, that is just awesome! Your knowledge and writing are both utterly fantastic. I really don't understand why so many people have to criticise everything that Sony does, I have only been collecting the FTDs for a couple of years and tend to focus on the classic albums and am really looking forward to these, especially "Boulevard".

Steve V, you are exaggerating. There are at least two songs, maybe even one more (all depend if you count 1970) Elvis recorded in the 1970s that equal the last two Tom Jones albums.

I am new here but have been a fan for over 50 years. I have read all the comments and they all have their merits. Personally I like all periods from the start to the end, and I guess it is because of the unique innate soul, emotion, tenderness, and power bestowed in one vocal instrument. To me Tom Jones totally out sung Elvis artistically on I'll Never Fall In Love Again, but it is Elvis that hits my emotions with a sledgehammer - why I don't know but it keeps happening.

I was just repsonding to the point that Tom Jones and The Beach Boys seem to come into every conversation The Capt makes regarding my views ever since I said I bought their new albums. I am NOT a huge fan of either artist other than greatest hits but was acknowledging that both have made new music all these years later and in the case of Jones, I feel the best work of his life. I was not a fan of the Vegas overblown Jones work just as I am not a fan of overblown 70's Elvis. Perhaps Elvis would have been turning out albums like these had he lived. Lets not forget he was a huge fan of Jones who actually inspired him to make his return to live performances in 1969. The albums you mention Capt all seem to be comps and while that is nice, I do like to hear new music, thus my purchases of Yoakum & Morrison, two very good artists even though you dont care for them. And yes, I feel TJ outdid Elvis on BOTH I'll Never Fall In Love Again(thought Elvis's version was actually very bad) and Green Green Grass of Home(talk about no feeling!). But there are those who feel everything Elvis sang was great, so there is no need to carry on this debate.

At least this album unlike all his other thrown together 70's work (not including the country lp) has a theme. All the songs have a common string, depressing, more depressing, & even more depressing. Rubber Soul it isn't. The only thing more depressing than this is his 70's live work. SteveV you are wrong, he was not a lazy performer after 1973. More like 1971. I wish he retired in 1971. The pluses for that is had he done so he may still be living. Secondly he wouldn't have had the "jump suit" image or at least 6 less years of that image that people make sport of.

The Boulevard set should be great. Looking forward to it. Still think Hits of 70's is big mistake. Will be first FTD cd i just cant bring myself to buy, sadly. Have to add you can be big fan of Elvis AND the Beach Boys. Saw them at wembley last month, one fantastic concert.

HOthe70's is the first FTD I wont buu ; I am happy with my original LP. Yet , I think the 2 cd set would have done well (at least better than the I am an ELVIS fan) chartwise with a bit of promotion & at a regular price.

Hello, it took some guts for theoldscudder to say what he did. And he's right. When Priscilla left Elvis in 1971 the folly of his self-indulgent lifestyle hit him like a train, and he went into a personal tailspin that was highly conspicuous in his work. It is barely believable that the terrific young guy tearing up Milton Berle's tv studio in 1956 is the same man wearing jumpsuits and singing It's Impossible and The Twelfth of Never in a Las Vegas cabaret venue in the early 1970s...let alone the same tragic man struggling through in Elvis In Concert.

Re snowplow floater - Elvis was the head honcho, performer extraodinaire, The King, untouchable. Yes I agree with that up until 1970. Then it seemed The King started resting a bit on his laurels. The LPs were sketchy affairs after Elvis Country and while 1972 had some highlights, the concerts were basically love affairs with fans as opposed to musically satisfying. I mean, 57 seconds versions of All Shook Up and Its Impossible (why?) and a superman cape? Cmon. Back then I saw things as most fans on this site still see things. Now I guess I dont. Untouchable? Nah, Bruce beats him by a mile in concert and at 63 years old to boot! Jamie & oldscudder are right on the money unfortunately.

Elvis did good work his entire career. I am glad we have 1972 -1977. 1975 in particular is a favorite. I like Tom and Engelbert and Neil Diamond and they are all still touring and making albums. Tom's last is a true classic as was the related tour. But nobody gets to me like Elvis.

Yes snowplow they are decent songs, but again, the albums as a whole were not that great. They really went downhill after Elvis Country which was great. He still was a singles artist mainly. Bruce cannot sing, that is true, but neither can Dylan, yet they are revered more than Elvis by many people, especially younger people. Tempest is getting raves. Perhaps the 70's Vegas/jumpsuit image, no access (thanks to the Col) to great songs & writers. It all adds up to the fact that by the time he filmed the 1977 TV special his career was in a tailspin at the very young age of 42 and that is a shame considering who he was and what he meant. I think he became a parody of himself and somehwat of a joke in an industry that had passed him by. I dont know how old you are, but if you were around in 1977, Elvis was not even a blip on the charts or radio excpet for country ones. No one I know was really awaiting the next Elvis release.

I have followed your comments for many years Steve and know where you are at with your opinions which I respect in the Elvis world. The Rock years were truly truly magnificent but I think you are somewhat harsh as to his 1970's output and a vast amount of the 1973 recordings were on a par with most things done in his career. I am not an Elvis freak who likes everything he did, but have put together eleven volumes of 30 tracks of tracks I really like, to include about 100, 1969 -1977 tracks, yes and many OTT ballads.

Interesting debate here. The Elvis albums certainly fell in quality after the '69 Memphis sessions and with the exception of Elvis Country were very uneven at best. Yes some good songs are mentioned here, but for every Lovin Arms, we had a Spanish Eyes. for every Good Time Charlie there was a She Wears My ring, etc, so they were not great albums like say Elvis Country where every track is great. I know there are many Elvis 70's lovers out here, (proven since Elvis Fashion is FTDs best selling book!), but I can see the points taken about the Blvd LP and the thrown together Moody Blue LPs. After all Elvis was so uninterested in recording RCA had to bring the studio to Graceland in order to get tracks done. Thats says a lot to me about his commitment and enthusiasm for creating great music.

Well said capt (although a bit windy) but I dont agree with it at all. Elvis was a singles artist because his main success was on the singles charts. The Beatles having a much less career year wise, blew him away on the album front. Basically every album was a gem and each showed showed growth that paved the way for new musical ground other acts tried for, with their last Abbey Road arguably their best. Maybe because they were in control of their material and how they wanted to record. But thats another topic. Elvis' voice was magnificant, sure, too bad his material wasnt. BTW, you never heard anyone diss Pot Luck? I dont like it much excpet for a few tracks. Again, a so-so album and then not another studio album until the great 1969 LP (I dont count gospel). An insane way to handle the greatest voice ever recorded for sure.

I've seen a lot of the greats live - from Bruce Springsteen to John Fogerty to Tom Jones to Andy Williams to Frank Sinatra. And they are all good but none of them compare to Elvis. I have a big CD collection and listen to a variety of singers but none of them compare to Elvis. I always come back to Elvis. He's in a class by himself. I don't care what anybody says or thinks - nobody compares to Elvis in my book. I've seen Tom Jones from row 1 and he's phenomenal and has such a powerful voice I could hear him from him and not the speakers. He put on a great show, but he was not Elvis. I saw Sinatra from row 11 and it was great but, again, it wasn't Elvis. I think what some of this board forget is that a lot of us became fans in the 1970s and 1980s and were influenced by Elvis on Tour and Aloha from Hawaii. Those of us in this camp likely listen to From Elvis Presley Blvd and Moody Blue more than we do the 1950s recordings. I'll put Never Again, Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall, Solitaire, and I'll Never Fall in Love Again up as some of my all-time favorites. I put We Can Make the Morning and I'd Be Home on Christmas Day up as one of my all-time favorite songs. I'll put It's Over from Aloha up as one of his best performances - period. He was great when he rocked, but he was also great when he sang ballads and sad songs. It's terribly unfair to dismiss his body of work after 1970 or 1971. Elvis rocked into 1977 and put on a great show that New Year's Day. Sadly he didn't finish that year. But he started 1977 in good form and put on some good performances. I cherish his 1977 version of Steamroller Blues (in Austin, Texas). As troubled and sick as he was in Elvis in Concert his version of Hurt was nothing short of amazing. The Jungle Room recordings are among Elvis' most honest recordings ever. He is really opening up and sharing his pain and his feelings with us in these recordings. They are very raw and full of true emotions. Whenever I am down I can listen to them, esp Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall and I feel better. He's not going through the motions with these recordings. He's opening up and sharing with us. They are very real. Elvis gave us a lot to enjoy. I used to not enjoy the soundtracks that much but have explored them more and found them to be much better than the general consensus. I'm sure I'll catch heck for saying thing but Frankie and Johnny, for example, is really a very enjoyable, balanced record that showcases a variety of styles. Even the soft pop Pot Luck is enjoyable and has some great song including one of my favorites - That's Someone You'll Never Forget. If Elvis was anything he was extremely versatile.

LonElvis, I agree 100% with what you just wrote ,even with the selection of yr favourite songs and movies... Thank you for taking your time writing this down . Everybody in the (Elvis-)World should read this and think about it.

Once Elvis was King here. Now he finally gets degraded as looser of the 70s with senseless thrown-together albums, looser of the 60s with mainly singing poor senseless movie-songs. When I read the comments here I get the impression if you have Boy from Tupelo and Big Beat box and two or three songs of the 70s .. you have it all. I can understand the arguing about re-releasing old stuff and the disappointment about that. But I can't understand the increasing critic about Elvis' work. Not on a site were Elvis fans gather because they love his work. And I mean not the critic about a songs but now about entire decades of his career. If you like Tom Jones' latest albums (which I think are just stolen from Johnny Cash's "American Recordings" style) better than Elvis's work in this entire 70s decade, you are on the wrong website. I remember as a kid listening to his 70s albums and I treasured every single album. It's so hip nowadays to criticise what was good for decades.

Capt_Canary, I adore your writing and you are so knowledgeable, and it's obvious many people copy your use of words and arguments! But a question, if you don't mind. Given your career, do you actually work for Sony and does that explain why you are do defensive against criticism directed at FTD and seem to know intimately what is and isn't available on other cds?

Please tell us today the songs track list, especially which "outtakes" iEP Blvd. carries ???

This thread is interesting to read. I was out for a few day, so I was catching up. The interesting part is the variety of views on ELVIS' career. For me it all started with the fifties. Yes I'm an old rocker. Nevertheless it is due to the ELVIS Legacy that I started to appreciate his other styles too, though I have to admit that I still do not like the general sixties etc music. After all these years I enjoy listening to all the years (although the fifties remain my preference). I often ask myself what it is that makes me enjoy the same musical materials after all these years. Well, for one it is of course his unparallelled voice. Furthermore his unique ability to get across the sentiment of the song. At the same time he winks at that very sentiment jokingly during concerts. There is so much variation in the legacy that I always end up listening to ELVIS ! And why not. People are able to endlessly complain for years about the same thing over and over again. I decided long ago to stop that and put that energy in appreciating those wonderful things in life. And ELVIS' legacy is part of that. For clarity sake I listen to other music too, e.g. fifties rock n roll and traditional music form other parts of the world. I can't enjoy most of the artists mentioned here. Not my thing. Boxcar, you are mostly right about the many statements about the King. For me, ELVIS is in another league, all alone, while others are far behind. The other day I 'had' to listen to modern music. Well, most of them can't sing or even don't try, are heavily dependent on music (or electronically produced instruments) and it is all flat and bleak. At the end I exposed them to ELVIS (50%) and RnR (50%). Now I have to make copies of my selection. About this FTD I like to listen to the outtakes as to experience how the songs were created. As long as these are not compilations or gospel I'll buy them.

If I can give my 10 cents worth I remember Elvis being the king in the 70s but as a teenager in the 80s I decided to expand my record collection and picked up my first Elvis LP in '87 which was 'Presley - the all time greatest hits'. It was actually side 4, the 70s stuff that just blew me away - I mean compared to what was charting at that time I had NEVER heard anyone sing like that, emotionally, from the heart ... and a man to boot! Thats where my love for Elvis began. I appreciated the 50s a few years later when I saw 'Elvis 56' video and most especially when I read 'Last train to Memphis'. As for Tom jones. I like him, not as much as the king but most of his stuff is ok. I bought his 'inspirational', in inverted commas, album. Played it once. I know every note of Elvis 70s stuff. Sorry Steve V , you know I love ya buddy ;) !

I'd like to know why I - of all people - am at the wrong site because I like Tom Jones' last two albums better than most of what Elvis did in the 1970s? I wish Elvis recorded like this back then. And yes, Tom Jones might have gotten the idea from Johnny Cash... but he wasn't original either. About every recording prior to the 1960s was recorded like that... just a couple of instruments and live in the studio, without cutting, pasting, overdubbing and whatsoever. Anyone who saw BBC4's special around Tom's latest work recently and says that is not quality is nuts. You might not like it, but it is high quality, something most of Elvis' work in the 70s lacks of. True, Elvis voice was still good on many recordings and yes he is still my overall favourite (maybe that's why I keep doing this site)... but saying I don't belong here goes a bit too far. Besides, my browser can handle different sites! For the record, I am looking forward to Hits of the 70's much more than the Blvd crap (okay, for about 80%). At least the more decent songs are put together on the first one.

One reason for the growing critism on Elvis' work might be that we all get older, gain experience (music), compare (music) and sometimes have changes in our musical taste. Although I'm a fan and collector I only listen to certain parts of Elvis' music on a regular basis. Yes, I compare him to other artists I like. Referring to his voice, nobody but can beat him. But I often wonder how poorly his career and a lot of his albums were planned. And I also wonder about some material. For example, by the time Bruce Springsteen released the great Born To Run album, Elvis did mostly easy listening country stuff. The Stones released Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main Street while Burning love was wasted on a soundtrack compilation and so on... From EP Boulevard. You might like it or not - for me it's one of his honest albums which reflects his mood at that time perfectly. Sad to listen to those songs.

Lex, I think it ok to like TJ's latest work and still come to this site lol. Its incredible that you can like another artist's work better than some of Elvis' work and be told that! In fact in this thread someone put down Tuitti Frutti and How Do You Think I Feel. Should they stay away also? I happen to love those songs and anything the 21 yr old Elvis sang because he did so with so much energy and spirit, it lifted the songs beyond the material. I just dont feel that way about the 70's. And as for live concerts, mumbling your way through your classics while throwing scarves is not my idea of the greatest live performer ever.

Lex, you are on the right site (smile1). The fact that you like TJ and his latest products has nothing to do with that (smile2). Just as one may have an idea about the musical quality of ELVIS one may also have that about TJ. So obviously I am nuts (smile3). Thorsten, you are right about the poor management of his career. If there had been more challenge he would (even) have a better legacy.

Here is just a few of the comments I´ve read on this site; Most of his movie songs stinks, Elvis was lazy the last 6-7 years of his life, he should have retiered in 71, 63-68 was rotten years music wise, his jumpsuits were ridiculous, he mumbled his way through his concerts, his seventies music was owerblown, he didn´t respect his audience etc. And this comes from his FANS!!! No wonder that there is so little respect from other people for Elvis when people that call themselves fans talk about him in this way. Thank God for fans like Natha,Capt_Canary, Boxcar, LonElvis and all the others that stand up for Elvis. And before anyone accuse me of not tolerating any criticism of Elvis, then let me state that it is the harsh generalizations as the above mentioned that I think is stupid and unjust.

alanfalk, maybe the big public is right and we are all wrong... but I still like Elvis, at least parts of his legacy. Natha, obviously you are then..

Thanks Lex for your kindness. Luckily I like nuts. And other types of music you possibly never heard before. (But that's not what this site is for.) Alanfalk, it is interesting that - as I get older - I happen to meet more and more (younger) people who appreciate and like ELVIS' music. I meet them professionally, so not related to ELVIS in particular or music in general. WHen I was much younger I always met people who did NOT like it (mostly fans of sixties and seventies music).

To me it's this simple...my quality of life is immensely better because of Elvis and his music.

As I previously stated I am a newbie here but oldie and have read this site for years. This is all great stuff and banter and worth the entrance fee. One thing disappoints me and that is I really enjoy It's Impossible, The Twelfth of Never , and the fantastic Spanish Eyes. I'm feeling somewhat isolated and in the distinct minority and will have to take a good look at myself :-)

Gorse, you don't have to have a second look at yourself. These are fantastic songs indeed. E.g. I happened to know It's Impossible by others. E'LVIS' version is best by far!

Hello Captain Canary, frankly my friend I think you're totally wrong. It's not insane to be unimpressed by Elvis's 70's albums. There were a small number of weak song choices in the 50's but there were many, many more in the 70's. Also, they could have put out better albums in the 50's by including the singles - which they did in the 70's - but they chose not to do so. For that reason, you're not comparing like with like. When the expanded CD's from the 50's and 60's are compared with the expanded 70's CD's the latter get blown away. Your challenge: "Pick any album from the 50's or 60's and I’ll give you dozens of tracks from the 70's better than some on any of those albums," is a contrived one. The occasional appearance of a dud like 'My Wish Came True' in the 50's doesn't mean albums from that era were no better than those in the 70's. But I'll take you up on the challenge anyway: it's an obvious choice but I'll go for 'Elvis Is Back' - I'd rather hear that amazing voice singing 'Girl Next Door Went a-Walking' than listen to 'Burning Love', 'Promised Land' or 'Hurt' any day of the week. 'Girl Next Door...' is a beautifully recorded document of the best popular singing voice of all time in its prime, and it radiates the naivety of the early 1960's; the others are documents of a deteriorating, unhappy man making himself work damned hard to meet the terms of a recording contract. The King of Rock'n'Roll as uninterested Country Pop artist...not for me, thank you.

The fact there is a lot of passion on this board is a good thing. So we don't all agree? So what. The fact we have passion and energy tells me that there is a lot of love about Elvis...or at least each person's preference of Elvis and / or the way they "see" him. I'd be more worried if we were all ho-hum and passive on this topic. As Steve and I have exchanged before, those who grew up in the 50s hold that Elvis near and dear, and I get that. And those of us who grew up in or closer to the 1970s hold that Elvis near and dear. Case in point - I remember seeing Elvis on Tour and my mom being all giddy about the 50s montage. But I grew up in the 70s and I always like the 70s concert segments the best when I watch Elvis on Tour. It's human nature. My grandmother always loved and remembered Sinatra as that skinny kid singing softly behind the microphone, while I always liked the 1970s - 1990s Chairman of the Board Sinatra. Elvis gave us 711 master recordings and there is something for everybody. You can like (as I do) a mixture such as I'm Counting on You, My Baby Left Me, I Will Be Home Again, Starting Tonight, It's a Matter of Time, Love Coming Down, and Pledging My Love. Again, there is something for everyone. I prefer the 1970s but might spend months listening to the 1950s and the rawness and explosiveness of them. And then I might rediscover the soundtracks.

agree with Jamie and a few others and i'd go further and say that the 70's albums are as bad as the worst of the 60's movies. After TTWII i have no interest (including Elvis Country which i believe is held in high regard due to the dross that was released after it). There's no originality, no artistic merit and it's all too depressing. And this from the greatest entertainer of the 20th century. If you love the 70's output i don't expect to change your mind but please take off the rose tinted glasses.

I´m so happy that Elvis wasn´t a musically snob, and he recorded the kind of music HE liked. If he had listened to everyone else he would have ended up recording NOTHING AT ALL, just read the comments on this site, allmost every song he did is getting put down by at least one person. One problem is that when some people don´t like a song it is not their taste that is different but the song that is crap or a mandoline song. Another problem is that some people compare every song he did to his best, and if it can´t live up to that standard then it is a bad song ! If Elvis had retired in 71 we would have missed out on at least 30 great songs in many fans opinion, plus many concerts highlights.

Here are 14 1970s songs from the top of my head (in no order) that I challenge anyone to honestly say are on par with Do the Clam or Ito Eats (both of which I enjoy in their own way) - It's Midnight My Boy When I'm Over You Sweet Angeline Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues Moody Blue Where do I Go From Here Pieces of My Life It's Easy For You Bringing it Back Mr. Songman You Asked me To Help Me Thinking About You

Think that everyone listening with some level of objectivity has to agree that Elvis his performance became uneven after the Aloha From Hawaii special as no new challenges came up while Elvis his health was declining due to prolonged abuse of his body. In the end, this is not a big issue for me. An average concert from '75 that lives up when he does a fantastic version of How Great Thou Art is worthwhile for me to add to my collection for that one song alone. If Elvis was inspired by something and gave his best, even for five minutes alone, it was some kind of magic. Other artists don't have this and I cannot describe it. I would rather buy one Elvis album and finding a great song like Pieces of My Life or I've got a feeling in my body rather than buying an album from another artist that is very good overall but where not once that thrill is present at the level that Elvis can generate it when he tries. There has never been an artist, who could...

LonElvis here another 14 songs to compare with Barefoot ballad and Wolf call, for example, or Petunia the gardener's daughter and He's your uncle not your dad. Promised Land Shake a hand Burning love Loving arms For old times sake TROUBLE Separate ways I've got a feeling in my body Hurt It's a matter of time Way down Steamroller blues Always on my mind Susan when she tried

You are so right LonElvis and TCB1974 and you even didn´t mention the two albums TTWI and Country, not to mention, I´m Leavin´, An American Trilogy, If you talk in your sleep, For the heart,Talk about the good times, Unchained melody, My way or it´s over.

I forgot the two albums; The Wonderful World of Christmas and He Touched Me and I didn´t count two of my favourites because most people here would say they are not great songs ( I miss you and Where did they Go, Lord ).

Hi Andy, I have to say I share your view about 'Elvis Country' being over-rated. It's true that Elvis's voice matured in 1970 and was never more resonant and full of body. And listening to that massive voice soaring effortlessly all over 'I Really Don't Want to Know' is a personal guilty pleasure of mine. But the bottom line with 'Elvis Country' is that, immense though Elvis's power and range are, it is a pedestrian Country Pop album swamped with Nashville studio polish. Elvis's interpretations of songs like 'Songbird' (sung tenderly) and the rousing 'Tomorrow Never Comes' (passionately) are bang on the money. But he showboats his voice on 'I Really Don't...', 'Funny How Time Slips Away', 'There Goes My Everything' and 'Make the World Go Away'. That's a lot of showboating. Each of those is a sentimental, sweet composition but Elvis holds nothing back and performs rollicking versions of them all. There's more joy, wonderment and magic in that stunning old B&W footage of Elvis performing 'Baby Let's Play House' on tv in 1956 that in his entire 1970s output.

WOW! What an unbelievable difference in opinions we Elvis fans have! Here are my two cents (ok maybe a dime's worth). 1) Elvis did lose some inspiration after the "Aloha" show, but to say he should have retired in '71 is an absolutely inane comment. Especially coming from an Elvis fan! 2) "Elvis Country" overrated, absolutely not! A truly great LP in every sense. 3) For the last time, Elvis' jumpsuits are only made fun of because he died during the time he was wearing them. Almost every artist wore garish clothing (Elton John, The Osmonds, Neil Diamond, David Cassidy, ELO, The Jackson Five, etc) in the '70's. So someone who judges Elvis' musical output or any thing about Elvis based on his jumpsuits is not worth listening to. So some people today make fun of him for them. It shows they don't understand the era. 4) I love the LP "From EP Blvd" and I think it was his best non-live LP since "Elvis Country" or "Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas". 5) Yes, there were some below Elvis standard songs on some of his 70's LP's, but I still get some enjoyment from hearing him sing. 6) I find it odd that some say they enjoy a singer and his performance when they admit he can't sing??? 7) If you like Tom Jones' last two LP's then that is wonderful, I am happy for you, but comparing Elvis' 70's LP's to them is silly. Elvis produced LP's like old time vocalists did (Martin, Sinatra, etc). He recorded them over a few days and they were meant to sell a couple hundred thousand copies and be done. I think this is what SteveV means by album artist vs singles artist. Elvis did not do concept LP's. (Elvis Country was just songs pulled mainly from a marathon recording session, not a true concept until after the songs were recorded). Just Elvis singing 10-12 songs he liked (for the most part) and giving his fans a very diverse collection of music. Tom Jones' new LP's are probably better produced and arranged, but they are missing the most important ingredient..Elvis' voice. I like a lot of different music, The Beatles, The Monkees, Dean Martin, The Duprees, The Four Seasons, but nothing soothes my soul and makes me feel like Elvis' music. 8) Comparing even "Three Corn Patches" to Elvis' worst movie songs such as "Barefoot Ballad" is an insult to Elvis. TCP is not very good, but at least it is a real song, BB is embarrassing ( a word I don't use often with Elvis). 9) Lex, I appreciate your dedication to the website, but calling BLVD crap is very unfair. True it is your opinion, but crap??? Really??? "Love Coming Down", Solitaire", "Hurt", "For The Heart", "Danny Boy", "Never Again" and "Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall" are crap??? Sincere, heart felt renditions that maybe are not his best vocal performances, but they are still damn good. 10) Capt Canary, I agree with you in part, but when you put down the Jordinaires, I have to draw an exception. Elvis was blessed to have three of the greatest vocal groups sing with him, the Jords, The Imperials and the Stamps.

alanfalk - I Miss You and Where Did They Go Lord are both great songs in my book. I also love Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas. I think I'll Be Home on Christmas Day, If I Get Home on Christmas Day, Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees, and Merry Christmas Baby are among his finest performances. I especially like I'll be Home on Christmas Day. I can listen to that song anytime of the year.

Captain, Jamies comments are complete and utter nonsense to you but i agree with him. Realise people have a different opinion and remember just because you write 5 times more than everyone else then it doesn't make you right. If you worked with all these artists (i've seen joe bonamassa and he was terrible live) then you would surely realise more than anybody that in his last few years Elvis wasn't the singer he once was.

If Elvis wasstill alive. Maybe he wasn't populair anymore. If i look to many musicstations,shows. I'll nothing then (including stupid clips) electronic CRAP. Nothing is pure anymore. That's what this album was about. The pure Elvis. In that period he was struggling with his problems. And this album was a refelction of that period. His voice was so emotional. And easy listening was populair in those days. That's makes this album a very good album. We never get closer to his feelings with this album

Just discovered this site and it's awesome and this is by far the most interesting part of it. So congratulations and thanks to whoever owns it. I doubt I could ever put my thoughts into words with such intelligence and style as Capt Canary and if he/she doesn't mind me jumping on their bandwagon, I agree with pretty much everything said. Elvis was great from 54 to 77, and why he is so great is that more than anyone he sang from his heart and when I listen I hear his joy and his pain with my ears but feel them in my heart. Andy 2, he may write five time more but its with a billion times more knowledge, intelligence and style. And I think you have completely missed the point he was making. Perhaps if you reread it but he actually says Elvis was a better singer technically before but that's only part of the story.

My parting shot on this intriguing thread. As I previously stated I have created 30 CD’s / playlists for my own enjoyment. They are boringly symmetrical, like me I guess, in that they have 8, 50’s songs, 13, 60’s songs and 9 songs from 1969-1977, all set in the same order. I avoid the really heavy gospel, too emotional, and do not have two very slow ballads in succession, and incidentally include 60+ film songs from the 60’s. plus selected outtakes. The result is that I have the man’s essential output from 1954-1977 in these volumes as an eternal snapshot Consequently I care a lot less about the albums in his career, and what he should or should not have done, and believe one should look at the whole journey from a 2012 perspective. What is remarkable is the diversity of styles and vocal gymnastics exhibited from every era which to me stand up to analysis in a positive way and that includes the 1976 output, patchy I grant you, but still containing plenty of massive performances

Shandy, welcome and thankyouverymuch :-) All together we have a great discussion here and what is remarkable... overall without name calling. Congratulations to y'all! Anyway, they're out and I will enjoy Hits and probably play the other once or twice and for a lot of others it will be different. That is what makes Elvis special to us all... Elvis is really something for everybody! I'm gonna give Greatest Live Hits of the 50's another spin... and then probably Spirit in the Room again and again.

Thank you Lex. I have spent hours working my way through articles and news, really love your site! Some of the writing is among the best I have ever seen on the internet! Would be great to get to know everyone better, if if you don't mind, may I suggest kind of a "Member Spotlight' where to a pre-set list of questions, you get to discover they're lives, their interests, views on Elvis etc, sure that would cut down on any name calling and fighting.

Captain Canary, glue that beak and trim those feathers. I know what a song is, I know Scotty wasn't as technically able as BB King, and I know the roots of Elvis's music. Why you think everyone using this site won't know those things, Heaven knows. Moreover they are irrelevant to the matter of Elvis singing many more duds in the 70s than he did in the 50's. Being a sound engineer, working with gifted musicians and writing incensed, lengthy articles to ElvisNews doesn't make you right about everything all the time. And using a word like 'ignorant' on this website is bit unpleasant and unnecessary.

I'm with the Capt on this! It's perfectly clear what his argument was ie he was defending the song choice and style on the basis Elvis didn't change other than to become less commercial and more personally focused, which although I'd never thought about it in that way before, when you think about it and everything else he said, it makes perfect sense. I'm sorry Jamie you didn't understand it but your loss. All Capt_Canary's posts are without question the most intelligent and structured here but not surprised now that he just confirmed he was a writer, I suspected as much! Some people are just so full of jealousy!

Amy,what capt cant do is give a view without putting others down,jamie has his view,i have mine and so on. So this complainer(dont buy what i have already)doesnt care for those who like to tell there views as facts. And no im not full of jealousy,just dont care for nonsence. Hits of 70's is waste in my view others dont think so,there you go,thats how you give your view,notise,i didnt name call.

All of a sudden there is a lot of bloviating on this site. Why am I suddenly having a feeling of deja vu? Just saying.

Thanks for that mature, I mean: "I design the acoustics for auditoria, stadia, concert venues etc, plus I'm a writer, lecturer, audio consultant etc... No. that doesn't make my view more valid...". Exactly...so shut up about it. And a writer following a full stop with a small t, and etc with a comma? And using, "Simplest logical structure," rather than, "Logic"? Unbelievable.

I'm going to listen to some Elvis!

I'm going to give Elvis the last word (before going to listen to some Jungle Room sessions) and note that he didn't want anything else but for us to be happy and entertained - "I'd just like to say before anything else that it's a privilege to do this satellite program, and I am going to do my best. And all the people who work with me to do a good show which is pure entertainment, no messages and no this and that. Just try to make people happy for that one hour that it comes across. If we do that, then I think I've done a job."

He was high as a kite for that press conference, 'pribilege' etc. Now you depressed me bringing it up. Shame what happened to this guy.

Bricks cant have a conversation,but dont let that stop you from trying!!!!

Maybe unfortunately this isn't the site for me after all. To have the punctuation police in an internet forum, well, that's sad. I'm sure most people, even writers, don't even check things like that before pressing the ''save' button.Mature-Elvis_Fan75, I think Jamie has misunderstood what Capt_Canary said, either that or he completely missed the point. I like when people explain their thinking rather just making statements and I thought Capt_Canary's point was very well written and very clear but very interesting, I had never seen this view expressed on Elvis before. Jamie started an argument without even fully understanding what was being said, but some people I suppose can cause an argument in a phone box. He also then took out of context much of what Capt_Canary said, for example, explaining the difference between what he thought his (CC) job was and what it is, where's the harm in that? As for Capt_Canary, yes, clearly it was a mistake calling someone's view "nonsense" and he shouldn't have done that but he wasn't dismissing Jamie but Jamie's opinion and then explained why. Unlike Jamie, he wasn't simply making a statement. "Simplest logical structure" isn't actually the same as 'logic', they are subtlly different but are different in that logic is concerned with clear thinking but the point was around the structure of the thinking. Again, Jamie attacks him without even understanding the distinction and the point being made Anyway, I hope you can all resolve this as I really liked the standard and originality of some of the comments.

Oldscudder, how right you are my friend ! I remember it all too well. Pieter : good decision, I'm gonna do the same ! Best regards. Always El.

Sorry LonElvis, I should have included you in my previous posting ! Absolutely agreed with your statement ! Always El.

SHandy, don't give up! There are also a lot of us here who are uplifting.

All major artists have recording studio at home these days... Prince is of course very well known but they all do.

Snowplow - from what Ive read technology and advancements in the recording studio had nothing to do with Elvis not wanting to go there. He just didnt want to leave the house, so RCA set it up in Graceland. And yes, many have recording studios built in their home. This was not the case. RCA had their mobile truck outside with the recording equipment brought into the jungle room. Not polished at all. In fact, cant you hear the phone ring on one of the outtakes? And look what happened in Feb 1977. He traveled all the way to Nashville to record some new songs (good ones also) and didnt bother to leave the hotel room. Lets face it. He didnt give a crap anymore.

dgirl you are probably correct on Elvis not caring anymore but I suppose charts, records, sales, whatever meant nothing to him by then. We here all were recipients of marvellous music, and thats how it impacted our lives, but he was so far removed by then in real terms from fans, TV, cosy chats with the media, that his spectrum was totally different to ours. I dont harbour any grudges and understand the amn to a point, but would have liked to have see him in one concert in the UK.

Dgirl, Yes for some reason Elvis was reluctant to record towards the end. All you have to do is go on Ebay look up Elvis cd From Beltway to Largo. The cover says it all regarding what Elvis was capable of in the last few years. The cover brings tears to my eyes. A tragic sad decline for such a great singer. At least he's now in peace. Which is more than I can say for the few haters on this site that go on & on. No one on this site really knows why this happened to Elvis.

Forget 75-76. If he really' gave a crap' about his craft, he would have fired the Col in the 60's long before we had a Clambake, taken songs from anyone and not worry about the publishing, and toured the world. The man had so much success with Chips Moman and he never went back there because the Col said not to? C'mon man. Those musicians were the best he ever worked with. That should be enough reason. He never took charge and it has been well documented how he didnt really care to go to the studio to record since 1973 onward. RCA always to push him. Enjoy your 11 takes of Danny Boy.

Dgirl good point about Chips. He really should have made Lp's with different musicians & backing groups. There would more diversity which would have made for a more interesting catalog.

Good point. There is a website where you can ask Marty questions. If you dont think the Col had anything to do with the bad-mouthing of Chips to Elvis, you are very naive. Marty has so stated in the past the rumor that Chips tried to do this was planted by the Col and his record publishers and probably even Felton Jarvis who was jealous of Chips and eventually got back to Elvis. Marty tried to convince Elvis otherwise but was not successful, so right, do not let facts get in the way. With the Col it was always money before critical success. Even Marty stated by June 1970 it was back to the same old same old as far as recording in Nashville again.

Whats amazing to me is there are over 90 hits on such sub-standard material like this and only 3 on the MRS Greatest Hits of the 50's Live CD, the essence of the 'real' Elvis Presley.

It is impossible for me to believe that Elvis did not care anymore. I think he cared very much, just look at Elvis In Concert and how he works very hard. The same on the From EP Boulevard sessions, agree with Capt that the outtakes proof that Elvis cared a lot. It is also evident though that Elvis had very serious health issues that started becoming apparent for the public eye in Fall 1974 and from there the decline went fast. I think it is sad that for a man who gave us so much and tried so hard, but felt miserable in the last years of his own life, I believe both physically and emotionally, is so fiercely criticized by some of his own fans.

Jamie gave his views,he did so without attacks or acting like he is better than anyone else. Elvis was bi polar,depressed,a bit lazy ,was spoiled,but he also had alful managment,not the brightest of people around him. He also was not good with business,its not a put down,its the truth,no one wanted to challenge him. It doesnt mean i dont like him or his music,when he tryed he was the best,when he didnt the results were not good. If you like or need outtakes after outtake of this material then go for it. Nothing i have said deserves an attack,do not try to push me around. And yes its amazing that this material is more interesting than the mrs release of greatest live hits of 50's.

The haters can say what they like (you know who you are). ELVIS is the greatest of all-time and there's nothing any of you can do to change that fact. Some of you don't act like ELVIS fans and I'm ashamed of you. Go somewhere else if you don't like what I say. Go now. Git!

Yes, he could have done better back then, but he still was better then anybody else ...

Actually,Mature_Elvis_Fan75, Jamie attacked Capt_Canary for a couple of typos and for clarifying he wasn't a sound engineer. It is so refreshing to find someone like Capt_Canary who is so obviously passionate about Elvis and music generally and also an expert and one willing to debunk lies and half-truths. It would be great to have informed and intelligent debates here but you can't have a debate when, as others have said, only one person (Capt_Canary) supports his opinions with reasoning and explanation. Some people may not like his tone sometimes but unlike Jamie and many others, he always attacks the argument first and does so with incredible knowledge and insight.

My internet's been down for the last couple of days... did I miss anything?

Lex, maybe this isn't the right place but I would like to echo Snowplow Floater and pass on my thanks and huge admiration to Capt_Canary for his quite brilliant posts across so many threads. Also to you for providing the means for him to write and me (and others) to learn so much, not just this thread but the SACD one, the Live 50's CD and older ones such as that announcing the Hits of the 70s FTD release. I have leaned a staggering amount in a matter of days. The extent of his knowledge is amazing as is his writing, even if someone felt it necessary to point out a couple of typos! After all, we all make those! Thank you so much! Your site really deserves to be so much better known.

While I don't believe Elvis "did not give a crap", it is pretty obvious he had lost interest in recording in a studio. After marathon recording sessions in '70 and '71, Elvis had one short one in '72 (six released masters in his lifetime), one that produced nine songs in the summer of '73, a very good session in Dec of '73 (18 songs) and then just one more studio session in March of '75 that produced 10 songs. He did record three songs at his home in Palm Springs in '73 and the 16 tracks at Graceland in '76. This was from a man who had signed a three album deal with RCA in '73. This led to LP's such as "Having Fun" and"Welcome To My World" being released to fill the voids. If he was truly inspired, he would have met the obligations head on. Did the Colonel do right by him negotiating this deal? No, but Elvis could have turned it down... I do want to say I respect original Elvis fans, dgirl and SteveV. I may not always agree with them, but I try to be respectful of them. They were the ones buying records and going to his movies years before I was born. Both are knowledgeable about his career and both are a credit to this site. Are they more fans of Elvis as opposed to so-called Elvis experts and students of Elvis? Maybe, but because of people like them Elvis rose to the fame he did in the 50's. The way they have been addressed in this thread, especially dgirl is disgusting. I feel bad for calling a comment "inane", but hurling insults at people on a site meant to discuss Elvis and enjoy his legacy is pathetic. To the Capt Canarys and davrids of the world and the two to three people who seem to admire them more than Elvis. Being an Elvis fan is not about how much you know about him, how many cd's and/or versions of his songs you own or the expense of your sound equipment. It is a young girl sitting on her couch mesmerized by him on the Ed Sullivan Show in '56 or keeping the arm over on your phonograph so "Don't" or "Burning Love" would just keep playing over and over. It is me as a three year old watching him on the "Aloha" special for 1 1/2 hour without moving and it is a young man staring in the mirror trying to perfect that famous snear. It is listening to "Are You Lonesome Tonight" or "An American Trilogy and still getting chills and it is watching him outshine Ol Blue Eyes on Sinatra's own show. You may or may not like a certain song, movie or even era, but let's have fun being Elvis fans and show some of the love he showed us as his fans.

Deano, it is clear the issue Capt_Canary has with dgirl is she changed her view once he had demonstrated she was relying on myth and then she made up lies to support her argument, an argument she clearly had no understanding of before he had mentioned it. Most people wouldn't have been able to tell what she had done but he did and proved it. If she has a problem with her ego that she has to resort to this kind of behaviour that her issue but it's actually great to find someone who can dispel the lies people invesnt to make themselves look impressive.

Deano1 : all my sympathy ! Great, great posting and so true ! Always El.

Capt_Canary hasn't insulted anyone, that was Jamie attacking him. Capt_Canary insulted their arguments which is very different and mindful this is a forum for discussion and debate is perfectly reasonable. If you want to invent stories to make yourself look good watch out when someone who actually knows what they're talking about. I have no idea how old anyone is and I'm not interested as it makes no difference, nor how long they've been an Elvis fan. Do you really think that someone with the knowledge of Capt_Canary became a fan yesterday? As Shandy said, I have learnt so much from his posts and that is the reason most people come here, not to be deliberately misinformed and misled.

The thing I admire about Capt_Canary is that he stand up for Elvis and bring new information into the debate. I won´t say who is or is not a real fan, but I don´t think it helps Elvis popularity if people go around saying that half of Elvis career is almost worthless( 63-68 and 71-77). And the reason for this ? That he made more music (a lot compared to most recording artist today) before that or that some people prefere his voice or style at other times. So my point is, why call Elvis lazy, his jumpsuits ridiculos, his music "mandoline" and substandard etc. like it is a fact, insted of nuance the argument and point out why Elvis could seem lazy, the reason to wearing the jumpsuits and the many people who wore them in the seeventies, and recognizing that many fans love a lot of the soundtrack and post 71 music and that it had artistic value. I am not talking of white washing his legacy (we don´t need to), but as Elvis fans we all (hopefully) know that elvis music was 50-60% great, 30-40% good and only 10% "bad" and that he treated other people really good, and I think that that should be reflected in the way we talk and write about him ,because he deserves it.

AmyD - I have no idea of what you are referring to when you say I changed my view? You are your tag team partner seem to remind me of two others that used to post on this site in the most insulting and egotistical way as the oldscdudder has also noticed. Mr. Canary , the fancy words may impress others but not me and I take exception to being called ignorant and inane. I teach at a university in NY, hardly the type of job where you can be ignorant. If my 'dont give a crap' quote really got under your skin, I am sorry. Such is the language when growing up in NY I guess. Deano is quite right about 'Don't'. I remember taking that record and gorgeous picture sleeve home and practically wearing it out. Memories like that can never be bettered by FTD releases, sound improvements on another reissue(!) or huge coffee table books. I may be old, but I am glad of the memories I had of Elvis and am still sad for what happened to him.

just like to say about the Capt'n and his posts. I could take all the facts and figures he throws at us if he wasn't so insulting to anyone who he feels is not as intelligent as he is. He obviously reads his Elvis book of facts each night but i don't want to come on here and feel like i'm being talked down to by someone i don't know. Personally any insults come from one direction - remind anyone of a certain SuziB?. Give me the straight talking of Dgirl, Steve_V and Oldscudder any day. Loose the attitude Capt'n and i'll happily discuss things with you, as it stands now i'm a little bit turned off this site at the moment.

Andy 2 based upon what you've said to him in the past, I doubt he has any interest in discussing anything with you. Talk about attitude, try looking in the mirror, all did the irony of your own post escape you?

Dgirl, I have no tag team partner, I just like reading intelligent educated and informed posts. As CC said, you clearly changed your view based upon what he said, it was so obvious around referencing Andrew's site. But then, according to CC, you invented context to make it look like you knew what you were talking about, alas, you messed that up too. Sorry, not impressed with your job at all, I couldn't care less what you do. I think the references to being 'ignorant' were directed at your knowledge of the subject rather than generally but just in case you didn't read it properly, it was Deano who used the word 'inane' not me and certainly not CC.

one thing i never try to do is to belittle or insult anyone, i have nothing against the Capt'n just find his way of dismissing anyone who doesn't speak on his level a little distasteful. AmyD, i know nothing about you but i would like to see a post from you that doesn't praise the capt'n everytime. Do you actually have your own opinion?.

Elvis recorded great all the way to terrible songs throughout is career. Even a few of the surviving Sun songs were pretty bad. But 90% of the time his performance raised the level up a few notches, sometimes to the point where the performance almost let you forget how lame some of the songs were. As for albums, only a handful were great (not counting compilations) the great ones, in my opinion were his first, Elvis' Christmas Album, Elvis is Back, His Hand In Mine, How Great Thou Art, From Elvis in Memphis, Back In Memphis, TTWII and Elvis Country. And had he released an album like "Sings Guitar Man" that would have qualified too. It think his best album since Elvis Country would have to have been "Good Times". But his performances of Hurt and Danny Boy on EP Boulevard, and a couple of others certainly gave me reason to believe he was coming around again after mostly dismal albums in the 70s.

Andy_2, please don't let a few turn you off to this site. I value you as a member and I am sure a lot of others do to. alafalk, standing up for someone by tearing down others is not how civilized people defend Elvis. Many of us on here stand up for Elvis, in fact most do. Sometimes people get a little too critical of Elvis or say things that leave me puzzled, but I try to put myself in their place. I was going to respond to SteveV's response to the Aloha press conference because it made me mad at first. He praises other singers on this site known for drug use, but holds it against Elvis. Then it hit me, he was there from the start and it hurt him to see him like that. He just that Elvis was above that and it forced me to realize I always thought the same thing about the press conference and just didn't say anything. The show itself was excellent, but Elvis was not feeling any pain during the press conf. I don't think less of him, just wish he had realized he was so much better "straight as arrow"...Saying every Elvis song has merit or is great is a disservice to the truly great work he did and is really more of an insult to Elvis then saying it wasn't good. While I get pleasure from 95% of his recordings, we have to be to admit when a song or LP was not up to par with his best work. I can see how some who were so moved by him in the 50's were shocked to hear "Yoga", "Barefoot", "Hey, Hey, Hey" and many other more others in the 60's and did not find interest in his 70's power ballads and country weepers. Like I said, I like almost all, but valuing other's opinions is what makes this site great. I am sorry for calling a comment "insipid", heat of the moment and I apologize to theoldscudder (AmyD it was not directed towards dgirl and you will notice I said a comment was inane, not a tirade on his lack of intelligence on the issue)...Facts are one thing, knowing the flipside of a single, what was the master take, LP contents, etc, but we only have so many "factual" books about why Elvis did this and did that, we will never know the truth. Point is Elvis should have recorded with Chips again, but did not for various reasons. Maybe copyrights over a song (who really cares what song), maybe the Colonel, maybe Elvis just wanted full control. Regardless, it is a shame he did not.

Let me get this right. Anyone who supports Capt_Canary's wonderfully insightful posts is colluding? Well, that makes a lot of people then according to the support he has here. So no one is allowed to support someone merely because his posts are off the scale compared to everyone else here. He was the one of only two reasons I stayed here, him and because Lex clearly puts a lot of time and effort in to this site. It is amazing but so pleasing that Capt_Canary is prepared to defend and support Elvis, and he does so with intelligence even in the face of others of significantly less intelligence and knowledge, criticising him. As for the accusation he must read Elvis books non-stop, I have dozens of Elvis books and never have I read of any of the points he has made. Perhaps someone can reference the book and page of any of his points? No, I thought not. He really does provide new ways of thinking about Elvis, maybe he should write his own books. However, to be clear, I have never met him, have no idea who he is, I just like learning about Elvis and he is the only one here who I can learn anything off based upon the threads I've read so far. So for all you conspiracy theorists, you're way wide of the mark.

kink56, would you consider his first and 2nd LP's great? I would defenitely include his first one in your list and I would include "Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas" I would also consider "King Creole", "EP Blvd" and even "Promised Land". The rest of the studio (non-soundtrack) LP's for the most part have two or three subpar songs and that keeps them from being considered great

Andy, 2 unlike some I will only contribute when I have something meaningful to add. Although if you prefer, I can make accusations, invent stories and repeat hearsay and claim it's fact if you like. There is nothing I can offer which can compare to what Capt_Canary writes. and I don't have the knowledge to do that anyway.

Deano, I apologise if you thought I was linking your 'inane' comment to a personal criticism, I wasn't at all, merely pointing out to dgirl that neither I or Capt_Canary had made it as she seemed to think. I don't think Capt Canary has insulted anyone, he has said arguments are nonsense and points of view are ignorant but watch any debate or discussion and that is commonplace. He has never criticised anyone personally, unlike others towards him. Absolutely, no one other than him has provided any support for an opinion, merely stated it as fact. That is what so many people like about his posts, he eloquently justifies his point of view on everything, plus he has the knowledge to expose when people are inventing things or are blatantly misinformed.

Shandy, my remark about reading Elvis books each night was just a light hearted remark, Elvis is a fascinating subject and i fully understand anyone who wants to know everything they can about him. Me personally, i just need to put the loving you album or king creole album on and i know everything i need to know so i don't profess to have the knowledge he has but as you or him don't know me you don't know how intelligent i am and it's just the way anybody elses argument is dismissed which leaves a sour taste. AmyD, you sound like you're afraid to post a comment in case it's ripped apart by a certain someone. Sort of backs up what i've been saying.

Shandy, you get conspiracy from "tag team partner" or any other comments??? If he does not get his information from books, then where? Was he there with Elvis? Does he have close connections with the Memphis Mafia? It is funny because those around him contradict each other and themselves on issues. Marty Lacker says one thing, Joe Esposito something else, Charlie Hodge said one thing and George Klein would say something completely the opposite. It is all conjecture and heresay at this point. Elvis and The Colonel obviously can't tell you the real truth and they can't expose a liar. If you "adore" someone else's posts, but don't have an opinion on the subject then send them a message to their inbox.

AmyD and Capt, I think what some of us are trying to say is it is fine to tell someone they have their facts wrong, but don't go on and on about their "ignorance" and "lack of education" (whether it be meant to be as a comment on their formal education or Elvis knowledge). Capt spent a majority of his posts chastising rather than clarifying. He may be absolutely right in every fact, but I think you both could see you are hitting nerves and making people uncomfortable. Elvis meant a lot to everyone on this site and you will get knee jerk reactions some built in truth, some in myth and some just come from the heart. The comment that got to me was Elvis should have retired in '71. It got to me because I discovered him on the "Aloha" special and I reacted out of line. To someone who became his fan in '56, you see things differntly than I do. I believe the Capt is intelligent and knows a lot about Elvis, more than I and I fancy myself as knowledgeable, but he could show a bit more tact.

It's ok to criticize a certain aspect of Elvis's career. After all that's just the individual's opinion. Dosen't make it wrong or right. What isn't right is to make personal attacks on the person giving his opinion. When you do you just diminish yourself & your argument. This is an Elvis site. We are not talking abortion or a cure for cancer. So we should all lighten up a bit, be tolerant & respectful of each other. Negativity never wins an argument. Think about it.

Andy_2 what do you meen with Straight talking ? Is it less straight talking to back up your point of view with knowledge about Elvis and music, or to defend the parts of Elvis music you like even though it is not the most artistiaily recogniced of it ? Someone on this site said that it took guts for Theoldscudder to say something bad about Elvis and his music, I don´t think so, because unfortunately there are a handfull of people here that will approve of it almost every time. And regarding memories, it would be a weird world if FTD should plan their releases with that in mind.

Deano, Responded you your email. Thanks. Pl advise if you got it. The OS is computer illerate.

So Deano you are telling me people who invent lies to make themselves look good have more right to publish a comment than I do if I am praising a point of view? Praising someone is the basis of all debate, and is actually just as valuable, if not more so, than people who make statements devoid of any facts or reasoning.I am sorry you feel you control who can and who can't post comments, I thought Lex owned this site not you. Do you know who Capt_Canary is? Neither do I. So who knows how close he is to anyone and anything. What you have failed to do is identify any book where his points have been raised previously yet you still insist that where he gets his information from. That is truly bizarre.Actually most of what he says isn't facts based anyway but intelligent and knowledgeable justification of his views and opinions, and he has a true talent for thinking differently to the masses. That's why, as so many people have now said, people love his posts. Please advise who else does. Absolutely nobody, so yes, I agree it's ignorant that people make unsupported statements claiming it is fact. If they have an opinion, what is it based upon? In most cases probably nothing, otherwise why not share it?

Maybe I'm a little bit of topic, but did anybody listened to the new releases? I was wondering if the Hits of the 70's cd has indeed unreleased mono versions on it (or not)?

Hi Andy and Deano, you read like two decent people contributing to this website positively and sharing your love of the music. It’s easier said than done for most feeling people, but these sites always seem to attract an insecure minority on whom you can always rely to lecture, patronise, disregard and brag. The unflattering comparison of Scotty Moore [the pioneering rockabilly guitar player responsible for brilliantly fusing country, Blues and jazz styles in a way that perfectly matched Elvis’s primitive early sound] with Elmore James [that’s the Elmore James who was a dedicated bottleneck Blues guitarist] is so ludicrous and pretentious it defies belief. Or maybe I’m just being ignorant. Again. I appreciate your supportive comments but I think it’s best to quit this thread and spend your obvious maturity and good nature in pursuit of people more worthy of your time than those I’ve alluded to. Pieter's contributed a message asking about the mono mixes...any takers?

Elvis' record speaks for itself. He had one of the most successful careers in the history of entertainment (in my opinion he had the most successful career) despite some missed opportunities and some obvious mismanagement on the part of Colonel Tom Parker. Even had he found a new manager, been in the remake of "A Star Is Born" or recorded some songs by Paul McCartney or John Lennon it wouldn't have made him a bigger legend or more successful than he already was. Elvis didn't need any of that because he is THE LEGEND for all-time. Everybody in music from the 1950s to the present wants to have a career like he had. Now, we know that will never happen because the musical acts of today simply don't have a fraction of the talent or charisma, not to mention looks, that Elvis had. Elvis is timeless. That's why he attracts people of all ages, races, demographics, class, etc.

Amen, John804. Elvis has transcended music charts and other measures of popularity. Elvis is the man who directly influenced folks from John Lennon to Bob Dylan. Elvis is in a league by himself.

Deano1, Andy2, & Jamie. You have all made very good points. And made them without class. Kudos to you all.

Where else can you get all this entertainment & free of charge?

theoldscudder..Yes, I rec'd your message. Thank you...AmyD, I am not trying to control anything or anyone. There has been so much speculation concerning Elvis and his life and I don't think anyone is just inventing "facts". They may be going off heresay, but that is not inventing things. If someone states something as fact it is up to that person to list their reference, and not me to find out what source they used. Your comment that I should list his reference is the bizarre comment. Capt Canary may have great musical knowledge and wisdom and know how great individual guitarists are and how Elvis' albums are structured and he may have the highest IQ of anyone on this site. But! when you call people "trolls", your opinions, knowledge and "facts" are undermined. How about this? If someone names the wrong song that caused a conflict between Elvis and a producer, couldn't he just say. "Just to clarify, it was not that song it was this song". No use of the word ignorant, troll, old girl or any number of demeaning words he has used in his "eloquent" responses.

Hey those who dont like anything negative towards elvis but have no problem taking shots at those with differt views. Just because we dont think everything elvis did was perfect doesnt make us any less fans. Elvis was lazy at times,he was spolied,no not when he was a child,but when he was grown. I believe he was bi polar,which is a horrible disorder that only those who deal with can understand. So you see elvis was many things. And for those who cant understand why some dont like other comments,when you make comments that i should have known you couldnt understand,some will not like that. Respect others views,no excuses just respect others. You can call me a complainer and all the other silly names,but i have respect for others,but not for those who like to dictate. If you believe that elvis in concert was elvis still trying instead of a man who was dying in front of you then enjoy. In my view people let elvis down but he also is to blame for some things,and for all the i love elvis dont you dare talk about him,go do some research on bi polar and depression,but stop acting like anyone here hates elvis because we dont. We wished things went differtly.

Deano, I think you missed the point. Dgirl had clearly never even heard of the story, it is obvious from how she wrote it, then she added on misinformation to make herself look good and appear more knowledgeable. Why didn't she just say something along the lines of "ok, thanks, I got that wrong", no she tried to goad and challenge him through invention not hearsay. There is always more than one way of looking at things, yet, the Capt_Canary haters, thankfully way out numbered but those who love and respect his posts, always do so through a single lens based upon their dislike, jealousy, or other negative feeling.

As for Jamie, isn't the definition of a troll someone who deliberately posts inflammatory and attacking comments? Good description I'd say. As someone said, his only posts are attacking Capt_Canary and he was yet another person who clearly had resorted out of desperation to the internet to find out who the guy (personally, I'd never heard of him either) CC even referred to! What need was there to even raise this again, he'd already passed comment on the original post, with mention only of BB King, nothing about Elmore James proving, he didn't even know who he was. He did so only to goad CC and to make himself look good, and like dgirl, to appear knowledgeable, he then tried to embroider a misinformed argument around it. Yes, that's a troll. A "bitch-slapped' (I loved that!) troll! By the way, calling someone "old girl" is not insulting at all, it is a common expression of affection.

Andy and Deano, there he goes again - I play the guitar, and my piece about Elmore James and Scotty Moore was written without reference to the internet whatsoever. Yawn.

Jamie, 'your piece'? How pretentious. Do you mean those couple of lines which people have now demonstrated to say nothing other than that you don't know what you're talking about? Your attacks on Capt_Canary really do you no favors at all. He's making you look foolish. Anyway, please let's focus upon discussion and let those of us who want to learn do just that without having to wade through dozens of insults from you desperately trying to compensate for your insecurities that someone knows far more than you on so many subjects etc. This is such a great site, one I come to learn from and may I respectfully suggest you, and the likes of theoldscudder, mature_elvis_fan75, dgirl do the same.

Are we not getting a bit off subject here?! I'm looking forward very much to getting "Boulevard" & the vinyl of "Country" and being English I think it it will be great for everyone else to finally have the chance to enjoy the previously UK-only 'Hits of the 70's' with extras on official CD. It's a good selection. Let's enjoy the music!!

Has the fat lady sung yet? I decided to play this album again after many years since it is the subject matter. I still dont like it and much prefer the last 2 Tom Jones anyday over it. Elvis at this point was no longer a great singer. For those of you that sing, you can hear the problems he has with his breath control and upper register. Plus, the material is mostly subpar. Sorry but that is the way I always felt about it.

SteveV, see much further down the page when Capt_Canary reference great voices, and that a great singer is not just defined alone by technicalities. I'm sure he will be more than happy to engage in an informed debated on the subject. The only one I had heard of was Andrea Bocelli but looking them up WOW! Not so keen on the blues singers though! Diotrophes +1 to your and Capt_Canary's last posts. Yes we are very lucky that we have someone like him who can defend Elvis.

Diotrophes, you know what you can do with your response which was very mature. I dont have to answer to anyone, and have more to do with my life than debate almost 40 year old recordings. As for the Capt, no doubt he is smart and has tremendous confidence, but I only know what my ears tell me. Not looking anything up or going over all 700+ recordings, off the top of my head, Id say the highest note Elvis ever hit (no falsetto) would be either Its Now Or Never or Surrender. And herein lies my point. Even though I was not into that type of music, I still loved those records because of Elvis' brilliance at handling them, something I just didnt hear anymore by this LP. The smooth flow of his upper register was gone and seemed to be replaced by operatic bartione bombatsic blasts, a style of which I am not very fond of. Because it was Elvis, I didnt have to like it and still do not until this day. I do not know his lowest note and dont care. As for Jamie, I dont know him and cant speak for him.

Well if it is from this album, either Hurt or I'll Never Fall in Love Again. They seemed to have the loudest blasts. And if we are following a trend trying to prove these sessions were so great, I'd say the lowest would be one of the notes in He'll Have To Go. King Creoles was pretty low also.

Hey capt,let it go,i know about bi polar,you just want to argue,id never put someone down for being bi polar. He was spolied, and it hurt him alot, no one saying no, it was a combination of things,or maybe it wasnt,i wasnt there. It just views,what is it with people thinking they have to defend him? He doesnt care anymore,and he would have a laugh at people buying outtakes after outtake. Quite frankly i think his fans only helped his demise,they bought and still buy everything elvis. And for your info,i have lost friends who were bi polar so give it a rest!!!!

If anyone wants to know how you should reply to someone see Steve_V's respons to Diotrphes - class. Think it's time for me to bow out of here, there seems to be a few newbies on here who are taking this site in another direction. Steve_V, Dgirl, Oldscudder, Jamie and a few others it's been a pleasure debating, we don't always agree but that's what made it interesting and fun. Debate without any insults. Lex, if you're happy with the way some people speak to others on here i think you may find others turn off too.

Andy2 your friend Jamie has been the cheerleader for the insults but he ended up looking a fool. Like Dgirl claiming knowledge he never had. I guess he's used to people not questioning him but it is the questioning and the debate which is the basis of this site to promote learning and education of Elvis, not deliberately spreading inventions and lies. All the people you mentioned are 100% negative and confrontational, for example, calling Elvis lazy, that he didn't give a crap, that he should have retired in 1971, ridiculing his jumpsuits etc. etc. All without any rationale or justification. I think you'll find that the majority support the incredible knowledge of Capt_Canary and others who can and do explain their reasoning and do so with a lot of mutual respect.

Just out of curiosity my guess would be Danny Boy has the highest note. On the debate here, it is not really my business but let's be friends. There are people here from all over the world and they express themselves in different ways but there is no reason to feel superior, either because you were there in the 50's or because you have great technical knowledge about music. I am interested in stories from people who were there, have great technical knowledge, or just have something touching to say about his/her Elvis experience.

Well capt - the suspense is killing me! What song had the highest note?

Isnt that 'live' though? I thought you said it came from the Graceland sessions. Threw me off there. Wasnt even thinking about live stuff, but wouldnt have guessed this song anyway.

Captain! That was a trick question!

I take your word for it, but I have never heard that particular recording. What release was it on?

AmyD - Please do not mention me again in your posts. I have no idea what you keep referring to with me but if it is about when I mentioned the Col turned Elvis off to recording with Chips again, here is the direct quote from Marty Lacker: 'The one session that he really enjoyed doing was the '69 session in Memphis at American Studios and I think that had a lot to do with the fact that Parker had nothing to do with it. That pissed Parker off so he went on a campaign against Chips Moman and told Elvis a lie about Chips that had been told to him which turned Elvis against Chips and so he never went back there. Unfortunately Elvis was the one to suffer about that not Chips.' Now what that lie was, Marty didnt say. Was it about song publishing who knows? I'm assuming it had to do with money somehow, but yes, it was Parker who planted the lie/rumor in Elvis' ear and prevented possibly more great sessions and hits from happening.

Deano; I actually love King Creole. Yes, it is truly the only GREAT sountrack album. I think the sound quality, the vocal timbre and the general feel of the 2nd album "Elvis" is lacking, not a bad album, but not on my list of greats. All of the post "Elvis Country" albums have their moments. But partially due to his voice timbre, poor songs selections and Jarvis touches, I cannot put any of those albums in the great catagory. I think is "old man" vibrato that really became evident on "Wonderful World of Christmas" was a turning point (for the worse) after the masterful sessions of 69 Memphis and 70 Nashville. Sure, he was great at the powerful crescendo, but right around the 71 sessions, he seemingly lost his nice clear overtones on softer passages. After living through the terrible soundtrack years, and being THRILLED with the 67-70 period, I could not bear to live through another downturn, and abandoned Elvis after the dismal "Elvis Now" LP, (again, it had its moments) and my friend continued on with "Fool" "Raised on Rock" etc and having heard his LPs, I was not compelled to buy any new Elvis LPs until EP Boulevard came around, and that LP plus Moody Blue were very welcomed by me. Soon after, I went back and bought the LPs between "Elvis Now" and EP Boulevard, because I could not stand the hole in my collection. I think one could take all these albums and make ONE killer 14 song LP out of them.

If Elvis' career started with "Elvis Now" and ended with "Moody Blue" I doubt anyone would ever have created internet sites discussing Elvis. And nary a book would have ever been written. If Elvis' career started with "Elvis is Back" (from where you would have asked! ha, ha) then he would probably have still have been a major recording artist, say on par with Orbison, Pitney, Dion, etc.

Capt Canary. I cannot find it now, but possibly in another thread you mentioned that Elvis is the greatest singer of all. Even when comparing him to various Opera and classically trained singers. Many are technically superior to Elvis, but, as a whole, Elvis is tops. I agree. However I cannot find a way to explain or justify this to others. (not that I have to, it is just for personal satisfation that I would want to be able to.)

Capt - Now it is you who cannot keep your story straight. I never mentioned In The Ghetto, you did! HERE: 'That Elvis never returned to the American Studios had nothing to do with the Colonel - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Marty Lacker (VP and General Business Manager of the studio) long-disproved this nonsense - it was Elvis' own decision based upon his belief that Moman had tried to 'steal' the publishing rights for In The Ghetto.' How did you attribute that quote to me when you said it? I never mentioned Suspicious Minds either, all I said was there was a lie told to Elvis about Chips and that is what turned him off about going back there. I think the quote from Marty speaks for itself. It didnt mention any songs, just that something was said to Elvis.

Ok, I will bite...Capt Canary, you have heard the studio version of "America, The Beautiful" that was erased? Or was the tenor C (C5) in the live version?

I'm not Capt but...... America take 2 is on The Jungle Room Sessions (FTD). Takes 1 and 2 are on Welcome To The Jungle - Way Down (bootleg). But they only last a few seconds!

Capt - it sure is tedious as you say, and while I cannot be as well informed as you about useless information, that will be my cross to bear. Arguing about a 43 year old recording session of which neither of us attended and of an artist who hasnt been with us in 35 years is basically nuts to the normal world anyway, so I really dont care anymore. I bought all the 45s since 1956, played them with my friends, know every B side, have the knowledge & memories of the things I feel were important to me growing up. Thanks to some suggestions from members on this forum, I purchased the new Dwight Yoakum CD and am enjoying it. How refreshing to hear new music recorded this century!

kink56 wrote that "If Elvis' career started with "Elvis Now" and ended with "Moody Blue" I doubt anyone would ever have created internet sites discussing Elvis. And nary a book would have ever been written. If Elvis' career started with "Elvis is Back" (from where you would have asked! ha, ha) then he would probably have still have been a major recording artist, say on par with Orbison, Pitney, Dion, etc." I disagree. I think the opposite is true. If we didn't have Elvis in the 70s I don't think he'd be the huge icon he is today. He has a big fan base of fans who became fans in the 70s or from the 70s material.

Pieter, thank you for the information. I forgot about the snippet of the song on "The Jungle Room Sessions". I even own the dang CD....kink56, I agree with your opinion on his 2nd LP, good, but not great, but I think his first LP was outstanding. Concerning TWWOC, I just always had a soft spot for that LP. As I stated before, "Elvis Now" could have been a great LP if the right songs had been chosen ("I'm Leavin", "First Time Ever", "For Lovin' Me", "Don't Think Twice" etc). It could have been a great folk/pop LP. Also combinations of "Raised On Rock", "Good Times" and "Promised Land" would have been in the conversation (2 LP's of 12 songs instead of the 30 songs that were released)...Capt Canary, one last thing. You sound like a scientist trying to explain love when you talk about Elvis and his voice. Instead of just enjoying his music and being a fan, you over analyze all of it. I agree his voice was outstanding and perhaps you are valid in every point concerning his range, notes that he hit, etc. But, you kind of take some of the enjoyment out of being a fan.

THANK YOU Capt_Canary for defending Elvis in such an intelligent way, my english and my knowlegde prevent me from doing so myself, but I would if I could because I really think Elvis deserves it. Before I read anything about Elvis I had bought over 50 LPs and I loved them all, including Moody Blue and Elvis Now. Later I heard " From Elvis fans !) that those albums were crap and horrible, sometimes because they weren´t coherent as an album. I just loved most of the songs and never thought that 6-10 good songs on an album could be considered a bad album because the songs didn´t fit together, I always listent to one song at a time and if I liked most of them then it was a great album in my mind. And dgirl, I thought the reason most of us are writing on this site is to debate old music ( and in your case try to convince everyone about that Elvis music was crap throughout half of his career ), but maybe I should throw all my Beethoven and Mozart records out and go listen to some new Gangster Rap !!

Captain, before Jamie resorts to type and picks up on a typo, you obviously meant "uniformed" not "informed bilge". I have never met anyone who clearly loves Elvis as much as you do, who can also defend him so intelligently and knowledgeably. It's sad that some people don't understand that the way you rightfully demolish people's arguments is purely out of love and devotion to Elvis and that you are so passionate about the man and your incredible knowledge of him and music more generally. It also really saddens me when someone like Deano accuses you of spoiling Elvis because of your analysis when clearly you have always stated in every post on the subject it isn't the technical skill that makes him the world's best ever singer. I really don't know why people simply can't read what's written. I would just like to say that the final line of your last post is the most beautiful way I've ever heard anyone describe Elvis. "It's the ability in the three minutes or so of a song to change someone's life. And no one could change lives like Elvis Presley". Stunning!

First off all, I think what Elvis frustrated for recording songs is not being able to find good material (due to the publishing rights). Probably also his mental state also made it hard for him to adapt new material (which also becomes clear from the song selections of the live shows). I listened to the Jungle Room material many times and understand why people do not find it his best work. In any way it reflects his sorrow state and his ability/talent to sing a song right to the heart. Nowadays I hardly listen to it anymore. I still know all words to the songs but hearing them too often would depress me. There is many music to choose from and almost impossible to find signers who touch as Elvis does. But listening to old material over and over, and to buy things over and over is to me like clinging to the past. Instead I move on and would recommend a lot of people to do the same..

Ah, Capt - that was a trick question after all! I dont have those Welcome To The Jungle or whatever bootlegs. I have very few bootlegs. So out of the released masters (in his lifetime) what song had the highest note? I still believe He'll Have To Go may contain the lowest.

I heard an outtake once of I Met Her Today (I think it was on one of the There's Always Me bootlegs) where he sings the final verse without using the falsetto and hits the note perfectly. Do you know the take I am talking about and is it on a legit release? Why oh why that wasnt released as the master I dont know since it is much more powerful.

Just for information, as far as I know, Elvis' highest note on studio was a B in the song "Padre". As for live, it's hard to tell but it seems it's a C sharp in "America".

Has anyone received the new FTD's yet ?

Sorry to disagree, but as a musician myself I can guarantee that Elvis hits a succesful full B in "Padre", it's 1 halftone more than a B flat. This song isn't one of my favorites either but it does have the highest note in studio. I've just checked it.

Hey Capt, are you suggesting that Andrea Bocelli is an Elvis fan?

Deano. I would agree that a full "folk" LP would have been a GREAT one. Along with the best songs on Elvis Now, some of the other songs Elvis was intrigued with at the time recorded by the likes of Peter, Paul and Mary, Kristofferson etc but could not get a cut of the publishing rights (a career long problem for Elvis as it came to coming up with the best possible material) I'm Leavin' has always been one of my favorite cuts.

Hi Capt_Canary, thanks for your time. I think this discussion over "Padre" will lead to nothing, as we both have our own opinions on it. It would be very easy for me to get a camera and show Padre's notes on the piano as Elvis sings it, and the full B is right there at the end of the song, but I really don't feel I have to prove anything here. Of course a feedback from someone like Andrea Bocelli would be awesome but since we have no way to check he really said anything I don't think this is necessary. Sorry my skepticism. Let's move on to other topics!

I like Deano's idea. A folk album. Its never been done, so its still not too late for Sony to make a theme album like that. The folks songs are on so many different releases, to gather them on one release would make a nice listen. Beats another hits or Christmas comp.

Captain, what is a vocal spectral analyser? Might seem a strange question but may i ask you if you're "involved"with the RAM and the ROH? My friend is 100% convinced she knows who you are!

interesting to read your stuff, Capt_Canary. i am a professional opera-singer myself and i agree with almost everything you said. For me elvis was vocally at his top in the ballads of the early sixties (so i agree with Kiri te Kanawa). His vocaltechnique for a popsinger on songs like "That's someone you never forget" "Anything thats part of you" There's always me" "Surrender' to mention just a few is superb. And although i am a big fan of his 70's music i know that his vocal top was in the early sixties. Ohh...and there are two more famous opera-singers who were/are elvis-fans: late Gösta Winbergh (i have sung with him twice) and Jan Hendrik Rootering.

Capt - I agree with your comments re: Kathy. I always enjoyed her voice, esp on What Now My Love.

Listening to the Jungle Room FTD CD, and the last note in America is an octave lower than Elvis' falsetto in Blue Moon. It is not the same note sung in falsetto on Blue Moon but in full voice, it is clearly an octave lower on America. I am sure you know that a man and a woman typically sing an octave apart when they read the same note on the page. And middle C on a guitar is the second fret on the second string (the B string) but it is written on the page as high C. Middle C on the page is played on the third fret of the fifth string (the A string) on the guitar, but the guitar is actually playing low C.

Diotrophes Okay, then it is a recording I have not heard, so my comment is moot. Thank you.

I don't think Elvis used a prerecorded ending to songs because the endings always sound different to me on all the soundboards. Just like the song Hurt...I don't think I've ever heard the exact same ending ever and we all have numerous versions. Listen to the difference between Omaha 1976 and Hampton Roads 1976. Same with My Way. I'm not sure we were advanced enough to convincingly pull that off back in 1976. I mean it's an interesting hypothesis but I don't believe it. Regarding the final 17 seconds of America The Beautiful I read "According to Ernst Jorgensen, Elvis' mind and speech were too blurry at the time for him to explain to the musicians what he wanted with the song. After a while, he gave up. Felton recorded over the performance with Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain."

Listen to the difference between America the Beautiful in Omaha 1976 and Hampton Roads 1976.

Every now and then something silly is heard in the Elvis world... Come on folks, suggesting that Elvis would use pre recorded endings to make up for some inability, lol. Elvis was a natural challenger of his own abilities. He wasn't afraid to try. If he didn't feel confident about a high note he would simply not sing it. Take as examples the different endings of "The Impossible Dream", high note in Madison Square Garden, regular note in other shows. In one situation Elvis dared a high note and it cost him a big crack, which confirms he was challenger (check "1974 September 28 - A Profile The King On Stage 2" - How Great Thou Art). In another situation he tried "Hurt" twice and very humbly said to the audience "I tried it" after failing to hit high notes perfectly (check "1977 April 24 - Shakin' Up The Great Lakes"). After all that if anyone still believes Elvis would fake his singing on stage I really think I'm wasting my time in this discussion. I don't want to sound rude or to make a fuss of such a small thing, but we don't have to believe that 100% of what Capt_Canary says is correct just because he sounds so technical and everything. People other than him are also entitled to have correct arguments, Capt_Canary is only human and he's also subject to make mistakes even if he thinks he's correct. Just to finish my thoughts on Elvis high notes, and I'll do it with concrete examples for everyone to check by themselves, here are examples of Elvis powerful notes: Full B in "1975 December 13 (Good To Be Back) - How Great Thou Art", the same full B of "Padre". And the famous full chest C can be checked in "1976 March 21 (A New Kind Of Rhythm) - America". Listen for yourselves, Elvis was the real deal, I'm not saying he was perfect, but I absolutely refuse to believe in pre-recorded parts or any type of faking on stage. Viva Elvis!

I share the opinion that The Jordanaires kind of spoilt the arrangement of Elvis' songs. In some situations I think the same about JD and the Stamps. As for backing vocals (and band), in my opinion, Elvis had a perfect group in August 1970.

Totally agree wildfishie. Have enjoyed most of the banter but to suggest that Elvis used fake endings is absolute tripe. The variations at the end of all his big numbers are what makes each version so special and from the 200+ concerts I own, the ones where he'd need help are all different. Like Wildfishie said these endings were the moments when Elvis would really get motivated and sure there were times he may have been more successful than others, but there is still nothing more thrilling than when he throws caution to the wind and goes for broke. It's also like the theory that Sherril chimed in when Elvis couldn't hit a high note... the only time I notice Sherril (and you can't miss him... ew!) doing something like that is at the end of unchained melody when Elvis was alone on the piano, went falsetto and decided to truncate it so Sherril would take it upon himself to add a little more length so that the band could give it a flourish and a neat ending. But I'm yet to hear a version of Hurt, It's Now or Never, Trilogy, America or Cant Stop Loving You where Sherril took over. The day I can't pick the difference between Sherril and the King is the day I hang up my ears.

yes thats one thingh i dont agree with you capt. About Elvis using pre recorded endings. I never heared that theory before (wich is not a prove ofcourse) but i dont believe that. It would have been interesting to have elvis singing more songs with Katy. As it would have been thrilled to hear him singing with Barbara Streisand, but alas...history went another way. In later years Elvis'voice suffered from his medicin use/health problems and the amount of concerts he gave. Its still unbelievable; singing for one month every day 2 concerts as he did sometimes in LV. The combination of those two reasons made that his breathcontrol became less and that made the vibration getting bigger and sometimes way too big (already to be heared in some songs in 1971 and very much heared in for example the songs Fool (1972) and Blue eyes crying in the rain (1976). Still these are technical things; the feeling and emotion only grew and thats why i love his 70's recording so much. He can still make me cry with songs as Hurt, Love coming down, It's easy for you, Pieces of my life, It's midnight etc... I often wonder what is it in that voice that touches me (and million others) so much. There are only two other singers that touches me the same: the swedish opera-singer Jussi Björling and folk/jazz singer Tim Buckley. What it is, will always remain a mystery, we will never know, but it's there and thats the most important thing!

I think if any one other than the Captain had raised this I would completely ignore it but as it's him, I don't think it can be. I was talking it over with a friend earlier and she told me that in his book Charlie Hodge claimed when Elvis was tired, he'd sung some of the high notes for him but I think that can be discounted as I have read many times that Charlie's microphone wasn't even connected, but there's clearly something to this. Was Charlie covering up that maybe Elvis had sometimes used a pre-recorded ending?

Again - I think it's an interesting hypothesis. I just don't believe it due to the number of audience shows and soundboards I have that each sound very unique. In addition, if he was doing that it's clear his band would know, especially if Capt is saying it wasn't just Elvis' vocal but sometimes "instrumentation tuning" which suggests the band was prerecorded too (in terms of the endings). With all the stories and gossip over the years this would have gotten out. Charlie Hodge would have said something or Ronnie Tutt would have said something. Or Lamar or one of the guys would have said something. The fact none of this have ever heard this before until now suggests to me that it's just not the case. No disrespect to Capt as he is obviously bright. I just think this is not true.

Hey everyone let's stop this discussion over high notes. There's a lot of other things we could be talking about here. I trully believe that the most important is to share our appreciation of Elvis and his legacy. Anything that goes rampant and can become a source of hard feelings among us should be just discarded. Opinions are opinions, everyone has expressed theirs, so let's move on... I tried to suggest a topic about our favorite male backing vocals, still nobody added anything. Let me try again, I really prefer the Imperials because they were a small number and blended more harmoniously with Elvis in the concerts, as for Charlie Hodge, well he had good, average and poor performances over the years. I really like his singing with Elvis in "I Just Can't Help Believin'". What do you guys think? Captain, I'd love to have your opinion on this... Peace for all :-)

I prefer the Imperials over the Jords and the Stamps. Much more so, especially the Stamps!

I like the 1972 Stamps.

Wildfishe, I liked the Jordnaires & the Imperials. Never cared for the Stamps. I also liked the Sweets. I wished he would have had more diversity & used a black male group.

The Jords were great on slow stuff like Don't and Is It So Strange and pop stuff like I Gotta Know, but had no soul on more R&B uptempo stuff. Imagine Elvis and The Soul Stirrers (Sam Cooke's group). Didnt like the Stamps much at all.

The Imperials are the much better group for me, compared with the Stamps Quartet. I do actually like listening to albums of the Imperials and I cannot say the same for the Stamps Quartet.

wildfishie: my opinion is for the 70's music absolutely The Stamps and The Sweet Inspiration. The Stamps have much more black-gospel sound (almost like The Golden Gate Quartet) than the Imperials who sound a bit too tidy for me. And the Stamps had JD!!! A phenomenon himself. The Sweet Inspiration show the soul-side of Elvis. But im happy that the Jords were his backing group in the 50's and (early) 60's. Because for that type of music (rock and roll) they were the perfect backinggroup.

I think that during his entire career Elvis absolutely never worked with a less than wonderful female singer. I love Kathy's voice, I also enjoy very much that lady who sang Crawfish with him (I can't remember her name, will refer to my favorite guide "Elvis- A Life In Music" to check that later). As for the Sweet Inspirations, they're not only adorable (I love to watch Elvis interacting them live, Suspicious Minds is funny, lol), but also marvelous singers, all of them. There's a song on James Burton's album called "I Know" which is awesome. I really recommend it to the ones who never had the chance to take a listen to it. My favorite performance of the Sweet Inspirations are the live versions of In The Ghetto. Man, I can listen to them thousands of times and never get enough. One question, is it Kathy who sings in Sweet Angeline? That is one heavenly performance...

The Imperials and the Sweet Inspirations in "Runaway"... Very very very cool! What are your favorite performances, folks?

Captain Canary, I gave you the benefit of the doubt as you obviously share with me that Elvis had the greatest voice of all but to say I have no idea what I am talking about is offensive and dismissive. I am a professional singer with a Roy Orbison style tenor, while you have clearly stated you can't sing a bean so can only ever theorise about what you are talking about. And unless you have lived it, you would have no idea that motivation is a huge factor. Have you never heard of Doctor Stage? Many's the time a sick performer will get up for a show and sing immaculately when by all rights he should be in bed and unable to raise much more than a whisper. And if the band instrumentation appears to change, the more likely reason is that if Elvis missed nailing the end (and we all have versions like that) those who produced, mixed and released it combined it with another performance for a more pleasing result. That is plausible... to say it happened on the night is ludicrous.

Missed that part of the discussion before but agree that different endings of songs have been produced afterwards.

I agree totally with you Wildfishie is you say that JD did have a voice that was difficult to blend with, for the other singers. But in a lot of recordings you hear he really tries to blend and not to stick out. But that wasnot easy for him because of his dark and low colour. Morales had a beautiful, indeed more cantabile voice but being a singer myself and therefore an enormous voice-lover I just kick on JD's voice. Charlie Hodge did have a nice voice in the sixties, indeed that beautiful duet "I will be home again" and "His hand in mine". But in the 70's it was horrible to hear him singing so often out of tune with a weak and thin sound. i wonder if he could hear himself singing on stage? I am not a big fan of Sherrill Nielsen although i love his singing in Softly as I leave you. When he sang soft and in mixed-voice he sounded nice (also in Spanis eyes for example) but when he started to use only his falsetto like in O sole mio or pushing his chest-voice like in Danny boy (live on stage somewhere in 1976) its very painful. Bill Baise was a sort of JD but then in the tenorvoice. i had to laugh so much when I heard him singing "When its my time" (in an Elvisconcert on stage 1974) he is singing i think it is a high D or D-flat with full chestvoice. Elvis really enjoyed himself too. Only the reference to Tom Jones and Humperdinck i dont get, but it was an amazing moment! :-)

I agree capt. I never measure popsingers with a classical singing-ear. its a different kind of sport. a lot of wonderful popartists didnt have, for classical measures "good voices". Think for example of Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Willie Nelson and many more. What they all have in common is the ability of putting their emotion in an artway of singing so that we understand and feel what they feel and mean. Like there are some classical singers who's singingtechnique is perfect and they have a beautiful voice but they dont touch me at all. Having said this all about Sherrill's and Charlie's singing in my former post; i must say Im happy i met them once and talked with them as i did with JD and the other Stamps and also with Kathy. Telling them that I am a proff. operasinger who also iung their music (ballads, country, gospel) and jazz made them interested and made the encounters a bit more special. Specially with Kathy because she was an operasinger too and was giving singinglessons to her daughter now.

Weren't The Stamps replaced by Voice on Sweet Angeline?

There's nothing like vintage gospel backing vocals on an Elvis album and they're really missed on the 'Today' album. While Voice do provide warmth they're too tame for me. They just don't have the range and power that give Elvis' music that vocal edge.

I would have preferred the Jordanaires would have sat 90% of the songs out myself. I do not like the Stamps nor Voice. I do like most of the female vocals throughout Elvis' career. I was listening to Orbison yesterday. I wonder what the Capt thinks of him. I put him as a close second to Elvis (at least the Monument years) when it comes to range, and emotion. I think "Blue Angel" demonstrates his range the best. I have two periods of Elvis I like the best (performance wise) the early 60s, Such a Night, Reconsider Baby, I Met Her Today, Anything That's Part of You, King of the Whole Wide World, It Hurts Me etc. And the 69 Memphis sessions.

What? No love for The Mello Men?

I like the Sweets, but love The Blossoms. Darlene Love has one of the greatest female voices in pop music and always wondered why Elvis didnt record with them after the TV special. They were in Change of Habit also.

I don´t know much about the technical side to the different recordings, but from what a lot of you are saying it seems like it could be an idea to put new backing singers to some of Elvis´ songs. Do any of you know if this is possible and what do you think about that ?

alanfalk I doubt it would have any sales potential.

Thanks Capt. I would generally agree. But the best Monument sides are on par, (like the ones you mention) but Elvis was far more diverse. It has been said Elvis would not record an Orbison song as he would not have much to add. I do like to compare each artist's version of Mean Woman Blues however.

What a great thread this is! Seems like the awesome Captain as found a few people, such as Rob Wanders, with a similar and shared knowledge of singers. Rob Wanders, do you also like blues singers ? Not sure why, but to me it seems strange that someone like The Captain who knows so much about singing would like blues so much. I tracked down some of the people he mentioned but they didn't do anything for me! Perhaps maybe I'm just too limited in understanding as outside Elvis, ABBA our my favourite. Should I even admit that here lol!

Capt.C: re Voice, I was commenting in a 'group' context 'cause they were really missing a JD or an Armond Morales on the 'Today' album.

EP blvd is the best album to ever be released,i must buy all outtakes,im a fan,elvis never did a bad song. Please support the ftd label,ernst & crew are barely getting by,please more outtakes of clambake.

hi Capt. thanks for your reply. its actually as we say in Holland comparing apples with pears :-) To compare JD with the two Vladimirs. The two Vladimirs are classical trained and have, as you can hear, real big voices suitable for opera and other classical music. JD always sung through a microphone and I know he used his low notes to show of a bit, but in my opinion never misused it. he was always trying to serve the music and when I hear JD singing it makes me smile and happy. Its like Pavarotti he also showed of a bit with his ability to sing high notes (although, like a lot of tenors, he barelly sung a high C anymore (since around 1980 I think). He transposed all the arias he sung in his concerts, with a high C, a semi-tone and sung always till the end of his career an effortless high B, makes you wonder why he just didnt sing the aria in the normal key, but I'm sure you know this, and this is a side-path) But he (Pavarotti) never misued this ability. And listening to the 2 Vladimirs, I love them and I love the Russian Orthodox music very much; have lots of cd's with it.

i forgot to answer your question, Amy,. yes i love the blues (BB King, Muddy Waters to name two) very much. As I love country, folk, regae, jazz and many more music-styles. I dont mind if somebody has a classical trained voice as long as he or she sings what he or she really can sing. So no Sting who sings classical songs and also no Pavarotti when he sings popduets withpopstars. But ofcourse thats only my opinion.

Wanted to buy Hits from the 70's from the Elvis shop in Utrecht but on all covers they received there were scraches and were damaged so i passed. Maybe Ernst can send new covers so i can buy one in mint condition brcause when i buy a new item i want it to be new and not allready damaged!

Additional information; scratches are on the back cover of Hits of the 70's