Elvis Presley: January 8, 1935—August 16, 1977
“To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.” –Thomas Campbell
A fleeting moment
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A collection of my Elvis and Elvis-adjacent writings outside The Mystery Train.
We can solve the mystery if we try
Frequent commenter Ray Faithfull recently emailed me the following mystery:
I watched a clip posted on facebook for the song “We Can Make The Morning”….then it dawned on me that it was longer than the Now album release and the FTD release by almost 30 seconds..I figured you would be the person to go to for some insight as to how many takes of this song were actually done and what and where have they been released??
Was take 1 the master take that went for over 4:30 and was simply faded at 3:48 for the final cut ??
I have included the link to the video i am referring to with the version i had not heard or at least not completely?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGIMKq-qwOM
Though I did not know the answer right off the top of my head, Ray had obviously placed a lot of faith in me (no pun intended . . . I think), so I felt compelled to research this for him.
First, I checked iTunes, where I have meticulously cataloged every unique Elvis track I own. To my surprise, the only version of “We Can Make The Morning” I have is the master recording, as released on Elvis Now. My iTunes version of the 1971 track, sourced from the circa-2007 Vic Anesini remastering effort as released on Elvis: The Complete Masters Collection, clocks in at 3:59. However, the last five seconds of that are silence.
“We Can Make The Morning” on iTunes
I pulled out my vintage 1972 vinyl edition of the Elvis Now album, and it indicated a run time of 3:54 for “We Can Make The Morning.” So, I had approximately six seconds more song than Ray’s 3:48 source, but nowhere near the 4:44 of the YouTube video. Though I am fairly obsessive about obtaining alternate takes of songs that Elvis formally recorded between 1969 and 1976, I certainly do not own every Elvis release. Perhaps this extended version was on an album I did not have.
Checks of the Elvis Now FTD edition liner notes and Ernst Jorgensen’s essential Elvis Presley: A Life In Music – The Complete Recording Sessions book provided no useful information in this case. Next, I went to my favorite source for alternate take information, the incredible Elvis Recording Data/Session Notes section of the Elvis In Norway site. There, I also found only one entry for “We Can Make The Morning,” the master recording (B-side single), with time listed as 3:54.
I only collect official releases, so my next thought was that the 4:44 version might be from a bootleg. Elvis In Norway’s Session Notes section fortunately does not muddy the water by including those, so I went to another reliable source that does incorporate bootleg information, the Recording Sessions section of Keith Flynn’s Elvis Presley Pages site.
There I found three matches for “We Can Make The Morning”:
- RCA Studio B – Nashville, Tennessee, May 20 / 21 1971
- RCA Studio A – Nashville, Tennessee (Overdub Session), May 25, 1971
- RCA Studios – Hollywood, California (Overdub Session), June 21, 1971 (Evening)
A note on the May 20 / 21 page indicates, “Tape reel #2 from this session is missing, and this is the reel that would have included […] the outtakes of We Can Make The Morning,” so that effectively ruled out an alternate take of the song.
The undubbed master has apparently never been released, nor has the May 25 string overdubs version. Only the completed June 21 version, with overdubbed brass and strings, has been released (i.e., the one from Elvis Now).
However, the site lists the track as 4:11. That’s 17 seconds closer to 4:44, but still not enough. The 4:11 version of the song was released on the bootleg Unedited Masters: Nashville 1971 by the Venus label. There, “We Can Make The Morning” is listed as the “unedited, overdubbed master.” I do not have the album to verify whether the track fades at the end but, assuming the Venus information is correct, that leaves at least 33 unaccounted seconds that are in the video.
After all of this, I finally decided to take a listen to the YouTube video, which had been created by a fan. The visual imagery, interspersing photos of Elvis in life with photos of fans at candlelight vigils in the years after his death, was not to my liking, so I stopped paying attention to the video and just listened to the audio. Not only did it go to 4:44, but the song had not even fully faded at that point.
What was going on here? Though I did not detect anything the first time through, my guess was that a portion of the song had been re-looped somewhere (i.e., a part of the recording had been replayed to artificially make the song longer). On my second listen to the 4:44 video, I played the Elvis Now version at the same time. Whatever potential monkey business had occurred within the song was definitely happening near the end.
My third and fourth listens revealed that 3:28 in the video is a repeat of 2:48. For example, listen how Elvis draws out “night” at 3:33, which is an exact duplicate of how he sings it at 2:53 in the video.
Essentially, someone has artificially added at least 40 seconds to the audio track on the “We Can Make The Morning” YouTube video by repeating a portion of the song – most likely to suit the purposes of the photo montage. Other than the abrupt ending, the audio editing is actually quite seamless. However, I will stick with the original version.
Thanks for the great question, Ray, and for inspiring today’s post.
Case closed.
Close-up of ELVIS NOW back cover (1972)
Elvis Presley Enterprises to release ALOHA FROM HAWAII: 40th ANNIVERSARY EDITION DVD in mid-August
ALOHA FROM HAWAII: 40th ANNIVERSARY EDITION DVD (2013)
This product snuck up on me in the recent official Elvis products catalog. As far as I can tell, there has been absolutely no publicity thus far about a DVD release of Aloha From Hawaii: 40th Anniversary Edition. Nevertheless, Elvis Presley Enterprises is set to release the new DVD in less than two weeks, on August 16.
It will contain the 2013 edit of the concert as shown earlier this year in Hawaii. The new edition features split screen visuals that expand the viewing area, resulting in a more theatrical presentation than the standard television editions seen in the past. Time will tell, but I’m hopeful this expanded width will look terrific on modern 16:9 widescreen TVs.
Here is the item description:
Elvis Presley made television and entertainment history with his “Elvis, Aloha from Hawaii” concert television special. The performance took place at the Honolulu International Center, now known as the Neal Blaisdell Arena, on January 14, 1973. It was beamed live via Globecam Satellite to various countries, on a delayed basis to approximately 30 European countries and first aired in the U.S. on April 4 on NBC. The viewing audience was estimated at over one billion worldwide.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of “Elvis, Aloha from Hawaii,” fans from around the world gathered in Honolulu in January 2013 for five days of celebrations. The highlight of the week was a screening of a special re-edited version of “Elvis, Aloha from Hawaii,” that was shown at the Blaisdell Arena on January 14, exactly 40 years to the day Elvis performed there.
The re-edited version, which includes rarely-seen footage and audio, received rave reviews from critics and fans alike. This special 40th anniversary edition offers a new look at Elvis during one of his most outstanding concert performances of his career.
ELVIS ALOHA FROM HAWAII
• Re-edit of “Elvis, Aloha from Hawaii” as seen at the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu on January 14, 2013
BONUS FEATURES • Event footage from the “40th Anniversary Aloha from Hawaii Celebration” in Honolulu in January 2013
• A Look Inside the New “Elvis’ Hawaii: Concerts, Movies and More! Exhibit” at Graceland
• Clips from Elvis’ “Aloha from Hawaii” Press Conferences
• Replica Booklet of Program from January 14, 2013 Screening Event
I’ve read this a few times, and it sounds almost too good to be true. In the back of my mind, there is a nagging question that I wish would go away: Have any songs been removed from the 2013 edit of the concert?
August 7, 2013, Update: According to a Shop Elvis email blast that went out today, the release date on this item is now August 19. Unfortunately, no further details on the the technical specifications.
August 22, 2013, Update: Check out my full review of Aloha From Hawaii: 40th Anniversary Edition DVD.
REVIEW: Stay Away, Joe CD (FTD)
Stay Away, Joe CD (Follow That Dream Records, 2013)
I never quite know what to make of Stay Away, Joe. The first time I tried to watch the movie as a teenager in the early 1990s, I couldn’t get past the non-stop party scene near the beginning. The whole thing just seemed so unbearable.
Yet, over the years, I have come to love most of the five songs Elvis recorded for this film. While Elvis performed many country songs in his career, he rarely delved into “outdoor” country songs that celebrate nature like “Stay Away” (“Greensleeves”) and “Goin’ Home” do. Elvis infuses a passion into these numbers that makes them stronger than the lyrics might otherwise suggest.
“All I Needed Was The Rain” is much the same, but this time with Elvis making the most of an otherwise lesser blues number.
The rollicking “Stay Away, Joe” is a song that had to grow on me. Somewhere, I’ve seen it accurately described as a “campfire song.” Taken in that spirit, “Stay Away, Joe” is just as much fun as it needs to be.
The outlier is the awful “Dominic,” which Elvis recorded against his better judgment after securing a promise from producer Felton Jarvis that it would never be released on record. Though it appeared in the movie, RCA did not release the song until the Double Features series in 1994 – long after the deaths of both Elvis and Jarvis.
I’m torn about whether “Dominic” should have ever been released. On one hand, Elvis lost the right to decide what should and should not be released once he passed away. Surely, had he lived, he would have been against quite a few of the releases that have kept us Elvis fans going over the years. Of course, had he lived, many of those releases would not have been necessary. On the other hand, “Dominic” is such a wretched song, even among the already low standards of Elvis movies, that maybe his music label’s current Elvis team should have respected his wishes in this one instance. Releasing it served no purpose other than to please completists.
FTD’s Classic Albums series edition of the Stay Away, Joe soundtrack supplements the movie tunes with two far more commercial recordings made during the same period, “Too Much Monkey Business” and “U.S. Male.” My first exposure to “Too Much Monkey Business” was watching the 1981 documentary This Is Elvis on TV in the early 1990s. Though “Too Much Monkey Business” is not heard in any of Elvis’ real movies, I’ll always associate it with them due to its perfect use in the montage sequence of his Hollywood years. Elvis’ take on the Chuck Berry hit certainly fits within the spirit of many of his better movie songs, anyway.
Penned and first recorded by Jerry Reed, “U.S. Male“ acts as a natural follow-up to Elvis’ 1967 recordings of Reed’s “Guitar Man” and Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man” – the evolution of which are chronicled in the essential FTD release Elvis Sings Guitar Man. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Elvis plays up Southern “country boy” stereotypes in “U.S. Male,” including his wonderful ad-libbed clarification at the song’s conclusion: ‘. . . the American U.S. male.’ As with “Guitar Man,” Jerry Reed provides guitar support on Elvis’ cover of his song, making it far more authentic than it otherwise would have been.
Unlike Elvis Sings Guitar Man, which felt like a true album, albeit imaginary, the master recordings portion of the FTD Stay Away, Joe feels disjointed. Seven songs do not an album make, and the listener is never treated to the illusion that this is an album that “might have been.”
While it would have padded the “album” out to a more plausible length, adding in the Live A Little, Love A Little soundtrack session would have only made for an even more disjointed experience, given the entirely different themes of those recordings. FTD has done the right thing by sticking to the October 1967 and January 1968 sessions that make up this release.
I should clarify that the label does not even try to pass this off as an imaginary album anyway, forgoing the usual “Side One” and “Side Two” divisions in the track listing. Given this, I believe the ideal sequencing of these particular sessions would simply have been to present all of the songs and takes in the order recorded, rather than front-loading the masters. There is a definite “party” atmosphere to these sessions, particularly in the studio chatter, which is lost by FTD holding firm to its routine, scattershot approach. Though normally intended to create a better listening experience, it fails in this case.
The FTD release, of course, adds a multitude of alternate takes and false starts. However, beyond the false starts, there are not many completely new takes here. Whether this is due to unavailability of additional tapes or a budget-saving maneuver to avoid a second disc and requisite work on previously unreleased tracks remains to be seen.
Take 13 of “Stay Away, Joe” is a spirited version, with lots of hootin’ and hollerin’. As with the master, the acoustic guitar and Charlie McCoy’s harmonica drive the song.
An “alternate mastering” of “All I Needed Was The Rain” features some studio chatter and a false start. The song also fades later and includes Elvis joking at the end. Other than that, any other differences compared to the standard master are beyond my technical abilities to detect.
Take 3 of “Too Much Monkey Business” is a long false start, but notable due to the prominence of slightly different sounding guitar work reminiscent of what would later be heard on the master of “Burning Love” in 1972. As fans probably expect from a song with this many words, Elvis confuses some of the lyrics along the way, including an “…Army chow, Army clothes, Army jeep, Army car!” line that made me laugh.
The various false starts of “Goin’ Home” reveal that there was audio trickery involved in the studio chatter that appeared on the Collectors Gold release. The snippets heard on that 1991 boxed set are actually edited together from a few different moments. I’ve heard it that way for so long that it’s hard to get used to these snippets within their proper contexts.
Be sure to listen out for Elvis singing the line “You belong to my heart…” before the Take 11 false start of “Stay Away.” Elvis sang a tiny bit more of this while jamming with Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis at SUN Studios in December 1956, as first heard on The Million Dollar Quartet.
The most interesting parts of the accompanying booklet are reproductions of advertisements and other vintage memorabilia. The modern text is perfunctory and exhibits the same awkwardness all too often associated with FTD. Even if a professional proofreader were outside of the budget, it would still be a good idea to have someone else read these items before printing and selling them.
FTD’s Stay Away, Joe is a decent release buffeted in no small part by Jerry Reed’s guitar work on the 1968 tracks. While most of the tracks have appeared before on various releases, this CD offers the opportunity to obtain them all in one package. While not essential, Stay Away, Joe is certainly recommended to fans of these songs who might not have already collected key alternate takes.
About a year ago, I finally revisited Stay Away, Joe as a film. The majestic, opening title visuals, accompanied by “Stay Away,” are unlike anything else I’ve ever seen in an Elvis movie. That dreaded party scene follows shortly thereafter, but the rest of the movie proves watchable and, at times, entertaining. Elvis looks terrific and, as evidenced by this soundtrack release, most of the songs are more than worthwhile. Too bad “Goin’ Home” fails to make the cut (as with “Stay Away,” it was actually recorded after filming completed), while “Dominic” is there to remind us that “Old MacDonald” wasn’t such a bad song after all.
REVIEW: Elvis – The Complete Masters Collection (Part 6)
This is Part 6 of an occasional series reviewing Elvis: The Complete Masters Collection. Read Part 5.
CD Vol. 8: Country Roots
This volume of The Franklin Mint‘s 36-disc Elvis: The Complete Masters Collection (mastered by Vic Anesini) presents songs that the booklet describes as follows:
“Elvis’ renditions of some of the biggest country songs ever. His tribute to country music and the legends who created it: Hank Williams, Red Foley, and many others.”
This sounds like a potential winner to me, but let’s see how it plays out.
Elvis: The Complete Masters Collection – Volume 8
01. I Love You Because: Of the 21 songs that make up this CD, the compiler could not have made a choice worse than “I Love You Because” to use as the lead-off track. When Elvis Presley made this recording at SUN Records in 1954, owner and producer Sam Phillips wisely rejected it. Shortly thereafter, Elvis, bassist Bill Black, and guitarist Scotty Moore “stumbled upon” the rock ‘n’ roll sound when horsing around with “That’s All Right.” Unfortunately, RCA Records – beginning a trend that would last for the rest of Elvis’ life – dug “I Love You Because” out of the rejects pile and issued a spliced version in 1956 not only on the Elvis Presley LP but as the A-Side of a single! The single failed to chart, and this recording is of interest only as a historical curiosity. (Recorded: 1954)
02. Blue Moon Of Kentucky: “Blue Moon Of Kentucky,” on the other hand, is a perfect representation of “Elvis Country.” A rhytym & blues-infused take on a country/bluegrass song, “Blue Moon Of Kentucky” served well as the B-Side of “That’s All Right” (a country-infused take on a rhythm & blues number). In some markets, “Blue Moon Of Kentucky” was more popular than the A-Side – likely because the song was a little more conventional for those audiences than the comparatively wild “That’s All Right.” (Recorded: 1954)
03. I’ll Never Let You Go: “I’ll Never Let You Go” is another 1954 SUN reject that RCA issued in 1956 on the Elvis Presley LP and as an A-Side single. While not stellar, this one is far more listenable than “I Love You Because.” This one features a slow start before eventually speeding up – a precursor of what Elvis would do not only on “Milkcow Blues Boogie” later that year, but also on live versions of “Hound Dog” years later in 1972. (Recorded: 1954)
04. How’s The World Treating You: “How’s The World Treating You” is a decent recording by Elvis. This one is slow and sleepy, as with the beginning of “I’ll Never Let You Go.” Unlike that track, however, this one stays slow and sleepy. (Recorded: 1956)
05. Old Shep: Elvis had been singing Red Foley’s “Old Shep” since childhood before he formally recorded it in September 1956. As a dog-lover, I find this melodramatic yet effective song hard to listen to at certain points in my life – depending on how my dog is doing at the time. I take these things to heart. A great, classic Elvis recording. (Recorded: 1956)
06. Your Cheatin’ Heart: I love Elvis’ take on Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” though I slightly prefer a more enthusiastic alternate take over this master. It would be years before Elvis made such an overtly country recording again. (Recorded: 1958)
07. A Fool Such As I: There is very little country left in Elvis’ iconic version of “A Fool Such As I,” a song that had been previously recorded by Hank Snow. (Recorded: 1958)
08. It’s A Sin: “It’s A Sin” was first recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1947. Elvis’ version is pretty, but a little lethargic for my tastes. (Recorded: 1961)
09. Just Call Me Lonesome: In addition to the How Great Thou Art sessions, another early sign of the comeback was Elvis returning to country music. “Just Call Me Lonesome” is a great representative of that return. What I love about “Elvis Country” is that instead of whining sounds sometimes associated with the genre, Elvis usually provides velvet vocals. (Recorded: 1967)
10. You Don’t Know Me: Elvis’ moving rendition of Eddy Arnold’s “You Don’t Know Me” was unfortunately buried on the Clambake soundtrack album. The first version I ever heard of “You Don’t Know Me” was actually by Ray Charles. The first time I heard it, in the original theatrical cut of Groundhog Day, I remember wishing that Elvis had recorded it. I was pleasantly surprised a few years later when the unknown-to-me Elvis recording surfaced on From Nashville To Memphis: The Complete 60s Masters I. Incidentally, Elvis also recorded a different version of “You Don’t Know Me” for the Clambake movie, but it is far inferior to this re-recording and was not released until after his death (other than in the actual movie). (Recorded: 1967)
11. I’m Movin’ On: Next up are some songs recorded at American Sound Studios in Memphis in early 1969, not long after the successful airing of the ELVIS television special. At first, “I’m Movin’ On” sounds a little too country, but then Elvis rocks into it to produce a spectacular version. (Recorded: 1969)
12. I’ll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms): “I’ll Hold You In My Heart” is an appealing little song that Elvis sings into the ground, ultimately going nowhere. (Recorded: 1969)
13. After Loving You: One of the huge highlights of the American sessions, “After Loving You” features the “new” Elvis at his best. Elvis had been playing around with this song at home for years, even taking a stab at piano on an earlier take at this session before giving up the keys. One of the best recordings of his career. (Recorded: 1969)
14. It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin’: “It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'” is another pretty song that really does little to stand out among Elvis’ stellar 1969 recordings. (Recorded: 1969)
15. Little Cabin On The Hill: Versions of the next five songs were featured on the 1971 album I’m 10,000 Years Old: Elvis Country, often considered one of his finest. However, these mixes and edits are actually from the 1995 Walk A Mile In My Shoes boxed set. They do not match the original masters from Elvis Country. Here, Elvis launches into a Bill Monroe impersonation he had been fooling around with since at least 1956, as evidenced by the Million Dollar Quartet jam session. Good stuff. (Recorded: 1970)
16. I Really Don’t Want To Know: Elvis owns “I Really Don’t Want To Know,” one of the best on Elvis Country or any of his other albums. I love the piano work on this one by David Briggs. (Recorded: 1970)
17. Faded Love: I much prefer the shorter edit of “Faded Love” as released during Elvis’ lifetime than this overly long 1995 version. Anyway, Elvis does a fine, if forgettable, job on the Bob Wills classic. (Recorded: 1970)
18. Tomorrow Never Comes: Elvis delivers one of his most powerful performances on “Tomorrow Never Comes.” The song starts softly and slowly builds into a breathtaking, accusatory crescendo that Elvis actually had to re-record as an insert. Again, one of the very best songs of his career. (Recorded: 1970)
19. Make The World Go Away: I love hearing Elvis’ version of well-known songs, and “Make The World Go Away” is no exception. That voice. You gotta listen to James Burton on guitar on this one, too. Burton helped define the sound of Elvis’ final decade, and it is no wonder Elvis was reluctant to take the stage without him. (Recorded: 1970)
20. Green, Green Grass Of Home: I first heard Elvis’ version of “Green, Green Grass Of Home” on an RCA cassette tape I had in the 1980s called Elvis Country, one of two tapes by that name I owned – both of which had completely different lineups from each other as well as his 1971 album of the same name. Though recorded five years later for the Today sessions, this song would have fit in well on the real Elvis Country album as well. As with the much-maligned “My Boy,” this is the kind of dramatic song that often spoke to Elvis and that I, for one, enjoy hearing him sing. (Recorded: 1975)
21. Are You Sincere: Coming right after “Green, Green Grass Of Home,” Elvis’ voice sounds comparatively weaker on “Are You Sincere.” This goes against conventional Elvis wisdom, as this one was recorded two years earlier. They were recorded in different studios with different equipment, so any number of factors could be involved. Still, “Are You Sincere” is a worthy performance, first released on his 1973 album Raised On Rock. (Recorded: 1973)
While it contains a number of terrific country songs, the individual parts of this CD do not add up to a high-quality whole. Whether due to kicking off with the lackluster “I Love You Because” or the uneveness of the remaining selections, Country Roots never takes off as a compilation. Instead, it feels more random than anything else.
[Read Part 7.]
King Creole: Alec falls just short of record in Elvis Trivialities #15 victory
Danny Fisher’s fake name did not fool Alec, who answered Elvis Trivialities #15 correctly before anyone else. Alec came just a minute short of tying Steve’s record time, which has stood for nearly two years.
And the answer is…
“George” is the name that Elvis Presley’s character first introduces himself as to Nellie (Dolores Hart) in the movie King Creole.
Though Danny meets her earlier in the film, he does not introduce himself to Nellie until he has her right outside of Room 205. Rather than give his real name, he tells her it is George. Within moments, however, he feels so guilty for propositioning her that he reveals his true identity. For a detailed breakdown of this scene, I refer you to the always fantastic work of Sheila O’Malley at the Sheila Variations blog.
Nellie (Dolores Hart) and “George” (Elvis Presley) outside of Room 205 in KING CREOLE
First-time winner Alec not only gets a big batch of Southern Creole Bragging Rights, but also a spot among The Mystery Train’s Night Riders. An honorable mention also goes out to Gary Wells (AKA Wellsy) for giving the correct answer while Alec’s earlier comment was invisible due to being held for moderation.
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Will you use your real name or a fake one if you win Elvis Trivialities next time? Subscribe to The Mystery Train using the feature below this post. Then, you will be notified whenever there is a new post – because the next trivia challenge could come along at any moment. For all you know, I am typing it out right now.
The Mystery Train’s Night Riders
- June 14, 2013: Alec (0:18) | Honorable Mention: Wellsy (3:01)
- February 22, 2013: Thomas (13:36)
- January 11, 2013: George Millar (4:19)
- December 23, 2012: Thomas (0:36)
- October 9, 2012: David (14:38) | Honorable Mention: John (22:06)
- February 4, 2012: Thomas (13:52)
- February 3, 2012: Thomas (2:18)
- December 21, 2011: Wellsy (2:37)
- October 31, 2011: Thomas (17:32)
- October 1, 2011: Jimmy Cool (1:01)
- September 9, 2011: Steve Brogdon (0:17) <— Record time
- August 6, 2011: Thomas (2:26)
- July 9, 2011: Thomas (5:26)
- June 23, 2011: Fred Wolfe (0:18)
- June 22, 2011: Ty stumps the train (no winner)
My grandmother worked in the ticket booth of a theater for decades. I dedicate this series of movie posts to her, who would have turned 103 this year. I often remember her when I watch movies.
King Creole: Elvis Trivialities #15
Welcome to another exciting edition of Elvis Trivialities!
Your question is…
What name does Elvis Presley’s character first introduce himself as to Nellie (Dolores Hart) in the movie King Creole?
If you’re the first person to answer this question correctly in the comments below, you will take home a big batch of Southern Creole Bragging Rights.
Good luck!
My grandmother worked in the ticket booth of a theater for decades. I dedicate this series of movie posts to her, who would have turned 103 this year. I often remember her when I watch movies.
The Mystery Train 