This week, Bec decided that it's been a while since she's gotten to talk about '70s concert material, so we're discussing the legendary August 19, 1974, show in which Elvis abandoned his usual setlist and completely changed directions. Opening with "Big Boss Man" instead of "See See Rider", filling out the show with tons of newer and more contemporary material like "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues", "Promised Land" and "It's Midnight" and forgoing most of his iconic hits in favor of more unique and intimate performances just for his Vegas audiences.

We sit down with the soundboard recording and try to reckon with how Elvis chose to make such a bold move, whether fans and audiences appreciated it, and why he abandoned it so quickly to fall back into the comfortable professional grooves that would carry him to the end of his life. And before all that, Bec also fills us in her trip to see Priscilla Presley's recent live talk in Sydney.

For Song of the Week, somehow without coordinating it at all, each host picked one of the only two songs written for Elvis by Stanley Gelber, the lawyer-turned-pro songwriter who submitted a handful of demos to Hill & Range in the 1960s, landing an Elvis cut with Bec's pick of "My Desert Serenade" from the Harum Scarum soundtrack. Then Justin rings in the holiday season with Gelber's other song, "On A Snowy Christmas Night," a holiday track that had coincidentally been submitted not long after Harum Scarum (roughly around when Elvis did "If Every Day Was Like Christmas") but somehow wound up in the demo pile later in 1971 for Elvis to record - despite Hill & Range no longer having the rights!

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In this episode's Song of the Week, Justin stumbled into the dark story involving Tommy Dilbeck, the country songwriter behind Eddy Arnold's signature hit "I'll Hold You In My Heart," which Elvis transformed into a bluesy jam at the American Sound 1969 sessions that worked so well it landed on the acclaimed "From Elvis in Memphis." But is the song merely one of romantic longing, or, given what we now know, a hint at a more subtly obsessive message that no one had previously picked up before?

Content warning: potentially upsetting descriptions of domestic violence drawn from period news reports between about 03:30-04:45.

Then John pulls double-duty, spotlighting two significant home recordings from 1966, "Hide Thou Me" and "Show Me Thy Way, O Lord," during a period in which Elvis was seeking material for his upcoming gospel project - what would become the "How Great Thou Art" album - and returning to the work of one of his favorite gospel groups, The Statesmen Quartet, to consider songs for potential inclusion. John also gives a quick primer on who the Statesmen were, and how they influenced Elvis's choice of gospel material.

If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.

They say Elvis was the King of Rock and Roll, so Gurdip and Justin are joined by John Heath (EAP Society, Atomic Wax) to put forth their picks for the most underrated rockers that Elvis Presley ever recorded: from overlooked singles to forgotten album cuts, 50s to the 70s, in the studio and live, there may just be one in here that you've underrated, too!

Although Gurdip has to bow out after this meaty and outrageously fun episode, as a very special Thanksgiving/holiday kickoff treat, a slightly shorter Episode 386 featuring "I'll Hold You In My Heart," "Hide Thou Me" and "Shy Me Thy Ways, O Lord" as Songs of the Week will be dropping into your podcast feed ASAP.

If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. Your support allows us to continue to provide thoughtful, provocative, challenging and well-researched perspectives on Elvis's career, his peers and influences, and his cultural impact and legacy.