You’re traveling through a curious dimension of ideas . . . the edge of reality.

The Elvis Odyssey

Part IV: Valley of Echoes

It is a time of transition. Fresh from two years of military service, Elvis Presley has returned to the top of the music world, his voice more powerful than ever.

As the industry begins to shift, however, a quiet threat emerges. Lucrative movie deals bring steady success, but at the cost of creative fire.

For loyal fans, glimpses of the dwindling spark that once ignited almost every recording can still shine through. . . .

Listen along on Spotify.

#145 I’m Comin’ Home (1961)
Something For Everybody
Nashville, TN

This song. Wow, just wow. Give me a second, I need to turn the jukebox up again.

I’ve loved “I’m Comin’ Home” since first hearing it in 1987. Floyd Cramer’s magnificent piano absolutely drives this one. The song takes interesting lyrical turns between an almost blues quality and a hopeful note.

This stretch of three songs–“I’m Comin’ Home” through “I Want You With Me”–is another of my favorite sequences in The Elvis Odyssey. All three were recorded in March 1961 at RCA’s Nashville studio.

#146 I Feel So Bad (1961)
I Feel So Bad (Single)
Nashville, TN

“I Feel So Bad” peaks at #5.

In the stereo version of “I Feel So Bad,” listen out for the sax of Boots Randolph moving from left to center in the midst of his solo. This was reportedly due to Elvis being so enthralled by Randolph’s performance that he walked over to him, causing the sax to be picked up through his vocal microphone.

#147 I Want You With Me (1961)
Something For Everybody
Nashville, TN

More Cramer goodness on piano here. That man could play! You’ll hear him on many songs in today’s segment of The Elvis Odyssey. Elvis was blessed to be able to surround himself with top-notch musicians for most of his recordings.

#148 No More (1961)
Blue Hawaii
Hollywood, CA

As Elvis soundtrack albums go, Blue Hawaii is certainly one of the better ones. It is cohesive and has several great songs.

#149 Can’t Help Falling In Love (1961)
Blue Hawaii
Hollywood, CA

“Can’t Help Falling In Love” peaks at #2.

#150 Rock-A-Hula Baby (1961)
Blue Hawaii
Hollywood, CA

After recording the Blue Hawaii soundtrack in Hollywood, Elvis arrives in Hawaii. Before location shooting begins, he performs a benefit concert for the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, which gives the long-stalled tribute to fallen heroes the final push it needs after more than a decade of fundraising struggles.

#151 His Latest Flame (1961)
His Latest Flame (Single)
Nashville, TN

“His Latest Flame” peaks at #4.

#152 Little Sister (1961)
His Latest Flame (Single)
Nashville, TN

“Little Sister” peaks at #5.

#153 Follow That Dream (1961)
C’mon Everybody
Nashville, TN

#154 Good Luck Charm (1961)
Good Luck Charm (Single)
Nashville, TN

“Good Luck Charm” earns Elvis a number one hit.

#155 Night Rider (1961)
Pot Luck With Elvis
Nashville, TN

“Night Rider” is yet another stellar Elvis album cut that should have been a single.

#156 King Of The Whole Wide World (Alternate-1961)
Return Of The Rocker¹⁶
Hollywood, CA M7-Take 4 [unedited master]

This extended version of “King Of The Whole Wide World” included the full Randolph sax solo that was unfortunately truncated in the released master.^16A Randolph was another key session player from this period that featured on a number of highlights from this timeframe.

#157 You’ll Be Gone (1962)
Do The Clam (Single)
Nashville, TN

I’m not saying that “You’ll Be Gone” would have lit up the charts when it was finally released in 1965, but surely it would have made a better A-Side than “Do The Clam” from the Girl Happy movie? Of course, that would have gone against the approach of Elvis’ manager, Tom Parker, to let the music sell the movies and the movies sell the music.

#158 Suspicion (1962)
Pot Luck With Elvis
Nashville, TN

#159 She’s Not You (1962)
She’s Not You (Single)
Nashville, TN

“She’s Not You” peaks at #5.

#160 Return To Sender (1962)
Return To Sender (Single)
Hollywood, CA

“Return To Sender” peaks at #2.

Elvis: “I’d like to do something someday where I feel that I’ve really done a good job as an actor in a certain type role, but I feel that it comes with time and a little living and a few years behind you. I think that, really. I think that it will come, eventually. That’s my goal.”^AF

#161 Bossa Nova Baby (1963)
Bossa Nova Baby (Single)
Hollywood, CA

“Bossa Nova Baby” peaks at #8.

#162 Devil In Disguise (1963)
Devil In Disguise (Single)
Nashville, TN

“Devil In Disguise” peaks at #2.

#163 Witchcraft (1963)
Bossa Nova Baby (Single)
Nashville, TN

#164 Long Lonely Highway (1963)
I’m Yours (Single)
Nashville, TN

Elvis: “[My mother] never really wanted anything, anything fancy. She just stayed the same all the way through the whole thing. I wish–there’s a lot of things happened since she passed away that I wish she could have been around to see that would’ve made her very happy and very proud, but that’s life. I can’t help it.”^AG

#165 Viva Las Vegas (1963)
What’d I Say (Single)
Hollywood, CA

The fact that a stone-cold Elvis classic like “Viva Las Vegas” was apparently released as a B-Side to an inferior cover of a Ray Charles tune boggles my mind.^16B

#166 It Hurts Me (Alternate-1964)
Kissin’ Cousins (Single-Italy)^16C
Nashville, TN [master, alternate mix]

From “It Hurts Me”: “If you ever tell him you’re through, I’ll be waiting for you. Waiting to hold you so tight. Waiting to kiss you goodnight. Yes, darling, if I had someone like you.”

Elvis is now averaging three movies a year. His music begins to take a backseat to those demands. Other than three songs recorded in January 1964, including “It Hurts Me,” 1964-1965 consists only of movie soundtrack sessions for Roustabout, Girl Happy, Harum Scarum, Frankie and Johnny, and Paradise, Hawaiian Style.¹⁷

Meanwhile, the Beatles arrive in America and begin the “British Invasion” with an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964.

Elvis: “At a certain stage, I had no say-so in it. I didn’t have final approval of the script, which means I couldn’t say, ‘This is not good for me.’ . . . I don’t think anybody was consciously trying to harm me. It was just Hollywood’s image of me was wrong, and I knew it, and I couldn’t say anything about it. I couldn’t do anything about it.^AH

#167 Run On (1966)
How Great Thou Art
Nashville, TN

In 1966, Elvis’ passion for music finally begins to re-emerge with the recording of How Great Thou Art, a gospel album that earns him his first Grammy Award.

Elvis: “Gospel is really what we grew up with, more than anything else.”^AI

#168 In The Garden (1966)
How Great Thou Art
Nashville, TN

#169 Indescribably Blue (1966)
Indescribably Blue (Single)
Nashville, TN

“Indescribably Blue” is one of those midnight brooding Elvis songs, in the vein of “Blue Moon” or “Mystery Train.”

On May 1, 1967, 32-year-old Elvis marries Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas, shortly before her 22nd birthday.

#170 You Don’t Know Me (1967)
Elvis Sings Guitar Man
Nashville, TN

#171 Speedway (1967)
Speedway
Hollywood, CA

Elvis: “I was doing a lot of pictures close together. And the pictures got very similar. A lot of them got very similar. If something was successful, they’d try to re-create it the next time around. So, I’d read the first four or five pages, and I knew it was just a different name with twelve new songs in it. The songs were mediocre in most cases. You can’t get good songs.”^AJ

#172 Suppose (Alternate-1967)
Double Features: Easy Come, Easy Go/Speedway
Hollywood, CA Take 1

#173 Guitar Man (1967)
Clambake
Nashville, TN

When no one can duplicate rising country star Jerry Reed’s original guitar style for Elvis’ cover of his “Guitar Man,” producer Felton Jarvis calls in Reed himself, who then plays in a couple of Elvis sessions.

#174 Mine (1967)
Speedway
Nashville, TN

#175 High Heel Sneakers (1967)
Guitar Man (Single)
Nashville, TN

With “High Heel Sneakers,” we hear a hint of the raw, bluesy voice that Elvis will spotlight in his 1968 television special.

#176 Singing Tree (1967)
Clambake
Nashville, TN

#177 You’ll Never Walk Alone (Alternate-1967)
A Life In Music
Nashville, TN Take 2

“You’ll Never Walk Alone” features Elvis on the piano, and in this alternate take he just won’t let the song go. A beautiful performance. While “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is technically a non-secular song, Elvis transforms it into a spiritual song of inspiration.

#178 All I Needed Was The Rain (1967)
Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star And Others
Nashville, TN

Elvis: “I was never indifferent [about the movies]. I was so concerned until that’s all I talked about. It worried me sick. . . . It was nobody’s fault except maybe my own. I didn’t know what to do. I just felt I was obligated very heavy at times to things I didn’t fully believe in, and that was very difficult.”^AK

#179 Stay Away (1968)
US Male (Single)
Nashville, TN

On February 1, 1968, Lisa Marie Presley is born in Memphis to Priscilla and Elvis.

#180 Wonderful World (1968)
Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star And Others
Hollywood, CA

From “Wonderful World”: “Heaven is found right here on the Earth. It surrounds us in wonderful things all around in this wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful world.”

#181 Edge Of Reality (Alternate-1968)
Double Features: Live A Little, Love A Little / Charro / The Trouble With Girls / Change Of Habit
Hollywood, CA [unedited master]

Elvis: “So, I had thought they would try to get a new property for me or give me a chance to show some kind of acting ability or do a very interesting story, but it did not change. It did not change. And so I became very discouraged. They couldn’t have paid me no amount of money in the world to make me feel any self-satisfaction inside.”^AL

#182 A Little Less Conversation (Alternate-1968)
Memories
Hollywood, CA Take 2 [acetate version]¹⁸

Recorded for the movie Live A Little, Love A Little, the single version of “A Little Less Conversation” barely makes it into the top 70.

With Elvis’ movies and records no longer attracting the audiences they once did, no one is sure how an upcoming television special devoted to the star will turn out.

Elvis Presley will return in The Elvis Odyssey Part V: Electric Dawn.

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Assorted Rambles

¹⁶Return Of The Rocker (1986) was the first Elvis album I ever personally owned. I was 11-years-old. It obviously influenced me for I realized just now that all 12 songs on that compilation made The Elvis Odyssey. Not even That’s The Way It Is, another favorite album of mine, can say that.

Return Of The Rocker is another well-edited and sequenced release from the Gregg Geller era. It really is a perfect compilation of the 1960-1963 timeframe for Elvis, managing to blend his soundtrack and non-soundtrack recordings in an effective way.

While Ernst Jorgensen’s much broader ELVIS: From Nashville To Memphis – The Essential 60s Masters I (1994) was revelatory in that it resurrected tons of Elvis’ non-soundtrack recordings from being filler cuts on albums otherwise devoted to often poor movie tunes, it also can feel a bit antiseptic. Intersperse the tracks of ELVIS: Command Performances – The Essential 60s Masters II into the former’s sequence, though, for quite a different and improved listening experience. Adhering so strictly to the 5-CD format established by the ’50s set was a detriment to both the ’60s and ’70s sets.↩︎

^16AThough I don’t know that it was really publicized at the time, Return Of The Rocker actually featured the debut of this extended master of “King Of The Whole Wide World” with the full concluding sax solo by Randolph. The standard version fades way too early and always sounds incomplete to me. Unfortunately, Spotify had only the standard master and an inferior outtake to choose from so I went with the standard master on that variant of this playlist.↩︎

^16BI say “apparently” because some sources list “Viva Las Vegas” as the A-Side, but I’m going by Ernst Jorgensen’s definitive Elvis Presley: A Life In Music – The Complete Recording Sessions from 1998 for this kind of information. However, I have discovered in life that “definitive” does not always mean “perfect.”↩︎

^16CWhen “It Hurts Me” was first released as a single in Italy, it sounded quite different from its U.S. counterpart. It turned out that solely the left channel from the stereo recording had been accidentally used for the mono version in Italy, rather than including the right channel as well. This had the distinct advantage of leaving out the Jordanaires, which makes it my go-to version of the song. Though I had to use the standard version on the Spotify playlist, the standard version actually would not have made The Elvis Odyssey and we would have jumped from 1963 to 1966. ↩︎

¹⁷1964-1965 was the true nadir of Elvis’ career. Though The Elvis Odyssey is essentially a career-spanning retrospective, it is, admittedly, a bit of a cheat. It is most noticeable here in the “valley.” We skip more than 95% of 1964 and 100% of 1965. I could have included a couple of those songs, I suppose. Despite how bad the movie and most of the tunes are, there are actually two or three good songs on the Paradise, Hawaiian Style album, for instance. But are they better than any of the 200 songs of The Elvis Odyssey? Not to me, anyway. At least not at this time in my life when I am compiling this list.

The problem with skipping all of these low points, though, is that it makes the slow comeback a little less noticeable when playing through. A false impression could be given listening to the tracks the way I have arranged them here that Elvis was solid throughout the 1960s. The thing to keep in mind, though, is that these are the fleeting “glimpses” of his old creative fire that will soon be returning in force. Whereas this 1961–March 1968 stretch produced a whopping 43% of his lifetime studio masters, I’ve cherrypicked to such a degree that this timeframe represents only 19% of the tracks of The Elvis Odyssey.↩︎

¹⁸When first released in 1998, this backup acetate recording of “A Little Less Conversation” was reported to be an unused vocal from a remake of the song dropped from Elvis’ 1968 television special. The previously unreleased performance soon took on a life of its own far beyond the original single. It was included in the remake of Ocean’s Eleven (2001) and became the theme song to the television series Las Vegas (2003-2008). It has also shown up in multiple other projects.

In 2002, most notably, the track was remixed by DJ and producer Junkie XL (JXL) for a Nike commercial and later released as a single that topped the charts in multiple countries. While the remix reached only #50 in the US, its inclusion on ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits (2002) helped propel that compilation to the top of the US album charts.

Though it is often still wrongly associated with the June 1968 recordings for the television special, the acetate recording of “A Little Less Conversation” was later revealed to be take 2 from the original March 1968 studio session, whereas the single master had been take 16 from the same date. I have to say, Take 2 has a heck of a lot more bite to it than Take 16 or even Take 10, the version used on the Almost In Love (1970) album. It is unfortunate that the blander takes were chosen for release during his lifetime.↩︎

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Sources for Elvis Quotes

^AFca. September 1962, Interview, Hollywood, CA↩︎

^AGca. September 1962, Interview, Hollywood, CA↩︎

^AHca. July 1972 Interview↩︎

^AIca. July 1972 Interview↩︎

^AJca. July 1972 Interview↩︎

^AKca. July 1972 Interview↩︎

^ALca. July 1972 Interview↩︎

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“But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31