1) Your Cheatinʼ Heart; 2) Summer Kisses, Winter
Tears; 3) Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers; 4) In My Way; 5) Tomorrow Night; 6) Memphis
Tennessee; 7) For The Millionth And The Last Time; 8) Forget Me Never; 9) Sound
Advice; 10) Santa Lucia; 11) I Met Her Today; 12) When It Rains, It Really Pours.
General verdict: Chaotically mixed outtakes masquerading as
an actual new LP — not a good choice for an era in which LPs had actually begun
to matter.
There is arguably no better evidence for Elvisʼ
total and absolute artistic dysfunctionality in the mid-Sixties than this sorry
mess — an attempt at a «proper» studio LP, the manʼs first since Pot Luck three years earlier. Apparently,
RCA wanted to give the fans a little something extra special to celebrate the
10th anniversary of their business union with the King, but instead of
everybody coming to their senses and arranging a proper recording session, they
decided to save everyone the trouble and just vent the vaults a little instead.
Why bother with an actual new LP when
there were already a couple of new soundtracks on the horizon, anyway?
The result is an odds-and-ends package whose
title, surprisingly enough, is somewhat justified: For Everyone! means that any fan of any particular musical streak
in Elvisʼ history will find at least one or two tracks to his/her liking in
this cauldron. For those truly nostalgic about the good old days at Sun, there
is the old Lonnie Johnson ballad ʽTomorrow Nightʼ, extracted from a 1954
session — unfortunately, the idiots misunderstood the appeal of the songʼs
minimalistic arrangement and slapped on fully unnecessary percussion, guitar,
and backing vocal overdubs (fortunately, nowadays you can easily hear the
original version on compilations). For those yearning for the early RCA days,
there is a cuddly, but inspired version of Hank Williamsʼ ʽYour Cheating Heartʼ,
and the rough, slow R&B number ʽWhen It Rains, It Really Poursʼ, from 1958
and 1957 sessions, respectively. Then, moving on, for those who wanted proof
that Elvis could still rock out with the British Invasion stepping heavily on
his tail, there is a fairly smoking, if not too exceptional, take on Chuck Berryʼs
ʽMemphis Tennesseeʼ, from 1964. Then...
...well, actually, then itʼs mostly pablum / schlock salvaged from early Sixtiesʼ
sessions and an occasional song or two from soundtracks which never made it
onto previous LPs, e.g. ʽSanta Luciaʼ from Viva
Las Vegas or ʽSummer Kisses, Winter Tearsʼ from Flaming Star (the latter actually has a surprisingly sharp guitar
sound for a ballad, though its slight «exotica» touch is still somewhat cringey).
I am mildly partial to the playful vaudeville approach of ʽSound Adviceʼ, salvaged
from the soundtrack to the 1962 movie Follow
That Dream, perhaps because it brings to mind ridiculous visions of Elvis
in a top hat, but nobody really needs
to hear it, honestly. Also, ʽFinders Keepers, Losers Weepersʼ is a pretty
decent pop song, musically close to ʽReturn To Senderʼ (perhaps this is why it
was originally shelved) and arguably the best the Sixties material here —
though this is not saying much, either.
In retrospect, I guess that, taken as a
collection of outtakes for the completist, For
Everyone! is not nearly as pitiful as it could be — but given that no such
warning explicitly accompanied the original release, most people who had not
allowed their hormones to completely overtake their brains could hardly regard
this move as anything other than a pathetic cash-in, as well as plain
admittance that the King was in no condition to make a new LP of his own, and
this in an era when pop LPs were finally beginning to matter as genuine
artistic statements. To add insult to injury, the back sleeve of the original
album proudly presented a list of 15 of Elvisʼ «Worldwide $1,000,000 L.P. Albums»
with precise sales records — as if hinting that Elvis For Everyone! had no choice but to join that glorious roster.
Guess what — it did not, with the album failing even to go gold, let alone
platinum; apparently, the people at that point were smart enough to realise
that Elvis For Everyone! truly meant
Elvis For No One In Particular, and
many, if not most, of them simply left the scraps for the scrap bin.
There was no platinum in those days, but I get your point.
ReplyDeleteIt kills me that RCA took such a ramshackle approach to their biggest star; nearly all of Elvis's LPs seem thrown together at the last second, from the song selection to the cover art. There was no excuse for that, especially - as you pointed out - since the album format was taking on more and more importance. Well into the AOR era, they acted like they had a novelty act on their hands, not an artist. Then again, Elvis didn't care enough to do anything about it, so it's hard to place all the blame with RCA.
ReplyDeleteFine review as always, George.