Songs I wish E had NOT recorded...

Tutti Frutti. God, I dislike that song.

mama liked the roses?
fool?

fool is a good song, and mama liked the roses is a hauntingly beautiful song i'm sure he offered as a tribute to his late mother

I find Fool insufferably turgid and Mama Liked the Roses to be too sickly sweet in the sentimentality stakes. Sorry, just my opinion.

Jules

Hey Jude and Yesterday are wayyy too Beatleley in my book

For me, they're not Beatley enough.....I prefer the Beatles' versions!



Jules

I've come around to appreciating MY WISH CAME TRUE but there's
a reason why it landed on one of those Army-era Lps of leftovers.

?????

My Wish Came True was the B side of A Big Hunk O' Love.

The only fifties album it appeared on was Gold Records vol 2.

If that's what it was on, so be it. Besides, when do you take your
spanking for naming "That's All Right" as you did earlier? Folks?


*******************************************
Jerry Nodak wrote: Tutti Fruiti

For once, I may agree with Jerry: "Tutti Fruiti" hasn't worn well.
Maybe Ernst had a point when he left it out of "Elvis '56.
**************************************************

And count me as a fan of "Heart of Rome." What, too "Englbert-ish"
or "Tom Jones-like? Elvis was a singer's singer and shows it here.
Nothing wrong with a few pop songs, and boy did he nail them.

Regarding other choices::

LONG LEGGED GIRL.. (for the time, it sort of rocked..)

BEYOND THE BEND (Very spry and fun song. I like it. What a voice!

SWEET CAROLINE (Yes, a little played out and much more Neil Diamond's song,but nice for the time. Given how in shape he was at
the time, it's hard to put down nearly any TWWII material. But how
about Sweet Angeline?

FOOLS RUSH IN I agree on this. He sounds really tired. This could have been a good song for him. Hearing Brook Benton's version convinces me of that.

I CAN HELP I think this a very nice late-period rocker for Elvis, even if it's too much Billy Swan's song due to its hit status. We should
be glad we have it.

FOR THE HEART Another bright spot from Graceland sessions, but I agree he's not totally with it. Still, I like it! The alternates, too...

FOOL I've come around on this song but I do know Jules means. It's kind of depressing as is I'm Leavin' although LTB has brought me around on that one. The ratio of happy to sad songs was out of whack in the early '70s -but that's how our hero felt...


SW wrote:

Ask Me
I'm Yours
You'll Be Gone

I've come around on these, but agree that the first two are still kind
of lame, with those organs and background singers.

But "You'll Be Gone" is one of those great "rarely-heard" Elvis songs!
He wrote some of it, too! What are you, Priscilla?

Mama Liked The Roses: Definitely not a Christmas song but I've tried to like it for the '69 Memphis / Gladys associations. Not his best.

Padre A bit of a train wreck, and I try not to listen to it much, but it has some moments. Not his best.

Greg -

You wrote:

FOOLS RUSH IN I agree on this. He sounds really tired.
This could have been a good song for him.
Hearing Brook Benton's version convinces me of that.

Yeah.

Elvis' version is an exact copy of Ricky Nelson's !

Even down to James Burton's guitar pickin' [he played on both].

Hey Jude and Yesterday are wayyy too Beatleley in my book

For me, they're not Beatley enough.....I prefer the Beatles' versions!



Jules

I'm afraid I do too.....and I hate the Beatles

And count me as a fan of "Heart of Rome." What, too "Englbert-ish"
or "Tom Jones-like? Elvis was a singer's singer and shows it here.
Nothing wrong with a few pop songs, and boy did he nail them.

For me it's not a popsong it's a carnival song.....probably due to the lalalalalaaaa.......I pretty much agree with your other comments

I guess that "carnival" side is true, too. But it's a pop song.


Personally, I fond of carnivals. But then I liked Roustaboutwhen I saw it for the first time in many years this weekend.

He also sings the heck out of it. Even if you don't like the music,
you can't say he wasn't "on" in 1970 even on debatable material.

He was so "on" that it wasn't even funny that year...!

Hey Jude and Yesterday are wayyy too Beatleley in my book

For me, they're not Beatley enough.....I prefer the Beatles' versions!



Jules

I'm afraid I do too.....and I hate the Beatles

Hate's a pretty strong word! I save my hate for "entertainers" with absolutely no talent at all....and even then I'm prepared to accept the possibility that they might be nice people.

Jules

Greg -

You wrote:

FOOLS RUSH IN I agree on this. He sounds really tired.
This could have been a good song for him.
Hearing Brook Benton's version convinces me of that.

Yeah.

Elvis' version is an exact copy of Ricky Nelson's !

Even down to James Burton's guitar pickin' [he played on both].

Yeah, Fools Rush In is fairly lame, it souds pretty kitsch.

Jules

Jules, I don't know if you 've heard Benton's version.

I wouldn't say it's kitsch but I recall you have a classic rock-type
of bias against some of his early '70s pop like HEART OF ROME, etc.
(To each his own..)

I'd say a more accurate rap pn E's FOOLS RUSH IN
is his lifeless, tired vocal - only.

Raised On Rock is a good song but does not make a bit of sense hearing Elvis sing that he grew up listening to Hound Dog and Johnnie B. Goode.

Why not? Hound Dog came out in 1952 by Big Mama Thornton. And Johnny B Goode was a hit in what '57 or 8? Elvis was still young...anyway the point is the fact that he was affected by music all his life...that's why he covered the song I bet...

Axe

Maybe he shouldn't have performed You Gave Me A Mountain either. Afterall, he didn't have a small baby boy.

Hey! I don't think he ever went to prison either!

The nerve of him singing songs like that!

Greg -

You wrote:

FOOLS RUSH IN I agree on this. He sounds really tired.
This could have been a good song for him.
Hearing Brook Benton's version convinces me of that.

Yeah.

Elvis' version is an exact copy of Ricky Nelson's !

Even down to James Burton's guitar pickin' [he played on both].

The instrumentals sound the same, but the vocals couldn't possibly be more different. As others have said, Elvis sounded listless, tired, and disinterested on his delivery. Rick Nelson delivered a youthful vocal, sounding like he could've sung the tune all night long ... Elvis, unfortunately,sounds like he can't wait for the song to end.

I guess that "carnival" side is true, too. But it's a pop song.

Personally, I fond of carnivals. But then I liked Roustaboutwhen I saw it for the first time in many years this weekend.

He also sings the heck out of it. Even if you don't like the music,
you can't say he wasn't "on" in 1970 even on debatable material.

He was so "on" that it wasn't even funny that year...!

That's a great single cover and oh how I love I'm leaving. Vocally it were the best years of Elvis but I love to think of our man as basically a rocker, which he obviously ourgrew or passed during the years........................well it must be those lalala's!

Maybe he shouldn't have performed You Gave Me A Mountain either. Afterall, he didn't have a small baby boy.

Hey! I don't think he ever went to prison either!

The nerve of him singing songs like that!

And I know for a fact that he never knew a girl called Sylvia

Hey Jude and Yesterday are wayyy too Beatleley in my book

For me, they're not Beatley enough.....I prefer the Beatles' versions!



Jules

I'm afraid I do too.....and I hate the Beatles

Hate's a pretty strong word! I save my hate for "entertainers" with absolutely no talent at all....and even then I'm prepared to accept the possibility that they might be nice people.

Jules

They could be nice guys, I don't know about that. I'm just not too fond of hippies and the hippie-movement and the Beales were much involved in that

Jules, I don't know if you 've heard Benton's version.

I wouldn't say it's kitsch but I recall you have a classic rock-type
of bias against some of his early '70s pop like HEART OF ROME, etc.
(To each his own..)

It's not pop it's merry go round music

Raised On Rock is a good song but does not make a bit of sense hearing Elvis sing that he grew up listening to Hound Dog and Johnnie B. Goode.

Why not? Hound Dog came out in 1952 by Big Mama Thornton. And Johnny B Goode was a hit in what '57 or 8? Elvis was still young...anyway the point is the fact that he was affected by music all his life...that's why he covered the song I bet...

Axe

You Gave Me a Mountain can be about anything. But it is ridiculous to have Elvis sing about the music he helped define. That song was for the "new" people of the 60s to sing just like it was to the composer.

Hey, lighten up guys !

When a performer sings a song, they are like an actor playing a role.

The lyrics don't have to apply to them personally !

Elvis can sing about 'she took my small baby boy' and 'I was raised on rock', without them necessarily being true in his own life !

If they did, he couldn't have sung a lot of songs like 'I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water' or 'Green, Green Grass of Home' !

These are songs, sung for their entertainment value, not autobiographical statements.

Ok ColinB. It is ok for Elvis to sing that he was raised on himself.

Hey, lighten up guys !

When a performer sings a song, they are like an actor playing a role.

The lyrics don't have to apply to them personally !

Elvis can sing about 'she took my small baby boy'

These are songs, sung for their entertainment value, not autobiographical statements.

Believe it or not, I know all of this. My post was intended to be a joke.

And I know for a fact that he never knew a girl called Sylvia

You are joking, right?

elvis also didn't give up cussing and dancing the hoochie coo like in the '68 comeback special's gospel segment saying so.

seriously folks. the guy could sing about barnyard animals and impotent bulls and i wouldn't care--oh wait, he did.

according to promised land he's from norfork, virginia, among many other songs that say he's from other places... and according to you gave me a mountain he was born in the desert, his mother died giving him birth, his wife took his small baby boy etc...

he also never went to jail and did the jailhouse rock except in a movie.

he also isn't a little boy named jim who shot his dog old shep.

raised on rock is funny in a historical context, but the point of his singing wasn't to be autobiographical, though a few songs came scary close.

Hey! Just because he sang these songs doesn't mean that he has to actually live them and.......uh........everything else that Colin said.