Demos for Elvis

[AllRight54]

I've made a list of all surviving (known) demos for Elvis. I find really interesting
to hear the first sketch of a tune and to compare it with the final Elvis touch.
Most of them can be found on the great "Written For The King" set. I wonder
if they are other surviving demos to surface. I'm dying to hear ie "All Shook Up"
by Blackwell (the later 1961 and 1976 recordings are easly avaliable) or
"Heartbreak Hotel" by Tommy Durden (not clear if this was made)...

(Marie's The Name Of) His Latest Flame (Mort Shuman)
(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear (Kal MannBernie Lowe) (Otis Blackwell)
Burning Love (Dennis Linde)
C'mon Everybody (Bob Johnston)
Clambake – Alternate Song (Winfield Scott)
Could I Fall In Love (Malcolm Dodd)
Devil In Disguise (Bill Giant)
Don't Ask Me Why (Jimmy Breedlove)
Good Luck Charm (Robert Moseley)
Hard Headed Woman (Jimmy Breedlove)
Heartbreak Hotel (Glenn Reeves)
I've Lost You (Peter Lee Sterling)
Kissin' Cousins (Malcolm Dodd)
Mary In The Morning (Johnny Cymbal)
My Desert Serenade (Kenny Karen)
No More (Don Robertson)
Paralyzed (Otis Blackwell)
Pocketful Of Rainbows (Jimmy Breedlove)
Raised On Rock (Mark James)
Teddy Bear (Otis Blackwell)
The Love Machine (Gerald Nelson)
The Next Step Is Love (Paul Evans)
Trouble (unknown singer)
T-r-o-u-b-l-e (Jerry Chesnut)
Viva Las Vegas (Mort Shuman)
Way Down (Layng Martine Jr.)
Wear My Ring Around Your Neck (Gus Coletti)
Wearin' That Loved On Look (Dallas Frazier)

[George Smith]

"Heartbreak Hotel" by Tommy Durden (not clear if this was made)...

Oh, I'm pretty sure it was made.

[JimmyCool]

A few more, contributions by Gerald Nelson:
"Songs I Wrote For Elvis"


http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/geraldnelson

[drjohncarpenter]

I, too, love hearing Presley songwriter demos. Some Elvis slavishly copied, others he spun in another direction. In fact, Writing for the King would have been ALL demos, had the notion not been considered a commercial risk.

There are more demos in private collections, many of which are ones Elvis rejected. There is a really cool one called "Sleep Is Just Around The Corner" by Otis Blackwell that I wish he had cut. It looks to be possibly something for "It Happened At The World's Fair"?

Sleep Is Just Around The Corner (Otis Blackwell)
© Screen Gems Music, BMI

Now close those pretty eyes
And rest your head a while
Sleep is just around the corner
A wink or two away

The sandman’s calling you
Your toys are tired too
Sleep is just around the corner
You’ve had a busy day

And there are better days to come
So dream about tomorrow’s fun

Darling hushbye
Close those pretty eyes
Sleep is just around the corner
A wink or two away
You’ve had a busy day
Sleep Sleep

This cut is a bonus on his 1977 LP, All Shook Up:
http://www.amazon.com/All-Shook-Up-Otis-Blackwell/dp/B000008P6T

Here's a tiny sample --> Sleep Is Just Around The Corner


Some of the later Elvis discs (circa 1969-1970) are fascinating, though, as they apparently sometimes include Elvis' handwritten notes regarding the track being considered. For some reason, a favorable comment did not lead to a recording.


Below are a couple of demos that did not make FTD's Writing for the King, despite Ernst Jorgensen noting the "freshness and energy" of the one cut for "Slowly But Surely." No doubt, P. J. Proby was a good singer!

980700_Elvis Presley A Life In Music_Jorgensen p181.JPG

Elvis Presley: A Life in Music--The Complete Recording Sessions (New York: St Martin's Press, 1998)



..
P. J. Proby, "Slowly But Surely" (1963 demo)



..
P. J. Proby, "Fun In Acapulco" (1962 demo)

[George Smith]

Excellent follow-up, John and Jimmy, thank you.

[drjohncarpenter]

Much more on Gerald Nelson:

Meet Gerald Nelson, Mysterious Elvis Songwriter
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52973

How fascinating is the fact Nelson intended "Tragedy," a top 5 hit in 1959, for Elvis? Check out the topic for more.

[drjohncarpenter]

Excellent follow-up, John ...

My pleasure!

[dennyelvis]

Yes PJ did many movie demos before making it big .........

[colonel snow]

You can add to this list CD Don Robertson - Songs for Elvis. A handful tracks can be found on You Tube.


colonel snow

[Chris Roberts]

P.J.Proby's version of Slowly But Surely is good, almost, but not quite as good IMO as Elvis's. He was certainly great in Jack Goods 'Elvis' show at the Astoria Theatre, London in the 70's as was Shakin' Stevens.

I remember some of my mates raving about Propy's first hit 'Hold Me' in 1964, telling me, just to wind me up?, that he was much better than Elvis!

[R2-D2]

Thanks Doc. Enjoyed listening to those P.J. Proby tracks.

[JimmyCool]

Just read this today:

"Lost" Elvis song demo to be revealed in Sweden: EIN recently received the following message from Marcus Lundstrom:



Hi! I am currently involved in a project with a Swedish tribute artist about recording lost Elvis songs and songs that Elvis would record in -78 if he didnt die.

Anyway the two lost songs that have slipped trough all of the Elvis world is "Come out, come out (wherever you are)" and "Memory Revival".

Bouth sessioned at the American Studio '69. We have the lyrics for "Come out, come out" and two versions recorded by other artists.

And the real killer: We have "Memory Revival", The lyrics and the demo recorded by songwriter Dallas Frazier. This song have not been recorded by any artist since 1969.

We have got it directly from Dallas Frazier and it arrived to us in this week. The envelope will be opened next thursday at a press conferance in Malmo, Sweden. The CD will be play´d for the first time to the public this day.

Nobody know how this song ended up at Elvis 1969 Memphis session. Known fact is that Elvis wanted something new and different and this song is for sure. The "Memphis Boys Band" at the American Studio never got the song together, possibly mixing and confusing it with another song called "Memory Revival" (see log record below).

There are no indication that Elvis ever laid vocal on this song, though the rumor says Elvis plays the drums on one ore more outtakes. You can almost hear that it is not an professional drummer on the some outtakes.

The song, as performed by it´s songwriter Mark Millius's band Raintree Minority (listen to the group singing Come out, come out - a song that was definitely well suited to Elvis), sound a little like early Hard Rock / Heavy Metal. Later in -69 a group called Young and Company recorded it. Young and Company later in the 70´s turns into a Disco band.

A mystery is how it could have been forgotten in the Elvis World, thinking of everything that is known about Elvis career and life. Some fans confuses it with another song with the same title, recorded by Frank Sinatra. Different songwriters though.

Just like Poor Mans Gold and Fire Down Below, you could only imagine how great Elvis would have made it.

He sadly never did, but he surely took a liking of the song, otherwise it never would have came as far as to the recording studio at this time of his career.

EIN will have a follow up report with more information on Memory Revival next week. (News, Source:Marcus Lundstrom, Sweden)

[drjohncarpenter]

Hearing the demo of "Memory Revival" is not earth-shattering, but should be interesting for the deep Presley fan.

Of course, there's no mystery here, I've posted a lot of information on FECC about this number and "Come Out, Come Out." In fact, I've just wrapped it all up into a nice tidy topic:

"Memory Revival"and "Come Out, Come Out" --> Unknown Songs?
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=72039

Just read this today:

"Lost" Elvis song demo to be revealed in Sweden: EIN recently received the following message from Marcus Lundstrom:



Hi! I am currently involved in a project with a Swedish tribute artist about recording lost Elvis songs and songs that Elvis would record in -78 if he didnt die.

Anyway the two lost songs that have slipped trough all of the Elvis world is "Come out, come out (wherever you are)" and "Memory Revival".

Bouth sessioned at the American Studio '69. We have the lyrics for "Come out, come out" and two versions recorded by other artists.

And the real killer: We have "Memory Revival", The lyrics and the demo recorded by songwriter Dallas Frazier. This song have not been recorded by any artist since 1969.

We have got it directly from Dallas Frazier and it arrived to us in this week. The envelope will be opened next thursday at a press conferance in Malmo, Sweden. The CD will be play´d for the first time to the public this day.

Nobody know how this song ended up at Elvis 1969 Memphis session. Known fact is that Elvis wanted something new and different and this song is for sure. The "Memphis Boys Band" at the American Studio never got the song together, possibly mixing and confusing it with another song called "Memory Revival" (see log record below).

There are no indication that Elvis ever laid vocal on this song, though the rumor says Elvis plays the drums on one ore more outtakes. You can almost hear that it is not an professional drummer on the some outtakes.

The song, as performed by it´s songwriter Mark Millius's band Raintree Minority (listen to the group singing Come out, come out - a song that was definitely well suited to Elvis), sound a little like early Hard Rock / Heavy Metal. Later in -69 a group called Young and Company recorded it. Young and Company later in the 70´s turns into a Disco band.

A mystery is how it could have been forgotten in the Elvis World, thinking of everything that is known about Elvis career and life. Some fans confuses it with another song with the same title, recorded by Frank Sinatra. Different songwriters though.

Just like Poor Mans Gold and Fire Down Below, you could only imagine how great Elvis would have made it.

He sadly never did, but he surely took a liking of the song, otherwise it never would have came as far as to the recording studio at this time of his career.

EIN will have a follow up report with more information on Memory Revival next week. (News, Source:Marcus Lundstrom, Sweden)

[TheMaskedClown]

You can hear Paul Evans's demo of The Next Step is Love here;

[urlhttp://www.paulevans.com/NextStep.mp3[/url]

[ElvisTheKid]

Cool Post. Thanks....

Considering he was making 3 movie / soundtracks a year in the 60's, makes sense why he was singing them verbatim.

[drjohncarpenter]

You can hear Paul Evans' demo of The Next Step is Love here;

http://www.paulevans.com/NextStep.mp3

Nice excerpt. I've always liked this song, despite a few silly verses. The complete demo is, of course, on the adore-mentioned, essential Writing For The King.

061225_Writing for the King_FTD.JPG

Writing For The King (FTD, December 2006)
http://home.online.no/~ov-egela/writingfortheking.html
https://www.theelvisshoplondon.com/index.php?target=products&product_id=1627


The Presley master varies very little from the Evans demo, right down to the Beatles-inspired trumpets. On the wonderful FTD "classic album" edition of That's The Way It Is, you can even hear them play a bit of the demo before starting the first formal take.

[pingpong]

interesting topic thank you

[pingpong]

P.J.Proby's version of Slowly But Surely is good, almost, but not quite as good IMO as Elvis's. He was certainly great in Jack Goods 'Elvis' show at the Astoria Theatre, London in the 70's as was Shakin' Stevens.

I remember some of my mates raving about Propy's first hit 'Hold Me' in 1964, telling me, just to wind me up?, that he was much better than Elvis!

you mention PJ Proby - this has been mentioned as a demo for Elvis.....shortly after Elvis died this song was paraded as Elvis singing !

[Chris Roberts]

P.J.Proby's version of Slowly But Surely is good, almost, but not quite as good IMO as Elvis's. He was certainly great in Jack Goods 'Elvis' show at the Astoria Theatre, London in the 70's as was Shakin' Stevens.

I remember some of my mates raving about Propy's first hit 'Hold Me' in 1964, telling me, just to wind me up?, that he was much better than Elvis!

you mention PJ Proby - this has been mentioned as a demo for Elvis.....shortly after Elvis died this song was paraded as Elvis singing !

Thanks for posting, that was a good song. I can imagine Elvis doing geat version of it. Also on youtube was an interesting interview from 2002, on British TV, where P,J. talks about Elvis, although he stretched a few truths!

[colonel snow]

Another demo is Something blue by Paul Evans; I know it is released some where on a CD titled Happy go lucky me.


colonel snow

[daviddoelen]

Otis Blackwell - One Broken Heart For Sale [Demo sent to Elvis]
..

From the CD "When You're Around"
http://www.raucousrecords.com/rock-and-roll-cds_19/when-you-re-around-cd_12742.aspx

[daviddoelen]

Another demo is Something blue by Paul Evans; I know it is released some where on a CD titled Happy go lucky me.

A sample is available on the following website.
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7296312

[TheMaskedClown]

Paul Evans also wrote Quiet Desperation and another song Moments or Tender Moments for Elvis. They are both featured on his album Happy Go Lucky Me The Paul Evans Songbook.

[daviddoelen]

Don Robertson - And Then I Wrote Songs for Elvis
Released in 2003 by Bear Family Records.

donrobertson-andtheniwrotesongsforelvis.jpg

The CD contains the original demos for the following songs Elvis recorded:

They Remind Me Too Much of You
..

Anything That's Part of You
..

Starting Today
..

There's Always Me
..

Love Me Tonight
..

I Met Her Today
..

What Now, What Next, Where To
..

I'm Counting On You
..

EDIT: I didn't see colonel snow's post... Sorry!

[mick967]

The Don Robertson disc includes a song called I've Come To Say Goodbye, a beautiful, simple piece of work that would no doubt have been magic in Elvis' hands.

I have mixed feelings about the demos that we've been privy to in recent years. Whilst they are interesting to listen to, I find it disappointing that Elvis, in many cases, chose to make carbon copies of those demos. The lack of creativity and interpretive flair in cases where he simply duplicates the demo diminishes Elvis as an artist. Does to me anyway.