Elvis' Favorite LP? - Charles Boyer - "Where Does Love Go"

[George Smith]

Her version is lovely, and then Elvis takes it to the moon. What a great reading from Elvis. The older I get, the more I love it.

I agree. She essentially "finished" the song in a way that no one else who had previously recorded it. There were a few versions. So, on a creative level, she's the one who created the song that Elvis, in this case, truly interpreted. And that it was he did: in the traditional sense, interpreted it with his voice. And I would say that instead of "taking it to the moon," he took it down under the sea. He added a graceful bleakness, a desolation that almost has no bottom. Just in the singing. She did the arranging, and in doing so really made it into the song it became.

And there's a trivia quiz! What lyric did Elvis omit? You wouldn't think he did, but he did. I'm not sure why, but that particular word, or phrase just didn't appeal to him. I think it has to do with the particular feel of his singing: it's smooth . . . but not in a slick way at all. And this phrase would have interfered.

Anyone catch it? I think everyone else sings it, but him.

rjm

Off the top of my head, was it the word "crooked".

[rjm]

George wins. "Crooked trail" is missing! Not once!

And, yes, Revelator, he turns "to you" into "to me." That is meaningful. I have to listen to her once again on that, though.

rjm

Sent via mobile

[George Smith]

What's my prize?

[rjm]

What's my prize?

Hmm. I have to think about that.

A trophy! An FECC trophy!

What should we call it?

rjm

Sent via mobile

[George Smith]

The George Smith Cup for carrying around huge amounts of useless trivia in the back of your head.

Snappy title, huh.

[rjm]

The George Smith Cup for carrying around huge amounts of useless trivia in the back of your head.

Snappy title, huh.

LOL!

(It's all very useful. )

rjm

Sent via mobile

[Mike Windgren]

Hi there!! .

As many of the original audio links have expired in this fantastic topic, thought I would add a YouTube video of the song What Now My Love by Charles Boyer .

A similar partial spoken version of this song was done by Elvis on the super rare bootleg cd: Love Letters From Nevada . Enjoy!. Bye for now .

..
Charles Boyer-What Now My Love.


Elvis-Love Letters From Nevada cd. Las Vegas December 4, 1976. Sundial Production SP 601.

http://www9.zippyshare.com/v/80039681/file.html
WAV audio rip of What Now My Love by Elvis.

[stevelecher]

Thanks. No, it will never stop!

Let us know what you think of the LP if you find a copy.

Will do if I find a nice copy and for an affordable price .

In the meantime let´s everybody over here listen to Odetta´s version of: Tomorrow Is a Long Time . You´re right Elvis did a carbon copy of her version. Thanks!

..

Her version is lovely, although Elvis puts a lot into his 1966 recording. One wonders if he listened a lot to the Boyer record after learning RCA decided to bury the track on Spinout as a "bonus" cut.

I've always understood that EP had a lot of say regarding his releases. Didn't Elvis have to approve the use of this song as a bonus song on Spinout? It wouldn't have made a good single, would it?

[luckyjackson1]

Just in case somebody is interested - here's a new link for the Charles Boyer album:

https://mega.nz/#!RWBDFBgY!qV4xtAmibu7M2yfqqF6P2uJJEWUn9z_z2DWdSQ9coKU

Thanks again to the initial uploader, elvisjock.

Regards, lucky

[drjohncarpenter]

This single apparently did not chart, except at one Memphis home, where it hit #1, with a bullet:

Adding a little more context to Elvis' most beloved later in life LP, according to the review below, the Charles Boyer single was out at the same time as Elvis' studio-soundtrack mishmash, Elvis For Everyone.

It was even getting radio airplay, which may be where Elvis first discovered the recording. At the time he was making "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" for Paramount, and certainly had a reason to be asking the question.

PLATTER CHATTER
By PENNY BLEILE

It seems that whenever a young performer gets in the spotlight, regardless of what his or her profession may be, the first thing the person does is cut a record.

Latest entry in the field is Patty Duke who has come out with a new single titled "Don't Just Stand There."

While we are on the subject of new singles, have you heard the latest by the Beatles? It's "Help" and if the Beatles aren't wild enough for you try Claus Ogerman's RCA Victor recording of "Watusi Trumpets."

Chad and Jeremy have another disc out. This one is titled "I Don't Wait to Lose You Baby." Then there's James Darren's record of "Because You're Mine."

Although it's not very new we would like to nominate for our "Worst Record of the Week" award the cut of "Cara Mia" by Jay and the Americans. They have taken what was a beautiful song and completely butchered it.

Two records that are receiving considerable play around town and on the rock and non-rock stations are "Where Does Love Go" by Charles Boyer and the new album by Boulou, a 13·year-old who is being billed as the "jazz sensation from France."

Neither one will find many listeners in the younger set of teens hut their older brothers and sisters will go for these two new records, as will their parents.

Elvis Presley also has a new album out titled "Elvis For Everyone." The title sounds like a politician's campaign slogan.

Van Nuys Valley News - Friday, July 30, 1965
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/32801203/

[elvisjock]

Yo! What’s with the diss on Cara Mia?

Excellent research on the possible source of the Boyer connection.

[drjohncarpenter]

Thanks very much--I'm looking forward to listening to one of the albums Elvis loved most.

Charles Boyer had a pretty sad life--his son committed suicide shortly after producing and persuading his father to record Where Does Love Go?. And Boyer himself committed suicide two days after the death of his wife of 44 years.

All that aside, Boyer was a terrific actor, one equally at home in lush Hollywood melodramas (Love Affair, History Is Made at Night) and foreign arthouse fare (Pepe Le Moko, The Earrings of Madame De...). So this album should be pretty good, given the talent involved.

I dug out a little more about how this record came to be.

631112_Charles and Michael Boyer_Brooks Atkinson Theatre_New York.JPG

Michael with his dad, opening night of "Man and Boy" at Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York - Tuesday, November 12, 1963


It turns out his son Michael was indeed working at the Valiant label, a subsidiary of his father's Four Star Television company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Star_Television
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valiant_Records

And, as noted in my previous post, the single came out in July 1965. My research proves his son's unexpected death came just two months after that.

Actor Charles Boyer's Son Kills Himself With Pistol

By Wire Services

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. Michael Charles Boyer, son of romantic French actor Charles Boyer, shot and killed himself shortly after midnight in his Beverly Hills home, police reported.

Officers were called to Boyer's home in luxurious Coldwater Canyon after a neighbor reported hearing a gunshot and a woman's scream.

At Boyer's house, police found Marilyn CampbeIl, 22, who said she had been dating young Boyer, and John Kirsch, who said he was Boyer's house guest.

Officers quoted Miss Campbell as saying she had just told Boyer, 21, she was going to stop seeing him. Miss Campbell and Kirsch told officers Boyer went into his den and they heard a single gunshot shortly afterward.

Boyer died of a single wound in the right temple, police said. A revolver lay near his body.

Officers declined immediately to classify the death as accidental or suicide.

Officers said the fatal bullet lad been the only one in the pistol -- a 38-caliber snub-nose revolver. Five others were found on a table next to the body, indicating he might have been playing "Russian roulette," they said.

Boyer, a gun collector, was known to have played "Russian roulette" before, the detectives said. Only a few nights ago he had shot out a large plate glass window in the house, officers said.

He had worked as a dialogue director on the defunct television series "The Rogues," in which his father appeared and had an interest. The younger man reportedly also had an interest in a, record company.

Boyer's parents live nearby. The elder Boyer, veteran leading man of dozens of films, has been working on two films in Paris. He intends to fly to Los Angeles tonight.

Michael was the only child of the French screen idol, 66, and former British actress Pat Paterson, who wed Boyer Feb. 16, 1934, in Yuma, Ariz. Their son was born nearly 10 years later, on Dec. 11, 1943.

Tucson Daily Citizen - Thursday, September 23, 1965
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/23500404/

650923_AP Wirephoto_01.JPG

650923_AP Wirephoto_02.JPG

Actor Charles Boyer's Son Kills Self

LOS ANGELES (UPI) - Michael Boyer, only son of suave French actor Charles Boyer, shot himself yesterday when his fiancee broke their engagement, police reported.

The 21-year-old Boyer fired a 38-caliber bullet into his right temple after Marilyn Campbell, 22, told him she did not want to see him again.

Miss Campbell was quoted by police as saying: "He told me he was a loser, that he had always been a loser and that if he lost me he would kill himself."

Miss Campbell was in young Boyer's home at the time of the shooting shortly after midnight. A house guest, John Kirsch, 22, said he also was there when the shot was fired. He said he was watching television in another room when the gun discharged.

Police listed the death as either accidental or suicide.

The senior Boyer was in Paris, where he is making two movies, when he was told of his son's death.

The distraught father left immediately by jet airliner on a direct flight to Los Angeles where he arrived last night.

Miss Campbell said she had met the younger Boyer last month and that they'd become engaged shortly thereafter. Boyer was employed as a dialogue coach for his father's defunct television series, "The Rogues," and recently became a promotion director for Valiant Records, a small company owned by Four Star Television Productions, in which his father is a partner.

Boyer Sr. was working on a new album for the firm during his stay in Paris. He told United Press International: "I would not have started this, not at my age (66). And I'm breaking my back, but it was Michael's idea. I'm doing it for him.

"I've just started a new career ... for my son. This is the least I can do for him."

Kirsch, a student at Loyola, later said he had known Michael for 16 years and described the youth as a cheerful extrovert who never discussed suicide. He added that Michael was "always fooling around with guns."

Michael was the only son of Boyer and his wife, former English actress Patricia Paterson. He was born Dec. 9, 1943.

Police Detective V. A. Peterson said the shooting took place shortly after midnight and that he found the revolver on a table near the body. Both Miss Campbell and Kirsch were in Boyer's West Los Angeles home when police arrived.

Police reported Miss Campbell had told Boyer she was going to stop seeing him a few minutes before the shot was fired. She also said that she wiped Boyer's wound with a towel, adding "Michael was fooling around with his guns, playing Russian roulette earlier in the evening."

Tampa Tribune - Friday, September 24, 1965
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/330352667/

There can be no doubt that the completed LP, released on Valiant in November, was heavily influenced by this tragedy. Elvis must have felt a lot of this melancholy, and loss, every time he listened to the record.

651120_Valiant 5001_01.JPG

651120_Valiant 5001_02.JPG

Charles Boyer Where Does Love Go? (Valiant 5001, November 20, 1965)