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Jeff Mead


From:
London, England
Post  Posted 8 Jan 2016 6:47 am    
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Anyone know who played the lap steel on Rock a Hula Baby and, presumably, the other side - I Can't Help Falling In Love With You?
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Brad Bechtel


From:
San Francisco, CA
Post  Posted 8 Jan 2016 7:35 am    
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According to this site, it was Alvino Rey.
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Jon Light (deceased)


From:
Saugerties, NY
Post  Posted 8 Jan 2016 7:51 am    
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I don't know how many "I Can't Help Falling In Love" recordings there were---more than one, most certainly.

Bobbe Seymour claimed credit for one. He said that he played the lap steel sounding parts with a slide on a Les Paul (if I recall correctly).
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Brad Bechtel


From:
San Francisco, CA
Post  Posted 8 Jan 2016 11:18 am    
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According to Wikipedia:

Quote:
Elvis Presley's version of the song, which topped the British charts in 1962, has appeared in numerous other films, including the 2000 film Coyote Ugly and the 2002 Disney film Lilo & Stitch. The single is certified by the RIAA as a Platinum record, for US sales in excess of one million copies. In the United States, the Elvis Presley version of the song peaked at number two on the pop chart and went to number one on the Easy Listening chart for six weeks.[4]

During Presley's late 1960s and 1970s live performances, the song was performed as the show's finale. Most notably, it was also sung in the live segment of his 1968 NBC television special, and as the closer for his 1973 Global telecast, Aloha from Hawaii. A version with a faster arrangement was used as the closing for Presley's final TV special, Elvis in Concert.


I couldn't find any verification that Mr. Seymour was involved in the actual hit recording in 1961 or any other recorded version of the song by Mr. Presley.
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Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 8 Jan 2016 12:43 pm    
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Alvino Rey did the recording for the single and the film soundtrack. As the sessions took place in Hollywood, CA it's hard to imagine any Nashville musicians even being considered.

Bobbe did claim he was involved with a much later ('70s) Elvis track ('Kentucky Rain') but there's no documentation to support this. There's also no audible trace of steel guitar on that record.
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Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 8 Jan 2016 12:44 pm    
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Happy eighty-first Birthday, Elvis!
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Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 8 Jan 2016 1:56 pm    
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John Hughey has a couple of studio credits with Presley.
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Mitch Drumm

 

From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
Post  Posted 8 Jan 2016 4:24 pm    
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Who else to add to the list that played steel for EP, live or studio?

Sonny Trammell, Jimmy Day, Jerry Byrd, Bernie Lewis, and Pete Drake.

Others?

Byrd on an overdub session only, I think (Beyond The Reef).

Drake more than anybody--at least in the studio.

Maybe somebody else in 1954/1955 on one-shot live performances on tour, like Felton Pruett or Shot Jackson? Maybe Stan Kesler in or around Memphis---you'd think with those great songs he wrote for Elvis, that Stan would have at least played steel for him somewhere, possibly informally.

Elvis played a lot in Texas, particularly Houston, in his earliest days. Maybe Herb Remington once or twice? Has Herb ever spoken about it? He and Sonny Trammell are the only living candidates of which I'm aware.
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Mitch Drumm

 

From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
Post  Posted 8 Jan 2016 5:03 pm    
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Roger Rettig wrote:
Happy eighty-first Birthday, Elvis!


Do these pix give you the creeps, Roger?

Unfortunately, the first one reminds me of Gary Busey.





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Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 8 Jan 2016 6:53 pm    
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Jimmy Day played with Elvis on the Hayride in '54 - he was invited to join the band but declined. He can be clearly heard on a bootleg of Presley doing 'Tweedly-Dee' on that show.
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Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 8 Jan 2016 6:55 pm    
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I watched some Elvis today (TCM ran some this afternoon)and it occurred to me that, as poor as his later films were, if a youngster was watching and knew nothing about Elvis, he could justifiably wonder what all the fuss was about.

Whoa!
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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 9 Jan 2016 3:02 am    
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That was my feeling when my sister started listening to Hound Dog and Blue Suede Shoes.
Who knew I was listening to the once and future king? It was the beginning of rock n' roll, for me.
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Earnest Bovine


From:
Los Angeles CA USA
Post  Posted 9 Jan 2016 8:48 am    
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Somebody forgot to turn the Bloat up to 11 on the face-aging app.
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