TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast

TCBCast 377: The Most Divisive Elvis Bootleg Ever


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Gurdip, Bec and Justin decided to crack open a time capsule from the early 1980s and inside sat the album that has become possibly the most divisive Elvis bootleg ever released. Intended as a spoof of cash-grab compilations of "hit" Elvis movie songs by RCA in the 1970s, an infamously crass compilation bringing together some of the "worst" of Elvis's film songs at first glance seems to be going for mere shock value, but the contents of the album and the story behind its compilation do reveal in-jokes from deep within the Elvis fandom at the time.

The question then becomes, did the jokes reach their intended target or did they fly over everyone's head and simply pile on more mockery and add to the problem? Justin reflects on Greil Marcus's contemporary account of the album from 1985, which frames it as part of an ironic, playful punk recontextualization amid a cultural reckoning with Elvis as an object of mass attention, but also ponders whether that read misses the forest for the trees. And what of the songs themselves? Do such songs as "US Male" and "Beach Boy Blues" deserve to be labeled as among the "greatest sh*t"? We discuss it all within!

For Song of the Week, Gurdip blasts through the breezy "Carny Town" from Roustabout, while Justin meditates on "We Call on Him," the inspirational number written explicitly for Elvis released as an Easter single in 1968.

If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy. If you'd like to support us another way, please drop a positive review on your favorite podcast platform!

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TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan PodcastBy Justin Gausman

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