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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

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Posted: 19 years ago

#41

World Music Legends

Asha Bhosle

Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar

By Anastasia Tsioulcas
Published October 9, 2005

Bollywood

If you've ever heard Indian filmi sangeet—typically a high-pitched fluttering of a female singer backed by a psychedelically colored array of Western and South Asian instruments—chances are very, very good that you've heard the voice of either Asha Bhosle or Lata Mangeshkar. Bhosle, with more than 20,000 songs recorded in over a dozen languages, is the world's most recorded artist, according to the Guinness Book Of World Records—and Mangeshkar follows close behind. But these two singers' careers are far more intertwined than their comparable artistic and commercial successes would suggest: they are sisters.

How did these sibling phenomena occur? Part of the answer lies in the astonishing popularity of Mumbai's film industry, lovingly dubbed "Bollywood" after the city's old name of Bombay, and in Bollywood's mania for song and dance. (After Partition in 1947, a parallel industry developed in Lahore, Pakistan, referred to, naturally enough, as "Lollywood.") Long ago, Bollywood became the world's most prolific film center, far surpassing Hollywood, Cairo and other moviemaking hot spots, releasing about 800 films every year. (This number is for Hindi-language films only—it doesn't take into account the huge Telugu- and Tamil-language movie industries, among others, that cater to regional audiences.)

Indian popular film prizes the art of artifice, giving the audience the biggest bang for its hard-earned rupees. Bollywood movies are about total entertainment: a single film often straddles several styles (for example, a romantic comedy/family drama/action flick). Since the early 1930s, singing and dancing sequences, delivered at regular intervals, have goosed up storylines, contributing further to the escapist fantasy. Moviegoers are treated to the prettiest faces—why not the prettiest voices as well? Hence the thriving business of playback singers, to whose recordings Indian actors and actresses lip-sync.

The secret to the sisters' astounding success also lies partly with their family: Their father, Dinanath Mangeshkar, was a very well-known actor and singer whose specialty was sangeet nathak, a Marathi tradition of music and theater. (Lataji was born in 1929, Ashaji in1933.) With that background, perhaps it's no surprise that all five of his children chose careers in music; while still a child, Lata appeared as an actress in Marathi films. After Dinanath's death, his widow Shrimati moved to Bombay in 1944, the epicenter of film culture, a proximity which helped boost their burgeoning careers.

The selections on two recently released Rough Guide To Bollywood Legends CDs (on the U.K.-based World Music Network label)—one each devoted to Bhosle and Mangeshkar—give a wonderful taste of their individual talents. There's Ashaji's remarkable ability to absorb the essence of a film character (and of the corresponding actress) and, chameleon-like, give an individual voice to each heroine. Lataji is an icon in part because of her superb vocal mastery, which allows her to transition seamlessly between myriad styles, from the most current pop to devotional Hindu bhajans and the love songs called ghazals that are rooted in Islamic poetry.

The Lata Mangeshkar set, as a whole, is more attuned to the straight-and-narrow highlights of Lataji's career, limning some of her most famous songs (such as her work with the renowned singer Mohammed Rafi in "Yeh Dil Diwana Hai" from the 1970 Ramesh Saigal film Ishq Par Zor Hai and "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya" from K. Asif's legendary 1960 historical epic Mughal-E-Azam). Ashaji's set meanders more frequently to some sublime novelties, including 1956's "Ina Mina Dika" (from Haridas Bhattacharya's Asha)—a curried, Andrews Sisters-style boogie-woogie—to 1974's sassy "Teri Meri Yaari Badi Purani," from Shakti Samanta's film Charitraheen. From the Bollywood novice to the true believer, these Rough Guides contain delights for any listener.

Beyond these two readily available compilations, it's difficult to say where one might begin an examination of the recordings of these two renowned sisters of India. Literally thousands exist, however surprisingly few formal collections can be obtained in the West. Perhaps the simplest—and most rewarding—way to experience the voices of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle is in their original context: by watching classic Indian Bollywood films. It's a given that their remarkable voices will be heard more often than not.

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 19 years ago

#42

World Music Legends

Googoosh

By j. poet
Published October 9, 2005

Arabic

Between 1970 and 1979, Googoosh was Iran's top pop star, combining the sophisticated vocal power of a Barbra Streisand with the trend-setting of a Madonna. At her height, Googoosh generated the fan devotion of a Marilyn Monroe or an Elvis Presley; her albums were best sellers in Turkey, Afghanistan and Central Asia. She was so popular in Tajikistan that she received more votes in that country's first democratic elections than any of the legitimate candidates.

Googoosh appeared regularly on Iranian television, performing songs that combined exquisite Iranian poetry and classical Iranian music, with arrangements drawing on such international influences as Brazilian samba, Cuban rumba and Spanish flamenco. From the age of 10, the singer also starred in a series of successful films, giving Iran a heroine comfortable with Western-style worldliness. She set the style for a generation of young women; they wore mini-skirts after she did and followed her to the hairdresser when she cut her tresses short in 1975.

Then came the Islamic Revolution, which forbade music and sent many musicians and intellectuals into exile. Googoosh was one of the few who decided to stay, but the result was that one moment Googoosh was an international star, the next she was almost a prisoner in her own apartment. At first, the Ayatollah Khomeini placed a ban on all music, but cassettes by Googoosh and other pop and folk artists could still be found on the black market and were played discretely in cafs and marketplaces. Eventually the regime allowed traditional musicians to perform and record, but female singers were not permitted to perform for male or mixed audiences because, according to the religious authorities, female voices corrupt men.

Googoosh started singing when she was two years old. Her father, Saber Atashin, led a troupe of performers that traveled throughout Iran, entertaining in both cities and small villages. When Atashin discovered his daughter could sing, he put her into the act. As a result, Googoosh received little real schooling but developed a stage presence and the ability to form a bond with her audience.

Googoosh is actually an Armenian boy's name; her birth certificate lists her first name as Faegheh. "I don't know where the name comes from," the singer said. "Since I was a child, everyone always called me Googoosh."

In 1960, at the age of 10, Googoosh came to national attention when she appeared in Fereshteye Farari, a film by Gorji Abadia. By the time she was a teenager, some of Iran's best known poets and composers were bringing her material to record. Early in her career, during the reign of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlevi, Iran underwent a period of modernization. There was personal freedom, especially for the middle and upper classes, but the underworld controlled much of Iran's nightlife. Although Googoosh had a successful career, she found herself owing money to the mob and at one point was forced into marriage with a crime boss to retire the debt.

After the revolution, Googoosh lived quietly, avoiding the limelight, although she remained conscious of her influence on popular culture in Iran and her effect on Iranian expatriates around the world. After the election of a more moderate Iranian president, Mohammed Khatami, the regime relaxed its constraints on pop culture; again the voice of Googoosh came blasting out of cassette-shop speakers.

Googoosh was finally given permission to leave the country, and immediately plans were made for a comeback tour. She also recorded a new album, Zoroaster, for Canada's Kia Entertainment Group.

"The lyrics are by poets and songwriters who talk about the daily affairs and problems of people," she said. "I only wish more of them would have stayed [in Iran] to witness the hardships of the last years. I'm sure it would have had an impact of their work."

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 19 years ago

#43

World Music Legends

Ravi Shankar

By Jeff Tamarkin
Published March 2005
INDIA

Raga

Ravi Shankar's name is so intimately associated with Indian classical music that a sizable percentage of those who know nothing else about the genre are at least aware of his stature as the subcontinent's most important and enduring cultural icon. Although the word guru is often attached to Shankar, ambassador is an equally valid descriptive. For more than four decades, Shankar and his sitar have represented the sound of India to the world.

He remains best known in the West for his unprecedented success in bridging the two cultures. Never one to deny himself an opportunity to explore, Shankar has spent his entire career making connections and pushing in new directions, while remaining ever true to the music's roots. He was not the first Indian musician to venture to the West, but he was undeniably the first to launch a serious attempt at finding ways for Indian classical music to reach beyond its core audience. In a way, he didn't find it, it found him, in the person of George Harrison, the Beatles' lead guitarist.

It was on the set of the Beatles' 1965 film Help! that Harrison first noticed the sitar, a long, multi-stringed, fretted instrument with a gourdlike body. Investigating, he learned that its acknowledged master was Ravi Shankar, and Harrison sought the Indian musician, who taught him some rudiments, enough for Harrison to lay down some sitar licks on his group's next album. Interest in the sitar—and subsequently in Shankar and Indian culture and philosophy as a whole—exploded and Shankar rode out the '60s as a most unlikely hero to pop fans, performing at such landmark events as Woodstock, the Monterey Pop Festival and Harrison's Concert for Bangla Desh. His influence was such that by the end of the '60s the sitar (and the newly invented electric sitar) was ubiquitous on rock recordings.

By that time Ravi Shankar was already in his late forties, born April 7, 1920 in Varanasi, West Bengal, India. His parents were well-to-do, which afforded Shankar the opportunity to first study dance, performing with his brother Uday's dance troupe in Paris, and, ultimately, music. He lived for several years with his teacher, Ustad Allauddin Khan, becoming proficient on several instruments but displaying a particular predilection for the sitar. He began his recording career in the late 1940s and spent several years as the music director of All India Radio. Shankar toured India, but equally as important, he toured outside of India, bringing his country's classical music to the Soviet Union and eventually the United States and Europe by the late '50s. In the early '60s, he also founded the Kinnara School of Music in Bombay.

Shankar's thirst for experimentation didn't begin and end with his work with Harrison. In 1967—the same year he wowed the hippie crowd at Monterey—Shankar recorded a collaborative album with the renowned violinist Yehudi Menuhin. West Meets East became the first of five Ravi Shankar albums to land on the Billboard pop chart, a feat unequaled by any other Indian classical musician. In 1980, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra commissioned Shankar to compose "Raag-Mala," with Zubin Mehta conducting. Shankar has worked with flute virtuoso Jean Pierre Rampal, with Phillip Glass (the 1990 Passages album), and has composed extensively for films and ballets in India, Canada, Europe and the U.S. In the 1980s Shankar took another leap when he began explored the fusion of Indian music with electronic sounds. All the while he continued to compose ragas and tour worldwide.

In more recent years, Shankar has garnered new recognition as the father of two young women who are emerging as important artists in their own right. The older of the two actually grew up in Texas with her mother, largely apart from Shankar. She was drawn to jazz in high school and in early 2001 was signed to Blue Note Records. Today Norah Jones is nothing less than one of the hottest properties in the music business, with two platinum albums already behind her.

Anoushka Shankar, on the other hand, learned sitar from her father in India, and has been performing with him both on record and in concert since she was 13. Signed to EMI/Angel, she has already released three albums under her own name, although still in her mid-twenties. The torch has been passed.

Ravi Shankar, meanwhile, is in his mid-eighties at this writing, and still quite active. His music retains all of its seductive intensity, his hypnotic, spiritual creations as much an awe-inspiring thing of beauty as when he first emerged over a half century ago.

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 19 years ago

#44

World Music Legends

Umm Kulthum

By Chris Nickson
Published March 2005
EGYPT

Arabic

Her Thursday night broadcasts brought the Middle East to a standstill, the streets empty as people gathered to listen to her sing on the radio. When she died in 1975, four million people lined the streets of Cairo for her funeral. Her name was Umm (also sometimes spelled Oum, Um or any of a number of other variations) Kulthum, and she was the greatest Arabic singer of the 20th Century.

It was an epic end for a woman who'd had very humble beginnings. Born in the dry desert village of Tamy Al-Zahayrah in 1904, she absorbed music almost by accident. Her father was the iman at the village mosque, calling the faithful to prayer. He also performed at weddings and festivals, singing religious songs, and was training his son to follow in his footsteps. To his astonishment, Umm memorized the songs and began singing them. She began to sing and perform with the family, but it was soon apparent that her talent outstripped them all. She was a major attraction throughout the region (and this in a time and place where it wasn't quite as seemly for a woman to sing in public), and her father decided to move to Cairo to help her career.

She'd been a big fish in a small pond, but in Cairo, she was swimming in deep water, surrounded by sharks. To a sophisticated urban population, she was little more than a hick country girl with little more than a crude technique.

Many would have been discouraged. Instead, Kulthum found a mentor, and studied with several teachers, including Ahmad Rami, who schooled her in poetry and Arabic literature, almost a necessity for anyone wanting to be taken seriously as a singer.

She made her first recordings in 1926, and from there her star rapidly rose. Instead of the songs her father had taught her, she widened her repertoire, singing material composed by some of Egypt's best, with many of the lyrics penned by Rami. While she didn't have a huge vocal range, a bit over two octaves, her power was in what she could do with it. She learned remarkable breath control and modulation, how to ornament lines, and the applause she received frequently led to her repeating the lines over and over in concert. Her command of the Arab melodic system was far ahead of anyone else's. As one critic noted, "She does not just sing the Ruba'iyat, she infuses it with meaning."

When Egyptian radio began broadcasting in 1934, she was one of the first artists on the air, and a year later she made her debut on film. In 1937 she arranged for radio to broadcast her monthly concerts live, which made much of Egypt her audience, not just Cairo. As time passed, and the transmitter area grew, the entire Middle East was able to hear her, and her Thursday concerts became an event.

During the 1940s, at the height of her artistic powers, she became more political, with some of her songs offering subtle overtones of Egyptian self-rule and political justice. By then she was an unstoppable force and power in music. She became a member of the Listening Committee, which selected the music that would be played on the radio, and then head of the Egyptian Musicians' Union.

Unlike most singers, especially female singers, she had a huge amount of control over her career, choosing her material, her accompanists, and even the actors and technicians for the movies she continued to make. The word diva might well have been invented for her.

Probably her greatest work for Egypt came after the Six Days' War in 1967, when she toured a demoralized Arab world giving concerts, and donated the proceeds, some $2 million, to the Egyptian government.

During the '60s, her music underwent a change, the lyrics often concerning themselves with romantic love. More importantly, she began working with new composers.

But by the '70s, age and ill health were telling on her. Her final performance came in 1972. The kidney problems that had plagued her worsened, and she died of heart failure on February 4, 1975.

The news of her death was preceded on Egyptian radio by the chanting of the Qur'an, always a sign that someone important had gone. The funeral had to be postponed for two days to give foreign visitors and dignitaries time to arrive. Millions turned out, and Umm Kulthum was finally delivered to her resting place.

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 19 years ago

#45

World Music Legends

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

By Chris Nickson
Published March 2005
PAKISTAN

Qawwali

There are great singers, and then there are those few voices that transcend time. The late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan could not only transcend time, but also language and religion. There was magic when he opened his mouth, a sense of holy ecstasy that was exciting and emotional. It wasn't uncommon even for Western listeners, who didn't understand a word he was singing or follow his Sufi traditions, to be moved to tears upon hearing him.

Ali Khan, who died in 1997 at the age of 48, was a Qawwali, a singer of devotional music of the Sufi sect of Islam. Trained by his father, the master singer Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, he kept up a 600-year family tradition by taking over leadership of the "party" (the general term for a Qawwali group, comprising singer, harmonium and tablas) in 1971, following recurring dreams that he was singing at the Muslim shrine of Hazratja Khawaja Moid-Ud-Din Christie in Ajmer, India (which he would eventually do).

In his improvisations, his voice would soar skyward to heaven, carrying his audience with him. While the core of his work and his life was the Sufi texts, the mystic holy poetry of the spirit, Ali Khan didn't limit himself to that in his career. He was happy to sing the love poems known as ghazals, to perform vocal exercises, and even lend his talents to Bollywood and Hollywood, to range into ambient and dance music. But none of it was at the expense of his soul.

Throughout the '70s and early '80s he released literally hundreds of cassettes—trying to make order of his entire discography would be a nightmare—and his reputation grew, not only in his native Pakistan, but also internationally. The year 1985 proved to be the turning point for him, as he appeared not only at the WOMAD festival in England, but also had his performances in France recorded for an epic five-CD set that perfectly illustrated the qualities of his art. The songs stretched out, allowing Ali Khan to show his genius for extemporization, turning a sound, word or phrase over and over, examining it, flying with it, before releasing it and moving to another, using them all as enlightenment for the soul, a prayer and devotion. At his best, and his best seemed to occur often, he was like a bird, swooping and rising, his voice as free as the sky.

After Paris, the momentum gathered. He signed with Real World Records, which meant that for the first time his records would have high-profile international distribution, and released Shahen Shah, whose title came from his nickname. It wasn't hardcore Ali Khan, but lighter and more melodic, a disc that seduced those who hadn't heard him before.

From there he released the groundbreaking Mustt Mustt, working with producer Michael Brook, and having the title track (which means "intoxicated") remixed into a dancefloor hit by Massive Attack. Suddenly Ali Khan was big news outside just ethnic circles. A second Brook/Ali Khan meeting, Night Song, built on what they'd created for an album of gorgeous fusion.

For the rest of his career he'd alternate between albums that featured his traditional work and what he termed his "experiments." He contributed to the soundtrack of Dead Man Walking, collaborating with another icon—Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder—on two tracks. To Ali Khan, while his heart was firmly in Qawwali music, nothing was outside the box, and every opportunity to discover more music and take chances was to be relished, not reviled. He stayed busy until the final months of his life, performing, recording, meditating and teaching.

He reached the stage in the summer of 1997 of needing a kidney transplant, and was on his way to the United States for the operation when he died of renal failure in London.

His legacy lives on prominently in his relatives Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, and also the Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali Group. But however good they may be, whatever they absorbed and inherited from the Master, there was only one Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 19 years ago

#46

Simply Simon

Profiles of other artists like Paul Simon who are known in the rock/pop/folk Worlds as well as World Beat can be found in Rockin' World.

Paul Simon is one of those artists who is known as being a part of a specific genre, in his case folk music, but who has contibuted significantly to World Beat.

Simon, whow as born in Newark, New Jersey in 1941, is best known as one half of the duo Simon and Garfunkel, an acoustic folk duo who rose to fame in the 1960's on the strength of the simple melodies and harmonies of songs like "Sounds of Silence" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water." When Simon branched out for a solo career in the 1970's, he merged with the World of mainstream pop with "50 Way to Leave Your Lover" and other chart-topping hits. However, towards the end of the 1970's and beginning of the 80's both is personal life and musical career began to slump: in 1980 he starred in, produced and scored the movie One Trick Pony which was a flop, and in 1983 married Carrie Fisher (actress of Star Wars fame) but their union disintegrated that very same year. To get his life and music back on track, he traveled to Sout Africa, where the rythmic sounds helped ease him out of a depression. In 1985 he collaborated with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, out of which the famous Graceland album was born. It won the Grammy for Best Album in 1987, re-establishing Simon's credibility as a viable artist. Simon's first foray into World Music came before even artists such as Peter Gabriel and Sting paved the way for World Music to be introduced to a wider audience. But Simon did not stop there. 1990's Rhythm of the Saints combined a South African influence with a Brazilian beat, leading to a large tour with a multi-cultural band, culminating in a live album recorded at Central Park with an audience of 750, 000. After six years of relative silence (between occasional concerts with Garfunkel and various charity work) Songs from the Capeman in 1997 demonstrated Simon's continued interest in the music of the World, with a strong Latin American influence, particularly salsa and Caribbean. The album was the soundtrack for a failed Broadway musical Simon wrote, dealing with the life of a Puerto Rican gang member who was sentenced to life in prison after killing two teenagers, but who was later paroled after 20 years as a reformed man. Victims' rights groups protested the play, critics slaughtered it in the press and it shut down after only 68 performances. Paul Simon apparently took the play's failure very hard: he maintained a very low profile until announcing a joint tour with Bob Dylan in 1999, and a Greatest Hits collection which was released later that year. With poetic, insightful lyrics and music that has crossed cultural boundaries for almost two decades (although his overall musical career spans more than 30 years), Paul Simon has helped bring World Music into the mainstream. Despite critics who have sent their barbs in his direction, saying that Simon has exploited musical cultures for his own gain, the gain has been on the part of the parts of the World who have been introduced to ethnic sounds and the artists who have followed Simon's lead.

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 19 years ago

#47

B.M.

Afghanistan

Ustad Farida Mahwash
Born in 1947, Farida Mahwash is considered Afghanistan's greatest contemporary woman singer. Her exceptional voice and classical training has brought her the country's ultimate title of "ustad", or master musician. Despite her forced exile in the United States, Mahwash has prolonged a long and rich career as the permanent guest of the Radio Kabul Ensemble.

Ustad Farida Mahwash

No one denies the soothing role music has played during these

decades of bloodshed and war this country has known. The latest

illustration is in the remarkable book by Afghan exile Khaled

Hosseini, "The Kite Runner". The rivetting story of friendship and

exile is accompanied by musical references to martyrs of the

nation's tragedy, such as singer Ahmad Zahir. Written from his

adopted home of California, Hosseini describes the enduring link

with his homeland with a wedding song called "ahesta boro": "Make

morning into a key and throw it into the wellGo slowly, my lovely

moon, go slowly.Let the morning sun forget to rise in the east,Go

slowly, my lovely moon, go slowly."Fellow artist and Californian exile

Farida Mahwash has had many occasions to sing this verse both at

home and abroad. She was born into a highly respectable Kabul

family and started working at Radio Afghanistan as a secretary. But

her vocal talents were discovered by the radio's director of music

who propelled her into a professional singing career that made her

Afghanistan's most popular woman vocalist. Another key figure in

Mahwash's early career was Ustad Mohammed Hashem. The

master tabla player guided his young protge through the first

steps of this male-dominated profession. He composed one of her

greatest successes "O bacheb" (Oh boy). It combines several tunes

into one extended song cycle that pays homage to the diversity of

Afghanistan's regional styles.Hashem also instilled the rigours of

classical Indian singing into Mahwash's repertoire. The richness of

her singing led to the government elevating her to "Ustad" in 1977,

an honorific title normally reserved for men. However, the Taraki

coup a year later cut short this golden era in Afghan music and

severely truncated Mahwash's career. In 1991, she lost her

brother-in-law in the violence and was forced to flee, first to Pakistan

and then to the United States.Shortly after, Mahwash re-united with

Asif, Yusef and Arif Hashem. The three brothers of her teacher

Mohammed recreated the exceptional tabla accompaniment for

Mahwash to sing the songs from her glory days. At the same time,

her friend Hossein Arman invited her to join the Radio Kabul

Ensemble. This was composed of fellow-refugees and it opened the

doors to countless concerts and the award-winning 2003 album

"Radio Kaboul", on the Accords Croiss label.At 58 years old,

Mahwash still has a glittering career ahead of her. Her powerful and

reedy vocal range has been awarded a "Golden voice" prize in

Europe, as well as the coveted "Janis Joplin" trophy. In November

2005 she embarked on a month-long US tour with a new repertoire

intitled "Afghan Ghazal".November 2005Daniel Brown

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

Quote

Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 19 years ago

#48

Elvis - The Way It Should Have Been?
By Nick Ruck Keene (Source: Elvis Australia Nov 12, 2005)

Devil in Disguise

an alternative singles policy in the sixties

Back in the sixties one of the many frustrations suffered by Elvis fans was the way RCA went about choosing his singles between March 1963 and the end of 1968. Right at the beginning of this period it was obvious to anyone with an ounce of intelligence and who was not hard of hearing that the quality of Presley's soundtrack recordings was slipping, and that the vastly superior songs from his new studio sessions, albeit that these were few and far between in number, were likely to fare much better in the charts. But the situation was made even worse by RCA because they invariably ignored the most commercial offerings that were available from the film scores. Each film managed to produce at least one decent track, as I elaborated upon in an earlier article 'Elvis at the Movies'. To cap it all, in an effort to break up the never ending stream of increasingly dire film singles, RCA persisted in dredging up leftovers from the previous decade or putting out previously released tracks taken from Elvis' early sixties studio albums. It was almost as if someone at RCA thought that Elvis was no longer capable of making hit records. Given that the huge success of 'Devil in Disguise' from the May 1963 sessions in Nashville should have dispelled any such notion, one would have thought it worthwhile issuing a follow up or two from the same batch of recordings. Some of the latter lay in the vaults until 1968.

In this article I will demonstrate that with a little more acumen Elvis Presley's chart positions could have been far better if greater thought had been given to his singles releases. Some music writers of the period will tell you that Elvis' chart blips of the mid sixties were inevitable because of the rise of the beat groups headed by the Stones and the Beatles. I certainly agree that in what was a more competitive era he most likely would have had to settle for fewer number one hits, but given the ease with which his main rival in Britain - Cliff Richard - sailed through it all I would suggest that Elvis could have done at least as well as Cliff, even with the indifferent quality of the material he was so often given to record by the film companies. If there had only been someone at the helm who had an ear for pop songs - which would have ruled out the Colonel - Presley would surely have been pretty solid Top Ten throughout the sixties.

So then here we go beginning in 1963 with an annual summarisation of the singles released in the UK, my brief opinion of the song together with its chart position and then my suggested alternatives along with my forecast of the chart positions such a release might have obtained - taking full account of the opposition :

1963 releases:

One broken heart for sale - too short / too tinny # 12
Devil in disguise - cleverly arranged/commercial # 1
Bossa Nova baby – dated sound / poor backing # 13
Kiss me quick - old LP track / fans already had it # 14

1963 Alternatives:

I'm falling in love tonight # 2 - Despite the rather overbearing roller rink organ supposedly meant to be firmly placed in the background, but unaccountably brought forward in the mix, this beautiful ballad from the film It Happened at the World's Fair was sung with such feeling by Elvis that it is scarcely possible to imagine it failing in the charts. The full richness of the King's voice comes through in such a way as to hold your attention until the very last note.

Devil in disguise – no change

I Think I'm Going To Like It Here # 3 - With Fun in Acapulco being such a major movie it would have been difficult to have resisted a single from this pleasant soundtrack, and given its success in the States where the beat groups had yet to break through; I would still have had Bossa Nova Baby as the B side - perhaps even as a double A side with my above choice - rather in the same way as happened when Wild in the Country / I feel so bad were coupled in 1961. The track I have chosen has considerable charm and a good tune going for it.

Western Union # 3 - Ah yes I hear you say was this track a not so subtle effort to copy the smash hit Return to Sender? Probably and that is why Elvis cut it for goodness sake – so why on earth was it not released? Shamelessly commercial it just might have managed a week at number one. Given that choices were so limited in the mid sixties a potential hit could not be ignored no matter what one or two critics might have said.

1964 releases:

Viva Las Vegas - great number but not commercial # 17
Kissin' Cousins - not an unreasonable choice # 10
Such a Night - why put out a track we all had? # 13
Ain't that loving you Baby? – Aussies loved it but so dated # 15
Blue Christmas - a classic but 7 years old # 11

1964 Alternatives:

It Hurts Me # 1 - One of finest vocal performances ever heard from Elvis finished up as a B side. Like many fans at the time I was incandescent with fury that this classic ballad was so poorly treated. The mixture of scorn and hurt which comes through in Presley's impassioned vocal has never been matched by anyone else, including Elvis and this track could have been a truly massive hit topping the charts for 6 weeks or more.

C'mon Everybody # 3 - Despite the poor balance between singer and backing and the hollow sounding mix this very catchy, if rather artificial rocker was just right for the charts of the day-and great for dancing at parties. The film Viva Las Vegas produced Presley's best mid sixties soundtrack yet it ended up being confined to an EP. As Alice would say it just got curioser and curioser.

Tender Feeling # 2 - Even if Elvis sounds a touch subdued-as well he might given the other songs he had to sing in Kissin' Cousins - this track had hit written all over it. Set to the traditional Southern Civil war ballad 'Shenandoah' and with a lovely backing the melody is so strong it just couldn't miss.

Memphis Tennessee (1964 version) # 1 - Yes I know that singer Johnny Rivers infamously rushed out a cover version of this Chuck Berry song which Elvis had specifically re-recorded as his next single in a short session that January. Elvis innocently played it to Rivers when the latter visited Graceland shortly afterwards. However as the Rivers version never saw the light of day in the charts outside the US I fail to see why the Presley recording could not have been released at least in the UK and in places like Australia. It would surely have topped the charts. Wonderfully infused throughout with that typically happy Berry road music feeling and blessed with some exceptionally clever lyrics it was just right for the times, although strangely it was never a big hit for the author.

1965 releases:

Do the Clam – despite Aussie success this was plain embarrassing # 19
Crying in the Chapel - classic/should have been released earlier # 1
Tell Me Why - wonderfully bluesy but recorded in 1957!! # 15

1965 Alternatives:

You'll be Gone # 1 - Quite why this dramatic ballad was left off the 1962 album 'Pot Luck' is something only the good Lord knows, but its subsequent relegation to the B side of the dreaded 'Do the Clam' was another shocking waste of a potential hit single. It had all the right ingredients and the added novelty of being written by Elvis could only have helped to re-establish his artistic credibility at a time, when because of the musicals, it needed a bit of a boost.

Crying in the Chapel – no change

I'm Yours # 3 - The songs from Tickle Me were made up of old studio album tracks - but probably thanks to the impact of 'Crying in the Chapel' the two single releases from the film did pretty well in the States and down under, yet for some reason neither were released in the UK. Thus in the UK there was no follow up to the biggest Presley hit of the mid sixties. Very odd. 'I'm Yours' was very very commercial -far more so than any of the other old LP tracks put out at the time. Just this once I would have broken my rule not to release an oldie.

Finders Keepers Losers Weepers # 4 - A happy go lucky rocker- which like 'Devil in Disguise' relied rather too heavily on Elvis' charm - yet had sufficient appeal to have been a substantial hit in 1965, although probably not any later given the swing towards more 'heavy' rock songs which came about in the late sixties.

1966 releases:

Blue River – clearly one of the weaker songs from 63 sessions # 22
Frankie and Johnny - not easy to oppose but see below # 21
Love Letters - superb and an obvious choice - in 1967 # 6
All that I Am - having stiffed in the States why release it? # 18
If every day was like Christmas - sheer class / underrated # 9

1966 Alternatives:

Please Don't Stop Loving Me #2 - It had long been clear to a blind man that fans often preferred Elvis' ballads to his show tunes and good as Frankie and Johnny was of its genre it simply did not cut the mustard in terms of chart appeal whereas my choice-the flipside – was a quality ballad sung with soul and feeling that suggested hit all over to me and in spades as they say.

Down in the Alley # 3 - Loud enough and rude enough this R&B chanter would have hogged radio play and made people sit up and take notice of Elvis. It would have gained him valuable brownie points with hip DJ's of the day.

This is my Heaven / Sand Castles (double A side) # 1 - From the otherwise forgettable film Paradise Hawaiian Style this Hawaiian pastiche number hit all the right buttons and I really do not know how RCA failed to put it out as a single because it was so obviously commercial. Okay so the song is not as good as 'Can't help falling in Love' but then what was? The cleverly written and scored 'Sand Castles' should perhaps share the limelight.

If Every Day Was Like Christmas – no change

1967 releases:

Indescribably Blue – terrific/ see comments below # 22
Long Legged Girl - fake effort to sound trendy # 37
You gotta stop - Elvis sounds off mike/woeful song # 49
There's always me - first released in 1961!! - Flop
Big Boss Man - great but not suitable as a single - Flop

1967 Alternatives:

Indescribably Blue - no change NB - I am convinced that had Elvis retained his automatic Top 5 chart status until 1967 then this single would have done much better in the charts than it did. In all honesty I cannot fault its release and I would not have acted differently. A very well produced record.

Tomorrow is a Long Time # 2 - Elvis singing a Dylan song in 1967 would have electrified everyone. Real cool man! Yes it is long for single - but what a performance from Elvis. Of course it would have been a hit.

Hi Heel Sneakers # 8 - By now I would have expected Elvis' singles to be dipping slightly in the charts no matter what singles policy was followed. He just wasn't making enough non film songs and with his films falling away at the box office his popularity hit an all time career low. Even so this track - a hit stateside in 1964 for Tommy Tucker - would have still made the Top Ten.

Love Letters - no change

1968 releases:

Guitar Man - fabulous country rocker no 19 US Male-controversial lyrics but irresistible # 15
You'll Never Walk Alone - virtuoso performance but a hit? # 44
Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby – charming but weak # 22
A Little Less Conversation - feeble backing Flop
Guitar Man - no change
US Male - no change

NB - Both these releases rate amongst the best Elvis rockers of the sixties and would have been much bigger hits if Elvis was still popular and critically getting the airplay.

1968 Alternatives:

Too Much Monkey Business # 9 - There was nothing else available that would have been suitable. By now I would have been reduced to scraping the bottom of the barrel, but I think that this song would at least have kept Elvis in the top ten. That said I would-shades of 1959- have halted all single releases between 'US Male' and 'If I Can Dream' in order to draw clear blue water between the Hollywood era and the Comeback TV special.

Edge of Reality # 8 - The film songs were improving rapidly at this time and if forced to come up with a single release against my preferences then this unusual track would have been my choice.

So there it is. Fans will have there own thoughts, but can anyone dispute my contention that the above singles release policy would have fared markedly better than the shambolic approach adopted by RCA? Elvis suffered from a management that became ever more complacent after he left the army, but when Felton Jarvis joined the team in 1966 one might have expected he would have been able to exert greater order and control than he did. Indeed Felton was as guilty of failing to stand up to Elvis as Elvis was in failing to stand up to the Colonel. Another time I will look at the seventies singles releases, and in particular how the mistakes of 1971 in the USA might have been avoided…but that is another story.

Nick Keene

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 19 years ago

#49

Review - Summer Festival
By Daniel Avram / Geoffrey Mc Donnell (Source: Elvis Australia Nov 18, 2005) Summer Festival Review by Geoffrey Mc Donnell

This is for me a REAL pleasure to get a soundboard release from this summer in Las Vegas with enough 'bonus songs' to fill the running time to nearly 74 minutes AND represent Elvis' repertoire during this season. The photos fit in well with the CD (remembering he discarded wearing pants, shirt and jacket after 22nd August) and he looks great. This 1972 Summer Season in Las Vegas found Elvis in excellent form giving satisfying shows. In fact ALL shows were at least good, many very good and also quite a few excellent! The representation here varies from the good to very good category, with several songs pretty excellent. Therefore even before I listen to the CD, I expected to be in for a treat.

Indeed from the 2001 Theme (thankfully included here - I so hate it when FTD mises that part out!) right through to Tiger Man fading out, the sound varies from good to very good. I cannot say excellent because this mono soundboard, whilst having good sound, does distort in places and some songs (like Until it's time for you to go) seem overly quiet/hissy in comparison. However hearing this quality just makes me wistfully wish RCA had done similar multi-track recordings (as they did in February '72). A missed opportunity with their 'star' singing well and adding new material such as My Way, Fever and What Now My Love.

Only Little Sister/Get Back and It's Over (from 11.8.72 M/S) have been heard before on 'Elvis At Full Blast' - yet here they sound better! Ernst apparently is said to have had 5 shows to choose from: the 11.8.72 D+M shows, 12.8.72 D+M show or 4.9.72 D/S. The 11.8.72 D/S is unreleased and the 12.8.72 (only on audience tapes), so I fully welcome Ernst's choice and selection here. Such is the sheer quality of performance on the bonus tracks Ernst selected from the 12.8.72 M/S that I needn't play my cassette tape of those audience recorded songs again.

So now you know I feel this to be an essential FTD release (very well representing Elvis' 7th Las Vegas season). Well now- how is the actual performance? 2001 builds up nicely into the opening riff of C.C.Rider and Elvis is heard clearly, the sound seems in good balance so that the band, orchestra and voices all mix in very nicely! C.C. is typically 'Vegas Smooth', fine for a Dinner show when people may still have their face down in their steaks and don't want to be rocked just yet. I was surprised by the segue straight into I Got A Woman by Elvis and again this is a 'smooth' version.

First real highlight comes with a beautiful version of Until it's Time For You To Go with violins and Kathy's vocal clearly heard. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me is ok but clearly Elvis isn't yet running with his motor about half throttle. Next his version of You've Lost That Loving Feeling gives us his engine working hard and I know from his opening comment that (typically) this is where he would always take off his jacket during the show. It's an excellent highlight full of convincing power and emotion and no jokes - proving he really performed this version well. Polk Salad Annie on the other hand (performed next) sounds rather lax and not as good as the Midnight Show version. Elvis then speaks to the audience and has some dialogue where he says his name is out front and all over the place! Quite possibly? Linda Thompson was with Elvis this night and you can see why she says he was great to watch at every show this season.

What Now My Love is a new song, and after a joke, is performed well (but he fluffs the lyric at 1 point) but there are even better versions most of this season. Fever is also new in Vegas and here Elvis even remembered the rare Romeo & Juliet verse, still quite a 'laid back' version. Blue Suede Shoes is 'routine' followed by One Night which is a nice surprise and quite well performed too. All Shook Up and Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel are just scarf giving away material. Hound Dog performed slow/fast is next after a hilarious intro and is a pleasure not to have the song thrown away. During the intro Elvis jokes he didn't get up till 7.30pm just 90 minutes before he appeared on stage. Love Me Tender is again just for the scarves, then at least Suspicious Minds seems to have Elvis engaged before the brief and efficient Band Intros. My Way is new here and another real highlight, much better performed than last year's studio version. It's only during his meek ending that you feel Elvis hasn't quite made this song 'his' yet as he would do in his 1977 versions stronger endings.

An American Trilogy as the penultimate song is captivating, beautifully and flawlessly performed. Both Elvis and the orchestra build up the song from a quiet start to such a strong ending that even the tape overloads! It is a true show highlight, proving that almost without question the best versions come from 1972 of this song. Can't Help Falling in Love is fine as the closer and we have enjoyed a good show with no truly lacklustre performances. I really appreciate that instead of simply only giving us this one show, different bonus songs have been included which adds great value to the merit of this FTD CD.

Obviously the rarity meant Ernst gives us Little Sister/Get Back and It's Over here and very fine they sound too. Proud Mary sounds excellent (far better than Madison Square Garden – for example) and is a very engaging performance. Next up Never Been to Spain simply builds up like a passionate smouldering fire and again is an excellent highlight. For The Good Times was sung quite a few times this season and great to be included here, just like in June '72 Elvis often changed the line to 'hold your warm and sweaty body close to mine'. A Big Hunk O'Love is great rockin' again and marvellous here. Just as the excitement of performance keeps up with Tiger Man unfortunately it fades out - nevertheless proving Elvis is still very much at the top of his game as we have heard on this thoroughly recommended FTD. Treat yourself to a great 'Summer Festival' buy this CD and support FTD.

Summer Festival Review by Daniel Avram

Even though it is vaguely titled Summer Festival, FTD's latest release highlights soundboard material from Elvis' seventh Las Vegas season (August 4 – September 4). The complete and unreleased dinner show from August 11 is featured here, alongside seven bonus tracks from two other shows. Following the terrific successes of Elvis on Tour and Madison Square Garden concerts, yet another Vegas season finds Elvis lacking some of the spark that RCA tapes had captured earlier that year. Combined with the recent separation from his wife Priscilla, Elvis can be forgiven for not being excited and totally focused.

The dinner show has a mechanical feel about it, lacking fun and spontaneity, and lasts for only 56 minutes. Unfortunately there are some sound fluctuations in parts of show, variation in echo and also distortion on loud sections. This was due to the recording engineer adjusting mixing levels during the show, but it does not detract from the listening experience. The sound is much better than on other soundboards released from the same engagement.

The most interesting tracks from this show are the three songs that Elvis chose to add to the repertoire for this season. Fever was originally recorded in 1960 for the Elvis Is Back album, and makes its live debut here with a seductive arrangement. What Now My Love has a false start with Elvis commenting that was the worst intro ever, and he also slips up with some the lyrics. My Way is the highlight of the show with an excellent rendition and unusual ending. Also, You've Lost That Loving Feeling is sung with passion and Hound Dog has an amusing introduction.

The bonus tracks following this concert are all from midnight shows, and not surprisingly, the level of intensity increases a notch or two. Little Sister/Get Back and It's Over are rare highlights from later that same evening. Elvis humorously rejects a request for It Hurts Me, as well as his latest single Burning Love, instead preferring to perform a sincere and dedicated version of It's Over.

The remaining tracks are from August 12, and feature excellent versions of: Proud Mary, Never Been To Spain, For The Good Times and Big Hunk O' Love. Elvis sounds more enthusiastic here, and combined with an improved sound quality, suggests that FTD could have released this show as an alternative. However, a 19 second snippet of a very promising Tiger Man indicates the tape is sadly incomplete.

Summer Festival provides an intriguing look at Elvis' career between two unique peaks – Madison Square Garden and Aloha from Hawaii. While Elvis sings well enough on most tracks, there is very little audience interaction as songs are sung straight after one another. The shows are quite professional with no fooling around, and only brief glimpses of that Presley magic and charisma.

The CD contains a good representation of the strong material in Elvis' repertoire at that time. The distinctive mixture of rock n' roll and big ballads over 73 minutes should ensure soundboard fans are entertained by these unreleased selections.

Also Sprach Zarathustra, See See Rider, I Got A Woman, Until It's Time For You To Go, You Don't Have To Say You Love Me, You've Lost That Loving Feeling, Polk Salad Annie, What Now My Love, Fever, Love Me, Blue Suede Shoes, One Night, All Shook Up, Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel, Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, Love Me Tender, Suspicious Minds, Band introductions, My Way, American Trilogy, Can't Help Falling In Love, Little Sister/Get Back (Aug 11 MS), It's Over (Aug 11 MS), Proud Mary (Aug. 12 MS), Never Been To Spain (Aug. 12 MS), For The Good Times (Aug. 12 MS), A Big Hunk O'Love (Aug 12 MS), Tiger Man (opening only) (Aug 12 MS)

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

Quote

Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 19 years ago

#50

Review - Elvis: The Personal Archives
By David Neale (Source: Books In Print Sep 2, 2005)

Elvis: The Personal Archives

Elvis occupies an ambivalent position in the strange world of art -- perhaps that should be Art, with a capital "A," for I am not referring to the art of music or film, but that of the art gallery: static visual art. I suppose that Wertheimer's emotive black and white photographs of Elvis in 1956 count as art and probably represent the first entry of Elvis into that area, however unconscious and serendipitous. Since then Elvis has hardly made the big time in this often excessively intellectual domain -- yes, there was Any Warhol's use of Elvis's image in the early 1960s, but that was most certainly the exception, rather than the rule. This dearth is reflected in Elvis literature, too, for few books have made any considered effort to study Elvis's influence on art. My own Elvis In Print site lists a mere four titles and one of those deals with what might be considered art of a lesser form -- postage stamps -- while another, Joni Mabe's "Everything Elvis," is open to ridicule.

Is it not strange that a cultural icon as powerful as Elvis has been largely neglected in the serious art world? I can only imagine that my previous reference to "this often excessively intellectual domain" has something to do with it.

Enter Jeff Scott. A few years ago Jeff began exhibiting his Elvis-based work at the Jay Etkin Gallery in Memphis. Now Jeff is more than just another struggling artist trying to get a break. He has built a reputation for himself with his dramatic imagery of the USA's historic and cultural landscape, and his works are on permanent exhibition in such collections as the Dallas Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Jeff works largely with photographic techniques, using these to produce collages and montages.

Artists who have made use of Elvis's image have tended to resort to hackneyed imagery, repeating similar themes, relying on Elvis's own recognizability as much as artistic merit. It is, then, refreshing to see that the works of Jeff Scott rely as much on Elvis's personal, largely private, possessions, and are thus more thought-provoking and perhaps even more accessible to the (pseudo-)intellectuals of the art world.

Some of Jeff Scott's photographic works are presented in the finely produced book, "Elvis: The Personal Archives." For once EPE seems to have acted sensibly, providing Jeff with previously unheard of access to Elvis's private items and Scott has rewarded this generosity with many very fine works which represent Elvis the man far more than Elvis the entertainer.

Fans will recognise some items in the photographic works included in the book, but others will be new even to the most fervent. In this way, the book offers immediate interest to the Elvis fan. And don't worry, Elvis's image is here, too, though it is sometimes photographically manipulated to such an extent that it is almost unrecognisable, but still highly attractive and enjoyable.

Just a few of the 120 pages of the book are given over to text. A rather tedious and overly complex foreword (is there a Plain English Campaign in the USA?) by art historian E.A. Carmean Jr. is followed by a shorter and more readable introduction by Jeff Scott himself. From then on it is a lavish, beautifully designed and printed cornucopia of great Elvis art, the works accompanied by the briefest of captions.

Altogether, this is a superb collection of photographic works of art that should help promote Elvis's acceptability as a serious cultural icon. If you like well produced books, are interested in art, or interested in photography (being interested in Elvis goes without saying, of course), then you will enjoy leafing through 'Elvis: The Personal Archives' again and again.

Author: Jeff Scott
Publisher: Channel Photographics, New York

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago