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.

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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.

John Michael Heath joins Justin this week as guest host as they discuss some of their favorite alternate versions of Elvis songs as they appeared in the original movies he starred in, frequently with added instrumentation, backing vocals, or often completely different performances altogether than what was commercially released on record.

For Song of the Week, John looks back at "Pieces of My Life," the introspective Troy Seals-penned song off the "Today" album that landed as the B-side of "Bringin' It Back" as a single, and that Elvis only performed live once in Asheville, North Carolina. The song Justin intended to pick for song of the week, however, ended up having an extra twist to it that he wasn't expecting that needs a bit more digging - wait to hear that next episode!

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.

Released in 1978 on the Pickwick label, at first glance the budget album "Mahalo from Elvis" could have seemed like any number of other slapdash repackaging of old recordings in the wake of Elvis's death.

However "Mahalo" not only represented the first official release of the five post-show songs from "Aloha from Hawaii" filmed for inclusion in the continental US broadcast, but had originally been compiled by RCA's Joan Deary for release in late 1973.

As an album that could have potentially been part of the lifetime canon of Elvis's album releases, has "Mahalo" been overlooked? Eventually certified Gold by the RIAA, many later-generation fans - including Justin - had it in their vinyl collection early on as a formative part of their Elvis musical experience. Bec and Justin decided to revisit the record and see how it holds up.

For Song of the Week, Bec takes the baton from Olivia pick last week, highlighting another Don Robertson-penned number, the stunning "There's Always Me" from 1961. Justin, on the other hand, tries really hard not to let the potential for innuendo get out of hand as he digs into what sets Elvis's version of the country weeper "It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing)" apart from numerous others before and after his.

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.

This week, Justin and Olivia wrap their discussion on the 2005 Broadway musical "All Shook Up" as they take a closer examination of the second act of the show as it flounders in its half-hearted attempts to make social commentary while still surprising with the inclusion of Elvis deep cuts like "Power of My Love," "I Don't Want To" and "There's Always Me" in its narrative.

From there, the duo hit their Songs of the Week. Tying in with the musical's lead character Chad, a roving roustabout himself, Justin tackles the brief history behind the title theme to Elvis's 1964 film "Roustabout." Then Olivia goes on a wonderful deep dive into the symbolism and storied history of "La Paloma" as its Spanish composer Sebastián Iradier comes into contact with Cuban music, brings it back to Europe and writes a song that goes on to explode in popularity around the world, becoming a standard in Mexico and also somewhat associated with Hawaii, being brought to the islands by Europeans - leading to its further adaptation as "No More" for Elvis in "Blue Hawaii" and "Aloha from Hawaii."

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 & Justin look back at a unique event in Elvis's posthumous legacy from 20 years ago - the EPE-endorsed 2005 Broadway show that utilized Elvis's music to tell the story of Chad, a 1950s motorcycling roustabout who travels from town to town bringing rock and roll and romance to small town America, Natalie, the mechanic who falls in love with him, and the numerous other characters brought to life in this show penned by writer Joe DiPietro.

Crammed to bursting with more Elvis hits than you can shake a stick at, "All Shook Up" received middling reviews on Broadway at a time not particularly generous to jukebox musicals, yet has since become a standard for smaller theatre companies and schools to license... but how does the story really stack up, either to other musicals, or to Elvis's own musical films? Is Elvis's legacy represented well? Is his music used effectively? We sat down with a filmed version of the original Broadway production, the script and soundtrack album to try to figure it all out.

We ran a bit long on Song of the Week so this is being split across two parts, breaking right in the middle of the discussion where the intermission would be in the musical itself.

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 Bec decided that since it's been a while since we've covered MGM's "Kissin' Cousins" on TCBCast (and since Bec hadn't seen it since she was a kid) that they'd tackle the very limited number of recordings remaining from the September 1963 instrumental and October 1963 vocal overdub sessions for the film soundtrack while also giving Bec a chance to give her thoughts on the movie. Where she landed may just surprise you!

Naturally, the pair discuss some lyrics and songs cut from the movie and album, bonus songs on the album that are carried over from the May 1963 sessions, as well as a few demos that have surfaced which were submitted for potential inclusion.

For Song of the Week, Justin keeps to the theme of the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee and gives a very brief overview of the history of "On Top of Old Smokey" leading up to Elvis singing it in character in the film "Follow That Dream." Bec, on the other hand, has revelation as she realizes what "Queenie Wahine's Papaya" is actually about - and shares the fun research she did on fruit innuendo.

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.

Our deep-dive on the history behind "Don't Be Cruel" continues through Elvis's television appearances on the Ed Sullivan show, live concerts such as the Louisiana Hayride, the Mississippi-Alabama Fair & Dairy Show, and the USS Arizona Memorial fundraiser, and the revealing insights heard in the Million Dollar Quartet recording.

Justin and Olivia catch back up with Otis Blackwell as he rides the success of "Don't Be Cruel" to launch a career writing and arranging for other artists in the late 1950s, and we discuss why Elvis Presley appears as a co-writer on the song. We leapfrog over Elvis's movie career, as "Don't Be Cruel" doesn't show up again until the filming of the '68 Comeback Special but from there we're able to trace its appearances in Elvis's live setlists up to his final concert in 1977. We then discuss a number of covers including ones by Billy Swan, The Judds, Cheap Trick and more before finally closing out with Otis Blackwell as he remembered and paid tribute to Elvis, and finally got his chance to fulfill his lifelong musical dream at the very end of his career.