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The
passing of Johnny Cash sparked deserved tributes from a number of Elvis related
web sites, and was also discussed amongst fans on the various message boards and
newsgroups. Many fans commented on the four excellent albums in the ‘American
Recordings’ series that Johnny had released in recent years, and speculated on
whether or not Elvis would have followed a similar path musically had he lived
longer.
Whilst we’ll never know
whether Elvis would have covered songs by artists such as U2, Nick Cave, Depeche
Mode, or Nine Inch Nails, we do know that he covered many well known
contemporary songs whilst he was alive, and like Johnny Cash, if he thought a
song was good, he would record it, irrespective of whether it was old or new, or
considered fashionable or unfashionable.
With this mind, and as a tribute from this site to the late great Johnny Cash, I’ve compiled a collection of Elvis recordings that fit Johnny’s ‘American’ concept to give some idea of what such a project might have been like:
Elvis originally recorded
“Mystery Train” at Sun Studios in Memphis in July of 1955, whilst “Tiger
Man” was recorded during the ‘sit down’ shows recorded for the NBC TV
Special in June 1968. Elvis combined the two songs into a medley during his
opening Las Vegas season in August 1969, and during some later concerts he would
refer to “Tiger Man” (which was a hit for Rufus Thomas on the Sun label) as
his “second record”, leaving fans to speculate whether Elvis might have
recorded the song post 1968 during his time with Sun Records.
I’ve included this medley
here as there is an obvious connection between Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Sun
Records, and also because Johnny did re-record some of his earlier hits for the
‘American’ sessions, so it seems fitting to include a good later performance
of a Presley classic here.
Although Johnny Cash was an
excellent songwriter, he often recorded material penned by other artists, and he
was one of the first people to record and praise the work of Bob Dylan. Elvis
also covered a couple of Dylan songs, and this May 1966 recording of “Tomorrow
Is A Long Time” proved that whilst Elvis may have been tied to his Hollywood
movie contracts at the time, he hadn’t lost sight of current trends.
Surprisingly, Elvis never
officially recorded a Cash original, although he did perform a live medley of
“Folsom Prison Blues” and “I Walk The Line” during the midnight show at
the International Hotel, Las Vegas on August 14, 1970, and a rehearsal version
of “Ghost Riders In The Sky” was taped during the same year. Jerry Reed who
also penned “Guitar Man” wrote “A Thing Called Love”, and the song was a
big hit for Johnny Cash in the early seventies, hence it’s inclusion here.
Elvis’ version was recorded in May 1971, and originally included on the 1972
gospel album “He Touched Me”.
Whilst Elvis covered a number
of songs written by fellow rock ‘n’ rollers such as Carl Perkins and Little
Richard in the ‘50’s, this version of Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land”
was not recorded until December 1973 at Stax Studios in Memphis. Now backed by
his own TCB band, this track had a considerably different sound to Elvis’
‘50’s rockers, and provides a great example of how Elvis might have
approached additional rock material in later years using different musicians,
and modern recording techniques.
Johnny Cash recorded an
excellent cover of Neil Diamond’s “Solitary Man” for “American #3”,
and Elvis also covered a couple of Neil’s songs during his career. “Sweet
Caroline” was one of the highlights of the “On Stage, February 1970”
album, and also featured in the documentary “Elvis – That’s The Way It
Is”, and is undoubtedly Elvis’ best known Neil Diamond cover. However,
“And The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind” produced an equally good performance
from Elvis, during one of the most productive recording sessions of his career,
in Memphis in 1969, and I think it’s feasible that Elvis would have recorded
more songs from the pen of Neil Diamond had he lived longer.
Johnny Cash covered a number
of folk songs, and Elvis did likewise during 1971. This March 1971 recording was
one of two Gordon Lightfoot compositions that was committed to tape, the other
being “Early Morning Rain”. Again this was an indication that Elvis was
wiling to embrace current trends, but as the colonel wanted him to record new
Christmas and Gospel collections during the same year, the Elvis folk album
never materialised, and the recordings were subsequently spread over numerous
releases. This track was originally issued on the 1973 album “Elvis”.
Elvis recorded this country
song in Nashville in June 1970, and during one of the early takes he did adopt a
traditional country arrangement. However, by the time the master take was
completed, Elvis had transformed the song into a harder edged country rock
performance, which was driven along by some excellent guitar playing from James
Burton. Just as he had done during his early days at the Sun recording studios
back in the ‘50’s Elvis had re-constructed what was essentially a country
song, and this new interpretation of a well known song displayed here is
certainly in keeping with Johnny Cash’s ‘American’ concept
Both Johnny Cash and Elvis
recorded songs by Kris Kristofferson during their careers, and it’s well
documented that Elvis liked Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down”,
and was keen to record the song. Unfortunately, the publishing issues that had
such a negative effect on Elvis’ recording career during later years prevented
him from recording the song, and it became a hit for Johnny Cash, who recorded
his own very fine rendition. “For The Good Times” is one of the
Kristofferson songs that Elvis did record, and the original March 1972 studio
performance is included here.
This Joe South number was
recorded live in Las Vegas in February of 1970, and it’s easy to see why the
song appealed to Elvis. The gospel tinged lyrics, especially the line, “there
but for the grace of God go you and I”, is a theme that runs through many of
the songs recorded by Elvis, and the same could be said of much of the material
written and recorded by Johnny Cash. Both Elvis and Johnny never forgot their
upbringing or their backgrounds and this was reflected in their work.
Gospel music was obviously
important to Elvis and Johnny, and both recorded a number of gospel albums
during their respective careers. Both artists would also include the odd gospel
number on what was otherwise a collection of secular songs, and Johnny continued
to do this with his ‘American’ albums. “We Call On Him” is one of
Elvis’ lesser know gospel performances, which was recorded in Nashville in
September 1967. The song was newly written, rather than traditional, when it was
originally recorded, and as Elvis continued to record modern gospel songs during
the seventies, I think it’s reasonable to assume that this trend would have
continued.
This moral of this song is
that material possessions are not everything, and they certainly count for
nothing in the end. Elvis’ powerhouse performance of this song during the 1969
Memphis sessions suggested that he understood this better than most people,
having experienced both poverty, and fame and fortune and the trappings that
came with it. The sentiments expressed in the song were also echoed in many of
the songs written and recorded by Johnny Cash, which is why I have included it
here.
Many artists have recorded
songs from The Beatles songbook, and Elvis and Johnny Cash were amongst them.
There’s a fine cover of John Lennon’s “In My Life” on Johnny’s fourth
‘American’ album, which sounds particularly poignant having been recorded by
a man at the end of his life, rather than a man in his mid twenties, which John
Lennon was when he wrote and recorded the song. Elvis seemed to favour the
ballads penned by Paul and George, and a version of George Harrison’s
“Something” was originally included in Elvis’ “Aloha From
Hawaii” concert in January 1973. Elvis had first performed the song live
during August 1970, and the original live master from 1970, which is superior to
the better-known 1973 recording, is included here.
Most rock purists would cite
Jerry Lee Lewis’ piano driven 1957 Sun recording of this song as the
definitive version, and whilst I wouldn’t disagree with this, Elvis’ own
version recorded some thirteen years later in September 1970, clearly
illustrated his unique ability to bring something new to a recording made famous
by somebody else. Whilst this was a fine rock ‘n’ roll performance it
sounded considerably different to the rock ‘n’ roll recordings Elvis cut in
the ‘50’s. Jerry Lee’s piano arrangement was ignored in favour of the
rhythm of Jerry Carrigan on drums and Norbert Putnam on bass, and Elvis produced
an updated version of a ‘50’s classic that had as much in common with the
music of Jim Morrison as it did with Elvis' ‘50’s contemporaries. Had Elvis
took this one stage further and covered say “Roadhouse Blues”, I’m sure
the results would have been equally as impressive.
Johnny Cash performed this
Hank Williams song as a duet with Nick Cave on his fourth ‘American’ album,
and whilst the approach was quite different to the one taken by Elvis when he
recorded his own version during the “Aloha From Hawaii” concert in January
1973, the effect was exactly the same. The performances of both artists conveyed
the emotions expressed in the song perfectly, and left the listener in no doubt
that to both Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash; this Hank Williams lyric meant much
more than simply words printed on a page.
When introducing this song in
Las Vegas in February 1970, Elvis acknowledged that it already been recorded by
“several different people”, but this didn’t stop him from adding that
unique Presley quality to his own interpretation that made it seem as though the
song had been written just for him. You could certainly say the same about a
number of Johnny Cash recordings, and like Elvis, Cash would not shy away from
recording a song regardless of how many additional versions had already been
issued by other artists. His recordings of songs such as “Memories Are Made Of
This”, “That Lucky Old Sun” and “Danny Boy” on his own ‘American
albums are testament to this.
Elvis’ own version of this
song is one of his best ‘70’s ballad performances, but as it was originally
issued as the flip side to “Separate Ways” in 1972, this left the door open
for Willie Nelson to record his own hit version of the song in October 1981, and
Willie’s version is also well known to the general public. There’s an
obvious connection here as Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash performed together, and
also as members of quartet The Highway Men, and for this reason I thought this
song would be the ideal choice to close Elvis’ ‘American’ album.
Elvis - American Recordings - Cover Art
This article is dedicated to the memory of John R. Cash 1932- 2003
