TCBCast 367: Felton Jarvis & Elvis, Part 2: "My Boy"
After setting the stage by understanding producer Felton Jarvis's career leading up to his early collaborations with Elvis, we continue to investigate and interrogate the fan belief that he was singularly to blame for the "syrupy" overdubs that diminished the "pure" unfinished tracks. Helped along by a 1980 interview done between Felton and Jerry Flowers of RCA in which the producer talks about his career retrospectively, Justin and Bec trace Felton's journey as Elvis hires and hand-picks him to be his exclusive producer, taking Felton away from RCA and other artists so that Elvis can, as a largely autonomous artist whose only studio commitments during this decade are to send periodic deliverables to RCA, work at his own pace and create the kind of recordings that he truly wants. But was Felton truly to blame for the overindulgent strings and horns that were added to Elvis's music, or is there someone else that we've collectively overlooked? And has the narrative been all wrong and the way we even talk about "overdubs" been clouded by a widespread "rockist" misunderstanding of both Elvis and Felton, their respective jobs and tastes, and misunderstood expectations of the kind of music both fans & critics thought Elvis "should" be making? The duo examine Elvis's live performances in relation to his studio work, touch on a few more non-Elvis records produced by Felton, and even revisit the 1981 "Guitar Man" project Felton spearheaded before his early death to see if it provides clearer insight into the producer's preferences and tastes. For Song of the Week, Bec makes a promise that "It Won't Be Long," covering the recording cut from "Double Trouble," while Justin goes prospecting because he's pretty sure "There's Gold in the Mountains" still to be dug up from "Kissin' Cousins." Some of the resources consulted for this and the last episode included, even if not quoted or mentioned in the final episode: Felton Jarvis's 1980 Interview with Jerry Flowers of RCA William Bozeman: "Felton Jarvis: The Man Behind the Music" from Elvis Express Magazine Peter Guralnick: Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley Roben Jones: Memphis Boys: The Story of American Studios Rick Hall: The Man from Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame Norbert Putnam: Musical Memories, Volume 1 Ernst Jorgensen: Elvis Presley - A Life in Music Ernst Jorgensen & Peter Guralnick: "Elvis Day By Day" and "The Complete Masters" Ernst Jorgensen, Johnny Mikkelsen & Erik Rasmussen: Reconsider Baby: The Definitive Elvis Sessionography Elvis Music FAQ by Mike Eder Alanna Nash: "Revelations from the Memphis Mafia" & "The Colonel" Luther Moore: "Felton Jarvis Re-Appraised" from Elvis: The Man & His Music magazine Brian F. White's Interview with Norbert Putnam: https://www.brianfwright.com/interviews/norbert-putnam Michael Nesmith: Infinite Tuesday - An Autobiographical Riff TapeOP's Interview with Chip Young: https://tapeop.com/interviews/124/chip-young Various reviews, articles, editorials, and interviews compiled from across Elvis Australia, Elvis Information Network, Elvis-History-Blog, Elvis Monthly, Strictly Elvis, Arjan Deelan as well as Discogs, KeithFlynn.uk, Elvisconcerts.com and other resources online.
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TCBCast 366: Felton Jarvis & Elvis, Part 1 - "Stand By Me"
Intrigued by the premise presented by the recent Sony box sets like "Sunset Boulevard" describing Elvis's undubbed recordings as "pure," Justin decided to investigate the story behind the man who has borne most of the heavy criticism aimed at the production on Elvis's music, Felton Jarvis, who was Elvis's main producer from 1966-1977. While we've previously touched on Felton's work as a producer in our "Elvis and His Producers/Elvis as a Producer" episode, realizing we may not have given him a fair shake, on this episode Justin and Bec investigate Felton's early work at National Recording Corporation (NRC) in Atlanta, Georgia, his time at ABC-Paramount working with Tommy Roe, Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and.... "Vince Everett"? They trace Felton's move to RCA Victor producing many successful acts and hit records in the field of country music in the mid-1960s and, naturally, his first sessions with Elvis across 1966-1968, chief among which was the How Great Thou Art project, which won Elvis his first-ever Grammy Award. Laced throughout are stories of a warm-hearted, good-natured Georgia boy - who loved Elvis Presley and dreamed so hard to one day produce his hero's music that he manifested it - from collaborators, friends and historians who have tried to relay some of Felton's story, as well as audio from Felton himself in conversation with RCA's Jerry Flowers in 1980, discussing his career in hindsight. Part 2 will even more directly interrogate the idea that Felton was, as so frequently repeated by Elvis fans over nearly 4 decades, singularly to blame for the "syrupy" overdubs that were a hallmark of Elvis's 1970s output, as Justin builds a case to convince Bec that she and everyone else - including sometimes even Justin himself - has been wrong all these years! 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.
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TCBCast 365: Ain't Gonna Tell You No Stories: The History Behind "Frankie and Johnny"
Olivia Murphy-Rogers joins Justin for an extra-special episode of TCBCast as they trace the real history behind the song "Frankie and Johnny," the title track of Elvis's 1966 film. They learn who Frankie Baker was, the man who "done her wrong," the song she couldn't escape, and the identity of the most likely songwriting candidate to have penned the original folk lyrics - on the very day of the true murder. The duo also react to the news about Sony's upcoming  "Sunset Boulevard" box set recently announced that will encompass studio recordings from 1972, 1975 and rehearsals from 1970 and 1974, all done at RCA Studios on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Justin has first impressions of the "Harum Scarum Sessions" FTD set, and then the two take a little time discussing Riley Keough and Gina Gammell's "In Process" short films for Tribeca; not just the one everyone else saw, "Chapter 1: Writing" which was filmed at Graceland and stars Riley herself narrating a short essay about her writing process for both film generally and more specifically about "From Here to the Great Unknown," but also the other two less-appreciated Chapters, "A Self Tape" and "Shooting A Scene," all of which were also co-directed by Riley. Justin's Song of the Week is a breezy listen to "The Meanest Girl in Town" from Girl Happy - and Olivia's Song of the Week IS our main topic! FYI - this episode does intentionally end without a proper "sign-off." 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.
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TCBCast 364: The "Fun in Acapulco" Sessions & Album
Justin and Bec put on their sombreros, pour margaritas and head South of the border for an exploration of the January 1963 movie soundtrack sessions that gave us the "Fun in Acapulco" album. With its unusual genre stylings that evoked more Latin-flavored stylings, traditional Mexican songs and the whole Acapulco nightclub destination scene of the early 1960s, "Fun in Acapulco" offered Elvis Presley a chance to dabbled in the types of songs he might never have otherwise done but takes the challenge head on, such as "Guadalajara," "Marguerita" and "Vino, Dinero Y Amor." Of course, while they touch on the iconic "Bossa Nova Baby," a cover of a Leiber/Stoller-penned hit originally for The Clovers, and ponder what on earth happened to "Mexico" on the original album, the duo also briefly glimpse the extensive careers of some of the unique musicians who helped Elvis nail the tone (such as The Four Amigos), as well discuss a few ways Fun in Acapulco has popped up in pop culture. For Song of the Week, Bec takes it light and breezy with the bluesy "Hard Luck" from "Frankie and Johnny" while Justin gives a little love to Lee Hazlewood's "The Fool," originally a hit for Sanford Clark but surfacing both as a home recording by Elvis and eventually on the "Elvis Country" album. Note: We recorded this episode just before the "Sunset Boulevard" box set news dropped, before seeing Riley Keough's "In Process" short film and a few other news tidbits that cropped up, which we'll tackle all on the next episode! 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.
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TCBCast Jukebox Bonus - Billboard Top 10: May 26, 1958
Justin was recovering from his madcap trip to the Hawkeye State, so we took a brief hiatus but will be returning next week with a "Fun," summery feeling sessions-and-album discussion (hint hint). Enjoy this blast from the past in two ways: Justin & Gurdip's 2021 bonus discussion of the Billboard Top 10 from May 26, 1958, which offers up iconic rock and pop tracks, from Elvis's "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck" and Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" to less-well-remembered hits like The Four Preps' "Big Man". But the guys ended up going deeper when Justin start pulling in the top songs on the R&B and country charts as well, realizing that mid-1958 is a point of huge musical overlap between the major mainstream genres. Then, the guys also discuss some of the other Elvis-related items featured in this historical issue of this music industry magazine, including a contemporary review of King Creole and an incredibly fascinating story about Elvis bootlegs pressed into unconventional materials in Soviet Russia in the 1950s! For your listening convenience and pleasure, we've built a Spotify playlist of the songs featured on these charts, plus a handful of other tracks included in the discussion, at this link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6PeM4TMYaXx8ToQOfS84GH?si=de7dee88f6bf4e81 For more on the X-Ray Audio Project, visit: https://x-rayaudio.squarespace.com/ If you enjoyed this kind of content, please consider consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. We have an archive of over 4 years (and growing!) of bonus discussions just like this! 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.
About TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast
"Elvis is history," Carl Perkins once said, "and anytime anyone or anything becomes history, whether it be Pearl Harbor or Elvis, it will never go away. The world will never tire of his songs."
TCBCast is an unofficial fan podcast featuring co-hosts Gurdip Ladhar and Justin Gausman, along with regular guest co-hosts Ryan Droste and Bec Wyles, plus an array of Elvis fans and experts setting out to better understand that history, and those songs. Tackling topics from throughout Elvis's lifetime and beyond, TCBCast seeks to offer thoughtful, intelligent, heartfelt and honest discourse on Presley's career, his influences, the people who made his work possible, and the cultural phenomenon surrounding his iconography.
TCBCast is not associated with or endorsed by Graceland, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Authentic Brands Group or Sony.
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