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(#20): One of the greatest missed opportunities of Elvis Presley's career, and I may have to blame manager Colonel Tom Parker for this, for his apparent need to overexpose Elvis as much as possible. This had been happening since late 1968, when RCA alternated new releases with budget albums on RCA's Camden label — but at least those albums contained previous unreleased songs or tracks that had been released as singles or on extended play albums.
In March 1972, Elvis had a very productive recording session at RCA's Hollywood studio from which came the rockin' #2 hit Burning Love, its B-side It's A Matter of Time, the second standalone single Separate Ways/Always On My Mind and other songs. These songs, plus selections from Elvis's excellent early 1972 Las Vegas shows, were set to be released on an album called Standing Room Only. Instead, the release of these songs were spread out over two budget albums with previously released songs, singles and a 1973 Elvis album that was originally to be called Fool.
By the way, all of these March 1972 songs are best heard on the new box set Sunset Boulevard, where they are remixed to such an extent that songs I previously thought were thoroughly ordinary gained some heft and changed my opinion of them completely.
As for Separate Ways, that's just a fantastic song no matter the mix in terms of an expression of regret over a failed relationship. And I'm shocked that the superior song, Always On My Mind, another sincere expression of regret, was on the B-side and didn't chart at all. The quality of the single is such that this should have been a double-sided top-10 hit. Standing Room Only was eventually released, but as part of the expensive Follow That Dream series. A less expensive CD, Burning Love, covers the same ground Standing Room Only would have, but includes the It's Only Love and I'm Leavin' singles. This is what should have been released in 1972.
Steamroller Blues (#17)- Elvis Presley's January 1973 Aloha From Hawaii special, broadcast live by satellite to Asian countries and then in April in the U.S., was a visual spectacular but a long way off vocal-wise from Elvis's 1969, 1970, and February 1972 Las Vegas concerts. RCA chose to release this James Taylor cover song from the concert as a single. It's big and bombastic, with horns that sound like they're passing gas. I never connected with this song — there's no real soul coming from Elvis, he's mainly bellowing. But it does sound great in surround sound (and I'm guessing the original quadraphonic) as the horns come from the back speakers, making you feel like you're in the audience in Honolulu.
Fool- This B-side to Steamroller Blues charted along with the A-side. But I'm not sure why. This song was one of the lesser quality products of the March 1972 sessions, though it also sounds better on the Sunset Boulevard box. Elvis sounds like he's struggling to convey soul, the musical structure is awkward and the lyrics, in terms of regret over a failed relationship, are far below the quality of Separate Ways and Always On My Mind. The song was also the lead track of the not great 1973 Elvis album (originally to be called Fool) that, to an extent scraped the bottom of the barrel of the 1971 and 1972 studio sessions, and only contained one song from the February 1972 Las Vegas concerts, It's Impossible.
Next time: Raised On Rock and other songs.