How about 2-5 songs you wish Elvis DIDN'T perform live

[joekro1977]

I'm sure we all have songs that don't quite do it for us, for whatever reason.

The songs that I hit the skip button for:

1) Polk Salad Annie - I don't know if I just don't dig the funky vibe of this song, or the lyrics, or what, but it aggravates the hell out of me.

2) Fever - Too much nonsense going on in most of the performances of this song for me. Can't get through a single performance, even Aloha.

(Dis)Honorable Mention

3) If You Love Me Let Me Know (will listen to this one about half the time)
4) Hurt (some performances were great, some not so much)

[JimmyCool]

- Any of the 50's oldies after 1970
- Help Me
- Let Me Be There
- Love Letters
- Long Band Introductions - Not a song but what a waste of time!
- If You Love Me (Let Me Know "...And If You Don't, A-Move It")

[memphisound]

Band Introductions

That's about it for me, as for the oldies, I wish he would've stopped doing them when he felt like he really didn't like too anymore.

[carloselvis]

Jailuouse, blue sudes, hound dog, teddy bear, dont be cruel.. In the 70s he hate to do them... Some times he did them so fast....

[luckyjackson1]

- Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel
- Hound Dog

(although most of the fans participating wanted to hear them)

- Love Me

[nod3million]

I'd put Polk Salad Annie top of the opposing list, it's always great to hear.
Of songs I got bored of live,
Hound Dog, Love Me, I Got A Woman, CC Rider, Can't Help Falling in Love.

[Renan]

Promised Land, it just never worked live..

[Brian Quinn]

'Little Darlin'
50's Medley after 1970
'Fairytale'
'Let Me Be There'
'If You Love Me Let Me Go'.

Brian

[poormadpeter]

If You Love Me is particularly anaemic.

Other than that:

Until It's Time For You To Go

[londonflash]

Most of the oldies, certainly post-1972.

Hurt - a grotesque song in Elvis' hands.

You Gave Me A Mountain after 1973.

Why Me Lord.

PMP - I always thought the live versions of Until It's Time For You To Go beat the drab, strained studio cut hands down.

[KB]

1. Love Me (after 1971);
2. Fever (1974 versions are particulary annoying);
3. Love Me Tender (too much kissing);

[r&b]

If You Love Me
My Way
Until Its Time For You To Go
top the list

Also, the rushed 50's hits whether in medley or not. They bored Elvis, and ultimately, me.

[poormadpeter]

Most of the oldies, certainly post-1972.

Hurt - a grotesque song in Elvis' hands.

You Gave Me A Mountain after 1973.

Why Me Lord.

PMP - I always thought the live versions of Until It's Time For You To Go beat the drab, strained studio cut hands down.

They might have done, had it not been for the fact he rarely took it seriously, and seemed to use it for a round of kissing!

[Jambalaya]

+) hey jude

+) she´s a machine

[Alfredo]

Love me tender
Love me
If you love me
America

[brian]

I got a woman/Amen

[TCB-FAN]

Anything that has Charlie doing harmony. (breaking glass)

[sundial77]

I got a woman/Amen

Was just about to mention I Got A Woman/Amen...!!! Not for the song, which I like sometimes, ie Pittsburgh '76...but for the dreadful dive bomb routine. Then the repeat. Might have been even slightly better later in the show but not the second song in.

[mysterytrainrideson]

My Way
The Last Farewell
Hurt
If you Love Me Let Me Know
Welcome To My World

[TCB-FAN]

My Way
The Last Farewell
Hurt
If you Love Me Let Me Know
Welcome To My World

I'd kill to hear him perform "The Last Farewell" live...I don't think such a recording exists...not multi-track anyway.

[epf]

I wish there were more positive subjects on this forum. It seems all we do is tend to look at the negative side of Elvis and/or his music.

[drjohncarpenter]

I'm sure we all have songs that don't quite do it for us, for whatever reason.

The songs that I hit the skip button for:

1) Polk Salad Annie - I don't know if I just don't dig the funky vibe of this song, or the lyrics, or what, but it aggravates the hell out of me.

2) Fever - Too much nonsense going on in most of the performances of this song for me. Can't get through a single performance, even Aloha.

(Dis)Honorable Mention

3) If You Love Me Let Me Know (will listen to this one about half the time)
4) Hurt (some performances were great, some not so much)

Your choices seem a bit arbitrary.

"Fever" is a top-shelf song, and Presley's 1960 studio master perfection. But he does not give it the respect it deserves when played on stage in the 1970s. The beautifully syncopated LP arrangement is pared down, and even the no-nonsense versions we know about (before he began to throw in the "jokes") usually skip the bridge, which is a highlight.

The winter and summer 1970 performances of Tony Joe White's marvelous "Polk Salad Annie" are acclaimed as sexy, showstopping experiences. After that, it unfortunately turns into yet another amped-up, treadmill exercise.

In essence, songs I "wish Elvis DIDN'T perform live" from 1969 to 1977 would be:

- any number where he didn't care about
- most (but not all) the "contemporary" covers

Elvis had one of the richest catalogs in rock history, yet he shunned most of it for the entire time he graced the stage in his later career. Only in 1969 and early 1970 did the focus remain on his music, old and new. That should have never changed.

I could list out fifty Elvis Presley hits or album tracks, done with care, that would have brought fans to tears. Imagine seeing this kind of performance, what a thrill it might have been.

[Justin]

After 1972, there are maybe only 2-5 songs I'd want to hear in each of Elvis' shows.

[drjohncarpenter]

After 1972, there are maybe only 2-5 songs I'd want to hear in each of Elvis' shows.

What do you mean?

[Justin]

I meant that anything post-72, it becomes difficult for me to listen to a full show all the way through (there are a few exceptions, naturally). So, for the most part, the number of songs I skip over is far larger than the number of songs I actually want to listen to.