Forrest looks at Both Sides Now: in and out of love

ForrestGump

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Sat Aug-19-06 01:26 PM
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Forrest looks at Both Sides Now: in and out of love

Most of us have probably been in love by now, or thought we were or were otherwise close enough to it, and most of us have probably been hurt by it at least once. Here're some Elvis songs from the late '60s and the '70s that I recently recorded (ostensibly for potential demo use, though the real reason is that I am enjoying the hell out of it and it's great vocal exercise) that relate to one or the other states...if you want to hear any of them, take your pick from whichever category you're feeling applies today... :D

And, if it's this first category that applies, I hope the second instead applies -- if not tomorrow -- some day soon, in the right time...

Love sucks:

Suppose (1967) MP3 - 4.47 MB; 3:10
Elvis must have really liked this beautifully melancholy song because there are tapes of him recording it at home in 1966, with just piano accompaniment, then he devoted an entire overdub session to that home-recorded track in March of 1967 (the results not released until the late '80s) before finally laying down two different versions of it in the studio for the Speedway soundtrack three months later...and then it was cut from the film!

Wearin' That Loved On Look (1969) MP3 - 3.90 MB; 2:46
Do You Know Who I Am? (1969) MP3 - 4.06 MB; 2:53
Only The Strong Survive (1969) MP3 - 3.80 MB; 2:41
Three from the legendary Memphis sessions that produced such hits as "In The Ghetto," "Suspicious Minds," "Kentucky Rain," and "Don't Cry, Daddy" and featured a ton of lesser-known gems that are certainly among my favorites. "Only The Strong Survive" was essentially my theme song through my 20s and it's come in handy since, too. Bootlegged outtakes of "Do You Know Who I Am?" reveal that Elvis had problems with the modulation halfway though the song...I figured I'd be okay with that, forewarned as I was by Elvis' experience and knowing the song in its entirety as he'd finally successfully recorded it, but -- wouldn't you know -- the thing tripped me up anyway.

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (1971) MP3 - 6.01 MB; 4:16
In the middle of May, 1971 sessions for a Christmas album, Elvis launched into a long jam on this Bob Dylan song. It was an informal studio jam that was not intended for recording, though 15 minutes or so were captured on tape and RCA edited part of that long version down to a few minutes for album release a couple of years later when they were desperate for new product from Elvis. Elvis routinely, right from the beginning of his career, engaged in long jams (up to a half hour on a single song, often -- as with this one -- repeating the same lyrics over and over, possibly because they're the only ones he recalled) in the studio just to work out the kinks, have fun, and loosen up vocally and otherwise. Indeed, on the unedited long version of this song you can hear Elvis approach the same repeated lyrics in a variety of different ways as if he was practicing his ballad voice, his rock voice, etc. Elvis was really on a folk kick in 1971 (he did two Gordon Lightfoot songs during an excellent session in March that was cut short when Elvis had to rushed to a doctor for an emergency procedure to save his sight from glaucoma) and is rumored to have recorded a lot of Bob Dylan songs (and others, including some Kris Kristoffersen songs other than the one that year that he actually recorded for release) during these sessions, probably as jams that weren't meant to be recorded. A few years back, his record company released a very short, a capella, between-takes snippet of Elvis singing "I Shall Be Released" that sure makes me hope the rumors are true.

If You Don't Come Back (1973) MP3 - 3.29 MB; 2:20
Find Out What's Happening (1973) MP3 - 4.17 MB; 2:57
Two Elvis did during a somewhat abortive session in Memphis' famed Stax studios. Partway through the multiday sessions, Elvis' session band (that included some of the more storied of Memphis' session men) changed lineup and the new guys were so in awe of Elvis that they found it hard to work. On top of this, Elvis was picking some odd and very eclectic material (including quite a bit of soul-influenced stuff -- he loved that music and showed up at the studios in a 'Superfly' outfit complete with broad-brimmed hat) and I think this might have been the session wherein Elvis demonstrated a gun disarm and sent a handgun flying across the studio and smashing into one of the guitarists' instrument. Elvis wrapped the sessions up early, without finishing all of the songs he'd picked out. "If You Don't Come Back" was the first song laid down, with Elvis decked out in full Superfly mode, and it's one that I've just always loved, with its funkitude and wahwah guitar -- I even used to often find myself humming it in a bass tone, over and over, while SCUBA diving.

Sweet Angeline (1973) MP3 - 3.55 MB; 3:13
I Miss You (1973) MP3 - 3.17 MB; 2:15
Recorded in Elvis' Palm Springs home in September, a few weeks after a month's gig in Vegas, "Sweet Angeline" was one of the songs for which the studio band recorded a track but to which Elvis did not add a vocal before he called the session quits (he usually recorded live with the band on every take, as was very much his preference even when later recording technology made separate recording of track and vocal desirable). He and one of his vocal backup groups laid vocals down in Elvis' home and he had his TCB concert band members join him for a session and a bit of a vacation to record, from scratch, two other ballads, one of which was "I Miss You." About three weeks later, Elvis and Priscilla walked out of a Santa Monica courtroom, hand in hand, with their divorce final.

Susan When She Tried (1975) MP3 - 3.44 MB; 2:26
Pieces Of My Life (1975) MP3 - 5.73 MB; 4:04
By March of 1975 Elvis hadn't been in a studio to record for 15 months and RCA was desperate for new product. The norm for the early '70s was for Elvis to do marathon sessions that lasted several hours a day for several days and provided enough material for three albums and some singles, but somewhere along the way he got burned out on studio work and just stopped recording, putting all of his energy toward touring. After a lengthy stay in a Memphis hospital (he referred to it during the Vegas appearance that followed this Hollywood session by a few days), Elvis went in to record exactly enough material for one album. He was in great form and, unlike his last public appearances in 1974, seemed very upbeat even though he was heavier than he'd ever been. The recordings from this session (including a great between-takes jam on "Tiger Man" that surfaced a few years ago) were of uniformly high standard. Brian Wilson visited Elvis in the studio during these sessions and Elvis stayed on after the recording was over to rehearse for a new Vegas repertoire. "Pieces Of My Life" could almost be a theme song for Elvis -- it's pretty biographical -- though, really, it probably applies to a lot of us at one point or another. I found it difficult to stick to the lyrics of "Susan When She Tried" because I got Elvis' (outtake) singing "I took it hard with Peggy Fleming" stuck in my head...at least it wasn't an X-rated word substitution on his part like the several that consistently throw me off on certain other songs. :o

Never Again (1976) MP3 - 4.23 MB; 3:00
Elvis' February, 1976 sessions from the Jungle Room in Graceland included a preponderance of songs that were pretty much 'downers' -- heavy depressions blues -- and this is a good example of one of them: "a heart that don't care don't get broken." The session had a definite theme, unintentional as it was. The sessions also yielded the hit "Moody Blue" and "Hurt," as well as the more upbeat-sounding "For The Heart," and Elvis recorded in the Jungle Room again (including the single, "Way Down") at the end of October, his last session ever.

Love is the best there is:

And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind (1969) MP3 - 4.61 MB; 3:16
Power Of My Love (1969) MP3 - 3.81 MB; 2:42
Two more from the 1969 Memphis sessions. "And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind" was a new song from Neil Diamond -- in fact, I think he hadn't recorded it yet (Neil was recording his Memphis album, that included "Sweet Caroline" and "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show," during the day while Elvis was recording his material at night) -- and I really think Neil knocked that one out of the park in terms of a contemporary romantic song. Very nice and evocative hippie-sensibility love tune, methinks, and Elvis nailed it with a very tender treatment. It sure feels like love to me. "Power Of My Love" is its slightly more direct blues counterpart, with a more blatant and overpowering sexual edge (not least as a result of Elvis snickering after he sings "no, baby, you can't lick it"). I don't know about love: this one feels like pure sex, to me, and not the delicate kind...

Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming (1973) MP3 - 3.70 MB; 2:37
Spanish Eyes (1973) MP3 - 3.36 MB; 2:23

For some reason, my track for "Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming" is missing all backing vocals, which is okay because I kinda like most of the 'raw' tracks I've heard from Elvis (most bootlegged), the basic tracks as recorded in the studio before they overdubbed strings, horns, and additional voices. I like this song, which is an obscure one, recorded right after the dynamic "Promised Land," from excellent sessions in Stax studio in December of 1973. These sessions were in marked contrast to the July ones, and produced some truly excellent songs, many of them among the lesser-known in Elvis' catalog. Part of the key to the sessions' success may have been that Elvis used the nucleus of his concert band as his house band on this one. And I recorded "Spanish Eyes" for the same reason Elvis threw it in, because it kinda got in my head and has a nice melody (he was a sucker for Spanish-influenced music, just as he was for Spanish-influenced fashions). It was tough not to throw in "say you and those Spanish guys will wait for me," as Elvis did on a bootlegged home recording.

I Can Help (1975) MP3 - 5.94 MB; 4:13
Another from the March Hollywood sessions. Songwriter Billy Swan, who had a hit with this in 1974, used to be a gate guard at Graceland. I believe that, like Don McLean (when Elvis recorded his "And I Love You So" at these very same sessions), Billy Swan asked for and received an article of clothing worn by Elvis while recording his song. He probably didn't mind the royalties, either. I always liked the patented 'Elvis-style' ending on this one. :-)