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Elvis - The Vegas Cheeseburger years. Who was his bassist?


Marky L
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Here's another live version of Suspicious Minds - this is the one that's on "Elvis Live". I love how high the bass is in the mix and how The Scheff goes from laying back a bit to just ripping away and then back again and then...

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRgZ6ReiWk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRgZ6ReiWk[/url]

The way it sort of changes gear at 2:40 gives me goose bumps. The high register phrases at 3.15 - 3.45 are just glorious :)

Edited by Sean
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Here's an interesting tale!

Allegedly, Jerry was thinking about leaving Elvis at one point in the mid '70s and my good mate Alan Jones was asked in person by Elvis to take over the bass chair!! Alan was playing with Tom Jones at the time in Vegas and Elvis would occasionally join Tom and his band on stage! After one such gig, Alan was packing his bass away when he was tapped on the shoulder. He turns round and yes, its Elvis!

To cut a long story short, Alan had to turn Elvis down since he had already signed a 4 year contract with M.A.M records (Alan was their in house bassist and worked for Tom Jones, Englebert and Gilbert O'Sullivan which, at the time gave Alan a very lucrative package etc etc) but he does own a photo of him playing bass in Vegas behind Elvis! After Alan left MAM, he went back into freelance session work and then joined The Shadows in 1977.

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[quote name='Sean' post='701862' date='Jan 5 2010, 05:53 PM']Here's another live version of Suspicious Minds - this is the one that's on "Elvis Live". I love how high the bass is in the mix and how The Scheff goes from laying back a bit to just ripping away and then back again and then...

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRgZ6ReiWk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRgZ6ReiWk[/url]

The way it sort of changes gear at 2:40 gives me goose bumps. The high register phrases at 3.15 - 3.45 are just glorious :)[/quote]

I listened to it yesterday evening and really liked it...again it's clear that when you have a singer who really is in control and is able to lead a band a lot is possible. Even when it gets "sloppy" the right person (like Elvis) can lead it back into intensity and create something special on the spot.
Jerry Scheff told me that when they played with Elvis, they rarely rehearsed and that anything was possible, everyone was going wild and Elvis loved that. He stopped playing with Elvis for a while and then came back to do some shows in Vegas. Scheff came on stage, picked up his bass and started to play like he used too but was instantly summoned by Elvis to "calm down". In a short period something seemed to have changed and they had to change their way of playing.

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[quote name='Sean' post='701862' date='Jan 5 2010, 04:53 PM']Here's another live version of Suspicious Minds - this is the one that's on "Elvis Live". I love how high the bass is in the mix and how The Scheff goes from laying back a bit to just ripping away and then back again and then...

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRgZ6ReiWk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRgZ6ReiWk[/url]

The way it sort of changes gear at 2:40 gives me goose bumps. The high register phrases at 3.15 - 3.45 are just glorious :)[/quote]

Fantastic version! I'm with you on the high parts, too - magic!

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[quote name='Sean' post='701862' date='Jan 5 2010, 04:53 PM']Here's another live version of Suspicious Minds - this is the one that's on "Elvis Live". I love how high the bass is in the mix and how The Scheff goes from laying back a bit to just ripping away and then back again and then...

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRgZ6ReiWk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRgZ6ReiWk[/url]

The way it sort of changes gear at 2:40 gives me goose bumps. The high register phrases at 3.15 - 3.45 are just glorious :rolleyes:[/quote]
Absolutely fantastic!! :)

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  • 2 years later...

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1262710421' post='701862']
Here's another live version of Suspicious Minds - this is the one that's on "Elvis Live". I love how high the bass is in the mix and how The Scheff goes from laying back a bit to just ripping away and then back again and then...

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRgZ6ReiWk[/media]

The way it sort of changes gear at 2:40 gives me goose bumps. The high register phrases at 3.15 - 3.45 are just glorious :D
[/quote]

Great stuff - love the trumpets as well !

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  • 2 months later...

Hunka- Hunka-Burnin' Love - class - it's my favourite especially if I've had a wee drink - then it's full-on( poor) Elvis impersonation. " Move along people there's nothing to see here, just a overweight middleaged man making a fool of himself,again."

Love the version of Suspicious Minds posted above too... were 's my jumpsuit? :o
Both these tunes are great with great bass playing serving the song

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