Beyond The Reef

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charroman
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Beyond The Reef

#1385310

Post by charroman »

I was intrigued to know the reasoning behind RCA undertaking an overdub session for the song Beyond The Reef in August 1968. Considering that this was some 2 years after it was recorded.

I may have missed if this has been discussed before but are there thoughts as to any specific project it may have been considered for???




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charroman
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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by charroman »

May have answered my own question but anyone here know exactly the release date for Elvis Sings Flaming Star. I have seen release dates as varied as Oct 68 thru to March 69 etc.

Guess its possible the overdub was tried as a potential track for Elvis Sings Flaming Star??? whats the opinion?
Had it turned out better perhaps it may have replaced Yellow Rose of Texas or something else????



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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by bajo »

I don't really know the story behind Beyond The Reef. But, the various release dates for Flaming Star may be that it was first released by the Singer company and then later by RCA Camden. There was a deal between RCA and Singer made out in connection with the making of the NBC TV special. I know there are people in here who knows more details about it! :)


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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by charroman »

bajo wrote:I don't really know the story behind Beyond The Reef. But, the various release dates for Flaming Star may be that it was first released by the Singer company and then later by RCA Camden. There was a deal between RCA and Singer made out in connection with the making of the NBC TV special. I know there are people in here who knows more details about it! :)
Thanks Bajo and I yes of course you have reminded me there was the NBC / Singer link which perhaps suggests the Flaming Star LP was in production a lot earlier in 68 to tie in with the promotion for Singer. Certainly earlier than the August 68 overdub session for Beyond The Reef. Just strikes me as odd that it appears to have been singled out for additional work over 2 years after it was recorded and with it having very much a "group" vocal sound to it etc



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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by LesterB »

I remember NME reviewing the single in the UK as simply - "beyond belief".


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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by colonel snow »

Beyond the reef wasn't included in the Singer / NBC deal according to the assigned matrixnumbers in 1968; a few left overs from recording sessions like Night life - The yellow rose of Texas - Do the vega - Mama and even Danny were part of the deal.


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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by Bodie »

Charlie Hodge's vocals completely ruin the song for me.

Painful to listen to.

Much better songs from 1966 on the Red West tapes.




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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by stevelecher »

I bought the Elvis Sings Flaming Star LP at a Singer sewing machine shop in (approx) early November 1968, well before the special was broadcast in December. Yes, sometime in 1969, (Was it as early as March? Who can remember exactly?) it hit regular shops as a Camden release. Funny that this little promotional Singer album was the best Elvis album to come out in about two years, comparing it to Double Trouble, Clambake, and Speedway.




HoneyTalkNelson

Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by HoneyTalkNelson »

From Billboard
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.




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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by Scarre »

Bodie wrote:Charlie Hodge's vocals completely ruin the song for me.

Painful to listen to.

Much better songs from 1966 on the Red West tapes.
It could have been better, but it doesn´t ruin it, at all.




JerryNodak

Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by JerryNodak »

Personally, My ears find the end results of Beyond The Reef (Charlie and overdubs included) very satisfying. I much prefer the overdubbed version to the undubbed.



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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by splanky »

There are at least two different overdubs on Beyond The Reef . The latest on the FTD release Guitar Man .Female voices and different steel are added .


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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by stevelecher »

I will probably live the rest of my life without hearing Beyond The Reef again.



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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by Jim Dandy »

Beyond Belief lol mate that song sucks!
Single material? Slit your own throat music.


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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by matilda »

It was released in germany with the are you lonesome tonight laughing version as a single in the 80s.



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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by Elfan »

It reached #3 on the U.K chart in 1980 as a double A side single coupled with 'It's Only Love'.



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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by LesterB »

Elfan wrote:It reached #3 on the U.K chart in 1980 as a double A side single coupled with 'It's Only Love'.
Thats when NME reviewed it as Beyond Belief :)

I thought Its Only Love reached number 2?


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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by Scarre »

Jim Dandy wrote:Beyond Belief lol mate that song sucks!
Single material? Slit your own throat music.


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Come on. It's not that bad.




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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by TheMaskedClown »

Elfan wrote:It reached #3 on the U.K chart in 1980 as a double A side single coupled with 'It's Only Love'.
Wasn't that released on 12" vinyl?



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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by Elfan »

TheMaskedClown wrote:Wasn't that released on 12" vinyl?
Yes, it was available on 7" and 12" vinyl.



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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by drjohncarpenter »

charroman wrote:I was intrigued to know the reasoning behind RCA undertaking an overdub session for the song Beyond The Reef in August 1968. Considering that this was some 2 years after it was recorded.

I may have missed if this has been discussed before but are there thoughts as to any specific project it may have been considered for???




Perhaps Elvis made mention of it to RCA's Felton Jarvis, and so work was done on it. But, despite the lack of paperwork, one would assume it was most likely somehow in the line-up for the Singer promo LP, due to be sold exclusively in their stores in October. Nearly the entire album was made up of unissued Presley music. Obviously, it did not make the cut.

As for the song, Elvis must have known of it as far back as high school, and Bing Crosby's hit recording in 1950, and perhaps was familiar with a nice rendition Marty Robbins released in late 1957. Here's where you can find the Presley studio takes:

"Beyond The Reef" (t1) - Elvis Sings Guitar Man (FTD)
"Beyond The Reef" (t2) - Elvis Sings Guitar Man (FTD), Elvis: From Nashville To Memphis
"Beyond The Reef" (t2 w/some 1968 overdubs) - Elvis Aron Presley
"Beyond The Reef" (t2 w/all 1968 overdubs) - Elvis Sings Guitar Man (FTD)

There's also a Presley home demo from 1966, issued over 14 (!!) years ago:

In A Private Moment (FTD)
http://www.elvisinnorway.no/inaprivate.html

A nice mid-sixties, unaired TV performance by Robbins, with Jerry Byrd playing the same kind of lap steel guitar heard on the Presley overdub session a few years later, is on YouTube:




Marty Robbins w/Jerry Byrd "Beyond The Reef" ("The Drifter," unreleased syndicated series, 1965)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3801230/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Byrd
Last edited by drjohncarpenter on Thu Nov 24, 2022 3:40 am, edited 1 time in total.


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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by bajo »

HoneyTalkNelson wrote:From Billboard
Strange as it may be, but I actually bought my Camden copy of Flaming Star in Toronto in 1969. I was a merchant sailor at the time. I still have that album in mint condition! :D


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Re: Beyond The Reef

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Post by rockinrebel »

Scarre wrote:
Jim Dandy wrote:Beyond Belief lol mate that song sucks!
Single material? Slit your own throat music.


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Come on. It's not that bad.
I've always enjoyed the song. I agree that it isn't single material, but I think that RCA UK made a clever coupling when the song was issued as the flip side to "It's Only Love" back in 1980.

The A side was unknown outside of the Presley fan base, having not been issued in the U.K. until the "Elvis In Demand" compilation in 1977, and "Reef" was a brand new song which was only otherwise available as part of an expensive box set, which proved to be a great selling point for the single.


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