TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast

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.

As selected by TCBCast's patrons as the next movie starring Elvis to review, the gang is gathered to talk about what is, coincidentally, Olivia's favorite Elvis movie: "Live A Little, Love A Little." While Justin and Gurdip had previously done an episode all the way back in 2018 about the film, this time around we've got Ryan, Bec, Olivia and Justin all on board to talk about re-experiencing the film in 2026, with added context as Olivia has also picked up a copy of the Dan Greenburg novel the film is adapted from, "Kiss My Firm But Pliant Lips."
We discuss co-star Michele Carey, the stacked supporting cast including former superstar Rudy Vallee, Dick Sargent, Don Porter, Sterling Holloway, Eddie Hodges and Celeste Yarnell, as well as recount details from screenwriter Michael Hoey's biography of director Norman Taurog, "Elvis' Favorite Director."
This first part of the two-parter covers the first hour or so of the film and the featured songs "Wonderful World" and "Edge of Reality," but as the film's narrative diverges from the back half of the novel substantially, part two will dig more into the differences, as well as the other two musical sequences.
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 is joined for this episode by Ryan Droste, who, hearing the call of duty as TCBCast's American-history-teacher-in-chief, swung by to discuss Elvis' Independence Day concerts; briefly the 1955 and 1956 performances early in his career, but primarily the July 4, 1976, show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, celebrating America's 200th anniversary. Fifty years later, on America's semi-quincentennial, the guys revisit the soundboard recording, as heard on FTD's 2017 release The Bicentennial Show.
Staying on theme, the duo's Songs of the Week highlight America as well: Ryan's pick of "Hawaiian Sunset" from the soundtrack of Blue Hawaii pays homage not only to the 50th state, but to an earlier Sammy Kaye song of the same name that songwriters Sid Tepper & Roy Bennett clearly were drawing influence from.
Then, finally, Justin looks into the story behind "America the Beautiful," its writer, Katharine Lee Bates, the trip to Peaks Pike, Colorado, that inspired the poem, our readings of its other, less famous verses and, of course, Elvis' performances of the song version in 1975/1976 intended to celebrate the bicentennial.

Inspired by a listener email, Justin and John Heath (of EAP Society and Atomic Wax) got into a vigorous debate over whether Elvis's musical output in the years following his return from the US Army were creatively stagnant, or a different sort of ambition, with Elvis intentionally exploring new sounds and styles, finally trying to marry the country, blues and rock and roll he had already mastered with traditional pop stylings he had aspirations toward but not perfected during the 1950s.
Across hit singles and albums like "Something for Everybody," "Pot Luck," and the "lost" album from the 1963 sessions, as well as soundtracks such as Blue Hawaii, Fun in Acapulco and Viva Las Vegas, the guys try to trace Elvis' creative journey, comparing Elvis' artistic flourishes, direct influences and creative engagement during the period before the slog of poor Hollywood movies hampered his investment in material.
Finally, Justin prompts John to jump in a time machine and play armchair producer, suggesting some theoretical material that Elvis might have shown even greater investment, bringing himself more fully to the proceedings - and just to be fair, Justin does the same!
If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. This episode's debate continued into a short post-show, exclusive to our Patreon backers!

Bec & Justin continue their exploration through Elvis' creative journey during his military service. The piano-driven tracks on Elvis' 1958-59 home recordings from Germany notably feature much heavier distortion due to the tape recorder likely having been set either on or directly next to the piano, which Elvis plays heavy-handedly, but they remaing intriguing listens. 
While Elvis backs off from gospel, we instead hear him now exploring further ideas for his upcoming albums and singles, such as the operatic "There's No Tomorrow," the underlying public domain melody of which would become "It's Now or Never," "Soldier Boy," and "Such A Night." Elvis also sings songs that would not surface again until many years later in his recording career such as "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen," "I Will Be True" and "The Fool." 
But perhaps most fascinating are, as usual, the songs that Elvis never revisited professionally: "Apron Strings," a song originally demoed for him but later recorded by Cliff Richard, the mysterious "The Titles Tell," long known merely as "Number Eight," and of course, Elvis' poignant version of "Earth Angel" by doo-wop group The Penguins, among others. Finally - after having investigated for ourselves, do the recordings align with the widely-discussed insinuation that Elvis' time in the military was what turned him from dangerous rocker to smooth pop star... or is the story more complicated?
Also, Justin sneaks a mini-Song of the Week midway into the episode, discussing briefly a little about Danny & The Juniors' iconic 1950s party song "At the Hop," which Elvis references during these home recordings.