Best track on "Raised on rock/For ol´ times sake" LP 1973

[dreambear]

Here we are with an album that I expect a lot of different opinions about. The positive thing is that the album sounds a lot better in terms of production than the Nashville recordings from 1971 (no drums in the left channel and so on). There´s also less overdubbings and more upbeat songs. So whats the problem? An uninspired artist who didn´t want to be in a studio at all. The strange thing is that the songs I´ve heard from the june tour, Elvis´ voice sounds really strong, not at all like early 1973. And a few weeks alter it sounds a bit thin again.

It starts off with ROR which sounds interresting with drumming both from Ron Tutt and Jerry Carrigan. Elvis does an ok job but the lyrics seems to embarass Elvis as he sings "hound dog" a bit slurry. Burton is good here to.

I know that a lot of people rate "Are you sincere" high but in my opinion he overuse his vibrato on this one. At least Elvis tries here.

"Find out whats happening" is the best song so far and could have been a killer if it had been recorded six months later. No attack here from Elvis.

"I miss you" is a tender ballad and I think our man did a better job in Palm springs in september 1973 than on most tracks recorded in july. However, the song itself is just average.

And now to this albums "This is our dance": I can´t stand "Girl of mine". It reminds me of those dance bands from Sweden that have been very popular in decades. I wonder if it was just the cheap microphone that got Elvis to leave the studio in anger. This song might have help him to make the decision...

Side two opens with glory. Still, Elvis voice isn´t close to what he had in 1972 or later in 1973, but it suits this song. He sounds so fragile and the arrangement is so well done. "For ol´ times sake" is my favourite on the album.

It´s good fun to hear Elvis tackle a funky song like "If you don´t come back". It´s also fun to hear the female backing vocals. Too bad the fire´s missing. He could do this type of music when he felt like (I got a feelin´ in my body).

"Just a little bit" is quality music, but again, where is the fire? Talking about fire: Jerry Lee "Great balls of fire" Lewis did a version too and it´s better. On Bobby Kings´ and Terry Evans´ album "Live and let die", you can hear an another good version.

"Sweet Angeline" is just a bit to sweet for my taste. Elvis does a good job though.

The last track is "Three corn patches" and a lot of people thinks it´s corny, but to citate George Harrison when he talked about "Got my mind set on you": "It rocks along quite nicely". I´m swedish, so I don´t have those problems with the lyrics (I actually doesn´t understand this song at all), but Elvis sounds like he´s on his way to fall asleep. The best parts are the piano solo and when Elvis finally wakes up at the end fading.

This LP aren´t his best effort but not his worst either. Let´s see which track that´s most popular:

Keep voting!

Kind regards
Björn

[JerryNodak]

My fave has always been "For Ol' Times Sake."

[dreambear]

My fave has always been "For Ol' Times Sake."

You were really quick here

//Björn

[Rob]

I fell in love with "For Ol' Times Sake" the first time I heard it many moons ago. "Sweet Angeline" would be my second choice.

I've always thought this album was better than it's made out to be.

[kuenzer]

In my book, Raised On Rock is the best 70s rocker, with second place shared by T.R.O.U.B.L.E. and Promised Land.

Sweet Angeline, For Ol' Times Sake and I Miss You would have been my next choices.

[elvisa]

Three Corn Patches got my vote....I like a lot of the songs but, I really like the rhythm on this one.

[drjohncarpenter]

Three Corn Patches got my vote....I like a lot of the songs but, I really like the rhythm on this one.

? ? ?

[dreambear]

Three Corn Patches got my vote....I like a lot of the songs but, I really like the rhythm on this one.

? ? ?

Let´s defend Elvisa from Denmark here. I have a feeling that she feels like me: "It rocks along quite nicely". The backing musicians does a very good job here, while Elvis struggle a bit.

Regards Björn

[jeanno]

IF YOU DON´T COME BACK, pure guilty pleasure.
The rough mix from the classic FTD album is even better.

[poormadpeter]

I Miss You for me. It's sincere and simple. A bit like me.

[ColinB]

I Miss You for me.
It's sincere and simple.
A bit like me.

Can't say I've noticed the sincerity......................

[sylvain]

For ol' times sake

[midnightx]

This album is a masterpiece. Felton Jarvis, Joan Deary, Tom Parker and Elvis Presley should all take a bow for this one.

[Marc Haegeman]

A masterpiece indeed. I still voted for "I Miss You."
Colin, you might note the sincerity when lesser talents tackle it.

[ColinB]

A masterpiece indeed. I still voted for "I Miss You."
Colin, you might note the sincerity when lesser talents tackle it.

It was poormadpeter's sincerity I was referring to................... like............... a joke.............. geddit ?

[Suspicious Minds]

I voted for the track For Ol' Times Sake.

Something you can play after pub hours or late at night.
I think it's the best track on this album.

[JerryNodak]

This album is a masterpiece. Felton Jarvis, Joan Deary, Tom Parker and Elvis Presley should all take a bow for this one.

The FTD version of said album is! No sarcasm intended.

[Inigo Montoya]

Back when I bought my first bootlegs, sending off to the US for them (I think it was to Elvis Unlimited, though I also had CEFC catalogs at the time), I also bought this album because I'd never seen it before and that cover shot was just too cool (still is). The thing was an original 1973 US release, sealed, and cost me $5. Even back then, I recognized that some of the tracks weren't exactly Elvis classics, though the LP had enough in the way of stronger moments that I'd play it pretty regularly (though nowhere near as much as, from the same release period, stuff like the 'Fool' LP, Good Times, and Promised Land). And, besides, there was always that cool cover shot in the album's favor.

I don't have a particular problem with "Raised On Rock" in terms of the lyrics being kind of anachronistic and odd when sung by Elvis but I always felt the song could have been done better. The song had a cool groove -- very much contemporary 1973 stuff -- but Elvis' vocal just sounds a bit too uninspired. This'd be a problem with much of the July Stax sessions, one that was decidedly not a factor that December when he cut some excellent stuff and seemed, for the moment, to care again. I like the song, but it's hardly being all that it could be. It was cool, when I first heard it via my trusty tape machine, to hear it in medley with "Trouble" in the August 6, 1973 opening show, but (tangible throughout much of the show, actually) it was obvious that Elvis and the band hadn't exactly over-rehearsed for the engagement.

"Are You Sincere" appeals to me a great deal. It's perhaps nothing special, in some ways, but Elvis did this kind of thing so very well. Very nice. The same is true of "I Miss You" (I think it's great, for all its obscurity), and the nicely rendered "Sweet Angeline." On this LP, I think the ballads generally outperform the uptempo tracks.

"Find Out What's Happening" is almost really, really cool but, again, its one that I think Elvis could have done better (possibly that December). I do like it, though, and it was a kind of song we hadn't heard from Elvis 'til this LP. I always liked the undubbed version a lot, and the Essential Elvis outtake is, I think (been a while since I listened to that CD), better yet even if a bit rough in places.

"Girl Of Mine" is just....bleh. For some reason, though I love Tom Jones, it's always seemed like one of Mr Jones' lesser products..or maybe I'm thinking of Engelbert. Regardless, it didn't belong on a mainstream Elvis LP (shouldn't have been recorded, in the first place) and I'd be happy if it'd only surfaced some time in the '90s to the delight of people like us. The only reason I don't absolutely detest this track is that it sounds surprisingly better in its undubbed form. And, yeah, the lyrics are nice and capture some of that feeling of being in love but, really the whole thing basically kinda sucks as a song or as indicative of Elvis' capabilities thereabouts. "Kiss your sweet green lips"?

"For Ol' Times Sake" is my pick for best of the LP, apparently a majority opinion. The acoustic backing, Elvis' vocal, and the way the song just sucks you in with its evocative lyrics and musical feeling work on every level. It's a song I think many people would be surprised to find on an Elvis LP and I think it's one of Elvis' best, if most unusual, ballads after 1970, or even of the entire '70s. I love many of the big ballads he did during that period, but this one's sparse and deceptively simple nature, and that great guitar work, makes it stand out in many ways. This is one of Elvis' ballads in which you can actually believe he's singing straight from the heart. Bonus points, of course, from any of us who've actually been there, in the position described by the song...

"If You Don't Come Back" comes dangerously close to usurping the excellent ballad that precedes it, in terms of my picking it as the favorite. Make fun of me, if you wish, but I've been in love with this song since first listening to it. It's as cool and funky as anything, and I love the wah-wah. Elvis was really into that whole Shaft and Superfly thing then, musically and sartorially, and though many would undoubtedly say this song was a poor fit or unconvincingly recorded, I just love it. it's too catchy. When I was diving -- SCUBA was a big part of my life for a long time (hopefully will again be) -- this song, for some reason, often set me humming into my regulator mouthpiece. I love the laid-back soul vibe and the deep vocal, and the female call-and-response contributions. Cool!

There you go...what we really needed was a collaboration with the great Isaac Hayes at Stax in July of 1973, with Isaac producing. That might have yielded some truly excellent performances for the ages!

"Just A Little Bit" is just kinda there, though its got the catchy hooks and blues thing going on. Again, a nicely laid-back vocal that actually suits the song. The total package, though, is underwhelming even if competent and appealing enough but just not particularly memorable, at least to me, although not bad: sort of the album in a microcosm, really. At least its not "Three Corn Patches"!

"Three Corn Patches" is, unfortunately, "Three Corn Patches." Actually, its not all that bad. One of Elvis' lesser '70s efforts, I think, but hardly the nadir. The track is nice and strong -- the backing, I mean -- but Elvis' vocal is not very strong and could have been a lot better even if he was compromising it for effect. Hardly Lieber and Stoller's brightest moment, either.

All in all, I'd say this album included some strong performances but was undermined by Elvis' temperament, physical condition, and song selection during the July sessions (and by not including "I've Got A Thing About You, Baby"). He was so good in concert a few weeks before, too...I think '73 was a bit of an up-and-down year for Elvis, the first time things really started to rollercoaster from one extreme to the other and perhaps somewhat understandable given the massive effect of the satellite show followed by a return to the same old routine and, before the end of the year, divorce. He got much better, at least, in the same studio five months later. And it really was a cool LP cover shot...

[dreambear]

Inigo Montoya : Interresting comments on all the polls. Thank you!

Kind regards

Björn

[midnightx]

The problem with this album is that there isn't a highlight; there isn't one track that sticks out from the rest. There aren't a lot of highs or lows. Putting aside the fact that the material is lacking substance in many instances, it is a pretty cohesive and consistent album that really doesn't go anywhere.

[ColinB]

The problem with this album is that there isn't a highlight; there isn't one track that sticks out from the rest. There aren't a lot of highs or lows. Putting aside the fact that the material is lacking substance in many instances, it is a pretty cohesive and consistent album that really doesn't go anywhere.

The runaway winner is obviously a highlight to most voters................................

[keninlincs]

i voted for old times sake
a beauty of a song

[dreambear]

It´s a bit surprising that "Just a little bit" is the only song on this album, that hasn´t got a vote. There are worse tracks...

Regards

Björn

[Rob]

Maybe, maybe not. You only asked for our favorite cut.

It may be second on a lot of lists (not mine).

[Lennart]

Since you wondered why nobody voted for "Just a little bit" I just did, Björn.
If someone else had voted for it, I would probably have voted for either "For Ol´times sake" or "Raised on rock".

The question is, who voted for "Girl of mine"?
To each his own but in my opinion, it´s one of Elvis worst songs of the 70:s

Lennart