A Smokey Robinson cover that Elvis and The (feeling somewhat unwanted) Attractions dashed off in an attempt to warm up at the King of America sessions. Elvis thought their performance lacklustre (he was right but he was also the cause) and no one comes out of it very well. the original's much better. In a radio interview Pete described going up to EC's hotel room during the sessions and seeing poster sized blow ups of the KOA cover shoot, featuring Elvis with crown and sceptre, draped all over the place: 'I thought 'that's it, he's finally cracked!'. While Bruce met someone at the hotel who said he was with Elvis, 'What do you do?' Bruce asked. 'I'm the bass player' came the reply. Must've been fun really...and you can sure hear it on this track.
Next: Everybody Cryin' Mercy
Incredible new, exciting game!!
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Mr. Misery
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LJ, I knew you loved 'Hidden Charms' as I do, and can easily imagine the appeal for Thurber too, how he must dance! Hope your fever subsides and you are feeling better soon.
Paul B, You are very precise about the background to the recording of 'Head to Toe.' The Attractions were treated as hired musicians on King of Americaand hardly used at all, they only appeared on 'Suit of Lights.' Though relations were strained I can't detect it on the recording of 'Head to Toe.' I really enjoy the exuberant pop feel of that track, with Elvis sounding all innocence and charm. However, I confess I've never heard the Smokey Robinson version.
The song at hand is 'Everybody's Crying Mercy,' a Mose Allison cover on Kojak Variety. The absurdity and hypocrisy and callousness of people's behavior during wartime is witheringly described by means of counterpoint: "Everybody's crying mercy when they don't know the meaning of the word"; "Everybody's crying justice just as [justice!] long as there's business first"; "Everybody's crying peace on earth just as soon as we win this war."
It is a timely song of course but I find it too easy and self-righteous. The implication is that the singer understands perfectly the concepts of mercy, justice, and peace on earth while others exploit death for their own selfish ends. Oh Mose Allison, I know this world is killing you! Oh Mose blue! Elvis does his usual phenomenal job of singing this on the record and in concert and makes me forget my objections to it.
Final comment: the guitar work of Marc Ribot is not to my taste. In this song he meanders up the fretboard searching unsuccessfully for a note in the agreed upon key. Avant-garde can be a synonym for incompetent.
Payday
Paul B, You are very precise about the background to the recording of 'Head to Toe.' The Attractions were treated as hired musicians on King of Americaand hardly used at all, they only appeared on 'Suit of Lights.' Though relations were strained I can't detect it on the recording of 'Head to Toe.' I really enjoy the exuberant pop feel of that track, with Elvis sounding all innocence and charm. However, I confess I've never heard the Smokey Robinson version.
The song at hand is 'Everybody's Crying Mercy,' a Mose Allison cover on Kojak Variety. The absurdity and hypocrisy and callousness of people's behavior during wartime is witheringly described by means of counterpoint: "Everybody's crying mercy when they don't know the meaning of the word"; "Everybody's crying justice just as [justice!] long as there's business first"; "Everybody's crying peace on earth just as soon as we win this war."
It is a timely song of course but I find it too easy and self-righteous. The implication is that the singer understands perfectly the concepts of mercy, justice, and peace on earth while others exploit death for their own selfish ends. Oh Mose Allison, I know this world is killing you! Oh Mose blue! Elvis does his usual phenomenal job of singing this on the record and in concert and makes me forget my objections to it.
Final comment: the guitar work of Marc Ribot is not to my taste. In this song he meanders up the fretboard searching unsuccessfully for a note in the agreed upon key. Avant-garde can be a synonym for incompetent.
Payday
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laughingcrow
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lapinsjolis
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Word Mr. Misery! Self-righteousness in any guise is hard to stomach but Elvis makes it sound great.
Payday-A Jesse Winchester cover that Elvis says in the liner notes was recorded because of these lines (which he noticeably sings with relish):
"I've got me this long legged girl to help me spend my dough
Her heart is as big as your mama's stove and her body like Brigitte Bardot."
A song that is about the joy of getting money after a long financial drought and true, simple pleasures with a few vices mixed in. As far as I know (and that's shockingly little) the song has no other purpose but bluesy fun. He told Mr. Ribot to play as if he was passing night clubs and listening to the music. He did that alright!
Abandon Words
Payday-A Jesse Winchester cover that Elvis says in the liner notes was recorded because of these lines (which he noticeably sings with relish):
"I've got me this long legged girl to help me spend my dough
Her heart is as big as your mama's stove and her body like Brigitte Bardot."
A song that is about the joy of getting money after a long financial drought and true, simple pleasures with a few vices mixed in. As far as I know (and that's shockingly little) the song has no other purpose but bluesy fun. He told Mr. Ribot to play as if he was passing night clubs and listening to the music. He did that alright!
Abandon Words
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
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Mr. Misery
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Thank you so much for your support, LJ! 
A bonus track from the Brutal Youth sessions that operates ironically and by negation: by abandoning words, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs "you will lose the sense and the meaning" of life. The list expands to include abandoning almost everything, good and bad, and it seems a caustic put down of the temptation to give up.
But EC adds in the liner notes: "...the title accurately reflected my more drastic moods and intentions." It would be an enormous loss for music and literature if he ever abandoned words.
Favourite Hour
A bonus track from the Brutal Youth sessions that operates ironically and by negation: by abandoning words, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs "you will lose the sense and the meaning" of life. The list expands to include abandoning almost everything, good and bad, and it seems a caustic put down of the temptation to give up.
But EC adds in the liner notes: "...the title accurately reflected my more drastic moods and intentions." It would be an enormous loss for music and literature if he ever abandoned words.
Favourite Hour
Hi Mis, you're right about Head to Toe, it is fun, think I was too swayed by what Elvis said. However, I honestly don't think Mose is self righteous. He manages to detach himself from the everyday of our lives and look at the larger picture, not arrogantly or ideologically but with amused sadness. I'd gladly recomend 2 LPs (and often do!) if you've not got any of his stuff and are curious: I've Been Doin' Some Thinking and Ever Since the World Ended. Worth their weight - nuff said. 'Cept that Mercy is an uncoverable song, it's impertinent to even try! Nonetheless EC's version, live on the MLAR tour, sent me off on a Mose trail that's enriched my life ever since, no kidding. He's 75 now and still plays jazz clubs all over, see him if you can. OK...
Favourite Hour
Continues on from the Capital Punishment theme of Let 'Em Dangle, but here guilt or innocence and the baying of the crowd aren't considered - just sadness at the 'tragic waste of brutal youth', the last moments before death is given. The lyrics speak for themselves, can't add anything 'cept that Elvis was entirely right to abandon the band version on the bonus disc and frame the words solely with his own piano playing.
The gig ending rendition at the Albert Hall BY concerts was very powerful, Steve accompanying on the vast ancient 'cathedral' organ. Also caught a very moving version with the Brodskys at Meltown festival just before he recorded WIWC. The quartet really know their way around Elvis's voice and delivery now - just as Steve does. Their collaboration has come on so much since the Juliet Letters, be great if they found occassion to record again.
Do You Know What I'm Saying
Favourite Hour
Continues on from the Capital Punishment theme of Let 'Em Dangle, but here guilt or innocence and the baying of the crowd aren't considered - just sadness at the 'tragic waste of brutal youth', the last moments before death is given. The lyrics speak for themselves, can't add anything 'cept that Elvis was entirely right to abandon the band version on the bonus disc and frame the words solely with his own piano playing.
The gig ending rendition at the Albert Hall BY concerts was very powerful, Steve accompanying on the vast ancient 'cathedral' organ. Also caught a very moving version with the Brodskys at Meltown festival just before he recorded WIWC. The quartet really know their way around Elvis's voice and delivery now - just as Steve does. Their collaboration has come on so much since the Juliet Letters, be great if they found occassion to record again.
Do You Know What I'm Saying
Last edited by Paul B on Mon Feb 09, 2004 7:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Are you sure? Cause Elvis is actually quite a big Springsteen fan.laughingcrow wrote:Re: The Springsteen connection - yeah I agree with Verb, it says similar stuff on the Girls!Girls!Girls! liner notes about thinking BS was pretentious.
This morning you've got time for a hot, home-cooked breakfast! Delicious and piping hot in only 3 microwave minutes.
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laughingcrow
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The exact quote is...
I guess that you don't really have to like the person to like the music...Sting seems to be a case in point.
I don't know why I know this is about Bruce S, hearsay I suppose...maybe it's not.Temptation: This started out as a holier-than-thou snipe at a VERY FAMOUS ROCK STAR, who I imagined was breathing his own artificial atmosphere. However by the time we came to record it I'd had a good lungful of the same poison, but had also located that slippery addictive feeling that you get just before giving in to something wicked. It proved to be the saving of the song, together with a few pints of beer and a riff borrowed from Booker T and the M.G's.
I guess that you don't really have to like the person to like the music...Sting seems to be a case in point.
I wouldn't go so far as to equate Elvis' thoughts on Springsteen with Elvis' thoughts on Sting.
Before the recent mysteries occured, Elvis made quite clear his lack of interest in Sting and his music, while placing four Springsteen titles in his 500 Albums You Need article.
Meanwhile, he has shared the stage with Springsteen on several occasion, and has praised him in interviews, not to mention covered at least a few of his songs.
Perhaps early in his career, Elvis was jealous of the popularity Springsteen was experiencing. After all, Elvis broke at a time when Springsteen was one of the biggest rock stars around. He obviously realized quickly that Springsteen played for the same team as Elvis.
You never really know with Elvis, I guess. Take the Ray Charles incident for example. He's a big Ray Charles fan, yet the booze obviously made him forget it.
Before the recent mysteries occured, Elvis made quite clear his lack of interest in Sting and his music, while placing four Springsteen titles in his 500 Albums You Need article.
Meanwhile, he has shared the stage with Springsteen on several occasion, and has praised him in interviews, not to mention covered at least a few of his songs.
Perhaps early in his career, Elvis was jealous of the popularity Springsteen was experiencing. After all, Elvis broke at a time when Springsteen was one of the biggest rock stars around. He obviously realized quickly that Springsteen played for the same team as Elvis.
You never really know with Elvis, I guess. Take the Ray Charles incident for example. He's a big Ray Charles fan, yet the booze obviously made him forget it.
This morning you've got time for a hot, home-cooked breakfast! Delicious and piping hot in only 3 microwave minutes.
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DrSpooky
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Every stupid comment can't be blamed on booze. Stone cold sober people say and do stupid things every day. It is also not unusual for a tee-totaller to say something they shouldn't have. Some of the stupidest, most arrogant things I have ever heard have been said by people who portray themselves to be quite holy.
In general, people speak too often before thinking and it has nothing to do with alcohol.
In general, people speak too often before thinking and it has nothing to do with alcohol.
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bambooneedle
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Well, since I'm on the 'net, and in answer to my own question, I just tried to find out what the Springsteen connection with Temptation was... During the taping of VH1's Storytellers (05/29/96), EC revealed that he wrote Temptation about Bruce Springsteen after seeing him "at the Nashville enormodome" in 1978.
And in the EC/SN show at the Showbox Theatre, EC introduced Temptation like this:
"It's really hard to fall in love with someone from row 98.....This here song is a song I wrote in 1978 in Nashville, TN, I was in row 97 actually, at a concert by a very famous American rock singer, and I was looking at him and thinking, ' Wow, this is getting tough for this guy'. I know he's real, but it's getting like he's not allowed to be real anymore. I said, 'That'll never happen to me. Fame will never go to my head."
And to think that that was BEFORE (the huge popularity of) Born In The USA... yet, in between 1978 and BITUSA there were 2 BS albums which EC has acknowledged the brilliance of: The River and Nebraska.
In another instance, I recall EC saying that he disliked "stadium beats", which struck me as a similar kind of comment though not directed at any band in particular, and kind of pinpointed a crucial difference generally in The Attractions' sound.
And in the EC/SN show at the Showbox Theatre, EC introduced Temptation like this:
"It's really hard to fall in love with someone from row 98.....This here song is a song I wrote in 1978 in Nashville, TN, I was in row 97 actually, at a concert by a very famous American rock singer, and I was looking at him and thinking, ' Wow, this is getting tough for this guy'. I know he's real, but it's getting like he's not allowed to be real anymore. I said, 'That'll never happen to me. Fame will never go to my head."
And to think that that was BEFORE (the huge popularity of) Born In The USA... yet, in between 1978 and BITUSA there were 2 BS albums which EC has acknowledged the brilliance of: The River and Nebraska.
In another instance, I recall EC saying that he disliked "stadium beats", which struck me as a similar kind of comment though not directed at any band in particular, and kind of pinpointed a crucial difference generally in The Attractions' sound.
Spot on Bamboo. As well, when Elvis began to revive the song Temptation for the first C&N shows he spoke on stage (as on the C&N boxed set) that his feelings about the song had changed and that Steve's new arrangement reflected that, now he was on the otherside of his own 15 minutes: the arrogance he sometimes harboured then, the struggles against the temptations of fame (see also Watch Your Step) and the years of fallout from it (see also Brilliant Mistake). Temptation's a good example of a song he still performs passionately but relates to differently now.
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laughingcrow
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Mr. Misery
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EC's evaluation did change dramatically over the years. In a very early interview he opined that Springsteen was "always romanticizing the streets" and was a "lousy lyricist." But he was mesmerized by a concert experience, and came to value the music, saying that both were "something that I could learn from." High praise from, to my mind, the greatest songwriter and performer.
'Favourite Hour' at the Albert Hall must have been memorable. I've never heard him do it in concert, on the Brutal Youth tour show he did every other song from the album. The liner notes to the reissue reveal that he regards it as one of his finest songs.
'Do You Know What I'm Saying'
Culled from an album's worth of material he and Cait unexpectedly wrote for Wendy James ("It was a fun way to spend a weekend"). The arc of the story was "a classic tale of ruthless ambition, betrayal, thwarted desires, manipulation, deceit, and eventual triumph."
The song is a scathing portrait of show business, where the dim and mediocre seek fame by any means necessary. An aging pop princess is on her way out, soon to be replaced by a vulgar young lout.
"The lights they were dimmed, the music by Strauss
She entered on roller-skates fetchingly tousled...
She took off her clothes and it brought down the house."
The entrance reminds me of Olivia Newton John in Xanadu, only there the music was by ELO and her costume did not malfunction. The superstars in the song produce only shock value and nastiness but are applauded by those who "let their critical function wilt/ Under the weight of their liberal guilt." It is a very cutting portrait of popular culture.
Expert Rites
'Favourite Hour' at the Albert Hall must have been memorable. I've never heard him do it in concert, on the Brutal Youth tour show he did every other song from the album. The liner notes to the reissue reveal that he regards it as one of his finest songs.
'Do You Know What I'm Saying'
Culled from an album's worth of material he and Cait unexpectedly wrote for Wendy James ("It was a fun way to spend a weekend"). The arc of the story was "a classic tale of ruthless ambition, betrayal, thwarted desires, manipulation, deceit, and eventual triumph."
The song is a scathing portrait of show business, where the dim and mediocre seek fame by any means necessary. An aging pop princess is on her way out, soon to be replaced by a vulgar young lout.
"The lights they were dimmed, the music by Strauss
She entered on roller-skates fetchingly tousled...
She took off her clothes and it brought down the house."
The entrance reminds me of Olivia Newton John in Xanadu, only there the music was by ELO and her costume did not malfunction. The superstars in the song produce only shock value and nastiness but are applauded by those who "let their critical function wilt/ Under the weight of their liberal guilt." It is a very cutting portrait of popular culture.
Expert Rites
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verbal gymnastics
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From Head To Toe
Unless I've got it only half right and the Attractions also used it at the KOA sessions.
Sorry to go back to this but From Head to Toe was released in 1982. EC&TA's used to play it live on the Imperial Bedroom tour. Mind you, it was lacklustre and it's only notable because of the Attractions' backing vocals! There were a few more tours after IB.Paul B wrote:A Smokey Robinson cover that Elvis and The (feeling somewhat unwanted) Attractions dashed off in an attempt to warm up at the King of America sessions. Elvis thought their performance lacklustre (he was right but he was also the cause) and no one comes out of it very well. the original's much better.
Unless I've got it only half right and the Attractions also used it at the KOA sessions.
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
Agreed Mr Mis, it's a very cutting portrait, as are many of the Wendy James songs. They're also pricelessly funny. Elvis with his guard down, having fun, being more directly candid about the music biz than he'd choose to in his own work. The LP's bitter and comic portrait of an aspiring music star getting manipulated and spat out reflects The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, with Clash references abounding both musically and lyrically.
The redemption you mention at the end has its hilariously tongue in cheek moments, taking an equivalent place to Ziggy's finale of Rock'n'Roll Suicde while sarcastically updating Stand By Me to our era of impending ecological disaster: 'Til the mountains tumble into the sea / And that's not as unlikely as it used to be'. Sure the LP's production is dodgy in places (although The Nameless One is gloriously dark). Nevertheless, the great conceit of having Wendy James sing what's virtually a rock opera about the salutory experiences of a pop tart puppet girl is superbly cherishable.
Do You Know What I'm Saying has some great lines in addition to the ones you quote. I especially like the image of the brutish boy in the band (I took it to be that but I can't remeber why) 'blowing his lines with his cheeks sucked in'. Sucking your cheeks in used to be obligatory on pop photo shoots, to get that all important Bowie bone structure - though of course doing lines of cocaine is another way to look gaunt. That lyric carries a lovely double sense too, perhaps implying that he's also mucking up whatever it is he's supposed to say.
Anyroad... Expert Rites - what the hell is that! I can see I'm gonna have to brush up on my obscure Elvis songs - perhaps you can enlighten?
The redemption you mention at the end has its hilariously tongue in cheek moments, taking an equivalent place to Ziggy's finale of Rock'n'Roll Suicde while sarcastically updating Stand By Me to our era of impending ecological disaster: 'Til the mountains tumble into the sea / And that's not as unlikely as it used to be'. Sure the LP's production is dodgy in places (although The Nameless One is gloriously dark). Nevertheless, the great conceit of having Wendy James sing what's virtually a rock opera about the salutory experiences of a pop tart puppet girl is superbly cherishable.
Do You Know What I'm Saying has some great lines in addition to the ones you quote. I especially like the image of the brutish boy in the band (I took it to be that but I can't remeber why) 'blowing his lines with his cheeks sucked in'. Sucking your cheeks in used to be obligatory on pop photo shoots, to get that all important Bowie bone structure - though of course doing lines of cocaine is another way to look gaunt. That lyric carries a lovely double sense too, perhaps implying that he's also mucking up whatever it is he's supposed to say.
Anyroad... Expert Rites - what the hell is that! I can see I'm gonna have to brush up on my obscure Elvis songs - perhaps you can enlighten?
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lapinsjolis
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If I may be so bold to answer your question Paul B. 'Expert Rites' is from 'The Juliet Letters' it's a beautiful song. Elvis uses the voice of the Professor whose correspondence inspired the concept of 'The Juliet Letters'. Impassioned singing is wrapped in a melodious and dramatic arrangement. It's addressed to someone thwarted in love perhaps more by circumstance rather than emotion. The narrator sympathetically soothes the bereaved by acknowledging and celebrating the the commonality of heartbreak.
The lyrics are so worthy of it's subject and love is indeed something to marvel at in this 'soulless age'.
From a Whisper To A Scream
The lyrics are so worthy of it's subject and love is indeed something to marvel at in this 'soulless age'.
From a Whisper To A Scream
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
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Mr. Misery
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LJ, you described and summed up 'Expert Rites' perfectly, it is one of my favorite overlooked EC masterpieces. I too love the impassioned operatic singing and the theme you elucidated so well.
Paul B, I like a Mose Allison song with the memorable line "Your mind is on vacation but your mouth is working overtime." EC covered that on the rare Live on Broadway disc included with select copies of King of America.
'From A Whisper To A Scream.' A duet with Glen Tilbrook of Squeeze, the contrast of their voices is striking and creates a pleasing balance. (There is a similar effect in the McCartney/MacManus duet 'You Love Her Too.') The arrangement is straight ahead rock, energetic and enjoyable, and it was released as a single.
The song itself could have been called 'Publand' as it treats the temptation of seduction ("I heard someone say where have we met before"), role playing ("Walking around looking like a figment of somebody else's imagination"), and waiting ("The power of persuasion is no match for anticipation") all fueled and bolstered by alcohol. The tawdriness of the singles bar scene in the lyrics is balanced by the animal joy of the music, much as Costello and Tilbrook's distinctive voices create a balance.
Big Sister's Clothes
Paul B, I like a Mose Allison song with the memorable line "Your mind is on vacation but your mouth is working overtime." EC covered that on the rare Live on Broadway disc included with select copies of King of America.
'From A Whisper To A Scream.' A duet with Glen Tilbrook of Squeeze, the contrast of their voices is striking and creates a pleasing balance. (There is a similar effect in the McCartney/MacManus duet 'You Love Her Too.') The arrangement is straight ahead rock, energetic and enjoyable, and it was released as a single.
The song itself could have been called 'Publand' as it treats the temptation of seduction ("I heard someone say where have we met before"), role playing ("Walking around looking like a figment of somebody else's imagination"), and waiting ("The power of persuasion is no match for anticipation") all fueled and bolstered by alcohol. The tawdriness of the singles bar scene in the lyrics is balanced by the animal joy of the music, much as Costello and Tilbrook's distinctive voices create a balance.
Big Sister's Clothes
Yep, Your Mind is On Vaction is another great Mose song. Where's that Macca / McManus duet from, don't know that one, sounds intriguing, is it on Paul's LP or a bootleg?
There's such a plethora of puns in Big Sisters Clothes (strangleholds, kid gloves, saucers, dishes etc) it's dizzy making. There's several versions as well aren't there, with lyric differences. Wow, uh, I look forward to someone's go at it!
There's such a plethora of puns in Big Sisters Clothes (strangleholds, kid gloves, saucers, dishes etc) it's dizzy making. There's several versions as well aren't there, with lyric differences. Wow, uh, I look forward to someone's go at it!
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Mr. Misery
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lapinsjolis
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It's reworking of the more blatant 'Big Sister' a play on the 'Big Brother' of Mr. Orwell. He takes Thatcher down a notch in 'Big Sister's Clothes' by not giving her the dubious honor of being in complete control. She hides behind her skirt so to speak and it manipulated as much as she is manipulated. She's a woman but he strips away any illusion that her femininity gives her the stereotypical qualities of compassion and nurturing.
Far from being dated I always take it as a romantic tyranny of a woman over her head in a child like seduction-proving you really can put your own thoughts to any lyric I guess!
I love the creepy intro. A great one from my favorite record.
Fallen
Far from being dated I always take it as a romantic tyranny of a woman over her head in a child like seduction-proving you really can put your own thoughts to any lyric I guess!
I love the creepy intro. A great one from my favorite record.
Fallen
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
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Mr. Misery
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The title suggests the season Fall, a fallen state, falling out of love, falling in love again. The music is pianissimo until the orchestra swells unexpectedly suggesting new hope at the darkest moment, and his voice is rich and autumnal throughout.
The lyrics are poetically charged. The leaves like his love were something alive and beautiful that have died and fallen. He is laden with regret at his loss: "I trampled through the amber and the burnished gold." But instead of crying he laughs at his own folly, and looks toward the future. The return of the quiet piano suggests a new cycle has begun: "There I go beginning to fall."
My description is inadequate to the effect this song has on me. It brings tears of sadness and joy to my eyes.
God Give Me Strength
The lyrics are poetically charged. The leaves like his love were something alive and beautiful that have died and fallen. He is laden with regret at his loss: "I trampled through the amber and the burnished gold." But instead of crying he laughs at his own folly, and looks toward the future. The return of the quiet piano suggests a new cycle has begun: "There I go beginning to fall."
My description is inadequate to the effect this song has on me. It brings tears of sadness and joy to my eyes.
God Give Me Strength
God Give Me Strength is just a classic. Written for the movie Grace of My Heart and intended to evoke the Brill Building era songwriting of the period, including Bacharach's own earlier work. Apparently it was the filmmaker Alison Anders' inspired idea to bring Costello and Bacarach together, along with other artists she commissioned, like Dinosaur Jnr, to give the film an updated retro atmosphere.
I first heard it when Elvis played it live and solo on the Brutal Youth tour, regailing us with how it was written via his and Burt's fax machines. It struck me then and more so with their recording of it, the melancholy notes on the french horn on the intro, leading us to a story of the moment of sorrow and realisation that a love is gone. The singer is 'weak and awake', prey to all those fears, now come true, of being left alone, his grip on himself strong but 'might still break'. The song beautifully paints the regret and realisation that it's over, that his one chance at happiness is an enemy in his life now. The situation relates to work like Still Too Soon to Know or even I Want You, when the Elvis dramatcially sings of how he wants her new man to hurt.
'Fraid to say that God give Me Strength, having set the bar so high, made the Painted from Memory LP a slight let down for me. Their collaboration had alreaded moved on and developed (they recognised it had little place on the LP by putting it last, literally as a bonus track). While the LP is very good indeed, Elvis does get a little too carried away with his vocal performance at times, reaching for too much 'feel' into the songs. Somehow it doesn't quite amount to the drama of that first hit for me.
I think EC also recognised that the songs grew on him, in some cases they came out even better live, hence the cherishable bonus CD of concert versions. For my money the best recorded version of God Give Me Strength is on the televised Burt brithday tribute concert (see it if you can) where Elvis really inhabits the song as he does at his best when playing live.
BLUE CHAIR
I first heard it when Elvis played it live and solo on the Brutal Youth tour, regailing us with how it was written via his and Burt's fax machines. It struck me then and more so with their recording of it, the melancholy notes on the french horn on the intro, leading us to a story of the moment of sorrow and realisation that a love is gone. The singer is 'weak and awake', prey to all those fears, now come true, of being left alone, his grip on himself strong but 'might still break'. The song beautifully paints the regret and realisation that it's over, that his one chance at happiness is an enemy in his life now. The situation relates to work like Still Too Soon to Know or even I Want You, when the Elvis dramatcially sings of how he wants her new man to hurt.
'Fraid to say that God give Me Strength, having set the bar so high, made the Painted from Memory LP a slight let down for me. Their collaboration had alreaded moved on and developed (they recognised it had little place on the LP by putting it last, literally as a bonus track). While the LP is very good indeed, Elvis does get a little too carried away with his vocal performance at times, reaching for too much 'feel' into the songs. Somehow it doesn't quite amount to the drama of that first hit for me.
I think EC also recognised that the songs grew on him, in some cases they came out even better live, hence the cherishable bonus CD of concert versions. For my money the best recorded version of God Give Me Strength is on the televised Burt brithday tribute concert (see it if you can) where Elvis really inhabits the song as he does at his best when playing live.
BLUE CHAIR