Underrated 60s songs

[ehollier]

As for non-soundtrack songs, I think that the sessions that included "Reconsider Baby", "Little Sister", "Fever", "Such a Night" - really those sessions that were included on albums such as "Elvis is Back" and "Pot Luck"-- were very underrated. It seemed like everyone was buying his soundtrack albums, but the songs that were sung and arranged for non-soundtrack LP's were overlooked. Elvis made absolutely beautiful music following his discharge in 1960-61. He voice had taken on a more mature quality, very smooth and sexy, still playful, but could reach notes that he was not able before he was drafted. Listening to these songs today, I am amazed that this whole period of his recording career failed to garner more interest.

[elvispresleytheking]

Memphis Tennessee
Big Boss Man
Guitar Man

[hounddog]

I Need Somebody to Lean On, You Don't Know Me, The Fairs Moving One, Without Love, Stranger in my own hometown, Come What May,Summer Kisses Winter tears, there are so many that are underestimated

[Wendy56]

Ballads would be:

Almost In Love
Beginner's Luck
Mine
What she's really like :]
Never Ending
Anyone (Could Fall In Love With You)
The sound of your cry

[Wendy56]

No-ballads:

She's a machine
Night Life.

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

I believe that Elvis was a victim of his early success as a rock n roller, the general fan had Elvis pigeon holed and if Elvis didn't rock then the song choice suffered.

There were a whole selection of songs from the 60's that were simply head and shoulders above/better than films they were performed in but cast aside because of the stigma of an "Elvis Movie" For example:-

'In My Way' - Wild In The Country
'I Need Somebody To Lean On' - Viva Las Vegas
'Return To Sender' - Girls, Girls, Girls
'We'll Be Together' - Girls, Girls, Girls
'You Don't Know Me' - Clambake
'What Now, What Next', Where To' - Double Trouble

Or some catchy little numbers like these:-

'I Got Lucky' - Kid Galahad
'Riding The Rainbow' - Kid Galahad
'Stop Look And Listen' - Spinout
'Bossa Nova Baby' - Fun In Acapulco
'You Gotta Stop' - Easy Come, Easy Go
'Viva Las Vegas' - Viva Las Vegas

There were some just plain terrible songs in the movies for instance 'Old MacDonald' and in the same movie you have 'What Now, What Next, Where To' a huge contrast that's for certain.

As big as the Memphis sessions were, there is only a handful of songs that are in the public's conciousness for instance:-

'Suspicious Minds'
'Kentucky Rain'
'In The Ghetto'

There were many more of course...

'Wearin' That Loved-On Look'
'Any Day Now'
'And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind'
'Long Black Limousine'

I guess the list could be endless

[memphis69]

THE MEMPHIS SESSIONS PRODUCED MANY HIDDEN GEMS. I LOVE "A LITTLE BIT OF GREEN", "WITHOUT LOVE", "TRUE LOVE TRAVELS ON A GRAVEL ROAD" & "YOU'LL THINK OF ME". IT'S A PITY THAT MANY MUSIC FANS ARE NOT AWARE OF THESE BRILLIANT RECORDINGS.

[SleepyJack]

Some songs really spring to mind here..... "Reconsider Baby", "I feel so bad", "Down in the alley", "It hurts me"....among countless others.

[Cryogenic]

Some more ...

A couple of beautiful early 60's ballads:

Something Blue
Love Me Tonight

A couple of great movie songs:

Edge Of Reality
Stay Away

A couple of great inspirational pieces:

I Believe In The Man In The Sky
You'll Never Walk Alone

A couple of amazing dressing room jams:

I Got A Woman
When It Rains It Really Pours

[KPM]

I believe that Elvis was a victim of his early success as a rock n roller, the general fan had Elvis pigeon holed and if Elvis didn't rock then the song choice suffered.

There were a whole selection of songs from the 60's that were simply head and shoulders above/better than films they were performed in but cast aside because of the stigma of an "Elvis Movie" For example:-

'In My Way' - Wild In The Country
'I Need Somebody To Lean On' - Viva Las Vegas
'Return To Sender' - Girls, Girls, Girls
'We'll Be Together' - Girls, Girls, Girls
'You Don't Know Me' - Clambake
'What Now, What Next', Where To' - Double Trouble

Or some catchy little numbers like these:-

'I Got Lucky' - Kid Galahad
'Riding The Rainbow' - Kid Galahad
'Stop Look And Listen' - Spinout
'Bossa Nova Baby' - Fun In Acapulco
'You Gotta Stop' - Easy Come, Easy Go
'Viva Las Vegas' - Viva Las Vegas

There were some just plain terrible songs in the movies for instance 'Old MacDonald' and in the same movie you have 'What Now, What Next, Where To' a huge contrast that's for certain.

As big as the Memphis sessions were, there is only a handful of songs that are in the public's conciousness for instance:-

'Suspicious Minds'
'Kentucky Rain'
'In The Ghetto'

There were many more of course...

'Wearin' That Loved-On Look'
'Any Day Now'
'And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind'
'Long Black Limousine'

I guess the list could be endless

Very good point!

[ehollier]

I agree too. Its sort of like that saying "where do you go once you get to the top?" Not each and every song could be a "Heartbreak Hotel" or "That's Alright". I read someone say that Elvis could only invent Rock n' Roll once. However, for all of the underrated songs and gems of the 60's (and 70's for that matter), he was provided with an equal amount of poor recording material, to which he had little choice in recording for those soundtracks.

[Raised on Rock]

Here is a long lonely sixties play list, tracks that in my opinion, deserved more attention back then and so today:

Like a Baby (from the Elvis is Back L.P.)
Fever (from the Elvis is Back L.P.)
Girl Next Door Went Walking (from the Elvis is Back L.P.)
It Feels So Right (from the Elvis is Back L.P. Who says elvis lost the grittiness of his voice after the army?)
Reconsider Baby (same as above)
Doing the Best I Can (from the GI Blues Soundtrack)
King of The Whole Wide World (from the Kid Galahad E.P.)
Home is Where The Heart Is (from the Kid Galahad E.P.)
Follow That Dream (from the same title E.P. My god this should have been a single!)
Night Rider (From the Pot Luck L.P.)
That's Someone You'll Never Forget (From the Pot Luck L.P.)
Memphis Tennessee (From the '63 sessions)
Long Lonely Highway (What a great opener for the album that never came to be)
What'd I Say (From the Viva Las Vegas soundtrack. This R.C. cover is as good as I Got A Woman, but no one seems to give to much attention to it)
I Need Somebody To Lean On (From the Viva Las Vegas Soundtrack)
Catchin´ on Fast (from the Kissin' Cousins Soundtrack)
Tender Feeling (from the Kissin' Cousins Soundtrack)
It Hurts Me (Buried as a B side)
Little Egypt (From the Roustabout Soundtrack)
So Close, Yet So Far (from the Harum Scarum Soundtrack)
Down In the Alley (from the How Great Thou Art sessions)
Tomorrow is a Long Time ( from the How Great Thou Art sessions, this and above released in the Spinout Soundtrack)
Love Letters (from the How Great Thou Art Sessions)
Fools Fall in Love (from the HGTA sessions)
So High (from the HGTA L.P.)
Where Could I Go But To The Lord (from the HGTA L.P.)
Big Boss Man (from the sessions with Jerry Garcia)
Guitar Man (from the sessions with Jerry Red)
Just Call Me Lonesome (from the '67 nashville sessions)
High Heel Sneakers (from the '67 Nashville sessions)
Stranger in My Own Home Town (from the Back in Memphis L.P.)
Power of My Love (from the From Elvis in Memphis L.P.)
My Babe (from the In Person L.P.)
Wearing That Loved on Look (From the From Elvis in Memphis L.P.)
Long Black Limousine (from the FEIM L.P.)
Only The Strong Survive (From the FEIM L.P.)
Without Love (from the Back in Memphis L.P.)

Now, add the Classics and Greatest Hits from the 60's to the above list, plus a few others like some stuff from the NBC special, and tell me, despite the huge cultural impact that rock music and Elvis where to the 50's, does his 60's music (crap aside) is really inferior to his 50's material, really don't think so.

[Wendy56]

Here is a long lonely sixties play list, tracks that in my opinion, deserved more attention back then and so today...

Detailed list. I agree.

[franny]

I Need Somebody to Lean On, You Don't Know Me, The Fairs Moving One, Without Love, Stranger in my own hometown, Come What May,Summer Kisses Winter tears, there are so many that are underestimated

I forgot about Summer Kisses, Winter Tears...Great song! There's so many that are underrated...

franny

[Cryogenic]

I read someone say that Elvis could only invent Rock n' Roll once.

It's more like ............ you can only invent the wheel once.

After that, you can refine it, make it smoother, lighter, improve the traction, candy coat it or whatever, but you can never invent it again.

That's not to say that Elvis "invented" rock 'n' roll, for he didn't. In fact, one of the defining features of rock 'n' roll, at least, to my mind, is its democratic nature. It's a genre of music that literally millions of people have contributed to, one way or another.

Still, the potency of that observation remains. Something as fresh and transcendent as rock 'n' roll is not an everyday occurrence and Elvis leaping out of the void could only happen once. Once we knew his name, we knew his name. We knew he existed. Simple as.

Also -- and this is rarely spoken about (or, at least, in comparison to the "invention" of rock 'n' roll, that is) -- Elvis' vocal phrasing and specific "delivery" of the material, and, in many ways, himself, was totally unique in the 50's. It is not merely that Elvis had a "great voice", whatever the hell that means. The self-effacement, the sudden pangs of energy, the bubbling vocal style ... these are mythical components and they were brilliantly conjured and exploited by their progenitor and master. In a way, I think this is what Lennon meant by, "Before Elvis, there was nothing". Elvis made these features seem inevitable and natural, but still retained them as uniquely his.

Honestly, I'm a massive fan of his tricks and artistry in every decade, but his 50's material is truly out of this world. Put on the likes of "Baby Let's Play House", "Anyplace Is Paradise" and "Don't" and hear a genius at work. His rhythmic gulping, his playfulness, his intimacy, his sheer effrontery ... it's all as fresh and untramelled as ever. In three and something short, short years, he overturned the old order, catalysing the new. The brevity and succinctness of his achievement is still hard to get over. After that, for all I'm a fan, he became a little more "strait-laced" in his vocal approaches. In many ways, you really can draw a line in the sand after he went into the army. That 50's stuff is magic and I'm sure E knew it.

[KPM]

It's more like ............ you can only invent the wheel once.

After that, you can refine it, make it smoother, lighter, improve the traction, candy coat it or whatever, but you can never invent it again.

That's not to say that Elvis "invented" rock 'n' roll, for he didn't. In fact, one of the defining features of rock 'n' roll, at least, to my mind, is its democratic nature. It's a genre of music that literally millions of people have contributed to, one way or another.
Still, the potency of that observation remains. Something as fresh and transcendent as rock 'n' roll is not an everyday occurrence and Elvis leaping out of the void could only happen once. Once we knew his name, we knew his name. We knew he existed. Simple as.

Also -- and this is rarely spoken about (or, at least, in comparison to the "invention" of rock 'n' roll, that is) -- Elvis' vocal phrasing and specific "delivery" of the material, and, in many ways, himself, was totally unique in the 50's. It is not merely that Elvis had a "great voice", whatever the hell that means. The self-effacement, the sudden pangs of energy, the bubbling vocal style ... these are mythical components and they were brilliantly conjured and exploited by their progenitor and master. In a way, I think this is what Lennon meant by, "Before Elvis, there was nothing". Elvis made these features seem inevitable and natural, but still retained them as uniquely his.

Honestly, I'm a massive fan of his tricks and artistry in every decade, but his 50's material is truly out of this world. Put on the likes of "Baby Let's Play House", "Anyplace Is Paradise" and "Don't" and hear a genius at work. His rhythmic gulping, his playfulness, his intimacy, his sheer effrontery ... it's all as fresh and untramelled as ever. In three and something short, short years, he overturned the old order, catalysing the new. The brevity and succinctness of his achievement is still hard to get over. After that, for all I'm a fan, he became a little more "strait-laced" in his vocal approaches. In many ways, you really can draw a line in the sand after he went into the army. That 50's stuff is magic and I'm sure E knew it.

This is true Elvis did not invent rock and roll-many people were combining styles of music and influences-but Elvis having melded differing styles, having the rebel look of "Rock n Roll" with his hair and dress, his spontaneous vocal phrasing and the controversy of his movements-Elvis sold it to the world. Elvis gave the new wave of music "a face and style" that had never been seen and this sold the new medium.

[cbg84]

I have heard that Elvis rendition of the song wasn't inspired by Rodgers and Hammerstein version but more by Roy Hamilton's version of the song.

Still a Rodgers and Hammerstein song and he just imo didn't have to right style of voice to pull of their songs.

[ehollier]

It's more like ............ you can only invent the wheel once.

After that, you can refine it, make it smoother, lighter, improve the traction, candy coat it or whatever, but you can never invent it again.

That's not to say that Elvis "invented" rock 'n' roll, for he didn't. In fact, one of the defining features of rock 'n' roll, at least, to my mind, is its democratic nature. It's a genre of music that literally millions of people have contributed to, one way or another.
...........................................

Cryogenic, you never cease to amaze me with your sophisticated and eloquent posts, and this one is just as excellent as your others. However, I do think you took my remark out of context in my last post. I simply paraphrased "Elvis could only invent rock n' roll once" to imply that not every single song that followed "That's Alright" would be considered as groundbreaking and innovative. I will concede it this was possibly a poor choice of wording.

I never once considered Elvis the sole creator of the music we have come to know as rock n' roll, nor am I unaware that it is a combination of many genres that were simply melded together to create the revolutionary sound that was heard on "That's Alright". Further, I couldn't agree with you more that Elvis was one of many who have contributed to the musical landscape of what is now considered rock n' roll.

But you have made a very excellent point here about his vocal phrasing and delivery. Saying Elvis has a good voice is greatly shortchanging his talent. He has been regarded as a baritone and tenor, simultaneously. For a person with little technical musical understanding, that doesn't really mean that much to me; however, I do know what my ears tell me and the voice is incredible. All of the 'tricks' as they are referred, make up something that is unique and snares the listener immediately.

One only has to listen of the eerie opening lines of "Heartbreak Hotel" to know that this is a special voice, an unusual talent that captures the listener and holds him there until the last notes are sung - the first high notes of the song through the lows, the longing, sadness, grief and sorrow. Its all a wonderful ride and the listener is as wrung out with emotion as the vocalist.

But those first tracks were such incredibly successful ones, having to find and create each successive song and make it as successful was an impossible task. Additionally, once he returned from the military, his competition was not only much different, but crowded as well; the musical sound was changing, his contemporaries - Holly, Lewis, Berry - were no longer making the music that he was hearing before he was drafted; finally, the real crux of the 60's was simply that his career focus also changed and he found himself in a position of making soundtracks which greated limited his choices and quality of material.

[KPM]

I think in some ways Elvis adapted very well out of the Army-Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Darin, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Vee etc..... all were making the charts and their sound was not the "rock n roll" Elvis had been making before 55-58 so the musical landscape had changed.
Elvis shifted to a more pop, more mature, sophisticated style. He wanted to expand his voice beyond rock-beyond pop.
"Elvis is Back" had a little of everything in it-he covered all bases. "Its Now or Never" fit right in to the 1960 pop sound on the charts.
Elvis at 25 may have thought "How long can I be a rock star" This would be understandable since it was still new "fad" and considered youth music which probably would die out.
Of course now the Stones are in their 60s and still rocking hard-but in 1960 at 25 Elvis may have felt "old". The movie soundtracks in a way let him do every conceivable type of music (although this may have helped develope his voice-the material was far from stellar most of the time)

[Cryogenic]

Cryogenic, you never cease to amaze me with your sophisticated and eloquent posts, and this one is just as excellent as your others.

Thank you, ehollier.

However, I do think you took my remark out of context in my last post. I simply paraphrased "Elvis could only invent rock n' roll once" to imply that not every single song that followed "That's Alright" would be considered as groundbreaking and innovative. I will concede it this was possibly a poor choice of wording.

Oh, I know! Don't sweat it. I just took the opportunity to keep the record straight and wax lyrical about some stuff.

But you have made a very excellent point here about his vocal phrasing and delivery. Saying Elvis has a good voice is greatly shortchanging his talent. He has been regarded as a baritone and tenor, simultaneously. For a person with little technical musical understanding, that doesn't really mean that much to me; however, I do know what my ears tell me and the voice is incredible. All of the 'tricks' as they are referred, make up something that is unique and snares the listener immediately.

Touche. Saying Elvis had a good or great voice severely undercuts his musical genius. There's more to his voice, and more to Elvis, than that.

One only has to listen of the eerie opening lines of "Heartbreak Hotel" to know that this is a special voice, an unusual talent that captures the listener and holds him there until the last notes are sung - the first high notes of the song through the lows, the longing, sadness, grief and sorrow. Its all a wonderful ride and the listener is as wrung out with emotion as the vocalist.

Great citation. As John Peel (British DJ) said: Listening to "Heartbreak Hotel" in the 50's was like having a lady dance naked in your living room. It has that simple, yet wholly enrapturing, sensuality to it. And it's all in Elvis' frothy delivery, perfectly executed against a spare backing.

I think in some ways Elvis adapted very well out of the Army-Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Darin, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Vee etc..... all were making the charts and their sound was not the "rock n roll" Elvis had been making before 55-58 so the musical landscape had changed.
Elvis shifted to a more pop, more mature, sophisticated style. He wanted to expand his voice beyond rock-beyond pop.

He was drawing more from that well in the early 60's, yes. But he was also keen, I think, to be seen as a man apart. Songs like "Surrender" and "There's Always Me" are above and beyond what those other singers could do, technically and emotionally. There's a plasticity of expression with Elvis that truly transcends all conventions. One of my personal faves is "Santa Lucia", which is, in my opinion, a gorgeous vocal -- at once sensitive and wistful, subtly enthralling, serenely beautiful. It has little in common with the Mario Lanza rendition, which is the version Elvis was probably most familiar with when he cut his own.

But for all the splendour of the 60's (and the 70's), Elvis had a one-of-a-kind of muse in the 50's that still burns bright and hard. It's an untrained, untainted musical insight that should last for as long as humans have hearts, minds and ears.