Justin and Bec have compiled their lists of a half-dozen essential alternate studio takes apiece that every Elvis Presley fan, from total newbies to lifelong fans should hear!

For Song of the Week, Bec decides to spotlight Elvis's melancholy 1973 cover of Danny O'Keefe's folk-country hit song "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues" - but in the hosts' pre-show off-air chat, the duo realized that the song had a lot of overlap with the world of outlaw country, given that the bluesy "Charlie" would go on to be covered by the likes of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and others.

So Justin takes the opportunity to learn Bec some of the history of the burgeoning "outlaw" scene in Nashville in the early 1970s that led to Jennings' iconic "Honky Tonk Heroes" album, largely comprised of material by songwriter Billy Joe Shaver, including "You Asked Me To," which Elvis also recorded in late 1973.

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!

In this extra beefy episode, Ryan and Justin get together to discuss and rank Elvis's major live albums, from 1969's "In Person" to the posthumous "Elvis in Concert"

For Song of the Week, Justin explores the history and original Mexican song "La Golondrina," behind "She Wears My Ring," which Elvis recorded in 1973 and released on 1974's "Good Times" album.

Ryan then goes for the biggest SotW he's ever tackled on the show, looking into the iconic "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," including Elvis's concert performances across the 1970s, and the story of the original by The Righteous Brothers.

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!

Timestamps: (Just in case - this one's pretty big!)

Intro & News: 0:00

Main Topic: 9:10

She Wears My Ring: 1:21:35

You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling: 1:49:10

After spending a little time mulling over the post-release feelings surrounding "The Colonel & The King," Justin and Bec give their thoughts on the newest Elvis box set from Sony Legacy, Sunset Boulevard, which encompasses recordings and rehearsals done between 1970-1975 at RCA's Studio C in Hollywood. The duo reflect on the the successes and shortcomings of this era of box sets that seems to be drawing to a close. 

From Elvis in Nashville, Back in Nashville, Memphis and Sunset Boulevard mark a period where producer Ernst Jorgensen and mixer Matt Ross-Spang have seemingly reinterpreted Elvis's multi-track studio work in the 1970s through a more "rockist" lens; that is to say, one that promotes and emphasizes the perceived authenticity or purity of raw material recorded in-studio by Elvis and a core rhythm band without additional backing vocalists, strings and horns. 

Despite great, modern-sounding re-mixes, these box sets have also marred by inconsistent mix decisions that contradict the claims that you're only hearing what Elvis heard in the studio - selectively leaving some overdubs, removing contributions from musicians that were physically in the studio with Elvis, and much more. It's a thought-provoking discussion about what the goals were, what value these sets have added, and whether they have helped us understand Elvis's creative process any better.

For Song of the Week, Bec picks a childhood favorite, the sweet ballad "A Boy Like Me, A Girl Like You" from the Girls! Girls! Girls! soundtrack. Then, Justin uses "Good, Bad But Beautiful," an instrumental intended for Elvis to finish, to explore the fascinating circumstances of sessions, publishing, and release schedules that led to its recording at Stax in July of 1973... and Elvis's rejection of the Clive Westlake-penned song (later done by Shirley Bassey) at a late September 1973 session at his Palm Springs home, less than three weeks after having attempted to fire his manager. 

This is one you won't want to skip... because there's a special Elvis Week surprise in this Song of the Week segment, courtesy of our good friends Jamie and John over at the EAP Society. 

Baz Luhrmann has released a teaser promoting the world premiere date of September 6, 2025, for "EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert" by dropping newly restored clip of Elvis's 1970 rehearsal performance of "Oh Happy Day." Gone is the grainy, washed out video, in are pristine, sharp film, vibrant colors... but also new audio!

Elvis's vocal track sounds better than it ever has, which implies a new source & substantial clean-up, but the instrumentation screams "overdub." What is EPiC even going to be? Gurdip and Justin are on the case to discuss this tiny Elvis Week tease from Baz and his team.

Check it out for yourself on Luhrmann's social pages: https://www.instagram.com/p/DNQUuK4p9KZ/

Gurdip, Justin, Ryan, and Olivia all gathered round to discuss their thoughts on Peter Guralnick's new book, "The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World." Full spoilers within.

We recommend people buy it to make their own judgment. It is available through most major retailers - you can learn more about the book and where to buy it here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/peter-guralnick/the-colonel-and-the-king/9780316399449/

The TCBCast gang is waist-deep in preparing to discuss Peter Guralnick's new book but Gurdip and Justin snagged listener Kirsty Garland who currently runs the "Exposing Elvis Photoshops" pages on Facebook and Instagram for a quick episode.

They dig into why Kirsty decided to take on the effort of debunking and providing sources for badly digitally manipulated photos of Elvis that have seemed to proliferate in the wake of Elvis's resurgence in popularity, her thoughts on why so many pages create them, and also her feelings about the coming onslaught of AI Elvis images.

Naturally, there's also coverage about recent Elvis news - not just confirmation of the world premiere of Baz Luhrmann's EPiC at the Toronto International Film Festival in September (and its 100-minute runtime), but there finally is confirmation of the substance of London's immersive theatre experience "Elvis Evolution." Billed (and previewed in teaser videos) as containing the first AI deepfake Pepper's ghost-style hologram... this mystery train has seemingly gone wildly off the tracks in its first couple weeks, with reports of angry fans demanding refunds, being escorted out of shows, and the company behind the experience claiming to the BBC and other media outlets that they had "made clear when tickets went on sale" that there would be no AI Elvis in the way fans expected.

Tickets went on sale in October - here's an article from IQ Magazine from October 2024 of them talking about AI Elvis still being in the show: https://www.iqmagazine.com/2024/10/behind-the-scenes-of-elvis-evolution/

Here's the October 21, 2024, video of Layered Reality from their own YouTube channel showing off Work-in-Progress versions of the deepfake Elvis, implying inclusion in the show at the time tickets went on sale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7bPqwtHRp0

And finally, here's an article from as recently as July 2025 - right around the premiere - from Fast Company magazine, with new quotes and information not seen in any report or coverage prior to the premiere, directly from CEO & Head of Studio, still talking about AI Elvis being part of the show: https://www.fastcompany.com/91368335/inside-elvis-evolution-ai-and-immersive-tech-bring-the-kings-life-to-the-stage-in-london

Take from all that what you will.

No Songs of the Week this week - but we promise "The Colonel and the King" will be a doozy worth the wait!

Kirsty's pages can be followed at instagram.com/exposing_elvis_photoshops/ or searching for Exposing Elvis Photoshops on Facebook.

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.

After an intensive two week deep dive reassessing the work of producer Felton Jarvis, Justin comes up for air only to find one Gurdip Ladhar waiting patiently at the surface. 

Gurdip eases his way into the water, bringing along a favorite comfort Camden, 1971's "I Got Lucky," a collection of songs mostly comprised of movie material previously only available on Extended Plays (and one excellent non-movie single B-side!)  

But we're not quite done with Felton yet - the last two episodes provoked some great responses long and short from Elvis fans of all kinds, and we tackle some of the most pointed questions and queries to result from the effort. Gurdip also gives his thoughts on recent Elvis news.

For Song of the Week, Gurdip picks up right where he left off, picking the upbeat "I Love Only One Girl" from the feature film "Double Trouble," while Justin goes all-in on another one of Elvis's singularly iconic 1950s rock-and-blues recordings that's wildly out of season: "Santa Claus is Back in Town." 

After setting the stage by understanding producer Felton Jarvis's career leading up to his early collaborations with Elvis, we continue to investigate and interrogate the fan belief that he was singularly to blame for the "syrupy" overdubs that diminished the "pure" unfinished tracks.

Helped along by a 1980 interview done between Felton and Jerry Flowers of RCA in which the producer talks about his career retrospectively, Justin and Bec trace Felton's journey as Elvis hires and hand-picks him to be his exclusive producer, taking Felton away from RCA and other artists so that Elvis can, as a largely autonomous artist whose only studio commitments during this decade are to send periodic deliverables to RCA, work at his own pace and create the kind of recordings that he truly wants.

But was Felton truly to blame for the overindulgent strings and horns that were added to Elvis's music, or is there someone else that we've collectively overlooked? And has the narrative been all wrong and the way we even talk about "overdubs" been clouded by a widespread "rockist" misunderstanding of both Elvis and Felton, their respective jobs and tastes, and misunderstood expectations of the kind of music both fans & critics thought Elvis "should" be making? 

The duo examine Elvis's live performances in relation to his studio work, touch on a few more non-Elvis records produced by Felton, and even revisit the 1981 "Guitar Man" project Felton spearheaded before his early death to see if it provides clearer insight into the producer's preferences and tastes.

For Song of the Week, Bec makes a promise that "It Won't Be Long," covering the recording cut from "Double Trouble," while Justin goes prospecting because he's pretty sure "There's Gold in the Mountains" still to be dug up from "Kissin' Cousins."

Some of the resources consulted for this and the last episode included, even if not quoted or mentioned in the final episode:

Felton Jarvis's 1980 Interview with Jerry Flowers of RCA William Bozeman: "Felton Jarvis: The Man Behind the Music" from Elvis Express Magazine Peter Guralnick: Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley Roben Jones: Memphis Boys: The Story of American Studios Rick Hall: The Man from Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame Norbert Putnam: Musical Memories, Volume 1 Ernst Jorgensen: Elvis Presley - A Life in Music Ernst Jorgensen & Peter Guralnick: "Elvis Day By Day" and "The Complete Masters" Ernst Jorgensen, Johnny Mikkelsen & Erik Rasmussen: Reconsider Baby: The Definitive Elvis Sessionography Elvis Music FAQ by Mike Eder Alanna Nash: "Revelations from the Memphis Mafia" & "The Colonel" Luther Moore: "Felton Jarvis Re-Appraised" from Elvis: The Man & His Music magazine Brian F. White's Interview with Norbert Putnam: https://www.brianfwright.com/interviews/norbert-putnam Michael Nesmith: Infinite Tuesday - An Autobiographical Riff TapeOP's Interview with Chip Young: https://tapeop.com/interviews/124/chip-young Various reviews, articles, editorials, and interviews compiled from across Elvis Australia, Elvis Information Network, Elvis-History-Blog, Elvis Monthly, Strictly Elvis, Arjan Deelan as well as Discogs, KeithFlynn.uk, Elvisconcerts.com and other resources online.

Intrigued by the premise presented by the recent Sony box sets like "Sunset Boulevard" describing Elvis's undubbed recordings as "pure," Justin decided to investigate the story behind the man who has borne most of the heavy criticism aimed at the production on Elvis's music, Felton Jarvis, who was Elvis's main producer from 1966-1977.

While we've previously touched on Felton's work as a producer in our "Elvis and His Producers/Elvis as a Producer" episode, realizing we may not have given him a fair shake, on this episode Justin and Bec investigate Felton's early work at National Recording Corporation (NRC) in Atlanta, Georgia, his time at ABC-Paramount working with Tommy Roe, Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and.... "Vince Everett"? They trace Felton's move to RCA Victor producing many successful acts and hit records in the field of country music in the mid-1960s and, naturally, his first sessions with Elvis across 1966-1968, chief among which was the How Great Thou Art project, which won Elvis his first-ever Grammy Award.

Laced throughout are stories of a warm-hearted, good-natured Georgia boy - who loved Elvis Presley and dreamed so hard to one day produce his hero's music that he manifested it - from collaborators, friends and historians who have tried to relay some of Felton's story, as well as audio from Felton himself in conversation with RCA's Jerry Flowers in 1980, discussing his career in hindsight.

Part 2 will even more directly interrogate the idea that Felton was, as so frequently repeated by Elvis fans over nearly 4 decades, singularly to blame for the "syrupy" overdubs that were a hallmark of Elvis's 1970s output, as Justin builds a case to convince Bec that she and everyone else - including sometimes even Justin himself - has been wrong all these years!

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.

Olivia Murphy-Rogers joins Justin for an extra-special episode of TCBCast as they trace the real history behind the song "Frankie and Johnny," the title track of Elvis's 1966 film. They learn who Frankie Baker was, the man who "done her wrong," the song she couldn't escape, and the identity of the most likely songwriting candidate to have penned the original folk lyrics - on the very day of the true murder. 

The duo also react to the news about Sony's upcoming  "Sunset Boulevard" box set recently announced that will encompass studio recordings from 1972, 1975 and rehearsals from 1970 and 1974, all done at RCA Studios on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Justin has first impressions of the "Harum Scarum Sessions" FTD set, and then the two take a little time discussing Riley Keough and Gina Gammell's "In Process" short films for Tribeca; not just the one everyone else saw, "Chapter 1: Writing" which was filmed at Graceland and stars Riley herself narrating a short essay about her writing process for both film generally and more specifically about "From Here to the Great Unknown," but also the other two less-appreciated Chapters, "A Self Tape" and "Shooting A Scene," all of which were also co-directed by Riley.

Justin's Song of the Week is a breezy listen to "The Meanest Girl in Town" from Girl Happy - and Olivia's Song of the Week IS our main topic! FYI - this episode does intentionally end without a proper "sign-off." 

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.