Gillian Welch - Elvis Presley Blues

[Carlvskansas]

happy birthday Elvis!

[fpatrickcoyne1]

Launched me right into the ozone , absolutly incredable!

[jdavis417]

...And the crowd's like,

"Just another world-class performance. Ho-hum."

They're the ones who ring like silver & shine like gold!!!

I think I'll listen again.

:)

[iberianflower]

Cool!!!

[brewtown45]

YES!

[roni1983]

the way she says that line at the beginning, with that calm southern tune that she adopted from her years in Nashville... sounds like a melody to me

[12234nic11234]

these two together are simply amazing,

[Broonzied]

I would guess that there are not too many around who could do a blues about Elvis in the style of Mississippi John Hurt and pull it off.  Bold and brilliant.

[micmoable]

love their music

[Carlvskansas]

just a country boy, combed his hair, put on the shirt that his mother made and he went on the air. such a great line.

[southrules]

Where is this, where is St. Lukes?

[gobes1975]

@southrules Google: St Luke's LSO

(It wouldn't let me post the link.

[call4les]

This song turned me on to Gillian Welch ...What a voice . Thank you Outlaw Country

[MrRedvers]

i have been searching high and low for a decent copy of the bbc 4 session from 2007. even the bbc cannot help!

anyway is there absolutely any way you could somehow upload the complete file with something like rapidshare/megaupload etc? i imagine its a too big to email etc.

hope you can help!

[bertdorf3]

Freakin' FANTASTIC song!

[TheSpitmitt]

I was working as a lighting guy on the movie Grease when I heard Elvis died. My heart still is in pain. I love him and all the joy he gave me in my life. I am so glad and proud to have lived in the era of Elvis.

[rrecroc]

Main body of song reminds me of Mississippi John Hurt's version of John Henry

[grrrlshawn]

I was born the day that he died.

[Castalis011]

I always get a lump in my throat when I listen to this song.

[shademonger13]

it tool seeing grace potter and her band perform this song to turn me on to a great piece by one of my favorite songwriters.

[bolebruchs]

The blues live on.

[TaelorAnne]

Beautiful duo from Gillian Welch and David Rawlings great voices and great guitar!

[AnkeZohm]

awesome!

[cubfan3737]

Make sure to check out Caleb Meyer by these two. It looks like it's from the same concert.  You're gonna want to get up and dance!

[Mygrassisblue01]

what blows my mind is that someone pressed the dislike button...go figure, this is one of the best songs that Gillian and David do, a work of genius

[Lancealotbob]

@Mygrassisblue01

They must have accidentally hit the wrong button or maybe they're recovering from a serious head injury.

[brenda7734]

david rawlings is so good!! he just puts gillian over the top.

[Leroyfis]

I don't really like the songs... but i have already whatched it this week for like 10 times i guess its that guy that is backing her up he is good, oh yeah and im an Elvis Fan so i guess the combination makes me wanna hear the song xD

[priser24]

@Leroyfis Well, come back in a few years and maybe you will feel differently. This song is beautiful.

[callistoNC70]

How in the heck can 1 person dislike this song, ohh well idiot!! WONDERFUL!!!

[albarker81]

absolutely fantastic duo!

[YouGuysArnt]

mind blowing!

[kwestmoreland100]

Just gorgeous harmonies, wonderful sound on the guitar. I love the song and the honor bestowed upon the Greatest Interpreter of the World's Songs. Thank you for this.

[M39TSBY]

I'm suprised this doesn't have a billion views, guess the good Lord saves the best for the few!

[daimonionen]

The perfect backingvocalist? I think so! He's on her like glue! Never trying to steal the spotlight, always on time and on track!

[Chargrad]

I heard her on Squidbillies and had to look her up after. Beautiful.

[referralsonly]

Love this Lp. thanks so much for posting. right on!!

[mparcher1]

Wow!

[Mygrassisblue01]

it does not get any better then this, incredible vocals which harmonize perfectly together, guitar playing is nothing short of genius. The song itself is a Masterpiece. A wonderful tribute to Elvis, very well written. I also love the tone David gets from that vintage 1935 epiphone arch top guitar.

[jasenmack]

This gives me the chills whenever I listen to it. Great song, played great.

[balikedes]

@hummlan Take your trolling somewhere else.

These guys are great, every single time.

[chacha1103]

Rawlings looks really different without the stubble

[fannyfu]

Music never gets any better than these two...and it never will.

[BlackCatCadillac]

when they get to 2:16 "and they shook it like a holy roller..."

the harmony and shape of the words "holy roller" is perfect.

[mgb77kdh]

beautiful,that 1935 epiphone is just awsome

[thewallpost]

This entire St. Lukes set is just fantastic. It's hard to imagine music, lyrics, harmonies,

improvisation and voices coming together any

better. It's simply awesome.

[michaelpenman]

Raw, beautiful and incredible musicianship, These two musicians are Americana at it's best. True genius.

[bgoods9956]

@michaelpenman they're also incredible because they push the boundaries of the genre while still staying true too its roots. Some of david rawling's guitar work bends the genre in really interesting and amazing ways.

[MegaHovie]

@michaelpenman I agree. Great performers! I sometimes wonder about people who post that they don't like performances such as Gillian Welch and David Rawlings always seem to do. We all at different taste, but God you have to reconize talent even if it isn't for you!

[Savvi96]

Is this song actually blues? like the genre?

[GALLAGHERCYPRISS]

It has its origin in the blues, the main vocal and the G chord are take from 'Spike Driver Blues' by mississipi john hurt near as i can tell there is so many versions knocking about its hard to tell.

[buckwlw]

To be honest, I do have a slight buzz... but that song/performance/video is as good as it gets! There's lots of stuff that's just as good, but nothing better :)

[ldleworker]

But honestly Caleb Meyer is easily their best song I've heard. I'm like addicted to it lol.

[jezx21]

@ldleworker that and miss ohio :)

[ldleworker]

I heard David on NPR on Here and Now today and I have had a blast all day discovering this duo.

[justmusicandme]

What excellent harmony from these two. And such a great song. 5***** posting.

[misteranonymousguy]

please rate and favorite if you can....great original artists deserves more attention on youtube.

[Needs2Know]

forget reading the bible for a while. just watch this and be awed at the good side of the human race!

[NoSheep2]

@Needs2Know -Amen sister/brother

[baroquepopfan]

I wish I was there. Seems like perfect surroundings for their intimate music.

[buckwlw]

It doesn't get any better than a song and a performance like this!

[vankelton1]

Perfection! Beautifully written.

[mgjms]

"walking in memphis," lol.

Welch was featured recently in a NYC-media article abt Nature v Nurture: she was adopted by big-city dwellers at birth; apparently she was born of mountainous NC folk and confoundingly, her parents reported, she always wanted to make this moonshine music. The revelation about her biology came after her persistence, it seems. Pretty interesting stuff. I don't know about Rawlings, heh.

[supergrahambo]

Robyn Hitchcock was asked what song(s) does he wish he'd written?

This was one of them. He's played live with them many times too.

Gill and David are great.

[coalinga99]

They aren't from the south, but they certainly make great music.

[ynysybari]

This is absolutely exquisite, one of those few songs that rub shoulders with perfection

[wilsonsheldon]

I always thought she was singing 'then he died'. At least on the record. Interesting.

[ocleirigh86]

I always thought it was "didn't he die" myself.

[KaylorMade]

As a Northern boy from Michigan, I can't help but admit that there is so much great talent from the South... I personally feel that talent, sheer brilliance of Gillian and David are not really ' embraced ' in our country.

[toterola451]

If you ever get a chance to see these two (they'll be at HSB in Oct!), do yourself a favor! God they're excellent!

[scstarman]

Thank you for your input. Music, like all art forms is so subjective and there is just no accounting for taste. Some people actually like pop and rap. Go figure. This one just didn't float my boat. Regards and best wishes.

[crutchfieldgirl]

The best homage to Elvis Presley ever. He DID shake it like a chorus girl.

I never thought about how he wanted to make his exit. Not getting wider and wider polyester suits and playing in seedier Vegas clubs for years certainly. He probably did wish he'd gone out like a legend, in his prime... connecting it with John Henry is genius.

Don't know what the man in the fuzzy tree stuff is about though.

Hauntingly beautiful song.

[thechase100]

The man in the fuzzy tree stuff? Are you kidding? LOL. It's a reference to 'All Shook Up'....one of Elvis' greatest hits...

[Hunter172]

The line "Well bless my soul what's wrong with me, I'm itching like a man on a fuzzy tree" is from the Elvis song "All shook up" :)

And I agree, he shook it like a chorusgirl!

[Musa622]

i heard this covered last night at sunny's in red hook, brooklyn and my god! what a song.

[scstarman]

I watched this video twice on the recommendation of a friend. He, too, said it was the bomb. I'm sorry but I just don't get it. To me it was just very repetitive and went on and on and on like a dirge. Based on all of the other comments and the ratings of the piece I'm sure it's just me. I much prefer Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis". But again, that's just me.

[rob2661]

And what's with her accent at the beginning? Ain't she from LA?

[SW3691]

She's from Manhattan, but spent most of her life in Nashville.

[rob2661]

Geez, that's NOT one of the truely dark and pitiful numbers?

"the day that he died

the day that he died

He was all alone

in a long decline.

thinking how lucky John Henry was

when he laid down and died

when he laid down and died"

Then again compared to Annabelle I guess it is a walk in the park.

[moovgirl]

Thanks God for super talented ladies like Gillian, Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris. Their music is as good is as good live, if not better! (-:

[Stonefreetx]

Gillian and David are a perfect vocal match. I love this song.

[distar10]

I heard this song on the radio today! i IMMEDIATELY LOVED IT! I looked it up on aol first and saw the words and it was listed under Joan Baez. Then low and behold, I found exactly what I heard; right here on u tube..I luv this song...

[Jellirollbatman]

This is the good stuff...In my humble opinion

[rrrarf]

I was never into elvis really. But this song makes me appreciate him. I love this song. Also, I was so-so into gillian welch until I saw this duo live and now I love them both. David Rawlings is hilarious too!!

[floppyd0g]

pure magic

[elvislilsis]

nicely  poetic

[LawdyMissClaudy]

THANK YOU !!! I`m from Argentina and it`s imposible to get any Gillian Welch`s record or DvD... This people are amazing!!! Great musicians!!

[pekoe67]

Spike Driver Blues

[68ComebackSpecial]

thank you

[MusicWriter1965]

Looks like this was from a BBC show. I wonder if it is avail on DVD.

I love this song. I love the rueful, pensive nature of it, and then the way she whips up the lines about shakin it like a chorus girl, a harlem queen, a holy roller. Very vivid

Great poetry, there.

And then when she dovetails it with the mythic story about John Henry and the steam drill, drawing parallels between the two -- very stirring, poignant stuff

[sherryokey111]

Absolutely Beautiful - thier voices are in wonderful harmony - it is candy to my ears - Very Sweeeeeeeeet ! - R.I.P Elvis

[Utube4robc]

Sublime vocal harmony.

[ChrisCalder17]

Thank you very much for posting this. I've been looking for it since i saw it about a year ago.

The timing and harmony between these two is fantastic. Undoubtedly one of the best parnerships of all time.

[kcnccarolina]

Wow beautiful vid, thx. Never seen anyone duet without looking at each other. What a gift to have such a beautiful voice.

[rukeyser]

THANK YOU!!!!! one of the best songs about a historical figure EVER. and such a great video.

[vap413]

Wow. What a perfect duo. Rawlings' harmonies are so beautiful. Thanks for putting this up, I'd love to see more.

[langsense]

You're welcome Sue :-)

[tranmere123]

Thankyou Jools that was great

[rugshort]

@tranmere123 Jools?