TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast

On this episode, Bec has been hard at work compiling information, sources and versions of songs in order to tell the history behind one of her all-time favorite Elvis songs: "What Now My Love." Originally written by French musician Gilbert Bécaud and lyricist Pierre Delanoë, "Et Maintenant" became beloved around the world both in its original language, and with its localized English lyrics by Carl Sigman. With research assistance from friend of the show Helene de Roux, Bec explores what nuances are lost in translation and what strengths are found in Elvis' interpretation to match the power and passion of Bécaud's original performance, as well as numerous other versions by artists across a multitude of genres and backgrounds.
But before that incredible story, Justin and Bec also discuss the latest Elvis news hot off Elvis Week, with EPE's announced hologram show in Vegas, rock critic Dave Marsh's passing, and upcoming FTDs. Sadly, this episode was recorded JUST before the news broke about Shelley Fabares' passing, as well as Dolly Parton, so those will be addressed in the next episode.
Plus, in his Song of the Week, Justin makes the case that 1970's "Cindy, Cindy," once relegated to the 1971 "Love Letters from Elvis" album has been overlooked as one of the finest, purest rock and roll recordings of Elvis' 70s era, with that song's history easily showcasing the interplay between black gospel and hillbilly folk music in the South that provided the musical blueprint for rock and roll.
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.

Justin and Olivia are joined for our special Elvis Week episode by John Humphrey, drummer for alt-rock/post-grunge/metal band Seether ("Broken," "Remedy," "Fine Again," and more) as well as The Nixons (most famous for their 1996 hit "Sister"), who turns out to be a massive, nearly life-long Elvis fan with just as much enthusiasm and appreciation for digging deep on Elvis' music to match any TCBCast guest we've had before.
The duo naturally pick John's brain all about his love of collecting Elvis albums, his thoughts on recent projects like EPiC and the 2022 film, Elvis' impact on rock music long after his death, which of Elvis' drummers is John's favorite, lessons learned navigating fame and the music industry from Elvis' precedent, what his bandmates think of Elvis, the most treasured item in his personal collection, and much more.
Please check out seether.com for upcoming tour dates (as of this show's release, their fall 2026 tour spans across the United States) and to learn more about where pick up their music and merch. Thanks again to John for generously sharing his passion, enthusiasm, insights and time with us to remember Elvis. We hope all of our listeners have a peaceful, reflective and joyful day celebrating Elvis' legacy and impact on music, popular culture and our lives.

Gurdip joins Justin this week for a more unusually meta conversion, pondering how their Elvis fandom has waxed and waned over the years, how doing TCBCast has sustained and grown their interest in Elvis' life and career, how the internet has changed the way fans interact with each other, challenges that can make fandoms (of all types, of any interest) frustrating, and how to get back into the groove and nourish your appreciation and curiosity for learning about the subjects you love most.
Plus, the guys catch up on a bunch of wonderful listener emails prompting interesting discussions about how TCBCast hosts do their research, Elvis' mid-60s slump, the strengths and weaknesses of King Creole, and finally, near the end of the episode, the duo randomly decide to dip into their personal lists of all-time favorite Elvis movies - both subjective personal favorites they love to revisit, and the ones they think are the best.

TCBCast's resident doo-wop king, Gurdip Ladhar, has been lured from hiding with the promise of getting to discuss Elvis' finest doo-wop-inspired records, as Gurdip, Bec and Justin discuss their top 5 each and ponder whether or not Elvis' cross-genre habits can be neatly put inside the boundaries of what was less of a genre and more a retrospective label applied to describe common fads in songwriting and arrangements for vocal groups within rhythm & blues and pop music that converged most prominently and popularly in the 1950s-1960s. 
For Song of the Week, Bec builds a "House of Sand," looking into the upbeat and lightweight production number from 1966's "Paradise Hawaiian Style." Then finally, Justin tackles the history behind Elvis' version of "Your Cheatin' Heart," first released on the "Elvis for Everyone" album in 1965 despite being recorded in 1958, which doo-wop version of the song inspired Elvis', and why Hank Williams' landmark original posthumous hit remains one of the finest country records of all time. 
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.

Olivia, Ryan, Bec & Justin continue their exploration of 1968's "Live A Little, Love A Little" discussing the final act or so of the film, including the musical sequences "A Little Less Conversation" and "Almost in Love," as well as digging more into the major differences between the novel it as based on, "Kiss My Firm But Pliant Lips." Where in the film we see Elvis' juggling two jobs as photographer, in the novel, the equivalent protagonist is trying to juggle two jobs and two women, and the gang weighs the climax of the novel where it all comes to a head with the adaptation's more simplified (and somewhat confusing) but perhaps more thematically interesting resolution. 
Plus, they glean historical context such as what scene Elvis was filming when news broke that Dr. King had assassinated, and other insights on the making of the film from the highly recommended biography of Norman Taurog, "Elvis' Favorite Director" by "Live A Little, Love A Little" screenwriter Michael Hoey. Also discussed are more of "Kiss My Firm..." author Dan Greenburg's works, including two Elvis-themed children's books from decades later, one called "Elvis the Turnip and Me" and another "Attack of the Evil Elvises," as well as possible insights (and disappointing discoveries about Greenburg) on real-life inspirations for Bernice & Alice from his 1972 memoir, "Scoring."
Be sure to also check out Ryan's new Substack over at https://substack.com/@mrdrostehistory

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.