Best Elvis Sun single

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Vote or don't vote, moan or don't moan. Just interested.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
That's all right (mama) / Blue moon of Kentucky 7
Milkcow blues boogie / You're a heartbreaker 5
Mystery train / I forgot to remember to forget5
Baby let's play house / I'm left, you're right, she's gone 3
Good rockin' tonight / I don't care if the sun don't shine 2


whatever, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 19:47 (eighteen years ago)

Difficult (to me), but there's only one single with killer tunes each side (the first one). Other A sides might top 'That's all right' ('Baby let's play house' always gets beats the over-cited 'Mystery train') but the first single is the only possible double-A one.

whatever, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 19:58 (eighteen years ago)

I'd vote for "Good Rockin'" if "I Don't Care" wasn't so weaselly. The rest all have decent B-sides, but "Mystery" / "I Forgot" is the best one-two punch.

The Deacon, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 21:15 (eighteen years ago)

yeah this is much harder than I thought it would be. "Blue Moon" smokes the other B-sides, but the A sides are all pretty fierce.

will, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 21:23 (eighteen years ago)

that's all right/blue moon is probably the best overall, but milkcow blues is far and away my favorite elvis single so that has to take it.

J.D., Wednesday, 9 May 2007 23:51 (eighteen years ago)

aw shit, this is pretty tough! comes down to milkcow blues and mystery train for me, and milkcow's got the fierceness but mystery train just still sounds like it came from another planet or something so i'm going with that one.

pretzel walrus, Thursday, 10 May 2007 00:18 (eighteen years ago)

"In The Ghetto". Thus, irrelevant poll.

Geir Hongro, Thursday, 10 May 2007 00:22 (eighteen years ago)

The ipod tells me that i've listened to milkcow/heartbreaker more than the others, so i'll vote based on that. but there are no wrong answers here are there?

Billy Pilgrim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 00:24 (eighteen years ago)

even in fucking finland or wherever you're from "in the ghetto" did not come out on sun records you colossal retard

xp

pretzel walrus, Thursday, 10 May 2007 00:25 (eighteen years ago)

Well, fuck it, I'll vote for Baby.

I eat cannibals, Thursday, 10 May 2007 00:54 (eighteen years ago)

almost impossible. they all complement eachother.
finally, "mama".

Frogman Henry, Thursday, 10 May 2007 00:59 (eighteen years ago)

Didn't see the Sun name up there. Voted for "Mystery Train" then.

Geir Hongro, Thursday, 10 May 2007 01:02 (eighteen years ago)

Milkcow for me, too. It has the second best B-side and I probably like it as much as any of the other A's.

will, Thursday, 10 May 2007 01:04 (eighteen years ago)

"blue moon of kentucky" and "blue moon" are different songs

abanana, Thursday, 10 May 2007 01:05 (eighteen years ago)

oh yeah. I was definitely referring to Blue Moon of Kentucky upthread. I'm just lazy.

will, Thursday, 10 May 2007 01:07 (eighteen years ago)

but that rendition of "Blue Moon" on the Sun Sessions CD is pretty great. those falsettos!!

will, Thursday, 10 May 2007 01:13 (eighteen years ago)

fifteen years pass...

Are any of these 10 songs generally regarded as duds?

Here's their ranking from the ILM Elvis poll:

2 Mystery train
4 That's all right (mama)
12 Blue moon of Kentucky
14 Baby let's play house
18 Good rockin' tonight
27 Milkcow blues boogie
73 I'm left, you're right, she's gone
83 I forgot to remember to forget
122 I don't care if the sun don't shine
162 You're a heartbreaker

I could probably do without the bottom three on this list.

Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 4 January 2023 19:03 (two years ago)

I wouldn't call any of the Sun cuts (at least the 19 official "masters") duds, not even the slow ones. They're still by far my favorite Elvis recordings. Re: the last three, "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" is a pleasant stroll through a standard, though Elvis's recording is actually the first one - not one of the standouts, but I still think it's a nice little ballad, a good example of what was a common in pop then. I do love "I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine" and "You're a Heartbreaker" - they both sound like great examples of how rock transformed mainstream pop, at least to me. Like they're the type of songs I could see Dean Martin or any other pop star recording in the '50s (the former was actually written for Disney, specifically Cinderella though it was ultimately cut from that movie), but not the way Elvis recorded it, which seems quietly revolutionary. Like the rhythm, the phrasing, etc...they have so much vitality to them but they come across as modest and just Elvis doing what's natural, not anything self-consciously different.

birdistheword, Wednesday, 4 January 2023 19:21 (two years ago)

*what was common in pop

birdistheword, Wednesday, 4 January 2023 19:22 (two years ago)

otm.

on Monday i was listening to a radio station and the DJ played the alt / "slow version" of "i'm left, you're right, she's gone" after the delmore bros.' "blues stay away from me". i love mini music history lessons like that.

budo jeru, Wednesday, 4 January 2023 19:51 (two years ago)


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