Sentimental Me

[jurasic1968]

This song was an absolute favorite of my father. Pure perfection, in my opinion

[charroman]

Always been one of my faves. Was it a single anywhere ? I lose track
Lovely performance and vocal and one of those songs that got lost in the abundance of other quality records produced by El at the time.
I heard a solo sixties singer (non Elvis tribute) do it once at a pub gig for a mainly older audience and it went down really well and he had a couple of people afterwards ask him who it was by. He was obviously a fan as he also did Kuipo which got a similar response.
So many little heard gems that the general public may not know

[r&b]

Always been one of my faves. Was it a single anywhere ? I lose track
Lovely performance and vocal and one of those songs that got lost in the abundance of other quality records produced by El at the time.
I heard a solo sixties singer (non Elvis tribute) do it once at a pub gig for a mainly older audience and it went down really well and he had a couple of people afterwards ask him who it was by. He was obviously a fan as he also did Kuipo which got a similar response.
So many little heard gems that the general public may not know

I believe it was in Italy backed with No More.

[jetblack]

Always been one of my faves. Was it a single anywhere ? I lose track

I believe it was in Italy backed with No More.

Correct.

Released in 1962 in Italy where I believe it reached Number One for 2 weeks.




Andy

[charroman]

This is the THE place for the knowledge! compliments to r&b and Jetblack

actually a nice single coupling with No More. Probably would have done well in the UK charts at the time.

I love the line on Sentimental Me where he sings

"On my honeymoon
I want to be where you are"

and the tremolo on his vocal on the I want to be where you are bit

sublime

[Fabbe]

great vocals! The song itself doesn't move me much and the arrangement and sound is far too sweet and light for my taste. As a result i hardly listen to this. But I am happy so many like it

[jurasic1968]

This is the THE place for the knowledge! compliments to r&b and Jetblack

actually a nice single coupling with No More. Probably would have done well in the UK charts at the time.

I love the line on Sentimental Me where he sings

"On my honeymoon
I want to be where you are"

and the tremolo on his vocal on the I want to be where you are bit

sublime

Thanks a lot. My opinion, too.

[jurasic1968]

Maybe it's off topic, but because my father died 6 month ago, I like to say something: he was an Elvis fan, but he didn't like very much his rock and roll songs. He said to me: "I like It's Now or Never(when I told him Elvis was only 25 when he recorded it, he didn't want to believe it), Are You Lonesome Tonight, Surrender, Can't Help Falling in Love, Crying in the Chapel and in the later years In The Ghetto (he absolutely loved this song).

[colonel snow]

This song was an absolute favorite of my father. Pure perfection, in my opinion

Maybe your father heard these early versions too:

Original version recorded 05-12-49 - The Ames Brothers (Coral 60140 / Coral 60173).

Besides the original version it was recorded by:
23-01-50 - Russ Morgan & his Orchestra (Decca 24904);
00-03-50 - Ray Anthony & his Orchestra with vocal Ronnie Deauville (Capitol 923);
00-03-50 - Steve Gibson & The Red Caps (Mercury 8174);
00-00-50 - Rudy Vallee with The Honeydreamers (RCA 20-3793).


colonel snow

[jurasic1968]

Thanks a lot, but he didn't. The greatest thing I remember from him about Elvis was he couldn't believe was that Elvis at 25 recorded It's Now Or Never.

[norrie]

I like this song a lot a highlight on Something For Everybody. Effortless bliss love the bass vocal bump de bump in the background

[Ciscoking]

Love this song....just perfect.

[Robert]

Rediscovered the song recently, heard it somewhere and forgot how nice it actually was!

[bajo]

Elvis sang "all kinds"! Some of those kinds struck people! Different people and different taste! Many found something in Elvis they liked along the way"! Something For Everybody sure was Elvis! I really like this song too!

[jurasic1968]

It was a great song. Like I said before, my dad didn't like very much Elvis' rock and roll songs. He always said to me that Elvis copied Bill Haley. But he liked a lot Elvis in the early 60's. And of course, he was a big fan of Frank Sinatra.

[drjohncarpenter]

This song was an absolute favorite of my father. Pure perfection, in my opinion

Never a favorite of mine, but it's still a very high-caliber, RCA Nashville, Bill Porter-engineered master.

However, no one in 1961 got excited by Elvis including "Sentimental Me" on his new LP, and no one today reaches back to it as a significant Presley recording. Interestingly, RCA gave it another chance on their 1972 Camden budget label release Separate Ways, where it followed the title track. What a difference eleven years must have made to someone hearing that 1-2 sequence on Side 1 of the album.

Elvis was in early 1960s form on "Sentimental Me," which meant a solid gold vocal. It's just unfortunate such ... sedate cover material was getting through when he was still so young and vibrant. A couple of years before, Pat and Shirley Boone even released a duet version on a Dot album called Side By Side. Ack.

There can be no doubt the main influence bringing "Sentimental Me" to the session is the hit release by the Ames Brothers. Their single peaked at #1 when Elvis was a high school freshman at Humes. The single's flip-side, "Rag Mop," was also a chart-topper for the vocal group, but it has an additional Presley connection. "Rag Mop" has always been referred to as one of the songs Elvis ran down for Sam Phillips on 6-26-1954 (Sat), after trying to sing a new song the producer had found called "Without You."





Ames Brothers "Sentimental Me" (Coral 60140, December 10, 1949)
Billboard "Records Most Played By Disc Jockeys" #1, June 10, 1950.
Flip-side was "Rag Mop," which ALSO topped the charts, albeit four months earlier.





Ames Brothers "Rag Mop" (Coral 60140, December 10, 1949)
Billboard "Records Most Played By Disc Jockeys" #1, February 18, 1950.
Original A-side of release.



A very nice cover of "Sentimental Me," with a cool, bluesy arrangement, was issued by Gale Storm in 1957:





Gale Storm "Sentimental Me" Sentimental Me (Dot DLP 3017, July 8, 1957)
Arranged and conducted by Billy Vaughn, track closed Side 2.

Gale's rendition might have been a better direction for Elvis to take in 1961, it's too bad it did not happen.

'

[Lonely Summer]

Maybe it's off topic, but because my father died 6 month ago, I like to say something: he was an Elvis fan, but he didn't like very much his rock and roll songs. He said to me: "I like It's Now or Never(when I told him Elvis was only 25 when he recorded it, he didn't want to believe it), Are You Lonesome Tonight, Surrender, Can't Help Falling in Love, Crying in the Chapel and in the later years In The Ghetto (he absolutely loved this song).

My mom is the same way. Didn't like Elvis when he first came out, but when he started singing more ballads, she became a fan. My uncle was a fan from day one. Collected all the records as they came out, still has them, all in NM condition because he was in the habit of recording them to whatever tape format right away.

[jurasic1968]

Doc, I want to say that when my father heard the very first time "In the Ghetto" he requested to me to put this song again and again on the record player. He didn't like many Elvis 70's songs, but almost until he died he listened to this marvelous song. Of course he knew about Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations from 1968, and he made the connection with this great song. Not with If I Can Dream, but with this one, I don't know why.

[karlos]

Tyvm jurasic 1968 for this thread
This is one of my favorites too that Elvis had recorded
His voice is so serene and peaceful when he sings this in my opinion and he surely delivers this song as he was a perfectionist and professional in his art
Keep up the great work here my friend and I look forward to your future threads
All the best to you and others who have contributed on this thread

Taking Care Of Elvis Forever

[jurasic1968]

All the best also to you and thank you very much for these kind words.

[jetblack]

This review of Elvis' '10 Best Ballads' from Alan Hanson in 2011 mentions 'Sentimental Me'.

http://www.elvis-history-blog.com/elvis-best-ballads.html

South Africa EP (EPC 003) released in 1962.



Andy

[jurasic1968]

Thanks a lot, jetblack.

[jurasic1968]

The tremolo in his voice...Oh, My God, this guy was really a Prince From Another Planet.

[LSP-4445]

Love this song,one of my favorites from the early 60s.

[Steve Morse]

"Something For Everybody" is Elvis's classiest album. Sheer quality in every respect.