Elvis Presley 1958-??-??
The Fadal Tapes, Killeen, TX

Set 1
- Dialogue
- I Understand * OMITTED *
- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby
- I Can't Help It
- Who's Sorry Now
- Who's Sorry Now
- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby
- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby
- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby
- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby
- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby
- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby
- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby
- Don't You Know I Love You
- Tomorrow Night
- Little Darlin'
- Just A Closer Walk With Thee

Set 2


Set 3


Comment
elvis accompanies himself on the piano and is joined vocally
by eddie fadal and anita wood, evidently his girlfriend
of the period. bizarrely, the sleeve features a picture of
NATALIE wood with elvis ...





background information:
(see http://www.elvisandeddie.com/ for details)

the liner notes to the rca 1999 release "the home recordings" say that
the tracks were recorded in the summer of 1958 in killeen, texas, where
elvis and his family rented a house whilst he was stationed in fort hood
in the army.

MANY other sources say they were made in waco, texas at the home of
eddie fadal, a dj in dallas who elvis had met whilst touring in texas.
apparently elvis frequently spent time at eddie's home for the 6 months he
was there.

oddly, the fadal family website mentioned above makes no reference to the
recording and even appears to distance itself from them by referring to a
jam session saying "Oh, that tape recorders and camcorders had been available
then!" ... even more oddly, it is WELL KNOWN that eddie made home movies of
elvis

http://home.online.no/~ov-egela/ep58.html dates the recording 1958-05-28.





the music:


the 1st song on this cd, "I UNDERSTAND JUST HOW YOU FEEL" (originally by
the four tunes) is omitted from this torrent as it appears on the rca 1999
release "the home recordings".

however, the 2 versions released differ ...

the bootleg version starts with a piece of chatter and then into
the song as it appears at 0:12 on the released version. the song
then plays as the released version but there is some extra sound
at the end (from 2:11 on the released version as it fades).

the released version has elvis singing the lines: "do you remember
the love we had for each other ? i was your pretty" from the song
"HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY" (more of which later!) ... from that
point (0:12) the 2 versions are the same. the opening lines on the
released version in fact appear later on on the tape, just before
"LITTLE DARLIN'" is played.

in case i havent explained this too well, i have drawn a little
diagram which i include with the torrent to indicate where the
2 versions of the same.

clearly rca edited the tape in the interests of entertainment ...
thus, i have made the chatter from the beginning of the song (unused
on the released version) track 1 and the noise from the end of it track 2
so people can reassemble the track if they REALLY want to!

"HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY" was released by the tune weavers in 1957
and is clearly a BIG favourite of elvis and his friends ... on this
cd we have elvis playing the song himself on piano and bizarrely he
later sings over the record, repeating a favourite part over AND OVER again

"I CAN'T HELP IT" is sung by anita wood and was originally by hank williams.
anita wood recorded several singles, including "crying in the chapel"
(a full 2 years before elvis on abc-paramount), "mama, he treats your
daughter mean" on nita. both of these could be taken to coyly refer
to her inability to wed the king ... a later single on the SUN label
"i'll wait forever" would suggest that this carried on although by
the time it came out in 1961 she was wed to cleveland browns football
player johnny brewer. "i'll wait forever" can be heard on the charly
sun records compilation "hillbilly fillies & rockin' chicks" (cpcd 8182).

"WHO'S SORRY NOW ?" was originally by connie francis and is again sung
by anita wood with elvis at the piano. the 2nd pass features eddie fadal
and elvis on backing vocals. before the song starts, fadal is asking elvis
if he likes another record by connie francis he sent him called
"I'M SORRY I MADE YOU CRY".

at this point, there is break in the tape. when it resumes, elvis wants
to hear "HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY" and proceeds to sing along.
on the 2nd pass (incomplete), fadal is joined by one of his
children, janice. 3rd time, elvis is back to doing the backing vocals,
joined in parts by fadal. 4th time, elvis discusses the eating habits
that will, at least in part, lead to an early death (fellow sun records
star charlie feathers said "it wasnt drugs that killed elvis - it was
his breakfast") and continues to sing along. the FIFTH and SIXTH and
SEVENTH AND EIGTH time we get the song, elvis just wants the last portion.
insert own gag here.

from this point, we hear elvis sitting and listening to several more records ...

first up is "DONT YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU" originally by fats domino.
elvis amuses himself by singing a bass part along with the record.

then it is "TOMORROW NIGHT", with which elvis is of course familiar since
he recorded the song himself almost 4 years earlier. the lonnie johnson
version is usually cited as the version elvis learnt the song from but
the original here is by lavern baker.

then it is "LITTLE DARLIN'", prefaced by the lines from "HAPPY, HAPPY
BIRTHDAY BABY" eddie starts by playing the wrong side of the single
("FAITHFUL & TRUE") before he turns it over for the discerning king of
rock'n'roll. the track was originally by the diamonds. elvis would
record this himself MUCH later in his career.

finally, or perhaps AT LAST, elvis is back to the piano and serenades
a crying child (probably the fadal's youngest, dana) with
"JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE", originally by countless people but in
this instance, most likely red foley. the recording is impaired (as
several on the disc have been) by the vocals of fadal senior.

Sources
SHNIDDateVenueCityStateArchive Identifier
Created At
Tue Mar 27 2007 10:57:14 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Updated At
Tue Mar 27 2007 10:50:13 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Users with this performance
Name#Active (0-5)Top CollectionsLast Update
Gary732352024-6-28