Elvis Songs to Learn

[Hiker]

What Elvis songs do you recommend. I'd like to start with easier ones, and some of his earlier songs would be welcome, too.

Anyone?

[hekawi]

[elihu]

[Frontier9]

Suspicious Minds

[Brian blaut]

That's alright mama, mystery train, Baby Let's Play House, Blue Moon of Kentucky - rockabilly guitar 101.

Add to that: Little Sister, Hound Dog....

Heck, just buy the Sun recordings and Elvis '56 and learn all those songs.

[e-merlin]

There was a move released in 1988 called Heartbreak Hotel. It wasn't a great movie but it had some great versions of Elvis songs. You might want to check it out to see about different interpretations of standard Elvis songs...

[Tommy Biggs]

Blue Christmas is great on guitar. couple of nice chord voicings, a little bottom E bend, just a great song to play.
And it comes in handy to know at least one Christmas tune

[musicmatty]

A Big yes to all the above post The cover band I was in, opened every show with Mystery Train. We did a fair bit of Elvis tunes..if you got the singer who can wing it..why not Scotty Moore..Hank Garland and James Burton, are very tough acts to follow on the guitar for getting that magic sauce that they brewed on many of those Classics. Moore on Mystery Train..Garland on Little Sister using a Jazzmaster guitar that wasn't his..and of course Burton taking all of that to yet another level in the live shows

Me on the Tele with our cover band doing Mystery Train

[raito]

You can do Burning Love pretty simply. D G A and Bmin.

[MrCairo46]

Too Much is a great tune with a fun lead.

[telepath]

Well I dunno , but .. wiiise men say ..

More seriously - 'I cant help falling in love' is a great song that can be slowed down a tad and picked finger-style.
As opposed to 'I just cant help believing' which is simply a great song & best left alone ;)

[Mightyaxeman]

Originally Posted by musicmatty

A Big yes to all the above post The cover band I was in, opened every show with Mystery Train. We did a fair bit of Elvis tunes..if you got the singer who can wing it..why not Scotty Moore..Hank Garland and James Burton, are very tough acts to follow on the guitar for getting that magic sauce that they brewed on many of those Classics. Moore on Mystery Train..Garland on Little Sister using a Jazzmaster guitar that wasn't his..and of course Burton taking all of that to yet another level in the live shows

Me on the Tele with our cover band doing Mystery Train

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joD9uj8eqEY">YouTube Link</a>

Nice guitar and vocals. What song was your drummer playing?

[Mister E Train]

From "King Creole" . Kinda different from most of Elvis recordings, but ranks among the best. Owe it to yourself to sit in a dark room when the sun goes down and play this slight jazz/rock/preservation Hall kinda thing.
Elvis at his cockiness.

[puremania]

[Jack S]

Mean Woman Blues



Hard Headed Woman



and, you might want to hear how the "female Elvis" did it.

[Jack S]

I want to share one more version by Wanda. Check out the guitar solo on this one.

[gitold]

Joe Maphis...Wow

[Telemarkman]

My favorite Elvis song ... It starts in the basement and just builds and builds ... Great chord progression, but easy to play on the guitar.

[Tidepoolbay]

All Elvis all the time!

[1955]

(Here's a couple suggestions that people will request:)

'53

'54-'55 (That's All Right)

'56-'58 (Hound Dog, Heartbreak Hotel, Don't Be Cruel, Love Me Tender, All Shook Up, Jailhouse Rock, Teddy Bear)

'60-'61' (It's Now Or Never, Are You Lonesome Tonight, Little Sister, Can't Help Falling In Love)

'62-'68 (Return To Sender, Viva Las Vegas)

'69-'70 (Suspicious Minds, In The Ghetto,)

'71-73 (Burning Love)

'74-77 (Any of the bigger production ones like "My Way," "American Trilogy," "How Great Thou Art," etc.)

Start with only a couple Sun ones (do not lean on an echo crutch, just learn the Scotty Moore Travis/Atkins style.)

pick a couple that have some jazz chords, like "For The Good Times," "Kentucky Rain." Pick a country, gospel, Blues ("Steamroller Blues,") etc. Listen to the song without a critical ear and learn the ones that speak to you.

Some guitar players don't give enough respect to the material, and think they can just glaze over it with pentatonic noodle-ry. Listen to a song a lot on headphones, and really learn it. There's a 7-flat-5, or a first inversion, or a maj7 in there... Don't make the mistake of thinking you are better than the material. Soon you'll have added to your arsenal techniques that cover a lot of styles.

Elvis' repertoire was a big melting pot, keep your mind open and new worlds will show in your playing.

You may gravitate to songs that are not well-known, but be aware that most people don't care about those, unfortunately. Bizarre, but true. "Whaddya mean you don't love 'Old Shep!?"