Elvis Presley's 1950s Discography with RCA

As with the discography of Chuck Berry that we have looked at in previous blog entries, Elvis' 1950s discography was also kind of a mess. Albums by rock and pop acts just weren't taken that seriously at the time. And in fact, Elvis was almost always more interested in singles than albums throughout his career.

I previously created a "lost" album from Elvis' days at Sun Records. Here we tackle his albums from 1956 through 1959. All of these tracks are available on the box set The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete '50s Masters.

ELVIS PRESLEY

SIDE A

1. Blue Suede Shoes

2. I'm Counting on You

3. I Got a Woman 

4. One Sided Love Affair

5. Lawdy Miss Clawdy

6. Heartbreak Hotel

SIDE B

1. Tutti Frutti

2. So Glad You’re Mine

3. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)

4. My Baby Left Me

5. I was the One

6. Shake, Rattle and Roll

7. Money Honey

To make this a more contemporary album, I removed the five songs recorded for Sun Records (“I Love You Because,” “Just Because,” “I’ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin’)” and “Tryin' to Get to You") and replaced them with six tracks recorded in 1956 (“Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “So Glad You’re Mine,” “My Baby Left Me,” “I was the One” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll”). Mixing tracks that were recorded by different producers in different studios for different labels and using some different musicians just doesn't make for a proper listening experience. This version of the album would have been a much better album to release, IMHO.

ELVIS

SIDE A

1. Rip It Up

2. Love Me

3. When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again

4. Long Tall Sally

5. First in Line

6. Paralyzed

SIDE B

1. Reddy Teddy

2. Old Shep

3. Anyplace is Paradise

4. How's the World Treating You

5. How Do You Think I Feel

RCA did better with Elvis' second album. This LP is actually almost perfect the way it is, with the one exception being the inclusion of “So Glad You’re Mine.” That had been recorded during earlier sessions, and I already included it on the first re-imagined RCA album above. 

LOVING YOU

SIDE A

1. Mean Woman Blues

2. Party

3. Lonesome Cowboy

4. Got a Lot of Livin' to Do

5. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear

6. Hot Dog

SIDE B

1. Loving You

2. We're Gonna Move

3. Poor Boy

4. Let Me

5. Love Me Tender

The soundtrack to Elvis’ second movie, “Loving You,” contained not only the seven songs featured in the film but also five other tracks. For this re-imagined album, I removed those five tracks and replaced them with the four songs from Elvis’ first film, “Love Me Tender,” which hadn’t previously been included on an album (just an EP). Think of this as a “double feature” soundtrack. I modified the original cover slightly to show that the "Love Me Tender" songs are included.

ELVIS’ CHRISTMAS ALBUM

SIDE A

1. Santa Claus is Back in Town

2. White Christmas

3. Here Comes Santa Claus

4. I'll be Home for Christmas

5. Blue Christmas

6. Santa Bring My Baby Back

SIDE B

1. Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

2. Silent Night

3. Peace in the Valley

4. I Believe

5. Take My Hand, Precious Lord

6. It's No Secret

This album is great just as it is, and has become something of a holiday classic. It includes eight holiday songs, plus four songs that had previously been released on a spiritual EP. I left this as is.

JAILHOUSE ROCK

SIDE A

1. Jailhouse Rock

2. Treat Me Nice

3. Young and Beautiful

4. I Want to be Free

5. (You're so Square) Baby I Don't Care

6. Don't Leave Me Now

SIDE B

1. I Want You I Need You I Love You

2. Hound Dog

3. Don't Be Cruel

4. Anyway You Want Me

5. Playing for Keeps

6. Too Much

Despite the popularity of the film Jailhouse Rock and the songs featured in it, there was never actually a soundtrack album at the time—just two EPs. I rectified that with the six songs in the film and six songs that had been issued previously as singles. To create a cover, I used one from a Jailhouse Rock EP and modified it a bit.

ALL SHOOK UP

SIDE A

1. One Night

2. That's When Your Heartaches Begin

3. Tell Me Why

4. Is It So Strange?

5. Blueberry Hill

6. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?

SIDE B

1. All Shook Up

2. I Beg of You

3. True Love

4. I Need You So

5. When It Rains It Really Pours

In March 1958, RCA issued the compilation album Elvis’ Golden Records. Elvis had only been recording for RCA for a little more than two years, which gives you an idea of just how popular he was. But a “best of” compilation would have been better if it had been saved for later. Instead, I offer a whole new album with 11 tracks that were recorded about this time. For a cover, I used the sleeve for the "All Shook Up" single and modified it a bit here and there.

KING CREOLE

SIDE A

1. King Creole

2. As Long As I Have You

3. Hard-Headed Woman

4. Trouble

5. Dixieland Rock

SIDE B

1. Don't Ask Me Why

2. Lover Doll

3. Crawfish

4. Young Dreams

5. Steadfast Loyal and True

6. New Orleans

“King Creole” was the first Elvis film that included enough songs to fill an entire album. As such, I don’t change anything.

A DATE WITH ELVIS

SIDE A

1. Ain't That Loving You Baby

2. Don't 

3. I Got Stung

4. Doncha Think It's Time

5. Your Cheatin' Heart

6. I Need Your Love Tonight

SIDE B

1. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck

2. (Now and Then There's a) Fool Such As I

3. My Wish Came True

4. Danny

5. A Big Hunk O' Love

When Elvis was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1958, RCA was left in a predicament. Their star would be gone for two years. The first year was handled with the King Creole soundtrack. But what to do in 1959? RCA tried to make the best of it by issuing three compilation albums, For LP Fans Only, A Date with Elvis and Elvis’ Gold Records, Vol. 2. They included various hits, songs that hadn't been included on albums previously, and some tracks leftover from Sun Records. In truth, RCA had enough recently recorded songs to create one all-new album. Reusing the title A Date with Elvis and its cover, the 11 tracks include one outtake from King Creole – “Danny.”

ELVIS’ GOLDEN RECORDS

SIDE A

1. Hound Dog

2. When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again

3. All Shook Up

4. Heartbreak Hotel

5. I was the One

6. Love Me

7. Too Much

SIDE B

1. Don’t Be Cruel

2. That’s When Your Heartaches Begin

3. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear

4. Love Me Tender

5. Blue Suede Shoes

6. Any Way You Want Me

7. I Want You I Need You I Love You

  

Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but RCA would have been better served waiting a year and a half before issuing this album. To make this more chronological, I replaced “Loving You,” “Jailhouse Rock” and “Treat Me Nice” (saving them for the second volume) with “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again,” “I Was the One” and “Blue Suede Shoes” -- hit songs that for whatever reason weren't included originally.

50,000,000 ELVIS FANS CAN’T BE WRONG: ELVIS’ GOLD RECORDS - VOLUME 2

SIDE A

1. I Need Your Love Tonight

2. Don’t

3. Treat Me Nice

4. Hard Headed Woman

5. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck

6. My Wish Came True

7. I Got Stung

SIDE B

1. One Night

2. A Big Hunk O’ Love

3. Loving You

4. I Beg of You

5. A Fool Such As I

6. Jailhouse Rock

7. Dontcha' Think It’s Time

Elvis’ Golden Records included 14 tracks, but Vol. 2 only had 10 songs. This is kind of silly, as there were enough hits to equal the first compilation. To the original track list, I added “Treat Me Nice,” “Hard Headed Woman,” “Loving You,” and “Jailhouse Rock.” The original cover included a list of the tracks. I removed the list and added another Elvis.

And so ended Elvis’ golden era. Below is my revised 1950s RCA discography for Elvis.

1956

• SINGLE: Heartbreak Hotel / I Was the One (January)
• ALBUM: Elvis Presley (March)
• SINGLE: I Want You, I Need You, I Love You / My Baby Left Me (May)
• SINGLE: Don't Be Cruel / Hound Dog (July)
• SINGLE: Blue Suede Shoes / Tutti Frutti (September)
• SINGLE: Love Me Tender / Any Way You Want Me (September)
• SINGLE: Love Me / Rip It Up (October)
• ALBUM: Elvis (October)

1957

• SINGLE: Too Much / Playing for Keeps (January)
• SINGLE: All Shook Up / That's When Your Heartaches Begin (March)
• EP: Peace in the Valley (April)
• SINGLE: Teddy Bear / Loving You (June)
• ALBUM: Loving You (June)
• SINGLE: Jailhouse Rock / Treat Me Nice (September)
• ALBUM: Jailhouse Rock (October)
• SINGLE: Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me / Santa Claus is Back in Town (November)
• ALBUM: Elvis' Christmas Album (November)

1958

• SINGLE: Don't / I Beg of You (January)
• ALBUM: All Shook Up (March)
• SINGLE: Wear My Ring Around Your Neck / Don'tcha Think It's Time (April)
• SINGLE: Hard Headed Woman / Don't Ask Me Why (June)
• SINGLE: King Creole / Dixieland Rock (September)
• ALBUM: King Creole (September)
• SINGLE: One Night / I Got Stung (October)

1959

• ALBUM: A Date with Elvis (January)
• SINGLE: (Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I / I Need Your Love Tonight (March)
• SINGLE: A Big Hunk o' Love / My Wish Came True (June)
• ALBUM: Elvis' Golden Records (July)
• ALBUM: 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong: Elvis' Gold Records, Volume 2 (October)

Rolling Stones - "Aftermath" (1966 sessions)

In late 1965, The Rolling Stones recorded nine songs that were slated to be released early the next year on an album titled Could You Walk on Water? A tenth track, an outtake from the band’s previous album was also to be included.

However, the band’s record company, Decca, balked at releasing an album with such a title. Eventually, the release was canceled and The Rolling Stones went back into the studio in March 1966 and recorded 12 more songs. For the album Aftermath, the group picked and chose from the 22 songs they’d recorded.

If Could You Walk on Water? had been released, Aftermath would have been a different album because the released version included four tracks from the earlier recording session.

Soniclovenoize did a great job presenting a recreated Could You Walk on Water? on his blog:

http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-rolling-stones-could-you-walk-on.html

Below I present what Aftermath could have been had the band only used songs recorded from the second session.

SIDE A

1. Paint It Black
2. Stupid Girl
3. Lady Jane
4. Under My Thumb
5. What to Do
6. Long, Long While

SIDE B

1. Flight 505
2. High and Drive
3. It’s Not Easy
4. I am Waiting
5. If You Let Me
6. Out of Time

The first noticeable difference is that this version has 12 songs rather than 14 of the British version and 11 of the U.S. version. U.S. versions of '60s British groups almost always suck in comparison. But because of the closer number of tracks, I used the U.S. version as a template. As a result, the only real differences were to remove and replace the last two songs on side A, and then remove the last song from side B and add two tracks.

I also used the U.S. version of the album cover because the hyphenated album title on the British version always bothers me.

Pink Floyd - The Man and The Journey

In 1969, Pink Floyd was touring with a show that was alternatively titled “The Man and The Journey” and “The Massed Gadgets of Auximenes.” The show was a concept that involved two parts. The first was about a man going through the usual bits of daily life, and the second was some kind of journey, possibly more cerebral than physical.

At one point, the band considered issuing a live album of the show but ultimately decided to go in a different direction and issued Ummagumma. One of the problems may have been the length of the program. Pink Floyd recently released the compilation box set The Early Years, 1965-1972, which includes a show recorded in Amsterdam that runs about 84 minutes.

Ummagumma included live recordings on sides one and two, and studio recordings on sides three and four. However, the studio cuts were actually solo recordings – each member of the band got half a side.

For this re-imagined album, I wanted to recreate The Man and The Journey using the studio tracks from Ummagumma. But to flesh out the album, I required two live tracks from Ummagumma as well as one non-album single. I also rearranged the tracks to better fit the concept.

SIDE A

1. Grantchester Meadows (daybreak, part 1)
2. Sysyphus [pt 3] (work) 
3. Sysyphus [pt 4] (teatime) 
4. The Grand Vizer’s Garden Party [pt 1] (entrance) 

SIDE B

1. Biding My Time (afternoon)
2. The Grand Vizer’s Garden Party [pt 2] (doing it!) 
3. Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict (sleep/nightmare)
4. The Grand Vizer’s Garden Party [pt 3] (daybreak, part 2) 

SIDE C

1. Sysyphus [pt 1] (the beginning) 
2. Careful with That Axe, Eugene [live] (beset by creatures from the deep) 
3. The Narrow Way [pt 3]
4. The Narrow Way [pt 1] (the pink jungle) 

SIDE D

1. Sysyphus [pt 2] (the labyrinths of auximines) 
2. The Narrow Way [pt 2] (behold the temple of light) 
3. A Saucerful of Secrets  [live] (the end of the beginning)

First, I took the tracks from Ummagumma that had been part of “The Man and The Journey” show. Then, I removed those tracks that had already been featured on previous Pink Floyd albums. Finally, I tried to fit in the remaining Ummagumma tracks where they seemed to make the most sense concept-wise.

The album starts with “Grantchester Meadows” (as Daybreak, Part 1), but instead of using the Ummagumma version, which only features Roger Waters, I used the BBC recording, which also includes David Gilmour. Then come parts three and four of Richard Wright’s “Sysyphus” (for the Work and Teatime sections, respectively). Side A concludes with part one of “The Grand Vizer’s Garden Party" (as Entrance).

The second side opens with “Biding My Time” (as Afternoon), followed by part two of “The Grand Vizer’s Garden Party,” (Doing It!). The rest of Side B continues with “Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict,” (Sleep/Nightmare); and part three of “The Grand Vizer’s Garden Party (Daybreak, Part 2).

So ends “The Man” portion. “The Journey” then begins.

The first part of “Sysyphus” begins Side C (as The Beginning). I initially wanted to use the b-side single version of “Careful with that Axe, Eugene” (as Beset by Creatures from the Deep), but it’s too short and would have resulted in Side C being much shorter than the other sides. So I went with the live version from Ummagumma which is three minutes longer. This is followed by the third and first parts of “The Narrow Way,” the last track (as The Pink Jungle).

The final side opens with the second part of “Sysyphus” (as The Labyrinths of Auximines), followed by the second part of “The Narrow Way” (as Behold the Light of Auximines).

The album concludes with the live version of “A Saucerful of Secrets” (as The End of the Beginning). This presented a minor dilemma for me -- I'd wanted to leave out any songs that had appeared on previous Pink Floyd albums. But I'm left without an ending. For the live performance of "The Man and The Journey," the show ended only with the "Celestial Voices" section of "A Saucerful of Secrets." But since Ummagumma includes a live version of the entire song, and because the fourth side would be a bit short without the full version, the whole song is included.

By rearranging the tracks, the album immediately resembles more of a group effort than the arrangement of Ummagumma.

The cool album cover art is the work of http://idesignalbumcovers.tumblr.com

David Bowie - "Atomica"

David Bowie surprised a lot of people when he released the album The Next Day in 2013. It had been recorded in relative secrecy and was his first album of new material in 10 years.

Soon after its release, a special “extended edition” of the album was released with eight more songs, plus two remixes. It seems a shame that the eight songs, all of which are great, were relegated to a special edition.

The following year (2014), Bowie released a two-song digital single. Paired with the eight songs we could have had a nice new album between The Next Day and Bowie’s final release Blackstar.

I titled this imagined album Atomica after one of the tracks. Since this would have been a 2014 release, I didn't arrange it like a vinyl album like I usually do with these posts. However, theoretically you could equally divide it with five songs on each side and both would be just under 20 minutes long.

1. Atomica
2. Plan
3. The Informer
4. Like a Rocket Man
5. 'Tis a Pity She was a Whore
6. Born in a UFO
7. I’ll Take You There
8. God Bless the Girl
9. So She
10. Sue (or in a Season of Crime)

The album kicks off with the title tune, and ends with “Sue (or in a Season of Crime),” which I think is a good segue since Bowie ended up re-recording it for Blackstar (as he did for “Sue” as well). Overall, I think this makes a great package of songs. I especially like “Like a Rocket Man” for its poppy sound that to my ears hearken back to Bowie’s '70s material. This album clocks in a bit under 40 minutes.

Tracks 1-4 and 6-9 are available on the extended version of The Next Day. Tracks 5 and 10 are available as a single, or the Nothing Has Changed box set.

For a cover, Bowie seems to have liked minimalist artwork for The Next Day and Blackstar so I wanted something simple. Taking a cue from the title song, I used a fallout shelter symbol and turned it 180 degrees. And the result was an unintended face, and I thought it was perfect.

April -- "Fools' Day"

Happy April Fool's Day!

I don't have any foolish album for you, but here's a web site where you can create a fake album:

http://www.fakemusicgenerator.com

And here's a story about some pranksters slipping fake albums into record stores:

https://imgur.com/gallery/FhNoV

Have fun and enjoy the day!