Elvis gets it wrong - an exercise in sacrilege!

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:15 am

My top ten songs that I wish he hadn't bothered with.....mind you, you can't get it right every time I guess.

1. Broken (God damn awwwful)

2. Days (Admired his effort in doing something different with it...but it was best left alone)

3. This Offer is Unrepeatable (funny the first time...quickly tired of it)

4. Why Can't a Man Stand Alone (a great song, but he hasn't got the voice for it)

5. Drunken Man's Praise Of Sobriety (interesting but hardly worth returning to).

6. Eisenhower Blues (what was the point in this boring self-indulgent bluesy dirge? Doesn't belong on such a great great album)

7. Chewing Gum (lost it's flavour v.v quickly for me)

8. Pads, Paws and Claws (Like most of his McCartney moments...I just never liked it)

9. Sour Milk Cow Blues (some of his worst lyrics)

10. Swine (arrrghhhhhhh!!....embarrassing).

Let the beating of the Monkster commence!!!

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:45 am

Chewing Gum (lost it's flavour v.v quickly for me)

Funnily enough 'Gum popped up in a random mix I was playing last evening , first time I'd heard it loud in years.........and I loved it! Elvis' high-pitched voice is a glorious pastiche of His Purpleness . The filthy guitar line makes it definitely a recording just begging for a great big euro disc disc, white label , out of a my head ona 5.15 treatment . #

Er...Bangin'!!!!!

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:48 am

I'd agree with most of those, but I think that "Why Can't a Man..." is a terrrific song, even if he can't quite carry it off. I really dig The Costello/Nieve box set version as well.

"Chewing Gum" is just a bit of dumb fun and was amusing when he did it a few years ago at the Beacon, with horns.

The rest are fairly forgettable and a few, such as "Broken", are downright awful. Good list though.

What about "Seven Day Weekend"?

pophead2k · Post by **pophead2k** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:30 am

1. Broken - More boring than anything else

2. Days - I'm one of the few fans of this cover, but I think it had to do with the fact that I first heard it on the Until the End of the World soundtrack, and it somehow just fits in that atmosphere.

3. This Offer is Unrepeatable - Ditto. Skip this one a lot.

4. Why Can't a Man Stand Alone - absolutely adore this one.

5. Drunken Man's Praise Of Sobriety - Ditto.

6. Eisenhower Blues - total agreement on this one. I think releasing this had more to do with who he had in the room playing with him on this (Palmer and Brown).

7. Chewing Gum - my least favorite Spike song initially, but I have warmed up to it considerably, mostly due to the Dirty Dozen's horns.

8. Pads, Paws and Claws- I like the acoustic version, but am not crazy about the 'official' take.

9. Sour Milk Cow Blues - total blah.

10. Swine - Least favorite on TJL

DeathWearsABigHat · Post by **DeathWearsABigHat** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:31 am

Broken is not a very Elvis-like song but I still like it. (there's always one isn't there).
I'd like to hear someone like Sinead O'Connor do that song, I think it'd be great.

songs I could live without.........

1. 20% Amnesia
2. Georgie & her Rival
3. The Delivery Man
4. Walking on Thin Ice.
5. Days

Those are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head which is pretty good going for someone woh's made as many records as Elvis.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:33 am

DeathWearsABigHat wrote:4. Walking on Thin Ice

Hmm, I've always liked that one.

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:41 am

That's funny - "Thin Ice" is the only one on Big Hat's list that I agree with. I quite like all the others.

I mostly agree with Jackson's orignal list with the exception of "Why Can't a Man Stand Alone" -

also agree about "7 Day Weekend"

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:42 am

I love 'Why Can't a Man...' as a song, but I think he stretches his voice too much on the chorus and sounds quite flat on the middle eight. It's the recording and not the song.

Post by **BlueChair** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 11:36 am

I don't think it's fair to include "Drunken Man's Praise Of Sobriety" since it wasn't actually on the BY album. You can't expect all bonus songs that were shelved originally to be superb - it's more an interesting slice of history than anything.

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 2:08 pm

well i never said there had to be rules (God knows there appears to be enough of those on other threads!).

I was just having a bit of fun listing the ten EC recordings I could live without.

Hank · Post by **Hank** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:57 pm

You know, none of those songs are my favorites by any stretch of the imagination... and I'm sure we could easily come up with at least 10 more bad Elvis songs if we so desired...

But I dunno, I still kinda dig these:

Why Can't a Man Stand Alone
Chewing Gum
Pads, Paws and Claws

Far from essential, not a whole lot of replay value... But I'm still glad he recorded them.

P.S. I would like to submit, for your approval, 'Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)'

pophead2k · Post by **pophead2k** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 4:47 pm

Initially, I didn't like Hurry Down, but after hearing it live with the Rude 5, I gave it another chance and it has become a favorite. Incidentally, everyone points to 'How to be Dumb' as ECs big putdown of Bruce Thomas, but Hurry Down Doomsday is far more scathing to my ears.

King Hoarse · Post by **King Hoarse** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 6:01 pm

My bottom ten, starting with three great songs slaughtered by overemoting (1) and overproduction (2, 3):

1. Dark End Of The Street (Clarksdale version)
2. Days
3. I Wanna Be Loved
4. The Long Division
5. Why? (I hate the last line even more than the last line in Swine)
6. Love Went Mad
7. The Stamping Ground
8. Playboy To A Man
9. Sweet Pear (like Dark End, should've been sung in a lower register/key)
10. When Green Eyes Turn Blue (zzzzzz...)

#10 represents a bunch of songs about the colour blue that leave me cold, most of which are covers, eg. Brown To Blue, Colour Of The Blues and in the broader sense, Eisenhower Blues, which is already well spoken for. (Almost and Upon A Veil are great though!)

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 6:40 pm

"It's Time" is a bit of a stinker IMO. And about 3 minutes too long.

alexv · Post by **alexv** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:56 pm

Swine, Why Can't a Man, Days are all on my list. I would add:

20% Amnesia (the screaming bothers me)
Tokyo Storm Warning (endless and tuneless)
Playboy to a Man (screaming again)
Let Him Dangle
The Delivery Man (boring)
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (rivals Days for worst cover)

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:58 pm

alexv wrote: Let Him Dangle

Aww, man! Why you gotta be a hata?

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:05 pm

Some of my least favourite EC songs :
Miss Macbeth (I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet)
Why Can't A Man Stand Alone
What's Her Name Today ?
King Of Thieves
Button My Lip

Fishfinger king · Post by **Fishfinger king** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:12 pm

I like:
Button my lip
What's her name today?
Playboy to a man
Let him dangle
Tokyo storm warning
It's time
Walking on thin ice

Broken and Days are spot on as the dregs.
But no-one has mentioned my absolute least favourite: The Stamping Ground

King Hoarse · Post by **King Hoarse** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:45 pm

The tune to Stamping Ground is incredibly annoying; I forgot about that one. Edited!

wardo68 · Post by **wardo68** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 11:47 pm

Who Shot Sam? wrote:"It's Time" is a bit of a stinker IMO. And about 3 minutes too long.

I enjoyed that one the first few listens, but yeah, it wore out its welcome pretty quickly (making the lyrics of the song almost, well, fitting). The solo acoustic version he did the summer of 95 while opening up for Dylan was better; unfortunately the overproduced demo on the reissue doesn't cut it.

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 3:44 am

alexv wrote:Swine, Why Can't a Man, Days are all on my list. I would add:

20% Amnesia (the screaming bothers me)
Tokyo Storm Warning (endless and tuneless)
Playboy to a Man (screaming again)
Let Him Dangle
The Delivery Man (boring)
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (rivals Days for worst cover)

We have similar tastes alex - I'm not keen on most of these. Although i've always agreed that 'Tokyo' is overlong, I quite like playing it these days as it has sentimental value for me.

Thank God someone has metioned 'The Delivery Man'. I thought it was just me. Surely one of the most dull songs ever written by our man. Elvis seems to think highly of it. It's a mystery to me why!

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 12:58 pm

I like it well enough, and it's good live. Hurry Down Doomsday is a great song, especially, as observed, live by the Rude 5. The one thing I really find unacceptable and embarrassing is Broken.

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 4:21 pm

Otis, me ole mucker....are you really trying to say that Broken is the only EC recording that you don't care for? Come on...remember Mike Phelan....remember Djemba Djemba...give a memory to Jonny Sivebeck......recall Jesper Olsen. Nothing of worth is without blemish!

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 6:29 pm

It's all relative. Miss Macbeth does very little for me, but there's almost nothing in all that ouput that doesn't merit its existence, other than Broken, which I'm convinced he only included out of some sort of misguided indulging of Cait's whims. Why Can't A Man? is a fabulous song, and I like how he sings it. What's Her Name Today? is a masterpiece. I adore It's Time. Quite a few of the bonus songs don't repay much attention, but like the man said, they're the leftovers. Kojak Variety does very little for me, especially considering the quality of the band. Still haven't got For The Stars. It's mostly very good. I reserve my right.

sabreman · Post by **sabreman** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 7:37 pm

<<
King Of Thieves
>>

I love this tune especially the ending.