TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast

Latest Episodes:

TCBCast 326: Elvis Songs That Remind Us Of Summer Jul 23, 2024

Show notes

Gurdip was really feeling the season, so in between prepping for next week's meaty episode with Ryan on "On Stage 1970", Justin and Gurdip had a breezy little classic TCBCast-style discussion about the Elvis songs that evoke memories or give them vibes of warm summer days.

The guys also quickly tackle two Songs of the Week, with Gurdip giving "Once is Enough" from "Kissin' Cousins" the second chance he feels it deserves, and Justin simmering with the understated (and oft-overlooked) Don Robertson-penned ballad "Love Me Tonight" from the early 1963 sessions that should have led to a studio album (later known as The Lost Album or For the Asking), but instead the song was buried as a bonus on the soundtrack for "Fun in Acapulco."

If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

TCBCast 325: Books About Elvis Jul 16, 2024

Show notes

After 5 1/2 years, TCBCast returns to the subject of books about Elvis as a full episode! Gurdip and Justin did an early episode of the show about some of their favorite reads on the life, career and phenomenon of Elvis, but this time Bec gets to open up her extensive Elvis library to talk about her favorites, and Justin gets to talk about some of the ones he's read and appreciated most in the intervening years. These aren't necessarily recommendations to rush out and buy immediately after listening, as a few that are referenced are quite difficult to find nowadays (especially the FTD books) but there are definitely a few that you may want to pick up afterwards.

For Song of the Week, Bec picks "I'm Falling in Love Tonight", the Don Robertson ballad that the songwriter himself got to play on for the "It Happened At the World's Fair" soundtrack, while Justin highlights "Take Good Care of Her," which Elvis had a Top 10 country hit with in 1974.

One of the news items we reference at the top of the show: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/graceland-elvis-presley-scam-naussany-branson-missouri-rcna157155

TCBCast Bonus Movie Review - Elvis and the Colonel: The Untold Story (1993) Jul 09, 2024

Show notes

Originally recorded in August 2022 as a TCBCast Patreon exclusive, Bec and Justin sit down with the 1993 NBC TV movie "Elvis and the Colonel: The Untold Story," starring Rob Youngblood as Elvis and Beau Bridges as Colonel Parker, directed by William Graham, the real director behind Elvis's own 1969 movie "Change of Habit."

Recorded a mere two months after the release of Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, watching this first attempt at a biopic about Elvis through the lens of Colonel Parker ends up feeling like watching a low-budget knock-off despite arriving almost 30 years earlier. Our duo (including one host who watched it twice in preparation) tries to give the attempt its best case possible, giving it as much leeway as other, more beloved depictions... but if you haven't seen this unintentionally hilarious project before, it has to be seen to be believed!

If you enjoyed this, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast! Patrons get exclusive access to an archive of over three and a half years of bonus content just like this, with more commentaries, movie & TV reviews, album discussions, early access to new episodes and more! We sincerely thank all our past and current patrons for their support. If you are unable to support us via Patreon, but want to support us another way, please make sure to leave a positive review or mention our show to another like-minded music/movie history enthusiast.

TCBCast will be returning with a brand new episode next week!

TCBCast 324: Where Could We Go But On A Harem Holiday? (SOTW & News) Jul 02, 2024

Show notes

Justin, Bec and Gurdip managed to coordinate a quick but fun Song of the Week, news & listener message episode (though naturally recorded JUST before "In The Ghetto" off the "Memphis" box dropped). The gang briefly discusses the Memphis Recording Service "Las Vegas On Stage February 1973" box set, Bec pleads forgiveness for a "verbal typo" on her most recent episode, and then examine a provocative editorial about Elvis, Graceland and America sent to us by one of our patrons.

For Song of the Week, Gurdip goes flying high on a "Harem Holiday," Bec puts on her Sunday best to listen to both the 1966 and 1968 versions of "Where Could I Go But To The Lord" and Justin delves into "Put the Blame On Me" off the "Something for Everybody" album (and subsequently featured in "Tickle Me.")

Link to Michael Bertrand's editorial: https://theconversation.com/could-elvis-graceland-hold-a-key-to-bridging-americas-cultural-divide-230841

TCBCast 323: Songs About Elvis (feat. Chris Jones) Jun 26, 2024

Show notes

Justin and Olivia are joined by guest host Chris Jones (former host of the wonderful "Hall of Songs" podcast, you can find him as @jonesca17 on social media) to explore the surprisingly heartfelt and thought-provoking world of songs that either reference or are about Elvis, explicitly or implicitly. Spanning a wide array of genres, eras and artists, each of us pick five of our favorites to examine the common themes that begin to surface like fame, commercialization, celebrity obsession, mythology, religion, the Deep South, America, transportation/travel, class, race relations, and the closeness of family.

For Song of the Week, Olivia selects "Drums of the Islands", a "Paradise Hawaiian Style" track that's rooted in real Polynesian culture. Justin chooses to delve into "Only the Strong Survive," Elvis' cover of Jerry Butler's classic 1968 hit, and Chris takes us home by covering Elvis' down and dirty 1971 version of the iconic holiday blues number, "Merry Christmas Baby."

A special episode playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yrvYGYK6c7W8ysEwbh7nM?si=f9e75a2706694579

TCBCast 322: The Live Rarities We Love + "Memphis" Box Set Announcement Jun 18, 2024

Show notes

This episode begins with a TCBCast-mini-style intro with Gurdip and Justin discussing the passing of singer-songwriter Mark James and the news of Sony's "Memphis" box set, out August 9, 2024.

Then, Gurdip taps out and Bec taps in for a fun exploration of some of our favorite deep cut Elvis concert rarities - the songs he almost never pulled out, from ones done only once (like Oh Happy Day or Rubberneckin') to those done at best for maybe a handful of shows (Memphis Tennessee, anybody?)

For Song of the Week, Bec ponders "(Such An) Easy Question" which Elvis recorded in 1962 but that was also reused in the 1965 movie "Tickle Me." Then Justin closes us out with a quick exploration of "I Will Be Home Again," the Golden Gate Quartet homage that Elvis and Charlie Hodge harmonized on for "Elvis is Back" in 1960.

For those who haven't seen it yet elsewhere, Sony released a behind the scenes mini-doc about the new "Memphis" set on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8XGKNVko-g

Our live rarities playlist (on YouTube, since other streaming services don't have FTDs or bootlegs!): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg-DEia9bCgaA-7wTppzt2tTFXJkHaXGA

Interview with Orlandus Wilson of the Golden Gate Quartet sourced from: http://tofuhut.blogspot.com/2009/02/glisten-work-of-father-3-more-info-on.html and its archived version on the Internet Archive.

Selah Jubilee Quartet version of "I Will Be Home Again" available to hear here: https://archive.org/details/78_i-will-be-home-again_selah-jubilee-quartet-lou-singer-bennie-benjemen-raymond-levee_gbia0077522a

TCBCast 321: Favorite Elvis Movie Songs Jun 12, 2024

Show notes

Gurdip and Olivia sit down for a super fun discussion picking one song from each of Elvis' narrative films (from Love Me Tender through Change of Habit) from within the movie itself that they especially enjoy, not including those just on the soundtrack or recorded for but cut from the final film.

They also discuss the title, cover design and release date for Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough's new book "From Here to the Great Unknown," set to release later this year and speculate on what kind of book it may be.

There's no Song of the Week this week due to a scheduling issue, but this is still a full-length show. SOTW returns next week with Justin and Bec! This episode was recorded before the news of the passing of Mark James, writer of "Suspicious Minds," "Always On My Mind," "Moody Blue" and others.

TCBCast 320: Elvis's Best Singles (feat. Darin Evans) Jun 05, 2024

Show notes

Special guest Darin Evans joins Gurdip and Justin for a brief exploration of what each think were Elvis' best 5 singles, considering the strength of the A & B-sides, overall success and (naturally) personal taste.

For Song of the Week, Darin piggybacks off Justin's choice of "Kissin Cousins No. 2" last week and goes for "Kissin' Cousins," the upbeat single from the 1964 movie which featured Elvis musically portraying two different characters within a single song.

Then Justin explores the understated and oft-neglected 50s country ballad "How's The World Treating You," including how Elvis altered the original's lyrics and intent in the recording that featured on his 1956 sophomore LP "Elvis," before Gurdip closes out the episode by zeroing in on the last of the four original demo recordings that Elvis recorded at Memphis Recording Service to be released to the public: "It Wouldn't Be The Same Without You."

TCBCast 319: C'mon Everybody (1971) Album Review May 28, 2024

Show notes

Bec crashes an episode with Gurdip and Justin covering the 1971 Camden "C'mon Everybody," a compilation collecting a handful of tracks that at the time of its release had previously only been available on the Extended Play soundtracks for Follow That Dream, Kid Galahad, Viva Las Vegas and Easy Come, Easy Go. It turns out to be one of the breeziest, enjoyable Camdens and the gang has a ton of fun digging into it.

Also discussed are news items including the upcoming Guitar Man Sessions FTD, the false Graceland foreclosure, and Justin's recent Elvis finds - which includes a copy of our main topic album!

For Song of the Week, Bec hangs around just to commentate on our picks, with Gurdip selecting the title track of 1967's "Double Trouble" which leads to reading songwriter Mort Shuman's hilarious recollection (or lack thereof) about the song in Ken Sharp's "Writing for the King, before closing out with Justin's Song of the Week, the short" opening title version of "Kissin' Cousins" often referred to as "No. 2."

TCBCast 318: Elvis '99: Looking Back at 1999's Releases May 21, 2024

Show notes

Bec & Justin bask in some nostalgia for their days as younger Elvis fans at the turn of the 21st century, reflecting on the major mainstream BMG Elvis releases from 1999 and how those releases influenced the crew's perspectives on Elvis' creative journey. From period retrospectives "Suspicious Minds: The 1969 Anthology," "Sunrise," "The Home Recordings," "Burning Love" and "Tomorrow is A Long Time" to hits compilations like "Can't Help Falling in Love: The Hollywood Hits" and "Artist of the Century" - and, naturally, the first ever Follow That Dream releases - 1999 was a good year for Elvis fans.

For Song of the Week, both hosts go for fairly reflective, contemplative songs, with Justin selecting 1969's understated "This is the Story" and Bec digging into "It's Over," most famously featured in Elvis' "Aloha From Hawaii" special from 1973.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected