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

This week, Justin and Olivia wrap their discussion on the 2005 Broadway musical "All Shook Up" as they take a closer examination of the second act of the show as it flounders in its half-hearted attempts to make social commentary while still surprising with the inclusion of Elvis deep cuts like "Power of My Love," "I Don't Want To" and "There's Always Me" in its narrative.

From there, the duo hit their Songs of the Week. Tying in with the musical's lead character Chad, a roving roustabout himself, Justin tackles the brief history behind the title theme to Elvis's 1964 film "Roustabout." Then Olivia goes on a wonderful deep dive into the symbolism and storied history of "La Paloma" as its Spanish composer Sebastián Iradier comes into contact with Cuban music, brings it back to Europe and writes a song that goes on to explode in popularity around the world, becoming a standard in Mexico and also somewhat associated with Hawaii, being brought to the islands by Europeans - leading to its further adaptation as "No More" for Elvis in "Blue Hawaii" and "Aloha from Hawaii."

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.

Olivia & Justin look back at a unique event in Elvis's posthumous legacy from 20 years ago - the EPE-endorsed 2005 Broadway show that utilized Elvis's music to tell the story of Chad, a 1950s motorcycling roustabout who travels from town to town bringing rock and roll and romance to small town America, Natalie, the mechanic who falls in love with him, and the numerous other characters brought to life in this show penned by writer Joe DiPietro.

Crammed to bursting with more Elvis hits than you can shake a stick at, "All Shook Up" received middling reviews on Broadway at a time not particularly generous to jukebox musicals, yet has since become a standard for smaller theatre companies and schools to license... but how does the story really stack up, either to other musicals, or to Elvis's own musical films? Is Elvis's legacy represented well? Is his music used effectively? We sat down with a filmed version of the original Broadway production, the script and soundtrack album to try to figure it all out.

We ran a bit long on Song of the Week so this is being split across two parts, breaking right in the middle of the discussion where the intermission would be in the musical itself. 

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.

In this extra beefy episode, Ryan and Justin get together to discuss and rank Elvis's major live albums, from 1969's "In Person" to the posthumous "Elvis in Concert"

For Song of the Week, Justin explores the history and original Mexican song "La Golondrina," behind "She Wears My Ring," which Elvis recorded in 1973 and released on 1974's "Good Times" album.

Ryan then goes for the biggest SotW he's ever tackled on the show, looking into the iconic "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," including Elvis's concert performances across the 1970s, and the story of the original by The Righteous Brothers.

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. If you'd like to support us another way, please drop a positive review on your favorite podcast platform!

Timestamps: (Just in case - this one's pretty big!)

Intro & News: 0:00

Main Topic: 9:10

She Wears My Ring: 1:21:35

You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling: 1:49:10

Gurdip & Justin discuss their thoughts on the NBC special "Christmas at Graceland," which aired Wednesday, November 29, 2023, hosted by Riley Keough and featuring musical acts including Lainey Wilson, Lana Del Rey, Kane Brown, Alanis Morrisette, Post Malone, The War and Treaty, John Legend and Kacey Musgraves as well as a handful of surprise cameos. 

Gurdip is out unexpectedly so special guest Darin Evans joins Justin once again, this time for a loose, lighthearted (and unexpectedly beefy) ranking of all of the Elvis movie title songs, from Love Me Tender to Change of Habit; weighing the songs themselves, how they're used in their respective movies, and how well they represent the films they're from. 

The team also react to listener feedback regarding the recent Elvis and Country Music miniseries as well as recent news including the Christmas at Graceland lineup (airing November 29!!) and Dolly Parton's new Elvis-themed duet with Ronnie McDowell, and Darin gives his thoughts after having seen "Priscilla" - FYI, Justin has also finally seen "Priscilla" and his initial impressions bonus episode with John Michael Heath of EAP Society is up over at the TCBCast Patreon.

For Song of the Week, due to Darin jumping in at the last minute since Gurdip had an unexpected emergency at the day job, Justin's the only one with a song of the week, but brings the funky "Find Out What's Happening" from Elvis' 1973 Stax sessions.

Timestamps

0:00 - News & Listener Feedback

31:30 - Main Topic

2:01:20 - SOTW: Find Out What's Happening

If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting the show over 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/movie history enthusiast.

On this episode, Justin is once again joined by Chris Jones, co-host of the Hall of Songs podcast (HallofSongs.com), for a discussion on Elvis' various Grammy awards nominations and wins as well as how he fared in other music industry award ceremonies and briefly touching on which major genre Halls of Fame Elvis has been inducted into. With Chris' experience on their show having to nominate the best songs of given years, the guys have a ton of fun digging into what else was getting nominated, what Elvis was up against, and pondering where else he potentially could have been nominated for the big awards.

Then, for Song of the Week, Chris uncorks one of the big ones: Elvis' cover of Chuck Berry's iconic rock and roll anthem, "Johnny B. Goode." Yes, you read that right, somehow it had not yet been covered as a Song of the Week! Finally, Justin close out the show by admitting that he's really come around on Elvis' version of James Taylor's satirical blues cut, "Steamroller."

Please be sure to check out Hall of Songs, which Chris co-hosts with Tim Malcolm, again at HallofSongs.com or on your podcast platform of choice!

Gurdip and Justin dig into the September 1967 and January 1968 sessions that brought country singer-songwriter Jerry Reed into Elvis' circle for a brief moment, until business interests got in the way. Through spread out across various singles, soundtracks as bonus tracks, and budget compilations, these sessions collectively show Elvis already embracing material that returns him to his blues and country roots, leading him to his comeback. Justin also provides some context on Jerry Reed's early career before his breakout hit "Guitar Man," famously covered by Elvis during these sessions. 

For Song of the Week, Justin takes the opportunity of covering these sessions to talk about "The Prisoner's Song," a deeply important pivotal 1924 recording in more ways than one, which Elvis, Jerry and the band attempted to comedically subvert during these sessions, only for their jam to have been partly recorded by Felton Jarvis, surfacing decades later on bootlegs re-titled as "Wings of an Angel", revealing in hindsight a disappointing moment of casual carelessness on Elvis' behalf. Gurdip, on the other hand, spotlights the fantastic #1 1958 hit "Hard Headed Woman" from the King Creole soundtrack... a hit that barely features in the movie it's from!

If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting the show over 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/movie history enthusiast.

Gurdip & Justin react to the virtual holiday duets with Pentatonix and Kane Brown released within the last week or so, briefly discuss the leaks of emails sent from Lisa Marie to Sofia Coppola, and dig into Songs of the Week.

Gurdip selects the bubbly "It's A Wonderful World" from 1964's "Roustabout" while Justin goes deep on the obscure 1960 Elvis home recording "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano" - not just songwriter Leon Rene and the famous hit version by the Ink Spots, but also the actual event of the Return of the Swallows observed each year at the Mission San Juan de Capistrano. 

If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting the show over 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/movie history enthusiast.

In the finale to the epic Elvis and country music miniseries, Justin and guest host Garrett Cash briskly fly over nearly four and a half decades of time, tracing Elvis' impact and influence on country music, starting with several of the tributes paid to him immediately following his death and his posthumous country hits, including the success of the 1981 "Guitar Man" country overdub project and its proposed follow-up, cut short by the untimely passing of producer Felton Jarvis.

They follow the progression of country from "urban cowboy" to "neo-traditional" in the late 1980s-early 1990s, as artists begin paying homage directly to Elvis following milestone anniversaries marking his passing, with tribute albums, movie soundtracks and direct covers, and the guys try to reckon with the induction of Elvis into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the CMA's backhanded recognition of his influence and importance.

The late 90s give Justin and Garrett a chance to talk about country at its pop crossover peak of the 20th Century, with acts like Shania Twain, The Chicks and Garth Brooks all reaching mainstream audiences just the way Elvis did, as well as how innovations in technology and changes in regulations affected the country industry, including Brooks' successful attempts to overtake Elvis as the best selling solo artist in the United States.

Moving into the 21st century, there's an aside to listen to some of virtual duets on the 2008 "Christmas Duets" album, which featured all prominent women country artists adding their vocals alongside Elvis, and then ponder what Elvis' career and rockabilly/rock'n'roll music can teach us about the 2010s "bro country" fad. Lastly, they briefly examine how Taylor Swift rose from the field of country music to become the Elvis equivalent of the current generation; and to connect to the themes we've been developing throughout the series, they even take a look at the unexpected roots of perhaps the biggest hit in country music this very month - one that has now crossed into the pop mainstream.

You can find more of Garrett on "The Beat! With Garrett Cash" on SoundCloud at: https://soundcloud.com/garrett-cash-635212819

As well as on the Let It Roll Podcast miniseries "Holy Roll" at: https://letitrollpodcast.substack.com/p/let-it-roll-with-garrett-cash 

This is not remotely comprehensive or in any order whatsoever but among some of the key resources that we found useful for this 5th episode are:

Ken Burns' Country Music - Documentary, Book & Soundtrack

How Nashville Became Music City USA by Michael Kosser

The Garth Factor by Patsi Bale Cox

Orion: The Man Who Would Be King (Documentary, Glimmer Films)

Pure Country (Movie, Warner Bros. Pictures)

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/blogs/our-country/blake-shelton-infuriates-traditionalists-grandpa-baiting-comments-215927626.html

https://www.npr.org/2009/08/20/112056043/without-further-ado-songstress-tracy-chapman-returns

Other Recommended Resources:

The Encyclopedia of Country Music by The Staff of The Country Music Hall of Fame

Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music by Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann

MUSIC PLAYLISTS: Note: neither playlist is complete for everything included in the series as some tracks do not exist on one platform, the other, or both. The YouTube playlist was compiled while editing so includes some songs not ultimately included, while the Spotify playlist was done afterwards.

YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg-DEia9bCgYw0crdiUuT6x41ooG2wyKk

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7m4mB4DlTIlfwNKIL1Rs8K?si=5be5b9c064374e37 

Thank you to all of our amazing TCBCast Patreon supporters. If you enjoyed this miniseries, please consider supporting the show over 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/movie history enthusiast.

Part 5 of the Elvis and Country Music miniseries brings the curtain down on the 1970s. Justin and Garrett Cash begin by discussing the state of pop music and country-pop crossovers in the '70s and the history of Country Music Month before stopping off at Stax Studios in Memphis as Elvis lays down the tracks that would comprise the albums "Raised on Rock," "Good Times" and "Promised Land" and those accompanying albums' singles.

1974 is a pit stop to discuss the country industry backlash to Olivia Newton-John and Elvis' live covers of her iconic country hits, on the way to the "Today" album, which reflected more contemporary and diverse country sounds in a way that "Elvis Country" had not.

Finally, we arrive in 1976 and the guys try to pick up the pieces of the Jungle Room sessions and the of-the-era pop arrangements slathered over the country songs featured on "From Elvis Presley Boulevard" and "Moody Blue" before ending on - what else? The final two songs Elvis Presley ever sang on this earth.

Next week, alongside the finale exploring Elvis' posthumous country legacy, we will be releasing both YouTube and Spotify playlist with as many songs featured on this series as possible. Stay tuned to our social media pages for details. This series would not be possible without the support of TCBCast Patreon backers, thank you to all of our patrons!

You can find more of Garrett on "The Beat! With Garrett Cash" on SoundCloud at: https://soundcloud.com/garrett-cash-635212819

As well as on the Let It Roll Podcast miniseries "Holy Roll" at: https://letitrollpodcast.substack.com/p/let-it-roll-with-garrett-cash 

This is not remotely comprehensive or in any order whatsoever but among some of the key resources that we found useful for this 5th episode are:

Ken Burns' Country Music - Documentary, Book & Soundtrack

Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick

Elvis Presley: A Life in Music by Ernst Jorgensen

How Nashville Became Music City USA by Michael Kosser

https://www.npr.org/2007/02/18/7484160/the-conservative-evolution-of-country-music

https://www.goldminemag.com/articles/the-happiest-man-alive-ivory-joe-hunter

https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/olivia-newton-john-played-a-pivotal-role-in-country-music-rip/