Best track on "Elvis now" LP 1972

I just gave the "Now" album a spin and I was more disappointed at it than I remembered. If they only had used the best of the 1971 non-christmas/religous tracks, it would have been an ok album.

It starts off good though. Again Elvis makes country in a slightly funky style ("I´m movin´ on" is very funky). It´s not the strong voice of 1970, but here he´s relaxed enough and doesn´t overuse the vibrato.

But next up we have a track that I find hard to like. Maybe I don´t understand this type of christian music. But vocally, Elvis would have done this track way better both in 1970 and 1972.

What Felton had in mind when he decided to include "Hey Jude" on the album is hard to figure out. I know that Elvis often picked out the singles, but how about the album tracks? At the time when "Now" was released, I can´t believe that they already knew that Elvis more and more growed tired of record in the studio, so it couldn´t have been desperation (like "Let it be there" on "Moody blue"). It should have stayed in the can and showed up as a nice surprise on the 60´s box set, just like "My way" on the 70´s box. But it´s to late now. Wonder what Elvis thought when he saw the track list?

"Put you hand in the hand" seems out of place here. Elvis makes an ok job here without sweating, but the arrangement is boring. As someone else here wrote, James Burton makes one of his less brilliant solos here.

Side one ends in a better way with "Until it´s time for you go", but Elvis singing isn´t flawless. When he sings "Don´t ask why, don´t ask how", the vibrato is badly controlled. There is better live versions of this song.

"We can make the morning" starts off side two and the song itself is just average, but coming after hearing "Miracle..." and "Hey Jude", the song sounds better than it really is. Elvis makes an ok job here.

I share Shanebrowns opinion in his excellent "Now revisited" about "Early mornin´rain". For me, it´s the absolute highlight of the album. Elvis sings it so relaxed. The drums and the marvellous guitar pickin´ are so great. God only knows what album we could have expected if our man hadn´t cancelled the rest of the march sessions...

A strong voice can be heard on the next track, and the clue is..it was recorded one year earlier. It´s not he best from 1970, but on this album, it sounds fine with me (I had a teacher once named Sylvia and she wasn´t beautiful at all, and also a bit unpleasant at times, so lyrically, this one is a bit hard to like )

"Fools rush in" sounds terrible in my ears. In 1971, Elvis couldn´t handle this type of light weight material. Too many similarities to the "Never again-vocal".

For those who owned the "Elvis country" album, it must have felt a bit cheap to find "IWBATTYA" at the end of this album, but it´s still nice to have it. Good performance!

What do you folks, think of this alternative track list:
1) Help me make it through the night
2) I´m leavin´
3) It´s still here
4) It´s only love
5) Until it´s time for you to go
6) We can make the morning
7) Early morning rain
The first time ever I saw your face
9) (That´s what you get) For lovin´ me
10)Don´t think twice, it´s all right

Please vote on!

Regards Björn

If all tracks on this LP were as good as "Early Mornin' Rain," this would have been a fantastic album.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda..........

Voted for "Early morning rain"
It´s a pity it wasn´t included on the 70:s box, it´s such a great song.
I was born about 10000 years ago is another great song/performance from our man.
I also like Help me make it through the night. Until it´s time for you to go sounds better without the overdubs.

This is an album where half of the material is good/great and the other half is weak/bad. Unfortunately there a quite a few other Elvis albums that has that mix of bad/great songs. My opinion anyway.

Lennart

This was a hard one for me because I actually like this album a lot. I think Elvis' voice sounds really fine in 1971 and I like the production overall. Even Hey Jude is always something I find listenable and different enough from the Beatles version to be fresh. Elvis sings it pretty high in his register which is why I think most don't care for it, but it's interesting. Help Me Make It, Put Your Hand In The Hand, We Can Make The Morning, Until It's Time For You To Go and Early Morning Rain are five of the most modern cuts Elvis ever did. Great folk material, and well produced and sung. Help Me has the right amount of deperation and strain, it feels real, nice percussion. Put Your Hand In The Hand is fantastic. Uplifting and I like the Burton solo myself, again notice the percusion effects. Elvis seems really into it too. We Can Make The Morning is a fine production, has interesting interplay with the backup singers, and I like the lyrics. Until It's Time For You To Go was a fine single, good strings, nicely nuanced vocals, an all round winner. Early Morning Rain is my favorite off the LP, just a classic performance. Miracle is just ok but the "Please pray for us sinners" line is beautifully sung. Sylvia is a little hokey but the power behind the vocal and interesting melody lift it over most of the similar material on the Love Letters album. I really like Fools Rush In, it's got a nice feel, and I like Elvis voice on it. It reminds me of his version of Little Darlin. James plays it really close to the Rick Nelson version as he did both, just great fun. I Was Born is a great vocal and arrangment and I am glad it came out in full as it is too good to just be in-between songs.

I must be alone in thinking this is one of Elvis' best. It doesn't come from one session but many good albums don't. It does what it sets out to do, giving people a modern 1971 Elvis. The pic on the cover is great too. I think Elvis looked just as good during his fourth Vegas engagment as he had before-note the photo I use. All in all could it have been better with a few singles like I'm Leavin' and It's Only Love added? Sure but what's there is very satisfying to me.

Last edited by Mike Eder on Mon Jun 09, 2008 2:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I just gave the "Now" album a spin and I was more disappointed at it than I remembered.

I feel your pain.

I Was Born 10,000 Years Ago is the only truly excellent track IMO.

Voted for "Early morning rain"
It´s a pity it wasn´t included on the 70:s box, it´s such a great song.
I was born about 10000 years ago is another great song/performance from our man.
I also like Help me make it through the night. Until it´s time for you to go sounds better without the overdubs.

This is an album where half of the material is good/great and the other half is weak/bad. Unfortunately there a quite a few other Elvis albums that has that mix of bad/great songs. My opinion anyway.

Lennart

Agree! It´s a disaster that EMR wasn´t included. Can´t understand that.

//Björn

I just gave the "Now" album a spin and I was more disappointed at it than I remembered.

I feel your pain.

Of course! You´re a doctor....

//björn

Close call again, but I have gone with We Can Make The Morning. I find it an unusual song, but sung with passion, and reflective of where Elvis was at in 1971 - Elvis NOW.

An inappropriately titled album if ever there was one.

As others have said, it is an album split evenly between good songs and poor songs/left overs.

The alternative as suggested above and as on the recent Star CD would have been a MUCH better album.

Agreed also about the omission of EMR on the 70's Box Set - a classic that should not have been missed off.

I like this album on the whole except for Hey Jude. But that's sort of an unfinished recording. Should have gone back and recut it. It might have turned out great if he had. My favorite track on this album has always been Early Mornin' Rain.

dreambear, you must stop these compliments!

Early Morning rain gets my vote!

But at least I didn´t share your opinion about "Help me make it through the night" (oversung)

//Björn

I feel your pain.

Of course! You´re a doctor....

Err............................ actually, if doctors could feel their patients' pain, they wouldn't be able to function very well, would they ?

I'd forgotton waht a hell hole of an album Elvis Now was. A mixed bag of songs with the usual horrendous Felton overdubs and production. It's really only now with the undubbed BMG/ FTD alternative take releases and revised mixes that we get to hear some of the Elvis magic that went into the recordings. Even so, this is one album I struggle to warm to, especially in retrospect.

Of the songs on Elvis Now, Until It's Time To Go is a big favorite of mine, although I much prefer the alternative master take 10 (On A Hundred Years From Now) or takes 5-6 on I Sing All Kinds, to the one on this album. I also love Early Morning Rain, but again, the alternative take 1(On I Sing All Kinds) has far more charm and feeling than the master on Elvis Now. The only other track that has anything going for it is Help Me Make It Through the Night, although I still find Elvis' approach to this song a bit heavy handed and the arrangement somewhat grating. He never seemed to quite nail it in my view. Takes 6-7 on I Sing All Kinds gives us a glimpse of what the song could have been - it's far superior to the the song that appears on Elvis Now.

Anyway, I voted for Until Its Time For You to Go!

I voted for Sylvia. I liked this ballad.

I liked this ballad.

You don't like it anymore? Change your vote!

Isn't it surprising that 'Sylvia' got more votes than 'Until it´s time for you to go'???

I like the track Sylvia.

I like the track Sylvia.

I like it,too,but i don't think it's better than 'Until it´s time for you to go'.
By the way,i like the whole album. It's one of my favorites.

Last edited by Johanesson on Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I pick tracks that has not been on singles.

Isn't it surprising that 'Sylvia' got more votes than 'Until it´s time for you to go'???

I, too, prefer Sylvia over Until It's Time....

I like the track Sylvia.

I like it,too,but i don't think it's better than 'Until it´s time for you to go'.
By the way,i like the whole album. It's one of my favorites.

At least that makes two of us.

We can make the morning

ELVIS NOW

Early Morning Rain
For Lovin' Me
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
The First Time Evere I Saw Your Face
Amazing Grace

I'll Take You Home Kathleen
It's Still Here
I Will Be True
Until It's Time For You To Go
Help Me Make It Through The Night

That's how it should have looked. The folk album. Shame it never happened.

Voted for "Early morning rain"
It´s a pity it wasn´t included on the 70:s box, it´s such a great song.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Jules

Isn't it surprising that 'Sylvia' got more votes than 'Until it´s time for you to go'???

Not to me. I quite like the song Sylvia, and it still sounds quite fresh as it's not a very well known track. UITFYTG sounds corny to my ears - it's a sluggish performance and it's a song that was done to death in the 70s by everybody and their cabaret-singing uncle.

Early Mornin' Rain, Sylvia and We Can Make The Morning are the three tracks I play the most on this album. I don't mind his version of Put Your Hand In the Hand either.

Jules