The pleasing languor of the later King

[Johnny2523]

Always liked this alternate take
..

[Matthew]

It works better than the finished master but man, that is one ragged vocal.

41 years young.

[elvisistheman]

I do like that alternate take much better than the master. The man still could sing, even in the last two years.

Having said that, I have seen the ravages of severe depression in myself, at times in the past, and among some of my family members (my mother was bi-polar, and she committed suicide when I was nine), and among some of my friends, and I just cannot easily enjoy the sound of a vocalist who is consumed by severe depression (and drug addiction), especially when it is adversely affecting his performances.

Even at his best in 1976, Elvis simply sounds so much worse than he did a mere four years earlier. It's hard for me to listen to it.

[mike edwards66]

So, you're serious?

The song's author, Jerry Chesnut, has no reason to lie.........

The question was, are you serious? Not, was Jerry Chesnut lying.

It is now beyond reproach that Presley's "pleasing languor" was all for his pet chow, Getlow.

You're grasping, buddy.

[drjohncarpenter]

I do like that alternate take much better than the master. The man still could sing, even in the last two years.

Having said that, I have seen the ravages of severe depression in myself, at times in the past, and among some of my family members (my mother was bi-polar, and she committed suicide when I was nine), and among some of my friends, and I just cannot easily enjoy the sound of a vocalist who is consumed by severe depression (and drug addiction), especially when it is adversely affecting his performances.

Even at his best in 1976, Elvis simply sounds so much worse than he did a mere four years earlier. It's hard for me to listen to it.

Very sorry to read about the loss of your mom. And your feelings about the Graceland sessions make perfect sense. Also, it is very hard to record sad songs when you are feeling sad about a beloved pet.

[drjohncarpenter]

Very sorry to read about the loss of your mom. And your feelings about the Graceland sessions make perfect sense. Also, it is very hard to record sad songs when you are feeling sad about a beloved pet.

Doc, glad you are not among those who mock the loss of a pet as one of the reasons Elvis was depressed. Some of us really 'connect' with our feline and canine friends, as I did with this guy, and I still mourn the loss.

Absolutely, yes. Those who mock do not understand. These creatures become part of the family. They just don't live as long as you would want them to, and it hurts. No doubt the pain Elvis felt about Gitlow while recording the Chesnut songs that evening was palpable.

[mike edwards66]

I can't honestly say that I love FEPB. I also don't hate it. There are a few rare times, here and there, when I am in a really low mood, that it speaks to me.

We know not the hour, the pleasing languor of the later King, will speak to us. But for those of us are able to appreciate the finer points of art, and artist, speak to us, it does.

Also, it is very hard to record sad songs when you are feeling sad about a beloved pet.

Look at the pretty colours.

[elvisistheman]

I do like that alternate take much better than the master. The man still could sing, even in the last two years.

Having said that, I have seen the ravages of severe depression in myself, at times in the past, and among some of my family members (my mother was bi-polar, and she committed suicide when I was nine), and among some of my friends, and I just cannot easily enjoy the sound of a vocalist who is consumed by severe depression (and drug addiction), especially when it is adversely affecting his performances.

Even at his best in 1976, Elvis simply sounds so much worse than he did a mere four years earlier. It's hard for me to listen to it.

Very sorry to read about the loss of your mom. And your feelings about the Graceland sessions make perfect sense. Also, it is very hard to record sad songs when you are feeling sad about a beloved pet.

Thanks for your thoughtful words, Doc. My mom could be very emotionally volatile at times, in her bi-polar ups and down, and that was definitely not easy for me to live with as a child, but she did deeply love me and my sister. It has also not been easy for me to live for 32 years without her (being 41 years old).

In the interest of being fair and objective, I can concede that, perhaps, some of my negative feelings about FEPB are colored by the pain and damage that depression has brought into my own life. Elvis sounds depressed to me on this album, and it's painful for me to hear. However, to my ears, Ian Curtis also sounds depressed in some of the great, classic Joy Division material, and I don't feel negatively about his performances in those songs at all. The difference, for me, is that Elvis's voice just seems to be in a decaying state on FEPB, whereas Ian went out of this world with every bit of vocal gift intact.

I'm not saying that I can't, or don't, appreciate Elvis's singing on FEPB at all. He's still Elvis. Some of the greatness is still there. He can still convey deep emotion. However, to me, on this album, his voice just sounds almost mutated too often-- a slowed-down, messed-up, eerie funhouse version of what his great voice once sounded like, only a few years earlier--, and I don't think that I'm hearing it as such because I've had some terrible experiences related to depression in my own life and in the lives of some of my loved ones. (I'm just trying to explain my views on FEPB here for anyone who may not understand, or agree, with me on this subject. I think that you and I are basically on the same page here.)

[drjohncarpenter]

I do like that alternate take much better than the master. The man still could sing, even in the last two years.

Having said that, I have seen the ravages of severe depression in myself, at times in the past, and among some of my family members (my mother was bi-polar, and she committed suicide when I was nine), and among some of my friends, and I just cannot easily enjoy the sound of a vocalist who is consumed by severe depression (and drug addiction), especially when it is adversely affecting his performances.

Even at his best in 1976, Elvis simply sounds so much worse than he did a mere four years earlier. It's hard for me to listen to it.

Very sorry to read about the loss of your mom. And your feelings about the Graceland sessions make perfect sense. Also, it is very hard to record sad songs when you are feeling sad about a beloved pet.

Thanks for your thoughtful words, Doc. My mom could be very emotionally volatile at times, in her bi-polar ups and down, and that was definitely not easy for me to live with as a child, but she did deeply love me and my sister. It has also not been easy for me to live for 32 years without her (being 41 years old).

In the interest of being fair and objective, I can concede that, perhaps, some of my negative feelings about FEPB are colored by the pain and damage that depression has brought into my own life. Elvis sounds depressed to me on this album, and it's painful for me to hear. However, to my ears, Ian Curtis also sounds depressed in some of the great, classic Joy Division material, and I don't feel negatively about his performances in those songs at all. The difference, for me, is that Elvis's voice just seems to be in a decaying state on FEPB, whereas Ian went out of this world with every bit of vocal gift intact.

I'm not saying that I can't, or don't, appreciate Elvis's singing on FEPB at all. He's still Elvis. Some of the greatness is still there. He can still convey deep emotion. However, to me, on this album, his voice just sounds almost mutated too often-- a slowed-down, messed-up, eerie funhouse version of what his great voice once sounded like, only a few years earlier--, and I don't think that I'm hearing it as such because I've had some terrible experiences related to depression in my own life and in the lives of some of my loved ones. (I'm just trying to explain my views on FEPB here for anyone who may not understand, or agree, with me on this subject. I think that you and I are basically on the same page here.)

Absolutely, yes. And you can really hear some of his anguish over Gitlow in the recordings made that evening.

[mike edwards66]

.......you can really hear some of his anguish over Getlow in the recordings made that evening.

Oooh! Look at all the pretty colours.



From September '73, another example of the pleasing languor of the later King at work. A vocal brimming with resonance and compassion, yet undeniably tinged with a pleasing languor. Listen particularly to the line "honey, are you sincere", it speaks volumes.

..

[mysterytrainrideson]

.......you can really hear some of his anguish over Getlow in the recordings made that evening.

Oooh! Look at all the pretty colours.



From September '73, another example of the pleasing languor of the later King at work. A vocal brimming with resonance and compassion, yet undeniably tinged with a pleasing languor. Listen particularly to the line "honey, are you sincere", it speaks volumes.

..

You are one crazy dude...

[mike edwards66]

.......you can really hear some of his anguish over Getlow in the recordings made that evening.

Oooh! Look at all the pretty colours.



From September '73, another example of the pleasing languor of the later King at work. A vocal brimming with resonance and compassion, yet undeniably tinged with a pleasing languor. Listen particularly to the line "honey, are you sincere", it speaks volumes.

..

You are one crazy dude...

No argument there, bud.

[Good Time Charlie]

It's some of the most authentic, honest music he ever made. "Uneasy listening," as one critic called it.

Ironically, the home studio setup was seen as a handicap, to the extent that they later piled on the overdubs. As we've come to know, the "naked" tracks sound quite good. Think of the different reception the album might have received if the TV Room police ID photo (shot just as the sessions got underway) was used on the front cover, with a photo from the session on the back, and 10 undubbed tracks inside.

If Elvis really wanted to escape his image, this was his chance.

I totally agree.

I think if you had coupled the two separate '76 Jungle Room Sessions together, an undubbed 10 track LP marketed as Elvis at home with a creative covert art would have at least been an artistic statement of where Elvis was at at that time in his life.

Personally I wish Elvis would have just been encouraged to record solo with just piano or guitar or with very little backing and sing whatever the hell he liked as no doubt RCA would have captured a bit more of the old magic and some great old Gospel and C&W/R&B tunes.

When he did do that we got 3 of the best recordings; "Danny Boy", "Pledging My Love", "He'll Have to Go". It's rumoured Elvis fooled around with some Platters numbers and of course one can't help but imagining Elvis recording "Unchained Melody" at the piano. Even "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain" would had have likely fared better, as I always feel Elvis tried to sing to hard to make himself heard over the band on a lot of tracks. Had he just sat solo at the piano, I'd be certain you'd see a different more subtle vocal approach.

All he needed was a strong producer...

[drjohncarpenter]

I totally agree.

I think if you had coupled the two separate '76 Jungle Room Sessions together, an undubbed 10 track LP marketed as Elvis at home with a creative covert art would have at least been an artistic statement of where Elvis was at at that time in his life.

Personally I wish Elvis would have just been encouraged to record solo with just piano or guitar or with very little backing and sing whatever the hell he liked as no doubt RCA would have captured a bit more of the old magic and some great old Gospel and C&W/R&B tunes.

When he did do that we got 3 of the best recordings; "Danny Boy", "Pledging My Love", "He'll Have to Go". It's rumoured Elvis fooled around with some Platters numbers and of course one can't help but imagining Elvis recording "Unchained Melody" at the piano. Even "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain" would had have likely fared better, as I always feel Elvis tried to sing to hard to make himself heard over the band on a lot of tracks. Had he just sat solo at the piano, I'd be certain you'd see a different more subtle vocal approach.

All he needed was a strong producer...

Elvis would not have accepted a strong producer at that time. But such a resource could have made a difference. Certainly, some of the quieter recordings he made in the 1970s (Nashville March 1971, Palm Springs 1973, Thompson home, Memphis 1973) are remarkable. Bear in mind, though, that no matter how delicate the production, the evening Elvis cut the Jerry Chesnut songs he was an emotional wreck over the soon-to-succumb-to-kidney-failure Gitlow. Love was coming down. Hard.

[mike edwards66]

This wonderful topic deserves to run and run. It has clearly enabled some, to appreciate hitherto unkown qualities in the later Presley vocals:

.......the evening Elvis cut the Jerry Chesnut songs he was an emotional wreck over the soon-to-succumb-to-kidney-failure Getlow. Love was coming down. Hard.

Don't try to rationalize what you're experiencing, buddy. You'll drive yourself crazy. That's the pleasing languor of the later King washing over you.


Back to '76, and almost, the forgotten song of the sessions "Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall". A bravura performance, at the same time, both heartbreakingly honest and authentic.

Pervasive Presley passion, poured pure ".........but it's over, and I'm done, she left me once and for all............."


..

[rjm]

I do like that alternate take much better than the master. The man still could sing, even in the last two years.

Having said that, I have seen the ravages of severe depression in myself, at times in the past, and among some of my family members (my mother was bi-polar, and she committed suicide when I was nine), and among some of my friends, and I just cannot easily enjoy the sound of a vocalist who is consumed by severe depression (and drug addiction), especially when it is adversely affecting his performances.

Even at his best in 1976, Elvis simply sounds so much worse than he did a mere four years earlier. It's hard for me to listen to it.

Very sorry to read about the loss of your mom. And your feelings about the Graceland sessions make perfect sense. Also, it is very hard to record sad songs when you are feeling sad about a beloved pet.

Thanks for your thoughtful words, Doc. My mom could be very emotionally volatile at times, in her bi-polar ups and down, and that was definitely not easy for me to live with as a child, but she did deeply love me and my sister. It has also not been easy for me to live for 32 years without her (being 41 years old).

In the interest of being fair and objective, I can concede that, perhaps, some of my negative feelings about FEPB are colored by the pain and damage that depression has brought into my own life. Elvis sounds depressed to me on this album, and it's painful for me to hear. However, to my ears, Ian Curtis also sounds depressed in some of the great, classic Joy Division material, and I don't feel negatively about his performances in those songs at all. The difference, for me, is that Elvis's voice just seems to be in a decaying state on FEPB, whereas Ian went out of this world with every bit of vocal gift intact.

I'm not saying that I can't, or don't, appreciate Elvis's singing on FEPB at all. He's still Elvis. Some of the greatness is still there. He can still convey deep emotion. However, to me, on this album, his voice just sounds almost mutated too often-- a slowed-down, messed-up, eerie funhouse version of what his great voice once sounded like, only a few years earlier--, and I don't think that I'm hearing it as such because I've had some terrible experiences related to depression in my own life and in the lives of some of my loved ones. (I'm just trying to explain my views on FEPB here for anyone who may not understand, or agree, with me on this subject. I think that you and I are basically on the same page here.)

I would also like to express my condolences about your mom.

As for the music, I listened to it almost obsessively in the months and actually, the whole year after he died. From 1977 to 1978. It allowed me to wallow in the sadness, the melancholy. I wanted to do that at that time. In a way, it helped. But after that, I got tired of most of it, except for "Danny Boy."

"Hurt" is a good recording, but it's not a favorite of mine, particularly. But "Danny Boy" is. Other than that, I listened to it less and less as I matured into a full adult. It didn't give me the "pleasing languor" that it did when I was a bereft teen, mourning the death of my idol.

rjm
P.S. -- Sorry to confuse "Tex" with what I thought was "Rex." I haven't had a dog since I was 13. (My dad had one, but it was his dog, not mine. A large Malamute. Mine was a poodle.) I did kinda "fall for" a friend's Maltese back in the '90s. I miss him a lot. "Kahuna." Never forget him.

[drjohncarpenter]

Thanks for your thoughtful words, Doc. My mom could be very emotionally volatile at times, in her bi-polar ups and down, and that was definitely not easy for me to live with as a child, but she did deeply love me and my sister. It has also not been easy for me to live for 32 years without her (being 41 years old).

In the interest of being fair and objective, I can concede that, perhaps, some of my negative feelings about FEPB are colored by the pain and damage that depression has brought into my own life. Elvis sounds depressed to me on this album, and it's painful for me to hear. However, to my ears, Ian Curtis also sounds depressed in some of the great, classic Joy Division material, and I don't feel negatively about his performances in those songs at all. The difference, for me, is that Elvis's voice just seems to be in a decaying state on FEPB, whereas Ian went out of this world with every bit of vocal gift intact.

I'm not saying that I can't, or don't, appreciate Elvis's singing on FEPB at all. He's still Elvis. Some of the greatness is still there. He can still convey deep emotion. However, to me, on this album, his voice just sounds almost mutated too often-- a slowed-down, messed-up, eerie funhouse version of what his great voice once sounded like, only a few years earlier--, and I don't think that I'm hearing it as such because I've had some terrible experiences related to depression in my own life and in the lives of some of my loved ones. (I'm just trying to explain my views on FEPB here for anyone who may not understand, or agree, with me on this subject. I think that you and I are basically on the same page here.)

I would also like to express my condolences about your mom.

As for the music, I listened to it almost obsessively in the months and actually, the whole year after he died. From 1977 to 1978. It allowed me to wallow in the sadness, the melancholy. I wanted to do that at that time. In a way, it helped. But after that, I got tired of most of it, except for "Danny Boy."

"Hurt" is a good recording, but it's not a favorite of mine, particularly. But "Danny Boy" is. Other than that, I listened to it less and less as I matured into a full adult. It didn't give me the "pleasing languor" that it did when I was a bereft teen, mourning the death of my idol.

rjm
P.S. -- Sorry to confuse "Tex" with what I thought was "Rex." I haven't had a dog since I was 13. (My dad had one, but it was his dog, not mine. A large Malamute. Mine was a poodle.) I did kinda "fall for" a friend's Maltese back in the '90s. I miss him a lot. "Kahuna." Never forget him.

No worries. But it seems you can certainly relate to the melancholy brought about by the loss of a parent, or of a beloved pet. For Elvis, he felt the pain of losing Tex and put that emotion into his stellar 1956 master of "Old Shep."

Twenty years later, that pain was revisited the night Presley recorded those Jerry Chesnut titles. In those tracks we hear him say goodbye to his good friend, man's best friend, Gitlow.

[mike edwards66]

........In those tracks we hear him say goodbye to his good friend, man's best friend, Getlow.

That was your best one yet. I'll give you that.

The pleasing languor of the later King, the gift that keeps on giving.

[rjm]

Thanks for your thoughtful words, Doc. My mom could be very emotionally volatile at times, in her bi-polar ups and down, and that was definitely not easy for me to live with as a child, but she did deeply love me and my sister. It has also not been easy for me to live for 32 years without her (being 41 years old).

In the interest of being fair and objective, I can concede that, perhaps, some of my negative feelings about FEPB are colored by the pain and damage that depression has brought into my own life. Elvis sounds depressed to me on this album, and it's painful for me to hear. However, to my ears, Ian Curtis also sounds depressed in some of the great, classic Joy Division material, and I don't feel negatively about his performances in those songs at all. The difference, for me, is that Elvis's voice just seems to be in a decaying state on FEPB, whereas Ian went out of this world with every bit of vocal gift intact.

I'm not saying that I can't, or don't, appreciate Elvis's singing on FEPB at all. He's still Elvis. Some of the greatness is still there. He can still convey deep emotion. However, to me, on this album, his voice just sounds almost mutated too often-- a slowed-down, messed-up, eerie funhouse version of what his great voice once sounded like, only a few years earlier--, and I don't think that I'm hearing it as such because I've had some terrible experiences related to depression in my own life and in the lives of some of my loved ones. (I'm just trying to explain my views on FEPB here for anyone who may not understand, or agree, with me on this subject. I think that you and I are basically on the same page here.)

I would also like to express my condolences about your mom.

As for the music, I listened to it almost obsessively in the months and actually, the whole year after he died. From 1977 to 1978. It allowed me to wallow in the sadness, the melancholy. I wanted to do that at that time. In a way, it helped. But after that, I got tired of most of it, except for "Danny Boy."

"Hurt" is a good recording, but it's not a favorite of mine, particularly. But "Danny Boy" is. Other than that, I listened to it less and less as I matured into a full adult. It didn't give me the "pleasing languor" that it did when I was a bereft teen, mourning the death of my idol.

rjm
P.S. -- Sorry to confuse "Tex" with what I thought was "Rex." I haven't had a dog since I was 13. (My dad had one, but it was his dog, not mine. A large Malamute. Mine was a poodle.) I did kinda "fall for" a friend's Maltese back in the '90s. I miss him a lot. "Kahuna." Never forget him.

No worries. But it seems you can certainly relate to the melancholy brought about by the loss of a parent, or of a beloved pet. For Elvis, he felt the pain of losing Tex and put that emotion into his stellar 1956 master of "Old Shep."

Twenty years later, that pain was revisited the night Presley recorded those Jerry Chesnut titles. In those tracks we hear him say goodbye to his good friend, man's best friend, Getlow.

Maybe it brought back early memories to him of that time with his first pet, and losing him. Back then, he still had his mother and I am sure she comforted him regarding the loss. So, perhaps his melancholy was triggered by Getlow's dying, but also brought back memories of a time he'd never get back. A time when he wasn't so lonesome.

Because people can talk about the physical cause of his death, yet miss the reasons for it. He was alone. Especially then. His relationships with various girlfriends were on the shallow side and the guys were either leaving, or he was tiring of them. I would say he was just very alone as 1976 wore on into his last year.

So, this was one more loss in his life, one more sign that he was alone. His father was not well and he talked about that. His father was in danger, he lost his mother long ago, his wife had left him, he had to always give Lisa "back," his girlfriends tended to leave him, many of the guys weren't around anymore, and now even his dog was dying.

Elvis had no siblings. It's hard for non-onlies to understand what that's like when you start to mature. The silence surrounding you becomes deafening. (You ever ate breakfast on a Sunday morning staring at a wall? I speak of a time just before the Internet. It's you, bagels & cream cheese, the Sunday NY Times, and no one for 3000 miles to share it with. Not even a dog. Just a blank wall. And you're in your 30s and think "this will only get worse.")

Yes, he did have a daughter - another only child, but mostly he was alone and I think he felt that his future would be much worse.

(He would have been wrong. He had 4 grandchildren and his granddaughter just got married! I don't think he even imagined that at 42. It wasn't real to him - a better future. He had a good future awaiting him - but at the time, he was very scared.)

Bruce Springsteen said it best about Elvis's death. "When you're alone, I guess you're just alone." (I think I got that one as he said it. But the way he said it captured the feeling.) That's why he died. He was alone and feared more aloneness.

rjm

Sent via my most phabulous phablet, the Galaxy Note 4

[Good Time Charlie]

I totally agree.

I think if you had coupled the two separate '76 Jungle Room Sessions together, an undubbed 10 track LP marketed as Elvis at home with a creative covert art would have at least been an artistic statement of where Elvis was at at that time in his life.

Personally I wish Elvis would have just been encouraged to record solo with just piano or guitar or with very little backing and sing whatever the hell he liked as no doubt RCA would have captured a bit more of the old magic and some great old Gospel and C&W/R&B tunes.

When he did do that we got 3 of the best recordings; "Danny Boy", "Pledging My Love", "He'll Have to Go". It's rumoured Elvis fooled around with some Platters numbers and of course one can't help but imagining Elvis recording "Unchained Melody" at the piano. Even "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain" would had have likely fared better, as I always feel Elvis tried to sing to hard to make himself heard over the band on a lot of tracks. Had he just sat solo at the piano, I'd be certain you'd see a different more subtle vocal approach.

All he needed was a strong producer...

Elvis would not have accepted a strong producer at that time. But such a resource could have made a difference. Certainly, some of the quieter recordings he made in the 1970s (Nashville March 1971, Palm Springs 1973, Thompson home, Memphis 1973) are remarkable. Bear in mind, though, that no matter how delicate the production, the evening Elvis cut the Jerry Chesnut songs he was an emotional wreck over the soon-to-succumb-to-kidney-failure Getlow. Love was coming down. Hard.

As soon as I made my post I thought about the home recordings made at the Thompson home in 1973. "See See Rider" is incomparable to his concert performances of the song.

Elvis needed a producer who was strong but clever in their approach. He needed coaxing from somebody he trusted. It's clear that Elvis became disengaged with the recording process as the 70s wore on, yet seemingly nobody seemed to sit Elvis down and discuss it. What's the point in turning up and just going through the motions?

I agree Elvis didn't have the motivation or will power to fully engage in a project like his American Sound sessions of 1969 anymore but had management (Colonel, RCA, Felton) just said look sing whatever the hell you like, here's a piano, here's a Guitar, sing for your own pleasure at home like you do anyway but with the RCA tapes rolling. Of course Charlie Hodge would be at hand and perhaps key TCB band members.

Don't forget as far back as 1958 Parker had wanted Elvis to try this approach.

[elvisjock]

Thanks for your thoughtful words, Doc. My mom could be very emotionally volatile at times, in her bi-polar ups and down, and that was definitely not easy for me to live with as a child, but she did deeply love me and my sister. It has also not been easy for me to live for 32 years without her (being 41 years old).

In the interest of being fair and objective, I can concede that, perhaps, some of my negative feelings about FEPB are colored by the pain and damage that depression has brought into my own life. Elvis sounds depressed to me on this album, and it's painful for me to hear. However, to my ears, Ian Curtis also sounds depressed in some of the great, classic Joy Division material, and I don't feel negatively about his performances in those songs at all. The difference, for me, is that Elvis's voice just seems to be in a decaying state on FEPB, whereas Ian went out of this world with every bit of vocal gift intact.

I'm not saying that I can't, or don't, appreciate Elvis's singing on FEPB at all. He's still Elvis. Some of the greatness is still there. He can still convey deep emotion. However, to me, on this album, his voice just sounds almost mutated too often-- a slowed-down, messed-up, eerie funhouse version of what his great voice once sounded like, only a few years earlier--, and I don't think that I'm hearing it as such because I've had some terrible experiences related to depression in my own life and in the lives of some of my loved ones. (I'm just trying to explain my views on FEPB here for anyone who may not understand, or agree, with me on this subject. I think that you and I are basically on the same page here.)

I would also like to express my condolences about your mom.

As for the music, I listened to it almost obsessively in the months and actually, the whole year after he died. From 1977 to 1978. It allowed me to wallow in the sadness, the melancholy. I wanted to do that at that time. In a way, it helped. But after that, I got tired of most of it, except for "Danny Boy."

"Hurt" is a good recording, but it's not a favorite of mine, particularly. But "Danny Boy" is. Other than that, I listened to it less and less as I matured into a full adult. It didn't give me the "pleasing languor" that it did when I was a bereft teen, mourning the death of my idol.

rjm
P.S. -- Sorry to confuse "Tex" with what I thought was "Rex." I haven't had a dog since I was 13. (My dad had one, but it was his dog, not mine. A large Malamute. Mine was a poodle.) I did kinda "fall for" a friend's Maltese back in the '90s. I miss him a lot. "Kahuna." Never forget him.

No worries. But it seems you can certainly relate to the melancholy brought about by the loss of a parent, or of a beloved pet. For Elvis, he felt the pain of losing Tex and put that emotion into his stellar 1956 master of "Old Shep."

Twenty years later, that pain was revisited the night Presley recorded those Jerry Chesnut titles. In those tracks we hear him say goodbye to his good friend, man's best friend, Getlow.

Maybe it brought back early memories to him of that time with his first pet, and losing him. Back then, he still had his mother and I am sure she comforted him regarding the loss. So, perhaps his melancholy was triggered by Getlow's dying, but also brought back memories of a time he'd never get back. A time when he wasn't so lonesome.

Because people can talk about the physical cause of his death, yet miss the reasons for it. He was alone. Especially then. His relationships with various girlfriends were on the shallow side and the guys were either leaving, or he was tiring of them. I would say he was just very alone as 1976 wore on into his last year.

So, this was one more loss in his life, one more sign that he was alone. His father was not well and he talked about that. His father was in danger, he lost his mother long ago, his wife had left him, he had to always give Lisa "back," his girlfriends tended to leave him, many of the guys weren't around anymore, and now even his dog was dying.

Elvis had no siblings. It's hard for non-onlies to understand what that's like when you start to mature. The silence surrounding you becomes deafening. (You ever ate breakfast on a Sunday morning staring at a wall? I speak of a time just before the Internet. It's you, bagels & cream cheese, the Sunday NY Times, and no one for 3000 miles to share it with. Not even a dog. Just a blank wall. And you're in your 30s and think "this will only get worse.")

Yes, he did have a daughter - another only child, but mostly he was alone and I think he felt that his future would be much worse.

(He would have been wrong. He had 4 grandchildren and his granddaughter just got married! I don't think he even imagined that at 42. It wasn't real to him - a better future. He had a good future awaiting him - but at the time, he was very scared.)

Bruce Springsteen said it best about Elvis's death. "When you're alone, I guess you're just alone." (I think I got that one as he said it. But the way he said it captured the feeling.) That's why he died. He was alone and feared more aloneness.

rjm

Sent via my most phabulous phablet, the Galaxy Note 4

I am. And, I was.

[mike edwards66]

Thanks for your thoughtful words, Doc. My mom could be very emotionally volatile at times, in her bi-polar ups and down, and that was definitely not easy for me to live with as a child, but she did deeply love me and my sister. It has also not been easy for me to live for 32 years without her (being 41 years old).

In the interest of being fair and objective, I can concede that, perhaps, some of my negative feelings about FEPB are colored by the pain and damage that depression has brought into my own life. Elvis sounds depressed to me on this album, and it's painful for me to hear. However, to my ears, Ian Curtis also sounds depressed in some of the great, classic Joy Division material, and I don't feel negatively about his performances in those songs at all. The difference, for me, is that Elvis's voice just seems to be in a decaying state on FEPB, whereas Ian went out of this world with every bit of vocal gift intact.

I'm not saying that I can't, or don't, appreciate Elvis's singing on FEPB at all. He's still Elvis. Some of the greatness is still there. He can still convey deep emotion. However, to me, on this album, his voice just sounds almost mutated too often-- a slowed-down, messed-up, eerie funhouse version of what his great voice once sounded like, only a few years earlier--, and I don't think that I'm hearing it as such because I've had some terrible experiences related to depression in my own life and in the lives of some of my loved ones. (I'm just trying to explain my views on FEPB here for anyone who may not understand, or agree, with me on this subject. I think that you and I are basically on the same page here.)

I would also like to express my condolences about your mom.

As for the music, I listened to it almost obsessively in the months and actually, the whole year after he died. From 1977 to 1978. It allowed me to wallow in the sadness, the melancholy. I wanted to do that at that time. In a way, it helped. But after that, I got tired of most of it, except for "Danny Boy."

"Hurt" is a good recording, but it's not a favorite of mine, particularly. But "Danny Boy" is. Other than that, I listened to it less and less as I matured into a full adult. It didn't give me the "pleasing languor" that it did when I was a bereft teen, mourning the death of my idol.

rjm
P.S. -- Sorry to confuse "Tex" with what I thought was "Rex." I haven't had a dog since I was 13. (My dad had one, but it was his dog, not mine. A large Malamute. Mine was a poodle.) I did kinda "fall for" a friend's Maltese back in the '90s. I miss him a lot. "Kahuna." Never forget him.

No worries. But it seems you can certainly relate to the melancholy brought about by the loss of a parent, or of a beloved pet. For Elvis, he felt the pain of losing Tex and put that emotion into his stellar 1956 master of "Old Shep."

Twenty years later, that pain was revisited the night Presley recorded those Jerry Chesnut titles. In those tracks we hear him say goodbye to his good friend, man's best friend, Getlow.

Maybe it brought back early memories to him of that time with his first pet, and losing him. Back then, he still had his mother and I am sure she comforted him regarding the loss. So, perhaps his melancholy was triggered by Getlow's dying, but also brought back memories of a time he'd never get back. A time when he wasn't so lonesome.

Because people can talk about the physical cause of his death, yet miss the reasons for it. He was alone. Especially then. His relationships with various girlfriends were on the shallow side and the guys were either leaving, or he was tiring of them. I would say he was just very alone as 1976 wore on into his last year.

So, this was one more loss in his life, one more sign that he was alone. His father was not well and he talked about that. His father was in danger, he lost his mother long ago, his wife had left him, he had to always give Lisa "back," his girlfriends tended to leave him, many of the guys weren't around anymore, and now even his dog was dying.

Elvis had no siblings. It's hard for non-onlies to understand what that's like when you start to mature. The silence surrounding you becomes deafening. (You ever ate breakfast on a Sunday morning staring at a wall? I speak of a time just before the Internet. It's you, bagels & cream cheese, the Sunday NY Times, and no one for 3000 miles to share it with. Not even a dog. Just a blank wall. And you're in your 30s and think "this will only get worse.")

Yes, he did have a daughter - another only child, but mostly he was alone and I think he felt that his future would be much worse.

(He would have been wrong. He had 4 grandchildren and his granddaughter just got married! I don't think he even imagined that at 42. It wasn't real to him - a better future. He had a good future awaiting him - but at the time, he was very scared.)

Bruce Springsteen said it best about Elvis's death. "When you're alone, I guess you're just alone." (I think I got that one as he said it. But the way he said it captured the feeling.) That's why he died. He was alone and feared more aloneness.

rjm

Sent via my most phabulous phablet, the Galaxy Note 4

rjm, thank you for this insightful, compassionate post. I guess those who've never suffered through depression cannot understand how it feels, but when you are in that state, the mind is not rational, logical, all it can imagine is darkness, hopelessness; things are not going to get better, it will only get worse. That's where Elvis appeared to be in 1976. I've been there myself.

Thanks for those touching posts, guys. I've never been there myself, thankfully. But I have seen it at close-hand.