The Un(der) Known Elvis, Part 2: Bob Dylan's "Tomorrow Is A Long Time"

A 1966 cover by Elvis Presley of a Bob Dylan classic from 1963. Dylan himself called it his favorite alternative version of his song.

From the "Bob Dylan Who's Who" website (expectingrain.com):

"It is hardly necessary to introduce Elvis Aron Presley (Tupelo,
Mississippi, 1935 - Memphis, Tennessee, 1977), but the significance of
the musical links between Elvis and Bob Dylan is often underestimated.
Even though the King's immortal triumphs were as an interpreter, not a
songwriter, there is a good case for the view that Dylan's work has
rather more in common with Presley's than the Beatles':

it is well known that on his recovery from his 1997 illness Dylan told
the world, 'I really thought I'd be seeing Elvis soon.' Dylan mentions
Elvis by name in 'TV Talkin' Song' (on 'Under The Red Sky'), in the
line 'Sometimes you gotta do like Elvis did and shoot the damn thing
out' (this is a reference to a real incident when the King fired into
a TV at his Graceland mansion). The country and blues influences that
pervade Presley's early work are also crucial for Bob Dylan, and both
artists have made major contributions to the gospel genre.

The list of standards officially covered by both artists includes
'Blue Moon', 'Can't Help Falling In Love', 'A Fool Such As I' and
'Tomorrow Night'. Elvis' discography includes covers of Dylan's
'Tomorrow Is A Long Time', 'Don't Think Twice, It's All Right',
'Blowin' in the Wind' and 'I Shall Be Released'.


Here's the connection to the Dylan original from his April 1963 "Town Hall" concert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67LY4EzClNY&feature=related

The Un(der)known Elvis--- "(It's a) Long Lonely Highway"

I thought this week I would feature a few Elvis songs wither on video or Mp3 that I enjoy that didn't get a lot of airplay or were put into those mediocre movies he began to make around 1962 when producers figured out that you didn't need a good script or a first-rate director to make money on an Elvis feature--you just needed Elvis.

This song was featured in a very "needy" little film called 'Tickle Me" from 1965. It's a lightweight screwball comedy of the kind that we as kids used to watch on the CBS Friday Night movies. (It didn't take long for these films to get from the drive-ins of North America to network television. )

We in the junior set all knew the Elvis films weren't all that good. But we also knew that Elvis had charisma and he seemed confident around beautiful women and always got the girl and beat the bad guys at their own game.

Despite his physical and emotional swagger on the screen, it seems a shame that his manager, the rapacious Col. Tom Parker, steered the real Elvis into so many bad films when it's clear that he had some good acting chops and deserved the same material that was often accorded a Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra.

Instead he got "Tickle Me", "Spinout", "Live a Little, Love a Little" and "Girls, Girls, Girls". All these movies made a brick of money and all of them were made on the cheap. Thank goodness we have them at least for the fans, but thankfully Elvis got off this "drive-in-late show filler" stuff and became a concert singer again in his last few years. Even then he discovered to late he had been shafted out of royalties by the Colonel (who managed by some shady financial legerdemain to get him to accept a lump sum payment) along the way. It's safe to say Parker died a richer man than Elvis.

But the legend will live on, and as one fan said, "he was my kind of good person and he gave lots to his fans, even in movies like this that were increasingly beneath him". 'Nuf said I say. Play it.