Elvis - A Lighted Candle

[Di]

MIKE STOLLER ON ELVIS:
"Jerry and I actually produced -- without credit -- our songs that were in the film Jailhouse Rock. And, he asked for us to be there. We had never met him before. He was a very good-looking young man, very energetic. He just kept going and going in the studio. He'd say, 'Let's do another one.' And it would go on and on until he felt he had it. The studio was booked for the whole day, and we were used to just three-hour sessions."


JERRY LEIBER ON ELVIS:

"He loved doing it. He wasn't someone who was doing it and wanted to go home, like a lot of people. He had more fun in the studio than he did at home. He was very cooperative and a workhorse. He had 'The Memphis Mafia' around him. They were his boys. He would be nice to other people but did not interact that much. We met him in the studio. He had seven or eight guys hanging around. He had his entourage, Lamar, Red, his cousins. He traveled with his environment. And The Colonel was smart, he let him travel with his entourage and it kept him insulated. And nobody could get to him..."

"I thought he was the greatest ballad singer since Bing Crosby. I loved to hear him really do a ballad, 'cause there weren't too many people who could do our ballads to our satisfaction. We didn't have people like Tony Bennett or Frank Sinatra because we were writing rhythm & blues, torch ballads, and they didn't so those things. That was what we were writing, and that's what he sang better than anybody. As far as I'm concerned, nobody cuts Little Richard on rhythm tunes. You have to go far and wide. But Presley was the ultimate in the ballad."

[Rainbow Light]

Thank you for posting this up for us, Di - very interesting to read and they did many great songs for our Elvis, including Jailhouse Rock of course!