Elvis voice/performance change between 1968 and 1970

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epf

Re: Elvis voice/performance change between 1968 and 1970

#1175201

Post by epf »

drjohncarpenter wrote:
HoneyTalkNelson wrote:Well, hero worship of any kind is rather amusing - and frightening.
You are so right!

Thank God we have this forum.

::rocks

No, Elvis does!



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Re: Elvis voice/performance change between 1968 and 1970

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Post by episthebest »

For me the biggest change I noticed was in 1971. There were slight changes between 1968 and 1970, but his voice really changed in 1971.



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Re: Elvis voice/performance change between 1968 and 1970

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Post by promiseland »

The '68 raspnesss in his voice was something he could turn on and off at will, at least up until 1970.
He did this quite often in the 50's with songs such as Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, and One Night, Heard Headed Woman.

I believe Elvis just never got those type of songs in the 60's and 70's to use that vocal style, although he used it once again in 1968 only on his older hits such as Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, and One Night as he used it before.
The last good demonstration of his edgy powerful 50's vocal style on a non-50's song, was "If I Can Dream", in which Elvis put an unusual 110% of his heart into a song.

The desire was lost after the Memphis recordings of '69. Possibly he felt more of a mature singer to drop the effect, and to better fit in with the Jones'(Tom).




epf

Re: Elvis voice/performance change between 1968 and 1970

#1175282

Post by epf »

The voice changed between feb 70 and august 70. 69 and feb 70 still have that aggressive nature, but august 70 his voice was way smoother and softer. Even his talking voice, which is the true indicator of the change.
I guess the number of concerts started to weigh in and Elvis, either consciously or subconsciously adapted to this new regime.



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Re: Elvis voice/performance change between 1968 and 1970

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Post by ElvisLive3August1969 »

I think he was just more relaxed in 1970, and it was the beginning where he started to let himself go! Dangerous move!


His music in 68 and 69 was the best, and It will always be my favorite period of his career. But lets be honest here, the real Elvis Presley was in the 50s! I really believe that he lost a lot of his ffuck yeah attitude when he was drafted in to the army to protect our freedom!

And the reason why his music was so different in the sixties, especially in 68 Comeback Special was not because he wanted to change with the times or because of change in popular music or anything else, it was simply because he wanted to do more mature and more soulful music.

Imagine him doing the 68 Comeback Special with his 50s ffuck yeah attitude! 8) Now that would have been quite different! But I'm not really sure if it would have been better. I love it as it is.


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poormadpeter

Re: Elvis voice/performance change between 1968 and 1970

#1175560

Post by poormadpeter »

epf wrote:The voice changed between feb 70 and august 70. 69 and feb 70 still have that aggressive nature, but august 70 his voice was way smoother and softer. Even his talking voice, which is the true indicator of the change.
I guess the number of concerts started to weigh in and Elvis, either consciously or subconsciously adapted to this new regime.
The change had already started by feb 70. The Wonder of You and Let It Be Me, for example, had the same vocal tones we associate with later in the year.



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Re: Elvis voice/performance change between 1968 and 1970

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Post by Mike Eder »

I am listening to the 1-30-71 gig, and his voice still is so powerful here. I like his 1971-72 vocals more than most, but it was early 1971 that marked the end of an era as far clarity.


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Re: Elvis voice/performance change between 1968 and 1970

#1175713

Post by rjm »

ElvisLive3August1969 wrote:
drjohncarpenter wrote:
Errol Flynn wrote:Anyone else ever noticed that Elvis' voice and his performance style seems to undergo radical change between 1968 and 1970? What I mean is, for example, at the '68 Comeback Special, he's still got that higher, "raspy" sort of "Rock N' Roll" voice, and is much more into it, energetic...Come '70 and onward he has the deeper, more operatic voice that colored most of his later performances both on stage and on record. You don't really hear that raw, higher, raspy sort of vocal again or get the raw power of the '68 Special....

Anyone else noticed this change in a very short period of time?

Anyone know why his voice changed so quickly, and why his energy or passion seemingly decreased by '70? Don't get me wrong, I love '70s Elvis but even '70, '72 are removed from the guy who came back in '68....Elvis in '68 is closer in voice and spirit to the guy who lit up the world in the '50s.

It's not like he was sickly or out of shape in 1970, 1971, 1972 or even '73...Yet he seems a lot more tired, less energized and his voice seems deeper and less raw than in '68.
Sure. By the summer of 1970, Elvis knew he had the audience in the palm of his hand, no matter what he chose to do on stage. In addition, his one hundred-plus Nevada performances had slowly began to turn him towards more ballads ("adult" songs) rather than the rock 'n' roll which made him famous ("kid" stuff). He didn't want to be Little Richard anymore, he wanted to be Tom Jones.

<snip of yell-screech-yell!!! "Didn't Sound Like Nobody!!!!">
People get SO worked up! Just sit back and think about it.

While I don't think he wanted to "be" Tom Jones anymore than he wanted to be Dean Martin, he did have what he must have considered a problem, then. Just as at the beginning, when he sang "That's Amore."

I don't hear Jones in 1968, but I sure hear the sound in 1969, and more so even in early 70. Context is everything; the last time he played Vegas, he was "himself, " whatever that means. And it was widely perceived as a major FLOP!

So, if you are in his place, there are a few choices, and he had to choose. Give them more of the 68 Special, raw and wild, and see what happens. Critically, it was not universally well-received - not then. And the main Vegas acts, aside from Jones and maybe a few pretenders, were decades older than either Elvis or Jones. Tom Jones seemed to have it all figured out.

What would you do? If I was in Elvis's place, I think I'd throw some Tom Jones in there. It wasn't selling out; he liked Jones. Just like he liked Dean Martin.

It's just that instead of growing more into who he was capable of becoming as an artist - instead of finding *himself* and being comfortable with himself, he just filled a safe role, a role in which he couldn't fail. Maybe because Vegas wasn't any more right for him in 1969 than it had been in 1956.

So, it was either Tom Jones, or risk his whole career.

My take on it.

rjm


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