Songs Elvis passed up?

[dennyelvis]

We all know Elvis / Col passed up some great songs (Orbys Only the Lonely for e.g.) Anymore u guys know of that he could have had big hits with? I know he wanted Dollys IWALY too!

[colonel snow]

When Elvis got demo versions he made three piles: Yes - No - Maybe. It's all speculation what coukld be a hit or not.


colonel snow

[charroman]

" A Rainy Night In Georgia" is one that he never got around to recording but I would have loved to hear his version of. It could have been a good track and potential hit. Maybe he rehearsed it and I live in hope of a tape turning up someday.

generally he was good at spotting songs he could add something new to and some songs were passed up because he did'nt feel he could add to them. I don't think cover versions of big hits appealed to him as much as picking out forgotten or overlooked gems and songs that had vanished off others radar. Many examples of those right through to 77.

[r&b]

Dont Forbid Me. Would have killed Boone's version.

[timothy_sideburns]

One of my favourite songwriters Steve Earle is fond of telling how his song 'Mustang Wine' was meant to be recorded by Elvis.

But one song back in 1975 almost transformed his career. Felton Jarvis, who used to produce Elvis Presley's records, chose Earle's 'Mustang Wine' for a cut on an album the rock 'n' roll king was to record in Nashville.
'This is my horror story. Elvis was going to cut an album here for the first time since the '50s. My song was first on the list. The players were sitting up there being paid, but Elvis just never showed up. He was in town but for one reason or another he just flew out. The charts were written. They had rehearsed it. All they needed was Elvis to cut the track. It never happened. The last things he ever cut were in '74. I've heard of people making $30,000 a year just for one cut on an Elvis album. I probably would have made enough money to hurt myself at that age. It was probably for the best. I was a lot wilder then.'

Elsewhere he describes it as

Elvis Presley was in Nashville for a recording session, and first up on the mixing board was a song written by Earle, then 21. “But Elvis never left the hotel room,” Earle says. “And after three days of waiting for him to get ready to record, [the technicians] finally packed it up. Elvis had left a day earlier.”

Does this ring true? I don't think it was 1975 as is often stated by Earle. From how he describes it, it sounds like the Nashville session in January 1977, when he had a fight with Ginger and never showed up at the studio. The song was eventually recorded and released later in 1977 by Carl Perkins and produced by Felton Jarvis. So clearly Felton had his ears to the song in 77, so it could be true.

[brian]

Sam Phillips turned down Rip it up for Elvis.
Leiber & Stoller wrote and submitted ''A Hog for you'' to Elvis at his September 1957 sessions but Elvis never recorded it.
Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman wrote Turn me loose and I'm a man for Elvis but he was in the army so they gave those songs to Fabian.
Songwriter Dickie Lee claims he wrote the song ''she thinks I still care'' for Elvis and he says he gave the demo to Lamar Fike but Lamar never gave the demo to Elvis.
Red West tried to get Elvis to record Green green grass of home before Tom Jones did.
Marty Lacker has said that he got the song ''I honestly love you'' for Elvis' March 1972 sessions but was blocked by Parker over publishing.

[brian]

Yes. The story is true about Mustang Wine but Steve Earle gets the year wrong. It was the Creative workshop sessions in January of 1977. After Elvis didn't record it Felton Jarvis gave the song to Carl Perkins when he produced Carl's album in 1978.

[drjohncarpenter]

We all know Elvis / Col passed up some great songs (Orbys Only the Lonely for e.g.) Anymore u guys know of that he could have had big hits with? I know he wanted Dollys IWALY too!

Elvis didn't pass up "Only The Lonely (Know The Way I Feel)." Roy stopped by Graceland in March 1960 to offer it to him, but he was in Nashville doing his first RCA session since the army. So Orbison went to Nashville and cut the song himself at RCA later in the week.

The song Elvis wanted to record by Dolly Parton was "Coat of Many Colors" (RCA 74-0538, October 2, 1971), which had a very successful four-month run, making it to #4 on Billboard's "Hot Country Singles" chart for 12-25-1971. But she would not give up a percentage of her publishing, so it did not get slated for Presley's March 1972 session at RCA Hollywood.

[drjohncarpenter]

This has gotta be my favorite of the songs that Elvis "passed up" or in this case specifically gave to another artist. I've really become a Roy Hamilton fan the past 2-3 years. Great stuff.

..

It's worth noting that "Angelica" had already been recorded by at least a half-dozen artists before it was considered for Elvis' 1969 Memphis sessions, and before he chose to offer it to Hamilton.

[brian]

The song Elvis wanted to record by Dolly Parton was "Coat of Many Colors" (RCA 74-0538, October 2, 1971), which had a very successful four-month run, making it to #4 on Billboard's "Hot Country Singles" chart for 12-25-1971. But she would not give up a percentage of her publishing, so it did not get slated for Presley's March 1972 session at RCA Hollywood.

How do you know it was that song and not ''I will always love you'' that Elvis wanted to record?
I have heard you say before that Dolly Parton misremembers but why do you say that?

[drjohncarpenter]

The song Elvis wanted to record by Dolly Parton was "Coat of Many Colors" (RCA 74-0538, October 2, 1971), which had a very successful four-month run, making it to #4 on Billboard's "Hot Country Singles" chart for 12-25-1971. But she would not give up a percentage of her publishing, so it did not get slated for Presley's March 1972 session at RCA Hollywood.

How do you know it was that song and not ''I will always love you'' that Elvis wanted to record?
I have heard you say before that Dolly Parton misremembers but why do you say that?

Many reasons support my statement.

1) "Coat of Many Colors" is a perfect fit for Elvis. As noted, it was a hit for Dolly Parton, her biggest since "Joshua" made #1 in early 1971. Presley was set to return to the studio in March 1972, just weeks after "Coat of Many Colors" peaked on the country charts. Dolly was on the RCA label, another important connection. And hearing her song very likely hit to the core of his deepest sentimental feelings about his mom as it made it to #4 on Christmas Day 1971. This was also Elvis' first Christmas without his wife in the house, as she had moved to Los Angeles with daughter Lisa.

2) The late Marty Lacker said it was "Coat of Many Colors" in Alanna Nash's 1995 book.

The same thing happened in the early seventies with Dolly Parton. Elvis loved her "Coat of Many Colors" He saw her singing it on TV, and he put the word out he would like to record it. Well, when they called Dolly, she said "I'd love for Elvis to do the song, but you're not getting 25 percent of my publishing."

3) The 1974 single of "I Will Always Love You" is far and away more famous in Dolly's songwriting canon, so it makes for a great story. But, if we look at her comments in a 1996 interview, we get several clues she misremembers:

Happy Birthday, Dolly Parton!
http://performingsongwriter.com/happy-birthday-dolly-parton/


First, it is interesting Parton notes "he was here recording" when the request was made. Assuming the DeMain interview was done in Nashville, it proves my assumption about her memory being fallible.

Elvis was last confirmed in a Nashville studio to record in June 1971, before either song had even been released. No, Dolly was not "lying" to anyone, she simply misremembered the events from back then. It is not an uncommon situation, especially for dedicated researchers.

Second, it is also intriguing to note she mentions the request came when she had started her "own publishing company." Dolly Parton and her uncle, Bill Owens, established Owepar in October 1967, but he sold all of his shares to Dolly in April 1969. The company was all hers. And "Coat of Many Colors" was released by RCA two years later.

http://businessprofiles.com/details/owepar-publishing-company/TN-000023500
http://www.rolandnote.com/people/timeline/Bill+Owens

These additional facts further point to "Coat of Many Colors" being the song Elvis wanted to record.

4) There is nothing about "I Will Always Love You" in the Presley histories to date, a song that gained fame a second time in the 1990s, yet even then it prompted no one close to Elvis to recall his desire to record it.

[brian]

Thank you, Dr.Carpenter.

It is certainly possible that Dolly misremembers her story always sounded kinda fishy to me. In the interview you mention she says he wanted to record both songs. which that could have been possible he may have flirted with the idea of recording both songs at different times but ultimately changed his mind.

[ale]

Dont Forbid Me. Would have killed Boone's version.

I love when while singing it he says "is a hit man, is a hit..."

[brian]

I forgot to mention when Elvis didn't complete the Moody blue album at Creative Workshop one of the songs he didn't get around to recording was ''That's what you do to me'' which became a top 10 country hit for Charly Mcclain in 1978.

[drjohncarpenter]

I forgot to mention when Elvis didn't complete the Moody blue album at Creative Workshop one of the songs he didn't get around to recording was ''That's what you do to me'' which became a top 10 country hit for Charly Mcclain in 1978.

It made it to #8 on Billboard's "Hot Country Songs" chart for 11-25-1978:
http://www.billboard.com/charts/country-songs/1978-11-25

[DarrylMac]

What’s the story about Elvis Presley wanting to record the song?

Elvis loved the song. I never met Elvis and there were many times I could have. I don’t know why I didn’t, I think I just wanted him to always be the way he was in my mind. I had met some people that I wish I hadn’t, you know what I mean? Not that you wish you hadn’t, but he was just so special, he was so spiritual and out there anyway, I didn’t want nothing to blow the image. So I just wouldn’t meet him. Jarvis was producing him at the time, and Felton was a friend of mine. So often, when Elvis would come to town, they would tell me. I would always say, “Maybe next time he’s in town I’ll meet him.” And so they would always let me know when he was in town, and I’d always make an excuse (laughs) not to go down there to the recording studio.

But at any rate, he had heard that song and he loved it. He was here recording and he wanted to do it, so they notified me and I was so excited. So, the next thing they said was, “But you know Elvis has to have half the publishing on the song. Everything he records, unless it’s already a standard, he has to have half the publishing.” I said, “Well, I’m really sorry, but I don’t give my publishing to nobody. Not half of it, not 10 percent of it, not any of it.” I had just started my own publishing company, and I said, “If he loves the song and the song is that good, then he’ll record it anyway. And if he don’t, well just say that I’m flattered with the thought.”

But I would not give up the publishing, and thank God I didn’t, because that song made me more money than all of the others put together. If I’d given up half the publishing then I would’ve made half the money, plus I would’ve lost half the pride in it. The fact that I wrote the song by myself and published it myself just made the whole thing more special. It was not something you had to share.

It sounds like it was the Colonel’s idea.

To be honest, it was. They say that Elvis didn’t know that much about that kind of stuff. He wasn’t that involved in the business side of it, but Colonel Tom was. It was Felton, who was producing him at the time, that called me about it, and I said “No.” And I never was sorry. I would have loved to hear him do it. He also loved “Coat Of Many Colors,” but I wouldn’t give up the publishing on that either.

Dolly also mentions coat of many colours in the interview link you posted Doc, so maybe she's not misremembering.

Any chance the "here" in question could be LA - he was there in 1975 recording, and could have been for the today session. She has had homes in California for years.

[drjohncarpenter]

Dolly also mentions coat of many colours in the interview link you posted Doc, so maybe she's not misremembering.

Any chance the "here" in question could be LA - he was there in 1975 recording, and could have been for the today session. She has had homes in California for years.

The interviewer, Bill DeMain, is a longtime Nashville resident and music critic, so the interview was almost certainly done there:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-demain-5a20121a/

He also does Nashville walking tours:
http://www.walkinnashville.com/content/meet-your-guide

[DarrylMac]

Dolly also mentions coat of many colours in the interview link you posted Doc, so maybe she's not misremembering.

Any chance the "here" in question could be LA - he was there in 1975 recording, and could have been for the today session. She has had homes in California for years.

The interviewer, Bill DeMain, is a longtime Nashville resident and music critic, so the interview was almost certainly done there:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-demain-5a20121a/

He also does Nashville walking tours:
http://www.walkinnashville.com/content/meet-your-guide

And he wouldn't have flown to LA to interview Dolly Parton?