TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast

Latest Episodes:

TCBCast 238: Elvis and His Producers + Elvis As Producer/Arranger Oct 11, 2022

Show notes

Inspired by the now-iconic "Vegas Rehearsal" scene from Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, and winning the Patreon poll for topic this month, Justin and Bec sit down to try to unpack Elvis's working relationships with his musical producers, what people really meant when they described Elvis as his own producer, and if that moment in the movie was really based on something that really happened (spoiler: like most things in the movie, kinda, yeah!)

Then Gurdip gets tagged in the ring for Song of the Week as he tackles Elvis's 1956 cover of the Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters hit "Money Honey" while Justin try to explain to Gurdip what exactly a "mess of polk salad" really is, as he look behind Tony Joe White and his classic "Polk Salad Annie," which Elvis covered in 1970.

If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. 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 history and movie enthusiast.

Timestamps:

0:00 Start/News

7:00 Trivia

16:00 Main Topic

1:35:00 SotW: Money Honey

1:54:40 SotW: Polk Salad Annie

BONUS: TCBCast Jukebox - Jackie Wilson "He's So Fine" AND TCBCast Now - "Gone Country" Oct 04, 2022

Show notes

Hey all - as discussed in the intro to this, we're taking a one-week hiatus, partly for Justin's birthday, partly due to some necessary & unavoidable schedule shuffling on our back end. We'll be back next week with a split episode between Bec & Justin on Elvis as Producer/Arranger and Gurdip & Justin on Songs of the Week.

This week, rather than dropping an old Songs of the Week compilation as we would have done in the past, we're giving a sampler of some Patreon content from 2021, two episodes packed into one!

First up is the first episode of our "TCBCast Jukebox" spin-off where Justin and Gurdip review albums & singles from Elvis's contemporaries or influences, starting with Jackie Wilson's 1958 debut solo LP "He's So Fine."

Then, on our general pop culture project, TCBCast Now, alongside some movie/game/TV/music time capsule news from June 2021 (with surprisingly lots of Elvis talk!!), Gurdip gets put to the challenge of reacting to 8 country music songs Justin grew up with from the 80s-00s, then both guys continue the country theme by spotlighting a country song apiece in "Song of the Month."

Gurdip tackles Canadian entertainer Colter Wall's rootsy "The Devil Wears a Suit & Tie" while Justin, tying in an interesting Colonel Parker connection, chooses "Heartland" from the 1992 film "Pure Country" starring George Strait.

Hopefully you enjoy hearing the type of content that's been available as bonuses to qualifying Patreon backers through what's now coming up on two years! We always weave a vein of Elvis through our bonus content, while also showcasing more of our broader interests beyond him. We also feature unofficial commentaries and bonus movie reviews on both Elvis - & early rock-n-roll-related films.

If you're interesting in hearing more of what's in the TCBCast bonuses archive alongside new monthly material and help support the main show's production, we hope you'll considering supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. 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 history and movie enthusiast.

TCBCast 237: The Longest Song of the Week Ever: Love Me Tender Sep 27, 2022

Show notes

On this week's TCBCast, Gurdip and Justin briefly touch on some recent Elvis news such as the confirmation from Baz Luhrmann that he's seeking to release the Viva Las Vegas remix from the film, a new preview track from the forthcoming Elvis On Tour box set, and we take time to give gratitude to listener & patron Rick, who incredibly generously donated his collection of Elvis material and memorabilia to the TCBCast library. This episode also marks the first return of TRIVIA in a long while, helped along by part of Rick's donation.

Then, Justin takes Gurdip on a journey through history ("flux capacitor... fluxing") to close out "Justin Explains Bad Elvis Movie Songs Month" with what is ostensibly an exploration of the "College Songs Medley" recorded for the 1969 film "The Trouble With Girls."

In it, Elvis and The Mello Men sing alma maters, fight songs and other melodies associated with various American universities, from "The Whiffenpoof Song" to "Far Above Cayuga's Waters" and more... including "The Eyes of Texas", which prompts a Song of the Week-within-a-Song of the Week for "The Yellow Rose of Texas/The Eyes of Texas" from the 1964 "Viva Las Vegas" and those songs's less cheerful pasts.

And THEN the final College Medley song takes us all the way back, wrapping Elvis's film career up in a neat and tidy bow... if you've ever heard the songs in the medley before, you can guess exactly where this episode is heading, and you're absolutely right... Bad Elvis Movie Songs Month becomes a celebration of one of the greatest!

Songs of the Week featured:

Far Above Cayuga's Waters
The Whiffenpoof Song
The Yellow Rose of Texas/The Eyes of Texas
Love Me Tender/Violet

TCBCast 236: Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits 20th Anniversary Retrospective Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

On September 24, 2002, BMG unleashed what would become perhaps the most successful Elvis Presley release of the 21st century: 30 #1 Hits. To celebrate two decades since its milestone release, Justin and Gurdip look back at how producer David Bendeth overcame obstacles like deteriorating master tapes, poor documentation and missing elements to deliver a vibrant compilation that while massively successful, also proved controversial at the time to the most hardcore Elvis enthusiasts for its dynamic, modern mixes and mastering, technical issues and historical inaccuracies.

Then, from the highest of highs of Elvis's career, we sink to the lowest of lows as Justin continues "Justin Explains Bad Elvis Movie Songs Month" by exploring the genuinely incredible and surprising history behind an 18th century comedic opera song and subsequent folk tune that eventually became known as "Old MacDonald," a version of which Elvis would record for the film "Double Trouble."

But as maligned as "Old MacDonald" is, despite how frequently it's cited as the worst song Elvis Presley ever recorded, nothing can prepare you for Gurdip hilariously running the premise of the month straight to its natural climax: "What Every Woman Lives For" from Frankie and Johnny, not only the actual worst song Elvis recorded, but the worst song ever written by hitmakers Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman.

We're committed to covering all the songs, and we had to do it someday. It just felt appropriate to do it tongue firmly planted in cheek, on the episode celebrating one of the most successful releases of Elvis's most brilliant, endearing and classic recordings. The good news is: things can only go up from here now. Song of the Week can never go lower. And we've had so much fun doing it.

TCBCast 235: "I Don't Sound Like Nobody" Elvis's Vocal Evolution (1963-1977) feat. Bec Wyles Sep 15, 2022

Show notes

Justin and Bec follow up an episode from last November, loosely tracing Elvis's progression as a vocalist through his more mature years as he slowly (but surely!) leans less on imitating others and begins to find his own true voice. It's an incredibly meaty topic and goes everywhere from the differences between in-studio recordings of the 60s and live recordings of the 70s to considering why ETAs more commonly mimic the Elvis of 1975-1977.

For Song of the Week, Bec

ec steals an early 60s cut out from underneath Gurdip, picking "It Feels So Right," the last song recorded at Elvis's first session back from the Army, and later retrofitted into the film "Tickle Me." Then, Justin kicks off "Justin Attempts to Explain Bad Movie Songs Month" with 1965's "Do the Clam," with the demo that resurfaced in 2018 perhaps providing the most insight into what Elvis might have heard worth exploring in what's become an infamous track among fans and detractors alike.

TCBCast 234: A "Walk" in Memphis with Jaime Kay + A Long Lost SotW! (feat. Jaime Kay and Tony Plews) Sep 06, 2022

Show notes

Gurdip plays catch-up with the incomparable Ms. Jaime Kay as she dusts off her seat and regales him with tales of her visit to Memphis and Elvis Week 2022, including an encounter with Priscilla Presley and Jerry Schilling.

Then, Justin cracks open the TCBCast vault to bring out not only a little extra bonus discussion on UK-exclusive LPs with author Tony Plews, but also a long-lost Song of the Week, previously cut from TCBCast 196, where Justin attempted to follow up Tony's emotional telling of the true story behind "White Christmas" with Elvis's 1969 recording of one of Vernon's favorite songs, "If I'm A Fool."

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 233: Pot Luck & The Pot Luck Sessions, Part 2 (feat. Darin Evans) Aug 30, 2022

Show notes

Picking right back up where they left off, Justin, Gurdip and Darin continue examining the material recorded in March 1962, now beginning to fully take shape as the album that would come to be known as "Pot Luck." There's still a lot of Latin-flavored pop mixed in with country ballads, but things get really heated (and fun!) when Darin and Gurdip go head to head over "Suspicion" and the differences between Elvis's recording and Terry Stafford's hit cover.

Then, for Song of the Week, Darin brings attention to the underrated "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" from the movie Frankie and Johnny, and its source, an Italian pop ballad known as "Non ho l'età (per amarti)." Gurdip, meanwhile, picks "Danny," the alternative title song for "King Creole" that wasn't released until 1978's "A Legendary Performer Volume 3."

Lastly, Darin picks a song for Justin, "I Want To Be Free," famously from 1957's Jailhouse Rock. Upon revisiting the outtakes, Justin uncovers a possible previously-unnoted influence on Mike Stoller's piano-playing on the more polished version released on the original Jailhouse Rock EP.

All this and more on this second part covering the Pot Luck sessions and album! Thanks so much Darin for coming on!!

TCBCast 232: Pot Luck & The Pot Luck Sessions, Part 1 (feat. Darin Evans) Aug 23, 2022

Show notes

Guest Darin Evans joins Gurdip and Justin for an in-depth look at Elvis's 1961-1962 output which eventually led to the release of the album Pot Luck in May 1962. What starts with a Blue Hawaii reject and several sessions simply held for the purpose of recording singles eventually begins to take shape as the severely overlooked followup to 1961's "Something for Everybody."

Top songwriters like Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman and Don Robertson dominate the material recorded in June and October 1961 and we get to be a fly on the wall as we hear Elvis, alongside key members of the Nashville A-team at the top of their A-game, working steadily away to create products with commercial and creative viability. Was Pot Luck truly a disappointment, or simply misjudged? We'll try to find out across this two-parter. 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 231: The Jungle Room Sessions Part 2 Aug 16, 2022

Show notes

Today we're marking 45 years since the passing of Elvis Presley.

On this episode, Gurdip and Justin take a look at the final recording sessions Elvis Presley ever had, a once-passionate and perfectionist creative now distracted and unfocused for a myriad of reasons, yet still able to pull together five memorable recordings in October 1976.

Then, for Song of the Week, as voted on by TCBCast Patreon backers, Justin jumps back to 1967 to spotlight Elvis's pugilistic cover of Jimmy Reed's "Big Boss Man," while Gurdip stays up late to take a closer listen to the 1973 recording "It's Midnight" off the 1975 album "Promised Land."

TCBCast 230: The Jungle Room Sessions, Part 1 Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

In a valorous attempt to capture the now much more elusive Elvis Presley in his natural habitat, Felton Jarvis and RCA bought the recording studio to Graceland, turning the tropical-themed den into an impromptu space for the band, winding cords down and out the back of the house to a van where the equipment sat.

Justin and Gurdip explore how, over the course of 6 nights in the spring of 1976, Elvis and the TCB Band worked their way through an album's worth of new material. There's a few uptempo cuts from previous hit songwriters like Mark James's Moody Blue or Dennis Linde's For the Heart, but the vast majority of tracks are heartbreak weepers. Elvis goes increasingly off-track, to the point that he stops showing up altogether, though the guys spend a little time at the end of Part 1 speculating on the three songs from The Platters that he is known to have been singing in between takes.

Part 2 next week, to be released on the 45th anniversary of Elvis's passing, will include discussions on the October 1976 sessions, and Songs of the Week as voted by TCBCast Patreon backers.

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