Legends Elvis Presley

(1)

(2)

(3)

U N C U T L E G E N D S

_|

₃

MUSIC, SEX, POLITICS.

IN ELVIS YOU HAD THE

WHOLE LOT. AS HE CHANGED

SHAPE, SO DID THE WORLD

OO

ut of Tupelo, Mississippi, out of

Memphis, Tennessee, came this green, sharkskin-suited girl chaser, wearing eye-shadow – a trucker-dandy white boy who must have risked his hide to act so black and dress so gay. This wasn’t New York or even New Orleans; this was Memphis in the ’50s. This was punk rock. This was revolt. Elvis changed everything – musically, sexually, politically. In Elvis, you had the whole lot; it’s all there in that elastic voice and body. As he changed shape, so did the world: he was a ’50s style icon who was what the ’60s were capable of, and then suddenly not. In the ’70s, he turned celebrity into a blood sport but, interestingly, the more he fell to Earth, the more godlike he became to his fans. His last performances showcase a voice even bigger than his gut, where you cry real tears as the music messiah sings his tired heart out, turning casino into temple.

In Elvis, you have the blueprint for rock’n’roll: the highness – the gospel highs. The mud – the Delta mud, the blues. Sexual liberation. Controversy. Changing the way people feel about the world. It’s all there with Elvis.

I was barely conscious when I saw the ’68 Comeback Special, at eight years old – which was probably

an advantage. I hadn’t the critical faculties to divide the different Elvises into different categories or sort through the contradictions. Pretty much everything I want from guitar, bass and drums was present: a performer annoyed by the distance from his audience; a persona that made a prism of fame’s wide-angle lens; a sexuality matched only by a thirst for God’s instruction.

But it’s that elastic spastic dance that is the most difﬁ cult to explain – hips that swivel from Europe to Africa, which is the whole point of America, I guess. For an Irish boy, the voice might have explained the sexiness of the USA, but the dance explained the energy of this new world about to boil over and scald the rest of us with new ideas on race, religion, fashion, love and peace. These were ideas bigger than the man who would break the ice for them, ideas that would later confound the man who took the Anglo-Saxon stiff upper lip and curled it forever. He was “Elvis the Pelvis”, with one hand on the blues terminal and the other on the gospel, which is the essence of rock’n’roll, a lightning ﬂ ash running along his spine, electroshock therapy for a generation about to refuse numbness, both male and female, black and white.

I recently met with Coretta Scott King, John Lewis and some of the other leaders of the American civil rights movement, and they reminded me of the cultural apartheid rock’n’roll was up against. I think the hill they climbed would have been much steeper were it not for the racial inroads black music was making on white pop culture. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater

Revival were all introduced to the blues through Elvis. He was already doing what the civil rights movement was demanding: breaking down barriers. You don’t think of Elvis as political, but that is politics: changing the way people see the world.

In the ’80s, U2 went to Memphis, to Sun Studio – the scene of rock’n’roll’s big bang. We were working with Elvis’ engineer and music diviner, Cowboy Jack Clement. He reopened the studio so we could cut some tracks within the same four walls where Elvis recorded “Mystery Train”. He found the old valve microphone The King had howled through; the reverb was the same reverb: “Train I ride, 16 coaches long”. It was a small tunnel of a place, but there was a certain clarity to the sound. You can hear it in those Sun records, and they are the ones for me – leanness but not meanness. The King didn’t know he was The King yet. It’s haunted, hunted, spooky music. Elvis doesn’t know where the train will take him, and that’s why we want to be passengers.

Jerry Schilling, the only one of the Memphis Maﬁ a not to sell him out, told me a story about when he used to live at Graceland, down by the squash courts. He had a little room there, and he said that when Elvis was upset and feeling out of kilter, he would leave the big house and go down to his little gym, where there was a piano. With no-one else around, his choice would always be gospel, losing and ﬁ nding

himself in the old spirituals. He was happiest when he was singing his way back to spiritual safety. But he didn’t stay long enough. Self-loathing was waiting back up at the house, where Elvis was seen shooting at his TV screens, the Bible open beside him at Saint Paul’s great ode to love, Corinthians 13. Elvis clearly didn’t believe God’s grace was amazing enough.

Some commentators say it was the army, others say it was Hollywood or Las Vegas that broke his

spirit. The rock’n’roll world certainly didn’t like to see their King doing what he was told. I think it was probably much more likely his marriage or his mother – or a ﬁ ner fracture from earlier on,

like losing his twin brother, Jesse, at birth. Maybe it was just the big arse of fame sitting on him.

I think the Vegas period is underrated. I ﬁ nd it the most emotional. By that point Elvis was clearly not

in control of his own life, and there is this incredible pathos. The big opera voice of the later years – that’s the one that really hurts me.

Why is it that we want our idols to die on a cross of their own making and, if they don’t, we want our money back? But, you know, Elvis ate America before America ate him.

BONO

©ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES INC/©BONO: THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN

ROLLING STONE

MAGAZINE

O

MUSIC, SEX, POLITICS.

IN ELVIS YOU HAD THE

WHOLE LOT. AS HE CHANGED

(4)

4 |

6 THE CROWN JEWELS

Elvis’ 20 greatest songs as picked by Uncut Legends’ esteemed panel of experts

26 26 THE EARLY DAYS: 1953-55

THE EARLY DAYS: 1953-55

From the fateful day he walked into Sun to becoming the biggest star of rock’n’roll

28 28 THE BIG BANG

THE BIG BANG

How faith kept Sam Phillips going when Elvis was going nowhere

40 40 THE BOY KING: 1956-57

THE BOY KING: 1956-57

America’s love affair with Elvis begins

42 42 CROWNING GLORY

CROWNING GLORY

The Hillbilly Cat conquers the world

47 47 “FAME, MONEY – I LOVE THEM”

_{“FAME, MONEY – I LOVE THEM”}

A rare interview with Elvis from the Melody Maker archives

48 48 EXPOSED: ALFRED WERTHEIMER

_{EXPOSED: ALFRED WERTHEIMER}

The secrets behind Alfred Wertheimer’s greatest photographs

60 60 THE ARMY YEARS: 1958-62

THE ARMY YEARS: 1958-62

Elvis’ career goes on hold… almost

63 63 SOLDIER BOY

SOLDIER BOY

The startling consequences the US Army had for Elvis’ life and career

70 70 ELVIS SPEAKS

ELVIS SPEAKS

The trials of singing, angry parents and more in Elvis’ most revealing ever interview

72 72 FROM MEMPHIS TO MERSEYSIDE

FROM MEMPHIS TO MERSEYSIDE

The search for the British Elvis

78 78 THE MOVIE MACHINE: 1963-67

THE MOVIE MACHINE: 1963-67

Movies and marriage become Elvis’ priorities

81 81 ELVIS IN TINSELTOWN

ELVIS IN TINSELTOWN

Music takes a back seat as Elvis’ movies conquer the globe. But trouble is stirring…

87 87 EXPOSED: ELVIS’ CO-STARS

EXPOSED: ELVIS’ CO-STARS

Exploring the allure of Elvis’ leading ladies

98 98 THE COMEBACK KING: 1968-70

THE COMEBACK KING: 1968-70

How Elvis wrested control of his career from the Colonel, before having it snatched back

100 100 THE SECOND COMING

THE SECOND COMING

The incredible story of the greatest comeback in the history of rock’n’roll

108 108 EXPOSED: ’68 COMEBACK SPECIAL

EXPOSED: ’68 COMEBACK SPECIAL

The amazing iconography of Elvis’ spectacular TV rebirth

116 116 LAS VEGAS AND DEATH: 1971-77

LAS VEGAS AND DEATH: 1971-77

From refreshed and renewed to divorce and death, Presley’s tragic decline

119 119 KING OF THE ROAD

KING OF THE ROAD

How the Colonel’s punishing tour schedule stymied the resurgent Elvis

128 128 THE DEATH OF ELVIS

THE DEATH OF ELVIS

The extraordinary and depressing death of The King

134 134 ELVIS FOREVER

ELVIS FOREVER

From The Beatles to U2: The King’s legacy

142 142 LIST ME TENDER

LIST ME TENDER

All the Elvis facts you’ve never heard

144 144 ELVIS BUYERS’ GUIDE

ELVIS BUYERS’ GUIDE

All the CDs, books and DVDs you’ll need

146 146 THE LAST WORD

THE LAST WORD

WHAT MADE ELVIS

38

38 THE VOICE by Nigel Williamson

96

96 THE ACTOR by Joe Cushley

114

114 THE LOOK by David Stubbs

124

124 THE INTERPRETER by Gavin Martin

ELVIS’ PEOPLE

36

36 THE MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET by Paul Moody

56

56THE BANDS by Nigel Williamson

76

76 THE SONGWRITERS

by Barney Hoskyns

92

92 COLONEL TOM PARKER

by Mike Pattenden

ALBUMS

Uncut Legends uncovers the story

behind the pick of Elvis’ albums

34

34 THE SUN COLLECTION

Roy Carr on his struggle to compile Elvis’ earliest recordings… and what Sam Phillips said when he heard them

58 58 ELVIS

The record that defined what rock’n’roll was, and could be

74

74 ELVIS IS BACK!

After leaving the army, Elvis was fired up to prove that he’d lost none of his edge while in khaki

94

94 SPINOUT

What should have been just another soundtrack albumcontained the roots of his revival, in the form of a Bob Dylan cover

106

106 FROM ELVIS IN

MEMPHIS

With his comeback rightly lauded around the world, Elvis completed his redemption, in style

126

126 THAT’S THE WAY IT IS

Re-invigorated by his Vegas residencies, The King proves that he’s the world’s greatest balladeer

81

(5)

©ELVIS ENTERPRISES INC, REX FEATURES, KOBAL

EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES Uncut, IPC Media, 25th Floor,

King’s Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LS Tel: 020 7261 6992 Fax: 020 7261 5573

EDITOR Anthony Thornton ART EDITOR Michael Chapman PICTURE EDITOR Monica Chouhan PRODUCTION EDITOR Nathaniel Cramp

SUB EDITORS Eddy Lawrence, Andrew Winter, Victoria Rees EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Elizabeth Curran

CONTRIBUTORS Stuart Bailie, Nathaniel Cramp, Joe Cushley, Stephen Dalton, Simon Goddard, Nick Hasted, Barney Hoskyns, Neil Howie,

Sarah-Jane, Pat Long, Gavin Martin, Paul Moody, Paul McNamee, Mike Pattenden, David Stubbs,

Adrian Thrills

ELVIS CONSULTANT Simon Goddard EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Steve Sutherland

GROUP ART DIRECTOR Rob Biddulph UNCUT EDITOR Allan Jones UNCUT ART EDITOR Kerrin Hands ASSISTANT PUBLISHER Emily Hutchings

PUBLISHER Andrew Sumner MANAGING DIRECTOR

Tim Brooks SPECIAL THANKS TO: Kelly Hill and everyone at Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc, Alfred Wertheimer and Photokunst Gallery, Joseph A Tunzi, Roger

Semon, Peter Chapman, Joe Winfield, Jimmy Young, Victoria Rees, Judith Sharpin

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY ©ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES INC, PICTORIAL PRESS, REX FEATURES, KOBAL,

GETTY, REDFERNS COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR

Karl Marsden 020 7261 5519 MUSIC & FILM MANAGER Mia Appelbrink 020 7261 7073, fax 020 7261 5504 [email protected] DIRECTOR OF IGNITE MEDIA SOLUTIONS Andrew Sanders 020 7261 7187, fax 020 7261 5504 [email protected] CLASSIFIED SALES MANAGER

Romano Sidoli 020 7261 5061, fax 020 7261 5353, [email protected] AD PRODUCTION Alec Short 020 7261 5543 PRODUCTION MANAGER Sam Bishop SENIOR MARKETING EXEC

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the prior

permission of the publishers. Repro by FE Burman, 20 Crimscott Street, SE1 5TF. Printed by Polestar Chantry Web Ltd, Bridley Way, 41 Industrial Estate, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF2 OXO All reasonable efforts have been made to obtain copyright clearance and acknowledge the source

of material used in the magazine. If you should have been contacted or credited please

email [email protected] Elvis is number one. To ram the point home, and celebrate his 70th

birthday, he scored his 19th UK Number One with the scintillating

“Jailhouse Rock”. A week later he had the landmark 1,000th UK

Number One with “One Night”. A testament to his lasting appeal. Without Elvis, rock’n’roll itself would have been a footnote in American history. The Beatles, Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Bowie and all the rest would never have got a toehold on our collective consciousness. In this magazine all these legends tell how Elvis changed their lives in an individual way… and the lives of anyone who ever considered picking up a guitar.

But that’s the point, Elvis means something different to everyone. He was quite simply the biggest star of the 20th century and it’s impossible to escape his influence in the 21st.

In your hands is a lovingly crafted magazine that delves into everything that made Elvis great, while not shying away from the heartbreak. In putting this together we had access to the massive

NME, Melody Maker and Disc archives and we’re delighted to reprint

three extremely rare interviews with Elvis himself, all from the amazing period between 1955 and 1960 when the world was just getting used to the Big Bang of rock’n’roll. We even have a first-hand account of the struggle to assemble the Sun sessions album, and the all-time Elvis Top 20 as chosen by Uncut Legends’ panel of experts. This has been a pleasure to create. We hope you like it too.

ANTHONY THORNTON EDITOR

28

100

63

87

42

119

(6)

(7)

_|

₇

HOUND DOG

The song Elvis memorably

sang to a basset hound on

Steve Allen’s TV show in July

1956 also gave him a Number

One on the US pop, country and black

singles charts. Another classic rocker, this

Leiber and Stoller-penned number had

“Don’t Be Cruel” on its ﬂ ipside.

LIAM WATSON, TOE RAG STUDIOS: “When I was very young, my best friend was an Elvis nut. He had the album 40 Greatest – which was a great compilation of the biggest RCA hits. ‘Hound Dog’ was one of my favourites (along with ‘My Baby Left Me’) and still is.”

ANTHONY H WILSON: “Whenever I hear ‘Hound Dog’, it takes me back to being six or seven and hearing it for the ﬁ rst time. My dad was an out-of-work actor so I’d grown up going to lots of musicals and hearing Shirley Bassey, but I’d

The King’s 20 ﬁ nest moments, as chosen

by

Uncut’s panel of musicians, artists,

celebs and, most importantly, Elvis freaks

LOVE LETTERS

Much covered, but hugely

likeable, pop ballad written

by Edward Heyman and

Victor Young. Elvis imbues

the track with a rich vocal resonance and

more genuine emotion than most other

versions can muster. Released as a single

in 1966.

JON SPENCER, BLUES EXPLOSION: “I’m not a particular fan of love songs, but Elvis’ version of ‘Love Letters’ is great. I'm a real sucker for that.”

STEVE DIGGLE, BUZZCOCKS: “When you listen to songs like ‘Love Letters’ you can hear Elvis’ Roy Orbison inﬂ uence. My mum and dad had an old radiogram that would blast things out and when that came on, everyone would just stop what they were doing and listen. The mixture of pain and pathos in that song is unbelievable.”

(8)

8 |

15

16

18

17

went off to Hollywood or wherever. The pureness of sound all these years later… I put that on and go, ‘Why am I even trying? I can never better this.’ He does three Arthur Crudup songs and they’re all works of art.”

LITTLE SISTER

Elvis broke the mould with

this sly and salacious

hard-rocking paean to sibling

rivalry and sexual revenge.

JOSH HOMME, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE: “I like ‘Little Sister’ – I like the whole story of this love triangle between a man and two siblings. Our single right now is called ‘Little Sister’ and it’s partially inspired by that song. I love the sexual tension of it, what it’s saying: ‘Little sister don’t you do what your big sister done?’ There’s a devilish nature to that. And I love the guitar line.”

TREVOR CAJIAO: “A low down’n’dirty groover from the Pomus and Shuman team. Tailor-made for The King in every way.”

never been subjected to any rock’n’roll. It was like the door to another world opening. I didn’t know what was behind it, but I knew it was radical and exciting.”

ALICE COOPER: “It reminds me of Elvis as I knew him – young, lean, snotty, with a sneer on his face. The coolest guy in the world.”

ALWAYS ON

MY MIND

One of Elvis’ most emotive

moments, written by a trio of

composers including Mark

“Suspicious Minds” James.

ALAN MCGEE: “His greatest moment. Sums up for me men, women and everything in between.”

PLEDGING

MY LOVE

Written by Ferdinand

Washington and one of the

last cuts ever recorded at the

Graceland studio in 1976.

TREVOR CAJIAO, ELVIS BIOGRAPHER: “Elvis singles offered ridiculously good value for money – ‘Hound Dog’/‘Don’t Be Cruel’, ‘Jailhouse Rock’/ ‘Treat Me Nice’ – and here’s another case in point. Issued as the ﬂ ip of ‘Way Down’, this version of Johnny Ace’s posthumous 1954 smash deserved a release of its own. Check out the even better alternative take on the Platinum box set.”

THAT’S ALL RIGHT

From the session that started

it all, the original one-take

masterpiece put a raw twist

on ‘Big Boy’ Crudup’s standard.

CHRIS BAILEY, THE SAINTS: “My ultimate favourite. Whatever you say about Elvis, he very much liked black blues music. His music was black before he

“

“I LOVE THE SEXUAL

I LOVE THE SEXUAL

TENSION OF WHAT

‘LITTLE SISTER’ IS

SAYING. IT HAS A

DEVILISH NATURE"

JOSH HOMME

GETTY

(9)

|

9

14

14 JESSE MALIN

on how The King united his parents and

consequently brought him into the world

“My first memory of Elvis was watching my dad jump around our living room. Aloha From Hawaii was on and he had every TV in the house blaring it out. He was never really a music fan, but he was nuts about Elvis. He had lots of records, posters and an Elvis bust. In fact, the one thing my parents seemed to bond on most was probably The King. They went to see him together in Las Vegas and during the brief time they were together, I remember them listening to his records. I liked some

of the songs they played, but I didn't really appreciate how talented Elvis was until I bought From Elvis In Memphis a few years later.

“People have resented Elvis because he didn’t write any of the songs he recorded, but neither did Frank Sinatra. The important thing is, he took a song and put so much soul and passion in there he made it his own. It didn't matter if he was dabbling in country or gospel or rock’n’roll, he made them all sound really effortless and easy because he had such a beautiful voice.

“Obviously Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and Little Richard had already

released great records by the

time he came on the scene,

but he was the first to kick

the door open and really introduce rock’n’roll to white people. What the Beastie Boys did for hip-hop, he did for rhythm and blues.

“I remember playing outside when the next door neighbour told me he’d died. It was a sad moment and it would have been interesting to see what music he would have made if he’d lived. I still listen to Elvis now and then, but I think the most interesting thing about Elvis’ legacy is what it says about the American dream and how fame and success can kill you and send you spiraling in isolation and addiction.

“I went to the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh yesterday and I stood underneath the Elvis painting. Just staring at his eyes and wondering how he felt about all the things he experienced from the army to his downfall. It’s an iconic image and he was an extremely iconic man.”

“Elvis’ legacy

shows how the

American dream

and fame and

success can

kill you”

ONE NIGHT

A potently sexual, full-tilt pop

single that topped the British

charts in 1959 and made

Number Four on the Billboard

charts (paired with “I Got Stung”).

STEVE DIGGLE: “It’s a very basic song, but I really like ‘One Night’. The music is really simple and stripped down, but when Elvis sings the chorus… man, it goes right down your spine.

(10)

“Suspicious Minds”? “American Trilogy”? Or a rant about the DEA? ’70s Elvis takes care of business

(11)

11

12

10

13

It must have been a real turn-on for women. I bet they used to listen to it and just melt.”

TREVOR CAJIAO: “Don’t let anyone tell you the blues is strictly for the black man. The passion and feel in El’s version of ‘One Night’ transcends all musical boundaries. Apart from, maybe, Duane Eddy’s ‘Peter Gunn’, has there ever been a dirtier sounding record?”

TOMORROW IS

A LONG TIME

Recorded during Elvis’ classic

mid ’60s resurgence, this

cover did things to Dylan that

he didn’t expect .

CARL BÂRAT, THE LIBERTINES:“Bob Dylan said it was his favourite cover of one of his songs ever. Considering how many people had a crack at doing ol’ Zimmerman’s stanzas, that says it all.”

LOVE ME

Leiber and Stoller penned

“Love Me” as a country music

‘parody’, with a funereal pace

and melodramatic lyrics.

Elvis’ version, recorded in September

1956, transformed it into a romantic

ballad showcasing his power and range.

Never released as an ofﬁ cial single,

it nevertheless almost topped the US

Billboard charts through radio play alone.

ROBERT PLANT: “The Elvis track that really did it for me was ‘Love Me’. Not ‘Love Me Tender’, but

the Lieber and Stoller song. At the time I had no idea why I liked it. It was just the sound and the way he sang. Now I know what was going on – the compression on his voice and the way they put it through the best equipment. But his conﬁ dence and his assertion were stupendous. If you can hear Elvis singing ‘Love Me’, then that’s a great introduction to the blues.”

BURNING LOVE

In the middle of his

break-up with Priscilla, Elvis

wasn’t keen to even record

this ebullient love song,

dispatching it in six takes to concentrate

on downbeat ballads. You’d never guess,

though, as The King turns in a rapturous

vocal performance on a song that, in 1972,

became his biggest US hit in three years.

ALAN MCGEE: “Elvis had the blues. He was a black guy with white skin.”

RICHARD HAWLEY: “I’m a big fan of ‘Burning Love’. It’s just a very sexy record. You can hear him get down.”

TREVOR CAJIAO: “Coming amid a sea of ballads, this Dennis Linde rocker was a real breath of fresh air in 1972. I heard it on the car radio yesterday and almost blew the speakers when turning the volume knob

to 32. Isn’t it strange how all your favourite records sound even better when you’re not expecting to hear them?”

MILKCOW

BLUES BOOGIE

Barnstorming update of

James Arnold’s country blues

number from 1935. Recorded

in 1954 in one of Elvis’ early

sessions for Sam Phillips at Sun. It was

released as a single in the US, with “You’re

A Heartbreaker” on the ﬂ ipside, in 1955.

LIAM WATSON, TOE RAG STUDIOS: “This was the ﬁ rst song I heard from Elvis’ Sun sessions. When I was a teenager, I had it on a tape of stuff I had recorded off the John Peel show. It still sounds fantastic.”

JON SAVAGE: “The song starts off really slowly like a traditional blues number, then it breaks into a 200 mph rockabilly track with a wonderful mathematical guitar solo from Scotty Moore. It’s just extraordinary.”

BARRIE CADOGAN, LITTLE BARRIE: “I think songs like ‘Milkcow…’ have been overlooked compared to his RCA output and the Las Vegas years, and yet there’s something very special about the simplicity and rawness of those particular tracks. They’re so deceptively simple, they sound like anybody could play them.”

“ELVIS SINGING ‘LOVE ME’, THAT’S A GREAT

INTRODUCTION TO THE BLUES"

ROBERT PLANT

The newlywed Elvis and Priscilla board their honeymoon jet, May 1, 1967

ROISIN MURPHY, MOLOKO,

would have married

Elvis if only her dad had got that magic wand

“I was a big Elvis fan as a kid. In fact, I was so obsessed with him that my father told me he was going to get a magic wand so I could change one of the living room chairs into Elvis and marry him. Whenever he came to visit me I’d ask where it was and he’d say, ‘I’ll bring it next week, I’m going to visit the fairies tonight.’ After about a year I realised I was never

going to get it and would have to make do with watching him on TV. I used to watch a lot of his films with my mum and occasionally we’d dance round the living room to his albums too.

“I bought the Comeback Special DVD a while ago and I’ve watched that loads. The live footage is fantastic and when you watch him interacting with the band and talking to the audience you realise what a dark sense of humour he had.

“In the ’50s he seemed quite a two dimensional figure, but of course he was just as human as the rest of us and behind his showbiz smile there was obviously a lot of turmoil and complexity. I’d definitely like to find out even more about Elvis because I still find him an extremely fascinating character.”

“The live footage

from the Comeback

Special is fantastic,

you realise what

a dark sense of

humour he had”

©ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES INC., CORBIS

(12)

12 |

88

99

Guitar man Scotty Moore levitates a young Elvis

DON’T BE CRUEL

This Otis Blackwell-penned

number went to the top of the

Billboard pop, country and

black music charts in 1956

and stayed there for weeks – and with

sales estimated anywhere between four

and nine million became Elvis’

biggest-selling single to date. A perfect blend of

pop and rockabilly, Presley ﬁ rst heard the

song at a studio session in July 1956 and

immediately agreed to record it.

RICHARD HAWLEY: “I still get chills when I listen to ‘Don’t Be Cruel’. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful song with incredibly pure sentiment. The older I get the less I can be arsed listening to modern music because hardly any of it comes close to songs like this.”

GREG HATTON, THE EARLIES: “The thing that’s interesting about Elvis is he wasn't a songwriter. His talent was the way he emotionally

connected with the material and made it sound like his. His version of ‘Don’t Be Cruel’, for example, is just awesome. It literally sounds like his heart is breaking in two.”

CRISTINA MARTINEZ, BOSS HOG: “‘Don’t Be Cruel’ is the sound of Elvis on his knees, whispering and promising you he’ll never do you wrong.”

GUITAR MAN

Written by Jerry Reed

and recorded by Elvis in

Nashville, September 1967,

this was hailed as a return

to form after years of artistic ennui. The

transformative Comeback Special, which

used this song as its centrepiece, was to

follow in ’68.

TOM BAXTER: “I’ve got a fantastic live album of Elvis’ where he performs a brilliant rendition of ‘Guitar Man’. In fact, that track was probably the one that inspired me to buy a guitar and teach myself how to play.”

JESSE MALIN: “‘Guitar Man’ reminds me of a Springsteen or Pogues song, the lyrics are very cinematic and emotive. It’s a very working class anthem too. It tells the story of an underdog who sees the guitar as his weapon against the world. These days being a musician is encouraged, but when I started playing music wanting to be a guitarist was like being a criminal.”

JON SAVAGE: “I ﬁ nd it slightly irritating that all the singles are being reissued, but I’d love to see ‘Guitar Man’ at Number One again. It would knock spots off the music that passes for pop nowadays. It’s just so exciting and energetic.”

BARRIE CADOGAN: “The vocal delivery on ‘Guitar Man’ is killer. It’s just as hooky as hell.”

(13)

6

77 ANTHONY H WILSON

sees a lot of Elvis in Ian Curtis’

performances and Shaun Ryder’s weight-gain regime

“I have a friend who believes to really be in the music industry you have to have been born in 1950 and I agree with him. If you were born in 1950, you would have been introduced to Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis as a toddler, you would have witnessed The Beatles as you were beginning to hit adolescence and you would have seen LSD and rock’n’roll explode as you were going to university. If you were still interested in music five years later, you would have seen punk blow up and so on. “My own musical enlightenment came on a Saturday evening when I was sat watching Six-Five Special with my parents on the BBC. I don't remember actually seeing Elvis, I just remember hearing the line ‘You ain't

nothing but a hound dog’ and being blown away. I was very aware of Elvis from then on and the first adult movie I saw at Carlton Cinema in Salford was the one where he sailed down the river on a wooden barge. I’d probably hate it if I saw it now, but it had a profound effect on me at the time.

“Trying to say what made Elvis special is like trying to say what made Ian Curtis special. I guess the answer is that they were both unique and individual performers who were phenomenally exciting to see.

“In Double Indemnity – his 2002 book about Elvis and Clinton – Greil Marcus made the wonderful point, if you want to know who a person is ask if they like Elvis. If they say yes, ask them which Elvis. Personally, I’m an enormous

fan of early Elvis and one day I plan to make a pilgrimage to Sun Studio. I’m an academic and, for me, the whole point of rock’n’roll is it’s about black meets white, Africa meets Europe and rhythm meets melody. Sam Phillips understood that, Elvis understood that and together they made history. “A lot of people like to wash over the ’70s, but because I’m an old hippy I actually enjoy the drug excesses of Elvis’ last few years.

“Incidentally, when people were interviewing Shaun Ryder about 24 Hour Party People and seemed upset by how bloated and ropey he looked,

I asked when was the last time they saw such rotting,

decaying, puffy, white skin? And the answer, of course, was Elvis.”

“Trying to say

what made Elvis

special is like trying

to say what made

Ian Curtis special.

They were both

unique”

“I CAN’T IMAGINE MANY OTHER GUYS THAT

HAD BEEN IN THE ARMY TAPPING INTO THEIR

SENTIMENTAL SIDE SO EASILY "

STEVE DIGGLE

SUNE ROSE WAGNER, THE RAVEONETTES: “I've always had a soft spot for ‘Guitar Man’. The phrasing is really interesting and Elvis sings it with real conviction.”

ARE YOU LONESOME

TONIGHT?

Recorded as a favour to Tom

Parker (apparently, the song

meant a great deal to the

Colonel and his wife), “Are You

Lonesome…” is an epic, unapologetically

sugary ballad that went on to become one

of Presley’s most recognisable songs. The

track took Elvis just one full take to get

down, and went on to hit Number One

on both sides of the Atlantic.

GREG HATTON: “I’m not a fan of schmaltz, but I think ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ is up there with some of the best Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells and Johnny Cash songs. There’s just so much longing and lust and emotion contained within the music and Elvis’ voice… it’s remarkable.”

STEVE DIGGLE: “‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ is pure poetry. The way he breaks down in the middle of the song is just magical. I can’t imagine many other guys that had been in

the army managing to tap into their sensitive, sentimental side so easily. Elvis was a natural though, he just picked up the microphone and got on with it.”

JON SPENCER: “I can’t listen to ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’. It’s been used and parodied in so many commercials and ﬁ lms, that it’s lost its redemptive power. I can’t hear it without thinking of all the baggage attached to it, unfortunately.”

JOSH HOMME: “I love the quality of all those early recordings – they really recapture the attitude because they were played live. They’ve become a ﬁ nal photograph.”

HEARTBREAK

HOTEL

A big, fat slice of gothic pop

perfection, this was Elvis’ ﬁ rst

UK hit, making Number Two in

May 1956. Written by Tommy

Durden and Mae Boren Axton, the song

concerned a suicide they’d read about in a

newspaper. Elvis’ voice had never sounded

so desperate or desolate.

ALAN VEGA, SUICIDE: “I know critics have to put things into words, but it’s impossible to say what

(14)

14 |

55

44 “‘WHEN YOU LISTEN TO ‘HEARTBREAK HOTEL’ YOU

“‘WHEN YOU LISTEN TO ‘HEARTBREAK HOTEL’ YOU

REALISE WHAT AN ODD SONG IT WAS"

JON SAVAGE

Elvis relaxes at his Goethestrasse home, 1959

draws me to ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. It’s everything from the speed of the song to the words and the way Elvis sings them. I played a cover version of it once at Max’s Kansas City and had a blast.”

RICHARD HAWLEY: “It’s one of the weirdest songs I’ve ever heard. It’s not a blues record, it’s not a country record and it’s not a pop record, it’s just this really gripping piece of completely otherworldly music.”

JESSE MALIN: “It always sounds really intense and raw. The musicianship on that record is pretty amazing too, Scotty Moore sounds like he’s on ﬁ re. It’s a very cool song that I’m sure will sound just as fresh in another 30 or 40 years.”

JON SAVAGE: “I really like ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ because it was the ﬁ rst rock’n’roll record to be Number One and when you really listen to it, you realise what an odd little song it was. It was almost gothic.”

NEIL TENNANT, PET SHOP BOYS: “I love ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. When I was a kid I thought Elvis was creepy. We had The Beatles and Stones, but I read a book on him and it was amazing,”

IN THE GHETTO

Poverty and hardship ﬁ gured

prominently in Elvis’ early life

and that upbringing seems

to inform his extraordinary,

emotional vocal here on Mac Davis’

haunting song about life in

Chicago’s slums. An outstanding

gospel ballad, the song was a

highlight of 1969’s

From Elvis In

Memphis

album.

ALAN MCGEE: “The greatest singer. The only other singer this good is Liam. Similar characters, actually.”

RICHARD HAWLEY: “‘In The Ghetto’ was recorded when Elvis was going through his savage, fat bastard period. What’s incredible is that he still managed to sound totally on top of his game. I think it’s very sad he went the way of his mum, but then he never learned to eat with a knife and fork. He’d have had a job eating a bowl of soup, even.”

JESSE MALIN: “This song could easily have sounded really corny and clichéd, but I think he manages to make it sound very soulful and gospel-like. To take a story like that and make it sound like it’s the ﬁ rst time you’ve heard it is no small feat.”

ROISIN MURPHY, MOLOKO: “I like Elvis’ more gospel-based songs like ‘In The Ghetto’. I ﬁ nd them very moving and emotional. The music is really raw and intense and his vocals sound breathtaking.”

SUNE ROSE WAGNER: “‘In The Ghetto’ is one of my favourite Elvis songs. I was smitten the

fi rst time I heard it, but never could fi nd it on any of the albums I bought. When I fi nally found it and listened to it through headphones I was amazed. The way the music ebbs and fl ows is incredible and his vocals are astounding.”

NEIL TENNANT: “I like ‘In The Ghetto’. I love late-period Elvis, but I think he had a sad life. I think his creative potential was stiﬂ ed. He was an amazing singer.”

BLUE MOON

This Richard Rodgers and

Lorenz Hart standard

from 1933 became a thing

of desolate, heart-rending

beauty in Presley’s capable hands.

Recorded at Sun in 1954, one reviewer

was moved to comment that Elvis’ vocals

“oozed like honey”.

TOM BAXTER: “There are lots of different versions of ‘Blue Moon’, but I think Elvis’ is the most haunting. His voice sounds really high and falsetto-like and whenever I hear it, I imagine him standing under the moonlight in Memphis

with his sweetheart.”

JESSE MALIN: “A lot of people see ‘Blue Moon’ as a love song, but to me it’s more of a lust song. The music is very sparse and spooky and Elvis’

vocals sound really sexy and desperate.”

“I’ve always

liked his early

recordings, but

I’ve grown to

appreciate the

rhinestone suit

years, too”

“In the early ’60s, I used to live on a terraced street in north Manchester and my cousin, who lived two doors down, used to blare Elvis and Little Richard out of his bedroom window. I used to think the songs were really catchy, but it wasn’t until I started making music myself that I realised how great Elvis really was.

“It’s hard to imagine these days, but TV programmes like The Ed Sullivan Show refused to shoot him below the waist in case viewers were offended by the way he thrust his hips. As for his crotch, that was way too wild to unleash

on the public and everyone from Tom Jones to Michael Jackson has tried to imitate him.

“I’ve always liked the early recordings, but as I’ve got older I’ve grown to appreciate the rhinestone suit years as well. There was a lot of humour in some of those cheesy ballads and I think Elvis was always quite bemused by how seriously people took him. It’s hard to nail down what made him so great, but I think it had something to do with his flexibility. He wasn’t just an animalistic rock icon, he was also a sensitive frontman who could reduce people to tears. Of course artists like Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison had already tried their hand at love songs, but when Elvis sung them you could feel the pain in his voice.

“I’m not sure how he’d feel about his records being remixed and used to sell cars and stuff, but I’m sure Elvis would be delighted to know people still listen to his

music. In fact, if he’s still alive somewhere, now would be the

perfect time for his resurrection. If Morrissey can get away with making a comeback, Elvis has nothing to worry about!”

STEVE DIGGLE,

anecdotal Elvis

historian, can’t wait until The King’s

next Comeback Special

(15)

With just some of the 3,500 straw boaters made for staff at the Vegas Hilton’s Elvis Summer Festival, 1970

(16)

16 |

“The fact Elvis

was plagued by

these dark secrets

makes him so much

more real to me”

“IT’S THE ONLY TIME ELVIS SOUNDED UNSURE OF

HIMSELF, AND IT’S BRILLIANT "

ALEX KAPRANOS

Elvis, with Charlie Hodge and Jerry Scheff, at MGM Studios, 1970 “I love flawed icons and the fact Elvis was plagued by these insane insecurities and dark secrets just makes him so much more real to me. I loved him when he did his Comeback Special dressed in tight leather trousers and jacket. Oh my god. . . he looked insanely sexy then. In fact, I’d go so far as to say, in that outfit at hat particular point in his career, he was the epitome of early rock’n’roll.

“He worked his arse off too. Just imagine how many more albums he would have done if he hadn’t been contracted to make all those awful movies.”

SHIRLEY MANSON

wishes

Elvis hadn’t had to appear in all

those movies. Except the ones

where he’s in leather…

CRISTINA MARTINEZ: “Elvis’ version of ‘Blue Moon’ may not be the deﬁ nitive version of the classic, but it’s a great reminder of where he came from. Before his descent into solipsism there was an unadulterated exuberance that was infectious.”

JOSH HOMME: “My favourite of all would be ‘Blue Moon’. When he goes up to the high note, it’s breathtaking. The way the sound is… it’s such a fucking blue moon. I’m almost personally insulted by the idea some people have that Elvis stole black music. I think, instead, a round of applause for bringing it into glaring relief and also doing it with such a natural passion and bringing the tribalist side out of it. It’s tough to convey the tribal side of rock’n’roll and, also, that blues is really infl uenced by drum and fi fe music. There’s no guitars in Africa. It’s drum and fi fe, and if

you listen, you hear the direct line. So the blues movement is something that should be shared culturally, and feelings don’t need to be credited to one person. It’s the mistake of an asshole to think that they should be.”

ALEX KAPRANOS, FRANZ FERDINAND: “There’s a really weird version of ‘Blue Moon’ on an old 78 I bought years ago at a jumble sale. It’s saturated in slap-back echo and his voice is really thin and wobbly-sounding. It doesn’t sound like Elvis does on anything else. On all his other records he sounds so overly conﬁ dent and at times even smug. It’s the only time I’ve heard him sounding a little bit unsure of himself and it’s brilliant. It’s a little glimpse of him before he deﬁ ned that huge personality.”

(17)

(18)

18 |

33

A pensive Judy Tyler, Elvis and shapely pins in Jailhouse Rock, 1957

JON SPENCER

only got into Elvis to keep his wife happy,

but ended up basing a whole career around him

“I must have seen and heard Mr Presley as a child, but I only started to take him seriously in my early 20s when my wife introduced me to him. She grew up listening to Elvis and I remember her buying the compilations that came out to mark the tenth anniversary of his passing. We were living in a terrible apartment on 8th Street and Avenue D in the East Village in New York and we had an old record deck that she used to play the special editions on.

“If I remember rightly, there was a collection of his Number Ones, a collection of his Top Tens and a double

album of the Sun sessions. I didn’t mind the first two, but it was the last one that gave me a real education. I still listen to it quite a lot and I’m a big fan of the RCA stuff he did before and after the army. The only thing I can’t really get into is the tracks Elvis did in the late ’60s and ’70s. I’m sure there are a couple of amazing songs, but in general they’re very hit-and-miss.

“From what I’ve read about him, Elvis was a strong producer too. The accounts I’ve read made it sound like he

was the guy that orchestrated and produced most of the RCA sessions. Of course he didn’t write any of the songs he

sang, but he was a brilliant interpreter. Some people have suggested it was a shame he never got to stretch his wings as a songwriter, but I think if it was in him to write it would have come out at some stage or another. Colonel Parker may have done some lousy things but he never stopped Elvis from picking up a guitar!

“I still think he’s one of the most incredible singers to have emerged

in the last 50 years. He’s not only influenced me personally,

but he’s been a massive source of inspiration for Blues Explosion as a band. We love him.”

“Colonel Parker

may have done

some lousy things,

but he never

stopped Elvis

picking up

a guitar”

“WHAT ENDEARED ELVIS TO

MILLIONS WAS HIS LITTLE

BOY HEART IN A BAD BOY

BODY"

CRISTINA MARTINEZ

LOVE ME TENDER

Perhaps the most alluring of

Presley’s many ballads, “Love

Me Tender” was also the title

track to his ﬁ rst Hollywood

movie and a song vital in spreading his

appeal beyond the fans who had lapped

up his earlier, more rock’n’roll-inﬂ ected

singles. Went to Number One in the US,

and 11 in the UK.

CRISTINA MARTINEZ: “‘Love Me Tender’ is a great example of what made Elvis so compelling and what made all the Bible-wielding conservatives so afraid of him. Here is this beautiful and unpolished country boy, dripping with sex appeal, making himself completely vulnerable. A wolf in sheep’s clothing is, in the end, what endears Elvis to millions; his little boy heart in a bad boy body.”

SHIRLEY MANSON, GARBAGE: “Elvis recorded dozens of classics, but ‘Love Me Tender’ is a particular favourite of mine. It’s just such a timeless and beautiful love song.”

ANTHONY H WILSON: “I have a soft spot for wonderful ballads and ‘Love Me Tender’ is one of the sweetest. It’s very syrupy and sentimental, but you can’t knock it.”

NIC ARMSTRONG: “Some of Elvis’ songs have probably dated quite badly, but ‘Love Me

(19)

_|

₄₃

(20)

U N C U T L E G

20 |

22 JON SAVAGE

was way too hip for Elvis, until Presley’s

early output

made a him a late convert

“My first memory of Elvis is being bored out of my mind by ‘Return To Sender’ in 1962. It was Number One for ages and drove me crazy. I was really of the generation that didn’t like Elvis because he sounded so square next to The Beatles. The great revelation for me was buying The Sun Collection on vinyl when RCA re-issued them in 1975. I was so smitten

that I went back and investigated his back catalogue and found I really appreciated some of his ’60s pop stuff too. There’s an enormous sense of self-discovery running through some of those songs and even now, they sound really fresh and exciting.

Unlike a lot of people, the only thing I can’t really take is the fruity, Las Vegas stuff. It’s just unbelievably vulgar. People have made really good shots at reclaiming it, but it’s not for me.

“Elvis was an incredibly sexy man and it’s a shame the ghoulish fascination with his demise overshadows what an extraordinary performer he was. If you watch any of the footage from the ’50s or late ’60s, you never knew what he was going to do next. He was the Johnny Rotten or Kurt Cobain of his day. Just completely wild and unpredictable. He looked fantastic, too.”

“If you watch

any of the footage

from the ’50s and

’60s, you never

knew what he

was going to do

next.”

“‘LOVE ME TENDER’ IS THE KIND OF JUKEBOX

SONG THAT HAS EVERYONE CROONING ALONG

OR CRYING IN THEIR BEER "

NIC ARMSTRONG

the 1957 Mississippi-Hog heaven: Elvis at Alabama State Fair And Dairy Show

Tender’ still sounds incredibly sweet and emotive. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it played in a bar, but it’s the kind of jukebox song that would have everyone crooning along or crying in their beer.”

JESSE MALIN: “I never liked ‘Love Me Tender’ as a kid and I still don’t like it because when I went to see a vocal coach it was one of the songs they made me sing over and over. I’d rather listen to his Christmas songs.”

STEVE DIGGLE: “I thought ‘Love Me Tender’ was a bit simple and soft when I ﬁ rst heard it, but it’s grown a lot on me over the years. People talk about Charlie Chaplin being a good mime artist, but Elvis was fantastic. It didn’t matter how he felt at the time, whenever he sang ‘Love Me Tender’ you imagined him serenading some girl with a look of pure heartbreak and loneliness, pleading with them to love him. It’s such a convincing song.”

SUNE ROSE WAGNER: “I don’t consider myself particularly sentimental, but ‘Love Me Tender’ has got to be one of the greatest love songs ever recorded. It’s just a really sweet, simple song with really tender instrumentation. I’ve heard a million different versions on various box sets and they all sound pretty good.”

CHRIS BAILEY: “I can’t remember what it’s from – it’s one of his posthumous albums and it might be live in Las Vegas. But it’s the version where

he loses it somewhat. It’s poignant and funny. He goes mental listening to one of his backing singers. She’s giving it all that gospel and he’s pissing himself.”

ALICE COOPER: “This was the ﬁ rst Elvis song I heard in a movie, and it’s beautiful.”

MYSTERY TRAIN

Elvis’ ﬁ nal Sun single – written

and originally recorded by

R&B legend Junior Parker

– went to Number One on the

US country chart in 1955. Its clattering

rhythm and echoing Elvis vocal making it

one of his most instantly memorable and

haunting songs.

RICHARD HAWLEY: “I love the original of ‘Mystery Train’ by Little Junior Parker. That was recorded at Sun Studio about two or three years before Elvis recorded it and I imagine he probably heard it on Sam Phillips’ radio show and thought ‘I’ll have a crack at that.’ What’s amazing is he managed to make his version sound even more mysterious than the original.”

(21)

(22)

Elvis slates Jeremy Slate in Girls! Girls!

Girls!, 1962

‘

JON SAVAGE: “I’ve always had a soft spot for

train songs from Kraftwerk’s ‘Trans Europe Express’ to all the old blues numbers. I like the playfulness of them and the way they try to interpret the sound and speed of the engine. What I love most about ‘Mystery Train’, however, is the way Elvis starts laughing at the end. It’s supposed to be a sad song, but he transforms it into something more playful and sexy.”

BARRIE CADOGAN: “It’s a fantastic song. The rhythm running through it sounds like a train going at breakneck speed and the guitars are really intense and shimmery. Elvis’ vocals sound pretty incredible too.”

TOM BAXTER: “‘Mystery Train’ will always have a special place in my heart because it was the ﬁ rst Elvis track I learned off by heart on the guitar.”

ANTHONY H WILSON: “I love ‘Mystery Train’ almost as much as I love Greil Marcus’ book of the same name, I think he was the greatest pop writer in the world throughout the ’60s and ’70s, and the chapter he wrote on Elvis remains one of the ﬁ nest pieces of music journalism ever written.”

JON SPENCER: “‘Mystery Train’ is wonderful. In fact, that’s the song I’d recommend people listening to as an introduction to the real Elvis.”

“He dressed

incredibly stylishly.

He set the standard

for The Cramps,

The Stooges

and everyone

else since”

SUNE ROSE WAGNER, THE RAVEONETTES,

in defence

– nay,

celebration – of Elvis the crooner.

“I’ve been a fan of Elvis for as long as I can remember. I’m not so crazy about his last period, but I love the early stuff, the mid ’60s stuff and some of the soundtracks he did.

“I was listening to Elvis a lot while we were writing our new album and his music inspired me to write the opening song, ‘The Heavens’. He has the most amazing rock’n’roll voice ever committed to tape, but when he croons his vocals are even better. I know my croon pales next to his,

but I tried my hardest to do my best impersonation as a tribute.

“One of the things I love most about Elvis, besides his voice, is his simplicity. He never tried to make the music really complex or disguise the meaning with lots of complicated metaphors. He understood that sometimes less is more. I have to confess to being in awe of his presence too. He was extremely good-looking and dressed incredibly stylishly. He set the

standard for The Cramps, The Stooges and every rock’n’roll band since. I’d love to pretend it was second nature for him, but I think he probably appropriated things he liked. The outfit he wore for the Comeback Special in 1968, for instance, is almost identical to the one Vince Taylor wore when he performed ‘Shakin’

All Over’ in the early ’60s. Vince looked

pretty good in leather himself,

but he couldn’t move like Elvis.”

22 |

(23)

(24)

24 |

11 “

“THE LIVE VERSION IS JUST AMAZING. WHEN IT

THE LIVE VERSION IS JUST AMAZING. WHEN IT

BREAKS DOWN AND HE GETS DOWN ON ONE KNEE YOU

CAN FEEL YOUR HEART BEATING"

BARRIE CADOGAN

The King of the road: Elvis in his element, 1956

SUSPICIOUS MINDS

A superb, soulful, up-tempo

ballad written by Mark James,

1969’s “Suspicious Minds”

showcases an older, wiser

Elvis glorying in his decision to leave the

movies behind and – ﬁ nally – concentrate

on his music. Funky, frantic and polished

by legendary producer Chips Moman until

he could see his face in it, this is The King

at his most intense and clearly enjoying

his return to recording in Memphis.

RICHARD HAWLEY: “‘Suspicious Minds’ just has a life of its own. I’ve heard people say it’s well produced, but I’ve never listened to it and thought about the production. The point is it’s a phenomenal song. All that the producer had to do was switch on the mixing board and nail the right take. Elvis and his band took care of everything else.”

JESSE MALIN: “I think ‘Suspicious Minds’ is one of Elvis’ best records. It always draws me in and conjures images of him, walking up and down the stage in Las Vegas, doing a few karate kicks. You can hear the way it inﬂ uenced bands like Suicide and The Raveonettes too. Of course, they use a lot of crazy synthesisers, drum machines and feedback, but you can still hear echoes of Elvis in their songs.”

GILES HATTON: “I’m a fan of big arrangements and ‘Suspicious Minds’ was written with that purpose in mind. From beginning to end, it’s just a really passionate, powerful, party record.”

ALAN MCGEE: “Great pop music the way they used to make ’em.”

BARRIE CADOGAN: “The whole feel and mood of ‘Suspicious Minds’ is so timeless and brilliant, it sounds as relevant now as it did 30-odd years ago. I like the original a lot, but the live version is even better. When the song breaks down and he goes down on one knee, you can feel your heart beating… it’s just amazing. The strings on that song are incredible too.”

NIC ARMSTRONG: “I’m not a big fan of the cheesy ﬁ lms he did, but I love the comeback era. The atmosphere is electrifying and his version of ‘Suspicious Minds’ is spine-tingling. You can tell he put every jolt of energy into singing it.”

STEVE DIGGLE: “It’s impossible to listen to ‘Suspicious Minds’ without seeing Elvis in the big sunglasses and rhinestone suit. Of course he was probably too old and fat to dress so ﬂ amboyantly, but he was such a powerful, majestic man he got away with it. In a way, he was like the ﬁ rst and last showman. His costumes just got more and more outrageous.”

JOSH HOMME: “Something that happened a little later that proves you can only be King if you can do it for longer than a couple of records. By the time it came out, what’s sandwiched in between that and his early material is more hits than anybody else and more sweet delivery. If it was food, I’d eat it every day.”

CHRIS BAILEY: “In my humble opinion it’s one of the best-recorded songs I’ve heard. It’s one of the best-orchestrated songs too. The arrangement builds excitement in a quite simple song and I think that’s quite cleverly done. A lot of his records were very intelligently recorded.”

GARY LIGHTBODY, SNOW PATROL: “‘Suspicious Minds’ made me re-think how important he was. It’s a song of incredible intensity and passion.”

GILES HATTON, THE EARLIES,

loves Elvis, despite

The King’s death ruining his continental breakfast

“I love Elvis. He was my gateway into rock’n’roll and artists like Gene Vincent, Roy Orbison, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. I know there’s speculation over whether or not he was racist, but the fact is he totally changed taboos within America and made a whole generation aware of black music and how fundamentally important it was.

“Of course he recorded some cheesy songs, but he also recorded lots of fantastic ones that influenced everyone from John Lennon to The Rolling Stones. It’s a shame Colonel Parker encouraged him to become a commodity and do all those awful

films, but he bounced back with the Comeback Special. Some of those songs are astounding and, of course, he looks so heroic and iconic. Just watching him sit down and jam with his band is a sight to behold and you can see people in the audience are totally hypnotised by his presence.

“We were sat around the breakfast table on holiday when they announced he’d died on the radio and my mum burst into tears. She worked in a record shop in Ashton-Under-Lyne and she’d always play Elvis and rockabilly at home. She loved anybody with a great voice, and Elvis had one of the best.”