Elvis's 40 Year Reign (1976-Tomorrow)

“Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall” is a song about crying. So…not exactly a rousing start. It earns points for the catchy wordplay (“bitter” instead of “bigger”) but overall it’s too plodding to stir up any strong feelings. Elvis reaches for some big notes but he mostly fails to nail them, instead, relying on the harmony vocals to cover him. As the first song recorded in the Jungle Room, it shows the strength and weaknesses of the set-up. The microphone quality is substandard with quite a bit of reverberation and echo on the vocals, but Elvis’s backing vocalists probably hadn’t been that nicely-mixed since the 1969 American Sounds session.

“She Thinks I Still Care” is a country music staple that’s been recorded by everyone from Jerry Lee Lewis, to Merle Haggard, to George Jones (who took it to #1 in 1962). There wasn’t much to be done to modernize it, nor was Elvis in much of a mood to play around with it. Several takes were recorded, and the second is the most lively. It has a pleasant, moderate tempo and Elvis’s vocals are strong. It was not the master, however. The master was slowed down and stripped down considerably. It’s a far worse take and it’s baffling as to why it was chosen, especially when so much of the rest of the session was somber and dreary.

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“The Last Farewell” is easily either the worst or the second-worst recording of the session, depending on how much you can stomach “Solitaire.” First of all, the lyrics, which describe a sailor leaving his beloved on a ship bound for England, are sung against an overly-shmaltzy, terribly-overproduced arrangement, with strings and horns playing something more befitting the Yellow Submarine cartoon than an Elvis record. It drones on and on for four agonizing minutes and when it’s over you’ll have already forgotten it.

And then there’s “Solitaire,” a song Elvis recorded as a favor to his dad who loved the Neil Sedaka original. For nearly five minutes Elvis laments his lot in life in a slow and pathetic version of a song that was already slow and pathetic enough. Much like “My Way” reached through the speakers and grabbed hold of Elvis’s thoughts of career-accomplishment, “Solitaire” also captivated the singer as a musical autobiography of his isolation. I’m sure some hear the song and think of tragedy, but really it’s just a pity party. Elvis and the band worked on the song for the entire second night of the session and failed to improve on the first complete recording in any way.

“Moody Blue” was a revelation, however. Yes, the drumbeat is very “disco” but that was what was dominating the radio, so it was smart for Elvis to give it a try. The lyrics are catchy—written by “Suspicious Minds” scribe Mark James—the energy is fun, and unlike most everything else recorded in the Jungle Room, it felt like it could be a hit. RCA certainly thought so, as they held the song off the album and released it as the second single from the session. It only reached #31 on the Hot100 but it did top the Country Charts, his first “country” number-one since “Jailhouse Rock” topped everything (Hot100, Country and R&B) in 1957. It was also his first single to top any chart since “My Boy” hit number-one on the Adult Contemporary board in early 1975. Clearly it was a winner, but unfortunately, it was also the exception to the rule. Only one other song would come close to replicating its fun…

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…and it sure wasn’t “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again.” The song was a hit for Tom Jones almost a decade before, but it has to have the most unsubtle, “sad sack” title ever conceived. Tom Jones made it famous, and sang the melodrama with tongue firmly in cheek. Jones sings the like it’s an exaggeration; of course he’ll fall in love again, it just doesn’t feel like it is all. That’s not Elvis’s take on the song; he sings it straight, like this is the end and if he’s going to go down, he’s going down crying. It’s sad, but not necessarily moving.

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“For the Heart” is the only other up-tempo song Elvis attempted for the week. Written by Dennis Linde, who gave Elvis big hits and fun rockers in the past (“Burning’ Love,” “There’s a Feelin’ in My Body”), the song wasn’t new (Teressa Brewer released the first version in 1975) but Elvis’s take was much more rock and roll inspired, as opposed to Brewer’s straight country style. Listening to the multiple takes it’s interesting to hear how Elvis’s confidence grew as he practiced it. The first take is slow and almost sleepy while the next is very much R&B flavored. After that, they figured out how to approach it, and it only took a couple more takes to nail the final version. Elvis tears into the melody and everyone in the band gets a spotlight; it may not be as easily-recalled as “Burning Love” or “Promised Land” (or “Moody Blue” for that matter), but it’s one of the better rockers of the decade for the king.

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“Hurt” may be yet another ballad in a session overstuffed with them, but this one at least had some commercial appeal. It was another old song that Elvis wanted to tackle, this one dating back to 1954. Interestingly, the song was as old as Elvis’s recording career; even though Elvis was far from the eager young singer he had been, there’s something magical about this recording that is reminiscent of some of his early hits like “Anyway You Want Me” or “Don’t Ask Me Why.” RCA was smart to select this as his first single to release from the session. It was paired with “For the Heart” and it would reach #28, besting either single released from the 1975 recordings.

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MidNight

2 years ago

I still remember his version of Oh Danny Boy. It’s beautiful beyond words. An eternal proof of the talent he has despite everything negative going on in his life. When I think about the songs he could’ve produced had he received the appropriate medical help, I can’t help but tearing up a bit.

Lone Wolf

My parents are big Elvis fans so I grew up listening to him. What an awesome walk through the last few years of his life and career. It is too bad he could not control his demons because there was still music left in him.

KeeperofUnicorns

Wow, what a well written piece Matthew Martin! I didn’t realize that Elvis was going broke and had sold his back- catalog to RCA for a little under 6 million. I wonder what it would sell for today.

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