Favourite Elvis and Willie Nelson Songs!

[ARC]

Elvis. In my opinion the greatest genius in popular music history. The amount of great songs he had is just INSANE. Here are my favourites:

- My Boy

- Burning Love (surely one of the best rock songs ever)

- Don't Cry Daddy

- I Just Can't Help Believin'

- An American Trilogy

- If I Can Dream

Willie Nelson - another amazing voice! And a great guitar player. My favourites:

- Blue Skies

- Georgia On My Mind

- Let It Be Me

- Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground

- Stardust

- Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning

- My Heros Have Always Been Cowboys

[Lithium]

Elvis - anything pre-army, in particular The Sun Sessions and S/T.

Willie Nelson - I'm embarrassed to say this, but my experience with this guy is rather limited. Except for The Highwaymen, I've only heard his most well-known songs. It's weird how I never got around to listen to him when I was in my Americana phase. Any album recommendations?

[ARC]

Willie Nelson - Any album recommendations?

I don't know the albums either. I just got the 'Essential'. Youtube some of the songs I mention ^^, they're awesome.

[juadlu]

Elvis was/is amazing some of my favourites-

1- Thats all right(my favourite)

2- Love me tender

3-Devil in disguise

4-Are you lonesome tonight(yes,i am a sucker for the ballads)!

[Guest deleted_19765]

Elvis - anything pre-army, in particular The Sun Sessions and S/T.

Willie Nelson - I'm embarrassed to say this, but my experience with this guy is rather limited. Except for The Highwaymen, I've only heard his most well-known songs. It's weird how I never got around to listen to him when I was in my Americana phase. Any album recommendations?

Shotgun Willie for starters. If you like that enough, Phases and Stages can come next, or if you want more variation, anything from Columbia starting with Red Headed Stranger towards the end of the 70s. The Troublemaker is great if you are into gospel music and Stardust for the great American songbook. Neither have compositions from Willie, but they are as good and indicative of his talents as anything else. Shotgun Willie is a good start because there's a mix of Willie's compositions and some unique covers.

Anyway, on topic. I don't know enough from Elvis, but:

Heartbreak Hotel

I'm Counting On You

One-Sided Love Affair

I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry (Over You)

After Loving You

I'll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms)

Mama Liked The Roses

From A Jack To A King

Choosing Willie songs is infinitely harder:

Night Life (from San Antonio Rose with Ray Price)

Always On My Mind

Permanently Lonely

Walkin'

She's Not For You

Local Memory

September Song

In The Garden

Bandera

Way too many songs to choose from though for Willie. His output has been insane.

[Johnny Utah]

I'd add the Willie written "Always On My Mind " that Elvis did a great job of covering.

Check out this Elvis song:

Just an amazing song that I had never even heard b4 yesterday. Elvis could seemingly make any song his own and his voice was perfect imo.

Edited April 5, 2009 by Johnny Utah

[Guest deleted_19765]

I'd add the Willie written "Always On My Mind " that Elvis did a great job of covering.

Check out this Elvis song:

Just an amazing song that I had never even heard b4 yesterday. Elvis could seeminly make any song his own and his voice was perfect imo.

"Always On My Mind" was written by a couple of session musicians. In fact, Elvis recorded it long before Willie. Both versions are excellent though.

[dirtylenny]

never really heard jackshit of Willie Nelson but Elvis?!?! shit, are you kidding? how about his entire fucking career? (and i mean that too, i love everything i heard) but as of this moment, songs that occur to me:

Young & Beautiful (theres this beautiful softly strummed version on the soundtrack of jailhouse rock thats almost entirely carried by Elvis's voice, its beautiful)

Treat Me Nice

Love Me Tender

GI Blues

a lot of the more rockin' stuff like hunk o' love, hard headed woman, y'know, the really rockabilly stuff y'know, thats real elvis to me, fuckin greasy haired hillbilly truck drivin salty lookin' motherfucker :)

And that other song thats name escapes me but its on the Elvis 56 album and it goes anyway you want me, well thats how i will be

Edited April 5, 2009 by dirtylenny

[GUNSNROSESFOREVER]

I Love Everything by Elvis But I Might Get Killed for this Willie Nelson Sucks

[Johnny Utah]

Yeah agree with poster above, pretty much his whole career.

Although I'd probably say his 1968-73 years are my personal favorite.

[Lithium]

Shotgun Willie for starters. If you like that enough, Phases and Stages can come next, or if you want more variation, anything from Columbia starting with Red Headed Stranger towards the end of the 70s. The Troublemaker is great if you are into gospel music and Stardust for the great American songbook. Neither have compositions from Willie, but they are as good and indicative of his talents as anything else. Shotgun Willie is a good start because there's a mix of Willie's compositions and some unique covers.

Cool, thanks

[artfromtex]

wow, two of my faves being talked about here.

Elvis:

well, i'm an Elvis fanatic, so it's hard to pick songs. i will say that i love these periods the most:

1969-1972

1960-1962

to me, Elvis' 50's stuff, as great as it is, pales in comparison to the two eras i just mentioned. if you don't like post-comeback Elvis (jumpsuits, Vegas, etc.) and are an early-Elvis only kinda of person, you need to check out the albums "Elvis Is Back!", "Something For Everybody", and "Pot Luck". great songs on these albums. also, the sound quality is unbelievable. i really think music engineering has taken steps backwards in quality. sure the technology is unbelievable now, but shouldn't that result in better sounding albums? these albums were probably recorded on 4 tracks, relying on microphone placement and the players absolutely nailing their parts live with Elvis singing along. no track by track recording. it was all live in the studio. great stuff.

Willie:

i agree with AgainstAllOdds that "Shotgun Willie", "Phases and Stages", and "Red-Headed Stranger" are the way to start. he also had alot of great stuff for RCA in the 60's. "Mr. Record Man", "Night Life", "Hello Walls", and "Crazy" were all big hits written by Willie for other artists. his version were just as good as the popular versions. i've got two box sets from the German "Bear Family" record label that has all of Willie's stuff from 1954-1972. so many hidden gems. there's this song called "I Just Can't Let You Say Goodbye" that's about killing his wife/girlfriend. great song. has a very haunting sound to it.

I Just Can't Let You Say Goodbye:

I had not planned on seeing you

I was afraid of what I'd do

But pride is strong and here am I

and I just can't let you say goodbye

Please have no fear you're in no harm

as long as you're here in my arms

But you can't leave so please don't try

but I just can't let you say goodbye

What force behind your evil mind

can let your lips speak so unkind

To one who loves as much as I

I just can't let you say goodbye

The flesh around your throat is pale

indented by my fingernails

Please don't scream and please don't cry

cause I just can't let you say goodbye

Your voice is still it speaks no more

you'll never hurt me anymore

Death is a friend to love and I

cause now you'll never say goodbye

i couldn't find this on youtube, it's a shame 'cause it's a great song.

here's a Willie box-set that contains "Shotgun Willie" and "Phases and Stages" in mini lp form with tons of bonus tracks. there's also a live cd from the Texas Opryhouse in Austin from 1972 that can only be found in this set. sound quality is great and the packaging is really cool.

Edited April 7, 2009 by artfromtex

[ARC]

wow, two of my faves being talked about here.

Elvis:

well, i'm an Elvis fanatic, so it's hard to pick songs. i will say that i love these periods the most:

1969-1972

1960-1962

to me, Elvis' 50's stuff, as great as it is, pales in comparison to the two eras i just mentioned. if you don't like post-comeback Elvis (jumpsuits, Vegas, etc.) and are an early-Elvis only kinda of person, you need to check out the albums "Elvis Is Back!", "Something For Everybody", and "Pot Luck". great songs on these albums. also, the sound quality is unbelievable. i really think music engineering has taken steps backwards in quality. sure the technology is unbelievable now, but shouldn't that result in better sounding albums? these albums were probably recorded on 4 tracks, relying on microphone placement and the players absolutely nailing their parts live with Elvis singing along. no track by track recording. it was all live in the studio. great stuff.

Willie:

i agree with AgainstAllOdds that "Shotgun Willie", "Phases and Stages", and "Red-Headed Stranger" are the way to start. he also had alot of great stuff for RCA in the 60's. "Mr. Record Man", "Night Life", "Hello Walls", and "Crazy" were all big hits written by Willie for other artists. his version were just as good as the popular versions. i've got two box sets from the German "Bear Family" record label that has all of Willie's stuff from 1954-1972. so many hidden gems. there's this song called "I Just Can't Let You Say Goodbye" that's about killing his wife/girlfriend. great song. has a very haunting sound to it.

I Just Can't Let You Say Goodbye:

I had not planned on seeing you

I was afraid of what I'd do

But pride is strong and here am I

and I just can't let you say goodbye

Please have no fear you're in no harm

as long as you're here in my arms

But you can't leave so please don't try

but I just can't let you say goodbye

What force behind your evil mind

can let your lips speak so unkind

To one who loves as much as I

I just can't let you say goodbye

The flesh around your throat is pale

indented by my fingernails

Please don't scream and please don't cry

cause I just can't let you say goodbye

Your voice is still it speaks no more

you'll never hurt me anymore

Death is a friend to love and I

cause now you'll never say goodbye

i couldn't find this on youtube, it's a shame 'cause it's a great song.

here's a Willie box-set that contains "Shotgun Willie" and "Phases and Stages" in mini lp form with tons of bonus tracks. there's also a live cd from the Texas Opryhouse in Austin from 1972 that can only be found in this set. sound quality is great and the packaging is really cool.

Cheers for the links.

I also agree that music doesn't sound as good today, in terms of pure sound. In digitally recorded music everything seems to be so highly compressed, it just doesn't sound... I don't know... real to me.

I chose these two because they have such special voices, particularly Elvis.

Elvis could record a song on a mobile phone and it would sound amazing. Same with Willie. Their voices just come through the medium, as if they are singing to you over your shoulder.

[artfromtex]

Cheers for the links.

I also agree that music doesn't sound as good today, in terms of pure sound. In digitally recorded music everything seems to be so highly compressed, it just doesn't sound... I don't know... real to me.

I chose these two because they have such special voices, particularly Elvis.

Elvis could record a song on a mobile phone and it would sound amazing. Same with Willie. Their voices just come through the medium, as if they are singing to you over your shoulder.

i agree 100%.

i noticed you listed "Let It Be Me" under Willie, have you heard the Elvis version?

thanks for the great thread. i wonder where American music is headed sometimes. if music is a reflection of the people who perform it and listen to it, we are in bad shape. the artists who get cherry-picked to be thrust into the limelight are almost all unworthy. yet, there are good artists out there. why do we choose bologna over prime rib?

[Guest deleted_19765]

there's this song called "I Just Can't Let You Say Goodbye" that's about killing his wife/girlfriend. great song. has a very haunting sound to it.

I Just Can't Let You Say Goodbye:

I had not planned on seeing you

I was afraid of what I'd do

But pride is strong and here am I

and I just can't let you say goodbye

Please have no fear you're in no harm

as long as you're here in my arms

But you can't leave so please don't try

but I just can't let you say goodbye

What force behind your evil mind

can let your lips speak so unkind

To one who loves as much as I

I just can't let you say goodbye

The flesh around your throat is pale

indented by my fingernails

Please don't scream and please don't cry

cause I just can't let you say goodbye

Your voice is still it speaks no more

you'll never hurt me anymore

Death is a friend to love and I

cause now you'll never say goodbye

i couldn't find this on youtube, it's a shame 'cause it's a great song.

I found the version from Teatro on imeem. What a cool song. It reminds me of the poem "Porphyria's Lover" by Robert Browning. Willie must have read it. Anyway, I really love how Willie revisits songs he wrote in the 1960s throughout his career. Any true artist knows songs are never really finished and Willie has done some fascinating versions of the same songs.

[SpUd_Jr]

Help wanted!

I really want to get Elvis's The Sun Sessions, but it's out of print. Is there a more recent similiar compilation available?

[Zint]

Everything on Elvis's first album and Suspicous Minds.

Willie Nelson...the aformentioned material pretty much covers it.

[Lithium]

Help wanted!

I really want to get Elvis's The Sun Sessions, but it's out of print. Is there a more recent similiar compilation available?

Just download the bastard, you won't go to hell, I assure you.

[maXx]

am listening to Burning Love atm

(sorry this is off-topic, one of my sons looks like Elvis:)

nah, i took em off. i never asked his permission

Edited April 8, 2009 by maXx diaTribE

[artfromtex]

Help wanted!

I really want to get Elvis's The Sun Sessions, but it's out of print. Is there a more recent similiar compilation available?

Just download the bastard, you won't go to hell, I assure you.

the best sounding collection of Elvis' Sun Studios days is Elvis At Sun.

there's another compilation called Sunrise that has alot more alternate takes and even some very early live stuff from those "Louisiana Hayride" years. the sound quality on the studio stuff is really good, but not quite as good as "Elvis at Sun" and the quality on the live stuff can go from surprisingly good to barely listenable.

Edited April 8, 2009 by artfromtex

[eschman]

Never knew that Always on my Mind was Elvis and not Willie until I dug up some of my sisters' old records and heard Elvis doing it. Weird.