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Twenty Days and Twenty Nights

Rating:
4.4 / 5

Words & Music: Ben Weisman Clive Westlake

I left my home up in the hill far behind me
I left my wife with unpaid bills, she can't find me
I'm trying out the world for size, find that it's not paradise, it's lonely
Now for twenty days and twenty nights I've been alone
And that ain't right without her

City ways are strange to me, I can't make it
For it's not like it ought to be, I can't take it
Gotta face the truth one day, man can't always run away from trouble
No, now for twenty days and twenty nights I've been a fool
And that ain't right, without her

One day soon I'm going back, where she still minds me
And then out of line and off the track, but that's behind me
I fooled around and did it well, but I just couldn't ring the bell , without her, no
It's taken twenty days and twenty nights to prove me wrong and make her right
Twenty days and twenty nights I was wrong and she was right, all along

Oh, I miss her
Oh, how I miss her, oh how I miss her, oh how I miss her

Recordingdate: 1970/06/04, first released on: That's the Way It Is (album)

Musicians

Musicians who contributed to the first recording of Twenty Days and Twenty Nights:

(guitar)
(guitar)
(guitar)
(guitar)
(bass)
(drums)
(piano)
(organ)
(harmonica)
(marimba)

Others*

(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(percussion)
(clarinet)
(sax)
(sax)
(sax)
(sax)
(trumpet)
(trumpet)
(cello)
(cello)
(cello)
(viola)
(viola)
(viola)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)

*Orchestra, overdubs

Availability

Find available albums with Twenty Days and Twenty Nights.

ElvisDayByDay wrote on April 25, 2008
A nice country-style tune, could have been performed with a little more drama, the lyrics need it and Elvis can do that.
Steve Morse wrote on January 15, 2011
Absolute perfection, from start to finish. The mature Elvis seldom got better than this. Sheer class, both vocally and in the exquisitely arranged instrumentation.
Rob Wanders wrote on January 15, 2011
fantastic song and some fantastic versions Elvis gave us from this song
Deano1 wrote on January 15, 2011
One of my personal favorites from my favorite Elvis album. While there is no disputing the fact that Elvis was the best rock and roll singer, this song (in my opinion) proves that Elvis is (was) one of the best true vocalist in popular music. Elvis sing this well-written ballad perfectly. 5 stars!
ranskal wrote on January 15, 2011
This song is beautifully sung. I really like how they pieced together the rehearsals of Elvis and the backup singers on the new version of TTWII. I wish he sang it live more often.
miked wrote on January 15, 2011
One of my favourite all times, just the emotion put in, pretty much like most of the TTWIT recordings, luv it, brill.
Steve V wrote on January 15, 2011
Good song, better than most of the 'I Miss You' type ballads that followed in the 70's.
Pedro Nuno wrote on January 04, 2012
A good rendition but not my cup of tea. In fact TTWII, as an album, was never my cup of tea. I find it clearly inferior when compared to “From Elvis In Memphis”, a year before or “Elvis Country” that followed it, both two top catalog albums from the Rock Era.
Monster wrote on January 04, 2012
Love it. Great vocal and the live version is beautiful also. When I first started collecting Elvis albums seriously back in the late eighties (the nadir for popular music if you ask me) I remember thinking the TTWII album wasn't a miststep for Elvis' non soundtrack albums. How wrong I was. It's now one of my favouite albums and this is one of my favourite songs. 1970 is also my favourite year for Elvis. He never looked better, never sounded better, he had several wonderful albums of both live and studio material, numerous critical and commercial hit singles, (including a UK number one) a terrific movie, he played live in vegas twice at a ridiculously high standard, incorporating the widest variety of material he ever delivered AND he went on tour. Sadly the only way to go from a peak like that is down. No hang on, you can also go forward. If only he had.
Puer Aeternus wrote on August 24, 2012
I love the vocal onslaught Elvis often unleashed on songs in his later years. With that said, this song is almost restrained - in a way which makes the times when Elvis does reach all the more wonderful. He shows so much control over the instrument which was his voice on this song. A lot of "adults" took jabs at Elvis when he first became popular by saying the kid couldn't sing. Elvis proved with the Comeback Special and From Elvis in Memphis, as well as just about everything he did after that, that he had one of the greatest voices of all time. Listen to Twenty Days and Twenty Nights for Elvis' voice, and see all the things he can do with it.
Gorse wrote on January 16, 2013
A wonderful song, brilliantly performed by Elvis that was equally as good on film as it was on vinyl. The whole performance oozed class from the first note to the last and for me is one of the best ballads from the 70's.
sugartummy wrote on May 26, 2013
Strangly enough Elvis said before doing this one live, that he didn't particulary digged singing it . I think it's one of his most beautiful songs with great instrumentation from Chip Young & Norbert Putnam and superb vocals by Elvis.
bajo wrote on January 07, 2016
It's good song and a good performance by Elvis and the band. Regarding the album, it felt somehow uneven. So when I make a playlist of the album I always use the studio versions of Patch It Up and I've Lost You instead of the live renditions on the original album.. The ballad singing from Elvis during those june 70 sessions was outstanding.
Cruiser621 wrote on January 07, 2016
An outstanding song and matching performance by Elvis. The album, I agree with another reviewer, is rather uneven. Lot of great songs on it, but a song like "Patch It Up" really doesn't ring my chimes as it's repetitious and boring. "Twenty Days And Twenty Nights" on the other hand is superb. That also goes for "I Just Can't Help Believing" and that was recorded live.
Jim Davidson wrote on January 07, 2016
TTWII is my favorite Elvis LP. That said, Elvis did not record albums. The 30 CD Legacy box set presents recordings in chronological order. Discs 19 and 20 highlight that "That's the Way It Is", "Elvis Country" and "Love Letters from Elvis" were drawn from the same recording session. The sound of "Twenty Days and Twenty Nights" is different than most other songs that Elvis recorded. It might be called the "anti-Kentucky Rain" -- "searchin' for you" vs. "she can't find me". Both songs fit the era: Wayne Newton's "Daddy Don't Walk So Fast", Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman" and "Galveston" and Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey",
JerryNodak wrote on February 12, 2020
Elvis in great voice. Outstanding song. I've listened to the "That's The Way It Is" LP often through the years. Song and album: 4 stars.
Milky White Way wrote on February 25, 2021
What a Pearl from our boy. This song is sung so beautifully and tenderly and always in my favourite playlist. The live version is not as good because Elvis increased the tempo and it feels rushed. I think he was asked to perform it for the movie but he’d rather not and never sang it again! But no doubt 5 stars for the studio version.
jaques marcello wrote on February 25, 2021
Great song, i love this song
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