Elvis Presley - "Command Performances: The Essential '60s Masters II" box set

 

A could-have-been box set of his 1960s soundtrack tunes. An asterisk (*) indicates a song that was recorded for a film, but not used in it.

DISC 1

1. G.I. Blues

2. Wooden Heart

3. Pocketful of Rainbows

4. Shoppin' Around

5. Doin' the Best I Can

6. Flaming Star

7. Summer Kisses, Winter Tears *

8. Wild in the Country

9. I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell

10. Lonely Man *

11. Blue Hawaii

12. Rock-a-Hula Baby

13. Can't Help Falling in Love

14. Beach Boy Blues

15. Hawaiian Wedding Song

16. Follow That Dream

17. Angel

18. What a Wonderful Life

19. King of the Whole Wide World

20. I Got Lucky

21. Girls! Girls! Girls!

22. Because of Love

23. Return to Sender

24. We're Comin' in Loaded

25. One Broken Heart for Sale

26. I'm Falling in Love Tonight

27. They Remind Me Too Much of You

DISC 2

1. Fun in Acapulco

2. Bossa Nova Baby

3. Marguerita

4. Mexico

5. Kissin' Cousins

6. One Boy, Two Little Girls

7. Once is Enough

8. Anyone (Could Fall in Love with You)

9. Catchin' on Fast

10. Tender Feeling

11. Viva Las Vegas

12. What'd I Say

13. I Need Someone to Lean On

14. C'mon Everybody

15. Today, Tomorrow and Forever [duet version] *

16. You're the Boss *

17. Roustabout

18. Poison Ivy League

19. Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)

20. Hard Knocks

21. There's a Brand New Day on the Horizon

22. I'm a Roustabout *

23. Girl Happy

24. Wolf Call

25. Do Not Disturb

26. The Meanest Girl in Town

27. Do the Clam

28. Puppet on a String

29. I've Got to Find My Baby

DISC 3

1. Harem Holiday

2. Hey Little Girl

3. Golden Coins

4. So Close, Yet So Far (from Paradise)

5. Animal Instinct

6. Wisdom of the Ages

7. Frankie and Johnny

8. What Every Woman Lives For

9. Down by the Riverside / When the Saints Come Marchin' In

10. Shout It Out

11. Hard Luck

12. Please Don't Stop Loving Me

13. Paradise, Hawaiian Style

14. This is My Heaven

15. Spinout

16. Stop, Look and Listen

17. All That I Am

18. Never Say Yes

19. Am I Ready

20. I'll Be Back

21. Easy Come, Easy Go

22. You Gotta Stop

23. I'll Take Love

24. She's a Machine

25. Double Trouble

26. Baby, If You Give Me All Your Love

27. Could I Fall in Love

DISC 4

1. Long Legged Girl (with the Short Dress On)

2. City by Night

3. There's So Much World to See

4. Clambake

5. A House That Has Everything

6. Hey, Hey, Hey

7. You Don't Know Me

8. The Girl I Never Loved

9. Speedway

10. There Ain't Nothing Like a Song

11. Your Time Hasn't Come Yet, Baby

12. Who are You (Who am I)?

13. Let Yourself Go

14. Stay Away, Joe

15. All I Needed was the Rain

16. Stay Away *

17. Wonderful World

18. A Little Less Conversation

19. Almost in Love

20. Edge of Reality

21. Charro!

22. Let's Forget About the Stars *

23. Clean Up Your Own Backyard

24. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

25. Change of Habit

26. Let Us Pray

27. Let's be Friends *

"Wam Bam: Glam Rock, 1971-75" compilation

A couple of years ago I was reading about old glam rock hits, and I realized there were a lot that many people considered important to the genre, but that I'd never heard. That led me to search for a good, comprehensive compilation, but I was surprised that there really isn't one.

This may be due to key tracks being on different record labels. Or it could be that glam rock is more closely defined by what it looks like than it sounds like. Indeed, the fashion of its stars was often far more outrageous than the music.

And what songs are considered "glam rock" by one person are often categorized as "bubble gum," "power pop," or any number of other sub-genres by another. So this imagined five-CD box set includes tracks that I gathered from a number of "top glam rock songs" lists I found online. Some you'll undoubtedly agree with, others you may not.

DISC 1 - SHINING
1. Hot Love - T. Rex
2. Co-Co - The Sweet
3. Bang a Gong (Get It On) - T. Rex
4. Coz I Luv You - Slade
5. Funny, Funny - The Sweet
6. Jeepster - T. Rex
7. Alexander Graham Bell - The Sweet
8. John, I'm Only Dancing - David Bowie
9. All the Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople
10. Stay With Me - The Faces
11. Clap Your Hands and Stamp Your Feet - Bonnie St. Claire & Unit Gloria
12. Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to be a Long, Long Time) - Elton John
13. Standing in the Road - Blackfoot Sue
14. School's Out - Alice Cooper
15. Changes - David Bowie
16. Telegram Sam - T. Rex
17. Little Willy - The Sweet
18. Rock and Roll (Parts 1 & 2) - Gary Glitter
19. Virginia Plain - Roxy Music
20. Mama Weer All Crazee Now - Slade
21. Starman - David Bowie
22. Children of the Revolution - T. Rex
23. Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed
24. Elected - Alice Cooper
25. Son of My Father - Chicory Tip
26. Wig-Wam Bam - The Sweet
27. 10538 Overature - Electric Light Orchestra

DISC 2 - SPARKLING
1. The Jean Genie - David Bowie
2. Metal Guru - T. Rex
3. Poppa Joe - The Sweet
4. Crocodile Rock - Elton John
5. Gudbuy T'Jane - Slade
6. Suffragette City - David Bowie
7. Solid Gold, Easy Action - T. Rex
8. Ballroom Blitz - The Sweet
9. Cum on Feel the Noize - Slade
10. I'm the Leader of the Gang (I am) - Gary Glitter
11. See My Baby Jive - Wizzard
12. 20th Century Boy - T. Rex
13. Do You Wanna Dance - Barry Blue
14. Saturday Night - Bay City Rollers
15. Tiger Feet - Mud
16. Dancin' (On a Saturday Night) - Barry Blue
17. 48 Crash - Suzi Quatro
18. Block Buster! - The Sweet
19. Rock On - David Essex
20. Street Life - Roxy Music
21. Dynamite - Mud
22. The Groover - T. Rex
23. Angel Fingers (A Teenage Ballad) - Wizzard
24. Can the Can - Suzi Quatro
25. Hellraiser - The Sweet
26. Life on Mars? - David Bowie
27. Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) - Elton John
28. Do You Wanna Touch Me There (Oh Yeah) - Gary Glitter

DISC 3 - GLITTERING
1. My Coo Ca Choo - Alvin Stardust
2. Skweeze Me Pleeze Me - Slade
3. Looking for a Kiss - New York Dolls
4. Truck On (Tyke) - T. Rex
5. Wired Up - Hector
6. All the Way from Memphis - Mott the Hoople
7. No More Mr. Nice Guy - Alice Cooper
8. All Because of You - Geordie
9. Rebel Rebel - David Bowie
10. This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us - Sparks
11. Do the Strand - Roxy Music
12. Teenage Rampage - The Sweet
13. Killer Queen - Queen
14. Jealous Mind - Alvin Stardust
15. Angel Face - The Glitter Band
16. Devil Gate Drive - Suzi Quatro
17. The "In" Crowd - Bryan Ferry
18. Bennie and the Jets - Elton John
19. Seven Deadly Finns - Brian Eno
20. Teenage Dream - Marc Bolan & T. Rex
21. Horror Movie - Skyhooks
22. Summerlove Sensation - Bay City Rollers
23. Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth - Sparks
24. Sugar Baby Love - The Rubettes
25. Magic - Pilot
26. Needle in the Camel's Eye - Brian Eno
27. Light of Love - T. Rex

DISC 4 - FADING
1. Diamond Dogs - David Bowie
2. Dance with the Devil - Cozy Powell
3. Seven Seas of Rhye - Queen
4. The Six Teens - Sweet
5. The Bitch is Back - Elton John
6. You You You - Alvin Stardust
7. Rebels Rule - Iron Virgin
8. Va Va Va Voom - Brett Smiley
9. Action - Sweet
10. Once Bitten, Twice Shy - Ian Hunter
11. Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
12. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
13. January - Pilot
14. Give Me a Little Love - Bay City Rollers
15. Nothing to Do with Us - Jet
16. All My Friends Are Getting Married - Skyhooks
17. New York Groove - Hello
18. Get Down and Get With It - Slade
19. Love is the Drug - Roxy Music
20. New York City - T. Rex
21. Glass of Champagne - Sailor
22. Bye Bye Baby - Bay City Roller
23. Fox on the Run - Sweet
24. Sky High - Jigsaw
25. The Tears I Cried - The Glitter Band
26. Roxy Roller - Sweeney Todd
27. I Love Rock n Roll - The Arrows
28. Rock and Roll All Nite - Kiss

The general consensus seems to be that glam rock began when Marc Bolan appeared on "Top of the Pops" in 1971 in glitter makeup. And the genre seems to have pretty much run its course by 1976 and the punk explosion. So I included only songs from 1971 through 1975. The songs are presented here in mostly chronological order. And what a collection it is -- it's really all over the place musically.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to me is that it remained a British phenomenon that never seemed to catch on elsewhere in the world—although the styles would greatly influence later musicians, most notably the L.A. metal scene in the 1980s.

I found the glitter background and a sparkly guitar online and used them for this box set cover and added titles.

Elvis Presley -- "Taking Care of Business: The Essential '70s Masters"

The box set The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete '50s Masters, which packaged all of Elvis Presley's Sun and RCA recordings from 1954-1958, was a big success.

As a result, RCA assembled a second Elvis Presley box set the following year titled From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential '60s Masters. This second box set included all the studio songs he recorded in that decade, except for movie soundtracks and gospel album tracks (these were collected on Command Performances: The Essential '60s Masters II and Amazing Grace: His Greatest Sacred Performances respectively).

With the third decade-spanning box set of the series, RCA issued Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters. But instead of following the outline of The Essential '60s Masters, the '70s box set has two discs made up of the A and B sides of singles, discs 3 and 4 made up of selected studio cuts, and the final disc 5 of live tracks.

I don't know why this change was made, but it's possible that RCA realized that with three box sets, most people could own nearly everything they would ever want of Elvis' music. In other words, they were killing their cash cow.

Whatever the reason, to me this was a letdown. I strongly believe that the '70s box set should have included all studio tracks from 1970-78, minus songs from his gospel and Christmas albums. This would have made it more akin to The Essential '60s Masters.

So here's how I think it should have been issued.

DISC 1

1. Twenty Days and Twenty Nights
2. I've Lost You
3. I was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago
4. The Sound of Your Cry
5. The Fool
6. Little Cabin on the Hill
7. Cindy, Cindy
8. Bridge over Troubled Water
9. Got My Mojo Working / Keep Your Hands Off of It
10. How the Web was Woven
11. It's Your Baby, You Rock It
12. Stranger in the Crowd
13. I'll Never Know
14. Mary in the Morning
15. It Ain't No Big Thing, But It's Growing
16. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
17. Just Pretend
18. This is Our Dance
19. Life
20. Heart of Rome
21. When I'm Over You
22. I Really Don't Want to Know
23. Faded Love
24. Tomorrow Never Comes
25. The Next Step is Love
26. Make the World Go Away

DISC 2

1. Funny How Time Slips Away
2. I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water
3. Love Letters
4. There Goes My Everything 
5. If I Were You
6. Only Believe
7. Sylvia
8. Patch It Up
9. Snowbird
10. Where Did They Go, Lord
11. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
12. Rags to Riches
13. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
14. Early Morning Rain
15. (That's What You Get) For Lovin' Me
16. Miracle of the Rosary
17. Padre
18. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
19. Help Me Make It Through the Night
20. Fools Rush In
21. It's Still Here
22. I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen
23. I will Be True
24. I'm Leavin'
25. We Can Make the Morning if We Try
26. It's Only Love

DISC 3

1. Love Me, Love the Life I Lead
2. Until It's Time for You to Go
3. Put Your Hand in the Hand
4. My Way
5. Separate Ways
6. For the Good Times
7. Where Do I Go from Here
8. Burning Love
9. Fool
10. Always on My Mind
11. It's a Matter of Time
12. If You Don't Come Back
13. It's Diff'rent Now
14. Three Corn Patches
15. Take Good Care of Her
16. Find Out What's Happening
17. I've Got a Thing About You Baby
18. Just a Little Bit
19. Raised on Rock
20. For Ol' Times Sake
21. Girl of Mine
22. Sweet Angeline
23. I Miss You
24. Are You Sincere?
25. I Got a Feeling in My Body
26. It's Midnight

DISC 4

1. You Asked Me To
2. If You Talk in Your Sleep
3. Mr. Songman
4. Thinking About You
5. Love Song of the Year
6. Help Me
7. My Boy
8. Loving Arms
9. Good Time Charle's Got the Blues
10. Talk About the Good Times
11. Promised Land
12. Your Love's Been a Long Time Coming
13. There's a Honky Tonk Angel
14. If That Isn't Love
15. Spanish Eyes
16. She Wears My Ring
17. Fairytale
18. Green, Green Grass of Home
19. I Can Help
20. And I Love You So
21. Susan When She Tried
22. T-R-O-U-B-L-E
23. Woman Without Love
24. Shake a Hand
25. Bringin' It Back
26. Pieces of My Life

DISC 5

1. Bitter They Come, Harder They Are
2. She Thinks I Still Care
3. The Last Farewell
4. Solitaire
5. Moody Blue
6. I'll Never Fall in Love Again
7. For the Heart
8. Hurt
9. Danny Boy
10. Never Again
11. Love Coming Down
12. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
13. It's Easy for You
14. Way Down
15. Pledging My Love
16. He'll Have to Go
17. A Hundred Years Ago from Now #
18. I Didn't Make It on Playing Guitar  #
19. The Lord's Prayer  #
20. Lady Madonna  #
21. I Shall be Released  #
22. Softly as I Leave You  #
23. The Twelfth of Never  #
24. Tiger Man  #
25. Alla en el Rancho Grande #
26. Stranger in My Own Home Town #

Here we have five discs with 26 tracks each. Everything is in chronological order except the 10 bonus tracks at the end. These are mostly partial songs recorded during rehearsals.

To compile the tracklist in the proper order, I used Ernst Jorgensen's excellent book "Elvis Presley: A Life in Music -- The Complete Recording Sessions" as a guide. I didn't realize until working on this that the last song Elvis recorded was "He'll Have to Go" -- which is kind of an eerie title considering he would die soon afterward.

Since Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters gets its title from a live track that isn't included in my version, I had to come up with a new title. "Taking Care of Business" was Elvis' personal motto, and he used the TCB logo for jewelry and other things, and named his backup band the TCB Band. So Taking Care of Business: The Essential '70s Masters seemed like a good title for this collection. 

I used the cover from Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters for this box set cover and rather clumsily changed the title.

Some Music Hiding Down There - San Diego Nuggets, 1965-68

In 2007, Rhino released the Love is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets, 1965–1970 box set and followed up that with 2009's Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965–1968 box set. But so far, there's been no "Nuggets" box set for California's second largest city, San Diego. 

For the uninitiated, San Diego may not seem like a hotbed of musical activity. But this is where Iron Butterfly, The Cascades and Gary Puckett and the Union Gap started. Those three groups alone issued six albums in 1968. San Diego was also home to Bob Mosley of Moby Grape, Joel Scott Hill (of The Strangers and later Canned Heat), and a wide variety of rock, pop, soul and R&B performers.

So below is a track list for a four-CD box set that I'm titling, Some Music Hiding Down There: San Diego Nuggets, 1965-1968. For the most part, these were all A or B sides of singles, and I've arranged them chronologically by year.

DISC 1

1. Why? – The Other Four
2. What Good am I (without You) – Mickie Champion
3. The Animal in Me – The Orfuns
4. So What!! – The Lyrics
5. Sweet Sixteen – Lenni Groves
6. I’m Gonna Get Some Love – The California Sons
7. I Really Love You – The Accents
8. A Million Years Ago – Lenni Groves
9. Duck “All Over Town,” Parts 1 & 2 – Arlene Williams
10. She’ll Love Again – The Cascades
11. I Can’t Get Through to You – The Outcasts
12. The Hurt Still Lingers On – Mickie Champion
13. Bye Bye Baby – Lenni Groves
14. Searching for My Love – The Other Four
15. What Do You Want to Do (Little Darlin’) – The Accents
16. Oh-No – The Man-Dells
17. They Can’t Hurt Me – The Lyrics
18. Rising Sun – The Deep Six
19. Baby Please Dance with Me – The California Sons
20. Kids Together – Ervin Rucker
21. Longer Than Forever – Garnet Sykes
22. Good Show – Lennie Groves
23. Bonnie – The Man-Dells
24. She’s Alright – Ervin Rucker
25. Strollin’ Blues – The Deep Six

In 1965, tiny soul label Musette Records opened up shop and issued about a dozen singles that are highly prized today by collectors. The R&B tracks by Garnet Sykes, Mickie Champion, Arlene Williams and Lennie (aka Lani) Groves are from Musette, as are the two tracks from The Other Four, the only garage rock band on the label. The Deep Six, a folk-pop band, released a self-titled album in 1966 on Liberty Records. The Outcasts was a pre-Union Gap band of Gary Puckett. The Cascades had had a huge hit with "Rhythm of the Rain" in 1962. Although the group continued performing and releasing records through 1972, they would never have anything approaching that initial success. "So What!!" by The Lyrics has become something of a '60s garage rock classic (it was featured on the box set Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era). 

DISC 2

1. I Can Make It with You – The Hard Times
2. Cheryl’s Goin’ Home – The Cascades
3. Hey Love – Mr. Clean and The Soul Inc.
4. Once and For All Girl – The Other Four
5. On the Run – The Accents
6. There'll be a Time – The Hard Times
7. She Didn’t Care – The Contrasts
8. I Wanna Shout – The Deep Six
9. Patricia’s Delight – Willie Bovain and The Rocks
10. Patricia (Here I Come) – Janis And Prince And The Mix Breed
11. Ooh Poo Pah Doo – Esse and the Showmen
12. Cry Baby – The California Sons / The Magic Mushroom
13. All’s Fair in Love and War – The Cascades
14. You’re Bound to Cry – The Hard Times
15. My Son – The Lyrics
16. The Things We Say – The Deep Six
17. He’s the One – The Accents
18. Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night – The Other Four
19. So Glad – The Lyrics
20. Come to Your Window – The Hard Times
21. Image of a Girl – The Deep Six
22. Run Away – The Outcasts
23. I’m Gone – The California Sons / The Magic Mushroom
24. How Do You Tell a Girl – The Other Four
25. Little Bit of Heaven – The California Suns
26. Baby Can’t You Feel It – San Diego Marauders (with Ervin Rucker)

The Hard Times was a house band for the TV show "Where the Action Is" and recorded one album, Blew Mind, released in 1967. The Accents single "On the Run" b/w "He's the One" was the last by a group that was very popular in San Diego, but never found much success outside of their hometown. Gabe Lapano of the group went on to replace original lead singer John Gummoe in The Cascades. The California Sons/Magic Mushroom/California Suns puzzle took a bit of work to figure out. The California Sons recorded "Cry Baby" b/w "I'm Gone." The exact same song was re-released soon afterward on a different label, but credited to The Magic Mushroom. And then the California Sons changed their group name's spelling to California Suns. See more about them below.

DISC 3

1. These are the Words – The Other Four
2. That’s All I’ll Do – The Hard Times
3. C’mon Baby (Blow Your Mind) – The Deep Six
4. Soul in the Morning – Willie Bovain Trio
5. The Masked Grandma – The California Suns
6. Shake a Tail Feather – The Roosters
7. Say That You Love Me – Love’s Special Delivery
8. Mr. Custer – The Search
9. Hey Little Girl of Mine – The Cascades
10. Baby, I Can’t Stop Myself – Johnny Parris & Co.
11. True Love – Big Daddy Rucker
12. Wait – The Lyrics
13. Too Young – The Search
14. Don’t Look Down on Me – Iron Butterfly
15. Mr. Man – The Lyrics
16. Never to Leave – Two Bits
17. Everybody’s Searchin’ – The Search
18. I’ll Run – Johnny Parris & Co.
19. Rooster Walk – The Roosters
20. Woman, Woman – The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett
21. Flying on the Ground – The Cascades
22. I’m Goin’ Home – Big Daddy Rucker
23. Things Must Change – Two Bits
24. Climate – The Search
25. Don’t Talk to Strangers – Chris Gaylord
26. On the Run – The 7 Sons

From what I've read, "The Masked Grandma" was originally planned as a song for Jan & Dean. But when Jan Berry was hurt in a car crash and the duo went into hiatus, the song was offered to the California Suns. Both Johnny Parris & Co. and Two Bits are actually former Cascades singer John Gummoe and session musicians. "Don’t Look Down on Me" was on the A-side of Iron Butterfly's first single and has never been released on any of the band's albums, compilation or otherwise. Chris Gaylord was the original singer of The Lyrics, but instead of a garage rock shouter, "Don't Talk to Strangers" has him doing his best Bob Dylan impression.  

DISC 4

1. The Direction – Framework
2. Never Hurt Again – Pale Fire
3. Smoking at Windsor Hill – Brain Police
4. Unconscious Power – Iron Butterfly
5. Young Girl – The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett
6. They Said No – The Hard Times
7. Why’d He Go – The Lyrics
8. You’re Going Home – Framework
9. Eye Girl – Pale Fire
10. Wake Up to My Voice – The Lyrics
11. Possession – Iron Butterfly
12. Just Do Your Thing - Big Daddy Rucker
13. Please Help Me – The Generations
14. Lady Willpower – Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
15. My World of Wax – Brain Police
16. Back Home – Pale Fire
17. Give to Me Your Love – The New Phoenix
18. Can’t See You Anymore – The Lyrics
19. I’m Gonna Move – Framework
20. In-a-Gadda-da-Vida [single version] – Iron Butterfly
21. Maybe the Rain will Fall – The Cascades
22. Over You – Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
23. You’re My Girl (I Don’t Want to Discuss It) – Rhinoceros
24. Ups and Downs – Pale Fire
25. Tarnished Angel – Anita May and Interstate 5
26. Set Me Free – The Generations
27. Christmas in the Ghetto – Big Daddy Rucker

"Young Girl" by Gary Puckett and The Union Gap is probably the biggest hit on this collection. It went to #2 in the U.S. and #1 in the U.K. And most people don't need an introduction to Iron Butterfly's "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida." I mercifully use the shorter single version :). Rhinoceros featured some former members of Iron Butterfly. Ervin "Big Daddy" Rucker is often confused with Ervin "Big Boy" Groves. It doesn't help that Rucker often worked with Groves and recorded some of his songs. But in fact, they were two different people. I thought a holiday song by Rucker was as good a way as any to end the collection.

There are dozen or so songs that I wanted to include in this collection, but I've sadly been unable to track them down so far. These include the first some rare sides of Musette Records, the first single by the California Sons, B-sides from The Outcasts, and others. But even without these songs, this is a great collection that shows off a wide variety of styles from the growing Navy town on the Mexican border.