I have been a fan of Elvis Presley since 1970, when I first saw Elvis - That's The Way It Is at my local cinema in Worthing. In the years that followed my collection of vinyl singles, extended play and albums expanded and it was not long before I had a complete collection of his recorded output including several bootleg albums and tapes.
Over the years I have replaced all my vinyl with CDs and added all his films on DVD or Blu-Ray and built up a comprehensive library of books and magazines which I refer to regularly, especially during my work here on my blog.
I continue to collect most of the latest releases, especially those on the Follow That Dream collectors label, although I have passed on the constant stream of live recordings and the vinyl re-issues. My most recent addition is the The Making Of G. I. Blues set which I am currently working through.
I have been fortunate to have had articles on Elvis published in magazines and also worked on a live compilation CD, writing the liner notes.
In 1998 I was fortunate to visit Memphis with my wife Carole and we visited both Graceland and Sun Studios which were just two of the highlights of our holiday which also included time in Nashville.
I recently visited the Direct From Graceland exhibition at the Arches London Bridge and it was interesting to see all the memorabilia and artifacts.
I have updated this article to promote the various Elvis Presley articles I have featured on this blog over the past few years. They are listed below with the title, date first published, an image from the article, a short excerpt and the link to the full article.
Enjoy!
FROM ELVIS IN NASHVILLE
First published 20 November 2020
By June 1970 Elvis was riding high and achieving the critical acclaim he had not received since the early 1960s. Following the 1968 Elvis TV Special he had returned to Memphis in 1969 and for the first time recorded at the famous American Sound Studios under the guidance of Chips Moman and backed by the legendary 827 Thomas Street Band. August of that year saw him back in front of a live audience for the first time in almost nine years during a month long, sold-out engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. He returned for another run of sold-out shows in February 1970 and contracts had been agreed for him to return in August, and it would be filmed and recorded for a new documentary and album.
The material he had recorded in Memphis turned his career around. The album From Elvis In Memphis was a major success as were the singles released at the time... In The Ghetto, Suspicious Minds, Don't Cry Daddy and Kentucky Rain. Everyone expected him to return to Memphis for his next planned sessions but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Several reasons have been given, among them issues over publishing rights.
Read the full article here...
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ELVIS - BACK IN NASHVILLE
First published 14 November 2021
For Elvis Presley the start of 1971 saw him accepting an award which must have meant so much to him. He was named one of the 'Ten Outstanding Men' by the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) and accepted his award at a special banquet held in Memphis. The award recognised young men who had made great achievements in their particular field and over the years recipients had included John F. Kennedy, Orson Welles and Howard Hughes, so he was in good company. During his acceptance speech Elvis said, "I learned very early in life that, 'Without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain't got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend, without a song', So I keep singing a song."
The previous two years had seen his career take a dramatic turn with sessions in Memphis in 1969 and Nashville in 1970 producing hit singles, including In The Ghetto, Suspicious Minds, Don't Cry Daddy, Patch It Up, I've Lost You along with a run of successful albums, From Elvis In Memphis, Back In Memphis, Elvis Country and That's The Way It Is.
Read the full article here...
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STANDING ROOM ONLY
First published 12 April 2022
Back in January and February Elvis had played a month-long engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, his sixth season in the city since his comeback shows in August 1969. During the season a number of new songs were recorded live for possible inclusion on a future album including The Impossible Dream, Never Been To Spain, You Gave Me A Mountain, It's Over and the show-stopper An American Trilogy.
Released as a single in early-April, An American Trilogy, failed to achieve the kind of success they had hoped for when it stalled at #66 on the Billboard Hot 100. The sleeve advertised the Standing Room Only album stating it was a summer release and would be a live album. This, as we shall see later, never materialised and the live material along with those recorded at the March session would end up spread out over several singles and albums. There wouldn't be another single release until August, four months after the tour ended.
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PRINCE FROM ANOTHER PLANET
First published 9 June 2022
Mid-1972 and despite his popularity and following across the entire United States Elvis had never played an actual concert in New York City, although he had made television appearances back in the 1950s. However, that would change on 9 June when he undertook his second tour of the year. On this, the fiftieth anniversary, we look back at the concerts and the albums that have been released over the years.
The tour, promoted by Jerry Weintraub in association with RCA Record Tours, would open in New York at the famous Madison Square Garden. Originally only three concerts were scheduled, an evening show on Friday 9 June and afternoon and evening shows on Saturday 10 June.
Tickets went on sale on 8 May and even before the box office opened there were 2,000 people lined up ready to purchase their tickets.
Read the full article here...
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ELVIS - A LEGENDARY PERFORMER
First published 21 October 2022
Throughout Elvis Presley's long career his record company had never, intentionally, released any previously unreleased material. However, an alternate version of Old Shep had been issued in error on some early import pressings of his second album, Elvis, released in October 1956. A second mistake occurred in 1973 when, after releasing the studio recording of Stay Away, Joe in 1970 on the budget release Let's Be Friends, the movie version was included in error on the budget album Almost In Love. This was soon corrected on later pressings.
All this would change in 1974, long before the advent of the Follow That Dream label which has given fans a wealth of unreleased material over the past twenty-plus years.
In the mid-1970s RCA Records created a new series of albums with the generic title A Legendary Performer. Artists that were featured in the series included Jim Reeves, Perry Como, Glenn Miller, Henry Mancini, Bing Crosby, Jimmie Rodgers and Elvis Presley.
Read the full article here...
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CHRISTMAS WITH ELVIS
First published 12 December 2022
Christmas was a special time for Elvis and every year he decorated Graceland, inside and out, with an impressive display of lights and decorations to celebrate the festive season. With his love of the season it seemed an obvious move for him to record a selection of Christmas songs for release on an album, or at least The Colonel and RCA thought so.
In the 1950s artists including Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Perry Como and even Gene Autry had all recorded and released Christmas albums. However, Elvis wasn't that excited about the thought of recording a selection of festive material.
At this time his priority was to attempt the song Treat Me Nice again, in an effort to produce a better version than the one he'd recorded a few months earlier for Jailhouse Rock, and also make a further attempt at One Night. There was also My Wish Came True and another song, the ballad Don't, from the song-writing team of Leiber & Stoller who had already provided several hits for him.
Read the full article here...
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ELVIS ON TOUR
First published 8 February 2023
Written, produced and directed by Pierre Adidge and Robert Abel, Elvis On Tour, Elvis' 33rd movie, was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on 1 November 1972.
Colonel Parker had already planned the next major event in Elvis' career, the televised Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite special, which had been scheduled for mid-November. To avoid clashing with the release of Elvis On Tour, MGM executive James T. Aubrey, requested that the special be delayed. Fortunately Parker agreed and the special was postponed until January the following year.
Unlike his previous concert film, That's The Way It Is, which concentrated on his August 1970 Las Vegas appearances, the new concert documentary followed him on his fifteen city spring 1972 tour.
Read the full article here...
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TAKE ME TO THE FAIR
First published 6 April 2023
Released in April 1963, It Happened At The World's Fair was Elvis' twelfth motion picture and to celebrate sixty years since its release we look back at the movie and the soundtrack.
Elvis travelled to Hollywood on 28 August for pre-production work on It Happened At The World's Fair. It was the first film in a four-picture deal with MGM. The film's producer, Ted Richmond, wanted to follow the success of previous Hal Wallis produced Elvis movies, choosing colourful locations in which to set the story. He also called on the services of Norman Taurog, Elvis' favourite director. The screenplay was written by Si Rose and Seaman Jacobs.
Read the full article here...
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MEMPHIS HOMECOMING
First published 19 March 2024
On 1st March 1974 Elvis Presley hit the road for his longest concert tour since the mid-1950s. The tour, which ran from the 1st to the 20th of March, would see Elvis play twenty-one concerts across the southern states with sold-out shows in Tulsa (Oklahoma), Houston (Texas), Monroe (Louisiana), Auburn (Alabama), Montgomery (Alabama), Charlotte (North Carolina), Roanoke (Virginia), Hampton Roads (Virginia), Richmond (Virginia), Greensboro (North Carolina), Murfreesboro (Tennessee), Knoxville (Tennessee) and Memphis (Tennessee).
At Houston, Charlotte and Knoxville, Elvis would play afternoon and evening shows while in Tulsa, at the opening of the tour, he played shows on two consecutive days. The first concert in Monroe sold out so fast that two additional shows, a few days later, were added. It was a similar story in Richmond and Murfreesboro where a second date was scheduled.
This brings us to Memphis and Elvis' first appearances in his hometown since the charity show held at the Ellis Auditorium back in 1961.
Read the full article here...
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ELVIS UK EXTENDED
First published 17 April 2024
ust published is a new book on the various Elvis Presley Extended Play albums released in the UK. In this article I will be reviewing the book but first a look back at the authors previous work.
As far back as 1980 friends and co-writers John Townson and Gordon Minto had been writing about Elvis Presley, although it would be a few years before they would publish their first book in, what would become, the ELVIS UK series.
Published by Blandford Press in 1987, ELVIS UK - The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley's British Record Releases 1956-1986 was greeted with critical acclaim by not only Elvis fans but also music journalists and rightly deserved being referred to as 'the Bible' when it came to Elvis releases. Despite its retail price of £45 it soon became highly collectable and sought after.
Read the full article here...
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ELVIS - TODAY @50
First published 13 March 2025
Elvis Presley's last visit to a recording studio was in March 1975 where he recorded tracks that would find a release on the Elvis Today album. It is fifty years since these sessions and in this article I will be looking back at the recording sessions, the original album and single releases, chart success and the subsequent releases that have featured outtakes.
His last studio sessions were back in December 1973 at Stax in Memphis and the only recordings made during 1974 were the live recordings in Memphis and RCA were pressuring him for material for a new album and singles.
The RCA Studios on 6363 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood were booked from 10 March through to the 12 March. Elvis had previously worked there back in 1972 when he recorded material including Burning Love, Always On My Mind, Separate Ways, Fool and It's A Matter Of Time. It seemed the ideal choice to record there as he would also be rehearsing for his upcoming Las Vegas appearances.
Read the full article here...
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Look out for more Elvis related articles in the future.
