And it's a great service that 'Jock is doing on his weekly radio show "Elvis Only", for those of you who've missed it. Once he gets past some of the obligatory hits and into less familar material, even touting new FTD releases, or playing songs in a type of theme, I am hooked.
It's well-documented that "Now" and "Love Letters" were cobbled together, but many of us have found much to like on them over the years. Personally, both were some of the last studio masters I ever got around to collecting and hearing, so to me, these were welcome "new" songs (years after hearing 95% of the catalog over and over), not the let-down they surely were upon release.
I personally like all of these songs, some in smaller dosages than others. As for lyrics, as I learned with songs like "The Next Step is Love," it's often best to not listen too hard.
elvisjock wrote:
In hindsight, Love Letters From Elvis was one of the albums responsible for bringing Elvis' artistic rebirth to a screeching halt. That aside, there are a number of very pretty songs on the album that, along with the syrupy overdubs, play into the "Love Letters" concept.
Very well put.
To any of you who do dislike This Is Our Dance: Play it to any female, Elvis fan or not. I have not met any female yet, who did not like this song. And I like it, too.
elvisjock wrote:
In hindsight, Love Letters From Elvis was one of the albums responsible for bringing Elvis' artistic rebirth to a screeching halt. That aside, there are a number of very pretty songs on the album that, along with the syrupy overdubs, play into the "Love Letters" concept.
Very well put.
To any of you who do dislike This Is Our Dance: Play it to any female, Elvis fan or not. I have not met any female yet, who did not like this song. And I like it, too.
Gregory Nolan Jr. wrote:And it's a great service that 'Jock is doing on his weekly radio show "Elvis Only", for those of you who've missed it. Once he gets past some of the obligatory hits and into less familar material, even touting new FTD releases, or playing songs in a type of theme, I am hooked.
It's well-documented that "Now" and "Love Letters" were cobbled together, but many of us have found much to like on them over the years. Personally, both were some of the last studio masters I ever got around to collecting and hearing, so to me, these were welcome "new" songs (years after hearing 95% of the catalog over and over), not the let-down they surely were upon release.
I personally like all of these songs, some in smaller dosages than others. As for lyrics, as I learned with songs like "The Next Step is Love," it's often best to not listen too hard.
Thanks for the kind words. I feel the same way you do about the obligatory hits. They have to be played, and played frequently. CBS, Clear Channel and the like are not going to allow their airwaves to be taken over completely by music that is unfamiliar to most listeners. I've been in broadcasting for over 20 years, and that's the way it's always been. I can't play This Is Our Dance without having a Hound Dog-caliber hit nearby.
And, to be fair, Hound Dog and Suspicious Minds deserve to played more. To the general public, that's Elvis.
"Don't tell me to play it. I will when I get ready. Do you understand me?"
elvisjock wrote:After playing it, several listeners inquired about the song. "What was that song about the dance?" "Can you play that dance song again?" "Where can I find This Is Our Dance?"
elvisjock wrote:After playing it, several listeners inquired about the song. "What was that song about the dance?" "Can you play that dance song again?" "Where can I find This Is Our Dance?"
Just curious -- was this an over-80 dance night?
DJC
"Good ballad singer."
That's what Marian Keisker noted about Elvis. That's what Elvis wanted to be before Sam got his hands on him. Elvis had a weak spot for sappy stuff like TIOD.
Elvis' core demographic isn't far off from over-80 dances, by the way.
"Don't tell me to play it. I will when I get ready. Do you understand me?"
elvisjock wrote:After playing it, several listeners inquired about the song. "What was that song about the dance?" "Can you play that dance song again?" "Where can I find This Is Our Dance?"
Just curious -- was this an over-80 dance night?
DJC
C`mon Doc...you have a date with a beautiful woman....you have eaten and already drank a few glasses of fine wine.
Then the DJ plays This Is Our Dance..now what on earth can happen else to get this woman home...
got it..??..........
Thanks to Ernst Joergensen, Roger Semon and Erik Rasmussen for the great work. Keep the spirit alive !
I'm not in love with the melody here either except for the bridge. I agree the lyric is hideous. Elvis sings the hell out of it though without the level of inspiration he brought to songs that hit home. Listening to it I feel some of the same regret I get listening to some of Elvis' lesser movie songs from 1960 to 1963 where I wonder what he would have done with some superior material.
Greg I agree that is there is good romantic schlock ("Are You Lonesome To-Night?" is structurally as corny as it gets) as Elvis proved he could redeem it over and over. Something like "Hurt" is pure melodrama without him. However, his vocals here and on stuff like "This is Our Dance" don't have that kind of inspiration. Listen to "Home is Where the Heart Is" by comparison. He just glides through that tune using all his range, caressing and elongating words to give them meaning. Here's he more dutiful. Dutiful Elvis is better than 90 percent of anyone else but still. It's all subjective but that's how I feel.
I agree with the argument posted here that "Love Letters" brought the momentum of the comeback to a halt. I would include the 1971 singles in there as well which with the exception of "I'm Leaving" and the 1970 released and recorded "I Really Don't Want To Know" were really dull and hookless. (When sometime board poster and critic did his essential review of Elvis' ouevre in Goldmine in 1997, making this same point he called those singles "staggeringly dull.) Not only did those records destroy his critical momentum but they destroyed his commercial credibility as well.
I think LL was an album released to meet only contractual demands. It is no less of a hodgepodge than Elvis Now or Elvis Fool because these songs are left overs. They're songs Elvis sang to get to where he was going to get "Elvis Country" and "That's the Way it is". That was kind of his woodshed way of working that he often used dating back to Sun. If those albums were "That's All Right Mama" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky", LL was "I Love You Because" or "Harbor Lights". I do agree that because it came from the sessions it's a little more coherent than Elvis Now or Fool even though I feel Fool has more individual moments. I also agree that Elvis' vocals generally make it listenable if nothing else.
The only real highlights for me are the remake of "Love Letters" which is quite a treat IMO. Some have commented that Elvis didn't change too much from the 1966 recording but this is quite a rethink to my ear with Elvis singing in a much hoarser voice and more aggressively using melisma. Where in 1966 he went for grace, here he goes for pure eroticism and largely achieves it. It's almost erotic desperation. I wouldn't say it's superior to the 1966 recording but it's more original and it stands as a separate achievement. It makes me wish that Elvis would have or would have time to revisit some of his other songs in a serious studio context in later years.
The other highlight is Mojo even with Felton's overwrought overdubs. The humor and rural edge on that track might have fit on "Elvis Country" maybe right next to "I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water" although it's not quite a perfect fit. It has the same kind of abandon that "Muddy Waters" has but it's lighter and less edgy and miles away from the rueful character of that album. Perhaps it could have been a single with "Muddy Water" on the flip. (I think Water is a better song but I put it on the B because it is a second trip to the Elvis Country single mine.) A double sided rocker by Elvis in 1971 that would have caused some commotion.
"Heart of Rome" is a guilty pleasure of mine. Complete schlock but Elvis is having so much fun and his voice is so beautiful that I forget that Dean Martin would have rejected the tune itself.
KHoots wrote:I really loved "Love Letters From Elvis" when I was a kid. I listened to it a lot back then; in fact, I pull it out from time to time and still enjoy it. I always preferred the '70 version of the title track, and all of side one has long been a favorite of mine. I know it's not Elvis's best material, but what the heck. I like it, anyway.
Brother KHoots, reading this reminds me of the time when I was an early teenager (early to mid - 80's), listening to the 'You'll Never Walk Alone' (OZ reissue) alblum, just after showering, as I was getting ready to go out with friends, on Friday nights! The scene was similar to 'This Is Elvis' Rocket 88 bedroom scene! Fond memories indeed !
Peter66 wrote:If you can't hold back, do only tell her, BEFORE you wake her up
If he finds himself in bed with an 80 year old in his arms I expect he'd rather chew his arm off than wake her up!
Well, I would not have gone that far with my advice for the Doc. I merely had an attractive young lady in mind and thought it not wise to whisper in her ear some theories about over 80-s usually getting weak for "Our Dance"........
