TCBCast 289: Elvis and Country Music, Part 4: Tennessee, Nevada, Hawaii, 1969-1973: Elvis' Country "Trilogy"

TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast

Guest host Garrett Cash and Justin begin Part 4 of Elvis and Country Music journey right where they left off: Elvis’ iconic 1969 sessions at Memphis producer Chips Moman’s American Sound, which provide Elvis his first country hits – as the industry considered them – in a decade. They then trace Elvis’ path from Las Vegas, where he brings together the finest country-rock band ever assembled in the TCB Band, back to Nashville where he not only embraces the “Countrypolitan” evolution of the Nashville sound, but pays homage to the genre’s diverse pop, blues, and folk roots with his only concept album, an artistic triumph which fully showcased how Elvis viewed the history of country music, with its many lineages all under one banner: “Elvis Country.”

Our hosts also take sidebars to reflect on women’s rising voices in country music during this period, the development of a movement within Nashville that came to be dubbed “outlaw country,” and songwriters such as Mac Davis, Dallas Frazier, Lee Hazlewood, and Dennis Linde, whose “Burning Love” once again drives home the failings, inherent flaws and revealing biases in the way we discuss genre using the music industry’s classifications; a “rock” hit from a “country” writer, originally recorded by “soul” singer Arthur Alexander.

Finally, we arrive in Hawaii, where – as Jimmie Rodgers once reminded us – everybody does “it.” What is “it,” exactly? Sure seems like country music, since “Aloha from Hawaii” is jam-packed with it! And what to make of Elvis’ interpretation of country writer Mickey Newbury’s “An American Trilogy?” All that and more – next week’s episode (we promise it’ll be shorter!) will take us from Elvis’ 1973 Stax Sessions all the way to the morning of August 16, 1977.

You can find more of Garrett on "The Beat! With Garrett Cash" on SoundCloud at: https://soundcloud.com/garrett-cash-635212819

As well as on the Let It Roll Podcast miniseries "Holy Roll" at: https://letitrollpodcast.substack.com/p/let-it-roll-with-garrett-cash

In late October 2023 we will be releasing a YouTube and Spotify playlist with as many songs featured on this series as possible. Stay tuned to our social media pages for details. This series would not be possible without the support of TCBCast Patreon backers, thank you to all of our patrons!

This is not remotely comprehensive or in any order whatsoever but among some of the key resources that we found useful for this 4th episode are:

Ken Burns’ Country Music - Documentary, Book & Soundtrack

Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick

Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick

Elvis Presley: A Life in Music by Ernst Jorgensen

How Nashville Became Music City USA by Michael Kosser

Cocaine and Rhinestones: "Dallas Frazier: Can’t Get There from Here" by Tyler Mahan Coe: https://cocaineandrhinestones.com/dallas-frazier

Cocaine and Rhinestones: “Billy Sherill’s Nashville Sound” by Tyler Mahan Coe: https://cocaineandrhinestones.com/billy-sherrill