ELVIS PRESLEY - THE LAST RECORDING SESSION

It is exactly fifty years ago (October 1976) that Elvis made a number of recordings in The Den (later to be known as The Jungle Room)  at Graceland, his home in Memphis. In this article we look back at those final recordings which, although not recorded in an actual studio can be seen as his last 'studio' recordings. We also look at where those recordings were released and what might have been had he attended a session that was booked for the following January.

By February 1976 it seemed that Elvis had lost interest in recording and RCA were getting frustrated that he would not agree to enter a recording studio to lay down enough tracks to fulfill his contract with the company. His last recordings were back in March 1975 where just ten finished masters were completed and these were released on the album Elvis Today.

The answer was to record him at home although this would not be without its own problems. RCA's mobile recording truck was driven to Graceland and engineer Brian Christian was in charge of engineering the session along with producer Felton Jarvis. The conditions, and technical issues, made recording more difficult than if they were at a proper recording studio.

Over the seven days Elvis recorded twelve tracks, enough for one album and a single. RCA were hoping for enough for two albums and two singles.

Most of Elvis' stage band and backing vocalists were present along with David Briggs (piano), Bill Sandford (guitar), Norbert Putnam (bass) and Bobby Emmons (electric piano).

Ten of the tracks recorded were released on the album, From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee released in May 1976. Another in a long line of albums with a live image on the cover it also had the words Recorded Live on the cover. Apparently, this was not suggesting it was a live album but that the tracks were recorded live in the studio! Common sense prevailed and later issues of the album had the wording removed.

Other tracks recorded during the February sessions included Moody Blue and She Thinks I Still Care, both of which were released as a single in November 1976 and would appear on his next album. The lead track would become the albums title.

Elvis also rehearsed Feelings, a recent hit for Morris Albert which was erased, and attempts were made to record the patriotic  America The Beautiful, with it being America's Bicentennial and a song Elvis had performed in concert throughout 1976, but only fragments have been released. It is not known how serious the attempts at both songs were and they were not attempted again.

Following his seventh tour of the year, which started in Chicago, Illinois on 14 October and ended on 27 October in Carbondale, Illinois, he flew back to Memphis for another session to provide enough material for the new album. Once again they would be held in The Den at Graceland and started at 9pm on 29 October.

There had been technical issues during the February recordings, mainly due to the conditions under which they were recorded. A room at Graceland wasn’t the best option with all the musicians so close together. In an effort to try and improve the sound a new enginner was present. Mike Moran had worked on the December 1973 Stax sessions and it was hoped, with a new microphone, they could block out the noise they had experienced back in February.

Once again most of Elvis' touring musicians and back-up singers were present although, as previously, a considerable amount of additional overdubs would be required before release.

The first track recorded was It's Easy For You, a ballad written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, best known for their musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. It told the story of a man forced to face the loss of his wife, lover and even his reason for living. The lyrics would capture Elvis' recent life.

Next up was Way Down, a great rock song written by American singer/songwriter Layng Martine Jr, whose other compositions included I Wanna Go Too Far (Trisha Yearwood), Let Me On (Jerry Lee Lewis) and Should I Do It (The Pointer Sisters). Given a great song Elvis and the band could really rip it up and this was one of  the strongest songs he had recorded in over a year.

Originally recorded by Johnny Ace and also covered by Roy Hamilton, two artists Elvis loved, Pledging My Love, written by Ferdinand Washington and Don Robey in 1954, was a great choice. The last song recorded on the first day it received a strong performance from Elvis with great support from the band.

The next day, without Elvis present, the band worked on a song by band member Jerry Scheff, Fire Down Below. Another up-tempo song that was well suited to Elvis and would have been a great addition to the forthcoming album. Unfortunatey, when Elvis finally appeared, and despite at first being quite taken with the song, their concentration waned and before long jokes and laughter called a halt to the proceedings after which Elvs returned upstairs and there was no chance of anymore work being done that evening.

Felton Jarvis did get the band to lay down the track for He'll Have To Go, probably a song that had already been scheduled. Written by Joe and Audrey Allison it was a major hit for Jim Reeves in 1959. It told the story of a man talking to the woman he loves on the telephone realising that there was another man with her.

The next night Elvis recorded his vocal for the song but no further recording took place and that bought three days of sessions to an end with only four new masters in the can.

Apparently Felton Jarvis carried around a copy of the Fire Down Below track hoping he could get Elvis to record a vocal, unfortunately it never happened. In 2007 Shakin' Stevens included the song on his Now Listen album.

In his book A Study In Music, Robert Matthew-Walker covered the songs recorded at the session with mixed opinions. Talking about He'll Have To Go he wrote, "(It) was a surprising choice. The song is well known, and had long passed the peak of its popularity. Presley's performance is very slow and very long. Although he is in good voice, the quality is not as good as in the past." 

Moving on to It's Easy For You he said, "Another slow ballad. The performance seems good enough but the backing musicians are so outstanding, especially Ronnie Tutt, that they tend to detract from Presley."

Feeling that Way Down redeemed the session, he comments, "This was Presley's last original hit, and shows him at the height of his powers. In spite of the troubles which beset the session, this magnificent rock number brought out the best in this great artist."

However, he is very critical of what was the strongest performace from the session, Pledging My Love. He wrote, "(It) is another curiosity, at least twenty years out of date, this slow, rocking ballad, with its heavy dragging triplets, is musically nothing."

More sessions were planned and Creative Workshop in Nashville was booked from 20 January to 24 January 1977. The studio was owned by Buzz Cason and founded in 1970. It was the first studio established in the Berry Hill district and one of the first independently owned in Nashville.

Several songs were rumoured for consideration and six were definitely chosen… That’s What You Do To Me (Bob Morrison), Energy (Bob Morrison), Rainy Night In Georgia (Tony Joe White), By Day By Day (Dennis Linde), Let Me On (Layng Martine Jr.) and Yes I Do (Alan Rush).

Steve Earle’s Mustang Wine and Miss Misunderstood, written by David Bellamy of the Bellamy Brothers, have also been mentioned but more than likely were just among the songs submitted for consideration.

Unfortunately, although Elvis did make it to Nashville, he never showed up at the studio. Some reports say he had an argument with girlfriend Ginger Alden and went back to Memphis, and others say he turned up at the studio, took one look, and left in anger.

It is unclear if backing tracks for all six songs were made but the musicians did turn up for the session, the same ones who had been at the October sessions at Graceland along with percussionist Randy Cullers.

Before release all four songs recorded at Graceland were overdubbed at sessions at Creative Workshop in Nashville on 22 January 1977 and Young ‘un Sound, Murfreesboro on 6 and 7 April 1977. Both Way Down and Pledging My Love received additional guitar, piano and drums while It’s Easy For You and He’ll Have To Go had synthesizer, guitar and steel guitar added to the original recordings.

June 1977 saw the release of Elvis' latest single which paired up two tracks from the October 1976 sessions. It's initial chart run would see Way Down/Pledging My Love (PB-10998), stalling at #31 in America and #42 in the UK.

However, following the sad news of his death in August the single would reach #18  in America and in the UK would give Elvis another #1 hit single. It would go on to receive Gold and Platinum awards from the British Phonographic Institute (BPI) and the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The same month saw the release of the album Moody Blue (AFL1-2428) which, despite having another live image on the cover, showed a bit more effort in the design. It would be issued on both blue and black vinyl.

The album would eventually peak at #3 in the UK, despite a a slow start, while in America it reached #3 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Country Chart. It would go on to reach Platinum status from the RIAA.

For RCA Records and producer Felton Jarvis, Moody Blue was not an easy album to put together. Having already used most of what was recorded back in Febraury 1977 there were only a handful of tracks left that could be used to create a full ten-track album.

There were the two singles, Moody Blue, She Thinks I Still Care, Way Down and Pledging My Love. Added to this were the two remaining recent recordings, He'll Have To Go and It's Easy For You. This still left them four songs short so they turned to recent recordings Jarvis had made during Elvis' recent tours.

Many performances were unsuitable, either due to multiple live versions of the same songs being released before or the quality was poor. They did manage to pick three songs Elvis hadn't recorded or released previously... a strong performance of the Righteous Brothers 1965 classic hit Unchained Melody, If You Love Me Let Me Know, written by John Rostill and a hit for Olivia Newton-John in 1974, and a throw away version of Little Darlin, originally a hit for The Diamonds. It was scraping the barrel but worse was the fact that they had to go back to the 1974 live Memphis album for Let Me Be There to complete the album.

Moody Blue was the last album recorded in his lifetime and Way Down his last single and while both deserved the recognition and success they achieved it is doubtful they would have been so successful had Elvis not died.

We will now look at the many outtakes of the four songs recorded in October and on which releases they appear but first a CD that would give a glimpse of what might have been.

In 2005 J.A.T Records, an independent label, would release the CD Cold Night In Nashville which focussed on the songs that were planned for the January 1977 sessions in Nashville and gives an idea of what direction Elvis’ career could have taken.

The original composer demos of the songs mentioned earlier are included along with the original demos of Way Down (Layng Martine Jr.) and I’ve Got A Feeling In My Body (Dennis Linde). Rounding off the set were the original versions of Rainy Night In Georgia (Brook Benton) and Energy (Tommy Roe).

An interesting album to listen to and one can only imaging how Elvis would have handled the songs.

The first outtakes to be released from the October sessions were Way Down (take 2a) and Pledging My Love (take 3), both of which appeared on the 1997 4-CD set Platinum.

In 1999 Sony Music created the Follow That Dream Label (FTD), a collector’s label which would see themed albums full of previously unreleased outtakes. One of the early releases was The Jungle Room Sessions, released in 2000, which included It’s Easy For You (take 1), Way Down (take 2), Pledging My Love (unedited master), He’ll Have To Go (rough mix master) and the backing track of Fire Down Below.

This is the only release to include the Fire Down Below backing track and it has not been included on any subsequent release.

In 2013 FTD released Moody Blue in their ‘Classic Album’ series. A two CD-set that included the original album, and a wealth of previously unreleased undubbed masters, rehearsals, alternate versions and outtakes from both the February and October sessions. The following tracks from October 1976 were included… Pledging My Love (rehearsal/take 3 composite, takes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, undubbed/unedited master), Way Down (rehearsal, takes 1, 2a, 2b, undubbed master, rough mix of master), It’s Easy For You (takes 1, 3, 4 and undubbed master) and He’ll Have To Go (rough mix).

A 16-page booklet contained behind-the-scenes notes, session details and many photos, unfortunately none from the actual recording sessions, and various pieces of paperwork and other memorabilia.

FTD began to reissue many of the classic albums on vinyl and Moody Blue was no exception. Released in both clear and gold vinyl it was a cut down version of the 2-CD set and only had twenty tracks, with just four from the October sessions.

Released in August 2016, Way Down In The Jungle Room was a mainstream 2-CD compilation of tracks from both the February and October sessions. As well as the masters on CD 1 there was a selection of outtakes on the second disc including It’s Easy For You (take 1), Way Down (take 2) and Pledging My Love (take 3).

The set included a 24-page booklet with notes by John Jackson of Sony/Legacy, detailed recording session information, full credits and many live photos and a centre-page spread showing various record labels, paperwork, tape boxes and other memorabilia.

The tracks were newly mixed by Matt Ross-Spang and it is the best compilation of material from the sessions.

The set did well on the charts reaching #16 in the UK, #6 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and #79 on the Billboard 200. By the end of the year it had sold over 15,000 copies.

The material recorded during October was, on the whole, very strong and it was just a shame that on the Moody Blue album it had to appear alongside three live recordings and a previously released live recording that was already three years old.

There is no doubt that if Elvis had committed himself to recording the tracks that were picked for the sessions at Creative Workshop then the Moody Blue album would have ended up as one of his strongest for several years, could have seen a change of direction in his career and bought about more positive reception from the media, reviewers and record buying public.