TCBCast 379: "Don't Be Cruel" and Otis Blackwell, Part 2
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Release Date: 10/14/2025
TCBCast 390: A Very Spinout Christmas, Part 2 "California Holiday"
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Part 2 of our "Spinout" Extravaganza continues! Ghosty Wills taps out at the top of the show, but the rest of the team powers through to explore "Spinout"'s musical sequences and the histories behind them, from the Elvis competitor who cut "Stop Look and Listen" first, to the beautiful 19th century melody behind "Am I Ready," and how the woman who wrote the title track, finally settled a long dispute over the title of the film. Then the team surprises Felix with the three bonus tracks featured on the soundtrack album: "Tomorrow is a Long Time," "Down in the Alley," and "I'll Remember You." The...
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TCBCast 389: A Very Spinout Christmas, Part 1: "Spin-bake"
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
MERRY CLAMBAKE! Featuring Justin Gausman, Olivia Murphy-Rogers, Rabia, Felix, John Michael Heath, David "Ghosty" Wills, Garrett Cash and Darin Evans. Part 1 opens with the revelation of how we tricked Felix into thinking he would have to watch Clambake again, then primarily covers our overall thoughts on the Norman Taurog-directed 1966 flick about a singing racecar driver, "Spinout." Sharing numerous overlaps with 1967's "Clambake", such as co-stars Shelley Fabares and Will Hutchins, "Spin-bake" puts the differences between the two Elvis films in sharp relief - and the earlier movie...
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TCBCast 388: Waiting for Something EPiC to Happen
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Gurdip joins Justin for one last shorter pre-Christmas episode as we look back on 2025 and what 2026 may hold for Elvis fans, briefly discuss the EPiC teaser & poster, the news of Making of G.I. Blues FTD's release, and the passing of Raul Malo, lead singer of the Mavericks, who took influence from Elvis's work - discussed back on Episode 275 of TCBCast. Following up from Justin's previous Song of the Week, listener Rob sends in an email taking a crack at translating "Lilla klocka ring igen," the Swedish version of "On A Snowy Christmas Night" and Gurdip shakes off the rust for a...
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TCBCast Bonus - Elvis Novelty Songs Vol. 3
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
As we await the epic holiday two-parter for this year's Christmas episode, Santa may have just slipped a little something into your stocking a little early! Over at the TCBCast Jukebox, Gurdip and Justin settle in next to the tree to unwrap more Elvis-themed novelty songs that have come out both within Elvis's lifetime and beyond, this time with more of a holiday twist than usual. Tacky Elvis impressions, maudlin and overwrought post-1977 tearjerkers and - weirdly - a couple genuinely catchy ones; this list of Elvis novelty songs runs the gamut! Originally released as a bonus on the TCBCast...
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TCBCast Mini: Baz Luhrmann's EPiC Teaser Reaction
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Ryan Droste & Bec Wyles took a brief aside from their upcoming main episode to bring their impressions of and insights on the first official teaser trailer for EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert from Neon & Universal, which has been confirmed for a February 27,. 2026 release date with a one-week IMAX exclusive engagement prior starting Feb. 20. Link to the teaser:
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TCBCast 387: Down in the Alley: Elvis's August 1974 Opening Show
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
This week, Bec decided that it's been a while since she's gotten to talk about '70s concert material, so we're discussing the legendary August 19, 1974, show in which Elvis abandoned his usual setlist and completely changed directions. Opening with "Big Boss Man" instead of "See See Rider", filling out the show with tons of newer and more contemporary material like "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues", "Promised Land" and "It's Midnight" and forgoing most of his iconic hits in favor of more unique and intimate performances just for his Vegas audiences. We sit down with the soundboard...
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TCBCast 386: I'll Hold You In My Heart, Hide Me Thou and Show Me Thy Ways: A Song of the Week Thanksgiving Special
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
In this episode's Song of the Week, Justin stumbled into the dark story involving Tommy Dilbeck, the country songwriter behind Eddy Arnold's signature hit "I'll Hold You In My Heart," which Elvis transformed into a bluesy jam at the American Sound 1969 sessions that worked so well it landed on the acclaimed "From Elvis in Memphis." But is the song merely one of romantic longing, or, given what we now know, a hint at a more subtly obsessive message that no one had previously picked up before? Content warning: potentially upsetting descriptions of domestic violence drawn from period news...
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TCBCast 385: Elvis's Most Underrated Rockers (feat. John Michael Heath)
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
They say Elvis was the King of Rock and Roll, so Gurdip and Justin are joined by John Heath (EAP Society, Atomic Wax) to put forth their picks for the most underrated rockers that Elvis Presley ever recorded: from overlooked singles to forgotten album cuts, 50s to the 70s, in the studio and live, there may just be one in here that you've underrated, too! Although Gurdip has to bow out after this meaty and outrageously fun episode, as a very special Thanksgiving/holiday kickoff treat, a slightly shorter Episode 386 featuring "I'll Hold You In My Heart," "Hide Thou Me" and "Shy Me Thy...
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TCBCast 384: Favorite "Movie Versions" of Elvis Songs (feat. John Michael Heath)
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
John Michael Heath joins Justin this week as guest host as they discuss some of their favorite alternate versions of Elvis songs as they appeared in the original movies he starred in, frequently with added instrumentation, backing vocals, or often completely different performances altogether than what was commercially released on record. For Song of the Week, John looks back at "Pieces of My Life," the introspective Troy Seals-penned song off the "Today" album that landed as the B-side of "Bringin' It Back" as a single, and that Elvis only performed live once in Asheville, North...
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TCBCast 383: Mahalo from Elvis (1978) Album Discussion
TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
Released in 1978 on the Pickwick label, at first glance the budget album "Mahalo from Elvis" could have seemed like any number of other slapdash repackaging of old recordings in the wake of Elvis's death. However "Mahalo" not only represented the first official release of the five post-show songs from "Aloha from Hawaii" filmed for inclusion in the continental US broadcast, but had originally been compiled by RCA's Joan Deary for release in late 1973. As an album that could have potentially been part of the lifetime canon of Elvis's album releases, has "Mahalo" been overlooked?...
info_outlineOur deep-dive on the history behind "Don't Be Cruel" continues through Elvis's television appearances on the Ed Sullivan show, live concerts such as the Louisiana Hayride, the Mississippi-Alabama Fair & Dairy Show, and the USS Arizona Memorial fundraiser, and the revealing insights heard in the Million Dollar Quartet recording.
Justin and Olivia catch back up with Otis Blackwell as he rides the success of "Don't Be Cruel" to launch a career writing and arranging for other artists in the late 1950s, and we discuss why Elvis Presley appears as a co-writer on the song. We leapfrog over Elvis's movie career, as "Don't Be Cruel" doesn't show up again until the filming of the '68 Comeback Special but from there we're able to trace its appearances in Elvis's live setlists up to his final concert in 1977. We then discuss a number of covers including ones by Billy Swan, The Judds, Cheap Trick and more before finally closing out with Otis Blackwell as he remembered and paid tribute to Elvis, and finally got his chance to fulfill his lifelong musical dream at the very end of his career.