Elvis Presley & 'MacArthur Park'

[presley31]

Jimmy Webb the celebrated songwriter of such classics as MacArthur Park, Galveston, Wichita Lineman, Up, Up and Away, The Highwayman, and Didn't We recently talked about Elvis Presley's love for MacArthur Park and how the King came to not record the song.

'He loved MacArthur Park, Webb said of Presley. 'I don't say that to brag. It's been documented. I have a tape of him singing it'. 'At that time, though, I wanted to get a song done by Elvis Presley'.

'But as I was leaving after meeting with Elvis, (Presley's manager) Col. (Tom) Parker followed me to the door and said, 'I guess we won't be seeing you here again'. I said, 'Oh, really?'

Parker wanted only songs to which he could get full publishing rights, and as Webb said, 'I didn't need Elvis to record MacArthur Park. It was already a number one hit. Col. Parker was a crude man'.



2009/07/11 By Jeff Piorkowski - Sun News - www.elvis.com.au / www.epgold.com

[franny]

It doesn't sound like too many people liked Col Parker lol...
Thanks, for posting Jen.

franny

[Brian]

I don't believe this story

You have Elvis singing a part of this song during the 68 special after it had already been a hit for Richard Harris.
If Elvis wanted to record the song in the studio publishing wouldn't of been an issue.

[utmom2008]

You have Elvis singing a part of this song during the 68 special after it had already been a hit for Richard Harris.

It sounds as though he is making fun of it with the few lines that he does sing......

[presley31]

It doesn't sound like too many people liked Col Parker lol...
Thanks, for posting Jen.

franny

Your welcome franny.

[hounddog]

I'd like to hear the tape, that would be great.

[Brian]

I'd like to hear the tape, that would be great.

Jimmy Webb means he has Elvis singing a few lines of the song from the 68 special on tape.

[Getlo]

If Elvis wanted to record the song in the studio publishing wouldn't of been an issue.

Incorrect.

Parker always wanted full rights; Webb, sensibly, didn't want to give them up for this track.

Just like Dolly Parton with I Will Always Love You.

Elvis probably lost dozens of songs because of Parker's methods.

[Brian]

Incorrect.

Parker always wanted full rights; Webb, sensibly, didn't want to give them up for this track.

Just like Dolly Parton with I Will Always Love You.

Elvis probably lost dozens of songs because of Parker's methods.

That's not what I mean

I don't believe the story

Once the song had been a hit for Richard Harris Elvis didn't need any of the publishing for the song besides sometimes Elvis cut songs he couldn't get a piece of the publishing on anyway.
The way Webb tells the story it seems like he was saying Elvis wanted to record MacArthur Park but then says he didn't need him to record it because the song had already went to #1 by Richard Harris.
Once a song had already been a hit for another artist Elvis could cover any song he wished.

The story about I will always love you

I don't believe either Dolly Parton already wrote and had a country hit with it in 1974 Elvis became aware of it after he heard her on the radio singing the song
If he wanted to record it it most likely would've been done on stage or for inclusion on the Today album.
I believe Elvis simply lost interest in covering the song.

[debtdbruno]

I can't imagine Elvis losing interest in a song called 'I will always love you', given the melancoly (sp) songs he liked after Cilla left.
This would have been a perfect 'tribute' song to her that his frame of mind liked.

[LuckyJackson]

He would sing it to his fans, more than Cilla LOL!

[KPM]

That's not what I mean

I don't believe the story

Once the song had been a hit for Richard Harris Elvis didn't need any of the publishing for the song besides sometimes Elvis cut songs he couldn't get a piece of the publishing on anyway.
The way Webb tells the story it seems like he was saying Elvis wanted to record MacArthur Park but then says he didn't need him to record it because the song had already went to #1 by Richard Harris.
Once a song had already been a hit for another artist Elvis could cover any song he wished.

The story about I will always love you

I don't believe either Dolly Parton already wrote and had a country hit with it in 1974 Elvis became aware of it after he heard her on the radio singing the song
If he wanted to record it it most likely would've been done on stage or for inclusion on the Today album.
I believe Elvis simply lost interest in covering the song.

Well I see no reason for Dolly Parton to make this up-she does not need to pad her resume she has had songs recorded by many big stars not to mention her own success as a performer going back to her days with Porter Waggoner.
She has always been a pretty "open honest and get right to it" type of person-so I have no reason to doubt what she is on record as saying.
But I guess Elvis could have lost interest in the song-having to fight to get permission to do something gets old especially if you have done it for most of your career-so he may have just said "the he77 with it". That I can understand.

[Brian]

Well I see no reason for Dolly Parton to make this up-she does not need to pad her resume she has had songs recorded by many big stars not to mention her own success as a performer going back to her days with Porter Waggoner.
She has always been a pretty "open honest and get right to it" type of person-so I have no reason to doubt what she is on record as saying.
But I guess Elvis could have lost interest in the song-having to fight to get permission to do something gets old especially if you have done it for most of your career-so he may have just said "the he77 with it". That I can understand.

Elvis didn't need permission to record I will Always love you

Did Elvis get Billy Swan's permission to record ''I can Help'' for the today album

Did Elvis get permission from Curly Putnam to record Green Green Grass of home for the Today album.

Did Elvis have to get Baker Knight's permission to record and release The Wonder of You as a single.

Did Elvis get permission from Ray Charles to record and release What'd I say.

Did Elvis get permission from Chuck Berry to record and release Promised Land as a single.

Did Elvis have to get Mann and Weil's permission to sing ''You've lost that loving feeling'' on stage

Did Elvis have to get permission from the Bee Gees to do Words on stage.

The list goes on and on their are holes all in Dolly Parton's story

You have to try a lot harder than that to pull the wool over my eyes.

[presley31]

Well I see no reason for Dolly Parton to make this up-she does not need to pad her resume she has had songs recorded by many big stars not to mention her own success as a performer going back to her days with Porter Waggoner.
She has always been a pretty "open honest and get right to it" type of person-so I have no reason to doubt what she is on record as saying.
But I guess Elvis could have lost interest in the song-having to fight to get permission to do something gets old especially if you have done it for most of your career-so he may have just said "the he77 with it". That I can understand.

Agreed KPM and there is a thread here about Dolly talking about that song l will always love you.

[presley31]

Dolly wasn't parton with hit song
By: Joan McGurk


Dolly Parton knocked back advances from Elvis Presley's people to record one of her most famous songs, I Will Always Love You.
Dolly turned down the tempting offer after discovering that she would have to sign over half of the publishing rights for the song.

The big-hearted little lady from Smoky Mountain, Tennessee stood up to Presley's management and put the welfare of her family ahead of fame and fortune with Elvis.

She remembered: 'Elvis loved I Will Always Love You and wanted to record it. I got the word that he was going to record it and I was so excited'.

But her dream date with Elvis was abruptly cancelled after Presley's formidable manager, 'Colonel' Tom Parker demanded that she sign over 50pc of the publishing royalties to them.

Said Dolly: 'I was really quiet. I said, 'well, now it's already been a hit (for me). I wrote it and I've already published it. And this is the stuff I'm leaving for my family, when I'm dead and gone.

''That money goes in for stuff for my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews. So I can't give up half the publishing'. And he said, 'well then, we can't record it''.

More than 30 years later, Dolly's mixture of emotions about what could have been, is always on her mind.

Added the 61-year-old writer of more than 3,000 songs: 'I cried all night. Other people were saying, 'you're nuts. It's Elvis Presley. I mean, hell, I'd give him all of it'.

'I said, 'I can't do that. Something in my heart says don't do that'. And I just didn't do it and they didn't do it.

'But I always wondered what it would sound like. I know he'd kill it. But anyway, so he didn't. Then, when Whitney (Houston's version) came out, I made enough money to buy Graceland!' she laughed.

Dolly's decision to retain complete ownership of that song turned out to be one the wisest moves she ever made.

She has enjoyed major chart success with it three times, while Houston's version is the biggest selling single of all time by a female artist - earning Parton more than $$6m.

In a strange twist of fate, Ulster audiences may be set to hear what a Parton/Presley duet of I Will Always Love You sounds like. For Dolly sang the song with an Elvis impersonator at a London gig last week!

source:
http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/news/dolly_parton.shtml

[TCB4ELVIS]

That's not what I mean

I don't believe the story

Once the song had been a hit for Richard Harris Elvis didn't need any of the publishing for the song besides sometimes Elvis cut songs he couldn't get a piece of the publishing on anyway.
The way Webb tells the story it seems like he was saying Elvis wanted to record MacArthur Park but then says he didn't need him to record it because the song had already went to #1 by Richard Harris.
Once a song had already been a hit for another artist Elvis could cover any song he wished.

The story about I will always love you

I don't believe either Dolly Parton already wrote and had a country hit with it in 1974 Elvis became aware of it after he heard her on the radio singing the song
If he wanted to record it it most likely would've been done on stage or for inclusion on the Today album.
I believe Elvis simply lost interest in covering the song.

Colonel's biggest scam was the publishing rights. Read Alanna Nash's book, "The Colonel". Elvis didn't record everything he wanted. If it wasn't for, Marty Lacker, Red West & Lamar Fike we wouldn't of had a lot of great songs Elvis recorded.
Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the song, "If I Can Dream", the first song that slipped through The Colonel with publishing rights? They also had to convince Mac Davis to give up half of his publishing rights for, "In The Ghetto".
There is all kind of stories from 68 and on where the body guards and even the backup singers sometimes would tell the song writers to don't say anything about the publishing rights until Elvis is done recording it.
That way if Elvis liked the way it came out he would have fought to have it released. "Suspicious Minds" was another one Elvis had to fight for.

In the 70's Elvis did pretty much what he wanted but that didn't mean RCA would release what he recorded. It was ridiculous how whenever Jarvis was recording live a performances, he sometimes would stop recording cause he knew they didn't have rights to release the songs.

I believe that this issue was one of the main reasons Elvis got turned off to the music industry. Elvis didn't care what it cost to record a song he believed in but the business end of it I believed turned him off.

in 1972 at the MSG press Conference he's quoted as saying, "I'll take any song from any artist" But in the same press Conference he said, "it's hard to find good songs cause the artist's form their own publishing companies and record them themselves"
so that story about 'MacAuthur Park might be true

Clips of Alanna Nash's book on the link below.

http://books.google.com/books?id=2-H...esult&resnum=1

[Brian]

Colonel's biggest scam was the publishing rights. Read Alanna Nash's book, "The Colonel". Elvis didn't record everything he wanted. If it wasn't for, Marty Lacker, Red West & Lamar Fike we wouldn't of had a lot of great songs Elvis recorded.
Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the song, "If I Can Dream", the first song that slipped through The Colonel with publishing rights? They also had to convince Mac Davis to give up half of his publishing rights for, "In The Ghetto".
There is all kind of stories from 68 and on where the body guards and even the backup singers sometimes would tell the song writers to don't say anything about the publishing rights until Elvis is done recording it.
That way if Elvis liked the way it came out he would have fought to have it released. "Suspicious Minds" was another one Elvis had to fight for.

In the 70's Elvis did pretty much what he wanted but that didn't mean RCA would release what he recorded. It was ridiculous how whenever Jarvis was recording live a performances, he sometimes would stop recording cause he knew they didn't have rights to release the songs.

I believe that this issue was one of the main reasons Elvis got turned off to the music industry. Elvis didn't care what it cost to record a song he believed in but the business end of it I believed turned him off.

in 1972 at the MSG press Conference he's quoted as saying, "I'll take any song from any artist" But in the same press Conference he said, "it's hard to find good songs cause the artist's form their own publishing companies and record them themselves"
so that story about 'MacAuthur Park might be true

Clips of Alanna Nash's book on the link below.

http://books.google.com/books?id=2-H...esult&resnum=1

I have read those books

You still don't get what i'm saying

If I can Dream and In the Ghetto were brand new songs and oh by the way Elvis recording both of those songs anyway.

Elvis didn't need publishing rights to cover songs that had already been hits.

[TCB4ELVIS]

I would like add a Warning for the book, "The Colonel" by Alanna Nash..lol

If you think you don't like the Colonel now, after you're done reading it, I promise you, You'll detest and hate him. I know hate is a strong word but I was literately getting sick reading about how he split all the movie & publishing rights with his friends and Elvis would end up with only 10-20%. Then he convinces Elvis to sell the whole Elvis catalog from 1954-1973 to RCA for 5.4 million dollars. After 1973 Elvis didn't get a penny from publishing rights from his prior recordings. It's no wonder he didn't step foot in the recording studio in 1974.

http://books.google.com/books?id=2-H...esult&resnum=1

[TCB4ELVIS]

I have read those books

You still don't get what i'm saying

If I can Dream and In the Ghetto were brand new songs and oh by the way Elvis recording both of those songs anyway.

Elvis didn't need publishing rights to cover songs that had already been hits.

So then the issue you're talking about is, paying the writers to use them. Then that means Elvis had to pay per unit he had copied/sold after he recorded it. So if they printed a million copies to sell then that meant Elvis had to pay, I think back then it was anywhere from $10-50 dollars every 500 copies.

[hounddog]

"Jimmy Webb means he has Elvis singing a few lines of the song from the 68 special on tape."

Then we've all go that version. I guess i read more into his statement, i figured he like a complete or near complete version.