Top of the best covers of the king of rock 'n' roll Elvis Presley
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Everyone has probably heard Elvis Presley's hits! However, despite his rich repertoire of over 700 songs, the King of Rock 'n' Roll did not write any of them himself... His co-writing was limited, but he was undoubtedly a master at choosing good songs. Presley, who was only 42 when he died on 16 August 1977, listened carefully to the songs suggested to him and had a superb flair... Today many people know him for hits such as "Hound Dog" and "Suspicious Minds", while some of his covers are often associated with the Beatles and The Carpenters. So: we've prepared for you ten of the most unexpected Elvis Presley covers that are definitely worth checking out. Let's start...
"Early Morning Rain" (Gordon Lightfoot).
"Early Morning Rain" is a 1966 song by singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot that was re-sung by Elvis Presley in 1972: his version features sparkling harmonica played flawlessly by Charles Ray McCoy, the musician's regular sideman.
Lightfoot wrote this song about his homesickness, which prompted him to go to the Los Angeles airport to watch the planes on a rainy day and think about his home in Canada...
"When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano" (The Ink Spots)
Elvis Presley and jazz drummer Gene Krupa, accompanied by his orchestra (including singer Anita O'Day), recorded only one song, the romantic "When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano"...
The love song, written by Leon Rene in 1940, tells the story of the annual spring return of the rock swallows to Mission San Juan Capistrano (Orange, California). When Presley was a boy, it was a well-known hit by The Ink Spots, which was regularly played on the radio.
Elvis' recording was made in 1960: we can also hear backing vocals from his then girlfriend, actress Anita Wood.
"Too Much Monkey Business" by Chuck Berry.
Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley were mutual admirers (Berry described Elvis, nicknamed "The King," as "the greatest man who ever lived...")
Presley pleased Berry once: during a Million Dollar Quartet jam session, in 1956, Presley sang three parts of "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man," Berry's single released on Chess Records.
https://youtu.be/UiNDijBtt8M
Elvis also performed the composition "Too Much Monkey Business", and a later version of "Johnny B Goode". In the mid-1970s, the King of Rock and Roll recorded a cover of "Promised Land"...
"Waiting At The End Of The Road" (The Dixie Jubilee Singers)
One of the oldest songs Elvis Presley ever performed was a dynamic version of Irving Berlin's "Waiting At The End Of The Road", which was written specifically for a 1929 theatre show starring The Dixie Jubilee Singers. Presley recorded his version in 1956. Presley loved the compositions of the writers of the Great American Songbook era: he also did a cover of Cole Porter's "True Love"!
"Solitaire" (Carpenters).
The dynamic ballad "Solitaire" was written by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody. The most famous version of this piece was released in 1975 by the duo The Carpenters. However, as Karen Carpenter herself tells it, she never really liked the song.....
Elvis Presley recorded about ten takes of "Solitaire" in October 1976 at The Jungle Room in Graceland, Memphis, before releasing a version he liked that same year...
"Steamroller Blues" (James Taylor).
"Steamroller Blues" was a parody that James Taylor wrote for his 1970 album Sweet Baby James.
"It was a joke," Taylor said in 2015. "There were a lot of white guys playing blues and college students singing Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, and I thought it was funny. 'Steamroller' was supposed to be a takeoff..."
In the 1970s, Elvis Presley added "Steamroller Blues" to his concert repertoire and included it on his live album Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite. Presley clearly loved the blues, as he did covers of songs by Jimmy Reed, Lowell Fulson, and Willie Dixon...
"Yesterday" (The Beatles)
Many of the world's best-selling artists have done covers of The Beatles' hit song "Yesterday," and Elvis Presley is no exception.....
The song was recorded by Presley for a live album in 1970. His brief introduction consisted of the words "my version of 'Yesterday'..." before showing the audience his take on The Beatles' famous heartbreak hit. Presley also recorded the classic "Hey Jude".
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" by Hank Williams.
Few country stars have managed to write something romanticised and insightful... But Hank Williams has clearly succeeded!
When Elvis Presley recorded a live version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" in 1973 in Hawaii, he said:
"I'd like to sing a song that is probably the saddest song I've ever heard..."
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Simon & Garfunkel)
"When I first heard Elvis' rendition of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water,' it was incredible!" said Paul Simon. "I thought to myself, 'How the hell can I compete with that?"'"
Presley recorded his version of the Simon & Garfunkel classic in 1970, and it became a staple of his live performances for the next seven years. Presley performed the poignant version at what turned out to be his last live performance: at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis on 26 June 1977...
"I Shall Be Released" by Bob Dylan.
"When I first heard Elvis Presley's voice, I just knew I wasn't going to work for anyone and no one was going to be my boss. Hearing him for the first time was like getting out of jail...," said Bob Dylan.
Presley was a fan of Dylan, and in 1971 recorded versions of his popular anthems, such as "Blowin' In The Wind" and "I Shall Be Released."...
