The King would have been 67 today. Any other fans of Elvis? Do we all do Elvis's songs?

Hi Fran.
Of course we play Elvis, at least I do
Wonder about what he would have sung if he
was alive today?
Or more precisely, what type of music it
would have been, jazz or.....
GJ

Elvis who?

I think Elvis would be on top of the Country charts today, as an even 'greater' Country/Gospel legend icon (similar to George Jones) than he was as a rock & roll icon. much the same direction that Conway Twitty took before he left us just a few years ago. I think Elvis' Gospel/Country recordings were perhaps his strongest & deep heartfelt material, even though a lot of people only know him for his Rock & Roll material. - Scott

All I care about is Elvis Grbac going to Miami ? " there's a whole lot of shakin goin on " I wish the Ravens were playing Philly instead . dano

I play Elvis songs on gigs almost everynite. My favorite song is "HURT". My wife hates Elvis and he died on her birthday so when they play his songs in memory on the radio all day it drives her nuts :>)

I too like Hurt a lot (I have even recorded that); some of Elvis' songs are too "particular" to be played on an arranger (how can you render the power of the intro of Jailhouse rock? only a live band can do that), while others are too....well, corny, at least in my opinion (Are you lonesome tonight....sorry, Fran, it's just my opinion). Here in Italy "It's now or never" (O sole mio) it's always a sure hit. As for the country/gospel tunes Scott is referring to, I wish I knew more. Any discographic suggestion, Scott?

Funny you should mention "jailhouse" - years ago, I wrote a pattern for my (now antique) Roland TR707 drum machine that had the open break as one variation, a fill-in for the transition and a third section for the shuffle part of the beat. It was great.
I played that song tonight on the psr2k, and found that out of the box, the Rock & Roll pattern works great - variation 1 is an open hi hat thing that's great for the intro (also Rock around the Clock) and variations 3&4 work terrific for the meat of the tune.
It's a kickin' little "house rock" shuffle that will work for thousands of jitterbugs.

Try the "SYNC STOP" feature for the intro of jail house rock it works very well, after that "release" the stop and continue with the song.

I'm a bit to young for Elvis, only 38years old. I grew up with Deep Purple, Pink Floyed, The Who and of course "Disco".

The Beatles came around the second time and I really got into it, and started learning the guitar.

I only listened to a few Elvis songs and enjoyed them. Maybe I'll pick up a tune here or there in my program. I know the crowed loves it.

Dreamer
I think Scott means songs like: "In the Getto". There is even a set up for this song somewhere in the MDB of the 9K.

Eric

Elvis was admittedly at least a few years before my time too
Though I appreciate his rock & roll 50's style stuff (afterall, he was the one who brought R&B & blues to mainstream white america), I think his gospel/country renditions really reveal the man speaking from his heart. Elvis was both southern and devotedly religious and his deep faith really comes thru in his moving gospel renditions. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised (if he was living today) that he wouldn't now be a world wide tele-evangalist.

A bit of trivia: During Elvis' career, he received numerous Grammy nominations, but all three statuettes Presley won were in the gospel category. His first Grammy win came in 1967 when his rendition of "How Great Thou Art" won for Best Sacred Performance.

Checkout this website which features some of his gospel tunes: http://runswiththewind.freeservers.com/web6/elvishomepage.html

Eric,
Heard you play quite a mean Santana style guitar on your 9000pro too Sorry I missed the get together.

Hey!!! I thought I was The King? :>)

PS.. Someone told me they saw Elvis working in the produce section of the Shoprite Supermakret in Tennessee :>)

No silly ....... that was Jim Morrison.

Elvis was my inspiration, and why I wanted to be a singer. I don't like all his stuff, but I love a lot of it.
I'm more successful than he was. . .I'm still alive.
DonM

...and kickin'

...and most importantly - your grandchildren aren't related to Michael Jackson !

Ouch!

The devil in disguise ----- I jest I jest I jest.
Did he sing that sad song please release me let me go or was it please seduce me let me ????. Come on now the King is not an acceptable word in Ireland -- we saw too many of them before.Do your false teeth fall out whem you open yer mouth ? tis no wonder yer lonesome tonight.!!
Suspicious mind s.
Did he sing Take these chains from my heart and set me free or was it take this tong from my thing tis killin me?
Please excuse me Im all shook up. So love me tender and be my teddy bear.
Return this reply to sender Pierce in Ireland and make me laugh I dont want to be Cryin in the chapel --anymore.
I wish you good luck me ould charm.

Peirce,
There's three minutes of your life you'll never get back!

Dave No mistakes just learning experiences.Pierce

O.K. if we want to pick on the king . . .
Elvis Presley's Senior Citizen Song
> Are you lonesome tonight, does your tummy feel tight?
> Did you bring your Mylanta and Tums?
> Does your memory stray, to that bright sunny day...
> When you had all your teeth and your gums?
> Is your hairline receding, are your eyes growing dim?
> Hysterectomy for her, and it's prostate for him.
> Does your back give you pain...do your knees predict rain?
> Tell me dear - are you lonesome tonight?
> Is your blood pressure up, your cholesterol down?
> Are you eating your low-fat cuisine?
> All that oat bran and fruit, Metamucil to boot,
> keeps you like a well-oiled machine.
> If it's football, or baseball...he sure knows the score.
> Yes, he knows where it's at...but forgets what it's for.
> So, your gall bladder's gone, and his gout lingers on.
> Tell me dear - are you lonesome tonight?
> When you're hungry, he's not.
> When you're cold, then he's hot
> Then you start that old thermostat war.
> When you turn out the light, he goes left, you go right.
> Then you get his great symphonic snore.
> He was once so romantic, and witty and smart.
> How'd he turn out to be such a cranky old fart?
> So don't take any bets, this is as good as it gets.
> Tell me dear - are you lonesome tonight?
DonM (no I didn't write it.)

I was pickin on songs as I get a little tired of the load of dependency stuff. I cant think at the minute of a slow country song that is healthy---they must be there though. Pierce

Alright, alright folks,

you guys convinced me. Just downloaded: Jailhouse Rock lyrics from the net.

Played it a couple of times and it joined my act. Nice tune. Fun to play.
Actually UD got me to think after mentioning the Rock & Roll style for this tune. Thanks.

Eric

*The wind beneath my wings
*Angel flyin too close to the ground
*The dance
*For ever and ever amen

There's four, for ya Pierce.

Just to set the record straight ...
"The wind beneath my wings" hit the country charts by Gary Morris way before the Bette Midler film, or the Lou Rawls version.

"How Can I Get Over You 'til You Get Out From Under Him?"
"I've Got Tears In My Ears From Lying On My Back Cryin' Over You"
"You Stepped On My Heart and Mashed That Sucker Flat"
That's three more.
Don

"How can I tell you I miss you, when you just won't go away?"
(that's the clean version)

"Your wife is cheatin' on US again"
(actual song title!)

and the everpopular.........

"Loving you has made me bananas !"

O.K, I know we've gotten away from the topic, but do you remember the Conway Twitty/Loretta Lynn duet "You're The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly"? Now that's Country!
Don

How about "Still Smoking That Green Green Grass of Home". Who did "The Dance"?

Tom

Garth Brooks did The Dance. Email me if you need lyrics and/or sequence.
Don

Dave for ever and ever amen is a co-dependency song and I can safely say that the majority of the ones I,ve heard are damaging.
They feed into the wrong thinking that we need to depend on another or we will die or pine away or commit suicide. We are still codded by it all and the beautiful operational systems we got have been hyjacked by the industry. The dance I always liked. I must listen again to wind beneath my wings. Wind beneath my wings smacks of dependency but perhaps I have it mixed up.
I have suffered alot through co-dependency and I understand that it is rife in relationships, so excuse me for throwing it in but I am aware (fully and clearly) of its damage to our society.I am only beginning to get my own dependencies in order.
About two years ago I went to a catholic priest to discuss probs re dependency in my relationship. He asked me why I went to him and I said I always had a bit of faith in the cloth -he said thats another Fn dependency. (His actual word)
Dave I am proud of my three minutes as I think that women are oppressed into G strings --- set em free-- sure they burned the Bras -- why not the G strings ?
In Ireland we say you little devil (pronounced Divil) as admiration --often of a child. Re please seduce me let me come -that is surely acceptable in our loving good relationships. Re excuse me I,m all shook up -I was asking to be understood and tenderly treated . Re Good luck me ould charm I was saying goodbye.
Did I misunderstand you ?--Best wishes Pierce and I,d like if you could start a list of good songs.You will have em I expect. I still sing dependency stuff.

PS all.I,m getting a bit of a laugh also.
We have an artist here called Richie Kavanagh and he got a hit with "Aon Focal Da Focal" whish is Irish for "one word two words" but it sounded like the four letter so the punters went and bought it big time.. He has decended now to a song about His girlfriends Pussy -supposed to mean cat and its a heap of rubbish. He cant sing he cant dance --he,l go along way.
Do any of ye do the song called " The oldest swinger in Town By the bards --twas a hit say 20 years ago. ??? I like song "All the Gold in California" Bills Laundromat Bar and Grill" I love the song by Colin Ray "Love me " I think its called. I sing it occasionally.Pierce

Songs that speak of mutual love are NOT damaging, and the thought of co-dependency being enticed or glorified by music is crazy. Those are a therepist's words, and don't exist to those truely in love.
You can't take part in a two-way love affair without giving part of your self to the other, that's how it works. It's the GIVING that makes it love. The only damaging aspect of love is the twisted way that hollywood and mtv has painted it for us. I will gladly be hurt again and again, if that's the only way I get to feel the warmth & glow of love.
Let's leave the therapy to those who pay for it. I want roses & lollypops..... and love songs, Amen.

Too heavy for me. I must be happy and don't know it.
DonM

clap your hands .........
if you're happy and you know it ........
aw forget it.

haha....True Love is Watching the "Jerry Springer Show"

Dave I am well aware of the damage caused. The experience I talk of is not therapists words. I will always discuss my experiences - surely you couldnt concieve of me saying that love or being hurt is wrong. I am talking of where we are dependent --ie an addiction to a person. Anyway I stand admonished but I do not think you are aware of co-dependency when you say that songs are exempt. I put alot of effort into what I say and it is with love - sure I get hurt - a lover does. Too many relationships break up over co dependency Dave and I just done my bit of sharing so thanks is the rational response I'd expect but I dont really need it. Thats the difference. I love you anyway.
Hope all is well. I repeat that alot of songs cause trouble and I am fully aware of it. Pierce

Wisemen say:
Low intensity earthquake in the Memphis area;
is the King turning upside down in his grave?

Thank You...Thank You Very Much!!!

U.D.
You're a better man than I. I'm Irish (another Cavanaugh) and I didn't understand a thing Flowersupply was saying. As Don said, "too heavy".

Any form of dependancy is a "self inflicted" wound. It can't happen unless YOU allow it to. It's like alcohlism or depression - both valid physical symptoms, but 100% curable, and very possible to avoid. People need to take more responsibility for their OWN actions and worry less about what others may think or do.
Pierce, I know you mean well, but preaching about the evils of songs on a music site is going to get you nowhere.
Let's get off the couch and back on stage, kay?

Dave easy up I may have erred in using the word majority of songs or words to that effect but I fundamentally disagree with you on this issue. First To say I mean well is paternising and of no help. Second you are not correct in your understanding of dependency. Thirdly I was not preaching of evil I was merely saying in my own words that alot of songs have wrong messages. Surely you are open to that. We have a song much requested here "The veil of white lace"
1 Veil of white lace.
The main character "LOVES" a girl
He hears she is going to marry another.
He goes to chapel and shoots the bride.
As he leaves the church his girl is
walking across the church grounds.
He has shot the wrong girl.
SICK -- 1 Shooting someone he "loves"!!!
2 Shooting the other one.
3 Depicts this as love.
I am trying in my own singing to be aware of the wrong messages. You are this way minded also so I do not see that we have basically any issue only understanding.If you are suggesting that we not look at the words then say so, however I think we are saying the same thing ie Look at the messages. I am not preaching I have and still do fail to look at them at times. However many do contain messages that individually and collectively lead to wrong programming. If you are saying that misinformation is not responsible for alot of our thinking try telling a french man to speak Irish--he only learned French. Dave Glad to see you are in good fighting spirits and I dont only mean well. Pierce

PS I am still workin on our house and a bit overworked so I must have put the case wrong at first anyway if tom Cav cant understand I must be wrong!!!!. Best wishes Pierce

That "shotgun bride" song is pure trash, just like many american rap songs that feature a violent, disrespectful content. I don't even sing Eric Claptan's "Cocaine" because of the message. There are thousands of garbage tunes that are thrown at us each year that should NEVER be heard, but we have this "free speech" issue that people abuse alot. It's a pity.
The music on the pop stations (in the US, anyway) is loaded with crap from cop-killing to infidelity to self harm. I agree that music is a vehicle for these terrible, harmful thoughts to travel in, but I can't see the codependency issue in the light, pop, country songs that speak of love...in our previous posts.
I understand that you deal with troubled youths, and that is certainly admirable. I wish I had a crystal ball to see into the head of my 16 yr old, but that's not the point - the point is, LOVE is good. I know you agree with that....you seem like a genuine, loving person.
I just hate it when people try to trash the simple, good things in life by over analasys. I think we agree that there is too much hurtful, and harmful lyric in the music world - but that is no different than the literary word, or the theatre or the cinema, or even TV for Pete's sake! This evil lurks everywhere, and it's up to each of us to partake in it, or not. I choose NOT to. My songs are positive and entertaining, and harm no one. I avoid the drug topics, and I don't use harsh language either. I treat my craft, not only as an Art form, but as a public forum as well. As a performer, we have an obligation to the public to put out a useful product and do it in an entertaining manor.
Music doesn't hurt pople - the writers of the crap do....does....whatever.

[This message has been edited by Uncle Dave (edited 01-16-2002).]

Thank you Dave for your beautiful reply. I have a real point to make but its getting lost in it all. I wish to have a careing relationship with you a second at a time -- I had a hope in it all that we could look dispasionately at some songs -- I perhaps should have overlooked for ever and ever amen as it is indeed a lovely song (But). I sing some trash. I do not wish to try and make my point any further. I want you to know however that when I said I,d like a list of good songs it was with faith in your ability to help - I really hope you didnt think I was saying your chioces are bad. I was also hoping to look at a few issues in some of the "good songs" --anyway I am really glad of your efforts. You mention our responsibilities and I agree so perhaps when we have more time we could jointly look at some of them. Hopeing that our relationship lasts for ever and ever amen best wishes Pierce.

Getting back to Fran's original thread, do we all remember where we were and what we were doing when we got the news?
Me: 30,000 ft. travelling from Vancouver to Toronto.

Leon I can remember where I was last night, and I didnt drink since 1977. Pierce

Amend can to cant in my last reply-- it seems I cant even spell now. Best wishes Pierce

Ironically, I was with a band in Arkansas, doing an Elvis Show! We did two of the shows a night, and played dance music the other two hours.
DonM

Hello Arrangereers!

Rest assured, all is well. At this very moment, the top government science lab in the U.S.A. is working on a very secret assignment - one that will ROCK the world. They have already produced human embryos from hair, finger nail, and skin fragments of Elvis Presley. That's right, there may be as many as 15 or 20 baby Elvis Presleys on their way down the birth canal. These human clones won't be Elvis but they will be EXACT COPIES OF ELVIS - his hair, face, body, eyes, and inherited mannerisms will all be genuine Elvis. So, sit back and relax 'cause a chunk o' burnin' love is comin' your way!

Steve

Steve I hope they put different software in this time as he suffered too much in the original version. I laughed heartily as I read your post but all I ever though of when I thought of Elvis was the pain.I sing some of his stuff and enjoy it.I need to learn a few more sometime. Pierce

Even after all these years, Elvis impersonators are alive and well. Got a couple right here in my little town. But, if you get to Vegas, check out the Plaza Hotel downtown and catch Dusty Baron. I think he is still doing 5 days from noon to 5 with his unique musical offerings of wit and impressions. His Elvis is pretty good... but you will wet your pants when you see his Michael Jackson.
Eddie

I had a studio session today, and the client sang "Love me" - maybe one of my favorites Elvis tunes. He knocked it out too, and it's a tough song to sing well, without sounding too schmaltzy. It was a treat to hear it done well.