Things got off to a shaky start when RCA's mobile recording truck broke down 150 miles outside Memphis, and had to be towed to Graceland. The task of converting Elvis' Polynesian-themed den into a workable recording studio was also a problem, but technical issues were finally overcome and recording began on the evening of February 2nd 1976.

By now, Elvis sought distraction whenever he could find it, and that included during his recording sessions, which at one time had been almost sacred to him. He also took his time getting to the recording sessions even though they were taken place in his own home, "he would book a session for six o'clock and turn up at two in the morning, and we were tired" remembers James Burton.

The first track to make the "Moody Blue", album was a re-working of George Jones's 1962 country hit, "She Thinks I Still Care", written by Memphian Dickey Lee, needless to say the heartbreak lyrics fitted perfect with Elvis' own downbeat mood at the time. Several different arrangements were attempted before they opted to revert to the slow tempo of Jones's original. The track was to first see the light on the B-side of an Elvis single, it's A-side was the country rocker, "Moody Blue", recorded two days later, which drew such a strong performance from Elvis that producer Felton Jarvis promptly set it aside as a future single.

By the end of the third day of recording, however, so little useable material was in the can, Jarvis was forced to ask RCA for more money...another $30,000. Jarvis was hardly to blame, Elvis' general disinterest may be gauged from the fact that on the second night of recording he regularly broke of and retired to his bedroom , engaged the musicians in discussions about numerology and gospel music, and talked them through his collection of police badges. On the last day of the sessions, February 8th, they didn't record at all. It would require a second set of recordings at Graceland to complete the Moody Blue LP. These weren't to start until after Elvis' October 1976 tour and this time around, his road band provided the backing.

The new sessions kicked off on 29th October with a stately reading of the Andrew Lloyd Webber / Tim Rice composition, "It's Easy For You", more heartbreak here, this song seemed to mirror Elvis' own life, Linda Thompson his girlfriend of four years would soon leave Graceland, he would have found great resonance in the lines such as, "I had a wife, and i had children, i threw them all away".

With "Way Down", the energy levels picked up, Elvis threw himself in to the song with verve and delivering a passionate vocal. The band were cooking by now and the rich vein of productivity they had continued with "Pledging My Love", a hit for one of rock 'n' roll's earliest stars, Johnny Ace, who accidently shot himself on Christmas day 1954.

Proceedings wound up the following day, while they waited for Elvis' arrival, the band worked up an energetic version of bassist Jerry Scheff's "There's A Fire Down Below", which Elvis seemed to like when he entered the room, however the momentum was soon lost when Elvis retired to his bedroom again, and instead Felton Jarvis had the band record backing for the song "He'll Have To Go", the much loved Jim Reeves standard from 1959. Later Elvis returned from his bedroom with a sub-machine gun, and jokingly announced he was going to shoot up the studio speakers, that put an end to the session for that night. With only six sides in the can, more recording sessions were scheduled, this time for January 1977, in Nashville. They never happened, Elvis made it as far as one of the hotels in the city before changing his mind and returning to Graceland. Subsequent requests by Jarvis for more recording time were fruitless...Elvis wasn't keen, and beside, Colonel Parker had lined up more touring for him. The luckless Jarvis had to scramble together the remaining material for the album from live dates, taking "Unchained Melody" and "Little Darlin" from 24th April in Ann Arbor and "If You Love Me (let me know)" from the following night show at Saginaw. A four live track was added "Let Me Be There" to complete the album, even though it had already appeared on the 1974 album "Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis", "Little Darlin" was a hit for The Gladiolas and the Diamonds in 1957, "If You Love Me" is a mid-tempo country track and Elvis seems to like the song and does a good job on it, "Unchained Melody"  was a classic song and Elvis' re-work is excellent.

Moody Blue took over a year to put together, and looking back i suppose it's not the best recordings of Elvis' career, though i think it could be seen as a fitting epitaph for the man he had become by 1977: tired, depressed, moody and bored, but as "Way Down" demonstrated, Elvis could still deliver a committed vocal performances and also put his stamp on classics like "Unchained Melody".

Despite the problems and challenges he had in later years, Elvis could still make amazing music as long as he could take a breath.

Locations:-

The Jungle Room, Graceland

Live Material:-

Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 24th April 1977
Civic Center, Saginaw, Michigan, 25th April 1977

Musicians:-

Elvis Presley (lead vocals, guitar, Piano)

James Burton (guitar)

Charlie Hodge (guitar, vocals)

Chip Young (guitar)

Alan Rush (guitar, vocals)

Weldon Myrick (steel guitar)

Jerry Scheff, Norbert Putnam (bass)

Denis Linde (bass, vocals)

Ronnie Tutt, Randy Cullers (drums)

Randy Cullers (percussion)

Farrell Morris (congas and timpani)

Glen D. Harding, David Briggs, Tony Brown (piano)

Bobby Emmons, Bobby Ogdin (electric piano)

Tony Brown (organ)

Shane Keister (moog synthesizer)

The Sweet Inspirations, Myrna Smith, Kathy Westmoreland, Sherrill Nielson, J.D. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet (vocals)

Joe Guercio & His Orchestra

Release Date:-

July 1977

Chart Position:-

US - 3

UK -