Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Elvis

The world remembers Elvis Presley today on the day that he died.  (Here in Forgotten Hits, we have always preferred to celebrate the day he was BORN instead ... just seemed so much more fitting!)


But with the recently released 2-DVD Set "Elvis' Greatest Performances" ... and the annual pilgrimage to Graceland ... and probably countless radio specials and tributes airing today ... I figured I'd run three of my Elvis Forgotten Hits favorites.  (And let's face it ... despite ALL of the Elvis music you're going to hear today, you probably won't hear ANY of these three!!!  But hey, that's what Forgotten Hits is all about!)


First up ... "Easy Question", a #11 Hit in the Summer of 1965.  This is middle-of-the-road, "pop" Elvis ... and is one of his best tunes from this era that radio ignores.  (You'll notice that I've deliberately picked all three songs from the 1964 - 1968 era ... the height of The British Invasion ... when most folks ... radio included ... treated Elvis like he was no longer "relevant" to the music industry.  This is PRE-1968 comeback ... PRE-Vegas ... when Elvis was crankin' out three movies a year with possibly one hit record on the soundtrack, surrounded by nothing but throw-away filler.)


"Easy Question", in fact, comes from his 1965 film "Tickle Me", a movie that included NO new Elvis Presley songs ... but rather a hodge-podge of thrown-together existing tracks rearranged to fit the film.  Light-hearted at best, it's still a "watchable" film ... and "Easy Question" is one of the highlights.




Next, a classic Elvis rocker.  Released in July of 1964 (but recorded back in 1960), Elvis tore up the charts with this #16 Hit scorcher "Such A Night".  Always one of my favorites, this might have been a Top Five Single had it been released after Elvis' stint in the Army ... but RCA held the track back and now it had to do battle with The Beatles and all of their "A Hard Day's Night" tunes.  Rock music didn't really sound like this anymore in 1964 ... and that's too bad ... because now "Such A Night" is simply considered to be not much more than one of Elvis' undiscovered gems.





And finally, you can't do Elvis true justice unless you include one of his ballads ... and this is one of his best.  Originally a hit for songstress Kitty Lester (#5 in 1962), Elvis filled his version with pure emotion ... and "Love Letters" climbed to #19 for The King in 1968.




We love ya, Elvis!




Got this yesterday from FH Reader Frank B:


Kent ...

Well, you know, Frank, my birthday is only a few short days away ... 
I think this would be an OUTSTANDING gesture on your part ... 
and I'll always remember it!  (kk)



(I STILL say this looks more like Sammy Davis, Jr. than Elvis!!!)





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