Elvis Vs Elvis – Quiet Loner Speaks

For October’s Glossop Record Club session, Quiet Loner (aka Matt Hill) presents two of his favourite albums – Elvis Presley’s ‘From Elvis In Memphis’ and Elvis Costello’s ‘King Of America’, which we’ll listen to in full from vinyl. Here’s why he chose them.

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In 1977, one Elvis died and another was born. As Presley finally succumbed to years of drug abuse, Costello released his debut album. In my mind these two artists are inextricably linked. Both have been huge influences on my own music. To me they share more than just a name. They mine the same seam  – country, soul, gospel and blues – all influence their respective styles. They even shared musicians. So here are two of my favourite albums from two of my favourite artists.

‘FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS’ by Elvis Presley (1969)

This album stems from a recording session that marked a milestone in Elvis Presley’s career. At Chips Moman’s American Studios in 1969, Elvis recorded in Memphis for the first time since 1955 and his days at Sun records. It took a lot to get him there.

His 1968 TV special had been the ‘comeback’ that relit the fire in his belly. Finally, Elvis was standing up to his manager, picking songs that he loved and shunning the Nashville and LA session studios. In just three weeks, Elvis made some of the greatest recordings of his career.

The singles culled from these sessions – Suspicious Minds, Don’t Cry Daddy, In the Ghetto – put him back at the top of the charts. ‘From Elvis from Memphis’, the first album released from these sessions, was by far his strongest LP for years.

‘KING OF AMERICA’ by The Costello Show (1986)

After a staggering run of eight albums in seven years, Elvis Costello decides to ditch his long-serving backing band – The Attractions – and try something new. Step forward Elvis Presley’s legendary TCB band.

The resulting album by The Costello Show, is a stunning collection of what would now be called Americana. Featuring some of the best songs of his career, Costello explores country, rockabilly, blues and jazz to create an album that puts him back in favour with the critics and gave him a confidence to follow his muse wherever it might take him.

Elvis channelled Elvis. And the results were stunning.

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Join us at Glossop Labour Club on Thursday 10th October at 8pm. Entry is free, although a donation to the club would be appreciated.

Full venue and travel details here – https://glossoprecordclub.wordpress.com/venue-and-travel-details/

 

October’s Glossop Record Club session – Elvis vs. Elvis

The next Glossop Record Club session is on Thursday 10th October, once again at Glossop Labour Club. The evening will be curated by local singer-songwriter Matt Hill, aka Quiet Loner, and he’ll be pitching Elvis Presley against Elvis Costello, playing an album by each on vinyl and in full. His chosen albums are Presley’s From Elvis In Memphis (1969) and Costello’s King Of America (1986). Plus there’ll be music relating to both artists throughout the session. Full details to follow.

Glossop Record Club session 1 – 1973 – What Happened…

Well. I think we can consider the first Glossop Record Club session to have been a success. About twenty people turned up, which is incredible, especially considering it was wet and blustery out. Even more incredible is that a few attendees came from out of town, including one who drove seventy miles just to be there! Now that’s what I call dedication.

It was great to see everyone listening and really giving the music their full attention. The labour club snug did indeed prove to be free from distraction as hoped (apart from the bar of course) and everyone seemed to be willing to put phones on silent or even turn them off. That’s a big ask in this day and age, so well done.

There was a real buzz about the place. Lots of great music, discussion and chat. Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions was the winner of the online poll (with David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Iggy & The Stooges close behind). The reel-to-reel machine garnered a lot attention. Brett entertained us with a selection of 1973 comedy songs by some very well known names (the Bruce Forsyth track has to be heard to be believed – funky and then some!). A few brought their own records along for the ‘free play’ section (we’ll let Bill off for deviating from the theme, as he had some cracking rock ‘n’ roll lps with him – the Jerry Lee Lewis track was quite something) and we got some great suggestions for future sessions too.

Here are a selection of the many positive comments posted on Twitter:

“good night, great to hear albums in their entirety”

“Strangely moving and lovely night“

“Great evening spent listening to two fantastic albums in all their analogue and vinyl glory. I do mean listening not hearing!”

“Great evening, thank you! Fab choices and good atmosphere – looking forward to October 10th”

And what about the chap who drove seventy miles? Well, he’s posted on his blog about his experience.

Everything about the session surpassed my expectations, so thank you all for making it a great evening. Can’t wait until October 10th. More about that soon.

Here’s what was played on the night:

FEATURED ALBUM

Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure (Island)

Side 1: Do The Strand/Beauty Queen/Strictly Confidential/Editions Of You/In Every Dream Home A Heartache

Side 2: The Bogus Man/Grey Lagoons/For Your Pleasure

My brother’s copy of For Your Pleasure, which he bought upon release and gave to me a few years later, but not before his cat had had a nibble at the sleeve.

POLL WINNER

Stevie Wonder – Innervisions (Tamla)

Side 1: Too High/Visions/Living For The City/Golden Lady

Side 2: Higher Ground/Jesus Children Of America/All In Love Is Fair/Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing/He’s Misstra Know-It-All

BRETT’S BRITISH COMEDY RECORDS

Bruce Forsyth – Lucretia Mac Evil (The Musical Side Of Bruce Forsyth, Pye)

The Barron Knights – Down By The Lazy River (Barron Knights, Tavern Records)

The Two Ronnies – Up Cat Pole Cat (Jehosophat and Jones, Philips)

Dick Emery – Didn’t I (Dick Emery Sings, Pye)

Jim Dale – The Peacemaker (This Is Me, Pye)

FREEPLAY

Jerry Lee Lewis – Mean Woman Blues (Live at the Star Club, Hamburg, Philips, 1964)

Herbie Hancock – Chameleon (Head Hunters, CBS)

David Bowie – Lady Grinning Soul (Aladdin Sane, RCA)

ZZ Top – Waitin’ For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago (Tres Hombres, Warner Bros)

Little Feat – Fat Man In The Bathtub (Dixie Chicken, Warner Bros)

James Brown – The Payback (The Payback, Polydor)

1973 REEL-TO-REEL MIXTAPE

Cozy Powell – Dance With The Devil

New York Dolls – Looking For A Kiss

Sly & The Family Stone – If You Want Me To Stay

Thin Lizzy – The Rocker

Neu! – Super

Frank White – Not Fade Away

Bob Dylan – Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

John Martyn – May You Never

The Isley Brothers – If You Were There

The Faces – Cindy Incidentally

The Rolling Stones – Star Star

Al Green – Here I Am (Come And Take Me)

Frank Zappa – Dirty Love

Alice Cooper – Generation Landslide

The Who – I’m One

John Cale – Macbeth

James Brown – The Boss

The Wailers – I Shot The Sheriff

Led Zeppelin – The Ocean

Listen to digital highlights.

1973… Gonna bring your records?

Just one week to go until the first Glossop Record Club session on Thursday 12th September at Glossop Labour Club from 8pm. No tickets required and entry is free (although a voluntary donation to the labour club would be a nice gesture).

We’ll be listening to two albums, on vinyl and in full. The theme is 1973 and the featured album is Roxy Music’s For Your Pleasure. Votes are still coming in for the second album we’ll play (if you haven’t voted yet or want to add your own 1973 album to the poll then please do so now). Stevie Wonder is currently leading the way, with Pink Floyd a close second. If you want to bring some of your own 1973 records down anyway, albums or singles, we’ll be having a ‘free play’ slot to bring the evening to close when we’ll play as many tracks from those records as we can.

I’m pleased to announce that Agnes Guano of The Downstairs Lounge blog takes the guest slot and will be playing a few British comedy records from our chosen year.

We’ll have suggestions sheets for people to give their ideas for future events and we’ll also be announcing details of the October session.

Here’s how the evening will (roughly) break down:

8.00-8.30 pm: 1973 reel-to-reel ‘mixtape’

8.30-9.15 pm: 1st album – Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure

9.15-9.25 pm: Break

9.25-9.40 pm: Guest slot – Agnes Guano’s 1973 comedy records

9.40-10.20 pm: 2nd album – vote winner

10:20-11.00 pm: ‘Free Play’ – as many songs as we can fit in before the night ends!

Venue and travel details have been added to the site: https://glossoprecordclub.wordpress.com/venue-and-travel-details/

Hope to see you there. Gonna bring your records?

SG