Never stopped "Thinking About You"!

[Juan Luis]

A Tim Baty song B-side of the single "My Boy", recorded December 12-13, 1973, and included on the 1975 "Promised Land" LP record. Elvis sings so relaxed and breezy for me here and with much feeling. I remember enjoying the version with the extended ending on "Memories Of Elvis" series with James Burton soloing just fine. BTW. The version to get is on the "Promised Land" CD remixed and mastered by the late Dennis Ferrante. Much better sounding than the original as found on different releases including the Sony Stax set. More "oomph" and clarity with the percussion among other things. As originally heard be damned LOL. This is the one I enjoy today! BTW..Time-Life sets remastered by Dennis Drake used the Ferrante remixes for even better sound. A song when making a 1970's Elvis compilation to use when slowing down things a bit. Fits right in. Nice strings arranged by Mike Leech with (among others) Mary Holladay, Kathy Westmoreland, Susan Pilkington and Mary Greene, performing beautiful background voice work with a bit of soul. An (IMO) taken for granted Elvis sound. Elvis records were rarely a pure of the predominant genre. Always hard to classify. Starting with his great vocals!

..

[TINML]

I like the song and production but I think Elvis' vocal is subpar.

[stevelecher]

It's another instance where the deterioration of Elvis' voice is much in evidence. I think the song is quite beneath him too.

[fn2drive]

Pretty enough to listen to if you don't listen too carefully. As interesting on PL as it would have been in Girl Happy. Surely getting publishing is how this lightweight track made it through. All the producer wants is get a track he can call final. Elvis' diction and vocal are just passable which was all that was demanded. Liked it when first released; always skip over it today. Nothing compelling about it whatsoever. I am simply amazed that no matter how mediocre the track or the performance, you love them. Ah but 70s Elvis was genius.

[Juan Luis]

This is a story-telling song about waking up and going for a ride or drive reminiscing about the love lost and found, too late for remedy. And after all was said and done... "life is fine and I am doing fine", leaves the listener with the question if indeed the character moved on, or lived in regret for that very strong love lost.
Even as a kid listening to the story, I wasn't judging Elvis' vocals. For he was stating the message perfectly in a subdued fashion. This, in my opinion, is a song that needs minimal effort to convey the message. Elvis (IMO) successfully conveyed it.

[stevelecher]

"Life is fine and I'm doing fine;" lyrically not the strongest song ever, is it?

[scobaby]

I enjoy this one a lot for some reason. Maybe the melody or the "feel" of it...hard to describe. I really enjoy the version on "Unedited Masters 1973" with the even longer extended version.

[fn2drive]

This is a story-telling song about waking up and going for a ride or drive reminiscing about the love lost and found, too late for remedy. And after all was said and done... "life is fine and I am doing fine", leaves the listener with the question if indeed the character moved on, or lived in regret for that very strong love lost.
Even as a kid listening to the story, I wasn't judging Elvis' vocals. For he was stating the message perfectly in a subdued fashion. This, in my opinion, is a song that needs minimal effort to convey the message. Elvis (IMO) successfully conveyed it.

Well if minimal effort is what was needed, that's what was delivered.

[Juan Luis]

"Life is fine and I'm doing fine;" lyrically not the strongest song ever, is it?

Everything is poetry in the real world? Anyway, my bad using that line that was simple and straightforward in the mind of someone that could have problems with denial. Or simply stating a fact.

[bajo]

I simply like it!

[Juan Luis]

This is a story-telling song about waking up and going for a ride or drive reminiscing about the love lost and found, too late for remedy. And after all was said and done... "life is fine and I am doing fine", leaves the listener with the question if indeed the character moved on, or lived in regret for that very strong love lost.
Even as a kid listening to the story, I wasn't judging Elvis' vocals. For he was stating the message perfectly in a subdued fashion. This, in my opinion, is a song that needs minimal effort to convey the message. Elvis (IMO) successfully conveyed it.

Well if minimal effort is what was needed, that's what was delivered.

The writing, the song.

[drjohncarpenter]

Tim Baty, it should be mentioned, was a member of Voice. Perhaps we can get topics up for every piece of material Elvis cut that was written by a member of Voice. I could be wrong, but I believe each was produced by Felton Jarvis.

[rickeap]

Elvis' relaxed vocal is perfect for the song. Love it

[promiseland]

Pretty enough to listen to if you don't listen too carefully. As interesting on PL as it would have been in Girl Happy. Surely getting publishing is how this lightweight track made it through. All the producer wants is get a track he can call final. Elvis' diction and vocal are just passable which was all that was demanded. Liked it when first released; always skip over it today. Nothing compelling about it whatsoever. I am simply amazed that no matter how mediocre the track or the performance, you love them. Ah but 70s Elvis was genius.

I am simply amazed how you make so many fact-less comments.
Please try to insert facts to lighten your always negative contributions here.

[fn2drive]

Pretty enough to listen to if you don't listen too carefully. As interesting on PL as it would have been in Girl Happy. Surely getting publishing is how this lightweight track made it through. All the producer wants is get a track he can call final. Elvis' diction and vocal are just passable which was all that was demanded. Liked it when first released; always skip over it today. Nothing compelling about it whatsoever. I am simply amazed that no matter how mediocre the track or the performance, you love them. Ah but 70s Elvis was genius.

I am simply amazed how you make so many fact-less comments.
Please try to insert facts to lighten your always negative contributions here.

Thank you for noticing. I work hard at being amazing. Exactly what facts would you like to discuss around the topic of a song review-the poetry, the ryhme structure, the beat count or as Doc points out (and which i presumed anyone on a board like this would have known) that one of the Voice hacks wrote the song ?. This topic wasnt an expose of deep research that Doc does which never fail to enlighten or amaze and often wind up leaden with criticism. This is an opinion thread. My comment on publishing is factual-Doc does take the time to explain the source and therefore give you the reason this song made it to Elvis-and into the steaming pile of demos.

My pollyanna days are long gone. I cant discuss the genius (and it is genius) of I Shall Be Released without the obvious missed oppty to create a song for the ages and why i believe it occurred. When OP picks an outstanding 70s track, it is easy to be positive about the music but little else. It serves like a splinter you cant get out as to why they were so rare as the 70s moved on. You dont need scholarly research to know why the ratio of mediocre/poor to great was so high but it is relevant. And it is important even if unpleasant. If you like this track or Fool or Padre or 3 Corn Patches, i am happy you can delight in them as i once had convinced myself to do. But i grew up and now hear them for what they are. Do i drive by them on occassion, of course, but as curiosities not indulgences. I dont plan to stop commenting when relevant and you don't need to be the Encyclopedia Brittanica to critique something.

You can have a bromance with Felton Jarvis and it is your right to hold that opinion. You have a right to believe Tom Parker was the world's greatest manager. You have a right to believe that Elvis wasnt a drug addict. You also can believe the earth is flat, Santa exists, and man didnt land on the moon. You would be wrong, of course, but that doesnt mean you cant believe it. The job of posters is to persuade one from ignorance and as Doc often does enlighten with revelations. And as they say, you can just change the channel.

[Ciscoking]

I always liked it when I first bought the record. Promised land is a nice album.

My thoughts exactly. I always liked this song and the album. Its almost a country album.

[keninlincs]

A nice catchy little piece of music that I always enjoyed

[Fish]

This track might not be genius but I enjoy this one actually very much. The arrangement has a laid back country-funky-ishm (we make them up as we go along) to it that is catchy and serves his somewhat tired vocal and the lyrics well. It is more than just filler but never destined to be an A-side single. I would have prefered this one live to any My Ways or Mountains etc.

[DarrylMac]

I've always enjoyed it, and I'm sorry, but those who say the work Elvis did in December 73 show's a deteroration in Elvis voice must be hearing something I'm not. Some of the material, such as She Wears My Ring, If That Isn't Love, Spanish Eyes etc isn't fantastic, but Elvis sounds in fine voice to me, and as Ernst noted, there was lots of room for optimism following this session.

[fn2drive]

Pretty enough to listen to if you don't listen too carefully. As interesting on PL as it would have been in Girl Happy. Surely getting publishing is how this lightweight track made it through. All the producer wants is get a track he can call final. Elvis' diction and vocal are just passable which was all that was demanded. Liked it when first released; always skip over it today. Nothing compelling about it whatsoever. I am simply amazed that no matter how mediocre the track or the performance, you love them. Ah but 70s Elvis was genius.

Are there any Elvis recordings you like ?

And, by the way, the phrase "steaming pile of . . ." is getting a bit tiresome.

Re point 1 From 54 to 62, you have to work hard to find a bad recording. From 63 to 67 you have 3 categories, movie soundtracks that steadily declined in quality and wound up mostly as trash with a few interesting performances and guility pleasures, the fantastic and inspired gospel session and hit and miss studio work (some fantastic; some simply mediocre, and some vastly overrated becuase it showed the man still had a pulse and might yet pull through). 68 and 69 bring us quality not seen since 1960 including strong and some excellent movie soundtrack performances. The 1970 live recordings are fantastic. The mid 1970 recording sessions contain some performances that are as good as any ever recorded but they also show the arrival of subpar material driven by publishing. The 4 song Sept? recording session is the absolute turning point signally the future downward trajectory-1 breezy performance, one manic, and 2 overblown. From here forward it was steadily downhill. For sure there were great performances (Burning Love, Always On My Mind, Lovin' Arms) but now the good or great were appearing at 20 pct rate. summer Stax 73 was a disaster, December better but not by much in toto but some strong performances. The Today sessions were good but Elvis had wrecked his voice (again some good tracks) and the lower doses of downers yielded better results than Stax 1. Finally the Jungle rooms sessions speak for themselves and not in a good way.
The steady diet of maudlin ballads (Its a matter of time, Seperate Ways, AOMM, Fool, It's Midnight, Thinking About You etc etc-all one trick ponies served up to him like his beloved cheeseburgers because they knew they had publishing, knew he would eat them and served up to fans as poor Elvis misses his Priscilla, sickens me.) Yes there were some very good or great ones- AOMM or Pieces Of My Life or Hurt. But by mid 1970, the race was on-live recording replaced movie soundtracks, a weak producer with no backbone did not fight for material that was starworthy and created no reason for his star to want to be in the studio other than because of a contractual obligation. So dont feed me the is there anything i like line of bull. I have many songs in the vast periods where Elvis was wandering around in the musical desert that i love-but i recognize them for what they-substandard and For LP Fans Only. Everytime i hear Padre i think if only he wasnt a performimg circus animal trapped by a constricting system that controlled him, what could he have produced and how might have thinks been different. Sorry i broke my rose colored glasses a long time ago.

Re pt 2 thats what they are-i see no reason to describe them as otherwise when the circumstances warrant.

[drjohncarpenter]

Pretty enough to listen to if you don't listen too carefully. As interesting on PL as it would have been in Girl Happy. Surely getting publishing is how this lightweight track made it through. All the producer wants is get a track he can call final. Elvis' diction and vocal are just passable which was all that was demanded. Liked it when first released; always skip over it today. Nothing compelling about it whatsoever. I am simply amazed that no matter how mediocre the track or the performance, you love them. Ah but 70s Elvis was genius.

Are there any Elvis recordings you like ?

And, by the way, the phrase "steaming pile of . . ." is getting a bit tiresome.

Re point 1 From 54 to 62, you have to work hard to find a bad recording. From 63 to 67 you have 3 categories, movie soundtracks that steadily declined in quality and wound up mostly as trash with a few interesting performances and guility pleasures, the fantastic and inspired gospel session and hit and miss studio work (some fantastic; some simply mediocre, and some vastly overrated becuase it showed the man still had a pulse and might yet pull through). 68 and 69 bring us quality not seen since 1960 including strong and some excellent movie soundtrack performances. The 1970 live recordings are fantastic. The mid 1970 recording sessions contain some performances that are as good as any ever recorded but they also show the arrival of subpar material driven by publishing. The 4 song Sept? recording session is the absolute turning point signally the future downward trajectory-1 breezy performance, one manic, and 2 overblown. From here forward it was steadily downhill. For sure there were great performances (Burning Love, Always On My Mind, Lovin' Arms) but now the good or great were appearing at 20 pct rate. summer Stax 73 was a disaster, December better but not by much in toto but some strong performances. The Today sessions were good but Elvis had wrecked his voice (again some good tracks) and the lower doses of downers yielded better results than Stax 1. Finally the Jungle rooms sessions speak for themselves and not in a good way.
The steady diet of maudlin ballads (Its a matter of time, Seperate Ways, AOMM, Fool, It's Midnight, Thinking About You etc etc-all one trick ponies served up to him like his beloved cheeseburgers because they knew they had publishing, knew he would eat them and served up to fans as poor Elvis misses his Priscilla, sickens me.) Yes there were some very good or great ones- AOMM or Pieces Of My Life or Hurt. But by mid 1970, the race was on-live recording replaced movie soundtracks, a weak producer with no backbone did not fight for material that was starworthy and created no reason for his star to want to be in the studio other than because of a contractual obligation. So dont feed me the is there anything i like line of bull. I have many songs in the vast periods where Elvis was wandering around in the musical desert that i love-but i recognize them for what they-substandard and For LP Fans Only. Everytime i hear Padre i think if only he wasnt a performimg circus animal trapped by a constricting system that controlled him, what could he have produced and how might have thinks been different. Sorry i broke my rose colored glasses a long time ago.

Re pt 2 thats what they are-i see no reason to describe them as otherwise when the circumstances warrant.

It's very hard to argue against your clear-eyed summary of the Presley recording career.

[YDKM]

"Life is fine and I'm doing fine;" lyrically not the strongest song ever, is it?

ah BUT it's the WAY Elvis sings that tha makes the song so damm good and heartfelt because life 'isn't fine at all'.... brilliant and one of my top 10 fav songs love it`!

[Pete Dube]

Since I first heard it I've always found Thinking About You a catchy tune with an engaging, playful performance from Elvis. I also think it's a tasteful production from The One Who Shall Not Be Named.

[Juan Luis]

The steady diet of maudlin ballads (Its a matter of time, Seperate Ways, AOMM, Fool, It's Midnight, Thinking About You etc etc-all one trick ponies served up to him like his beloved cheeseburgers because they knew they had publishing, knew he would eat them and served up to fans as poor Elvis misses his Priscilla, sickens me.)

The music business is just that. A business. And a well established artist that was not composing (not counting independently chosen material by the artist) had to be "sold' or "pitched" what he liked, to go ahead and record it hoping (with the artist's talent and production), this would be good business, for the public would buy it. And speaking of business. You think Elvis would have fallen for a song about his mom?..... That would not be a "cheeseburger". But a double meat Whopper with cheese! If it happened, of course.

[fn2drive]

The steady diet of maudlin ballads (Its a matter of time, Seperate Ways, AOMM, Fool, It's Midnight, Thinking About You etc etc-all one trick ponies served up to him like his beloved cheeseburgers because they knew they had publishing, knew he would eat them and served up to fans as poor Elvis misses his Priscilla, sickens me.)

The music business is just that. A business. And a well established artist that was not composing (not counting independently chosen material by the artist) had to be "sold' or "pitched" what he liked, to go ahead and record it, hoping (with the artist's talent and production) this would be good business, for the public would buy it. And speaking of business. You think Elvis would have fallen for a song about his mom?..... That would not be a "cheeseburger". But a double meat Whopper with cheese! If it happened, of course.

I'm hardly naïve about the business dimension of this. All you need do is look at his release schedules and RCA's financial quarters. I dont intend to get back to Jarvis but to say that you cant have both commercial and artistic success is simply not true. You have to be surrounded by a support team that works hard at it and doesn't simply serve up mother's milk. How many consecutive love's lost ballads did he release on singles? By the time you get to From EP Blvd, he might as well been singing funeral dirges. And no one interceded because of greed, laziness and inherent mediocrity. We got it-he laments losing his wife. Find him a project and songs that were worthy. I really wonder how much time Jarvis and Hill and Range spent between sessions developing a plan and finding the right tracks for him. My guess is he got bullied into the studio post 70, a was handed a stack of garbage they had publishing on and he remembered a few songs and off to the races.