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Just in case anyone is interested, there's a new Elvis album out entitled "Elvis Presley Sings the Great British Songbook".

I mention this because two of the songs he sings are John Rostill's "If You Love Me Let Me Know" and "Let Me Be There". Bearing in mind that The Shadows (and Cliff) were massively influenced by Elvis and never seem to miss a chance to mention the fact and to sing at least one of his songs on stage, isn't it ironic and brilliant that Elvis was to record a former Shadow's songs? It's also quite nice to think that, for this album at least, John is included amongst the pantheon of great British songwriters.

His premature death was tragic for many reasons, amongst them is the fact that he never lived to see how successful he would become as a songwriter - especially in the USA.

RIP, John. It seems that your legacy will live on.

Chris.

There is a crit of it on the BBC website which is scathing to say the least. You can also hear snippets of the tracks from the first CD. The link is http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/n4fd

Sorry Elvis, you may have sounded great live but your recordings of the live shows are a bit too flashy for me. The brass on Let Me Be There was way over the top; the simpler Livvie version was way superior.

Also, do we really want to be reminded that "My Boy" was a British composition?

It's rather sad that people are creating compilations like this as they just don't represent the great stuff that Elvis recorded. Maybe they should make a compilation of every version of CC Rider that he ever recorded (there must be enough live albums to create a collection of a dozen or so versions).

Still, at least the reviewer considers 'the funky Let Me Be There' as being one of the 'gems'.

What's wrong with the song My Boy?

It was recorded first by Brit Richard Harris - Elvis's disc was a cover, albeit the better-known version.

If you're talking of the mawkish lyric - well, OK-ish.

But it'd have to have been a lot worse to be anywhere down near the execrable lyric for Paul Anka's 1970s song You're Having My Baby.

http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/misscongeniality2/yourehavingmybaby.htm

QUOTE:
(featuring session singer Odia Coates)

[That's got to be a made-up name? - Ed]

[Paul:]
Havin' my baby
What a lovely way of sayin'
How much you love me
Havin' my baby
What a lovely way of sayin'
What you're thinkin' of me
I can see it, face is glowin'
I can see in your eyes
I'm happy you know it

[Both:]
That you're havin' my baby

[Paul:]
You're the woman I love
And I love what it's doin' to ya

[Both:]
Havin' my baby

[Paul:]
You're a woman in love
And I love what's goin' through ya

[Paul:]
The need inside you
I see it showin'
Whoa, the seed inside ya
Baby, do you feel it growin'
Are you happy you know it
That you're

[Both:]
Havin' my baby

[Odia:]
I'm a woman in love
And I love what it's doin' to me

[Both:]
Havin' my baby

[Odia:]
I'm a woman in love
And I love what's goin' through me

[Paul:]
Didn't have to keep it
Wouldn't put ya through it
You could have swept it from you life
But you wouldn't do it
No, you wouldn't do it

[Both:]
And you're havin' my baby

[Odia:]
I'm a woman in love
And I love what it's doin' to me

[Both:]
Havin' my baby

[Odia:]
I'm a woman in love
And I love what's goin' through me

[Paul:]
Havin' my baby (havin' my baby)
What a lovely way of sayin'
How much you love me

[Paul:]
Havin' my baby
(havin' my baby)

[Odia:]
I'm a woman in love
And I love what's goin' through me
ENDQUOTE

Pass me the sick bucket, someone.

And you can keep odia coates.

JN

To bring this thread to it's proper level the following conversation takes place an army camp

Private "Please, Sergeant , may I have a weekend pass? My wife's going to have a baby"
Sergeant "Well, if that's the reason I suppose it's all right"
(On the following Monday)
Sergeant "Well, son, was it a boy or a girl?"
Private "Don't be daft, Sarge, it takes nine months!"

Ray

Is that the same Richard Harris of MacArthur Park infamy or did some poor sod have his career ruined by this actor-cum-warbler?

Oh you lucky people, I've just discovered the Richard Harris version of "My Boy" on you-tube and for those who dare, I have included the link.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfrs11h5KEM.
I was disturbed to find that I actually quite liked it and so I may listen to "Dear Old Mrs Bell", just to check if my standards have dropped even further. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-X9XcM1TVM.

No, I'm just as cynical as ever!

I bet I have all the tracks on other albums. For example I have both numbers by John on the Moody Blue album. (in vinyl of course )

My apologies to Richard Harris. He certainly put more feeling into the song than Elvis did. I'm still not keen on the actual song; I find it a bit too twee for my tastes, but he definitely sang it as if he meant it.

That's two Richard Harris songs that I have heard where his version was the better of the two. I'm going to listen to Mrs Miller for a while to get back to reality.

Interesting -although off topic - thanks for the UTube links by the way- but I'd never heard scotch on the socks or mrs bell before...hhhmmm

They could of course still play and sing wonderfully, but the material was not really up to scratch in my opinion. Sorry!