Goodnight to the rock'n'roll era: Elvis Presley in the '60s: 1963

zondag 3 januari 2016

Elvis Presley in the '60s: 1963

Starting in 1963, Elvis's yearly soundtrack album-ratio was doubled. From now on, two soundtrack LPs a year. Other records optional. Nobody told Elvis cause he recorded a fine 12-song session on May 26-28. It was finally released as 'The Lost Album' around 1990. Clearly, priorities were changing in the organisation.

1. Echoes Of Love
2. Please Don't Drag That String Around
3. (You're The) Devil In Disguise
4. Never Ending
5. What Now, What Next, Where To
6. Witchcraft
7. Kinders Keepers, Losers Weepers
8. Love Me Tonight
9. (It's A )Long Lonely Highway
10. Western Union
11. Slowly But Surely
12. Blue River

In hindsight this is where he gave up the race. Compared to that year's 'With the Beatles', Elvis sounds...middle-aged. It's true the session's not without drawbacks. After his customary opening ballad, 'Echoes of love' and two made-for-radio confections, 'Please don't drag that string around' and '(You're the) Devil in disguise', the session loses itself in five back to back ballads, all limping towards the exit.

But it's got treasures too. Somebody must've slipped the band something at that point, cause the last 4 tracks are great uptempo rockers: '(It's a) Long lonely highway', 'Western union' (my favorite) 'Slowly but surely' and 90 seconds of mayhem 'Blue river'. Somebody was alive below the hairspray.

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Session in limbo - in favor of soundtracks 'It happened at the world's fair' and 'Fun in Acapulco', and a serviceable best of for his early '60s singles, 'Elvis' Golden Records Vol 3' - and maybe nervous with all that young competition, in any case he shut down operations.

During the middle of the decade he was an everpresent ghost, surely the most important factor in his obsolete '60s reputation.