TRYIN´ TO GET YOU - quick poll + video

[KingOfTheJungle]

I think the 55' studio version gets it.

But my favorite live version is Houston, March 3, 1974 AS as on 'Event Number 8'

[KiwiAlan]

If we do nothing else could we please honour Elvis' legacy by getting the song titles correct!

It's TRYING TO GET TO YOuU - there's no Tryin' about it

[likethebike]

Greg- I just feel that there is desperate edge and life to those 1968 recordings by Elvis. Listen to the way he almost makes the line tremble when he sings "When my way was dark as night/He would shine his brightest light" and then explodes into "When I was trying to get to you." The hoarseness in his voice is largely deliberate for effect and although these performances were done on the spot, Elvis' performance is intensely crafted for dramatic effect. To each his own, but the 1955 performance is almost a mere exercise in comparison. I know Elvis wouldn't have been at this time and place without the Sun recordings but his level of artistry here eclipsed even those recordings. He just more to give these songs.

The very first Elvis albums I ever got in my life were Golden Records vol. 1 and Legendary Performer Vol. 1. "Trying to Get to You" immediately arrested me and established Elvis as a hard rocker comparable to some of the acts my friends liked. Listening to the Sun original a few years later it just wasn't the same. It was too friendly, too soft. I liked the extra verse but it wasn't the same. Listening today I can appreciate Elvis' confidence and craft on that song but there is a whole other thing almost a door to another dimension on that 1968 song. I don't mean to be over the top but it is almost like seeing into a heightened reality. When Keanu Reeves eyes are opened in the Matrix, it's like that but more exciting.

[Juan Luis]

The original has a guitar solo which is missing elsewhere... But there is no deliberate hoarse singing in 68 imo. He added passion to it but the hoarness was going to be there anyway in that key. That tambourine guy that could not play it well even if his life depended on it, plus someone tapping out of time (not DJ) make it not easy listening . Edit--but it still a strong #2 for me as well..

[JerryNodak]

For me it's the Sun version followed by Comeback '68.

[Rob]

June 27, 1968.

[likethebike]

I agree JLGB about the lack of deliberate horseness on something like "That's All Right" but here to me his horse moments seem to be coming from the fact that he's going for a little more thunder. These are, for the most part, very well crafted performances vocally with Elvis instinctively varying the emphasis to create emotional power. I could care less about the tambourine or the off beat tapping. That's really what Elvis at his best was about get at a core emotion and to hell with the rest.

[Juan Luis]

I agree JLGB about the lack of deliberate horseness on something like "That's All Right" but here to me his horse moments seem to be coming from the fact that he's going for a little more thunder. These are, for the most part, very well crafted performances vocally with Elvis instinctively varying the emphasis to create emotional power. I could care less about the tambourine or the off beat tapping. That's really what Elvis at his best was about get at a core emotion and to hell with the rest.

I agree but it still a distraction. The stars were aligned in the studio version and thats fine by me.

[Getlo]

Jeanno - you've done a fantastic job with the footage. Excellent! Perhaps Graceland should give you a job.

[jeanno]

Getlo
Thanks, happy you like it!

At the end, it seems that people prefer the 68 version but the original comes pretty close. Thanks a lot to you all for your answers/comments.

[Ton Bruins]

I would say the Live version from Rapid City June 21, 1977. What a voice !!!

[Gregory Nolan Jr.]

Greg- I just feel that there is desperate edge and life to those 1968 recordings by Elvis. Listen to the way he almost makes the line tremble when he sings "When my way was dark as night/He would shine his brightest light" and then explodes into "When I was trying to get to you." The hoarseness in his voice is largely deliberate for effect and although these performances were done on the spot, Elvis' performance is intensely crafted for dramatic effect. To each his own, but the 1955 performance is almost a mere exercise in comparison. I know Elvis wouldn't have been at this time and place without the Sun recordings but his level of artistry here eclipsed even those recordings. He just more to give these songs.

The very first Elvis albums I ever got in my life were Golden Records vol. 1 and Legendary Performer Vol. 1. "Trying to Get to You" immediately arrested me and established Elvis as a hard rocker comparable to some of the acts my friends liked. Listening to the Sun original a few years later it just wasn't the same. It was too friendly, too soft. I liked the extra verse but it wasn't the same. Listening today I can appreciate Elvis' confidence and craft on that song but there is a whole other thing almost a door to another dimension on that 1968 song. I don't mean to be over the top but it is almost like seeing into a heightened reality. When Keanu Reeves eyes are opened in the Matrix, it's like that but more exciting.

I love the '68 version for the reasons mentioned, LTB. But slight the original version on those very lyrics...?

"When my way was dark as night/
He would shine his brightest light"
"When I was trying to get to you."

No, way, son. It is apples and oranges! I used to also favor '50s Elvis and the '68 version because of my rock friends. Now, I'd say they're "rockist" fools for not getting things like "You Gave Me A Mountain" or "I Need Somebody To Lean On." And I say that as a defender too of his "raw" '68 sound.

And what piano in the original version of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy"...


I agree that there is something "extra" in the '68 version. One would be hopeless to dismiss the '68 version.

[Jesse Garon]

i was wondering what is the best version of that great Country Blues tune.

You're right to a degree, labeling the Elvis Presley version as: Country Blues.

But..... "Tryin' To Get To You" as originally written and recorded, was a
slow shuffling Doo Wop harmony number by a black vocal group
called The Eagles.

The original could be called Bluesy or Soulful in a way, but there's certainly nothing Country-ish about it.

But, of course, by it becoming an "Elvis Song" that the world noticed and enjoyed he doing for many years, in his unique gritty style, (and thinking his is the only version)
it does get recategorized as Country Blues.

[jeanno]

The original could be called Bluesy or Soulful in a way, but there's certainly nothing Country-ish about it.

But, of course, by it becoming an "Elvis Song" that the world noticed and enjoyed he doing for many years, in his unique gritty style, (and thinking his is the only version)
it does get recategorized as Country Blues.

I agree : even if the original bluesy feel is still there, there is some Country in the way the song is performed (musically speaking). Maybe, i should have said, instead of Country Blues, "Rockabilly" (which is pretty close to Country Blues when you think about it BTW).

[Jesse Garon]

That song is another example of how Elvis can like a song he hears and then he sings it himself and totally transforms it into something different than the original.

And it's even better by it being Elvis-done!

[jeanno]

Yep!

[likethebike]

Greg- I can see it being apples and oranges to the extent that comparing the '68 version to the original is almost like comparing to "Return to Sender" or something like that in that they are so different in sound, execution and intent. But the thing is that the '68 recording simply cuts to the core of my being in a way that no other Elvis tracks do except for "Baby What You Want Me to Do" and "One Night" from the same show. For me these are Elvis' finest moments bar none even over "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Suspicious Minds".

[dreambear]

Elvis always pulled it out for this song and I love all versions of it.

It is a little dispiriting to see the '55 Sun side fairing so poorly. (It got my vote.)

But we all love it, no doubt.

Great video from the New Year's Eve concert, Jeanno!!!

With the very notable exception of the 1974 College park version (you´ll find it on the "Dragonheart" CD). That one is horrible. He´s way out of tune early in the song, and the ending is wrong. But, as you already said, even the 77 versions are good.

Regards//Björn

[Gregory Nolan Jr.]

I haven't cued up "Dragonheart" - well, since I bought it and played it once but I'll take another listen! He surely did some other bad versions of it in his worst shows. Like a few other songs ("You Gave Me a Mountain" and usually blues and gospel-based songs), even a wreck, he still pulled them off.

Greg- I can see it being apples and oranges to the extent that comparing the '68 version to the original is almost like comparing to "Return to Sender" or something like that in that they are so different in sound, execution and intent. But the thing is that the '68 recording simply cuts to the core of my being in a way that no other Elvis tracks do except for "Baby What You Want Me to Do" and "One Night" from the same show. For me these are Elvis' finest moments bar none even over "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Suspicious Minds".

Fair enough. For a long time, I've been beyond playing his biggest hits (I love to 'rest' them as they sort of renew that way) but I still value the "masters" as the versions to beat. Certainly, I prefer his post-50s version of "One Night" to the younger version, by and large.


But there's no denying the power of '68 show(s). I recall how HBO's broadcast (first time: 1984, I recall) of what they called "One Night With You" and how it did more to shake off the dumb-ass impersonator image and "Priscilla and Me" hype.

I had people coming up to me, blown away by a guy they thought they knew.

That's the biggest problem to the legacy today: his "master preformances" (be they the '50s TV show, or the '68 or best of '70 -'73) or just not getting the eyeballs and spotlight they still deserve.

[jeanno]

But the thing is that the '68 recording simply cuts to the core of my being in a way that no other Elvis tracks do except for "Baby What You Want Me to Do" and "One Night" from the same show. For me these are Elvis' finest moments bar none even over "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Suspicious Minds".

To those 10-11min (from Trying To To Get To You to Baby What You Want Me To Do - show#1), if you add the stand up version of Baby What You Want Me To Do, the 1970 live sit-down LITTLE SISTER/GET BACK and the IF I CAN DREAM performance, you get the greatest filmed moments of the King. Totally in control of the situation and enjoying every single second.

[Matthew]

It's tough to gauge this poll as the Pittsburg 76 option doesn't fit in with the other choices. It should be the Elvis In Concert version to show a true spread of opinion.