Elvis' "Bridge over Troubled Water": amazing or no?

[Taverner]

I am not an Elvis fan, but something about his version of this song....simply put, amazing...

[kick-ass-bob]

1. What about Clay's?

:hide:

[Shell Beau]

6. Hahahaha

He is a Barry Manilow wannabe, probably has a crush on him too!

[ForrestGump]

28. Cassius Clay?

[swag]

2. I hear what you're saying, but I prefer his "Polk Salad Annie"

http://www.barb-coolwaters.com/e002/downsouth.html

"Some of you all never been south too much . . ."

[ForrestGump]

32. Cool link!

I especially love those early, 1970 versions, but it was still cool as it evolved through 1971 into the tight 1972-74 rendition and on to the final form, with everything pulsating steadily and tightened up beyond belief for maximum strike-a-pose value. :-)

Cool as cool gets.

Sock a little...

(one of my favorites is a 1970 rehearsal version in which Elvis messes around mercilessly, including the line "polk a little sock salad to me").

[ForrestGump]

3. Amazing

Paul Simon thought so, too, when he saw him do it at Madison Square Garden in '72.

Power, and control, dude. :D

[RevCheesehead]

4. I love that song.

Do you sing it? If so, I'd love to hear it.

[ForrestGump]

7. I have, and I think it came out okay,

but I'll try recording it to get a more objective verdict. If it comes out okay, I'll put it up for a listen... :D

[RevCheesehead]

9. Really??

:woohoo:

[ForrestGump]

10. Yeah, but if I'm not up to it

I'll never mention the song again. :D

[RevCheesehead]

11. How is your voice lately?

Are you back to 100%?

I had laryngitis for nearly 4 weeks. Only now am I beginning to feel "normal."

And if ya don't post THAT song, would ya at least post something? (other than Disco Duck, please.)

[ForrestGump]

15. I will post something

and several other Beatles songs. :D

I'm glad that your voice is returning to normal -- it can really take a while, especially with continued aggravation (as I imagine the Christmas period presented you).

I don't know if mine is 100% yet, but it seems close and it'll do for at least some songs. I want to put my best foot forward, so to speak, so I'll quit anything that just isn't working now (going to record again today, actually), though I have a feeling that I'm pretty much restored.

[RevCheesehead]

18. And the fan club rejoices at such great news!

Yeah, Christmas was horrible for me this year. But I've spent the last week sleeping more than anything. I guess I'll find out on Sunday if I'm "back" or not.

[ForrestGump]

22. You'll be back

:D

In the meantime, I hope you're still getting lots of rest. :hug:

[hopein08]

5. Amazing too...

and thanks for the tidbit about Paul Simon liking it. My mom is always teling me that Simon and Garfunkel never really liked anyone else's version and she certainly doesn't seem to like anyone else's.

[ForrestGump]

8. Yeah, Paul loved it

and couldn't beleive the different approach Elvis took. I believe he's been quoted as saying it was his favorite cover of one of their songs (pretty sure I've seen a quote to that effect, though I could be mixing it up with Bob Dylan talking about Elvis' 1966 version of "Tomorrow Is A Long Time"). When Paul Simon was a teenager he looked all over New York for a shirt like the one Elvis wore on the cover of the 1959 "For LP Fans Only" LP released while Elvis was in the Army. :D

[Taverner]

13. So dumb question here....

Forrest, are you an Elvis impersonator for real?

[ForrestGump]

14. Dumb answer here....

Yep. :D

For now, and only recently. Shoulda done it a long time ago. If nothing else -- this is especially obvious in light of my career and academic background -- it's fairly convincing proof that you never know where you'll end up or what you'll end up doing.

It's fun. Everyone should do it once -- embrace your inner Elvis.



See?: :D

[Taverner]

17. Awesome!

I never met an Elvis impersonator before :)

And yes, Mojo Nixon did say there is a little Elvis in every one of us...and I'm sure he'll admit there is now Elvis in Michael J Fox...

[ForrestGump]

23. Yeah, baby

:D

I agree about Michael the J -- I actually think that the real evil anti-Elvis is Michael Bolton. :o

[Aristus]

12. It's VERY good.

I heard somewhere that Elvis did it to prove that he had good gospel chops, To me, the post-1968-TV-Special Elvis was a sick, sad joke; but he KILLED on this cover version. It's amazing.

[ForrestGump]

19. Elvis was still cool post-'68,

in my opinion (still had basically the same musical sensibilities as at Sun, and remained a showman par excellence), but he sure didn't need to show off his gospel abilities...it was, arguably, the music that meant most to him even though he was not a holly-roller traditional southern Christian. Elvis' gospel output (consisting largely of a 1957 Ep, a 1961 LP, a 1966 LP, and a 1972 LP, with a few scatetred addiitonal songs, though just about everythign he did was -- as was also true for Ray Charles -- infused with gospel feeling) was also, to an agnostic (or whatever) like me, some of the best music he ever laid down. As for power and goosebump-provocation, have you heard any of his live versions of "How Great Thou Art" from the last three years of his life? Intense!

[ForrestGump]

21. Here's a later iteration of his '70s version of "How Great Thou Art"

Just uploaded it...it's an unreleased recording (from a soundboard tape) of Elvis in the Las Vegas Hilton on December 13, 1975 (his second-to-last season in Vegas; Elvis was a couple of weeks short of his 41st birthday). There's a little bit of distortion during the powerful bits, but it gets the idea across -- it has a reprise, too.

Click here to download the MP3 (6.48 MB, 4:43):

http://s64.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2IZSQE7C5VYQ509G1ZIFVS01ME

[RetroLounge]

16. Paul SImon Said

When asked what he thought of Elvis version of the song Paul said this. "It was in his Las Vegas period and done with conventional thinking. He sang it well, but it would have been nice to hear him do it gospel because he did so many gospel albums and was a good white gospel singer. It would have been nice to hear him do it that way, to take it back - as opposed to the big ending; he seemed to end everything with a karate chop and an explosion. So he didn't really add anything to the song. It's not nearly as significant as the Aretha Franklin recording. It's just a pleasure for me that Elvis Presley recorded one of my songs before he died".

RL

[ForrestGump]

24. Cool. That's a very thoughtful consideration. Yep, Elvis DID

love those big endings! :D

That's not a quote I've seen before...pretty cool. Thanks!

[RetroLounge]

26. Found it here.

Consider the source...

http://www.elvisinfonet.com/wilson2.html

RL

[ForrestGump]

30. Thanks. Kind of a non-gospel

gospel song like "Let It Be." Now that I think about it, that sort of thing was pretty popular, chart-wise, in the '68-'71 period.

[johnnie]

20. Yeah, it was a great version

He fucks up the words in the "That's the way it is" version, but it still kicks ass.

I think if people really gave Elvis a chance and listened to other things besides what they play on the radio they would find out they like a lot more of his material than they think.

[ForrestGump]

25. Yeah -- great songs like "Just Pretend," Stranger In The Crowd," "Long

Black Limousine," "I'll Hold You In My Heart," "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues," and about -- oh -- eight thousand others would probably be a revelation to so many people. Of course, when you're talking about Elvis, even an 'obscure' song has probably been heard by several million people. :D

[johnnie]

29. I'll add

"Let Yourself Go", "My Little Friend", "I've Got Confidence", "Wearin' That Loved On Look", "It Hurts Me", "Shoppin' Around"..Hell, I can go on.

Now I have to go home and put some of those records on. :)

[ForrestGump]

31. Don't forget that secular holy trinity recorded during the "How Great

Thou Art" sessions: "Down In The Alley," "Tomorrow Is A Long Time," and "Love Letters."

:D

And "Clean Up Your Own Back Yard," "Edge Of Reality," "All I Needed Was The Rain," "Reconsider, Baby," "I Want You With Me," "Never Ending," "Cindy, Cindy," "I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water," "I John," "Thinking About You,".............shoot, it'd be easier just to list almost every song the dude did. :-)

[ForrestGump]

27. Hey, dude

Don't look so sad...take a sad song, and...

No. That's not what I was going to say.

What I was going to say is: have you checked out the "How Great Thou Art" I linked above? That's a great concert -- all of Elvis' shows from this Vegas season were superb, even though he was undeniably heavier than he'd been -- and it's definitely in the pile of disks I'm burning. :D

[johnnie]

33. Whoa

My Boy My Boy. That has to be one of the best versions I have ever heard of that one. Damn, I still have a few chills left over that. It's funny how he would show off like that. Humble country boy my ass.

[ForrestGump]

34. Of course he was a shy, humble, country boy. I mean, just look at this:

:D

[johnnie]

35. Did ya see Red in the previews of that new basketball movie?

It looks like he got a pretty good part.