Eddie Carlton- It Will Be Done

“I guess the climax came when Elvis showed up at our trailer one night; it was 2:00 A.M. and pouring down rain, and he’s standing in the doorway, looking like an old cowboy, rain pouring off his hat, just standing there with a loaf of bread in his hands! He told me he needed to go somewhere. ‘I need you to go with me.’ We ended up going to the house of this pharmacist back in Whitehaven that we knew.”

One of those rare tracks where the background singers are having as much fun as the lead.

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Hüsker Dü - I Apologize

“[Jackie Wilson] showed us a large bottle of salt tablets and then revealed his secret. Each night before a show, he’d swallow a handful of tablets, guzzle a few quarts of water, then go onstage. Once he got moving, the sweat would wash off him like rain. Soon Elvis started incorporating this trick… it depleted potassium and overtaxed the heart, but it produced one of Elvis’ favorite things: an instant result with minimal effort.”

My brother Jeff and I hold this song to be self-evident. This and “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes” by the Supremes are my favorite songs with the word “apologize” in them. Holy.

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Lift to Experience- Just As Was Told

“‘Yeah, all right,’ said a subdued Elvis, in Sergeant Jones’ account, and he led the soldiers in song. At the end everybody else stopped as he performed ‘Silent Night,’ singing ‘as if in a trance, totally oblivious’ to his surroundings. ‘Those going on pass didn’t interrupt. They simply walked silently by Elvis, touched his shoulder, and walked out the door. Not another word was spoken after the song until Elvis broke the spell. ‘Merry Christmas, everyone,’ he said. ‘Merry Christmas, Elvis!’ they replied in unison.’”

I guess the theme today was backing vocals, even though I get LtE’s backing vox confused with the Leslie cabinet. You still ought to hear it, despite my cloudiness.

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All excerpts from The Unmaking of Elvis Presley: Careless Love by Peter Guralnick.