TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS: The Elvis Forum

I bet Dolly remains happy she didn't sign-over the rights for Elvis to record this song back in the 70s.
Surely he could have done it better than the over-the-top Whitney.



"AS the world mourns Whitney Houston, her music has set the charts alight again.

And the record companies and writers of her songs are set to profit from her death last Saturday - among them country singer Dolly Parton.

Parton wrote I Will Always Love You in 1973, before Houston recorded it for The Bodyguard almost two decades later.

As Parton, 66, owns the song, she stands to earn a significant amount of money as the No.1 hit is expected to top the iTunes singles chart.

During an interview, Parton revealed: "When Whitney did it, I got all the money for the publishing and for the writing, and I bought a lot of cheap wigs."

The song, which shot to No.1 across the globe, was sung by Jennifer Hudson as a tribute during the 54th Grammy Awards on Sunday."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17039076
Whitney Houston: Sony 'sorry' for album price hike

it seems the price of her albums increased £3 just after she died, Sony say it was an error, seems it ain't just us that gets ripped off

So am i ... hate that bloody song!.

I dont care for the song much but it is one of the best vocals ever put to wax. Whitney at the top of her game. No way Elvis would have bettered it. And many people think Elvis was over the top with his uh-huhs and hunka hunka stuff.

I have never taken to Whitney's singing.

Dollys' version is the best one for me. It has more feeling in it, Whitneys' version is totally over the top.

I remember seeing Dolly somewhere saying she now regrets turning down the chance to have Elvis record it. I'm sure she means as an artist and not financially!! As they were both on RCA Victor it would have made a cracking duet.

I love Dolly's version. It's a shame Elvis never took to recording it anyway, or gave us a live version. That would have been amazing I'm sure.

I'm not sure if this would have been a good song for him. Perhaps if he kept if subtle and didn't do his 70s over the top thing, it might have worked.

I agree. A gentle country version maybe just the piano like "Danny Boy". Trouble is, Felton would have overdubbed a hundred brass bands and fifty thousand violins on it like he always did.

Because the man he worked for wanted things that way !

Definitely...!!! Sorry, my comment seems misinterpreted, which is no surprise seeing how I put it... Felton ruined the songs but ELVIS was to blame... Elvis was EXECUTIVE PRODUCER in his final albums. If Elvis cared he'd have turned up to the over dub sessions. Or he would have recorded them that way in the first place. But he didn't. I have heard many times Elvis was unhappy with the overdubs. Felton had free range, and he shouldnt have... my comment seemed to blame Felton, I am sorry, Elvis was to blame because he let him do it. But Felton made the artistic decisions regarding overdubs... therefore he would have done them...

What I'm saying is, Elvis didn't really give a damn,. but that doesn't mean Elvis neccessarily wanted them that way...

“It’s a lot less busy....there’s a lot less music going on.
Elvis, he thought there was strength in numbers or something.
He’d want voices and strings and so on - but sometimes you can go too far with that.
Simplicity is really nice sometimes.
So this one is really laid back – his performance is just so good.
I think the music and the feel of the track is so good.
That’s Larry Byrom playing some bad guitar.”

– Felton Jarvis talking (in Dec. 1980) about the new backing track for Loving Arms.