Best track on "Moody blue" LP 1977

[jeanno]

The fact that Jarvis tossed in LMBT from the live Memphis album to complete the Moody Blue album shows all parties involved failed at their jobs.

I´ve always thought that a single Jungle Room album would have been a better solution instead of the "From EP Blvd" + "Moody Blue". Anyway...

[dreambear]

If I had been Felton, and fully aware of what were in the vaults, I had chosen the studio master of "For the good times". But FTGT was included on "Welcome to my world", so that wasn´t really good either.

And FTGT was from 1972!... but it would have still been better than LMBT.

No doubt about it. The LMBT inclusion is completely bizarre.

Not that Fire Down Below is some masterpiece, but the backing track was completed. RCA should have demanded Elvis lay down a vocal so they could complete the album. There were recording studios across the country, so even while he was on the road he could have laid down a few vocal takes. It showed huge incompetence on the part of RCA, Tom Parker and Felton Jarvis.

Maybe Elvis just didn't care that much for Fire Down Below. I think Elvis needed a long break from recording, like some other artists had done. John Lennon was away from the recording studio for five full years, 1975 to 1980. Bob Dylan had some years pass without any proper studio album release (1971 - just a couple singles, and a few new tracks for "Greatest Hits, Vol. 2"; nothing in 1972; nothing in 1977). I can't think of anyone with the type of release schedule Elvis had. Why did RCA feel they had to saturate the market with Elvis albums? It would have been wiser to keep it to just a couple albums a year, and maximize the sales of each, instead of replacing it in the racks every few months with a new compilation, live album, Camden product, etc.

Elton John had a similar contract. Two albums a year. In fact, in 1971 he released 4 albums if you count the soundtrack "friends". In 1973 one of the albums was the double "Goodbye Yellow brick road". Let´s think of that he also had to compose the music too.

By the way, if Elvis didn´t felt like recording "Fire down below", they also had a couple of finished instrumental tracks from 1973.

[midnightx]

The fact that Jarvis tossed in LMBT from the live Memphis album to complete the Moody Blue album shows all parties involved failed at their jobs.

I´ve always thought that a single Jungle Room album would have been a better solution instead of the "From EP Blvd" + "Moody Blue". Anyway...

Clearly. But, RCA felt the need to saturate the market with too much product, so nearly every misguided and lackluster recording from all sessions ultimately was issued due to a lack of quality material recorded.

[midnightx]

By the way, if Elvis didn´t felt like recording "Fire down below", they also had a couple of finished instrumental tracks from 1973.

He didn't feel like recording anything, and that was the problem.

[jeanno]

RCA felt the need to saturate the market with too much product, so nearly every misguided and lackluster recording from all sessions ultimately was issued due to a lack of quality material recorded.

Yeah, that´s what happened with the Stax Sessions LPs... and most of the 70´s album.

[Rob]

By the way, if Elvis didn´t felt like recording "Fire down below", they also had a couple of finished instrumental tracks from 1973.

He didn't feel like recording anything, and that was the problem.

That was a big problem.

At this point in his career, terminal apathy had set in and it wouldn't have mattered what song was brought to him. He just did not want to be in the studio under any circumstances. With a precious few excetions, Elvis was to be on stage performing the same songs that he was all to familiar with, putting as little effort into them as possible for the short remainder of his life.

There were some bright spots on stage in late' 76 and and a few decent shows during the first 6 months of '77. However, when Felton had to bring the studio to Elvis in February and October '76, he (Felton) had to wonder if Elvis would ever see the inside of an actual recording studio again.

Sadly, he didn't.

[ColinB]

What about She Thinks I Still Care ?

He was so into that song !

He tried it faster, he tried it slower, he tried it with the singers starting things off, he tried it with himself opening it.

And every take was a totally heart-felt one !

It got my vote.......................

[midnightx]

Two votes for Let Me Be There. Baffling.

[dreambear]

By the way, if Elvis didn´t felt like recording "Fire down below", they also had a couple of finished instrumental tracks from 1973.

He didn't feel like recording anything, and that was the problem.

That´s for sure. But if RCA had forced him to record, like the july 1973 sessons. But, perhaps they learned that the result wasn´t that good that time...

//Björn

[midnightx]

By the way, if Elvis didn´t felt like recording "Fire down below", they also had a couple of finished instrumental tracks from 1973.

He didn't feel like recording anything, and that was the problem.

That´s for sure. But if RCA had forced him to record, like the july 1973 sessons. But, perhaps they learned that the result wasn´t that good that time...

//Björn

It was better than rehashing a live version of Let Me Be There. I don't find Fire Down Below to be a remarkable song at all, but the backing track was complete. Felton wanted Elvis to put down a vocal and even carried the tape with him hoping somehow it would happen. It would have been very easy to book an hour or two at a studio on the road to lay down a vocal track (or even record the vocal takes at the arena sans the audience. Elvis would not have liked it or been into the idea, but had he been forced by his manager and record label, the work would not have been time consuming or much of an effort.

[Booker T]

Pledging My Love for me. Eerie to hear him shortly before his passing singing one from the late great Johnny Ace.

[dreambear]

Hey!

Wasn´t it a bit surprising that "It´s easy for you" got the gold medal??? I love this!

Thanks for voting!

"Elvis in concert" will be up next!

Kind regards//Björn

[midnightx]

Hey!

Wasn´t it a bit surprising that "It´s easy for you" got the gold medal??? I love this!

Thanks for voting!

"Elvis in concert" will be up next!

Kind regards//Björn

Clearly My Way will be the winner there. No reason to poll it.

[dreambear]

Hey!

Wasn´t it a bit surprising that "It´s easy for you" got the gold medal??? I love this!

Thanks for voting!

"Elvis in concert" will be up next!

Kind regards//Björn

Clearly My Way will be the winner there. No reason to poll it.

Sounds possible, but we´ve had a few surprises bbefore on these polls. I thought that "Unchained melody" would be safe here on this poll.

//Björn

[armitages]

My vote goes to 'She thinks i still care' closely followed by 'moody blue' itself.this was the 1st elvis album i owned. I turned 8 the day after Elvis died,which yes indeed makes it my birthday today! Thanks for all the well wishes!!.

Moody Blue holds many memories. I dont think it is anywhere near Elvis' best album though does have many stand out moments.'Let me be there' is a solid solid version. I always found 'Its easy for you' one of the weaker songs and seem to recall Sir Tim Rice saying he was disappointed that Elvis' vocal was not as upfront in the production as he hoped.

'She thinks i still care' incidentally would always appear in my top three Elvis songs ever,along with 'All Shook Up' the third is changeable.....

[poormadpeter]

It's interesting going back over these old threads that pop up as automated recommendations from time to time.

Let Me Be There was not a new recording, obviously. But it was a new song back in 1974 that relatively few people heard and, to the majority of people who bought Moody Blue, it belonged there as much as any other song. In fact, considering the Moody Blue LP in general, it fits in here perfectly stylistically and helps to make this a surprisingly rounded and successful final album for Elvis.

While many suggest that this LP is fondly remembered due to sentimental reasons - not all people on these boards were around back in 1977 and knew relatively little about the recording of it when they picked the LP or CD of it up in subsequent years. Why this album has remained viewed so fondly is due to its track listing. Three songs see Elvis looking back at the pop charts of the 1950s (Unchained Melody, Little Darlin, Pledging My Love), two more were country classics (She Thinks I Still Care, He'll Have To Go), two more were substantial hits (Moody Blue, Way Down), two were fun covers of recent hits (If You Love Me, Let me Be There) and the final song was written by a songwriting duo which were on the rise and to become household names within a couple of years due to the success of Evita and Cats. The vast majority of these songs were/are well known to the general record buying public, something which has helped to give this album a life long after the impulse buying of Elvis's latest LP on hearing the news of his death.

It's Easy For You is a surprising winner in this poll. If anyone would have asked me to predict a winner, I would have said Unchained Melody. And, while this is not Lloyd Webber and Rice's finest hour, it is a countrypolitan song that fit Elvis like a glove and allowed him to put over a heartbreak song without bellowing at full voice. While song may criticise the mix, I think that, along with Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain (another odd mix due to echo and effects) at least some thought and care had gone into it. The mix seems to take its lead from the famous version of What Now My Love by Shirley Bassey which starts off ultra-quiet and rises in volume throughout the song (Judy Garland would do her damnedest to replicate this effect on stage with mixed effects, depending on the amount of liebefraumilch and/or blue nun).

All in all, Moody Blue is a much stronger album than it has any right to be considering it's a bunch of leftovers. And, bearing that in mind, it's a shame that Elvis In Concert came out so soon after Presley's death, as Moody Blue seems like a much more positive end to his career than the posthumous live album in that the performances are uniformally good, as is most of the material, and the harking back to the 1950s popular music charts seems particularly fitting for a man whose career started during that era.

[Mitch]

I always liked "Pledging my love".

I wish he would have done this song in the 50's.

He would've done a much better job on it in my opinion.

[eric c]

man...that was a toughie.
love unchained melody.
love way down.
love moody blue.
forced to choose...i would've voted for unchained melody.