Seasons of the Ukulele

A weekly song challenge for ukulele players - all welcome. Find out more here

Season 720 - It's ELVIS Week!

potmo

Joko That is a very fair statement. I think it is sad how much his work deteriorated during his "Vegas Elvis" phase, not due to any lack of talent on Elvis' part (though obviously he lost some sex appeal) but the arrangements are as bad as the early ones are good in my humblest of humble opinions. Aiiiiiii I'm falling!

potmo

UkeCan1

Clearly I've already done all the "blue" songs

Well not quite.

With "blue"

~~blue christmas~~
~~blue hawaii~~
blue moon of kentucky
blue moon (Yes, Virginia these are different songs )
blue river
~~blue suede shoes~~
indescribably blue
moody blue
when my blue moon turns to gold again

With "blues"

steamroller blues
milkcow blues
~~A mess of blues~~
mean woman blues
GI blues

potmo

potmo potmo Addendum. I am listening to the 1973 "Aloha from Hawaii via Satelite" and it totally rocks. I just wish his later studio albums sounded more like this one. (of course I am probably going to have to eat crow on that too.) I just hate those shmaltzy muzac arrangements that seem so prevalent.

CanadaJim

johnpoole only if you define a cover as not being written by the singer. I think that’s a bit of a narrow definition. He had songs written for him and first recorded by him. I wouldn’t call them covers.

I dislike the word "Cover". It is often used as a derogatory term, but it doesn't really have a definition.
Was Biily Holiday a cover artist? Was Frank Sinatra? Was Charlie Parker?
Were Blue Suede Shoes or Hound Dog or Have I Told You Lately That I Love You considered covers when sung by Elvis?

I've heard, "They're just a cover band," or "He only does covers," said as put downs.

Joko

Here's one I've enjoyed hearing for a long time; first time playing it.

I was visited by Elvis in person at lunch today. Just out of the blue - no reference to the Blue sub-theme developing. See the description on YouTube to read what happened.

UkeCan1

potmo I see from @DelGriff's list of previous seasons, a season 50 hosted by "Uncle Elvis" called "Elvis". Was this an Elvis Costello season?

Nope, it's Elvis Presley. To be fair, it was "just the unfamiliar ones", and was nearly 13 years ago, but yeah - it's this Elvis.

The UU forum is down for maintenance at the moment, so I can't see the thread, but here's the opening video from Uncle Elvis (Mike Hind) and two playlists:

Season 50 Official Playlist

Season 50 Bonus Playlist

For some reason, the Facebook Sharing Debugger isn't fixing this thumbnail - maybe someone else can figure it out….

potmo

CanadaJim Hmm I never interpreted the term negatively, although apparently a performance of a song which was written by someone other than the performer but expressly for that performer than that is not considered a cover.
I mean if someone performs a song, seems like there needs to be a word to distinguish between a song written by the performer as opposed to someone else's song. Since I only do covers, I certainly don't use it as a putdown.

potmo

OK so now, I knock off early Elvis with Don't be Cruel. Coming up Vegas Elvis, freeing me for a throne song and a gospel song!

Joko

The ghost of Elvis was lying to me! . My initial claim that we had never done an Elvis Week, ever, was incorrect.

Week 50 in January 2013 was indeed "Obscure Elvis" week.
There was also a week 136 in late 2014 which was 1950's Elvis.

It's creepy finding old YouTube accounts of folks you remember but who haven't posted anything in 12 years. You can't help but wonder if they got hit by a bus or something.

Good stuff, everyone, keep it coming!

Barbablanca

I have been preparing for an unusual gig (for me). I will be backing a friend who plays fiddle and accordion on his gig tonight at a local bar (Called "The Lost Dog" - a canine friendly establishment). So I have been spending hours brushing up on my jigs and reels rhythms. I'm nervous because we have had very little rehearsal…. and I am terrible at remembering tunes, if they don't have lyrics.

Anyway, all this is to say I hope to offer a new video here after the gig. Meanwhile, I will offer an old video of a song my brother wrote about a guy setting off with his fat wife to pay his respects to "The King" that I recorded for SOTU 502.

CanadaJim

Have I Told You Lately That I Love You - Scotty Wiseman

There are two songs with this title, but this is the one that Elvis recorded.
The profile picture is the closest I ever came to playing with Elvis.

CanadaJim

Hey Joko, Please feel free to reject this tune. It always reminds me of Elvis, but. . .

TWO-TONE SHOES - Parody of Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes"- Homer Haynes / Jethro Burns / Carl Perkins - 1956

DelGriff

Thanks for hosting, Joko! :-)

I wouldn’t describe myself as a huge Elvis fan, but the ones I like, I really like. And this is one of them, from 1963. Baritone uke (with some ‘dreamy chorus’ effect), synth bass, various other synth parts and a homemade drum pattern. Some harmony vocals in there too.

(You’re The) Devil In Disguise - Elvis Presley cover (SOTU 720)

Barbablanca

Here is my "Freshly Minted" contribution. Unusually for me, it is a COVER! It's Richard Thompson's wonderful song about an Irish woman obsessed with Elvis ("From Galway to Graceland"). I hope this counts as sticking within the theme.

If you are unfamiliar with Richard Thompson, I advise you to seek him out. He's one of the best songwriters around and one of the best guitarists too! Ex member of Fairport Convention - the British Folk-Rockers.

dr_mitch

And for song number 3, an African-American spiritual tune from the early 19th century - and as much as the biblical theme is about escaping from slavery. I added the key changes. It was also covered by Elvis late in his career.

Tonight my voice couldn't quite keep up with my resonator - but it really fit as a resonator song.

Joko

It's Saturday in Burma and we come to towards the the end of the Season…

Did you know?

If Elvis was alive today, he would be 90 years old.

In 1959, Elvis was named MVP of the US Armed Forces Flag Football League in Germany.

As my YouTube feed has lots of American football and Elvis in it right now, it's not surprising that a video hosted by Peyton Manning about Elvis and football popped up in my feed. You can see parts of it here as I used it in the background of my cover of "Fever"…

Good base bass practice.

UkeCan1

Far be it from me to miss out on the mashup clause of the theme!

Option 3b, Elvis vs Eric.

You've heard of "Cocaine Bear"? This is "Cocaine Dog" - "Hound Dog" to the tune of Clapton's "Cocaine" and vice versa.

potmo

Ok this is my vegas elvis, though the song was originally in 1957, he played it later (?) I worked too hard on it before I discovered that it was an early song. Sorry. My philosophy on this is ask forgiveness not permission.

joo

i recorded this song a few times these past weeks, because I had told an YouTube friend I would do it for an Elvis Christmas compilation they are putting together. There had been the silly ones, cringing ones and more silly and cringing ones. And I have recorded this by the river, under a tree, on the bed, in the kitchen (with Jon, my previous entry here), and this one here, in our library. The bear Abu Garcia was beside me because he had to be. I know his name is a bit fishy sounding @UkeFoote but that was what i called him when i first saw him.

CanadaJim

Hound Dog - Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller and an unnamed English teacher.**
I borrowed a few verses from Willie Mae Thornton's version just to fill it out a bit. I fixed the grammar a bit for my Grade 10 English teacher. Here you go Miss Simpson.
My brother and I had a blues harp compilation LP when we were in high school and one of the harp players was a woman named Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. We admired her singing and harp playing, but didn't discover till years later that she had recorded "Hound Dog" before Elvis.
Hope this version is acceptable Joko.**

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