Gurdip's back!!! ...kinda? April Fools!

Originally released back in May 2022 on our Patreon, Gurdip demanded to have his say about Terry Stafford and his famous cover of "Suspicion," so Justin obliged and they sat down not just with the single, but Terry's full 1964 album.

Released on the Crusader Records label to capitalize on Stafford's surprise Top 5 success with his hit recording of the same name, "Suspicion" featured an array of Elvis-likes from original Brill Building songwriters behind some of Elvis's early '60s material, including Doc Pomus, Ben Weisman, Fred Wise, and Sid Wayne. As you'll hear, evidence strongly suggests that many, if not all, of the songs included were pitched to Elvis for consideration, with several even getting recorded. 

Justin also guides us a little further past the album to Stafford's post-Suspicion career, including later singles and more significantly as a songwriter himself, with such hits as Buck Owens' "Big in Vegas" and George Strait's "Amarillo by Morning."

Joe W. Specht's short-but-thorough biography "The Life and Music of Terry Stafford" was immensely helpful to finding more information on Stafford's story. It's available as of this posting through Texas State University's website here: https://digital.library.txstate.edu/handle/10877/7519

No foolin' - This "TCBCast Jukebox" is one of our all-time favorites we've done. If you enjoyed this, we've also done bonus episodes about Elvis's musical contemporaries such as Ann-Margret, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, The Platters, Dean Martin, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, and many more, with more on the way as exclusive bonus content. Please consider joining up over 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.

While we're out this week, Justin and Bec will be back next week with a discussion about "G.I. Blues" - revisiting it, its soundtrack and recording sessions for the first time since literally our third-ever episode of TCBCast!

Intrigued by a concept thrown down by a listener, Bec and Justin decided to seriously just go for it and rank (ala the animal songs episode) Elvis's songs about modes of transportation - trains, cars, jet planes, the works. But they had to be substantially about the specific vehicle or use it heavily as a theme, not just a passing reference!

As you'll hear, the team begins ranking them - and then to their horror realized after recording that they'd somehow forgotten the biggest and best of them all, so tagged on an ending to the main topic that rectified that little oversight!!

Then, for Song of the Week, Justin takes the baton from his own previous SotW, digging into Elvis' minor hit recording of Jerry Chesnut's rowdy honky-tonk rocker, "T-R-O-U-B-L-E." Bec, meanwhile, goes light and selects "A World of Our Own" from 1962's "It Happened at the World's Fair." 

Wanna hear our list (plus a few miscellaneous other tracks)? Check our playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1q3WSnFOreuqKbeyB9zSyl?si=e094375cdde24de6

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.

Justin and Bec forego a typical main topic this week, opting instead for effectively two main topics with absolutely massive, iconic Songs of the Week!

Bec's Song of the Week is "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" and she explores the roots of it from the 1965 Italian ballad "Io che non vive (senza te)" through to Dusty Springfield's hugely successful English adaptation and eventually to Elvis's famous performances of it in the 1970s, across his 1970 Nashville sessions, the concerts filmed for "That's The Way It Is," and even much later and deeper into the decade.

Justin then traces the lineage of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's legendary "Trouble," originally featured in the 1958 film "King Creole," but increasingly recognized over the years as one of Elvis's most enduring recordings, symbolizing the myth of him as a rebellious rocker, most prominently recently featured in Baz Luhrmann's "Elvis." We go deeper, though, touching on the history of stop-time in Dixieland jazz and, most influentially on Leiber/Stoller, in Muddy Waters's "Hoochie Coochie Man." Understanding the history behind that song, the hoochie coochie itself, and the way Trouble has become representative of expressions of both masculinity and femininity unlocks a deeper sense of the song's significance as one of the all-time masterpieces of Elvis's entire recorded works.

Oh yeah, and the duo react to the first trailer for Disney's live action remake of Lilo & Stitch!

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.

This week, Bec and Justin explore the history behind the Extended Play format and how this record format played an important part in the consumption of Elvis's music by fans during his early career with RCA, and also briefly explore some of the more obscure and interesting international EPs that caught their eyes while digging into the topic. 

Then for Song of the Week, both hosts go for some serious weepers, tackling iconic 70s breakup songs, with Justin selecting Elvis's melancholy version of Tony Joe White's "For Ol' Times Sake" and Bec spotlighting the heartbreaking 1972 hit "Separate Ways," which Elvis fans know was co-written by Elvis's good friend Red West, who gave the song a slightly autobiographical bent.

Some resources that were helpful to us EP-wise:

https://www.sergent.com.au/elvis/eps.html

https://keithflynn.com

http://www.elvis-history-blog.com/elvis-extended-plays.html

Plus Discogs.com & 45cat.com

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.

Gurdip and Justin continue their discussion of 1967's "Double Trouble" as this infamous Elvis film finally introduces its more zany comedic elements with The Wiere Brothers, Helene Winston's grabby "Gerda" and a goofy Captain and First Mate intent on blowing up their own ship. The wacky side characters liven up the back half of the story - though the script remains equally as confusing and its attempts at absurdity flounder. 

But - what if there's a twist to the story of Double Trouble that no one's ever pondered before that may make revisiting the film a bit more tolerable in the future? Justin's come up with a theory that may change the way you view the movie, though definitely not intended by the filmmakers!

Song of the Week will return next week with our episode on the history of Elvis's Extended Play records!

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.

This is it! We've finally decided to just do it and visit the one Elvis movie often considered to be among the worst of his narrative feature films, 1967's "Double Trouble," directed by Norman Taurog for MGM from a script by Jo Heims, and co-starring Annette Day, Yvonne Romain, John Williams, Monty Landis, Leon Askin, Norman Rossington, Chips Rafferty and The Wiere Brothers.

It's classic TCBCast, just Justin and Gurdip on their own. Justin digs deeper than most and read through "The Choice," the obscure original 1960 novel that "Double Trouble" was VERY loosely inspired by (enough to merit a "story by" credit for author Marc Brandel, but that's about it.) 

Then, the guys dig into the "comedy" renowned for its story about killers lurking in the shadows hunting a rich heiress, bumbling jewel thieves, slapstick police officers, a mysterious femme fatale and waiting patiently for the age of consent. Promoted as a fun romp across "mad mod Europe," yet filmed entirely on set in the United States (not counting second unit) and mostly just set in Belgium, "Double Trouble" is perhaps one of the most contentious narrative films in the Elvis canon. And yet... one of us ends up liking it more than you might expect? You'll just have to listen and find out...

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.

This week, to mark the Valentine's Day holiday, Gurdip, Bec and myself gave a listen to the one explicitly Valentine-themed Elvis compilation, released 40 years ago amid celebrations of Elvis's 50th birthday.

Far from being a mere collection of famous love songs, some surprising deep cuts make the grade, but also a lot of songs about broken hearts, which confounds Gurdip.

For Song of the Week, Bec digs into the title theme from 1961's "Wild in the Country," and Gurdip matches with another movie title track, this time from 1967's "Double Trouble." Justin, however, takes the opportunity to examine the history behind one of the few songs Elvis ever publicly declared among his favorites, "Padre," which he recorded in 1971 but wasn't released until 1973.

Plus, if you're needing something to listen to today, we've got a special Valentine's Day playlist made up featuring songs from this album and a mix of other romantic tracks: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0eW2fGlc0x0CyAeTJIL9gw?si=dc41503407554785

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.

Following on from Part 1, Justin, Olivia and guest host Chris Jones (of the "Hall of Songs" podcast) explore Elvis's Hot 100 hits that never made it to the Top 40, closing out the movie era with tracks from Speedway and Live A Little, Love A Little and moving into the 1970s, a decade that surprisingly offered Elvis far more pop success than may often be perceived, as only 5 of his single A-sides charted outside the Top 40 (and only the Christmas and gospel singles not charting whatsoever in the Hot 100). Also touched upon are the three posthumous Hot 100 hits that never reached the Top 40: The Elvis Medley, and the remixes of A Little Less Conversation and Rubberneckin'.

For Song of the Week, Chris is inspired by having recently watched "The Big Lebowski" to pick Elvis's 1966 home recording of the Sons of the Pioneers cowboy classic that opens that film, "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds," while Olivia goes deep on the extensive history behind Elvis's version of the apocalyptic spiritual "I, John," rooted almost entirely in Black gospel tradition until Elvis's 1971 recording released on the "He Touched Me" album in '72.

Visit hallofsongs.com or find it on your podcast platform of choice to hear more of Chris and his buddy Tim.

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.

Chris Jones from "Hall of Songs" (hallofsongs.com or on any major podcast platform) joins Justin and Olivia for an exploration of Elvis's Billboard Hot 100 hits that charted outside of the Top 40; meaning #41-#100. Exploring Elvis's career through this unique angle shines a light on less-known songs, and some surprising famous ones that didn't go as high as you might think, while also revealing surprising insights about different periods of his music.

All this is inspired by Chris and Tim Malcolm's upcoming new project "The Almost Famous," where they look at songs that only ever peaked at #41 on the Hot 100, of which Elvis has two and they may one day cover!

Part 1 covers roughly 1956 through early 1968; we ran a bit long with our Songs of the Week so Part 2 - releasing Tuesday, Feb. 11, will cover 1968-2003 plus SOTW. 

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 holiday season, we're taking a week off, so from the TCBCast Patreon archives we bring an episode from December 2023 when Bec and Justin convened to explore the Top 20 hits during the week in early 1969 that "If I Can Dream" peaked at #12, the highest it would reach on the Hot 100. What kept Elvis out of the Top 10? Turns out a lot of really iconic music! Unlike our usual Billboard charts episodes, the duo decide to go for broke and cover all of the Top 20, not just to include Elvis, but numerous other iconic songs of 1969 from acts as far reaching as Dusty Springfield, Jay and the Americans, The Turtles, Marvin Gaye, Sly & the Family Stone, BJ Thomas, Tommy James & the Shondells and many more.

Then, we jump in our time machine back to November 2021's bonus episode and hear Gurdip and Justin's "Songs of the Month," as Gurdip spotlights a very Elvis-and-Buddy-Holly-influenced rockabilly cut from Buddy Knox, "Party Doll," while Justin picks "Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray" a beautiful but an otherwise largely overlooked Patsy Cline tune occasionally encountered in a famous video game, and which manages to have a TON of Elvis connections. 

If you enjoy this kind of discussion and what we do on 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. This month, patrons are getting an album review of Chuck Berry's "Berry Is On Top" and a discussion on the 3rd episode of the CMT TV Series "Sun Records." We'll be back next week!