A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION

[Chucky99]

Hello guys.
Yesterday I was listening to A little less conversation in my car and I just realised what a cool and groovy song it is.I really enjoy it.
Elvis originaly recorded it in March of 1968 and then re-recorded it in June for the 68 Comeback special .I like better the second version of it(the sound and Elvis voice and the back up singers-The Blossoms I believe.) It's a wonder to me why this song was not a hit for him in 1968, because really it sounded good and contemporary with the times.
What do you think of the song and which version of it do you like more and why?
Many thanks and Happy birthday ,Elvis...
Chucky.

[GERRY]

Yes it is great and that backing riff pops up to convey "action"on many tv programmes.

[RKSNASHVILLE]

I don't think Elvis re-recorded it in June for the '68 Special.


RKS

[colonel snow]

The song was selected for the arena segment in the NBC TV special but never recorded; the instrumental track released for the first time on LP '68 Comeback special was a dubdown from the master track 2004 take 16.


colonel snow

[skatterbrane]

The version used on the Memories CD and the Complete 68 Comeback Special box is a unique vocal, not vocals lifted from take 16 single/movie version. That may be what the OP in referring to. But you are right the original intent was to use the instrumental tracks from the master take 16 to later have Elvis sing new vocals over for the TV Special.

[skatterbrane]

I bought this single when it came out. I have always loved this song. When the Almost In Love LP came out, I was confused was to why a different take was used rather than the single I had been listening to for a couple of years. The recent "remix" version is the one I can live without. I think it used the same vocals as the one used on the Memories CD.

[r&b]

Hello guys.
Yesterday I was listening to A little less conversation in my car and I just realised what a cool and groovy song it is.I really enjoy it.
Elvis originaly recorded it in March of 1968 and then re-recorded it in June for the 68 Comeback special .I like better the second version of it(the sound and Elvis voice and the back up singers-The Blossoms I believe.) It's a wonder to me why this song was not a hit for him in 1968, because really it sounded good and contemporary with the times.
What do you think of the song and which version of it do you like more and why?
Many thanks and Happy birthday ,Elvis...
Chucky.

Well not really. Despite being a groovy little single(maybe a bit too short), it performed very poorly on the charts because at this point, right before the TV special , Elvis' career was at its lowest point ever. Thanks to the Cols. policies ,the endless stream of out of touch films, no great studio albums in years, one cared about a new Elvis single. Guitar Man and US Male should have been hits also, but radio & DJs ignored Elvis by this time. He was seen as a relic by the current generation that bought pop records. The TV special resurrected him in more ways than one can imagine. Image, music, coolness, musician, etc. All things that were absent for much of the 60s

[jurasic1968]

Absolutely right. If the Colonel would made the 68 TV special just a Christmas show, Elvis Presley could have remain a has been in rock and roll music.

[r&b]

Where is the vocal from on the 2002 remix? It sounds more like a TV special rough voice vocal than the 1968 movie vocals used on the single. I always assumed he recorded a vocal for this song for the TV special but it was never used until the remix.

[skatterbrane]

The 2002 remix is the same vocals from Memories CD and also from The Complete 68 Comeback Special.

As far as I know only 3 different vocals have been used:

Take 2 which is on Memories, The Complete 68 Comeback Special and the 2002 remix hit.

Take 10 which is on the Almost In Love LP/CD

Take 16 which is on the original single and the LALLAL movie.

[stevelecher]

I always thought the single version and movie version were different and that Almost In Love released the movie version. I had the single when I saw the movie in 1968 and could swear I thought the movie version was different.

[skatterbrane]

The movie version is the same as the single version:

..

[skatterbrane]

The version on Almost In Love was released by mistake (how many times has RCA/BMG/Sony done this throughout the years. It would be a project to tally the mistakes!

Heck there are 3 mistakes on the original pressing of Almost In Love itself and only one has been rectified after all these years.

[jerrynodak]

But those mistakes don't hamper my enjoyment of the LP.

[brian]

The second version recorded in June of 68 that version was edgier and Elvis and the band seem more into it. I wish Elvis had recorded the orginal like that because the original wasn't such a good version. Also as r&b noted Elvis' profile was very low among record buyers at the time that's why it didn't chart higher. Just another song from another bad movie.

[RKSNASHVILLE]

The second version recorded in June of 68 that version was edgier and Elvis and the band seem more into it. I wish Elvis had recorded the orginal like that because the original wasn't such a good version.

There wasn't a second version recorded in June of 1968. Elvis did NOT re-record the song.

The version heard on The Complete '68 Comeback Special is take 2 from the March 1968 Western sessions. It is also the version heard on the JXL Remix.


RKS

[skatterbrane]

But those mistakes don't hamper my enjoyment of the LP.

I quite like the album too. I could never figure out why they used Long Legged Girl as it was already on LP. They had Come What May, Fools Fall In Love and High Heel Sneakers they could have used instead. At least the second pressing replaced Stay Away, Joe with Stay Away, making it a 90% winner instead of an 80% winner.

I think both take 10 and take 16 are great performances both vocally and instrumentally. Some of Elvis songs that did not make it before 1968 TV Special would probably have fared much better had they been released after the special. Guitar Man, Big Boss Man, ALLC, US Male come to mind.

[brian]

There wasn't a second version recorded in June of 1968. Elvis did NOT re-record the song.

The version heard on The Complete '68 Comeback Special is take 2 from the March 1968 Western sessions. It is also the version heard on the JXL Remix

Is that right. Then Elvis and RCA made a mistake take 2 should have been chosen as the master and released as the single.

[skatterbrane]

Way, way too much reverb on take 2. But the energy in the vocals is very strong!

[drjohncarpenter]

Hello guys.
Yesterday I was listening to A little less conversation in my car and I just realised what a cool and groovy song it is.I really enjoy it.
Elvis originaly recorded it in March of 1968 and then re-recorded it in June for the 68 Comeback special .I like better the second version of it(the sound and Elvis voice and the back up singers-The Blossoms I believe.) It's a wonder to me why this song was not a hit for him in 1968, because really it sounded good and contemporary with the times.
What do you think of the song and which version of it do you like more and why?
Many thanks and Happy birthday ,Elvis...
Chucky.

First off, it took 48 years to figure out you like the song? That doesn't bode well for anything Elvis recorded in the 1970s.

There is no known "68 Comeback special" recording of "A Little Less Conversation," every full recording derives from the MGM sessions in March 1968 at Western Recorders. Take 16 appeared on single in 1968, and it's excellent, but I prefer take 10, which was issued in 1970 on the Camden budget title Almost In Love. Elvis' vocals are that much better, and the band is tighter.

"A Little Less Conversation" is one of the best singles from his last decade, without question. Hats off to producer Billy Strange for co-writing it with Mac Davis, and bringing the material to the session. Davis would deliver bigger hits in a short time. Drummer Hal Blaine hits a groove that is absolutely sample-worthy, a big reason why Junkie XL chose it for his stunning 2002 remix.

The single wasn't a hit in 1968 because Elvis' career was in the toilet at the time, due to his Hollywood derailment. However, the tremendous success of what Junkie XL accomplished thirty years later, using take 2 from a 1968 session acetate, proved its value. His overdubbed, remixed track was an enormous worldwide hit, brought a great deal of attention to the Presley oeuvre, and helped propel sales of the ELV1S 30 #1 Hits compilation issued later that year.



..

ELV1S VS JXL "A Little Less Conversation" (RCA 07863 60555, June 25, 2002)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Less_Conversation#Junkie_XL/JXL_version


Finally, it's also worth noting that 1968 acetate used for the remix is not 100% from the March 1968 session.

[JimmyCool]

There is no known "68 Comeback special" recording of "A Little Less Conversation," every full recording derives from the MGM sessions in March 1968 at Western Recorders.
...

Finally, it's also worth noting that 1968 acetate used for the remix is not 100% from the March 1968 session.

[drjohncarpenter]

There is no known "68 Comeback special" recording of "A Little Less Conversation," every full recording derives from the MGM sessions in March 1968 at Western Recorders.
...

Finally, it's also worth noting that 1968 acetate used for the remix is not 100% from the March 1968 session.

[Eggrert]

Then Elvis and RCA made a mistake take 2 should have been chosen as the master and released as the single.

I agree. The official single and album version are both lacking, imo. The key is wrong, and Elvis just seems like he's faking the energy (sort of the way he does on something like Stop, Look, & Listen). Take 2 (I still think of it as "the Comeback Special version"), on the other hand, is one of his best performances of the 60s. It starts off strong and then kicks into a truly transcendent gear near the end. The single/album versions never really get cooking.

[GLAISTER]

I have always thought of this song as I think of things like 'Let Yourself Go' and 'Long Legged Girl' - ie: a '60''s rock song trying too hard to sound like a '60's rock song. That said, I have always enjoyed them.

The ALLC remix from years back got my daughters generation into Elvis, so like it or not, that was no bad thing. I didn't mind it too much, essentially the biggest thing JXL did was to give the bass and drums a kick and for me, this made the song sound a bit more like it should have sounded in the first place - but I did (do) also hate the modern crappy bits and backwards vocals but that I guess is what they call "progress".

Much the same applies to the RPO albums; I hate them, but begrudgingly I admit that they are good for Elvis.

[Fabbe]

Are you guys sure the vocals used for the remix were recorded in March '68?