You'll Be Gone

[CountCanada]

I can't get enough of this song....your thoughts....

[drjohncarpenter]

I can't get enough of this song....your thoughts....

How many times a day do you spin it?

[PiersEIN]

"When Priscilla came to visit Elvis in the U.S. in the spring of 1962, Elvis proudly played her the new recordings he had just made in Nashville. One of these was ‘You'll Be Gone’, a song that he had written himself with his good friends Red West and Charlie Hodge. To his deep frustration, Priscilla remarked that she liked his rock 'n' roll recordings better. Elvis had a fit, Priscilla was devastated, and Elvis never tried to write a song again."

When people ask why Elvis never composed any of his own material this moment (the importance of which Priscilla seems to have missed) seems devastating & historically disappointing.
If true, then the blame for Elvis no longer trying to explore this creative side of his talent must be taken by Priscilla!

Cheers
Piers

[drjohncarpenter]

There is some debate as to which session acetates Priscilla Beaulieu heard. Elvis may well have auditioned the May 1963 recordings for her in early June at Graceland, just before he packed up to return to Hollywood for his next project, "Viva Las Vegas." Regardless, "You'll Be Gone" is a valid songwriters co-credit for Elvis, and a far better piece of material than much of his work at the time. As for the suggestion his girlfriend should be blamed for his disinterest in doing more songwriting, it's misplaced and absurd.

[stevelecher]

I agree with Doc here. A 16 or 17 year old girl is going to like the R & R records more than You'll Be Gone. Priscilla cannot be criticized for saying so nor blamed for Elvis never trying to write songs again. More power to her and she supposedly endured quite a tantrum from Elvis for her impertinence.

I had always thought it was the 1962 recordings that Elvis and Pris had the discussion about. If so, You'll Be Gone, IMO, is amongst the weaker half of that batch of recordings and belonged with the group of songs that were shelved until 1965. I don't think Elvis himself was super proud of the 1963 batch of recordings.

[bajo]

Whatever story there might be before or after You'll Be Gone, doesn't matter much to me. But, I've always like the song very much! It should have been the A-side on the single back in the day!

[stevelecher]

You'll Be Gone or Do The Clam? Hmm? You may be right, bajo.

[drjohncarpenter]

I agree with Doc here. A 16 or 17 year old girl is going to like the R & R records more than You'll Be Gone. Priscilla cannot be criticized for saying so nor blamed for Elvis never trying to write songs again. More power to her and she supposedly endured quite a tantrum from Elvis for her impertinence.

I had always thought it was the 1962 recordings that Elvis and Pris had the discussion about. If so, You'll Be Gone, IMO, is amongst the weaker half of that batch of recordings and belonged with the group of songs that were shelved until 1965. I don't think Elvis himself was super proud of the 1963 batch of recordings.

I'll wager he was happy with at least half of the completed May 1963 Nashville tracks:

Please Don't Drag That String Around
(You're The) Devil in Disguise
Witchcraft
Memphis, Tennessee
Long Lonely Highway
Ask Me
Slowly but Surely

And although Elvis was probably super-thrilled with "Ask Me," having been remade from Domenico Modugno's "Io," I'd also wager it was the tune that put Priscilla to sleep. Two versions made it to acetate, he may have played her both of them. Not too many 18 year-olds would have been excited over that one.

[King Volcano]

Love it, Presley's supreme voice at that time well-suited to that kind of melodrama. It's slight, but simultaneously powerful stuff IMO.

[archdeak]

For all you guitar players, "You'll Be Gone" uses two chords F and E. Don't forget to strum in ye ol' Spanish / Mex type rhythm !!

A good start for Elvis, if he'd worked at it, then he may have moved on to a 3 chord song and competed with Status Quo...................

[Mike Windgren]

Hi there!! .

My favourite take is:

..
You´lle Be Gone: F.S (Elvis briefly singing South Of The Border) plus Complete Master take 4.

Source: http://www.keithflynn.com/recording-sessions/620318.html#07

Love this song because of Elvis sublime voice & Spanish guitar! . Bye for now .

P.S.: FTD released by mistake an alternate take 4 of You´ll be Gone on the Girl Happy soundtrack. Later on, when new Masters were found a new release of this soundtrack by FTD was issued and the correct master take 3 of You´ll be Gone was included! .

[Steve Morse]

For all you guitar players, "You'll Be Gone" uses two chords F and E. Don't forget to strum in ye ol' Spanish / Mex type rhythm !!

A good start for Elvis, if he'd worked at it, then he may have moved on to a 3 chord song and competed with Status Quo...................

Never realised this - I've just tried it out on the piano and, of course, you are correct !

[r&b]

I agree with Doc here. A 16 or 17 year old girl is going to like the R & R records more than You'll Be Gone. Priscilla cannot be criticized for saying so nor blamed for Elvis never trying to write songs again. More power to her and she supposedly endured quite a tantrum from Elvis for her impertinence.

I had always thought it was the 1962 recordings that Elvis and Pris had the discussion about. If so, You'll Be Gone, IMO, is amongst the weaker half of that batch of recordings and belonged with the group of songs that were shelved until 1965. I don't think Elvis himself was super proud of the 1963 batch of recordings.

I'll wager he was happy with at least half of the completed May 1963 Nashville tracks:

Please Don't Drag That String Around
(You're The) Devil in Disguise
Witchcraft
Memphis, Tennessee
Long Lonely Highway
Ask Me
Slowly but Surely

And although Elvis was probably super-thrilled with "Ask Me," having been remade from Domenico Modugno's "Io," I'd also wager it was the tune that put Priscilla to sleep. Two versions made it to acetate, he may have played her both of them. Not too many 18 year-olds would have been excited over that one.

There were some good choices in your list for follow-up singles to Devil In Disguise. Memphis, Long Lonely Highway, and Slowly Buy Surely. Anyone of those could have resulted in another top 10. As for the song whose thread this is about. To me it had 2 redeeming values. It was better than the A side, and it had Elvis' name in the writing credits. But by 1965, its was a passe sound, and we then have had numerous Latin sounding tunes from Elvis by now. No need for anymore. Gone were the days when I couldnt wait to get home to play the latest Elvis singles over & over again. Have to agree with Priscilla on this one. But he should have attempted to write again. Rick Nelson re-invented his whole image by doing so in the late 60's. Was totally respected by the industry for it. Ive talked to so many people over the years and to many, writing is the most important aspect of creating music. Im sure he & Red could have become a team.

[TJ]

For all you guitar players, "You'll Be Gone" uses two chords F and E. Don't forget to strum in ye ol' Spanish / Mex type rhythm !!

A good start for Elvis, if he'd worked at it, then he may have moved on to a 3 chord song and competed with Status Quo...................

Never realised this - I've just tried it out on the piano and, of course, you are correct !

Don't forget the occasional G. It's three chords.

[mike edwards66]

Ever heard the rumour that both You'll Be Gone and That's Someone You Never Forget were actually unsolicited and uncredited demos. They were sent to Elvis. He liked them, but had no idea who had written them. In the end he put his and Red's name on one, and added Charlie to the other. According to Marty Lacker, the "only song Elvis contributed to was one with Johnny Horton the country singer".

[drjohncarpenter]

I agree with Doc here. A 16 or 17 year old girl is going to like the R & R records more than You'll Be Gone. Priscilla cannot be criticized for saying so nor blamed for Elvis never trying to write songs again. More power to her and she supposedly endured quite a tantrum from Elvis for her impertinence.

I had always thought it was the 1962 recordings that Elvis and Pris had the discussion about. If so, You'll Be Gone, IMO, is amongst the weaker half of that batch of recordings and belonged with the group of songs that were shelved until 1965. I don't think Elvis himself was super proud of the 1963 batch of recordings.

I'll wager he was happy with at least half of the completed May 1963 Nashville tracks:

Please Don't Drag That String Around
(You're The) Devil in Disguise
Witchcraft
Memphis, Tennessee
Long Lonely Highway
Ask Me
Slowly but Surely

And although Elvis was probably super-thrilled with "Ask Me," having been remade from Domenico Modugno's "Io," I'd also wager it was the tune that put Priscilla to sleep. Two versions made it to acetate, he may have played her both of them. Not too many 18 year-olds would have been excited over that one.

There were some good choices in your list for follow-up singles to Devil In Disguise. Memphis, Long Lonely Highway, and Slowly Buy Surely. Anyone of those could have resulted in another top 10. As for the song whose thread this is about. To me it had 2 redeeming values. It was better than the A side, and it had Elvis' name in the writing credits. But by 1965, its was a passe sound, and we then have had numerous Latin sounding tunes from Elvis by now. No need for anymore. Gone were the days when I couldnt wait to get home to play the latest Elvis singles over & over again. Have to agree with Priscilla on this one. But he should have attempted to write again. Rick Nelson re-invented his whole image by doing so in the late 60's. Was totally respected by the industry for it. Ive talked to so many people over the years and to many, writing is the most important aspect of creating music. Im sure he & Red could have become a team.

It's unfortunate they did not collaborate more, but I'm grateful for what we got.

[Juan Luis]

Ever heard the rumour that both You'll Be Gone and That's Someone You Never Forget were actually unsolicited and uncredited demos. They were sent to Elvis. He liked them, but had no idea who had written them. In the end he put his and Red's name on one, and added Charlie to the other. According to Marty Lacker, the "only song Elvis contributed to was one with Johnny Horton the country singer".

Never heard of that. Interesting with Johnny Horton. He has a following greater than I thought. A previously unpublished Horton snapshot sold for around $400.00 Dollars, a few days ago on ebay.

[mike edwards66]

Ever heard the rumour that both You'll Be Gone and That's Someone You Never Forget were actually unsolicited and uncredited demos. They were sent to Elvis. He liked them, but had no idea who had written them. In the end he put his and Red's name on one, and added Charlie to the other. According to Marty Lacker, the "only song Elvis contributed to was one with Johnny Horton the country singer".

Never heard of that. Interesting with Johnny Horton. He has a following greater than I thought. A previously unpublished Horton snapshot sold for around $400.00 Dollars, a few days ago on ebay.

Wow! That must be some snapshot. Regarding Johnny Horton, there is a another rumour that Elvis appeared on Johnny Horton's single "Honky Tonk Man", at least in spirit. Elvis was in Nashville for his first RCA session. Bill Black, who was on the Presley session, also played on the Horton session (different studio, short distance away), and Elvis was in the studio, just watching.


Elvis hung around long enough to hear "Honky Tonk Man", and then returned to his hotel (in his memoirs, Buddy Killen, who had captured the copyright on Elvis' first RCA single, placed Elvis at his hotel to take his call, and not as had been thought, returning directly to Memphis). Tillman Franks asked Bill Black if he would play bass on a Horton session.

Oh yeah, and Scotty was there as well, just watching. How good would that be, the three of them! What I find heart-warming is the thought of the three guys caring enough for each other, to show support. It's kinda sweet, the thought of them still feeling like a unit. After that first RCA session, after "Heartbreak Hotel", things would never be the same.

[Juan Luis]

Ever heard the rumour that both You'll Be Gone and That's Someone You Never Forget were actually unsolicited and uncredited demos. They were sent to Elvis. He liked them, but had no idea who had written them. In the end he put his and Red's name on one, and added Charlie to the other. According to Marty Lacker, the "only song Elvis contributed to was one with Johnny Horton the country singer".

Never heard of that. Interesting with Johnny Horton. He has a following greater than I thought. A previously unpublished Horton snapshot sold for around $400.00 Dollars, a few days ago on ebay.

Wow! That must be some snapshot. Regarding Johnny Horton, there is a another rumour that Elvis appeared on Johnny Horton's single "Honky Tonk Man", at least in spirit. Elvis was in Nashville for his first RCA session. Bill Black, who was on the Presley session, also played on the Horton session (different studio, short distance away), and Elvis was in the studio, just watching.


Elvis hung around long enough to hear "Honky Tonk Man", and then returned to his hotel (in his memoirs, Buddy Killen, who had captured the copyright on Elvis' first RCA single, placed Elvis at his hotel to take his call, and not as had been thought, returning directly to Memphis). Tillman Franks asked Bill Black if he would play bass on a Horton session.

Oh yeah, and Scotty was there as well, just watching. How good would that be, the three of them! What I find heart-warming is the thought of the three guys caring enough for each other, to show support. It's kinda sweet, the thought of them still feeling like a unit. After that first RCA session, after "Heartbreak Hotel", things would never be the same.

Very interesting! Thanks.

I was mistaken. It was almost $500! Photo developed after his untimely death.



"Photo is from the collection of Frank Horton, Johnny Horton's brother.
Film was developed after Johnny's passing."...

[mike edwards66]

Double thanks, Juan. Regarding Elvis collaborating with Johnny Horton. Marty Lacker remembered it as having some substance "the only song Elvis contributed to was one with Johnny Horton the country singer......but he wanted no credit for that".

The tantalising thing is knowing that, Elvis may have attended the session at which, and was present when, Johnny Horton cut "Honky Tonk Man". We can only imagine what if, Elvis and Johnny took the opportunity, to put their collaboration on tape.

[drjohncarpenter]

I agree with Doc here. A 16 or 17 year old girl is going to like the R & R records more than You'll Be Gone. Priscilla cannot be criticized for saying so nor blamed for Elvis never trying to write songs again. More power to her and she supposedly endured quite a tantrum from Elvis for her impertinence.

I had always thought it was the 1962 recordings that Elvis and Pris had the discussion about. If so, You'll Be Gone, IMO, is amongst the weaker half of that batch of recordings and belonged with the group of songs that were shelved until 1965. I don't think Elvis himself was super proud of the 1963 batch of recordings.

Elvis re-recorded two of them in January 1964, it would be interesting to learn his thoughts on the session. But it's impossible now.