Worst Lifetime Album Decision

[Austin]

What, in your opinion, was the worst decision that was made (or, in a sense, wasn't made) regarding album releases during Elvis' lifetime?

Pretty much all of these options are criminal, IMO, but the fact that there was no proper 1972 album, and the hit singles were thrown away to Camden albums, takes the cake as far as I'm concerned.

[poormadpeter2]

I don't think a lack of Sun album in the 1950s was a bad decision - nobody knew the importance of that material at the time and, as far as RCA were concerned, it was simply a warm-up for what Elvis had to offer. Rock n roll certainly wasn't considered to be anything but a brief trend at the time - it had no historical significance - and things like music or art only take on historical significance over time...not a year or two after they occur.

In the end, none the choices above would have made a great deal of difference as to how Elvis was perceived at the time, or how he is perceived now.

A folk album would have been very nice, but there wasn't enough material in the vaults with which to put one together unless, as I have suggested elsewhere, Don't Think Twice was given the whole of the second side.

Again, there wasn't enough material for an album made up of 1972 studio material alone - there would have had to be leftovers from previous years.

Viva Las Vegas is looked on as a classic film now, but it has taken on that title over the decades, and it was not an "instant classic." The lack of soundtrack album made no sense, however, but even so there are still some duds, and it wouldn't have made anyone look on that period any differently.

The 1963 studio material was pleasant enough, but out of touch with what was going on in the charts of the time (as Pot Luck had been, but more so this time around). A release of that material at the time would have just been another example of Elvis out of touch.

The Tomorrow is a Long Time album would, presumably, have been made up of secular material from 1966 and 1967 - material we look on now with fondness, but the singles such as Big Boss Man and Guitar Man made little impact at the time, and an album would have probably had just as little impact.

And that leaves me with my choice - Gold Records 5, which could have released in 1973 after the Aloha event, to act as a kind of punctuation point in Elvis's career. It could have pulled together twelve sides from 1968-1973 that showed Elvis as a current, successful artist - just as the UK Hits of the 70s did (it also concentrated on the same period although it came out later). The release of such an album in 1973 would have probably meant another big seller following Aloha, and would have given Elvis time to produce some more quality material for later releases, thus shelving the Fool album and Raised on Rock.

In the end, though, none of the above would have made little difference in all likelihood - the worst album choices were to do with what WAS released rather than what WASN'T.

[Austin]

In the end, though, none of the above would have made little difference in all likelihood - the worst album choices were to do with what WAS released rather than what WASN'T.

Yeah that could be a whole 'nother poll.

I know which one you would pick...

wonderful christmas.jpg

[poormadpeter2]

In the end, though, none of the above would have made little difference in all likelihood - the worst album choices were to do with what WAS released rather than what WASN'T.

Yeah that could be a whole 'nother poll.

I know which one you would pick...

wonderful christmas.jpg

I think it's a bore and depressing, but there were worst choices than that. Love Letters is key because it started the trend of scraping the bottom of the barrel in the 1970s, EP Boulevard was the album that showed a severe decline in Elvis's capabilities in his final years, and Harum Scarum was the worst mix of bad material and bad performances that Elvis put out.

[Rob]

If you're strictly talking in Elvis' lifetime, I'd say it was a poor decision to release this.



I bought it when I was 12 years-old and remember thinking, "What the hell?"

And I wasn't even allowed to say "Hell" at the time.

[chop983]

If you're strictly talking in Elvis' lifetime, I'd say it was a poor decision to release this.



I bought it when I was 12 years-old and remember thinking, "What the hell?"

And I wasn't even allowed to say "Hell" at the time.

And Elvis isn't even that funny.

[stevelecher]

Harum Scarum was the worst mix of bad material and bad performances that Elvis put out.

Harum Scarum is a masterpiece compared to PHS and I'd listen to it over ROR and Kissin' Cousins too.

[ritchie valens]

worst album decisions
1950s no sun lp
1960s for the asking never released,1967/1968 A guitar man type lp.
1970-TTwii no proper soundtrack
1971 Elvis now with all 1971 songs and not songs from 1969/1970
Elvis Festival orignal title and lineup for love letters lp.
The Sound Of Your Cry
Cindy, Cindy
Got My Mojo Working / Keep Your Hands Off Of It
I'll Never Know
It Ain't No Big Thing
This Is Our Dance
Heart Of Rome
When I'm Over You
If I Were You
Sylvia
Love Letters
1972 Elvis on tour proper soundtrack

[Juan Luis]

If you're strictly talking in Elvis' lifetime, I'd say it was a poor decision to release this.



I bought it when I was 12 years-old and remember thinking, "What the hell?"

And I wasn't even allowed to say "Hell" at the time.

And Elvis isn't even that funny.

I read the top right corner and refused to purchase it when I fist saw it in the record shop. More so, seeing it didn't have a discount price either.

[drjohncarpenter]

What, in your opinion, was the worst decision that was made (or, in a sense, wasn't made) regarding album releases during Elvis' lifetime?

Pretty much all of these options are criminal, IMO, but the fact that there was no proper 1972 album, and the hit singles were thrown away to Camden albums, takes the cake as far as I'm concerned.

No proper Viva Las Vegas album
No 1972 studio album
No 1971 Folk album
No 1963 studio album
No Tomorrow Is A Long Time album(s)
No proper Gold Records, Vol. 5
No proper Sun album in the '50s

Some of your choices were never to be LPs, such as the "1971 Folk album." After illness cut short the March session that year, which seemed to be leaning in a folk direction, the next dates in May had a completely different set of agendas. And Sun Records didn't really do albums in the 1950s, and especially not in the period Elvis was signed to the label.

If we are looking at crucial junctures in Presley's career, these are definitely unfortunate from an artistic point of view:

- May 1963 studio sessions not compiled into LP
- July-September 1963 soundtrack session ("Viva Las Vegas") not compiled into LP

The mid-sixties was when Elvis' career nose-dived because of over-reliance on the Hollywood formula concocted by management. With the above two LPs coming to fruition, at the very least the decline might have been slowed. In particular, "Viva Las Vegas" was a high-quality, star-powered MGM production that got the short shrift by management for almost inexplicable reasons. Elvis never again made as successful a film, but the record releases never really supported it, despite the hugely positive fan reaction in 1964, and beyond.

Another terrible album decision was the RCA follow-up to Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite. The live double LP made it to #1 in May 1973, and followed the ratings success of the April 1973 NBC-TV broadcast. Surely, new fans were in place and primed for something exciting. What they got that summer was a nice image from the "Aloha" broadcast show as the album art, and an LP filled with mostly unremarkable, years-old studio leftovers and a live Perry Como cover. New fans? Bye-bye.

http://www.elvisinnorway.no/elvisfool.html

[Hobbes]

The decision to release so many albums in the early 1970s was one of the factors that killed the momentum of the comeback. It caused RCA to scrap the bottom of the barrel for every last scrap when they could have focused on a smaller number of high quality albums and spent more energy promoting them and their singles.

[poormadpeter2]

worst album decisions
1950s no sun lp
1960s for the asking never released,1967/1968 A guitar man type lp.
1970-TTwii no proper soundtrack
1971 Elvis now with all 1971 songs and not songs from 1969/1970
Elvis Festival orignal title and lineup for love letters lp.
The Sound Of Your Cry
Cindy, Cindy
Got My Mojo Working / Keep Your Hands Off Of It
I'll Never Know
It Ain't No Big Thing
This Is Our Dance
Heart Of Rome
When I'm Over You
If I Were You
Sylvia
Love Letters
1972 Elvis on tour proper soundtrack

I really don't see how the Elvis Festival lineup was much better than what we got under the title "Love Letters from Elvis." The only thing that holds the album together, bizarrely, are the overdubs which use woodwind prominently in a way that had not been done before on an Elvis album and, thankfully, was not done again - it made it feel like music for an elevator (Cindy Cindy and Got My Mojo Working aside). It was almost as if there was a concerted attempt to make an Engelbert Humperdinck album. Without the overdubs, the music is certainly better and at least listenable in a way it isn't on the released album.

As for the EOT soundtrack, it would have meant that the MSG album didn't happen and, while I'm not a fan of it, the performances were at least more exciting. What's more EOT wasn't released until November 1972, meaning that it would also clash with the Aloha release as well.

[Austin]

Another terrible album decision was the RCA follow-up to Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite. The live double LP made it to #1 in May 1973, and followed the ratings success of the April 1973 NBC-TV broadcast. Surely, new fans were in place and primed for something exciting. What they got that summer was a nice image from the "Aloha" broadcast show as the album art, and an LP filled with mostly unremarkable, years-old studio leftovers and a live Perry Como cover. New fans? Bye-bye.

This is true; I've always thought Elvis' Gold Records, Vol. 5 would have been best released in 1973 as the follow-up to the Aloha album, rather than in 1971 as most claim was a better time.

If any new fans had followed would have followed-up, they would have been blessed with Elvis' best contemporary singles such as Suspicious Minds, Kentucky Rain, and I'm Leavin'. Huge missed opportunity.

As for the EOT soundtrack, it would have meant that the MSG album didn't happen and, while I'm not a fan of it, the performances were at least more exciting. What's more EOT wasn't released until November 1972, meaning that it would also clash with the Aloha release as well.

Well we really could have had our cake and eaten it too in this case. An October or November release of a studio album containing most or all seven of the March session cuts plus a couple of the February live cuts that ended up being on Aloha or Fool anyway (It's Over, It's Impossible, Big Hunk), probably would not have interfered with either the former or latter release too much.

Any contemporary covers left off out of the Aloha concert meant that some classics that Elvis still liked to perform could have been added, such as It's Now or Never, Reconsider Baby, or Lawdy Miss Clawdy.

[poormadpeter2]

Another terrible album decision was the RCA follow-up to Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite. The live double LP made it to #1 in May 1973, and followed the ratings success of the April 1973 NBC-TV broadcast. Surely, new fans were in place and primed for something exciting. What they got that summer was a nice image from the "Aloha" broadcast show as the album art, and an LP filled with mostly unremarkable, years-old studio leftovers and a live Perry Como cover. New fans? Bye-bye.

This is true; I've always thought Elvis' Gold Records, Vol. 5 would have been best released in 1973 as the follow-up to the Aloha album, rather than in 1971 as most claim was a better time.

If any new fans had followed would have followed-up, they would have been blessed with Elvis' best contemporary singles such as Suspicious Minds, Kentucky Rain, and I'm Leavin'. Huge missed opportunity.

As for the EOT soundtrack, it would have meant that the MSG album didn't happen and, while I'm not a fan of it, the performances were at least more exciting. What's more EOT wasn't released until November 1972, meaning that it would also clash with the Aloha release as well.

Well we really could have had our cake and eaten it too in this case. An October or November release of a studio album containing most or all seven of the March session cuts plus a couple of the February live cuts that ended up being on Aloha or Fool anyway (It's Over, It's Impossible, Big Hunk), probably would not have interfered with either the former or latter release too much.

Any contemporary covers left off out of the Aloha concert meant that some classics that Elvis still liked to perform could have been added, such as It's Now or Never, Reconsider Baby, or Lawdy Miss Clawdy.

No, that wouldn't have been possible. RCA stipulated that 8 new tracks not recorded by Elvis before should be included. Besides, an album including all the March session would have meant four single sides being included, and that wasn't going to happen either. On Moody Blue it did - but only out of desperation.

[promiseland]

Harum Scarum was the worst mix of bad material and bad performances that Elvis put out.

Harum Scarum is a masterpiece compared to PHS and I'd listen to it over ROR and Kissin' Cousins too.

I would pick Frankie And Johnnie as the worst soundtrack with Harum Scarum a close second for sure.

[midnightx]

There are clearly a handful of noteworthy options to choose from. The mid-60's soundtrack dive was more about an overall change in direction impacting 4-5 years of his career; it wasn't so much about a particular album that did not happen. For the most part, after 1963, there was not enough non-soundtrack, secular recordings to comprise of a viable commercial album. The gross misplacement of Burning Love on a compilation (a budget compilation no less) of largely second-rate soundtrack recordings was appalling, particularly coming off the heels of Love Letters, a project establishing the end of the 1968-1970 period of creative resurgence. Another significantly misguided, baffling decision was RCA's release of Elvis (Fool) as a follow-up to Aloha. Even with a somewhat inconsistent release strategy during the 1968-1970 "comeback" period with an odd mixture of focused mainstream albums, hits complications, and budget releases; there was still a sense that Elvis had returned as a legitimate creative force offering quality studio efforts to be found within the barrage of RCA releases. Love Letters, Elvis Now, Elvis (Fool), as well as budget releases such as Burning Love And Hits From His Movies and Separate Ways only solidified the perception that anything and everything was the new standard.

[rlj4ep]

With all due respect to the albums listed in your poll, I have to suggest a couple of albums not on the list. Placing Burning Love on a budget album surrounded with movie songs is unthinkable. I was a teenager when that was released and thought it was bizarre. Elvis was enjoying incredible popularity and his concerts were selling out. There was the amazing success of the MSG concerts and the soon-to-be Aloha concert. What were they thinking (whomever made the decision).

The other album equally as frustrating is the Having Fun with Elvis On Stage album as mentioned above. I still have my vinyl and it is still in pristine condition as I've listened to it maybe twice in my lifetime. To have these moments with Elvis from various concerts removed from their context, was frustrating.

rlj

[midnightx]

Frankie and Johnny and Harum Scarum are the 2 most pitiful waste of wax to date , and the movies are right behind them.

Hard to argue with that statement. While Harum Scarum offers nothing redeemable, Please Don't Stop Loving Me is arguably salvageable from the Frankie And Johnny soundtrack. Double Trouble is another pitiful soundtrack with not one noteworthy inclusion. Girl Happy is also pretty dire, only slightly saved by the non-movie song inclusion of the underappreciated "You'll Be Gone."

[Juan Luis]

Nothing redeemable from Harum Scarum is a myth. And some robotically think that. I was one until I heard the soundtrack in a serious matter. Way underrated because of sound issues more than anything else, leading to it being written off by many. Anyway, Much better than the PHS and Easy Come, Easy Go, soundtracks to me.

[drjohncarpenter]

Nothing redeemable from Harum Scarum is a myth. And some robotically think that. I was one until I heard the soundtrack in a serious matter. Way underrated because of sound issues more than anything else, leading to it being written off by many. Anyway, Much better than the PHS and Easy Come, Easy Go, soundtracks to me.

The music from 1965 would be nothing without "Golden Coins."

[rlj4ep]

While certainly not worthy of a Grammy, or even lesser awards, the Paradise Hawaiian Style soundtrack offers two songs which I do like. Those being the title song ("Paradise Hawaiian Style") and "Drums of the Island." On the latter the arrangement is good I appreciate Elvis' delivery on that one. But even with that said, the two songs can't carry the rest of the material on the album.

Easy Come Easy Go offers one decent song for me, that being "Sing You Children." To be sure it's not a classic but it's catchy enough for me and good enough for an album cut.

As far as Harum Scarum, the song "So Close and Yet So Far (From Paradise)" is a good song. Harum Holiday is a fun song which fits the movie. I find the tune to be catchy.

Yet with all of that, a serious studio album during this time period would have been nice to have. An album featuring new material and current covers would have been nice at that time in his career. But it seems that Col Parker, RCA, or maybe even Elvis had the philosophy, if it isn't broke don't fix it. The movies and albums were making money for all of the above mentioned persons. I'm not defending those decisions, just trying to think of a possible motivation for making so many soundtracks. Looking back the picture is perhaps clearer for us than it was for those living in that moment.

rlj

[dennyelvis]

Hey what about Beach Shack from PHS? Dum de dum ....

[bajo]

Hey what about Beach Shack from SPINOUT? Dum de dum ....

[PiersEIN]

What, in your opinion, was the worst decision that was made (or, in a sense, wasn't made) regarding album releases during Elvis' lifetime?

Pretty much all of these options are criminal, IMO, but the fact that there was no proper 1972 album, and the hit singles were thrown away to Camden albums, takes the cake as far as I'm concerned.

No proper Viva Las Vegas album
No 1972 studio album
No 1971 Folk album
No 1963 studio album
No Tomorrow Is A Long Time album(s)
No proper Gold Records, Vol. 5
No proper Sun album in the '50s

Some of your choices were never to be LPs, such as the "1971 Folk album." After illness cut short the March session that year, which seemed to be leaning in a folk direction, the next dates in May had a completely different set of agendas. And Sun Records didn't really do albums in the 1950s, and especially not in the period Elvis was signed to the label.

If we are looking at crucial junctures in Presley's career, these are definitely unfortunate from an artistic point of view:

- May 1963 studio sessions not compiled into LP
- July-September 1963 soundtrack session ("Viva Las Vegas") not compiled into LP

The mid-sixties was when Elvis' career nose-dived because of over-reliance on the Hollywood formula concocted by management. With the above two LPs coming to fruition, at the very least the decline might have been slowed. In particular, "Viva Las Vegas" was a high-quality, star-powered MGM production that got the short shrift by management for almost inexplicable reasons. Elvis never again made as successful a film, but the record releases never really supported it, despite the hugely positive fan reaction in 1964, and beyond.

Another terrible album decision was the RCA follow-up to Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite. The live double LP made it to #1 in May 1973, and followed the ratings success of the April 1973 NBC-TV broadcast. Surely, new fans were in place and primed for something exciting. What they got that summer was a nice image from the "Aloha" broadcast show as the album art, and an LP filled with mostly unremarkable, years-old studio leftovers and a live Perry Como cover. New fans? Bye-bye.

http://www.elvisinnorway.no/elvisfool.html

I agree with The Doc wholeheartedly on this one.
TERRIBLE management over shortsighted money-grabbing.
Things would have been so much better for a Viva Las Vegas album and a proper follow-up to Aloha.

Cheers
Piers

[EPA4368]

No proper Viva Las Vegas album goes my vote for the time. For the time I mean how Elvis would've responded. The silly Burning Love LP would've been my first choice, but don't believe Elvis would've responded well in the studio recording for a new album because of what was happening in his life both personally & professionally. The opportunity certainly was there coming off the huge success in TV ratings and record sales from Aloha. Taking another shot at Hollywood is what I think would've been good for Elvis to get back focus on his career vs making another album and/or more touring.