Elvis Presley, The #2 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Ten

 

(Continued from Part Nine)

Presley's shows at the International were released on the album On Stage, which has sold over one million copies.  He performed at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas in February for six record-breaking shows.  Elvis released the multi-format hit single "The Wonder Of You", #1 in the U.K. for six weeks, #1 in Ireland for three weeks and the #1 Adult song in the U.S., as well as #9 Popular and #37 Country.

Presley also released a documentary,  Elvis:  That's the Way It Is, which featured concert footage of his shows at the International.   He also toured for one week for the first time since 1958.

 

At this point, Elvis was shifting towards a more Adult sound, as his audience was growing up.  The Platinum album That's the Way It Is reflected that change.  "I've Lost You" is a song originally recorded by Ian Matthews for his first solo album after leaving Fairport Convention.  Elvis covered it and it reached #5 on the Easy Listening chart but stalled at #32 on the Popular chart despite it being a Gold record.

Presley included "I've Lost You" in his set list for his third season in Las Vegas.  Concerned about rampant drug use in the United States, Elvis reached out to President Richard Nixon and arranged a meeting at the White House on December 21, 1970.  

The U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce named Elvis one of its annual Ten Most Outstanding Young Men of the Nation on January 16, 1971, an odd award considering Presley was 36 at the time.  Memphis joined in the tributes to Elvis by naming the part of Highway 51 South where Graceland is located "Elvis Presley Boulevard".  

Elvis received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards, the first time a Rock and Roll artist was so honored.  Presley recorded 35 songs in marathon sessions in Nashville that resulted in three studio albums in 1970 and 1971 (Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old)), Love Letters from Elvis and Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas, the latter now tops three million in sales), matching his output for the previous eight years.  None of them matched the freshness or quality of the 1969 Memphis sessions but we do want to feature two songs from those albums. 

 

Elvis recorded another Eddy Arnold song on the album  Elvis Country--"I Don't Really Want To Know.

Elvis recorded the Christmas standard "Merry Christmas Baby" for his holiday release, and another live album, Elvis In Person, went Gold, as did the 1972 album Elvis Now.  

Presley released the film Elvis on Tour, which won a Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary.  Elvis released another great Gospel album, He Touched Me, which won a Grammy for Best Inspirational Performance and has gone Platinum.  The album includes a great version of "Amazing Grace".

Presley did a short tour to promote the album that included four sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City, a record at the time.  The July 10 performance was recorded and released as the album Elvis:  As Recorded at Madison Square Garden, a three million-seller.  By this time, Presley was wearing a white American Eagle cape, which he would spread out to reveal wings of the eagle that were attached to the back at the end of his concerts.

In February of 1972, RCA recorded Elvis live in Las Vegas for the first time since August of 1970.  There was enough new material for about half of an album.  Elvis wanted to release a single of his live version of "The Impossible Dream" from Man From La Mancha. 

 

 

As much as he put into that song, Presley chose Mickey Newbury's "An American Trilogy" instead, with which he loved since Newbury released the song.  A loose medley of the Confederate anthem "Dixie", the slavery Folk song "All My Trials", and the rousing Union rallying cry "Battle Hymn Of The Republic", the song spoke to Elvis not just because of its inescapable historical divisions but about the resolution he hoped would some day come.  

The thing that the South must always understand is the other 70% of the country will never ever tolerate bigotry and racism.  Ever.  So that is a non-starter.

Elvis's version features a great arrangement by keyboardist Glen D. Hardin and Elvis delivered an amazing performance of the song, which became a staple of his live act over the years.

Meanwhile, Elvis and Priscilla were drifting apart and an affair with Joyce Bova resulted in a pregnancy and subsequent abortion.  The Presleys separated on February 23, 1972.

Presley's '68 Comeback Special had reinvigorated him as well as his career, albeit for a short time.  Sales had suffered in the last two years and chart success had dried up again.  Something had to be done.

Elvis booked recording sessions at the RCA Studios in Hollywood for March 27-29 of 1972, sandwiched in between the end of his shows in Las Vegas for February and preparations for a larger nationwide tour. 

Jarvis had assembled quality material for Elvis to record, but the main question was the artist himself.  He arrived in Hollywood brooding over the failing of his marriage with Priscilla, alternating between feelings of sadness and frustration.

Jarvis and others were concerned about Presley's state of mind.  He didn't seem interested in recording a hit record, and favored sad ballads over Rock songs.  But an uptempo tune was exactly what the album needed.

The song that got Elvis inspired was "Separate Ways".  When he heard it, he stopped and began recording it with a manic resolve.  There were endless takes of the song about a man's separation from his daughter and wife, not done with a desire for perfection, but more of a therapy that Presley felt he needed.  Jarvis could not shake Elvis from his gloomy mood.  

 

On the second night, Jarvis finally got Presley to record "Burning Love".  Observers could tell Elvis's heart wasn't in it, but he performed it like the professional he was.  On August 1, 1972 Presley released the single "Burning Love", his final Top 10 hit.  

The third night produced another of Presley's best, a song later made famous by Willie Nelson.  

Co-writer Wayne Carson told SmoothRadio.com that he wrote most of the song in 10 minutes at his kitchen table in Springfield, Missouri.  Carson kept the song for over a year and was finishing a recording session when Moman (Presley's producer) asked Carson about recording "that mind" song, but said it needed a bridge.  

Wayne went upstairs to work on it when Johnny Christopher and Mark James walked in and Carson asked for their help to finish the song.  Between the three of them, the two-line "tell me..." bridge was added and the song was passed to one of Elvis's bodyguards.  

 

Elvis recorded his version of the song on March 29, 1972, a few weeks after his separation from wife Priscilla--"Always On My Mind".

Five months after the Presleys separated, Elvis' new girlfriend, Linda Thompson, moved in to Graceland.  Elvis and Priscilla filed for divorce on August 18.  Regarding his infidelity and divorce, Elvis made an important statement--"Well," he said, "the image is one thing and the human being another...it's very hard to live up to an image."

Join us for Part Eleven of Elvis!