Are You Lonesome Tonight" "77
Elvis Fan
him a lot of credit for doing an incredible job with it.He fumbled with
the song,but carried on anyway.Actually,it's one of my favorite songs in
the show. He was obviously over weight,but despite it all,Elvis was
victorious. It's not painful for me to watch by no means. I will never
feel a need to protect him from negative remarks,for Elvis was a legend
then and now. Elvis moves me very much by his presence. Elvis gave us
all a gift that can never be taken away or matched. EVER!!!
"THE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL MEETS THE ROCKABILLY REBEL AT LAST"!!!
David Link
can just feel the countless times he had done the song and his
version here shows this. Some say that Elvis "forgot" the words, but if
you watch it he was just free-flowing a part of his repotoire that had
been done just thousands of times before. He was just having fun, he
grins and chuckles all through it, it is priceless, heartbreaking, and
just fabulous. These moments are what makes Elvis so special-- his
sincerity and his genuineness.
Elvis Fan
embarrassed for him with this performance. I noticed that when he began
to do the speaking part of the song,he reacted to the audience a little
bit and seemed to have lost focus to the words. Like a real trooper,he
was not bothered by it at all. The conclusion to the song made up for
anything that anyone would say was a dismal performance.Elvis was the
cooolest cat around.
GConway853
>Some say that Elvis "forgot" the words, but if
>you watch it he was just free-flowing a part of his repotoire that had
>been done just thousands of times before. He was just having fun...
Exactly. He did a similar version when I saw him in Feb. '77, so I think he
just used that song to inject a little humor and playfulness into the show.
Those unfamiliar with him have for too long used that clip as an excuse to
suggest how far Elvis had fallen. But he was just having fun.
One thing that does bother me about the '77 special (and "Aloha" for that
matter) is the way the audience is lighted. I think it detracts from the
performance and in some way makes it seem less exciting.
Garry
Clint Johnson
Tv Special, and for Elvis to break down was uncalled for. That was until I
found out what he used to do with that song with Charlie Hodge. Then I
understood what was going on.
Clint
"Faith has pla...plus tax!" -- Elvis Presley, June 21, 1977
"Smile you're on Candaid Camera" -- Elvis Presely, June 19, 1977
David Link
didn't care if it was a TV show or a show for the President. It was The
Elvis Presley Show and he did it HIS WAY.
AlphaXiPhi
The June 21, 1977 version is my favorite version of Are You Lonesome Tonight.
Heck, Elvis messed up the song far worse on August 26, 1969 when he did that
laughing version. Everytime I hear that '69 version I can't help but laugh
along with Elvis. He had a laughter that was no less than contagious =^)
I'm surprised that those who aren't familiar with Elvis don't discount that '69
laughing version as a huge mistake and drug-related. I would have to rank the
77 version above the '69 version, though, as Elvis' voice was far better in '77
than any other year.
"Do you gaze at your father...and wish you had hair..."
- Brian
lpe...@webtv.net (David Link) wrote:
>This version of ths song is one of my top 10 favorites from Elvis-- you
>can just feel the countless times he had done the song and his
>version here shows this. Some say that Elvis "forgot" the words, but if
>you watch it he was just free-flowing a part of his repotoire that had
JElvissy
>From: alpha...@aol.com (AlphaXiPhi)
>"Do you gaze at your father...and wish you had hair..."
>
>- Brian
Tisk Tisk.
"Do You Gaze At Your BALDHEAD And Wish You Had Hair"...
The Ever Picky One,
-Jordan
~~~~~
Visit Jordan's Elvis World:
http://jordanselvisworld.simplenet.com/index.html
Home Of The *~*WORLDS LARGEST*~* Elvis Music Library!
Official Home Of The E.P. Continentals Of Florida Fanclub!
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~~~~
Unknown
> didn't care if it was a TV show or a show for the President. It was The
> Elvis Presley Show and he did it HIS WAY.
>
Which, in the case of this song, was the embarrassing, "I'm too out of
it to care if it's for tv OR the President " version. This is a total
embarrassment. I can't believe any fan, no matter how fanatical, would
even try to defend Elvis on this one. The total nadir of his career, it
basically summed up where Elvis' career, and life, had been headed for
some years. garth
ShakeyJack
> Which, in the case of this song, was the embarrassing, "I'm too out of
>it to care if it's for tv OR the President " version. This is a total
>embarrassment. I can't believe any fan, no matter how fanatical, would
>even try to defend Elvis on this one. The total nadir of his career, it
>basically summed up where Elvis' career, and life, had been headed for some
years.
Let's not forget that it wasn't a case of Elvis babbling incoherently, as it
seems to most casual listeners.
Elvis was kidding around, as he has always done (check out '61 and '69 on
the silver box or the gay routine with Charlie on boot videos).
He was playing around, but the problem was that the jokes were stale to
Elvis by then, and he kind of abbreviated his jokes (if that makes sense) so
that many people didn't understand.
Was he fucked up? Yes. But I think he also was goofing around more with the
band than the audience so it was more like an inside joke that nobody got.
"You say your life's like riding on a fast train, it's easy to see far away /
but right up close it's just a blurry haze going by from day to day"
-NY
Jack
David Link
The Clam" also....
Unknown
Sorry, Jack, I just don't buy it. The laughing '69 version you speak of
is great. Elvis muffs a line and then goes on a laughing jag. You can't
help but laugh along. Those "Funniest Video" shows are full of newsman
and actors doing this. It's probably happened to us all. But the '77
version is just pitiful. Elvis appears totally incoherent, and the
joking is just a cover up. I guess it's all how you look at it. To me,
it's a really sad thing to watch, or hear. I can watch the "Unchained
Melody" from the Great Performances video,and, although Elvis looks
pretty bad, I don't care, cuase the voice is still great. But "Are You
Lonesome...?", just brings me down.
garth
AlphaXiPhi
1969 it wouldn't have made such a big difference. But, because of the state of
his health at that point in his life, it's hard not to look at the inevitable.
Or, even if he was off of drugs and didn't have any health problems whatsoever
in 1977, that same version probably would not have made any difference.
Imagine if Elvis was still like he was in 1970 in 1977! Just imagine him doing
all of those fantastic moves in the Sundial Jumpsuit. Imagine what could
have been without all of the prescription pills and health problems and Colonel
Tom Parker in 1977! Hell, he might have even landed a decent movie role and
ended up conquering the acting field! Imagine all the things Elvis could have
done had he lived.
Yeah, I know it's a fantasy, but it's still a lot of fun to think about.
- Brian
ShakeyJack
> Sorry, Jack, I just don't buy it. The laughing '69 version you speak of
>is great. Elvis muffs a line and then goes on a laughing jag. You can't
>help but laugh along. Those "Funniest Video" shows are full of newsman
>and actors doing this. It's probably happened to us all. But the '77
>version is just pitiful. Elvis appears totally incoherent, and the
>joking is just a cover up. I guess it's all how you look at it. To me,
>it's a really sad thing to watch, or hear. I can watch the "Unchained
>Melody" from the Great Performances video,and, although Elvis looks
>pretty bad, I don't care, cuase the voice is still great. But "Are You
>Lonesome...?", just brings me down.
Cover up? Nah, I can't see that. If Elvis was that concerned in the first
place he'd have stayed off stage, don't you think?
Maybe you're right...I think the truth might be somehwere in the middle of
our ideas...
Jack
TigerManRH
"THIS IS ELVIS" but on the 77 TV show they cut all of the mess ups out by
showing a fan talking, so how can you be so disgruntled about it when it isn't
even in the show? This is to the people here who are slamming Elvis'
performance of the song in the show in question. (NOT an attack, just a
question)
David Link
Happy New Year! ;o)
David Link
too close to home for you, garth. Maybe it makes you think of how
everybody is inexorably bound for slow decline and evetual death? Has
this great, tragic, yet shining moment of Elvis career helped you unlock
a few of the mysteries of the cosmos, fate, mortality, and your own
beliefs, credences, and creed??
Can you confront and accept you own inevitable decline into "Fat Elvis"?
Happy New Year! ;o)
Wforme1
Why do u suppose CBS did that?? Because they dont think that Elvis was joking
around with the spoken words like he did in the '69 performance. CBS probably
was really embarrassed by it and to cover it up they use the interviewing with
the fans. That make me wonder why they even bother to show that song in the
first place. They could have use something else like Unchained Melody - now
that's the best performance he did. And another question - why do u suppose
that they show the whole song with his spoken - forgotten words - that they
could have use something else much better. That's what I dont understand - at
the time when I first watched the Special - I was upset about them breaking
into the interviewing with the fans but when I saw the whole version on This Is
Elvis - it was kinda embarrassing to see it but then later on thought maybe he
was playing around with it - but to me I really doubted it. I think he did
forgotten the words to it - as a lot of times - I forgotten the words to it
myself. I really dont think it has to do with the drugs or anything else. He's
just a human being and is entitled to make mistakes once in awhile. Not every
performers are perfect eventho they sang the same songs over and over....I
thought I'd put in my 10 cent worth of my thoughts....
Wil
ShakeyJack
>Why do u suppose CBS did that?? Because they dont think that Elvis was joking
>around with the spoken words like he did in the '69 performance. CBS probably
>was really embarrassed by it and to cover it up they use the interviewing with
the fans.
Or maybe they tried to avoid having everyone who watched the show just
assume Elvis was fucked up because he had just died six weeks before airtime?
>That make me wonder why they even bother to show that song in the
>first place. They could have use something else like Unchained Melody - now
>that's the best performance he did.
But he blew the note at the end.
>And another question - why do u suppose
>that they show the whole song with his spoken - forgotten words - that they
>could have use something else much better.
If the material they aired was sub-par for Elvis, imagine the stuff they
didn't use... they were lucky to have gotten what they did.
Jack
David Link
songs he had done thousands of times over the years. How many times do
you think he had to sing that song?
He was just having fun, it was just a great, lighthearted and
heartwarming moment. These are the moments people will always treasure,
otherwise why the fuck do you think they put it in "This Is Elvis",
which glossed over most of the other bad stuff?
======+New Generation Fan and Defender- LP~Elvis
Happy New Year! ;o)
Unknown
it's an embarrassingly bad performance, but now you've got me all
depressed. I think I'll go have a couple of jelly donuts.
garth
Elvis Fan
doing lonesome tonight. The second movie removed lonesome tonight for
another segement of the concert. I guess that EPE must have thought that
it put Elvis in a bad light. I also think that Elvis' reaction to his
audience,threw him off in doing the talking segment of lonesome. He was
a trooper for doing such an incredible job with the song. He's truly the
best!!!