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More Duets

June 27, 2014 | Music

Sir Cliff Richard got permission - finally - to do a duet with Elvis on Blue Suede Shoes for the second volume of his Rock 'n' Roll Songbook.

Barbara Streisand is said to be doing a duet with Elvis on her upcoming All Star Duets album.

Source:Elvis Club Berlin
Gorse wrote on June 27, 2014
I have a lot of time for Cliff as he always puts in a good word for Elvis and he has utilised his vocal abilities to the full, by keeping up to date, and using the best arrangements available. A figure of fun to many, but he has a great businessa acumen, and anyone that has a substantial following after 56 years must have something.
benny scott wrote on June 27, 2014
Not a figure of fun to me, on the contrary ! In spite of his succes he always stayed humble and friendly. Great guy! Love his songs, been a fan for over more than 55 years now.Gorse is right, he always spoke and speaks with a lot of respect for our man ! Always El.
Brian Quinn wrote on June 28, 2014
Looking forward to hearing these duets. Both top notch artists.
joemin wrote on June 28, 2014
Not looking forward to this. Duet with Cliff Richard will undermine Elvis' image and credibility.
Jamie wrote on June 28, 2014
Hello, words very nearly fail me. Either do your own stuff or retire Cliff.
Tony C wrote on June 28, 2014
Didn't Elvis do cover versions? That last comment is so stupid, words failed me.
Gorse wrote on June 28, 2014
I agree Tony C and that was the point of my original comment in this chain. He is vilified by many but has produced some great music over the years but has not been an artist others can say they appreciate. He is ignored on radio nowadays which I can understand to a point as it is aimed at the younger generation, but when a radio channel created to play 1960's music deliberately avoided playing him by policy goes beyond common decency in my book.
Raleighroadace wrote on June 28, 2014
Nothing against the artists but I'd rather see a duet with Bruce Springsteen or even David Coverdale.
Steve V wrote on June 28, 2014
There are so many other credible artists who would be better picks than this.
Brian Quinn wrote on June 28, 2014
What must be remembered is that it is the artists who are requesting Elvis for duets and not Sony or EPE.
NONE000000 wrote on June 29, 2014
I had such strong negative opinions regarding the Christmas Duets (I still feel the only things of value of that album were the solo Elvis tracks with redone backing music), but I just couldn't care less about this one. I am an American, which means that all I know about Cliff Richard is that his name pops up as a punchline on a few British shows I used to watch (The Young Ones, for example). As for Barbara Streisand, she wanted Elvis for A Star Is Born in the 1970s and of course that possibly career revitalizing movie didn't happen with Elvis. I have no idea what might have been if Elvis had done the movie, except that there would have likely been at least one duet with Streisand on the soundtrack. The idea of them finally getting to do a duet, to me, is kind of cool. A lot of people have issues with Streisand's personality and politics, but she is absolutely respected as a vocalist and I think Elvis would be proud to be thought of as on the same level. (Of course I mean by the general public; of course here on ElvisNews we know that Elvis could sing anything and had a magnificent voice.) If there is to be another full album of duets (and that isn't what this news item is claiming), I would prefer Elvis' more serious ballad side to come out. We had 2 huge hits with remixes since Elvis died (Guitar Man, Little Less Conversation), followed by minor hits with remixes (Rubberneckin and Viva Elvis )--all rock music. I think maybe an attempt at a duets album of lesser known ballads (I can think of about a million great mostly unknown ballads Elvis did) with respected vocalists could be something that would work. Of course, I would be more thrilled with the same concept but no duets. In other words, I'd love album with new arrangements of Elvis ballads, in exactly the manner of Always on My Mind with the understated string and horn arrangement or the arrangement on The First Noel on the last Xmas duets cd. On those two songs, I thought the new musical backing had more respect for the instrument that was Elvis Presley's voice than the originals did.
Jamie wrote on June 29, 2014
Tony C, Elvis didn't overdub a duet with a more generously talented singer nearly 40 years after they had passed away. Had that ever become his best option, I hope he would have retired instead because it has 'desperation' and 'creative failure' writ large all over it. I won't reciprocate by calling you or your comment 'stupid' because I think the users of this forum - except you for obvious reasons - deserve a more intelligent read when they log in.
benny scott wrote on June 29, 2014
Steve V :With record sales over 250 million worldwide, 3rd place in the Diamond Dozen with 2.5 million sold singles in the UK (The Beatles being first and Elvis second) Cliff is credible enough to me, and surely credible enough to EPE, RCA, Sony or what- or whoeverever. He got permission ! Jamie, if you think Cliff should retire because of his wish and desire to record a duet with his personal musical hero of his younger and later years then I don't understand your statement . If you should refer to his age then you should also ask Tom Jones, E.Humperdinck,( to name a couple ) and musicians like James Burton, Glenn Hardin, Jerrie Scheff, Ronnie Tutt and a lot of others to retire too. Not happy because Tony wrote "so stupid" ? Well, I'm not gonna call it "so stupid", I call it "not very intelligent" as you seem to like writing about 'intelligence'. Brian, Corse, Tony C and others who like and respect Cliff, you have my full support. Always El.
benny scott wrote on June 29, 2014
Sorry, typo, should have written "whoever". Snowplow floater, you're part too of the aforementioned guys. Always El.
shoesuedeblues wrote on June 29, 2014
It's a sad and bad thing to say but Elvis' great recordings seems to have been forgotten by the current custodian of the Presley legacy. All we seem to see is hits and more hits compilations.Surely if they dug deeper historic sessions would reveal and unearth hitherto unreleased takes and songs. The Christmas single with Susan Boyle failed due to the insistence Simon Cowell made that his own Susan Boyle should lead the way and be heard leaving Elvis as a mere support. The Cliff issue is different , Cliff has long admired Elvis as we know and the go ahead will undoubtedly lead to more of the same if the venture is successful I hope it's proves to be a worthwhile project as even Cliff is struggling to get air play now.
Steve V wrote on June 29, 2014
By credible I mean real Rock & Roll HOF folks like Sprignsteen, Clapton, Fogerty, McCartney, Elton, etc,. Streisand is a great singer but do we really want Elvis to go into more MOR territory especially when as the label say, they want him to appeal to a younger generation? As for Cliff, granted he was Elvis' rival in the U.K., but he is not much known in the USA outside of a few late 70's singles no one remembers, so sales may be affected here. People would just say Cliff who? Is he really that popular everywhere but the USA?
benny scott wrote on June 29, 2014
Steve, absolutely agreed about Cliff's popularity in the USA. But why, for God's sake, has it to be a USA star if doing a duet with our man comes up ? As Brian wrote, it's the artists requesting a duet recording ! So if the by you mentioned artists would want to record a duet with our man, fine with me, no problem at all. Pls keep in mind the choise was (is) not made by Elvis' today's entourage. We've been correspondig for a rather long time, so nothing personal, let this be clear. Just my opinion! Always El.
Steve V wrote on June 30, 2014
Benny - does not have to be a USA star at all, but Cliff is not a good choice in my opinion. He's too far past it from what I've heard anyway. Again, I stress a rock and roll hall of famer, critically acclaimed international star is a much better choice than Cliff. Sort of like what Jerry Lee did on his album a few years ago.
benny scott wrote on June 30, 2014
Hi Steve, I see your point of view and can understand. Now i'm asking myself the question : who gave Cliff permission to record the duet ? This is just out of interest ! Maybe our friend Bryan can come up with a correct answer ? Anyone ..? Always El.
Natha wrote on June 30, 2014
If Cliff wants to do a duet. That's fine with me. He is a loyal admirer of the King. Will it be useful to the Legacy? I don't think so. I agree with Steve V that an album in the style of Last man standing of Jerry Lee Lewis would be much more useful. Interesting of that album is that JLL's voice is mostly old and at some point seems more like muttering (where did I read that before??? ahum). Anyway, I think that's much more appealing.
Natha wrote on June 30, 2014
One of the things missing in any duets is the real interaction between the singers/musicians, which makes it less sparkling.
theoldscudder wrote on June 30, 2014
I remember Cliff in the 50's. He was better than a lot of the singers of that era. So I will reserve judgement till I hear the recording.
benny scott wrote on June 30, 2014
Natha, I think you're right about the "useful to the legacy", but if Cliff is happy with this recording , why not ? Steve's idea about something in the direction of JLL's Last man Standing is more appealing indeed, with one big difference : Jerry Lee was (and is) still alive when the album was recorded, and so were (are) all the other artists on the record. There the interaction between singers and musicians was really possible. Our man is no longer with us since 37 years, so interaction is no more possible. Oldscudder : wise words too ! Always El.
japio wrote on July 01, 2014
two new duets with Elvid good for stars who's wanna give their carriere a boost. Cliff with blue suede shoes. what a joke. The man makes no rock and roll since he split with the shadows. he stept over to pop and easy listening songs. Yes maybe was it a better idea to do an other song.
Orion wrote on July 01, 2014
First, I admit to liking quite a bit of Sir Cliff's music. “Devil Woman”, “Move It”, “We Don’t Talk Anymore” etc. His legacy as a pioneer in British RR is without question, and he has stated numerous times that without Elvis he'd still be Harry Webb and not Cliff Richard. I heard in an interview that he has approached the estate of Elvis many times about this duet. A real dream of his coming true he said - in fact I believe he wanted to do an album’s worth of duets with Elvis. His admiration for Elvis is genuine, as we all know he visited Graceland not too long ago while in Nashville to record his own CD. I believe he even stated on a Graham Norton show that he has a painting of Elvis and himself a la 1950's rock 'n' rollers. This leads me to believe he still envisions himself as a rocker - must be why he chose “Blue Suede Shoes” as a duet. This makes me wonder what vocal track that EPE let Sir Cliff and his team work with. As we know Elvis cut this in-studio twice. To me neither one seems like it could be re-tooled to make a plausible duet much like the recently failed Susan Boyle duet. I’m sure that Cliff will be thrilled and claim that the he felt the spirit of Elvis in the studio blah blah blah, but I’m afraid it’ll be an epic fail on both sides of the pond. Just a thought, but Cliff is also a fan of Rick(y) Nelson – do you think that he would ? Nah, surely he wouldn’t - would he… ?
Orion wrote on July 01, 2014
While on the subjects of duets - wonder what ever happened to all the work Felton did with his duets' album that was worked on in the early 80's. If I recall Tony Joe White, Jerry Reed, the Gatlin Brothers, etc were to be a part of the project. Does anyone think this material will ever be un-earthed by Ernst on a FTD release ?
Natha wrote on July 01, 2014
Benny, exactly my point. And that is also why I'm pretty hesitant about these duets. It ill always be artificial,
LarsG wrote on July 01, 2014
These so called duetts doesn´t make any sense to me. For example; When Sinatra did record his two duett albums his partners weren´t in the studio at the same time. However, I have a lot of respect regarding Sir Cliff and wish him all the luck with this project.
Lex wrote on July 02, 2014
Time for my 2 cents. I dislike these things. It is artificial like some said. Big difference with JLL is that he was (and is) alive. Not as good as he used to be, but still alive. I loved Last Man Standing, the next one a little less, didn't even bother to buy it anymore and what I heard of his latest project I'll skip that one too. I do like Cliff and have respect for what he does and can understand it's his dream, but I know already I won't like it. Drijfzand is totally different, I never liked the singing nose's voice.
theoldscudder wrote on July 02, 2014
Japio, Elvis also did a lot of pop & easy listening songs towards the end. So maybe they were kindred spirits. Just a thought.
japio wrote on July 03, 2014
Oldscudder. I can't understand why he picked up Blue suede shoes. I hope the same time it would be not the 50's version. A young Elvis and an old Cliff sounds not good to my ears.
benny scott wrote on July 03, 2014
Japio, wouldn't it be nice to come to conclusions AFTER you've heard the recording ? Don't judge in advance pls. Always El.
Andy_2 wrote on July 05, 2014
Cliff is such a bad choice, he can't get a record played on british radio and his current attempts at rock n roll are embarrassing. Not a fan of duets at all but this will be painful.
RobIreland wrote on July 05, 2014
The negative things said here about Cliff I find abominable ! Obviously those people have never heard Cliff sing songs such as "Poor Boy" ( not the Elvis song ), "She's Gone" "i'm afraid to go home" and the list goes on ! Cliff is a fantastic chice to duet with Elvis ( if they have to do it at all ). A whole Elvis with Cliff album would be well received by me anyway !
benny scott wrote on July 05, 2014
Bad choice ??? It's not a choise, it's a request ! Big difference. As for airplay on british radio : let me know via this site how many airplay all rockers from Cliff's generation ( USA + UK ) get on british radio now a days. Hats off to Cliff ! Always El.
Andy_2 wrote on July 05, 2014
Benny, it's well known that they wouldn't play cliff on the radio and he even released a record under a different name to get it played. It's laughable that the estate has even considered letting this happen but then again who cares anymore about elvis and his credibility. Sorry but Cliff is not even in the top 5 british rockers and there weren't many who were any good. Abominable, come on seriously. He has long been a joke and he really should have given it up a long time ago.
benny scott wrote on July 05, 2014
Andy, our opinions differ, but no big deal. Take care. Always El.
Andy_2 wrote on July 05, 2014
Hi Benny, yes our opinions differ and you're right it's no big deal but the Elvis estate are allowing Elvis's voice to be used in a duet with someone who cannot get his records played on BBC radio and who is even not played on a certain golden oldies radio station over here in the UK that's how low his credibility is. Cliff has many fans and has had a fine career but who in their right mind thought allowing this to happen with an artist of so little credibility was a good idea? If duets have to happen why not allow it with artists who are still well respected. How I wish they would just leave Elvis and his music alone, do we really need to hear a 74 year old man sing a song with a 21 year old???
Andy_2 wrote on July 05, 2014
just a note to snowplow floater re your comment about his early output with the shadows as the only memorable early british rock n roll output. how wrong you are. The sound of Fury written and recorded by Billy Fury knocks anything Cliff did out of the park. Stands shoulder to shoulder with anything any American artist did apart from Elvis. Authentic rockabilly released in 1960 and all written by Billy.
Gorse wrote on July 06, 2014
As usual Benny is the criteria for common sense and as per my previous comments, there is always an air of vitriol around Cliff. Regarding the Elvis legacy, that is now cast in stone and immovable like the general perception of say Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson. Elvis will be primarily viewed as the handsome side burned hip swivelling man who popularised Rock and Roll who made some great songs, a few good films, liked the women, and became a jump suit bejewelled star in Las Vegas who died tragically and overweight through excess. Me as a lifetime fan know there is a lot more to the man. but every star outside of their own fan base will be subject to the same projected image pattern.
Natha wrote on July 06, 2014
Snowplow, you are quite right about Cliff doing things on his own accord and others followed as it became more or less the politicallyrigh thing to do. And yes, Gorse, Elvis' legacy is cast in stone; though not yet hardened in due time the good will prevail.
benny scott wrote on July 07, 2014
Gorse, how right you are about Elvis' legacy and how our man will be remembered. As for all artists (Elvis included), there will always be pros and cons. Most important, imho, is the fact we should accept and respect someone's personal taste when it comes to like or let's say "less like", other 'idols'. Snowplow floater, I absolutely agree with you on the talentless (and in many cases arrogant) DJs. Here in Belgium we have exactly the same thing going on with local artists being boycotted by our own VRT (abbreviation for Flemisch Radio and Television). As for Billy Fury, Andy _2 is right about the rockabilly album in 1960 and all songs written by Billy himself (agreed,Cliff was no songwriter but Elvis was neither) but there it stopped (I think, but I could be wrong) as far as R 'n' R is concerned. Fury, just like Cliff, recorded a large number of songs which were miles away from being R 'n' R.( violins, sweetening arrangements, etc..). Songs like Halfway To Paradise, Like I've Never Been Gone, Jealousy ( Frankie Laine cover), It's Only Make Believe (Conway Twitty cover), just to name a few, can hardly get the 'rocking' label, but they sounded nice. Billy must have been a nice guy and was very popular but died much, very much too young due to heartproblems. With all due respect, but the singer Billy did not really touch me. I'll never put him down, he must have had something, had and still has, I guess ,a large fanbase. But...I prefer Cliff to Billy. Always El.
RobIreland wrote on July 09, 2014
Would just like to add. Even tho I believe Elvis and Cliff duet is a great idea I am not sure that Blue Suade Shoes is the right choice. I think one of the sixties tunes sang by both would have been much better. Cliff recorded a brilliant version of "Angel" more uptempo that Elvis". If those two could be mixed together rather that Cliff re singing, that might work i think. Other 60's Elvis tunes sang by Cliff include I gotta know, Love Letters, My Babe and the 70's , Twelfth of Never and Honky Tonk Angel.