Elvis Presley - Hurt - From First Take to the Master

This was the song which opened Elvis’ penultimate studio album “From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis Tennessee” and on it’s release as a single would become no more than a minor hit.
It’s lowly place in the pop charts was indicative of the musical direction that Elvis himself has headed in the final years of his life. He was now making music that he himself wanted to make and although his fans would still buy the output in large numbers, it was less appealing to the wider music buying public. If you consider where mainstream music was at this point in time, this song and the album in general was a million miles away from that.
This is of course in no way derogatory to Elvis himself, as after all of these years and his achievements in the music business, he was surely now free to record whatever he saw fit. In fact, it should also be said that this recording was probably one of the most convincing recordings of Elvis’s twilight career.
However, what does not do the album many favours is that many of the songs are drenched in orchestral overdubs which irrevocably dates these tracks somewhat. Ironically, this is the very thing that most fans found unacceptable about the ill-conceived RPO project.
“Hurt” was one of the few songs on the “Boulevard” album which did not contain post production orchestral overdubs. The only additions to the final master was backing vocals and some drum overdubs. Elvis recorded his studio master on 5 February 1976 at Graceland and was the second of three songs recorded that evening.
If the song seems to have been recorded by Elvis perhaps fifteen years too late as far a pop music was concerned, the live renditions are something of a revelation. The early renditions stick faithfully to the studio arrangement but this soon changed with brass added and a power ending aided with a reprise, often of the complete song.
Included in this video are the live version from Rapid City on 21 June 1977 which was included in CBS’ “Elvis In Concert” and the infamous “Take 69”. If you are unfamiliar with this version it is crude but amusingly satisfying with Elvis changing the lyrics but still singing it as seriously as the master version. If you are easily offended then listen at your peril!!

As with all of these videos, to get the most out of the re-edited audio, I highly recommend you use ear /headphones and turn the volume up as much as you dare!

Видео Elvis Presley - Hurt - From First Take to the Master канала The Ultimate Elvis Channel by Leon