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Snoopin' Round My Door

November 25, 2012 | Music

Snoopin´ Round My Door (1955 – 1977) - Elvis revisits his best year 1956

1956 is without any doubt the most crucial year of Elvis’ career. The Hillbilly Cat became the King of Rock & Roll during that year. His television appearances rocked the nation, and his recordings redefined popular culture. Elvis was the first true rock star, and 1956 is the year where the whole thing just exploded for him. With a fresh RCA Victor recording contract in his pocket, an ambitious new manager named Thomas A. Parker promoting him, and nationwide television exposure to look forward to, the year looked very promising right from the outset. Even though some of the RCA Victor execs expressed concern about the quality of the material recorded at the January 1956 session in Nashville, the first single from that session, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, became a huge hit thanks to his appearances on the Dorsey Brothers ‘Stage Show’. From that point onwards, Elvis could do no wrong. He recorded so many great, classic songs that year, that it’s quite a task to list them all: ‘I Was The One’, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, ‘My Baby Left Me’, ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy’, ‘I Want You, I Need You, I Love You’, ‘Hound Dog’, ‘Don’t Be Cruel’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Too Much’, ‘Love Me’, ‘Paralyzed’… the list goes on and on. These recordings define Elvis’ greatness: they are the reason why we still listen to him today, more than 35 years after his death.

With this release we want to pay tribute to that remarkable year. But instead of using the regular versions, we wanted to dig a little deeper. So we searched out alternate versions from jam sessions, rehearsals, live shows, and in one instance, a re-recording. Most are complete versions, some are fragments, a few are mere one-liners – but they all help in explaining the importance that these songs had on the remainder of Elvis’ career. These songs were so crucial to him that, like it or not, he had to do them on stage. Much has been made of the sloppiness with which he performed some of them in his final years, which is undeniably true, but there are also numerous examples where he did very credible versions of these songs or where he tried to reinvent them. Of course, his problem ultimately always being, how can you improve on a classic? You can’t. Until now, these alternate versions have been nothing more than interesting footnotes in Elvis history, but we decided to gather them all in one place where they make sense and where they now get a chance to shine.

Instead of telling you what to listen out for and what to enjoy, we felt it would be more fun to make you do the exploring. The fun of releases like this is the surprise of hearing something that you weren’t expecting.

FOR THE FIRST TIME ON CD:

I Want You I Need You I Love You, July 1971 Lake Tahoe – Old Shep, May 1973 Lake Tahoe – Don´t Be Cruel, February 1971 Las Vegas – Hound Dog (original lyrics), August 1971 Las Vegas – When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again, March 1975 Las Vegas - Love Me, February 1971 Las Vegas and many more.

CD1
„Embrionic“ Versions 1) „50´s Era“ interview excerpt, Recorded June 9, 1972; New York Hilton, NY 2) Shake, Rattle And Roll (Charles Calhoun), Recorded January 6, 1955; Lubbock, TX 3) Money Honey (Jesse Stone), Recorded January 22, 1955; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA 4) Long Tall Sally (Johnson/Penniman/Blackwell), Recorded May 6, 1956; New Frontier Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 5) Hound Dog (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller), Recorded May 16, 1956; Little Rock, AR Alternate Masters 6) „Old Shep“ interview excerpt, Recorded August 29, Hollywood, CA 7) Old Shep (Red Foley), alt. take 5, Recorded September 2, 1956; Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA 8) Blue Suede Shoes (Carl Perkins), Recorded April 28, 1960; RCA Studios, Hollywood, CA Rockin´ On Television 9) Shake, Rattle And Roll / Flip, Flop And Fly (Charles Calhoun), Recorded January 28, 1956; CBS Studios, New York, NY 10) Was The One (Schroeder/DeMetrius/Blair/Peppers), Recorded February 18, 1956; CBS Studios, New York, NY 11) Tutti Frutti (Dorothy LaBostrie/Richard Penniman), Recorded February 18, 1956; CBS Studios, New York, NY, 12) Heartbreak Hotel (Axton/Durden/Presley), Recorded March 24, 1956; CBS Studios, New York, NY 13) Blue Suede Shoes (Carl Perkins), Recorded April 3, 1956; The U.S.S. Hancock, San Diego Naval Station 14) I Want You, I Need You, I Love You (Maurice Mysels/Ira Kosloff), Recorded July 1, 1956; The Hudson Theatre, New York, NY 15) Love Me Tender (Vera Matson/Elvis Presley), Recorded September 9, 1956; CBS Studios, Los Angeles, CA 16) Ready Teddy (Robert Blackwell/John Marascalco), Recorded September 9, 1956; CBS Studios, Los Angeles, CA 17)„Ed Sullivan Show“ monologue excerpt, Recorded August 24, 1969 (DS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 18) Don´t Be Cruel (Otis Blackwell/Elvis Presley), Recorded January 6, 1957; CBS Studios, New York, NY 19) When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again (Wiley Walker/Gene Sullivan), Recorded January 6, 1957; CBS Studios, New York, NY 20) Too Much (Lee Rosenberg/Bernard Weinman), Recorded January 6, 1957; CBS Studios, New York, NY 21) „TV Appearances“ monologue excerpt, Recorded August 26, 1969 (DS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV Moments Of Greatness 22) Heartbreak Hotel (Axton/Durden/Presley), Recorded September 26, 1956 (AS); Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, Tupelo, MS 23) Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Lloyd Price), alt. take 1, Recorded February 3, 1956; RCA Studios, New York, NY 24) Don´t Be Cruel (Otis Blackwell/Elvis Presley), Recorded December 16, 1956; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA 25) I Was The One (Schroeder/DeMetrius/Blair/Peppers), fragment, Recorded August 31, 1957; Empire Stadium, Vancouver, Canada 26) Blue Suede Shoes (Carl Perkins), Recorded September 26, 1956 (ES); Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, Tupelo, MS 27) Heartbreak Hotel (Axton/Durden/Presley), fragments, Recorded April 2, 1957; Maple Leaf Garden, Toronto, Canada 28) Love Me (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller), Recorded December 16, 1956; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA 29) Money Honey (Jesse Stone), Recorded May 16, 1956; Little Rock, AR 30) Hound Dog (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller), Recorded March, 25, 1961; Bloch Arena, Honolulu, HA 31) Rip It Up (Robert Blackwell/John Marascalco), alt. take 15, Recorded September 3, 1956; Radio Recorders, Hollywood 32) Don´t Be Cruel (Otis Blackwell/Elvis Presley) Recorded September 26, 1956 (AS); Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, Tupelo, MS 33) Long Tall Sally (Johnson/Penniman/Blackwell), Recorded December 16, 1956; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA 34) Love Me (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller), Recorded March, 25, 1961; Bloch Arena, Honolulu, HA 35) When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again (Wiley Walker/Gene Sullivan), Recorded December 16, 1956; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA 36) Heartbreak Hotel (Axton/Durden/Presley), Recorded March, 25, 1961; Bloch Arena, Honolulu, HA 37) Paralyzed (Otis Blackwell/Elvis Presley), Recorded December 16, 1956; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA 38) Ready Teddy (Robert Blackwell/John Marascalco), Recorded September 26, 1956 (AS); Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, Tupelo, MS 39) Don´t Be Cruel (Otis Blackwell/Elvis Presley), Recorded March, 25, 1961; Bloch Arena, Honolulu, HA 40) Shake, Rattle And Roll (Charles Calhoun), alt. take 7, Recorded February 3, 1956; RCA Studios, New York, NY 41) I Was The One Schroeder/DeMetrius/Blair/Peppers), Recorded December 16, 1956; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA

CD2
Redefining the masters 1) „Rock´n´Roll“ interview excerpt, Recorded September 22, 1

Source:For CD Collectors Only
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Natha wrote on November 25, 2012
One important statement was made by the 'editors' of this release: like it or not. So, caught in a trap, ELVIS had to persorm these songs over and over again because fans wanted to hear them being sung by the King himself. Many in the audience saw him only once or twice, so I can imagine that. I for one would have loved to see him live on stage,but helas I was not that fortunate. Maybe thos who were so lucky to go to a number of shows may shed another view on this, yet keep in mind those unlucky ones too. I think we don't do ELVIS justice to hammer on the way he performed the in a rushy manner (I think I would also feel bored after all these years). while at the same time he wanted to be there for his fans, the audience. More than any otherperformer.
Jerome wrote on November 28, 2012
my ears get dizzy from even reading this tracklist.. let alone listening to it...
Steve V wrote on November 30, 2012
Natha - to answer you. I was fortunate enough to see Elvis 5 times. As much as I hate to admit it, the rushed performances of the classics disappointed me. I cant stand medleys either, so , to me, he did not do these songs justice in concert. If he hated them so much, perhaps he could have chosen different classics to keep the show (and himself) fresh. Instead he chose other 50's classics like Little Darlin (ugh). Elvis was a strange performer in my eyes and could be lazy , relying on basically the same show year after after year. I have seen many artists from the 50's thru the 80's in concert and none showed disdain for their early classic work as much as Elvis. Still, I'd rather hear a 1 minute version of All Shook Up than My Way anyday.
theoldscudder wrote on November 30, 2012
Hi Natha, I saw Elvis 4 times. The first was in the 50's when I was the young scudder. It was a thrill. He was great. I also saw Elvis 3 times in the 70's. To be honest I was a bit dissapointed. Many of the songs were not taken seriously & he drpooed words. I just got a cd Jerry Lee Lewis Live at Third Man Records, a 2011 concert when Jerry Lee was 75 or 76 years old. For me he was better at that age than Elvis was in his last two years. The biggest dissapointment was his rushed break neck speed version of All Shook Up. It lost all it's wonderful playful bouncy feel that the 50's version had. In this respect I have to disagree with SteveV. I'll take My Way over All Shook UP (70's version) any day, any way, every day.