There aint nothin` like a song...

[SleepyJack]

Does anyone think it strange that for someone who was into music from a very early age Elvis never wrote a song? He played guitar,piano,bass,had the most beautiful voice and yet there seems to be no evidence of any attempts at songwriting,not even a few scribbled pages in a drawer at Graceland.
In an interview he once said " I`ve never written a song...I wish I could have..some of my rivals-they`re pretty good songwriters but me I did good to get out of highschool..", Is this the reason?..did he see it as being beyond him in an academic kind of way? Where did those feelings of inferiority come from? I think it would have been well within his capabilities to have written good songs,even if he had stayed within the frame of the gospel music that he loved to play in private.I also think that it would have been good for him on a personal level to have a way of saying what was on his mind and expressing his feelings better,and who knows?..maybe it would have given him the confidence not to be so accepting of the poor quality movies and songs.I sometimes think that it was this inferiority complex that Colonel Parker played on to get Elvis to agree to doing things his way,and why those brief moments of power and confidence,like the `68 comeback and the `69 Memphis sessions scared the colonel so much.

[elvislady]

Thats a good question and one i dont have the answer to.
elvislady;)

[SleepyJack]

That was my first time starting a thread!....I was starting to wonder if anyone would reply!...So THANK YOU,THANK YOU,THANK YOU!!

[elvislady]

That was my first time starting a thread!....I was starting to wonder if anyone would reply!...So THANK YOU,THANK YOU,THANK YOU!!


Great question to start your first thread with.(y)
elvislady:D

[n-gageboy]

Well Elvis did write a song! I cant remember the name of it, but Priscilla said she didnt like it. So he never diod it again!!

grrreeetings

[SleepyJack]

Even if that is true,he shouldn`t have paid much attention to Priscilla`s opinion of it......plus,if she knew him as well as she thinks, she wouldn`t have put it down knowing how little confidence he had in his ability to write..nice one `Cilla!

[Dorothy]

I heard someone said he couldn't sit still long enough to write a song....:lol:

I've also heard he'd come up with a phrase or sentence and take it to Red and ask him if he could write a song around the phrase. One of those songs, I think, was "I forgot to remember to forget you". Supposedly, this was in memory of his mother.

[Lisarose]

I heard someone said he couldn't sit still long enough to write a song....:lol:
I've also heard he'd come up with a phrase or sentence and take it to Red and ask him if he could write a song around the phrase. One of those songs, I think, was "I forgot to remember to forget you". Supposedly, this was in memory of his mother.

Red West stated that about him. He did write in a way. He'd have an idea and toss it around then hand it to someone - usually Red - & tell them to 'write a song about that, okay?' There is that song "The Elvis Letter", Wayne Newton sang it. Some say Elvis did not write that note that was supposedly left behind in his hotel room to be found by hotel maid. But in his album, Newton noted that he bought the rights to The Letter from EPE. I think that maybe Elvis just had such easy access to so much good material, he didn't need to write his own. It probably never occured to him that writing would be a good release of pent-up emotions.

[Wendy56]

Well Elvis did write a song! I cant remember the name of it, but Priscilla said she didnt like it. So he never diod it again!!
It's that true?... :mad:

[Rover]

I don't know if that's true, but I read that Elvis never had a single singing lesson, or guitar lesson,...I guess you need to know some stuff about music when you write a song, and maybe Elvis knew enough about this stuff later in his career, when he was already used to do covers, and when hte public was used to hear him do these covers. Maybe he was scared to disapoint the public? And there is also the matter of time, at some points in his career he wouldn't have had enough time to write songs.
There was this guy, Terry King, who claimed that Elvis co-wrote a few songs with him, is that true?

[n-gageboy]

It's that true?... :mad:
Yes..I'm pretty sure about it. I think its 'You'll be gone'.

Well I mean Cilla didn't say that she hated this song, but she just told him that she liked songs written for him better or snething like that..

[marijaep]

Yes..I'm pretty sure about it. I think its 'You'll be gone'.

Well I mean Cilla didn't say that she hated this song, but she just told him that she liked songs written for him better or snething like that..

lol, it's "You'll Be Gone", yes.
Well, i don't think he wrote it all by himself, i think Red and Charlie helped him.
And in the bootleg from Elvis By The Presleys CD says that Elvis sang it to Priscilla after recording it in Nashville in 1962 and she said that she liked the rock and roll stuff more.


Nice song though (y);)

[Diane]

I've heard that Elvis co-wrote a couple of songs but have long forgotten what they were.

No, I don't imagine Priscilla liked "You'll Be Gone" and I bet she hated "Release Me" even worse. Had she been more supportive and had a sense of humor I think history would have re-written itself.

Diane

[Rover]

I've heard that Elvis co-wrote a couple of songs but have long forgotten what they were.

I think some of them are: Love me tender, Don't be cruel, All shook up, That's someone you never forget, You'll be gone, If only I'd bought her roses...and some more I guess?
I don't really know what he exactly did, he is just listed as a co-writer for these songs, but maybe he just changed a word or two :)

[Lisarose]

I think some of them are: Love me tender, Don't be cruel, All shook up, That's someone you never forget, You'll be gone, If only I'd bought her roses...and some more I guess?
I don't really know what he exactly did, he is just listed as a co-writer for these songs, but maybe he just changed a word or two :)

My understanding is that Elvis was given credit for writing merely so the colonel could make more money from music. The writer of the songs had to relinquish their rights or a portion of their rights of ownership to the music. That of course could be disastrous if you're on the fast track as a writer - like Jerry Reed. Some writers didn't mind, because simply having their work linked to Elvis was a big boost for their work. Elvis did not write. He did suggest ideas. There is an early audio interview where he states that he did not write music. Elvis was given credit for arrangement. But I understand that arrangement of a tune, is simply one's interpretation - changing the music to suit your style. Someone please correct me, if I'm wrong.
Writing music does require a lot of knowledge. Writing lyrics does not, just some rhythmic sense perhaps or continuity of thought. That's why there are song writing teams, one writes the music, one the lyrics. Mac Davis had a variety show in the 70's. In a segment of his show he'd get the audience to try & stump him lyricly. They would suggest an idea and he would have to come up with a song. Mostly it was funny. I do remember one idea "making love in the washing machine". He did come with a little ditty ". . .we tried making love in the washing machine, but we got hung up in the wringer"

[Burning_Love]

Yes, he wrote 'You'll be gone' with Red West, but Priscilla said she didn't like it, and so he never attempted to write on again.
That's how the story goes.

I would have loved Elvis to write a song, so we know what he was actually feeling inside, the man himself.

[SleepyJack]

Hmmmm......not too sure about the not being able to sit still idea...considering the hours he spent reading....not to mention the type of books he read,especially the spiritual/religious ones....complete with comments in the margins and highlighted sentences!......I don`t even do that!
Any thoughts on the other bit of the thread about the colonel using his insecurities against him?

[Diane]

My feeling and it's just mine is that the Colonel used anything and everything he could to keep "his boy" in line Jack.

Diane

[rhythmknights]

if he had written songs, what would he write about? he loved to sing love songs and ballads, would he have been like justin timberlake - written an in-YOUR-face song to Priscilla like Justin Timberlake did [What Goes Around] to what's-her-name? i think he definitely would've written a song to LisaMarie! and to his mother. although he couldn't top a mom-tribute like Only the Strong Survive! [where can i find this version?]
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XAmpgm4swY8

and would he have dared get political? he did seem to be an admirer of Bob Dylan who wasn't afraid to touch un-PC topics.

[Getlo]

I've also heard he'd come up with a phrase or sentence and take it to Red and ask him if he could write a song around the phrase. One of those songs, I think, was "I forgot to remember to forget you". Supposedly, this was in memory of his mother.

No, I Forgot To Remember to Forget was written by Stan Kesler and Charlie Feathers; it has nothing to do with Red.

You're thinking of That's Someone You Never Forget: Elvis gave this phrase and most of the words to Red, who then wrote the music.

[Getlo]

If only I'd bought her roses...

This is one of those songs that was being auctioned on eBay a while back ... I think by that ing fellow you mentioned.

It is fake; Elvis had nothing to do with this man or this song.

[Getlo]

Probably the main reason he never bothered writing songs is ... he couldn't read music!

And I think "co-wrote" is a misrepresentation of what Elvis did on those few songs on which he was given credit.

Perhaps "co-worked on" would be better. But he never sat down with anyone to actually write, if you follow me.

With Elvis, music was virtually all instinct. He knew how a song felt, and how it should progress. Not from a mechanical musical point of view, but from his gut and his heart.

[MojoElvis]

I think, You'll be Gone , was just Elvis' idea and red took it from there. That whole Love me Tender soundtrack credit to me always seemed like BS. Like the Colonel found a way to make more money. I know that Elvis should've gotten a lot more credit for arranging music and songs. Even go as far as calling him a producer. I think he got credit for it on his last two albums.

[KPM]

Does anyone think it strange that for someone who was into music from a very early age Elvis never wrote a song.
Nope I have never found it strange-some people are songwriters and some are not. From the early 20s until the mid 50s songwriters wrote and big pop singers sang them. This was the norm- Frank Sinatra, Crosby, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis etc... did not write. Now blues and country artists wrote back then but rock really issued in the singer/songwriter. Elvis it seems just did not feel the urge to write.