what'd I say-worst cover by elvis?

[Chucky99]

When Elvis Presley covered a song, he made it his own ,most of the time.There are many examples: from Hound Dog to Polk Salad Annie, from Blue Suede Shoes to You've Lost That Loving Feeling, from I Got a Woman to Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Elvis covered 3 Little Richard songs: Rip It Up, Ready Teddy( better than the originals in my opinion) and Long Tall Sally( not better than the original but still an OK cover).
Again,he covered 3 Ray Charles songs:I got a woman-much better than the original, I can't stop loving you (the version live in concert-1970 is better in my opinion) and WHAT'D I SAY(this is the worst cover that I ever listened..I don't know what happened here, Elvis wasn't Elvis in this song.Everything sounds bad on this one.
So in conclusion ,the only bad Elvis cover in my opinion is WHAT'D I SAY.
What is your opinion on this matter, guys? What is your pick for Worst cover done by Elvis and why? Please motivate your choice/pick.

[Bodie]

I disagree completely.

Love the studio version and the 'live' versions'.

[Chucky99]

I disagree completely.

Love the studio version and the 'live' versions'.

Interesting.What do you love in the studio version?

[Rockin_John]

Agree about the studio version. Something is really missing. It's far from rockin. It's just lame...

Do we have any outtakes of this?

[Fabbe]

I like the studio version But the arrangement is a bit too pop


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

[Bodie]

I disagree completely.

Love the studio version and the 'live' versions'.

Interesting.What do you love in the studio version?

Elvis' voice.

[Chucky99]

I disagree completely.

Love the studio version and the 'live' versions'.

Interesting.What do you love in the studio version?

Elvis' voice.

Elvis voice is ok(not bad, but not great either), but the sound is pretty bad in my opinion.It s too pop and the girls screaming ruins the song for me

[Fabbe]

In 69 Elvis has his best vocal approach to the song--- to me. But it Was a bit fast in speed!


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

[LSP-4445]

Agree about the studio version. Something is really missing. It's far from rockin. It's just lame...

Do we have any outtakes of this?

from keithflynn.com

http://keithflynn.com/recording-sessions/630830.html

[Chucky99]

This studio version from 1970 is better concerning the sound.....

[DayVee Bee]

When Elvis Presley covered a song, he made it his own ,most of the time.There are many examples: from Hound Dog to Polk Salad Annie, from Blue Suede Shoes to You've Lost That Loving Feeling, from I Got a Woman to Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Elvis covered 3 Little Richard songs: Rip It Up, Ready Teddy( better than the originals in my opinion) and Long Tall Sally( not better than the original but still an OK cover).
Again,he covered 3 Ray Charles songs:I got a woman-much better than the original, I can't stop loving you (the version live in concert-1970 is better in my opinion) and WHAT'D I SAY(this is the worst cover that I ever listened..I don't know what happened here, Elvis wasn't Elvis in this song.Everything sounds bad on this one.
So in conclusion ,the only bad Elvis cover in my opinion is WHAT'D I SAY.
What is your opinion on this matter, guys? What is your pick for Worst cover done by Elvis and why? Please motivate your choice/pick.

As a big "fan" of Elvis since 1956, I have a different view of this.
I have a problem with the word "Cover" used in regard to Elvis, ever.
To me a "Cover" means when someone records a sound-alike version of a current "hit" song in order to compete for sales in a different or same marketplace.
For example, the Rolling Stones covered "It's All Over Now" by the Valentinos, which greatly upset them at the time, although Sam Cooke, their mentor, tried to console them by reminding them that the $$$ from the Rolling Stones' version might be much more than they could have made on their own!
Many US hits in the 50's & 60's were immediately "covered" in UK by local artists like Marty Wilde, Tommy Steele, Cilla Black, etc etc, simply to get £££... In the US, many black artists had their own "hits" covered for the white or country markets by Pat Boone, Georgia Gibbs and many more...
I don't believe Elvis ever "covered" any song in this fashion... When he recorded someone else's hit song, it was a "tribute" to that song & artist: I feel Elvis was always acknowledging others when he sang "their" songs and even knew (or at least hoped) they would benefit in $$$ when he did so.
For example, I see the entire "Aloha from Hawaii" concert as his Tribute & Thanks & Love to the many artists whose "hits" he performed: The Beatles, Marty Robbins, James Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Rodgers, Carl Perkins, Hank Williams, Don Gibson, Ben E. King, Dean Martin or Jim Reeves, Little Richard etc. And I am sure many of them enjoyed the royalties ($$$) they got from Elvis singing their songs.
In regards to "What'd I Say," I hear that song as Elvis (singing as Lucky Jackson) doing a version of the song for the movie. His "own" interpretation as "Elvis" was more like what he sang on stage in 1969
To me, all the songs Elvis sang in his movies need to be heard more as Elvis singing as his "character" in the movie, not as Elvis' own best interpretations as Elvis! I don't think that, as Elvis, he would have sung many of them by choice
Hope this gives you a different "lens" to enjoy/not enjoy some of these type of songs!

[Chucky99]

When Elvis Presley covered a song, he made it his own ,most of the time.There are many examples: from Hound Dog to Polk Salad Annie, from Blue Suede Shoes to You've Lost That Loving Feeling, from I Got a Woman to Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Elvis covered 3 Little Richard songs: Rip It Up, Ready Teddy( better than the originals in my opinion) and Long Tall Sally( not better than the original but still an OK cover).
Again,he covered 3 Ray Charles songs:I got a woman-much better than the original, I can't stop loving you (the version live in concert-1970 is better in my opinion) and WHAT'D I SAY(this is the worst cover that I ever listened..I don't know what happened here, Elvis wasn't Elvis in this song.Everything sounds bad on this one.
So in conclusion ,the only bad Elvis cover in my opinion is WHAT'D I SAY.
What is your opinion on this matter, guys? What is your pick for Worst cover done by Elvis and why? Please motivate your choice/pick.

As a big "fan" of Elvis since 1956, I have a different view of this.
I have a problem with the word "Cover" used in regard to Elvis, ever.
To me a "Cover" means when someone records a sound-alike version of a current "hit" song in order to compete for sales in a different or same marketplace.
For example, the Rolling Stones covered "It's All Over Now" by the Valentinos, which greatly upset them at the time, although Sam Cooke, their mentor, tried to console them by reminding them that the $$$ from the Rolling Stones' version might be much more than they could have made on their own!
Many US hits in the 50's & 60's were immediately "covered" in UK by local artists like Marty Wilde, Tommy Steele, Cilla Black, etc etc, simply to get £££... In the US, many black artists had their own "hits" covered for the white or country markets by Pat Boone, Georgia Gibbs and many more...
I don't believe Elvis ever "covered" any song in this fashion... When he recorded someone else's hit song, it was a "tribute" to that song & artist: I feel Elvis was always acknowledging others when he sang "their" songs and even knew (or at least hoped) they would benefit in $$$ when he did so.
For example, I see the entire "Aloha from Hawaii" concert as his Tribute & Thanks & Love to the many artists whose "hits" he performed: The Beatles, Marty Robbins, James Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Rodgers, Carl Perkins, Hank Williams, Don Gibson, Ben E. King, Dean Martin or Jim Reeves, Little Richard etc. And I am sure many of them enjoyed the royalties ($$$) they got from Elvis singing their songs.
In regards to "What'd I Say," I hear that song as Elvis (singing as Lucky Jackson) doing a version of the song for the movie. His "own" interpretation as "Elvis" was more like what he sang on stage in 1969
To me, all the songs Elvis sang in his movies need to be heard more as Elvis singing as his "character" in the movie, not as Elvis' own best interpretations as Elvis! I don't think that, as Elvis, he would have sung many of them by choice
Hope this gives you a different "lens" to enjoy/not enjoy some of these type of songs!

Thank you very much,I appreciate.Now I understand it better.

[jurasic1968]

I prefer the 1963 studio version. Elvis' voice is better in my opinion.

[JimmyCool]

I agree, worst cover... it has no balls:

..

[jurasic1968]

Thanks a lot. One of the greatest clips of Elvis' movies. The King and The Queen!

[r&b]

When Elvis Presley covered a song, he made it his own ,most of the time.There are many examples: from Hound Dog to Polk Salad Annie, from Blue Suede Shoes to You've Lost That Loving Feeling, from I Got a Woman to Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Elvis covered 3 Little Richard songs: Rip It Up, Ready Teddy( better than the originals in my opinion) and Long Tall Sally( not better than the original but still an OK cover).
Again,he covered 3 Ray Charles songs:I got a woman-much better than the original, I can't stop loving you (the version live in concert-1970 is better in my opinion) and WHAT'D I SAY(this is the worst cover that I ever listened..I don't know what happened here, Elvis wasn't Elvis in this song.Everything sounds bad on this one.
So in conclusion ,the only bad Elvis cover in my opinion is WHAT'D I SAY.
What is your opinion on this matter, guys? What is your pick for Worst cover done by Elvis and why? Please motivate your choice/pick.

The only one? I'd say these covers by Elvis were not better than their original also

Blueberry Hill
Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On
Hey Jude
Dont Think Twice, Its All Right
You Dont Have To Say You Love Me
Rags To Riches
Until Its Time For You To Go
Green Green Grass of Home
Hurt
Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
I'll Never Fall In Love Again
Pledging My Love

[jurasic1968]

Blueberry Hill, Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On, Hey Jude, Green Green Grass of Home, I'll Never Fall In Love Again are also in my list (posted above by r&b). Not What'd I Say.

[DearGeorgie]

His version of "Frankie and Johnny" isn't too hot either

[jurasic1968]

Right. I forgot about this lackluster version of the song

[Hobbes]

I like most of the covers Elvis recorded in the studio, although it would have been better sometimes if he'd recorded more original recordings. I even like songs such as Blueberry Hill and Rip It Up; even though he didn't better the Fats Domino and Little Richard versions, they are fully committed and Elvis sings them almost as a nod to his contemporaries.

What I don't like so much are the many covers he did in concert in the 1970s. Some work very well (I Just Can't Help Believing, Steamroller Blues, Polk Salad Annie) but many don't. I wish for example that he never performed My Way. And by the 70s he had such a vast body of his own work that he probably didn't need to record covers at all.

[jurasic1968]

Yes. And I listened recently to What'd I Say and Johnny B. Goode form the EIC LP. Terrible.

[skatterbrane]

I also like the 1963 version of What'd I Say, always have.
To DayVee Bee, I totally get your definition of "cover". Which leads me to a aspect of this subject I have noticed all my life. There are times when a country artist records a song that "crosses over" to the pop charts in a big way. Seldom does a pop artist put out the song as a single to compete with the country artist.

However I have noticed whenever a song on the pop charts threatens to crossover to the country charts, an artist controlled by the Nashville cartel almost instantly has a version out which usually does very well on the country charts and effectively buries the pop artist's version on the country charts.

Has anyone ever noticed this? One example I can think of is Black Velvet by Alannah Myles which was effectively covered by Robin Lee for the country charts. But there are probably hundreds of examples.

[jurasic1968]

And Walking in Memphis-from Marc Cohn to Cher.

[DearGeorgie]

"How Do I Live" seemed to have 2 different country artists releasing it so close to each other: LeAnn Rimes & Tricia Yearwood...basically the exact same arrangement

[drjohncarpenter]

When Elvis Presley covered a song, he made it his own ,most of the time.There are many examples: from Hound Dog to Polk Salad Annie, from Blue Suede Shoes to You've Lost That Loving Feeling, from I Got a Woman to Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Elvis covered 3 Little Richard songs: Rip It Up, Ready Teddy( better than the originals in my opinion) and Long Tall Sally( not better than the original but still an OK cover).
Again,he covered 3 Ray Charles songs:I got a woman-much better than the original, I can't stop loving you (the version live in concert-1970 is better in my opinion) and WHAT'D I SAY(this is the worst cover that I ever listened..I don't know what happened here, Elvis wasn't Elvis in this song.Everything sounds bad on this one.
So in conclusion ,the only bad Elvis cover in my opinion is WHAT'D I SAY.
What is your opinion on this matter, guys? What is your pick for Worst cover done by Elvis and why? Please motivate your choice/pick.

First of all, I gotta say Elvis doesn't come close to topping the original, game-changing Little Richard singles he covered in 1956, although his energy and enthusiasm are undeniable. More importantly, you don't suggest any specifics for what "bad" means here. Are we talking about a bad song choice? Bad vocals? Bad arrangement? Bad in comparison to the original? Bad studio covers or bad live covers, or both?

The 1963 recording of "What'd I Say" is poorly arranged, and the 1964 release sounded thin. Both of these could have been corrected, if only. That said, there are plenty of other Presley recordings which make me cringe more :

Padre
Silver Bells
Put Your Hand in the Hand
Three Corn Patches
My Boy
America the Beautiful [live]
I'll Never Fall in Love Again

Which one of these do I consider the worst? Heh. Gee, I'm not sure ...