ALL I NEED WAS A RAIN: THE RECORDING OF STAY AWAY JOE
On September 29, 1967, Memphis Mayor William Ingram and Tennessee Governor Buford Ellington declare “Elvis Presley Day” in recognition of Elvis’ many charitable contributions. Elvis names one of his horses Mare Ingram in honor of the mayor. In September, Elvis finally returns to Nashville for a recording session, considering that with the cancellation of the Los Angeles session, new material was needed to be released. With Jerry Reed in attendance in the studio, Elvis will record the songs “Guitar Man“, “Big Boss Man” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” among others. Each time, improvement is shown in the recorded songs. Elvis was trying again.
In October 1967, Elvis began recording the soundtrack and filming the Metro Goldwyn Mayer movie “Stay Away Joe.” In this Western-themed comedy, he once again played an indigenous character. This role can be considered a real departure from the change in the characters that Elvis had played in most of his films in recent years, a formula that was outdated and exhausted. He had fun. On October 26, 1967, Priscilla and several wives and girlfriends from Elvis’ entourage traveled to Sedona, Arizona, to visit the set of “Stay Away Joe.”
BY THE END OF 1967 THE NEED FOR A CHANGE IN ELVIS’ CAREER BECAME OBVIOUS
In November 1967, Elvis and Priscilla purchased their first home in Beverly Hills, located at 1174 Hillcrest for $400,000. It was not a very large house, and would provide privacy for the new family (Lisa Marie was born in February 1968). It had a few rooms in case someone from Elvis’s entourage decided to stay with them.
“Clambake” was released nationwide on November 22, 1967 and reached #15 on the top grossing films list. The soundtrack did not improve on the level of the previous ones, reaching #40.
By this point, the need for a change in Elvis’s career was evident. Col. Tom Parker had signed a new film contract for Elvis with National General Pictures (the film would be Charro) for a sum of approximately one million dollars. It is true that it is becoming increasingly difficult to close deals, given the decline in Elvis’ popularity and the poor results of his recent films.
At the same time, Col. Parker begins to negotiate with NBC the possibility of making a Christmas show for 1968.
Information provided by Club Elvis Spain http://www.clubelvis.org
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