TCBCast 290: Elvis and Country Music, Part 5: "I've Always Been Country"
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Release Date: 10/25/2023
TCBCast 319: C'mon Everybody (1971) Album Review
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Bec crashes an episode with Gurdip and Justin covering the 1971 Camden "C'mon Everybody," a compilation collecting a handful of tracks that at the time of its release had previously only been available on the Extended Play soundtracks for Follow That Dream, Kid Galahad, Viva Las Vegas and Easy Come, Easy Go. It turns out to be one of the breeziest, enjoyable Camdens and the gang has a ton of fun digging into it. Also discussed are news items including the upcoming Guitar Man Sessions FTD, the false Graceland foreclosure, and Justin's recent Elvis finds - which includes a copy of our main topic...
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TCBCast 318: Elvis '99: Looking Back at 1999's Releases
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Bec & Justin bask in some nostalgia for their days as younger Elvis fans at the turn of the 21st century, reflecting on the major mainstream BMG Elvis releases from 1999 and how those releases influenced the crew's perspectives on Elvis' creative journey. From period retrospectives "Suspicious Minds: The 1969 Anthology," "Sunrise," "The Home Recordings," "Burning Love" and "Tomorrow is A Long Time" to hits compilations like "Can't Help Falling in Love: The Hollywood Hits" and "Artist of the Century" - and, naturally, the first ever Follow That Dream releases - 1999 was a good year...
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TCBCast 317: "Cento ragazze e un marinaio" - Girls! Girls! Girls! Review Pt. 2
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Ryan, Bec and Justin conclude their discussion on 1962's "Girls! Girls! Girls!" losing their minds just a little bit at the twists, turns and amount of songs about fishing in the back half of the movie, but have a ton of fun discussing such famous scenes as "Return to Sender," "Song of the Shrimp" and "The Walls Have Ears" as well as pondering the deleted sequence "I Don't Want To." Ryan has to bow out for Song of the Week, but Bec pushes forward with the movie songs theme, making a case for "Animal Instinct" from 1965 "Harum Scarum". On the other hand, Justin spotlights the...
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TCBCast 316: "Gumbo Ya-Ya": Girls! Girls! Girls! Review, Part 1
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Justin, Ryan and Bec begin to unpack the 1962 Paramount rom-com "Girls! Girls! Girls!" starring Elvis, Laurel Goodwin, Stella Stevens, and Jeremy Slate, directed by Norman Taurog (his third Elvis picture) and written by Edward Anhalt from a story by Allan Weiss. It was filmed in Hawaii, but that's not where it was supposed to be set - and the last minute change (following the blowout success of "Blue Hawaii" at the box office just a few short months before filming) is clearly felt throughout. The crew take a look back to see how the movie holds up - an unusually strong soundtrack helps,...
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TCBCast 315: New Live 1956 Audio Surfaces From Toledo Concert
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
It's not everyday that new Elvis audio from the 1950s surfaces, but this past week that very thing did happen, as European label Memphis Recording Service released newly discovered audio from Elvis's November 22, 1956, concert in Toledo, Ohio, recorded originally by local radio DJ Ron Ross. Subsequently, the original mono audio was also uploaded to YouTube by another fan who had sourced the audio himself as well. Gurdip and Justin break down the content itself, and contrast the YouTube upload and the MRS audio, the latter of which is a flawed restoration that clearly prioritizes general...
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TCBCast 314: When Elvis Harmonized With Elvis
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
This week Justin and Olivia are exploring the recordings (both final masters and alternate dubs that were considered) where Elvis sang with himself, starting from "I'm Yours" in the early 60s, working their way up through the very dense 1969 recordings, and well into the 1970s. There's both more than you'd think, and not enough! They ponder what sort of creative choices were made to lead Elvis to lay down these special vocals. It's a very unique angle (and frequently exquisite listening) from which to examine Elvis' music! For Song of the Week, Olivia digs into the absolutely massive treasure...
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TCBCast 313: The Elvis Songs We'd Erase
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Gurdip and Justin put their heads together for an interesting and provocative thought experiment: what Elvis songs would they pick if they had to remove 5 songs from each decade of his career? Would they just pick our least favorites - or consider the historical, social and cultural ramifications of each decision? Plus, are some periods of Elvis' career easier to prune than others? And then in the second part of the episode, Justin's joined by Olivia as they look at streaming data from a popular digital music platform to examine what the least listened-to Elvis songs (of ones originally...
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TCBCast 312: "Speedway": The Soundtrack Album Review
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Gurdip returns this week for a lively discussion about the soundtrack to Elvis' 1968 film "Speedway," which co-starred Nancy Sinatra, who features on two tracks, making her one of the few artists to ever appear on an album with Elvis during his lifetime. The guys dig a bit into the recording sessions (which, minus Sinatra's contributions, were primarily done at MGM's soundstage instead of at RCA Studio B as usual) and how this move affected the production quality of the album, the poor choice of promotional single material, unfortunate timing of the film & soundtrack's release, and ponder...
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TCBCast 311: Elvis - The King of... "Fools"?
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Justin is joined on this episode by longtime guest and inquisitive mind Olivia Murphy-Rogers, who Gurdip, Ryan, Bec & Justin are pleased to announce is joining the TCBCast crew!! Justin and Olivia explore the concept of the "fool" in Elvis' music - song titles, lyrics, and at critical moments in his life from his childhood in Tupelo to his final television special. Justin continues the theme with his Song of the Week, Elvis' 1971 version of "Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)" and they look at the history of both the song (which dates back to the 1940s) but also the phrase itself....
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TCBCast 310: The Nashville 1970 Sessions, Part 2
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Justin and Bec pull out all the stops for a thorough exploration of the remaining Nashville studio sessions from 1970: June 6, 7 & 8 as well as the brief September 22, 1970, session where Elvis laid down four more tracks to polish off "Elvis Country" and prepare a single. As they begin to sense the material's strength (and Elvis' interest) waning, they ponder whether the "marathon" approach may have done more harm than good in the long run. There are still numerous highs, like much of the material that landed on the country record, but there's also... "Life." This episode's main topic is...
info_outlinePart 5 of the Elvis and Country Music miniseries brings the curtain down on the 1970s. Justin and Garrett Cash begin by discussing the state of pop music and country-pop crossovers in the '70s and the history of Country Music Month before stopping off at Stax Studios in Memphis as Elvis lays down the tracks that would comprise the albums "Raised on Rock," "Good Times" and "Promised Land" and those accompanying albums' singles.
1974 is a pit stop to discuss the country industry backlash to Olivia Newton-John and Elvis' live covers of her iconic country hits, on the way to the "Today" album, which reflected more contemporary and diverse country sounds in a way that "Elvis Country" had not.
Finally, we arrive in 1976 and the guys try to pick up the pieces of the Jungle Room sessions and the of-the-era pop arrangements slathered over the country songs featured on "From Elvis Presley Boulevard" and "Moody Blue" before ending on - what else? The final two songs Elvis Presley ever sang on this earth.
Next week, alongside the finale exploring Elvis' posthumous country legacy, we will be releasing both YouTube and Spotify playlist with as many songs featured on this series as possible. Stay tuned to our social media pages for details. This series would not be possible without the support of TCBCast Patreon backers, thank you to all of our patrons!
You can find more of Garrett on "The Beat! With Garrett Cash" on SoundCloud at: https://soundcloud.com/garrett-cash-635212819
As well as on the Let It Roll Podcast miniseries "Holy Roll" at: https://letitrollpodcast.substack.com/p/let-it-roll-with-garrett-cash
This is not remotely comprehensive or in any order whatsoever but among some of the key resources that we found useful for this 5th episode are:
Ken Burns’ Country Music - Documentary, Book & Soundtrack
Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick
Elvis Presley: A Life in Music by Ernst Jorgensen
How Nashville Became Music City USA by Michael Kosser
https://www.npr.org/2007/02/18/7484160/the-conservative-evolution-of-country-music
https://www.goldminemag.com/articles/the-happiest-man-alive-ivory-joe-hunter
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/olivia-newton-john-played-a-pivotal-role-in-country-music-rip/