TCBCast 145: Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Release Date: 12/22/2020
TCBCast 417: The Ups & Downs Of Elvis Fandom + Our Favorite Elvis Movie Lists
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Gurdip joins Justin this week for a more unusually meta conversion, pondering how their Elvis fandom has waxed and waned over the years, how doing TCBCast has sustained and grown their interest in Elvis' life and career, how the internet has changed the way fans interact with each other, challenges that can make fandoms (of all types, of any interest) frustrating, and how to get back into the groove and nourish your appreciation and curiosity for learning about the subjects you love most. Plus, the guys catch up on a bunch of wonderful listener emails prompting interesting discussions about...
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TCBCast 416: Our Favorite Doo-Wop-Inspired Elvis Recordings
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
TCBCast's resident doo-wop king, Gurdip Ladhar, has been lured from hiding with the promise of getting to discuss Elvis' finest doo-wop-inspired records, as Gurdip, Bec and Justin discuss their top 5 each and ponder whether or not Elvis' cross-genre habits can be neatly put inside the boundaries of what was less of a genre and more a retrospective label applied to describe common fads in songwriting and arrangements for vocal groups within rhythm & blues and pop music that converged most prominently and popularly in the 1950s-1960s. For Song of the Week, Bec builds a "House of Sand,"...
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TCBCast 415: Revisiting "Live A Little, Love A Little" Part 2
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Olivia, Ryan, Bec & Justin continue their exploration of 1968's "Live A Little, Love A Little" discussing the final act or so of the film, including the musical sequences "A Little Less Conversation" and "Almost in Love," as well as digging more into the major differences between the novel it as based on, "Kiss My Firm But Pliant Lips." Where in the film we see Elvis' juggling two jobs as photographer, in the novel, the equivalent protagonist is trying to juggle two jobs and two women, and the gang weighs the climax of the novel where it all comes to a head with the adaptation's more...
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TCBCast 414: Revisiting Live A Little, Love A Little (1968), Part 1
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
As selected by TCBCast's patrons as the next movie starring Elvis to review, the gang is gathered to talk about what is, coincidentally, Olivia's favorite Elvis movie: "Live A Little, Love A Little." While Justin and Gurdip had previously done an episode all the way back in 2018 about the film, this time around we've got Ryan, Bec, Olivia and Justin all on board to talk about re-experiencing the film in 2026, with added context as Olivia has also picked up a copy of the Dan Greenburg novel the film is adapted from, "Kiss My Firm But Pliant Lips." We discuss co-star Michele Carey, the stacked...
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TCBCast 413: Elvis' 1976 Bicentennial Show
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Justin is joined for this episode by Ryan Droste, who, hearing the call of duty as TCBCast's American-history-teacher-in-chief, swung by to discuss Elvis' Independence Day concerts; briefly the 1955 and 1956 performances early in his career, but primarily the July 4, 1976, show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, celebrating America's 200th anniversary. Fifty years later, on America's semi-quincentennial, the guys revisit the soundboard recording, as heard on FTD's 2017 release The Bicentennial Show. Staying on theme, the duo's Songs of the Week highlight America as well: Ryan's pick of "Hawaiian Sunset" from...
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TCBCast 412: Was '61-'64 Elvis Stagnant? A Spirited Debate (feat. John Heath)
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Inspired by a listener email, Justin and John Heath (of EAP Society and Atomic Wax) got into a vigorous debate over whether Elvis's musical output in the years following his return from the US Army were creatively stagnant, or a different sort of ambition, with Elvis intentionally exploring new sounds and styles, finally trying to marry the country, blues and rock and roll he had already mastered with traditional pop stylings he had aspirations toward but not perfected during the 1950s. Across hit singles and albums like "Something for Everybody," "Pot Luck," and the "lost" album from the 1963...
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TCBCast 411: Elvis' "Secret" Germany Home Recordings, Part 2
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Bec & Justin continue their exploration through Elvis' creative journey during his military service. The piano-driven tracks on Elvis' 1958-59 home recordings from Germany notably feature much heavier distortion due to the tape recorder likely having been set either on or directly next to the piano, which Elvis plays heavy-handedly, but they remaing intriguing listens. While Elvis backs off from gospel, we instead hear him now exploring further ideas for his upcoming albums and singles, such as the operatic "There's No Tomorrow," the underlying public domain melody of which would...
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TCBCast 410: Elvis' "Secret" Germany Home Recordings (Part 1)
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Across this episode and the next, Justin and Bec are taking an extensive look at Elvis' home recordings made during his time in the US Army while serving in Germany. Though none of them surfaced until after his death, as we learned from "The Colonel & The King" last year, Elvis was explicitly encouraged by his manager to record material at home in secret. Excerpts from the tapes have appeared on such releases as A Legendary Performer Vol. 4, A Golden Celebration, Home Recordings, and Memphis Recording Services' "Made in Germany" - and by sheer coincidence, on the day we recorded the...
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TCBCast 409: King Creole: The Soundtrack & Sessions
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
This week, we're heading down to New Orleans circa 1958 to revisit the soundtrack and recording sessions for the iconic musical drama "King Creole." The Dixieland aesthetic gave Elvis an opportunity experiment, melding his now-signature rock and roll style with a small jazz ensemble, creating a soundtrack LP that had a distinct sound all its own. Although few outtakes remain, the songwriter demos for nearly the entire soundtrack provide insight on how Elvis and the band further developed such classic songs as "Trouble," "Hard Headed Woman" and "Crawfish" into the final forms heard in the film....
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TCBCast 408: Our Favorite Songs Elvis Did First
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Gurdip & Justin decided for this week's episode to select 10 songs apiece that Elvis was the first artist to record and release commercially and discuss why they're our favorites and what about them showcases Elvis' capabilities as an interpreter and recording artist. Naturally, Gurdip's list skews heavily toward the 1950s and early 1960s with a mix of hits like "Jailhouse Rock" and "I Got Stung" but a few surprises. Justin's list spans the breadth of Elvis' career, from "Heartbreak Hotel" to "It's Easy for You," the last song on Elvis' final album, Moody Blue. We hope you...
info_outlineIn 1971, Elvis laid down his second holiday-themed album, full of both traditional hymns and then-contemporary originals. The question is whether, despite the classic "Merry Christmas Baby," does the rest of the album hold up if you don't grade it on the Christmas Curve? In the news, the guys discuss the recent passing of country artist Charley Pride, Justin provides his in-depth review of the new book "Walk A Lonely Street: Elvis Presley, Country Music, and the True Story of Heartbreak Hotel" from author Tony Plews, then gives a long-awaited answer to a listener question about why he doesn't call Elvis "The King of Rock'n'Roll."
Finally, Gurdip plucks a highly underrated track off "Elvis for Everyone" for Song of the Week and says "Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers," while Justin explores the unexpectedly deep roots and variants of the Sun-era "Just Because." We hope our listeners have a wonderful and safe holiday!