Question: I've been thinking a lot about Elvis lately..

Monson

Monson

Sonic Automatist
I guess it's a Christmas thing..

But suppose he had been in good health and spirit and lived twice as long as he did. I wonder what he might have achieved and what it might have sounded like in the '80s, '90s and noughties, then perhaps retiring in maybe 2011 or 12, passing at 84, full of days.

He kinda already did MTV Unplugged before that was a thing with his '68 Comeback Special, didn't he? Now, I must admit I don't know a whole lot about Elvis, but I have a feeling that deep down he just wanted to have a bit of fun, and make sure his stuff was quality.

Any thoughts?
 
A clean and sober Elvis could have done lots of great collaborations in the eighties and nineties. Traveling Wilburys stuff or just random appearances on albums with other older stars who popped up here and there like Roy, Johnny, and Jerry Lee. Danzig probably would have pulled Elvis into the studio for an entire album of duets. I’m sure he could have roped a dozen guitar heroes into the studio for an album.
 
I like all eras of Elvis when he sings. But his movies are cheese whiz and stupid except for Love Me Tender. That's a tear jerker....

He had the IT factor but needed someone to keep him between the lines. I would have loved seeing him colab with the Beatles. Or any of the legends. Imagine him and Marvin Gaye singing Pancho and Lefty
 
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He was already doing Vegas in his 30s. He was a good singer and highly charismatic, but his only innovation was cultural appropriation. He'd have been lucky if his cultural impact in the 80s/90s reached Mick Jagger solo career levels.
 
Chicken Man said:
But it would have been like the Niel Diamond record, not the Cash ones.
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Probably not. Diamond is a songwriter and the Rubin collabs were trying to strip things back to showcase Diamond as a songwriter.

Elvis was primarily a voice and a performer/interpreter of songs, so the vibe would probably be more akin to how Cash’s persona/legend and unique voice was deployed on the covers Rubin brought to the table (vs. Cash’s originals on those records).

Also, the allure of working with Elvis might have been enough to get Rubin the juice to commission new songs for the project—Nick Lowe, Nick Cave, Chris Issac, Lyle Lovett, Bowie, Springsteen, Costello, Bono, etc. probably all could have been lured into submitting work for consideration. (Remember that this would have been the 1990s.) You might have even been able to get Dylan or McCartney to write a couple. Then you fill things out with some trad stuff, beloved contemporary alt pop hits, and the like. Hell, Rubin would probably drag the Heartbreakers in as a de facto house band like on some of the Cash stuff…and given that Elvis was in the building you might even lure George Harrison in on guitar for a couple cuts. I could easily hear The King doing a gritty widescreen take on “My Sweet Lord” that goes all quantum girl group bedazzled nonsense on the outro.

I think it’s also highly likely that he does either “Downtown Train” or “Hold On” by Tom Waits on this album. And in a very arch move Rubin has him cutting a version of Morrissey’s “The More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get.”
 
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I too have been thinking about Elvis a lot lately. One thought will shake you to your core. More on that in a later post.

I was watching The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence a few days ago. Ive been on a Grit TV kick. They shot much of the movie 3 miles from my home. They also shot the Elvis film, Flaming Star there. It's a fantastic area to hike. It's rich in Hollywood film history too.

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Flaming Star
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Peen Simmons said:
Probably not. Diamond is a songwriter and the Rubin collabs were trying to strip things back to showcase Diamond as a songwriter.

Elvis was primarily a voice and a performer/interpreter of songs, so the vibe would probably be more akin to how Cash’s persona/legend and unique voice was deployed on the covers Rubin brought to the table (vs. Cash’s originals on those records).

Also, the allure of working with Elvis might have been enough to get Rubin the juice to commission new songs for the project—Nick Lowe, Nick Cave, Chris Issac, Lyle Lovett, Bowie, Springsteen, Costello, Bono, etc. probably all could have been lured into submitting work for consideration. (Remember that this would have been the 1990s.) You might have even been able to get Dylan or McCartney to write a couple. Then you fill things out with some trad stuff, beloved contemporary alt pop hits, and the like. Hell, Rubin would probably drag the Heartbreakers in as a de facto house band like on some of the Cash stuff…and given that Elvis was in the building you might even lure George Harrison in on guitar for a couple cuts. I could easily hear The King doing a gritty widescreen take on “My Sweet Lord” that goes all quantum girl group bedazzled nonsense on the outro.

I think it’s also highly likely that he does either “Downtown Train” or “Hold On” by Tom Waits on this album. And in a very arch move Rubin has him cutting a version of Morrissey’s “The More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get.”
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I was hoping to bait you into teeing me up for the Public Enemy on Elvis. Looks like I won't be getting a Merry Christmas after all.
 
smurfco said:
I spend a lot of time thinking about Elvis on the toilet.

This is true for both ways you can interpret that sentence.
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Be careful. I heard that if you think about Elvis on the toilet, while you're on the toilet, it can cause a deadly feedback loop.
 
Monson said:
What if Elvis had been approached by David Lynch and/or Quentin Tarantino? Perhaps for a cameo, or as a dobro-playing garage owner (Michael Madsen playing his son). I'm thinking the '90s.
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I think that Elvis reading Tarantino’s dialogue might have made some heads explode.
 
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