365 Days #228 - Gone But Not Forgotten: Elvis Tribute Song-Poems (mp3s)

MP3:

Side 1: Song Title - Lyricist (Vocalist)
01 The Legend Of Elvis Presley - Mary E. Mathias (Gina Val) (2:44)
02 Elvis Is Truly Home - C.H. Lewellen (Jim Ward) (3:30)
03 Dear Lord, Please Take Care Of Him - Cora A. Munson (Jim Ward) (2:09)
04 Elvis' Last Song To You - Art Zettergreen (Matt Vincent) (2:50)
05 Elvis Presley - Pauline Munsell (Jaye Pauley) (2:16)
06 Mansion To Mansion - O.B. Franks (Matt Vincent) (2:32)
07 When Elvis Left Graceland - George A. Mees (Matt Vincent) (2:53)
08 To Our King - June C. Glass (Jaye Pauley) (3:12)

Side 2: Song Title - Lyricist (Vocalist)
09 E.L.V.I.S. - Frances C. Jenkins (Jaye Pauley) (3:31)
10 The King Of Rock N Roll - Deborah Dodd (Jim Ward) (2:54)
11 The King - Marie Mcintosh (Gina Val) (2:21)
12 The King Without A Crown - Margaret A. Weigie (Matt Vincent) (2:23)
13 Elvis Was The Biggest - John Townsend (Jim Ward) (2:30)
14 Forever In Our Hearts - Betty Barkley (Jim Ward) (2:53)
15 Letter To Elvis - Fernn Jenkins (Jaye Pauley) (2:37)

August 16 marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, so let's mark the occasion the 365 Project way: with some song-poems recorded as a tribute to The King.

"Gone But Not Forgotten" is a collection of sappy country songs with lyrics sent in by regular folks who paid their hard-earned bucks to Nashville, TN-based Royal Master Records to have their poems set to music by staff composers Jim Ward (who also sang) and Alex Zanetis. Almost every song is the same - mournful country ballads whose lyrics, sung with grave solemnity, declare Elvis to be the world's greatest and most beloved entertainer who will live in our hearts forever, though he now sings with the Lord's choir, etc.

Although this album isn't listed in the usually thorough American Song-Poem Music Archives, three other Elvis tribute albums on Royal Master are. Apparently, Presley's death made at least one song-poem studio's cash registers sing a happy tune.

What is especially unusual about this album is that fact that pictures of the lyricists are featured on the cover! And what pictures they are. It's why I included the song written by Frances Jenkins - I figured anyone who sees her portrait in the back cover scan (the woman with the enormous white wig) will want to get to know this woman a little better.

"E.L.V.I.S." and "Mansion To Mansion" are representative of much of the album. But "Elvis Was The Biggest Thing" breaks with the format, and is the better for it. The usual slick country band sound is replaced with a demo-like solo piano backing, making the already awkward lyrics seem even more clumsy. It's a lovely piece of musical naivete.

- Contributed by: Mr. Fab

Images: Front Cover, Back Cover

Media: LP
Album: Gone But Not Forgotten
Label: Royal Master Records
Credits: Music by Jim Ward & Alex Zanetis

Comments

[Dynovideo]

The king may be gone, but he is not forgotten. Here is an Elvis video jukebox:
http://www.dynovideo.com/elvis.html

Enjoy!

[Bill Farrar]

Please post the entire album. Three songs are not enough!

[Jon]

Give us the rest, please!
Jon

[illlich]

HOLY SH!T-- most unbelievable hair-do ever. Wig? or real?

My Elvis story: In college a friend gave me a velvet Elvis. I hung it in my dorm for a year. Then at graduation, I carried it during the procession, and when the president of the school handed me my diploma (worst money I ever spent) I handed him the velvet Elvis. Hilarious.

You can't get new velvet Elvis's anymore (thanks to the litigation of the Presley family), but the image of that velvet Elvis I owned is still burned in my head. I could see very clearly that it was made from a stencil, spray-painted onto the "velvet." Well, recently I was at a flea market and was admiring some velvet "Native American" paintings (Indian braves on horses, on foot, hunting, etc.)-- one was a "squaw" looking wistfully into the sky, and there in the sky was the ghost of her Indian brave, and his face looked very familiar-- IT WAS THE ELVIS STENCIL retooled as an Indian warrior ghost!

[Brandon]

yes. you are killing us. the brilliance is manifest. the time is past due. so far past due that the time is probably up. but thats ok. hit us with the rest. we won't hit back. we will be too crippled by the brilliance that is past due. maybe too past due. so past due that its likely....oh you get it.

[Brandon]

Ok, I just listened to em again. My record collection to hear Nick Cave sing "Elvis Was the Biggest Thing" in that really over-the-top melodramatic voice of his. Oh my god. I would just bury myself.

[Sammy Reed]

Thanks to all involved for putting the whole album on!

[Dr. Benway]

This is funny. About a week before, a friend digitized his collection of Elvis tribute records which he put on three CD's totaling 75 songs.

[Sammy Reed]

Leave it to Royal Master to have multiple songs on the same albums using the same backing music.
Songs I've found using the same music are:
"The Legend of Elvis Presley", "When Elvis Left Graceland", "The King of Rock N Roll" and "Forever in our Hearts"

"Elvis is Truly Home", "To Our King", and "E.L.V.I.S."

"Dear Lord, Please Take Care of Him" and "Letter to Elvis"

[Sammy Reed]

Egads - In "Forever in Our Hearts", Jim Ward sounds oddly like a reverend preaching a eulogy!

[shards]

I just heard a nice tribute song you may not have heard here:
http://whisperingpinespoetry.net/html/elvis_is_the_king.html

[MrFab]

Hey, an Elvis-might-still-be-alive-song! Thanks shards, that's awesome.

[Robert Fisher]

Hello Jim & Alex,

I would like to know if Royal Master Records would be interested in doing a new gospel cd with one of the singer songwriter artist on the album called "To Elvis: Love Still Burning" The album sold over 250,000 copies in the U.S.

If you want to see the album go to eil.com and type in the search area, Love still burning tribute. You can click on the photo to make it bigger.

I wrote and sang one of the songs called, What Will We Do Without You. I am still performing my website is robertfisherent.com The website is just started and will be completed within a month.

The email is not really a blog just a request to Royal Master Records.

Have a successful day,

Rob

[Stuart Shea]

The ASMPA archives haven't been updated for several years, unfortunately, since Phil Milstein stepped back from the project, so it's hard to know just what has been 'discovered' in the intervening years.

[G-MINUS-MARK]

Dr Benway's correct I did put them Elvis tribute 45's on a CD set...but I also did them as a podcast, here's the link

http://hasilatemyjerky.mypodcast.com/2008/08/ELVIS_HAS_LEFT_THE_BUILDING_THE_TRAILER_PARK_BEHIND_GRACELAND-133464.html

Enjoy!
Mark