A double fault: Films and concerts?

There are many parallels in my eyes between the films and concerts of Elvis.
The films "Loving You", "Jailhouse Rock" and " King Creole " correspond to the
live years 1969/70. An Elvis looking fantastic with a terrific and rock performance.
Good family conversation comes "G. I. Blues ", "Blue Hawaii" and "Follow That
Dream". This reminds me of the live years 1971/72/73. Elvis as a sub-holder
for a wide audience. Handsome and with breadth fit music.

"Frankie And Johnny" and "Paradise, Hawaiian style", then come. For me a
parallel to 1976/77. A stout Elvis with a hairstyle like a wig. The fire is gone and
he does for what he is paid. Of course there are exceptions! The tide turns in
1968/69 and the curve gets Elvis in the films once again. He slimly and handsomely
plays himself by more adult films. Unfortunately, he has not made this in his
concerts any more.

Is the fault films, concerts, been made twice with the eternally same expiry?
What do you mean?

For some reason Elvis seemed to get bored a lot quicker than most artists, and then lacked the direction to get himself out of it.

The boredom began in films-the idea of Elvis the actor got lost and Elvis the singing star in films was found-Elvis by his own admission in interviews never wanted to sing in the films.
The music for the early films was good, Leiber and Stoller wrote many of those songs-then they were thrown out of the loop by Parker.
Elvis then saw the direction his film career was going, by mid 62 he could see his dreams of being an actor were not being taken seriously by Parker Hollywood Producers like Wallis or the critics.....so the movies became mostly musicals with not very interesting music for the bulk of them-he became bored.
His return to live shows was a rebirth, but by 73 that also was becoming stale-the same venues, the same cities, VEGAS it lost its fun and he became bored.
Recording is the one which I do not understand-why he began to hate recording-my only answer would be it also became a bore-tedious, perhaps he felt it was unimportant for a time compare to his quest for the "WHYS of life"???

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KPM

The boredom began in films-the idea of Elvis the actor got lost and Elvis the singing star in films was found-Elvis by his own admission in interviews never wanted to sing in the films.
The music for the early films was good, Leiber and Stoller wrote many of those songs-then they were thrown out of the loop by Parker.
Elvis then saw the direction his film career was going, by mid 62 he could see his dreams of being an actor were not being taken seriously by Parker Hollywood Producers like Wallis or the critics.....so the movies became mostly musicals with not very interesting music for the bulk of them-he became bored.
His return to live shows was a rebirth, but by 73 that also was becoming stale-the same venues, the same cities, VEGAS it lost its fun and he became bored.
Recording is the one which I do not understand-why he began to hate recording-my only answer would be it also became a bore-tedious, perhaps he felt it was unimportant for a time compare to his quest for the "WHYS of life"???

---

Although I don't remember all the finer details of the situation, basically Elvis was limited to picking songs from certain publishing houses that The Colonel had the best deals set up with. In other words, The Colonel didn't want Elvis recording songs unless The Colonel could get the biggest piece of the publishing rights to. So because of this (which I honestly don't think Elvis was aware of), only certain songs could get to Elvis...so basically he was limited to what was available to him to record. It must have been so depressing that he was Elvis -- "The King of Rock N' Roll" -- and he wasn't being offered the cream of the crop in terms of songs to record. (n)

So my guess is, Elvis' increasing boredom with recording stems mainly from what was being offered to him to record, not the recording process itself... :hmm:

TCB!
Mike

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jungleroom76

Although I don't remember all the finer details of the situation, basically Elvis was limited to picking songs from certain publishing houses that The Colonel had the best deals set up with. In other words, The Colonel didn't want Elvis recording songs unless The Colonel could get the biggest piece of the publishing rights to. So because of this (which I honestly don't think Elvis was aware of), only certain songs could get to Elvis...so basically he was limited to what was available to him to record. It must have been so depressing that he was Elvis -- "The King of Rock N' Roll" -- and he wasn't being offered the cream of the crop in terms of songs to record. (n)

So my guess is, Elvis' increasing boredom with recording stems mainly from what was being offered to him to record, not the recording process itself... :hmm:

TCB!
Mike

---

You have it basically correct-but Elvis was aware of it and was told it was good for everyone involved-which was true in the 1950s but when people began recording their own songs in the 60s it was no longer smart nor fair.
Elvis mentions in a recording I have-it may be the Million Dollar Quartet or a home recording from Eddie Fadals home I do not recall exaclty-that Faron Young a country singer songwriter sent him a demo for a song and Elvis did not record it-because "Faron would not give him a piece of it"
In 1956 Elvis was the biggest thing music had ever seen and Parker knew he could dictate terms to songwriters but not after 1962, the policy was outdated but Colonel held on tight.... not understanding the difference between "No Room to Rhumba In A Sportscar" and "Jailhouse Rock"
Elvis in the late 60s began to break from this condition but not totally...still the 70s he did branch out to much better material-just 10 years too late.
IMO-Parker set the tone in 1956-and because Elvis trusted and respected his opinion and choices-it carried into his whole career.
Shadows of doubt reinforced by Parker over time kept Elvis attached to Parkers way of doing business-such a shame.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KPM

You have it basically correct-but Elvis was aware of it and was told it was good for everyone involved-which was true in the 1950s but when people began recording their own songs in the 60s it was no longer smart nor fair.
Elvis mentions in a recording I have-it may be the Million Dollar Quartet or a home recording from Eddie Fadals home I do not recall exaclty-that Faron Young a country singer songwriter sent him a demo for a song and Elvis did not record it-because "Faron would not give him a piece of it"
In 1956 Elvis was the biggest thing music had ever seen and Parker knew he could dictate terms to songwriters but not after 1962, the policy was outdated but Colonel held on tight.... not understanding the difference between "No Room to Rhumba In A Sportscar" and "Jailhouse Rock"
Elvis in the late 60s began to break from this condition but not totally...still the 70s he did branch out to much better material-just 10 years too late.
IMO-Parker set the tone in 1956-and because Elvis trusted and respected his opinion and choices-it carried into his whole career.
Shadows of doubt reinforced by Parker over time kept Elvis attached to Parkers way of doing business-such a shame.

---

It was the Million Dollar Quartet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KPM

You have it basically correct-but Elvis was aware of it and was told it was good for everyone involved-which was true in the 1950s but when people began recording their own songs in the 60s it was no longer smart nor fair.
Elvis mentions in a recording I have-it may be the Million Dollar Quartet or a home recording from Eddie Fadals home I do not recall exaclty-that Faron Young a country singer songwriter sent him a demo for a song and Elvis did not record it-because "Faron would not give him a piece of it"
In 1956 Elvis was the biggest thing music had ever seen and Parker knew he could dictate terms to songwriters but not after 1962, the policy was outdated but Colonel held on tight.... not understanding the difference between "No Room to Rhumba In A Sportscar" and "Jailhouse Rock"
Elvis in the late 60s began to break from this condition but not totally...still the 70s he did branch out to much better material-just 10 years too late.
IMO-Parker set the tone in 1956-and because Elvis trusted and respected his opinion and choices-it carried into his whole career.
Shadows of doubt reinforced by Parker over time kept Elvis attached to Parkers way of doing business-such a shame.

---

Thank you for the additional information....I didn't realize Elvis was aware of the entire agreement... :doh:

You're right though...just like everything else with The Colonel...by the middle to later portion of Elvis' career, The Colonel's methods of doing things were antiquated and because he wasn't willing to change his way of doing things, Elvis' career suffered.... (n)

TCB!
Mike

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by King Of The Whole World

It was the Million Dollar Quartet.

---

Thanks for recalling where it was from "exactly" I many times recall the basic fact-but not where I heard or read it.
Much apprectiated.

Great post and replies.

Elvis acts naive not to this arrangement itself but to the extent of its effect on his career at the MSG press conference. However it's possibly not naivete and more being somewhat in denial about its detriment to his career, not being sure how to remedy it short of getting rid of the Colonel.

According to Marty Lacker, he spelled it out plainly to Elvis at the American sessions three years prior to that, prompting Elvis to lay down the law to all present about getting good songs to him regardless of the songwriters' affiliations or willingness to split royalties or whatever. This edict, if effective for a spell, was not followed or enforced for long...sadly.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lonniebealestreet

Great post and replies.

Elvis acts naive not to this arrangement itself but to the extent of its effect on his career at the MSG press conference. However it's possibly not naivete and more being somewhat in denial about its detriment to his career, not being sure how to remedy it short of getting rid of the Colonel.

According to Marty Lacker, he spelled it out plainly to Elvis at the American sessions three years prior to that, prompting Elvis to lay down the law to all present about getting good songs to him regardless of the songwriters' affiliations or willingness to split royalties or whatever. This edict, if effective for a spell, was not followed or enforced for long...sadly.

---

I think denial... and possibly fear to admit-that the Colonel had been wrong on this issue from the start and Elvis had listened.
To admit Parker was wrong-was to admit Elvis had been hoodwinked on this issue-if he was hoodwinked on this issue he may then have to ask himself how many other things has Parker been wrong about and how many times have I been hoodwinked by him?

Rake many thanks for your participation in my thread.

I also think that Elvis needed any challenge to accumulate to the top form.
Sam Phillips, Steve Binder and Chips Moman have demanded him correctly.
They were the boss in the studio and have said what they claim to have.
Felton Jarvis has had Elvis made.

Please do not misunderstand me. He has always had slap-up songs. One finds
his favorite song every year. But we surely agree, so historically, he was never
important again like 1954/55 and 1968/69.