TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast

In this episode's Song of the Week, Justin stumbled into the dark story involving Tommy Dilbeck, the country songwriter behind Eddy Arnold's signature hit "I'll Hold You In My Heart," which Elvis transformed into a bluesy jam at the American Sound 1969 sessions that worked so well it landed on the acclaimed "From Elvis in Memphis." But is the song merely one of romantic longing, or, given what we now know, a hint at a more subtly obsessive message that no one had previously picked up before?  Content warning: potentially upsetting descriptions of domestic violence drawn from period news reports between about 03:30-04:45. Then John pulls double-duty, spotlighting two significant home recordings from 1966, "Hide Thou Me" and "Show Me Thy Way, O Lord," during a period in which Elvis was seeking material for his upcoming gospel project - what would become the "How Great Thou Art" album - and returning to the work of one of his favorite gospel groups, The Statesmen Quartet, to consider songs for potential inclusion. John also gives a quick primer on who the Statesmen were, and how they influenced Elvis's choice of gospel material. 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.

They say Elvis was the King of Rock and Roll, so Gurdip and Justin are joined by John Heath (EAP Society, Atomic Wax) to put forth their picks for the most underrated rockers that Elvis Presley ever recorded: from overlooked singles to forgotten album cuts, 50s to the 70s, in the studio and live, there may just be one in here that you've underrated, too! Although Gurdip has to bow out after this meaty and outrageously fun episode, as a very special Thanksgiving/holiday kickoff treat, a slightly shorter Episode 386 featuring "I'll Hold You In My Heart," "Hide Thou Me" and "Shy Me Thy Ways, O Lord" as Songs of the Week will be dropping into your podcast feed ASAP.  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.

John Michael Heath joins Justin this week as guest host as they discuss some of their favorite alternate versions of Elvis songs as they appeared in the original movies he starred in, frequently with added instrumentation, backing vocals, or often completely different performances altogether than what was commercially released on record. For Song of the Week, John looks back at "Pieces of My Life," the introspective Troy Seals-penned song off the "Today" album that landed as the B-side of "Bringin' It Back" as a single, and that Elvis only performed live once in Asheville, North Carolina. The song Justin intended to pick for song of the week, however, ended up having an extra twist to it that he wasn't expecting that needs a bit more digging - wait to hear that next episode! 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.

Released in 1978 on the Pickwick label, at first glance the budget album "Mahalo from Elvis" could have seemed like any number of other slapdash repackaging of old recordings in the wake of Elvis's death. However "Mahalo" not only represented the first official release of the five post-show songs from "Aloha from Hawaii" filmed for inclusion in the continental US broadcast, but had originally been compiled by RCA's Joan Deary for release in late 1973.  As an album that could have potentially been part of the lifetime canon of Elvis's album releases, has "Mahalo" been overlooked? Eventually certified Gold by the RIAA, many later-generation fans - including Justin - had it in their vinyl collection early on as a formative part of their Elvis musical experience. Bec and Justin decided to revisit the record and see how it holds up. For Song of the Week, Bec takes the baton from Olivia pick last week, highlighting another Don Robertson-penned number, the stunning "There's Always Me" from 1961. Justin, on the other hand, tries really hard not to let the potential for innuendo get out of hand as he digs into what sets Elvis's version of the country weeper "It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing)" apart from numerous others before and after his.  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, Justin and Olivia wrap their discussion on the 2005 Broadway musical "All Shook Up" as they take a closer examination of the second act of the show as it flounders in its half-hearted attempts to make social commentary while still surprising with the inclusion of Elvis deep cuts like "Power of My Love," "I Don't Want To" and "There's Always Me" in its narrative. From there, the duo hit their Songs of the Week. Tying in with the musical's lead character Chad, a roving roustabout himself, Justin tackles the brief history behind the title theme to Elvis's 1964 film "Roustabout." Then Olivia goes on a wonderful deep dive into the symbolism and storied history of "La Paloma" as its Spanish composer Sebastián Iradier comes into contact with Cuban music, brings it back to Europe and writes a song that goes on to explode in popularity around the world, becoming a standard in Mexico and also somewhat associated with Hawaii, being brought to the islands by Europeans - leading to its further adaptation as "No More" for Elvis in "Blue Hawaii" and "Aloha from Hawaii." 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.

Olivia & Justin look back at a unique event in Elvis's posthumous legacy from 20 years ago - the EPE-endorsed 2005 Broadway show that utilized Elvis's music to tell the story of Chad, a 1950s motorcycling roustabout who travels from town to town bringing rock and roll and romance to small town America, Natalie, the mechanic who falls in love with him, and the numerous other characters brought to life in this show penned by writer Joe DiPietro. Crammed to bursting with more Elvis hits than you can shake a stick at, "All Shook Up" received middling reviews on Broadway at a time not particularly generous to jukebox musicals, yet has since become a standard for smaller theatre companies and schools to license... but how does the story really stack up, either to other musicals, or to Elvis's own musical films? Is Elvis's legacy represented well? Is his music used effectively? We sat down with a filmed version of the original Broadway production, the script and soundtrack album to try to figure it all out. We ran a bit long on Song of the Week so this is being split across two parts, breaking right in the middle of the discussion where the intermission would be in the musical itself.  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 decided that since it's been a while since we've covered MGM's "Kissin' Cousins" on TCBCast (and since Bec hadn't seen it since she was a kid) that they'd tackle the very limited number of recordings remaining from the September 1963 instrumental and October 1963 vocal overdub sessions for the film soundtrack while also giving Bec a chance to give her thoughts on the movie. Where she landed may just surprise you! Naturally, the pair discuss some lyrics and songs cut from the movie and album, bonus songs on the album that are carried over from the May 1963 sessions, as well as a few demos that have surfaced which were submitted for potential inclusion. For Song of the Week, Justin keeps to the theme of the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee and gives a very brief overview of the history of "On Top of Old Smokey" leading up to Elvis singing it in character in the film "Follow That Dream." Bec, on the other hand, has revelation as she realizes what "Queenie Wahine's Papaya" is actually about - and shares the fun research she did on fruit innuendo.  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.

Our deep-dive on the history behind "Don't Be Cruel" continues through Elvis's television appearances on the Ed Sullivan show, live concerts such as the Louisiana Hayride, the Mississippi-Alabama Fair & Dairy Show, and the USS Arizona Memorial fundraiser, and the revealing insights heard in the Million Dollar Quartet recording. Justin and Olivia catch back up with Otis Blackwell as he rides the success of "Don't Be Cruel" to launch a career writing and arranging for other artists in the late 1950s, and we discuss why Elvis Presley appears as a co-writer on the song. We leapfrog over Elvis's movie career, as "Don't Be Cruel" doesn't show up again until the filming of the '68 Comeback Special but from there we're able to trace its appearances in Elvis's live setlists up to his final concert in 1977. We then discuss a number of covers including ones by Billy Swan, The Judds, Cheap Trick and more before finally closing out with Otis Blackwell as he remembered and paid tribute to Elvis, and finally got his chance to fulfill his lifelong musical dream at the very end of his career.

Olivia and Justin discuss the latest announcements regarding EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, including confirmation of an early 2026 theatrical release AND a soundtrack album, read a bit of listener feedback, and give their brief impressions on Priscilla Presley's "Softly As I Leave You" before going into our Songs of the Week. Olivia's up first, prompted by the book, to look at the history behind "Softly" - originally an Italian ballad titled "Piano" and she unpacks how it made its way from Italian singer Mina to English singer Matt Monro and then across the Atlantic. And how exactly did Elvis Presley land on his unique interpretation with an added tragic narrative layer? Then the duo tackle Justin's Song of the Week, the long-awaited "Don't Be Cruel," exploring the history behind songwriter Otis Blackwell's inspirations, how "Don't Be Cruel" fits into the wider story of both country and rhythm & blues that was manifesting as what we now know as rock and roll in the mid-1950s, what appealed to Elvis about Otis's demo, what makes "Don't Be Cruel" potentially Justin's favorite Elvis song... and why the single of Hound Dog and Don't Be Cruel is the perfect 1950s rock and roll single.

Gurdip, Bec and Justin decided to crack open a time capsule from the early 1980s and inside sat the album that has become possibly the most divisive Elvis bootleg ever released. Intended as a spoof of cash-grab compilations of "hit" Elvis movie songs by RCA in the 1970s, an infamously crass compilation bringing together some of the "worst" of Elvis's film songs at first glance seems to be going for mere shock value, but the contents of the album and the story behind its compilation do reveal in-jokes from deep within the Elvis fandom at the time. The question then becomes, did the jokes reach their intended target or did they fly over everyone's head and simply pile on more mockery and add to the problem? Justin reflects on Greil Marcus's contemporary account of the album from 1985, which frames it as part of an ironic, playful punk recontextualization amid a cultural reckoning with Elvis as an object of mass attention, but also ponders whether that read misses the forest for the trees. And what of the songs themselves? Do such songs as "US Male" and "Beach Boy Blues" deserve to be labeled as among the "greatest sh*t"? We discuss it all within! For Song of the Week, Gurdip blasts through the breezy "Carny Town" from Roustabout, while Justin meditates on "We Call on Him," the inspirational number written explicitly for Elvis released as an Easter single in 1968. 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. If you'd like to support us another way, please drop a positive review on your favorite podcast platform!

Following the apparent roaring success of Baz Luhrmann's "EPiC" at the Toronto International Film Festival, Justin and Bec decided rather than merely recap reviews and discuss the hype (though there is a bit of that, too!), to look backwards toward the original 1970 and 1972 films "That's The Way It Is" and "Elvis On Tour," and the component elements that have made "EPiC" possible. The duo ponder whether the voracious (and vocal) collector mindset that has taken over the fandom, demanding immediate access to every scrap of available content, has caused some fans to miss the narrative and artistic voices of the directors and creatives who sought to create genuinely artful and thematically resonant documentaries while capturing Elvis as a phenomenon and as an artist. Going further - what to make of other fan-focused releases derived from the same components like "The Lost Performances" and "That's The Way It Is: Special Edition" that delivered on the promise of new footage but lost the sense of authorial voice and storytelling in favor of Colonel Parker's preferred, and more readily digestible, "personal appearance film" style? Also... why is Baz Luhrmann on Justin's sh*tlist now? For Song of the Week, Bec checks Girl Happy's ho-hum rock pastiche "I've Got To Find My Baby" off the list while Justin has "Words" with Elvis's cover of the Bee Gees' 1968 hit.

Bec and Gurdip this week are setting themselves up for some fiery listener emails with their hottest takes yet as they pose the question: what are the biggest Elvis hits that they feel have become overrated?! (Or maybe just overexposed?) For Song of the Week, it's an Elvis movie double feature as Gurdip sets his course and picks "Go East, Young Man" from 1965's "Harum Scarum" while Bec decides to head out to the World's Fair and selects the cutesy "How Would You Like to Be?" Also discussed are last-minute teases by Baz Luhrmann that dropped just ahead of EPiC's Toronto premiere , including a new mash-up! This episode was recorded before the Toronto premiere and reviews began to release - check back for our reactions to all the excitement soon!

John Heath joins Justin as they get any final thoughts we've had off their chests after having sat with Peter Guralnick's "The Colonel & The King" a bit longer, watching other fans' reactions start to stream in over the last month or so. Consider this a follow-up to both the TCBCast and EAP Society reviews, as well as John's excellent Atomic Wax breakdown (if you hadn't seen it - here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdxN0xeTT1o) The guys also take a look at a number of things Peter has stated in public interviews surrounding the book's release and whether they stack up with what he writes in the book or go further. For Song of the Week, John's got HIS mojo working as he walks us through the deep Memphis lore around "Got My Mojo Working" - the 1970 warm-up jam on an old blues number (perhaps most famously known from Muddy Waters but previously done by Ann Cole) which Elvis turned into a medley with Priscilla Bowman & Jay McShann's R&B hit "Hands Off." Elvis's version surfaced with added overdubs on the Love Letters from Elvis album in '71 and the unedited version on "From Elvis in Nashville" remains a rocking treat. Justin's Song of the Week is the underrated "Anyone (Could Fall in Love With You), written for inclusion in "Kissin' Cousins" but removed from the production - yet still left on the soundtrack album. However, its songwriters' most famous non-Elvis hit from the 1940s - which Elvis almost certainly knew - might inadvertently give us a small insight into Elvis's gentle, one might say even "Spot-y," vocal approach. 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. If you'd like to support us another way, please drop a positive review on your favorite podcast platform!

Justin and Bec have compiled their lists of a half-dozen essential alternate studio takes apiece that every Elvis Presley fan, from total newbies to lifelong fans should hear! For Song of the Week, Bec decides to spotlight Elvis's melancholy 1973 cover of Danny O'Keefe's folk-country hit song "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues" - but in the hosts' pre-show off-air chat, the duo realized that the song had a lot of overlap with the world of outlaw country, given that the bluesy "Charlie" would go on to be covered by the likes of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and others. So Justin takes the opportunity to learn Bec some of the history of the burgeoning "outlaw" scene in Nashville in the early 1970s that led to Jennings' iconic "Honky Tonk Heroes" album, largely comprised of material by songwriter Billy Joe Shaver, including "You Asked Me To," which Elvis also recorded in late 1973. 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. If you'd like to support us another way, please drop a positive review on your favorite podcast platform!

In this extra beefy episode, Ryan and Justin get together to discuss and rank Elvis's major live albums, from 1969's "In Person" to the posthumous "Elvis in Concert" For Song of the Week, Justin explores the history and original Mexican song "La Golondrina," behind "She Wears My Ring," which Elvis recorded in 1973 and released on 1974's "Good Times" album. Ryan then goes for the biggest SotW he's ever tackled on the show, looking into the iconic "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," including Elvis's concert performances across the 1970s, and the story of the original by The Righteous Brothers. 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. If you'd like to support us another way, please drop a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! Timestamps: (Just in case - this one's pretty big!) Intro & News: 0:00 Main Topic: 9:10 She Wears My Ring: 1:21:35 You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling: 1:49:10

After spending a little time mulling over the post-release feelings surrounding "The Colonel & The King," Justin and Bec give their thoughts on the newest Elvis box set from Sony Legacy, Sunset Boulevard, which encompasses recordings and rehearsals done between 1970-1975 at RCA's Studio C in Hollywood. The duo reflect on the the successes and shortcomings of this era of box sets that seems to be drawing to a close.  From Elvis in Nashville, Back in Nashville, Memphis and Sunset Boulevard mark a period where producer Ernst Jorgensen and mixer Matt Ross-Spang have seemingly reinterpreted Elvis's multi-track studio work in the 1970s through a more "rockist" lens; that is to say, one that promotes and emphasizes the perceived authenticity or purity of raw material recorded in-studio by Elvis and a core rhythm band without additional backing vocalists, strings and horns.  Despite great, modern-sounding re-mixes, these box sets have also marred by inconsistent mix decisions that contradict the claims that you're only hearing what Elvis heard in the studio - selectively leaving some overdubs, removing contributions from musicians that were physically in the studio with Elvis, and much more. It's a thought-provoking discussion about what the goals were, what value these sets have added, and whether they have helped us understand Elvis's creative process any better. For Song of the Week, Bec picks a childhood favorite, the sweet ballad "A Boy Like Me, A Girl Like You" from the Girls! Girls! Girls! soundtrack. Then, Justin uses "Good, Bad But Beautiful," an instrumental intended for Elvis to finish, to explore the fascinating circumstances of sessions, publishing, and release schedules that led to its recording at Stax in July of 1973... and Elvis's rejection of the Clive Westlake-penned song (later done by Shirley Bassey) at a late September 1973 session at his Palm Springs home, less than three weeks after having attempted to fire his manager.  This is one you won't want to skip... because there's a special Elvis Week surprise in this Song of the Week segment, courtesy of our good friends Jamie and John over at the EAP Society. 

Baz Luhrmann has released a teaser promoting the world premiere date of September 6, 2025, for "EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert" by dropping newly restored clip of Elvis's 1970 rehearsal performance of "Oh Happy Day." Gone is the grainy, washed out video, in are pristine, sharp film, vibrant colors... but also new audio! Elvis's vocal track sounds better than it ever has, which implies a new source & substantial clean-up, but the instrumentation screams "overdub." What is EPiC even going to be? Gurdip and Justin are on the case to discuss this tiny Elvis Week tease from Baz and his team. Check it out for yourself on Luhrmann's social pages: https://www.instagram.com/p/DNQUuK4p9KZ/

Gurdip, Justin, Ryan, and Olivia all gathered round to discuss their thoughts on Peter Guralnick's new book, "The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World." Full spoilers within. We recommend people buy it to make their own judgment. It is available through most major retailers - you can learn more about the book and where to buy it here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/peter-guralnick/the-colonel-and-the-king/9780316399449/

The TCBCast gang is waist-deep in preparing to discuss Peter Guralnick's new book but Gurdip and Justin snagged listener Kirsty Garland who currently runs the "Exposing Elvis Photoshops" pages on Facebook and Instagram for a quick episode. They dig into why Kirsty decided to take on the effort of debunking and providing sources for badly digitally manipulated photos of Elvis that have seemed to proliferate in the wake of Elvis's resurgence in popularity, her thoughts on why so many pages create them, and also her feelings about the coming onslaught of AI Elvis images. Naturally, there's also coverage about recent Elvis news - not just confirmation of the world premiere of Baz Luhrmann's EPiC at the Toronto International Film Festival in September (and its 100-minute runtime), but there finally is confirmation of the substance of London's immersive theatre experience "Elvis Evolution." Billed (and previewed in teaser videos) as containing the first AI deepfake Pepper's ghost-style hologram... this mystery train has seemingly gone wildly off the tracks in its first couple weeks, with reports of angry fans demanding refunds, being escorted out of shows, and the company behind the experience claiming to the BBC and other media outlets that they had "made clear when tickets went on sale" that there would be no AI Elvis in the way fans expected. Tickets went on sale in October - here's an article from IQ Magazine from October 2024 of them talking about AI Elvis still being in the show: https://www.iqmagazine.com/2024/10/behind-the-scenes-of-elvis-evolution/ Here's the October 21, 2024, video of Layered Reality from their own YouTube channel showing off Work-in-Progress versions of the deepfake Elvis, implying inclusion in the show at the time tickets went on sale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7bPqwtHRp0 And finally, here's an article from as recently as July 2025 - right around the premiere - from Fast Company magazine, with new quotes and information not seen in any report or coverage prior to the premiere, directly from CEO & Head of Studio, still talking about AI Elvis being part of the show: https://www.fastcompany.com/91368335/inside-elvis-evolution-ai-and-immersive-tech-bring-the-kings-life-to-the-stage-in-london Take from all that what you will. No Songs of the Week this week - but we promise "The Colonel and the King" will be a doozy worth the wait! Kirsty's pages can be followed at instagram.com/exposing_elvis_photoshops/ or searching for Exposing Elvis Photoshops on Facebook. 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 two week deep dive reassessing the work of producer Felton Jarvis, Justin comes up for air only to find one Gurdip Ladhar waiting patiently at the surface.  Gurdip eases his way into the water, bringing along a favorite comfort Camden, 1971's "I Got Lucky," a collection of songs mostly comprised of movie material previously only available on Extended Plays (and one excellent non-movie single B-side!)   But we're not quite done with Felton yet - the last two episodes provoked some great responses long and short from Elvis fans of all kinds, and we tackle some of the most pointed questions and queries to result from the effort. Gurdip also gives his thoughts on recent Elvis news. For Song of the Week, Gurdip picks up right where he left off, picking the upbeat "I Love Only One Girl" from the feature film "Double Trouble," while Justin goes all-in on another one of Elvis's singularly iconic 1950s rock-and-blues recordings that's wildly out of season: "Santa Claus is Back in Town."