TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast

Justin, Bec and Gurdip managed to coordinate a quick but fun Song of the Week, news & listener message episode (though naturally recorded JUST before "In The Ghetto" off the "Memphis" box dropped). The gang briefly discusses the Memphis Recording Service "Las Vegas On Stage February 1973" box set, Bec pleads forgiveness for a "verbal typo" on her most recent episode, and then examine a provocative editorial about Elvis, Graceland and America sent to us by one of our patrons. For Song of the Week, Gurdip goes flying high on a "Harem Holiday," Bec puts on her Sunday best to listen to both the 1966 and 1968 versions of "Where Could I Go But To The Lord" and Justin delves into "Put the Blame On Me" off the "Something for Everybody" album (and subsequently featured in "Tickle Me.") Link to Michael Bertrand's editorial: https://theconversation.com/could-elvis-graceland-hold-a-key-to-bridging-americas-cultural-divide-230841 If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

Justin and Olivia are joined by guest host Chris Jones (former host of the wonderful "Hall of Songs" podcast, you can find him as @jonesca17 on social media) to explore the surprisingly heartfelt and thought-provoking world of songs that either reference or are about Elvis, explicitly or implicitly. Spanning a wide array of genres, eras and artists, each of us pick five of our favorites to examine the common themes that begin to surface like fame, commercialization, celebrity obsession, mythology, religion, the Deep South, America, transportation/travel, class, race relations, and the closeness of family. For Song of the Week, Olivia selects "Drums of the Islands", a "Paradise Hawaiian Style" track that's rooted in real Polynesian culture. Justin chooses to delve into "Only the Strong Survive," Elvis' cover of Jerry Butler's classic 1968 hit, and Chris takes us home by covering Elvis' down and dirty 1971 version of the iconic holiday blues number, "Merry Christmas Baby." A special episode playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yrvYGYK6c7W8ysEwbh7nM?si=f9e75a2706694579 If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

This episode begins with a TCBCast-mini-style intro with Gurdip and Justin discussing the passing of singer-songwriter Mark James and the news of Sony's "Memphis" box set, out August 9, 2024.  Then, Gurdip taps out and Bec taps in for a fun exploration of some of our favorite deep cut Elvis concert rarities - the songs he almost never pulled out, from ones done only once (like Oh Happy Day or Rubberneckin') to those done at best for maybe a handful of shows (Memphis Tennessee, anybody?) For Song of the Week, Bec ponders "(Such An) Easy Question" which Elvis recorded in 1962 but that was also reused in the 1965 movie "Tickle Me." Then Justin closes us out with a quick exploration of "I Will Be Home Again," the Golden Gate Quartet homage that Elvis and Charlie Hodge harmonized on for "Elvis is Back" in 1960. For those who haven't seen it yet elsewhere, Sony released a behind the scenes mini-doc about the new "Memphis" set on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8XGKNVko-g Our live rarities playlist (on YouTube, since other streaming services don't have FTDs or bootlegs!): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg-DEia9bCgaA-7wTppzt2tTFXJkHaXGA Interview with Orlandus Wilson of the Golden Gate Quartet sourced from: http://tofuhut.blogspot.com/2009/02/glisten-work-of-father-3-more-info-on.html and its archived version on the Internet Archive. Selah Jubilee Quartet version of "I Will Be Home Again" available to hear here: https://archive.org/details/78_i-will-be-home-again_selah-jubilee-quartet-lou-singer-bennie-benjemen-raymond-levee_gbia0077522a If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

Gurdip and Olivia sit down for a super fun discussion picking one song from each of Elvis' narrative films (from Love Me Tender through Change of Habit) from within the movie itself that they especially enjoy, not including those just on the soundtrack or recorded for but cut from the final film. They also discuss the title, cover design and release date for Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough's new book "From Here to the Great Unknown," set to release later this year and speculate on what kind of book it may be. There's no Song of the Week this week due to a scheduling issue, but this is still a full-length show. SOTW returns next week with Justin and Bec! This episode was recorded before the news of the passing of Mark James, writer of "Suspicious Minds," "Always On My Mind," "Moody Blue" and others. If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

Special guest Darin Evans joins Gurdip and Justin for a brief exploration of what each think were Elvis' best 5 singles, considering the strength of the A & B-sides, overall success and (naturally) personal taste. For Song of the Week, Darin piggybacks off Justin's choice of "Kissin Cousins No. 2" last week and goes for "Kissin' Cousins," the upbeat single from the 1964 movie which featured Elvis musically portraying two different characters within a single song. Then Justin explores the understated and oft-neglected 50s country ballad "How's The World Treating You," including how Elvis altered the original's lyrics and intent in the recording that featured on his 1956 sophomore LP "Elvis," before Gurdip closes out the episode by zeroing in on the last of the four original demo recordings that Elvis recorded at Memphis Recording Service to be released to the public: "It Wouldn't Be The Same Without You."  If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

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 album! For Song of the Week, Bec hangs around just to commentate on our picks, with Gurdip selecting the title track of 1967's "Double Trouble" which leads to reading songwriter Mort Shuman's hilarious recollection (or lack thereof) about the song in Ken Sharp's "Writing for the King, before closing out with Justin's Song of the Week, the short" opening title version of "Kissin' Cousins" often referred to as "No. 2." If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

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 for Elvis fans. For Song of the Week, both hosts go for fairly reflective, contemplative songs, with Justin selecting 1969's understated "This is the Story" and Bec digging into "It's Over," most famously featured in Elvis' "Aloha From Hawaii" special from 1973. If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

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 less-familiar "Girl of Mine" from the 1973 Stax sessions - which came from the pens of British songwriters more known for writing for Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdinck; so much so that Englebert himself did a version of this country-flavored pop ballad before Elvis! If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

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, but not everyone even agrees on that! Before that though, Justin subjects Ryan & Bec to a "Guess That Soundalike" challenge, whereby they'll have to guess which of 6 Elvis soundalikes is which based on short audio snippets. It's a ton of fun! Part 2 will be out next week; it's available in early access for TCBCast patrons! If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

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 listening experience over historical accuracy. Some will appreciate it, others may take issue. But aside from the minor quibbles there - what new insights does the audio tell us? That's what we aim to find out. The fan upload of the audio is available here, presumably worldwide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm6HJKJCGmo Memphis Recording Service's restoration is available in numerous other regions around the world also on YouTube, though it is region-locked, American listeners will have to import the audio, but others including Canada, Australia and European countries as well as elsewhere should be able to hear the tracks at this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kgzE2ikYXBylwLjyysg2NfIq5h4lg4vvU Alan Hanson's write-up on the Toledo concert is highly recommended, since we didn't have a chance to do our own deep-dive during the short time between the announcement/release and us recording this mini-sode, and as usual, Alan's work is impeccably researched, written and insightful: http://www.elvis-history-blog.com/elvis-toledo-56.html

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 trove of outtakes from the multiple different versions Elvis recorded of the title track from 1957's "Loving You" plus a few minor later live versions and covers, while Justin puts on my detective hat to try to solve some mysteries about the obscure home recording "Apron Strings," made while Elvis was in the Army. Special thanks to David "Ghosty" Wills of the "We Say Yeah" podcast for some additional info on Cliff Richard's recordings of "Apron Strings"! If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

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 released during his lifetime) are in modern times - the ones that at least one contingent of Elvis fans themselves seem to have inadvertently given away that they'd prefer not going out of their way to listen to. For Song of the Week, Justin knocks out "This is Living" from the soundtrack of Elvis's 1962 boxing-musical-drama Kid Galahad, while Olivia similarly picks an early 60s movie song, the sweetly-sung lullaby "Big Boots" from 1960's G.I. Blues.  If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

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 how Elvis' final soundtrack LP for a fictional film managed to, like the first movie album from 11 years earlier, end up with nearly half the songs featured not even appearing in the film itself.  The guys also catch up on a bunch of listener emails, and then for Song of the Week, Gurdip selects Elvis' unique 1957 interpretation of the spiritual "I Believe," while Justin goes much lighter, picking "Poor Boy," recorded for and featured in his first feature, Love Me Tender. If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

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. Olivia's Song of the Week, by contrast, is the final "studio" recording Elvis laid down in the Jungle Room in 1976, a cover of Jim Reeves' crossover hit "He'll Have to Go." If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.  (Note from Justin: We're already aware we somehow missed "Love Me, Love the Life I Lead"! Sorry!")

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 extra jam-packed so there's no Song of the Week this week, just a buttload of fun and thoughtful discussion about the huge pile of music Elvis & the band laid down that year, and how it was released throughout the rest of 1970, 1971 and even sprinkled a bit into 1972.  Want to hear a wonderfully curated collection of Elvis' 1970 session material? We highly recommend Sony's "From Elvis in Nashville" 4-disc box set from 2020, as of this posting still available physically, digitally and on streaming, and most of the final masters can be heard on the streaming versions of the albums "That's The Way It Is," "Elvis Country," and "Love Letters from Elvis" with a handful more on "Elvis Now."  If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

Gurdip's on vacation and between day jobs and personal emergencies, timing isn't lining up just yet Part 2 of the Nashville sessions, so Bec and Justin got together for a quick spur of the moment episode and managed to rope in John Michael Heath of EAP Society for a loose Elvis discussion among the three. The team discusses John & his father's Elvis artifacts in their collection, favorite Elvis movies, the 1969 American Sound Sessions and the 1970 Nashville Marathon both come up, as well as John's recent acquisition of Memphis photographer William Speer's non-Elvis collection of decades worth of photos. For Song of the Week, John revisits a 1969 track previously featured as SotW (early in our run by Gurdip's nephew Roman) to give his heartfelt interpretation of Elvis' reading of Johnny Christopher's "Mama Liked The Roses." Justin's Song of the Week similarly focuses on a surprising, unexpected alternate interpretation of the December 1973 Stax recording "Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming" direct from the mouth of its writer, Rory Bourke, as well as a mini-SOTW side discussion on a January 1974 Las Vegas one-liner Elvis sang of the Rory Bourke co-write, Charlie Rich's "The Most Beautiful Girl." If you'd like to hear more from John and Jamie Kelley, please visit youtube.com/EAPSociety or EAPSociety.com for details on their upcoming "Spring Festival" event in Iowa. If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

Justin and Bec explore Elvis' "marathon" sessions from June 1970, starting with laying the groundwork for the return to Nashville's RCA Studio B, pondering why Elvis may not have chosen to return to Chips Moman's American Sound in Memphis. Instead Elvis is joined this time by a new band led by his live guitarist James Burton but otherwise comprised largely of country-soul players who had worked alongside producer Felton Jarvis in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, including Chip Young, Jerry Carrigan, David Briggs, Norbert Putnam and Charlie McCoy, and rather than a meticulous planned session with Chips' guiding vision... they tear through dozens of songs across four nights, with a follow-up session later that September. Part 1 focuses on the establishing information and the first two nights, June 4-5 and June 5-6, 1970.  For Song of the Week, Bec highlights "I Met Her Today," the understated Don Robertson ballad that was cut in 1961's Pot Luck sessions but held until the hodgepodge Elvis For Everyone album four years later. Meanwhile, Justin goes way back to the Sun era, selecting the middle child single "Milkcow Blues Boogie" - couched between Good Rockin' Tonight and Baby Let's Play House, yet containing that same genius melding of blues (it was written and originated by Kokomo Arnold) and country (also highly popularized by western swing artists like Bob and Johnnie Lee Wills) in a new rockabilly style as anything else he did at Sun. If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

You're about to be taken on a journey...  Justin is joined by Rabia of Suddenly: A Frank Sinatra Podcast to tackle Australia's near-exclusive 1983 compilation "Elvis Blue" (also released in Japan & South Africa) which compiles all 19 songs Elvis released during his lifetime with the word "blue" in the title.  This strange collection of songs that, when initially described, sounds like a novelty cash-in, ends up becoming a compelling, thoughtful alternate exploration of the span of Elvis' entire artistic journey, from Sun Records to the last song he ever sang. Justin & Rabia examine the lyrics of these songs and spend time reflecting on the themes of loss, loneliness, sadness, love-gone-wrong and - surprisingly - a sort of disaffected, comedic flippancy in there, too.  For Song of the Week, the theme is carried forward, with Justin picking two Red West-penned 1966 home recordings "I've Been Blue" and "It's No Fun Being Lonely," one of which explicitly would fit the main topic's subject, and another that fits tonally. Rabia selects "I Need Somebody to Lean On," the understated, jazzy ballad from "Viva Las Vegas" and tries to root out some potential inspirations Pomus/Shuman may have had for it, and together Justin & Rabia ponder the potential influence of Ol' Blue Eyes himself on Elvis' crooning. Rabia's show "Suddenly: A Frank Sinatra Podcast" is available on all major podcast platforms where you can find TCBCast, with more info at suddenlypod.gay. If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

Ryan returns this week to look back on his time and findings exploring the world of Elvis bootlegs, from soundboards and audience recordings to studio material and fan-made spliced takes. Justin takes the opportunity to loosely discuss some of the history of Elvis bootlegs and try to contextualize where Elvis bootlegs have fit within the larger rock bootleg scene, and the guys ponder whether there is even a future for Elvis bootlegs to offer anything new or interesting now that A) the official collector's label, Follow That Dream, has done a lot of the work both clearing out the vaults and clawing back material originally found on bootlegs and releasing it in the best possible quality and B) not many people buy CDs at all anymore to begin with, with YouTube and digital trading in online circles are the predominant way of obtaining material nowadays. For Song of the Week, Ryan selects the bopping 1957 hit "I Beg Of You" and celebrates its cowriter, Rose Marie McCoy, while Justin picks the 1969 track "True Love Travels on a Gravel Road", effectively an album cut that Elvis still felt strongly enough about to consider bringing into his live setlist a couple times in the 70s.

Oh yeah, we went there. Gurdip & Justin sit down with the 1978 compilation album, intended for children but so often cited by Elvis fans who were around at the time as one of the worst and most misguided projects Colonel Tom Parker ever spearheaded... but is it, really?! Closer examination may be necessary! (Note: the guys ponder why the presence of an elephant in the artwork; Bec reached out after the fact and reminded us that Colonel Parker's favorite animal was, in fact, the elephant!) Also discussed is the newly surfaced Forth Worth, TX footage of Elvis from early 1958 (available here through the University of North Texas: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2049375/m1/?fbclid=IwAR1d8oliLIWVkU29QBzgdovqXuai1MqaWMZClyo3eYU3hHMPQjYTj8typek) and the upcoming release of numerous demos from songwriter Randy Starr on the Bear Family Records label "Randy Starr - Presley Style" as well as a rarely-seen or discussed November 1957 article about Elvis from TAN magazine that was dug up by friend of the show John Michael Heath. For Song of the Week, Gurdip knocks out another classic 50s track with the early country ballad "I'm Counting On You" that featured on Elvis' debut LP, while Justin sifts through the web of interconnected gospel songs that connect to "You Better Run," which Elvis was recorded and filmed singing during the rehearsals for "Elvis On Tour" in 1972 and also performed in concert at least a couple more times later in the 1970s. Source for the TAN magazine scan: https://archive.org/details/sim_tan_1957-11_8_1/page/30/mode/2up?view=theater