James Reyne sings The King
Bands
22 May, 2010
Information
JAMES REYNE TCB
sings THE KING
In James Reyne's own words:
"For years I've held a kind of fanciful curiosity about Elvis Presley.
Not just that I've long thought he was an extraordinarily under-rated
singer, who, as such, had sometimes been over-looked as a bit frivolous and
run of the alley; who had instinctively recorded some of the most
groundbreaking, influential and exciting music ever, when there was no
rule-book, and NOBODY had come before quite like that, and who had wrung a
career that was mighty and sad and brilliant and unhinged and transcendent
and grandiose and corpulent and forsaken; but I've been fascinated by the
myth and the peculiarly American culture that had conceived and nurtured
the phenomenon that he became, and, in turn, the culture that he helped
create, however unwittingly.
I've known Charles Fisher a little bit for a long time. We first met, I
think, when he was producing the D.D. Smash album "The Optimist" a way back
then. Anyway, not long ago I was meeting with Charles and the talk turned to
Elvis, and how we both realised what a killer singer he really was, and that
whole debate about whether he was still as good after he came out of the
army, and that not only had he given some of the greatest popular vocal
performances ever, and made some fantastic material even better, that he had
certainly elevated some lowly refrains and later, after he seemed not to
care too much, or his lifestyle choices got in the way of his judgement, had
offered up some pretty somnolent, heavy-lidded renditions of some pretty
torpid gear, but infusing them with something so charismatic and engrossing
that they were made kind of essential listening anyway.
I wondered whether we could have the AUDACITY, PRESUMPTION and DAMN GALL to
try and record an album of my versions of some Elvis songs. We made a LONG
list. I researched and rediscovered a lot of the songs that I already knew
and a lot that I didn't. From our LONG list we chose fourteen songs. It was
not easy. My main criterion was that the originals had that certain, innate
insouciance that grabbed you immediately and, therefore, might translate
more easily. We both had some perennials we wanted to include - "Kentucky
Rain" for example; a song that runs a fine line between mawkish, soupy,
sentimental cornpone straight off the cob, and bloody good song-writing. We
wanted to pay respect to the fabulous simplicity of these tunes, where the
feel of the song was king, the sentiment was uncluttered and direct and the
tongue was often sitting cannily in the cheek. "Viva Las Vegas" is almost a
standard in this vein. As are "Such A Night", "Bossa Nova Baby", "Girls,
Girls, Girls" and "Little Egypt", while "She's Not You" and "Good Luck
Charm" swing crazy as a loon, man. I was also mindful of the fact that
there are several of Elvis' tunes it would be pure tomfoolery to attempt;
songs with a spirit so singular and original as to be virtually impossible
to interpret: "That's Alright, Mama" anyone? "Wooden Heart"? "Jailhouse
Rock".
The main aim was to try and make the songs my own, always aware of the
stupidity of trying to imitate Elvis himself and the folly of even
pretending to contend the brilliance of the originals, but keeping a sense
of humour intact and still remaining true to any crucial rhythms or cadence
or musical elements that existed on those first, seminal, exhilarating
recordings. It is probably testament to the artful simplicity of these
originals that our recording process was painless and, dare I say, easy.
Fortune smiled on us as well when it came time to mix the album. Charles
happened to be friends with the charming, Grammy-winning, mix engineer from
Los Angeles, Helik Hadar. Helik has worked extensively with acts as diverse
as Herbie Hancock (for whom he won the Grammy), Joni Mitchell and Walter
Becker, to Rufus Wainwright and Teddy Thompson. Nothing was a problem for
Helik. He arrived for a month's work, delighted us with his skill and taste,
and fell in love with the country, it's carefree attitude, the air, it's
light and, I figure, the girls, girls, girls.
Whatever the case and whatever the cost, I hope I've done some justice to
these tunes I've tagged; a smithereen of the music of an actual legend who,
for those who've seen the famous shot of him being bussed on either cheek by
two girls, is right there with you while he ain't there at all.
Have you heard the news? There's good rockin' tonight!"
James Reyne.
JAMES REYNE TCB - The album. Released through Liberation Music on Friday
April 9th, 2010
JAMES REYNE sings THE KING
Tickets on sale Monday 4th January 2010
Saturday 22 May State Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Ticketmaster 136 100
Venue
May State Theatre
Price
$60 - $99
Bookings
136 100