Reply With QuoteA co-worker of mine mentioned that Elvis did have a music sheet to the song MY Way for the Aloha Show. He said that it was on a nearby music stand.
He performed the song over 100 times on stage, so I'm sure he knew the lyrics. I'm guessing there was some sort of inside joke going on or just his ego that led him to always say " I don't know the words, so I have to read it. I hope you don't mind". The obvious exception was when he sang it on both the Aloha shows. Any ideas? The majority of the versions I have heard where he uses the lyric sheet are from 76-77. Maybe he just had a mental block. Watching EIC it seemed he only had trouble remembering the first verse. Haven't heard a lot of version before 76-77. So I am not sure if this was commonly done throughout all his tours during the 70's or just the last few years.
Last edited by Steamroller Blues; 03-10-2012 at 10:37 PM.
A co-worker of mine mentioned that Elvis did have a music sheet to the song MY Way for the Aloha Show. He said that it was on a nearby music stand.
if you watch, he keeps looking downwards towards the stool
"NO-ONE, BUT NO-ONE,IS HIS EQUAL, OR EVER WILL BE. HE WAS, AND IS SUPREME".Mick Jagger
I think it was a bit of a security blanket
Could also have had somebody in the audience holding lyrics boards. He has somebody during the rehearsal segments of Aloha and you can clearly see somebody during the 68 Special. I would think that this was standard for any artist filming live shows as the producers couldn't afford a screw up. I agree that he had a mental block when it came to certain songs, Burning Love is another example. We forgive him though!
After doing a bit of searching I found out that he did read the lyrics from cue cards during the Aloha special. But probably only for specific songs.
http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/revi...m_hawaii.shtml
You can see from some of the camera angles on Aloha that there was a person holding a cue card. I agree you can also see him looking at the stool by Charlie where he is reading the lyrics.
Love Elvis...The Greatest
RIP Tommy
He also did that for I Just Can't Help Believing in TTWII
I never looked for trouble but I never ran.
It was a security blanket.
Nowadays many artists have screens with the lyrics on auto-cue on stage.
I think all medication and nerves (of which he admitted he had them all the times) also had quite some impact on his memory and alertness
"A year from now, you'll wish you had started today"
Follow TCB-World on Twitter for website updates and Elvisnews: http://twitter.com/tcbworldcom
And right at the moment when he wants to announce My Way, the 1977 CBS version, Charlie Hodge has to remind him of the title at the time. You can hear that when you listen carefully.
And most of the time he doesn't even look at the lyric sheet during singing, probably he used it, just as mentioned, to be sure he didn't mess up at the beginning.
Last edited by Sonny; 03-12-2012 at 09:27 AM.
Elvis was often praised for memorising melodies and lyrics almost instantly. But sometimes a song for some reason suddenly was hard to remember. And throughout his career he would have troubles with that song. Just look at TTWII with (I believe) 'I Just Can't Help Believin' or 'Burning Love' (On Tour). It could very well be that 'My Way' was one of those songs. He probably didn't really need the sheets, but he obviously never was at ease with it.
"A year from now, you'll wish you had started today"
Follow TCB-World on Twitter for website updates and Elvisnews: http://twitter.com/tcbworldcom
Its true..I went to many concerts and One performer i knew would look down while he sang ( once awhile ) was Andy WIlliams,... i realized they planted a monitor of Lyrics under the stage :=) which was cool plus he was old,...so he might have some memory lost,... For Elvis I agree with Albert I think the meds caused Elvis loss some of his memories... he even said on his last concert for CBS that he forgot the lyrics and he hoped the audience didnt mind him read through it.Originally Posted by Albert
in one of the talking segments of his documentary, he talks about having difficulty with a certain song, and he always stated that he suffered from stage fright - it was what kept him on his toes. But sometimes, I think he carried the sheet music not just to sing the lyrics but because it made the audience laugh. IMO, it was a guaranteed successful joke
Just pretend, I'm holding you, and whispering things soft and low.
And think of me, how it's gonna be and just pretend I didn't go
Was listening to a an interview with Darlene Love, she had mentioned that while she sang live on shows that she would perform on TV with the Blossoms in the 60's, they always had cue cards, just in case they were unsure or forget an upcoming lyric.
After recording hundreds of songs in a lifetime anybody could forget lyrics to a song. I think Elvis did very well in not needing help with lyrics to other songs, he recorded 750 something songs so using a lyric sheet for 3 or 4 songs is a good ratio.
Love Elvis...The Greatest
RIP Tommy
Elvis struggled with some of his earlier material in later years, I suppose the expectation was that Elvis would remember all of his songs word for word, which to be perfectly honest would be insane lol. I suppose in reality we the fans would listen to his records hundreds if not thousands of times more than Elvis actually would.
There are other reasons too that Elvis would forget the lyrics, I suppose if he didn't like a song he wouldn't sing them at home or rehearse them and then there are the occasions where Elvis would screw up the lyrics to get a laugh out of the audience or joke with the band.
As for My Way, perhaps it was one of those songs that just wouldn't commit to memory for Elvis and the lyric sheet was the safety blanket that helped him through the first verse.
absolutely......let's give the guy a break eh?
i agree debtdbruno
I never looked for trouble but I never ran.
In the case of "Burning Love," it could be because -- as I read not long ago, to my surprise -- Elvis didn't really like the song to begin with and, as a consequence, may have had a mental block when it came to memorizing that song's lyrics. If it is indeed true that Elvis didn't care for "Burning Love" I find that quite ironic, as I consider it to have been one of his last great and genuine rockers.
Posting Permissions
