TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

We've talked so much about Elvis' recording sessions that it's fairly easy to understand how an Elvis record came together. Less clear to many, however, is how an Elvis movie was made. Olivia got super curious to learn the ins and outs of filmmaking, so Justin & Olivia decided to center the discussion around the making of one of the most celebrated and successful movies to star Elvis, 1964's Viva Las Vegas, in the year of the 60th anniversary of its release - since no one else is seeming to commemorate it!

From concept and script to pre-production efforts like location scouting, casting, crew (and especially the music, as always!), from getting song demos all the way up to the initial recording sessions, we break down how it happened in part one. Part 2 will focus largely on filming, post-production and marketing, along with our Songs of the Week! One of our most vital resources this week is FTD's immaculately researched The Making of Viva Las Vegas by David English and Pal Granlund, which is unfortunately no longer in print. 

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. Patrons get early access to new episodes (including Part 2 of this episode) and plenty of bonus content!

John Heath of EAP Society joins Justin for an extensive (but still HIGHLY abbreviated!) discussion about the history of the music industry in Memphis before and during Elvis' career, from early blues recordings made by Ralph Peer to Sam Phillips' Sun Records, from indie labels inspired by Sun's success to the monumental Stax Records, how Chips Moman's American Sound came together, and up through Elvis's Jungle Room recordings as the city's music industry wound down in the late 70s. It's all explored through a playlist of about two dozen tracks compiled by John, linked below.

If you've been exploring the 2024 Sony box set release "Memphis," you will find this a great supplemental discussion. There are no specific songs of the week this week, just a ton of amazing music history to delve into.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0a1G2qR6gFfQT13UzrBTLg?si=09505e6244c44da8&fbclid=IwY2xjawEdLxBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHTrNyBF-6SkoS9goKzglqEqOstRBysdp99mM1miKBy5StaEBDUZ1HVJJjw_aem_hAjH3ZILor4p4CAcxsoarw&nd=1&dlsi=f85c2bdb288d4a43

You can also find the final track intended for this playlist, which is not on Spotify, on YouTube at this link (current as of release): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipqz1oIt4TA

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. 

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

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. 

From its misleading title to its meme-status cover, for all our joking about 1972's Elvis Now, it's time to put our money where our mouths are and actually see if the music itself is as misguided as the cover that contains it would seem to imply!

For Song of the Week, Gurdip realizes that the 1963 "Return to Sender" sequel song, "Western Union," still sounds good despite being an outdated culture reference. Then, Justin returns to 1971 right away to give some love to the overlooked Nashville cut "Love Me, Love the Life I Lead," its genuinely great songwriting pedigree, and Elvis's raw delivery, long hampered by a muddled mix and melodramatic overdubs.

"Elvis Now" is available to buy and stream on all major music platforms. We also strongly recommend the Sony Legacy box sets "From Elvis in Nashville" and "Back in Nashville."

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.

Justin, Jamie, and John continue their exploration of Hal Wallis's 1957 production, "Loving You," by delving into the stories behind Elvis's costars and how they ended up in the film, particularly Lizabeth Scott and Dolores Hart. Then the guy ponder Loving You's legacy as to how the film handles the cultural zeitgeist around Elvis Presley, seriously contemplate whether Loving You or Jailhouse Rock does it better... and call into question several reasons why the latter has historically received more praise.

Then, for Song of the Week, Justin takes the backseat and lets John steal the show with his heartbreaking, must-hear interpretation of Elvis's 1956 recording of the old country weeper, "Old Shep." Jamie, on the other hand, takes things a bit lighter and reminds us just how rocking Elvis's country material could be with the 1970 cut "It's Your Baby, You Rock It."

Want to hear more from Jamie and John? Check out EAP Society at youtube.com/EAPSociety and www.eapsociety.com, and you can find more of Jamie's music at jamiekelleymusic.com.

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.

Musician, actor, songwriter, producer and past TCBCast guest Jamie Kelley returns with Elvis collector & expert John Michael Heath, the co-host of their new YouTube video series EAP Society, to sit down with Justin to talk all about what they've been up to in the past couple years, their history as collectors, and then get down into the nitty gritty behind the classic 1957 film starring Elvis Presley himself, "Loving You."

But first - we take a "Detour" to analyze the original short story it was based on, Mary Agnes Thompson's "A Call From Mitch Miller," first published in a June 1956 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, then dive headlong into the cinematic tale of rock and roll singer Deke Rivers, who comes up through the country and western field with the help of an exploitative manager, only to explode into mass popularity that sets off a firestorm of controversy among those who say his music corrupts youth and... hey, wait a minute... something about this seems oddly familiar? 

As we discuss the soundtrack, Justin also begin laying down the rails for a story that runs parallel to the making of Loving You and connects thematically with the movie and will be concluded on the next episode, along with Songs of the Week!

Want to hear more from Jamie and John? Check out EAP Society at youtube.com/EAPSociety and www.eapsociety.com, and you can find more of Jamie's music at jamiekelleymusic.com.

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/Introductions

17:15: Trivia

30:40: Main Topic

This week, Justin and Bec are joined by Rick London, longtime Elvis fan since 1955, and music history aficionado. Rick provides a wealth of insights and experiences on what being a contemporary Elvis fan felt like, and how the process of learning about him and consuming pop culture has evolved in the years since, and in a fun sidebar, Justin even gets him to discuss his brief stint in the mid-60s managing and producing a regionally successful indie record for a local garage band that featured the promoter later known for discovering Prince. 

In lieu of trivia, Gurdip jumps in to present **his** list of favorite Elvis songs by year, then for Song of the Week, he happily gets his hands dirty, digging into "Petunia the Gardener's Daughter" from the Frankie and Johnny soundtrack. Then, Justin pleads a case for everyone to revisit the hugely overlooked 1973 Stax recording, "Love Song of the Year," released two years later as an album cut on the Promised Land LP, and then promptly forgotten about.

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/Listener Feedback

9:50: Gurdip's List of Favorite Songs by Year

27:30: Main Topic

1:43:30 SotW: Petunia the Gardener's Daughter

1:54:40 SotW: Love Song of the Year

Justin and Bec certainly INTENDED to take things light this week going for an "easy" topic spotlighting their favorite Elvis songs by year recorded, but you know how it goes... they begin breaking down the performances as they go and it turns into a fun exploration across the entire spectrum of Elvis's career.

For Song of the Week, Justin gives attention to another great but underappreciated 1969 album cut off the Back in Memphis album, "A Little Bit of Green," while Bec fondly remembers Angela Lansbury's turn as Sarah Lee Gates by picking "Beach Boy Blues" from 1961's Blue Hawaii.

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

6:05: Listener Feedback

19:50: Trivia

32:30 Main Topic

1:58:00 SotW: A Little Bit of Green

2:07:10 SotW: Beach Boy Blues

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

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.