Tag Archives: From Elvis In Memphis

These are the 20 Greatest albums of all time according to the JV community

September 3, 2014 Egil 39 Comments

The votes have been counted.

Read further down in the post…..

———–

I hereby challenge all readers to put out their personal list of the 20 Greatest albums of all time.
Top 15 /10 is also appreciated.

Use the comments section in this post or check out our Facebook page.

The poll will be open till Tuesday’ish.

The rules:

ONLY 5 Bob Dylan albums allowed
It’s an album list, but 2 exceptions are allowed (Greatest Hits/Very Best/..)
This is meant to cover artists that didn’t really put out many “albums”, typically older music 40/50s.

–

Again: Don’t take theses lists so seriously ! It’s meant to be FUN.

——————–

It was a great poll to host, and we got lists in from 52 musicologists.

notes:

It’s nice to see (though hardly a surprise) 3 Dylan albums on top (as on my list)
lists with fewer than 5 did not count
Live albums did not count, including my own “Live @ San Quentin”, as stated above.. this will be a separate poll

#	Album	Artist	votes
1	Highway 61 Revisited (1965)	Bob Dylan	29
2	Blood On The Tracks (1975)	Bob Dylan	26
3	Blonde On Blonde (1966)	Bob Dylan	25
4	Revolver (1966)	The Beatles	18
5	Exile On Main St. (1972)	The Rolling Stones	17
6	Astral Weeks (1968)	Van Morrison	15
7	Rubber Soul (1965)	The Beatles	14
8	Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)	The Beatles	13
8	White Album (1968)	The Beatles	13
10	Abbey Road (1969)	The Beatles	12
10	Let It Bleed (1969)	The Rolling Stones	12
10	Who’s Next (1971)	The Who	12
13	Kind Of Blue (1959)	Miles Davis	11
14	John Wesley Harding (1967)	Bob Dylan	10
14	The Band (1969)	The Band	10
16	Bringing It All Back Home (1965)	Bob Dylan	8
16	Dark Side Of The Moon	Pink Floyd	8
16	Music From Big Pink (1968)	The Band	8
16	Beggar’s Banquet (1968)	The Rolling Stones	8
16	Sticky Fingers (1971)	The Rolling Stones	8

Lurking under:

Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
Crosby Stills & Nash
Neil Young – After The Gold Rush
Van Morrison – Moondance
Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska
Crosby Stills & Nash – Deja Vu
Pink Floyd – Wish You Where Here
Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin Bob Dylan
Bruce Springsteen – Darkness On The Edge Of Town
George Harrison – all Things Must Pass
Grateful Dead – American Beauty
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced
Tom Waits – Rain Dogs

—

My list – 20 favorite albums:

Continue reading These are the 20 Greatest albums of all time according to the JV community →

Music Calendar

June 17 in music history

June 17, 2014 Egil


Today: Elvis Presley released From Elvis In Memphis in 1969, 45 years ago (read more) After a 14-year absence from Memphis, Elvis Presley returned to cut what was certainly his greatest album. .. The result was one of the greatest white soul albums (and one of the greatest soul albums) ever cut, with brief but considerable forays into country, pop, and blues as well. Presley sounds rejuvenated artistically throughout the dozen cuts off the original album, and he’s supported by the best playing and backup singing of his entire recording history. ~Bruce Eder (allmusic.com)
Decoration Day is a rock album released by Drive-By Truckers June 17, 2003. The album was recorded mostly live over two weeks at Chase Park Transduction Studios in Athens, Georgia, and was produced by noted producer and former Sugar bassist David Barbe. The album is the Truckers’ fifth, including their live album Alabama Ass Whoopin’, following the critically acclaimed Southern Rock Opera. The album features a more mellow, stripped down, and reserved sound compared to Southern Rock Opera’s heavy hitting southern rock. Decoration Day is the first album to feature Jason Isbell on guitar; he would record two more albums with the band before leaving to pursue a solo career in 2007.
The Beatles’ version of “Act Naturally” is sung by Ringo Starr. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic called it “an ideal showcase for Ringo’s amiable vocals.” They performed the song during an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was taped on August 14, 1965 and broadcast on September 12, 1965. It was also performed at the Beatles’ famous Shea Stadium concert on August 15, 1965 and played at some concerts throughout the Beatles’ 1965 U.S. tour (alternating with Ringo’s other “hit” song, “I Wanna Be Your Man”). The Beatles recorded the song on June 17, 1965 in 13 takes. The first 12 takes were evidently used to work out the arrangement; the master was take 13, the only take with vocals. It was mixed the following day. The Beatles almost recorded a song by their engineer Norman Smith, but realized that Starr did not yet have a vocal on Help!. They originally recorded the song “If You’ve Got Trouble” as Starr’s intended song for the album, but were dissatisfied with the results and recorded “Act Naturally” to replace it. It was the last cover they recorded until the Get Back/Let It Be sessions in 1969.
Spotify Playlist – June 17

Music Calendar, Rock'n Roll, Soul

Today: Ray Charles recorded “What’d I Say” in 1959 – 54 years ago

February 18, 2013 Egil

I’m not one to interpret my own songs, but if you can’t figure out ‘What I Say’, then something’s wrong. Either that, or you’re not accustomed to the sweet sounds of love.
—Ray Charles

The feel comes from gospel but the resulting witty, elegant essay on rhythm and sex and why they’re inseparable is purely pagan.
~Dave Marsh (The Heart of Rock & Soul)

wikipedia:

Released	July 1959
Format	7-inch single
Recorded	February 18, 1959
Genre	Soul, blues, gospel, rock and roll
Length	6:30
Label	Atlantic
Writer(s)	Ray Charles
Producer	Jerry Wexler

“What’d I Say” (or “What I Say“) is a song by American rhythm and blues (R&B) musician Ray Charles, released in 1959 as a single divided into two parts. It was improvised one evening late in 1958 when Charles, his orchestra, and backup singers had played their entire set list at a show and still had time left; the response from many audiences was so enthusiastic that Charles announced to his producer that he was going to record it.

After his run of R&B hits, this song finally broke Charles into mainstream pop music and itself sparked a new sub-genre of R&B titled soul, finally putting together all the elements that Charles had been creating since he recorded “I Got a Woman” in 1954. The gospel influences combined with the sexual innuendo in the song made it not only widely popular but very controversial to both white and black audiences. It earned Ray Charles his first gold record and has been one of the most influential songs in R&B and rock and roll history. For the rest of his career, Charles closed every concert with the song. It was added to the National Recording Registry in 2002 and ranked at number 10 in Rolling Stone‘s “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.

“Ray would call and say that he had a few songs but he wouldn’t usually comment on them beforehand. He called me up before he brought “What’d I Say” in and said, “I think you might like this one pretty well.” That constituted a rave from him and it was very easy to record. It was hardly a song: it was an extended rhythm lick with a few jingle-like verses: “See that girl with the red dress on, She can do the Birdland all night long”, not exactly Shakespearian innovation. He had strung a few lines together but the essence of that record was the boiling rhythm track and the exchanges between himself and the Raelets.”
– Jerry Wexler (Co-owner of Atlantic Records & legendary producer)

Live – 1960:

Album of the day:

The Best of Ray Charles – Atlantic Years (1994)

Other February 18

Continue reading Today: Ray Charles recorded “What’d I Say” in 1959 – 54 years ago →

Elvis Presley, Memphis, Music Calendar

Today: Elvis Presley recorded “Long Black Limousine” in 1969 – 44 years ago

January 13, 2013 Egil

..But it is “Long Black Limousine” and “I’ll Hold You in My Heart” which mark the high point of the album and indeed may mark the high point of Elvis’ career to date. “Long Black Limousine” is the almost quintessential C&W ballad, whose melody bears traces of such mournful standards as “Old Shep” and “Green, Green Grass of Home”.
~Peter Guralnick (Rollingstone Magazien – Aug 1969)

One of the strongest songs from one of the best albums ever released… nothing less.

Wikipedia

Released	June 17, 1969
Genre	Rhythm and blues
Length	3:44
Label	RCA Victor
Writer	Vern Stovall, Bobby George
Producer	Chips Moman, Felton Jarvis

Long Black Limousine is a song written by Vern Stovall and Bobby George; the best known version is probably the one by Elvis Presley, who turned the original country tune into a soulful rhythm and blues song.

Stovall and George, country musicians based in southern California, probably wrote the song in 1958, when it was first recorded (but not released until many years later) by Wynn Stewart. The first released version was Stovall’s, in 1961, followed by Glen Campbell’s in 1962. The only charting single of the song (in 1968 it reached #73 on the US country charts) was Jody Miller’s, her version was also on her 1968 album The Nashville Sound of Jody Miller. O. C. Smith’s version was released as the B-side of his million-selling crossover hit “Little Green Apples” in 1968. Elvis Presley’s version appeared on his classic 1969 From Elvis in Memphis album.

The sound produced at American had little to do with high-tech equipment and everything to do with its stable of musicians, who had developed a heavily R&B-influenced style that far transcended any bluesy edges the Nashville players might have boasted.
~Ernst Jorgensen (Elvis Presley – A life in music)

Elvis & Chips Moman

All southerners, all close to Elvis’s age, they shared a musical heritage that blended country, gospel, and rhythm and blues.
To the musicians Chips Moman was a godfather-like figure in the studio, who would tolerate nothing less than total commitment.
~Ernst Jorgensen (Elvis Presley – A life in music)

An even better version – Long Black Limousine (Take 6):

Lyrics

There’s a long line of mourners driving down our little street
Their fancy cars are such a sight to see, oh, yeah
They’re all of your rich friends who knew you in the city
And now they’ve finally brought, brought you home to me

When you left you know you told me that some day you’d be returnin’
In a fancy car all the town to see, oh, yeah
Well, now everyone is watching you, you finally had your dream
Yeah, and you’re ridin’ in a long black limousine

You know the papers told of how you lost your life, oh, yeah
The party, the party and the fatal crash that night
Well, the race upon the highway, oh, the curve you didn’t see
When you’re riding in that long black limousine

You’re riding in that long black limousine

Through tear filled eyes I watch as you ride by, oh, yeah
A chauffeur, a chauffeur at the wheel dressed up so fine
Well, I never, I never, never, never, oh, my heart, all my dreams
Yeah, they’re with you in that long black limousine

Yeah, yeah, they’re with you in that long black limousine
Yeah, yeah, yeah, they’re with you in that long black limousine
Yeah, yeah, they’re with you in that long black limousine

Producer: Chips Moman & Felton Jarvis

Produced by Felton Jarvis and Chips Moman
Engineered by Al Pachucki
Overdubs arranged by Mike Leech and Glen Spreen
Digital Engineer: Dick Baxter

Personnel

Elvis Presley – vocals, guitar, piano
String and Horn Arrangements – Glen Spreen
Ed Kollis – harmonica
John Hughey – pedal steel guitar on “In the Ghetto”
Reggie Young, Dan Penn – electric guitar
Bobby Wood – piano
Bobby Emmons – organ
Tommy Cogbill, Mike Leech – bass
Gene Chrisman – drums

Overdubbed:

Wayne Jackson, Dick Steff, R.F. Taylor – trumpets
Ed Logan, Jack Hale, Gerald Richardson] – trombones
Tony Cason, Joe D’Gerolamo – french horns
Andrew Love, Jackie Thomas, Glen Spreen, J.P. Luper – saxophones
Joe Babcock, Dolores Edgin, Mary Greene, Charlie Hodge, Ginger Holladay, Mary Holladay Millie Kirkham, Ronnie Milsap, Sonja Montgomery, June Page, Susan Pilkington, Sandy Posey, Donna Thatcher, Hurschel Wiginton – backing vocals

Spotify:

Other January 13:

Continue reading Today: Elvis Presley recorded “Long Black Limousine” in 1969 – 44 years ago →

My Site