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.
At the 1972 sessions Elvis worked with his road band... James Burton (lead guitar), John Wilkinson (rhythm guitar), Emory Gordy (bass), Ronnie Tutt (drums) and Glen Hardin (piano), Charlie Hodge (guitar) and backing vocalists J. D. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet.
Backing him on the 1975 sessions were the same musicians except for Duke Bardwell who replaced Emory Gordy on bass. Bardwell joined Elvis in January 1974 and remained until April 1975 when Jerry Scheff returned. He can be heard on the Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis, but there seemed to be a personality clash between Elvis and Bardwell and, as we shall see, his playing can only be heard on one of the tracks on the Today album.
J. D. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet were also missing for these sessions and in their place were the vocal group that Elvis had put together, Voice, whose members were Donnie Sumner, Sherrill Nielsen, Tim Baty and Tommy Hensley.
The first day of recording, which were overseen by Felton Jarvis, started at 9pm on the 10 March and ran through to 7am the following morning and the first song recorded was Fairytale. Over the next few hours they worked on three more songs, Green, Green, Grass Of Home, I Can Help and And I Love You So.
The next night a 9pm start resulted in four more masters completed by the the following morning, Susan When She Tried, T-R-O-U-B-L-E, Woman Without Love and Shake A Hand. A break in the planned recordings saw the band kick off one of their warm-up routines on Tiger Man. Elvis immediately joined in, and fortunately engineer Rick Ruggieri hit the record button.
During this second day Elvis, on a whim, announced he wanted to record Country Bumpkin, a current number one hit for Cal Smith. It was a song which Jarvis couldn't understand Elvis wanting to record but sent out for a copy of the record so they could transcribe the lyrics. Fortunately, by the time Jarvis suggested they try the song Elvis was no longer interested and said, "Fuck the 'Country Bumkin'. I'm no country bumkin."
The final day of recording, once again starting at 9pm, produced only two masters, Bringing It Back and Pieces Of My Life. Notes on the session show that Greg Gordon, who had recently resigned as piano player with Voice, and his replacement Tony Brown both played on Bringing It Back.
The sessions were going well and Felton Jarvis had already contacted New York for more master numbers as he felt they could get more songs recorded. Unfortunately this was not to be. Brian Wilson was in another studio next door and he forced his way into the studio insisting on meeting Elvis. Never needing much of a distraction to stop recording this meeting of two music greats bought an abrupt end to the sessions.
Elvis and the band were really on fire during the sessions and not a single song took more than six takes to complete a satisfactory master. It is just a shame that the sessions fell apart as I am sure we would have had a few more great performances to enjoy.
Overdub sessions were held between 8-14 April at Quadrofonic Sound Studio in Nashville where additional guitar, fiddle, steel guitar, horns and strings were overdubbed. Female backing vocals were also added by Ginger Holladay, Mary Holladay, Lea Jane Berinati and Millie Kirkham.
It was also at these overdub sessions that Duke Bardwell's contribution to the recordings were erased, except for one track. Both Mike Leech and Norbert Putnam re-recorded all the bass parts after Elvis heard the first mix of the album and requested that Bardwell's bass parts be removed. The only song on which his bass can be heard is T-R-O-U-B-L-E which was released as a single before Elvis' request could be actioned. It is hard to comprehend why this happened, as when listening to the single there is nothing wrong with the bass playing and, as we shall see later, his original bass parts can be heard on all the original session mixes and outtakes that were released. At the time Bardwell had nothing but praise for Elvis' version commenting that, "...he was so good at that syncopated funky stuff."
Elvis Today (APL1-1039) was released on vinyl in May 1975 and was also available on cassette (APK1-1039), quadradisc (APD1-1039), Q8 (APT1-1039) and Stereo 8 (APS1-1039) formats.
Side One opens with the great rocker, T-R-O-U-B-L-E, a song written by Jerry Chesnut who took inspiration for the song from country music singer and pianist Little David Wilkins. While writing the song he thought of a woman walking through the door and causing trouble. The songs lyrics standout, not least for the idea to spell out some of the words, trouble, alone and looking which Chesnut realised actually rhymed when spelled out. A great opener on the album, a blistering performance from Elvis and, along with Burning Love and Promised Land, one of his best rock songs from the 1970s.
Following the fast-tempo of the opening track Elvis slows things down with a beautiful and sincere cover of And I Love You So. Written by Don McLean, of American Pie and Vincent fame, it was first released on his 1970 debut album Tapestry. Three years later, in 1973, Perry Como took the song to number 3 in the UK charts where it remained for 35 weeks. Elvis would perform the song many times in his concerts from 1975 through to his final tour in June 1977.
Don Reid, original member and lead singer of country vocal group The Statler Brothers, wrote Susan When She Tried and they had recorded the song in May 1973 releasing it the following year as a single and on their album, Sons Of The Motherland. The identity of Susan has remained a mystery although it may have been someone that Reid knew. The song is similar in style to Jeannie C. Riley's Harper Valley P.T.A. with its name-checking of fictitious characters. A catchy song, with some great guitar playing by James Burton, that Elvis handles well resulting in an outstanding performance.
Woman Without Love follows and is the second song on the album written by Jerry Chesnut, it was first recorded back in 1968 by Bob Luman, best known for his 1960 novelty hit, Let's Talk About Living, and subsequently covered by Johnny Darrel and Brook Benton. Elvis turns in a reasonable performance but the lyrics haven't stood the test of time with the chauvinistic line, 'A man without love's only half of a man, but a woman is nothing at all.' Talking about this, Chesnut has commented, "This song is either loved or hated by women. Those that hate it do so because they resent hearing a man say a woman is nothing at all, under any circumstances." Fortunately he also stated that since writing the song he had changed the lyrics.
In 1953 gospel and rhythm & blues singer Faye Adams released the Joe Morris composition Shake A Hand which reached number one on the R&B chart and stayed there for ten weeks selling over a million copies. Morris was a bandleader who signed her to Herald Records and Shake A Hand was her first release on her new label. With its gospel feel it was an ideal choice for Elvis and he gives an outstanding performance which, for me, is one of the highlights on Today. The song closes side one of the album.
Opening side two is Pieces Of My Life, a poignant ballad written by Troy Seals in the mid-1960s and recorded in 1974 by Charlie Rich. It appeared on his 1974 album The Silver Fox and it is likely that this is where Elvis first heard the song. With it's lyrics telling of past choices, missed opportunities and remorse it was a song that appears to fit Elvis life at a time when he was facing personal and professional challenges. He turns in a heartfelt and emotionally charged performance and, of all the ballads featured on the album, this is the one that stands out.
Fairytale was a hit for The Pointer Sisters in 1974 and featured on their album That's A Plenty. Written by band members Anita and Bonnie Pointer and featuring a lead vocal by Anita, it is a break-up song that was written from her own personal experience. Another song well suited to Elvis and given a strong performance by him although at times he seems to struggle with the high notes and maybe should have taken it in a lower key. Like And I Love You So, it was a song that would feature regularly in Elvis' concerts and he would often introduce the song as being, "The story of my life."
Singer-songwriter Billy Swan is best known for his 1974 song I Can Help which became a crossover hit reaching the top spot on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Country Singles Charts. It was an ideal choice for Elvis to record and he stays faithful to the original, even including the slowed down, false ending. You can tell he is enjoying the song and you can here a laugh in his voice when singing the line, "If your child needs a daddy." Talking about Elvis' version Swan said, "I thought it was great."
Bringin' It Back is the penultimate song on the album and was written by gospel and country singer, Greg Gordon. Both Brenda Lee and The Oakridge Boys had released the song in 1975 and it is possible Elvis had heard their version. He does his best with a song that can best be described as pedestrian.
Bringing the album to a close is a song that will always be associated with Tom Jones, and a song Elvis is reported to have really loved, Green, Green Grass Of Home. Written by Claude 'Curly' Putman Jr., it was first recorded by Johnny Darrell in 1965 and other artists who recorded the song included Porter Wagoner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Bare and most famously, Tom Jones, who had a worldwide number one hit with the song in 1966. It told the story of a man who returns to his childhood home and sweetheart and remembers all the good times. However, he wakes up surrounded by 'four grey walls' and realises it was just a dream and he is being accompanied by a guard and padre who are leading him to his execution. I prefer Tom Jones version but Elvis certainly comes close with his rendition.
The cover, which again showed little effort in the design, featured yet another live shot, this time from a concert on 3 July 1973 in Atlanta, Georgia and taken by Ed Bonja, with just the wording 'Elvis' and 'Today' superimposed on the cover.
The back cover included adverts for Elvis four previous albums, Promised Land (APL1-0873), Having Fun With Elvis On Stage (CPM1-0818), Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis (CPL1-0606) and Good Times (CPL1-06475).
Song titles were listed, minus any songwriter credits, along with credits for the vocal accompaniment and recording engineers. Elvis Presley was listed as
'Executive Producer For This Recording Project'. As with previous releases no musicians are credited on the sleeve.
When you compare the Elvis album cover designs from this period with other artists on the RCA label it is further proof that The Colonel, Elvis and RCA were happy to just throw out cover after cover with just another live photo and little or no information. A complete lack of respect for the fans and the musicians who worked on the albums. Just check out albums by other RCA artists like Waylon Jennings or Jerry Reed and you will see the difference. It wouldn't have taken much effort for Elvis to have undertaken some photoshoots to produce portrait style images for his album and single covers. Problem was, nobody else in the business seemed to care either and their thoughts were... it's only Elvis and the fans will buy anything!
Despite being a very strong album, with some great songs and performances from Elvis, the album failed to achieve much chart success. On the Billboard Album Chart it peaked at #57 and spent just 9 weeks in the chart although it fared much better on the Country Charts reaching #4 and selling almost 400,000 copies.
In his review in the 3 July edition of Rolling Stone, Dave Marsh had this to say... "Elvis Presley is the greatest singer in the history of rock & roll. As each of his frustratingly mediocre albums appears, we are forcibly reminded of the fact. There is almost nothing on any of them to keep us listening. But I have never heard an Elvis record which didn't reveal something about the man and his capacities and therefore, somehow, about everyone's. Instinctively and accidentally, Presley teaches us what charisma means." He went on to say, "Today catalogues perfectly the undeniable stylistic and creative decline of every Sun artist, makes us realise how much more than a match Elvis was for them and how canny he has been in avoiding the burnout."
Two singles were released, T-R-O-U-B-L-E backed with Mr Songman (PB-10278), a track lifted from the Promised Land album and written by Voice member Donnie Sumner, and Bringing It Back coupled with Pieces Of My Life (PB-10401). The former was released in April just before the album while the latter was issued in September.
The artwork for the covers showed as much effort as the album with a different shot from the same concert on the first single and the same image as the album on the second. Oh yes, and let's use the same 3-D 'ELVIS' wording, the fans won't mind.
Like the album, neither single fared well on the charts. In the United States T-R-O-U-B-L-E could only reach #35, spending 9 weeks in the Top 100 and selling just 200,000 copies. Bringing It Back was even more of a disappointment with it's highest placing of #65 and just 5 weeks in the chart.
In the United Kingdom things weren't that much better. Released in June, Today (RCA RS 1011) spent one week on the chart at #48 and re-entered the chart two weeks later also peaking at #48 with just two more weeks in the chart.
T-R-O-U-B-L-E backed with Mr Songman (RCA 2562) was released in May 1975 and during a chart run of just 4 weeks it climbed to #31. A second single was issued, with a different selection to the second US single. Green, Green Grass Of Home backed with another previously released song, Thinking About You (RCA 2635), written by Tim Baty, a member of the vocal group Voice. Released in November 1975 it managed to rise two places higher than the previous single peaking at #29 and spending 7 weeks in the chart.
These chart positions are a surprise considering the quality of the material and it is a shame that these recordings have never achieved the critical acclaim and chart success they deserved.
The following year And I Love You So (take 1) was released on the Platinum: A Life In Music box set while Pieces Of My Life (take 1) featured on the Today, Tomorrow And Forever box set in 2002.
With the advent of the Follow That Dream (FTD) collectors label in 1999 it was the ideal opportunity for even more outtakes to appear and in 2001 they released 6363 Sunset. The CD featured studio outtakes and rehearsals from March 1972 along with six tracks from the 1975 sessions... Green, Green Grass Of Home (takes 2-false start and take 3), And I Love You So (take 2), Susan When She Tried (take 1-false start and take 2), T-R-O-U-B-L-E (take 1), Shake A Hand (take 2) and Bringing It Back (take 2-false start and take 3).
The early releases on the FTD label were single discs housed in 5-inch gatefold digi-packs with no booklets and little or no information other than the track listings. In 2003 they released the first in what would become the 'Classic Album' series. Mostly two-CDs they were housed in a 7-inch sleeve that opened out into three panels housing the CDs and a booklet containing liner notes, session details, images and rare memorabilia. The first releases in this format were the soundtracks, It Happened At The Worlds Fair, Fun In Acapulco and Girl Happy, definitely not classics but as time moved on the label would turn their attention to albums that were more deserving of the title 'Classic'. Among the first were Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis, Elvis Is Back and in 2005, Elvis Today, released to celebrate the albums thirtieth anniversary.
CD 1 contained the original album, the unreleased Tiger Man jam and a selection of previously unavailable outtakes/false starts including And I Love You So (take 1), Bringing It Back (take 1), Susan When She Tried (take 3), Shake A Hand (take 1) and several more.
The highlights on CD 2 were the original session mixes, which were minus many of the overdubs, which make for interesting listening and in some cases are as good if not better than the originals. The set was bought to a close with the material previously made available on the 6363 Sunset release.
There are some great moments to enjoy. Both Lisa Marie and his current girlfriend Sheila Ryan had also attended the recording sessions and before the first take of And I Love You So Elvis says, "Step up here Sheila, let me sing to you baby." Take 1 of Fairytale is preceded by Elvis, in a high-pitched voice, joking, "Good luck everybody", and after the keyboard player makes a mistake at the start of Bringing It Back Elvis laughs and says, "Next piano player!" There are many more to enjoy and it shows how much fun Elvis was having during the recordings.
This release leaves just a handful of outtakes in the vaults, more than likely just false starts, which may see a release one day.
The set received some criticism on its release due to the sound quality of the original album tracks that open the set. The audio has been mastered too low and this is noticeable when, after Green, Green Grass Of Home, the volume increases on Tiger Man. One other mistake which should have been spotted before the packaging was printed is the spelling mistake on Susan When She Tried on the reproduced back cover... which changed the title to Susan When She Said! However, it was a welcome release bringing everything together in one place.
A second disc featured the 1975 live recording that had first appeared on the Silver box set back in 1980. For this release it has been remastered and reassembled from the original tapes and the audio is a vast improvement. Recorded during the May and June tour it includes a live version of the recently recorded T-R-O-U-B-L-E along with other concert favourites.
The 24-page booklet features an in-depth liner note written by musician, producer and broadcaster Stuart Colman along with track details and a wealth of live photos and paperwork.
FTD turned their attention to releasing vinyl albums alongside the regular CD releases and in 2016 they turned their attention to Today. Released as a double album, Elvis Today - The Original Session Mixes bought together all the original mixes and a selection of outtakes.
I have read several comments that the album should be issued as part of the FTD 'Sessions' releases but with so few outtakes left available I can't see this being a viable project for the label.
Despite my comments about the album cover and chart success, I do rate Today and it is among my favourite studio albums from the 1970s and, in my opinion, his last great album released in his lifetime.
