TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast

Gurdip, Bec and Justin decided to crack open a time capsule from the early 1980s and inside sat the album that has become possibly the most divisive Elvis bootleg ever released. Intended as a spoof of cash-grab compilations of "hit" Elvis movie songs by RCA in the 1970s, an infamously crass compilation bringing together some of the "worst" of Elvis's film songs at first glance seems to be going fo...

Following the apparent roaring success of Baz Luhrmann's "EPiC" at the Toronto International Film Festival, Justin and Bec decided rather than merely recap reviews and discuss the hype (though there is a bit of that, too!), to look backwards toward the original 1970 and 1972 films "That's The Way It Is" and "Elvis On Tour," and the component elements that have made "EPiC" possible. The duo ponder...

Bec and Gurdip this week are setting themselves up for some fiery listener emails with their hottest takes yet as they pose the question: what are the biggest Elvis hits that they feel have become overrated?! (Or maybe just overexposed?) For Song of the Week, it's an Elvis movie double feature as Gurdip sets his course and picks "Go East, Young Man" from 1965's "Harum Scarum" while Bec decides to...

John Heath joins Justin as they get any final thoughts we've had off their chests after having sat with Peter Guralnick's "The Colonel & The King" a bit longer, watching other fans' reactions start to stream in over the last month or so. Consider this a follow-up to both the TCBCast and EAP Society reviews, as well as John's excellent Atomic Wax breakdown (if you hadn't seen it - here's the link: ...

Justin and Bec have compiled their lists of a half-dozen essential alternate studio takes apiece that every Elvis Presley fan, from total newbies to lifelong fans should hear! For Song of the Week, Bec decides to spotlight Elvis's melancholy 1973 cover of Danny O'Keefe's folk-country hit song "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues" - but in the hosts' pre-show off-air chat, the duo realized that the s...

In this extra beefy episode, Ryan and Justin get together to discuss and rank Elvis's major live albums, from 1969's "In Person" to the posthumous "Elvis in Concert" For Song of the Week, Justin explores the history and original Mexican song "La Golondrina," behind "She Wears My Ring," which Elvis recorded in 1973 and released on 1974's "Good Times" album. Ryan then goes for the biggest SotW he's...

After spending a little time mulling over the post-release feelings surrounding "The Colonel & The King," Justin and Bec give their thoughts on the newest Elvis box set from Sony Legacy, Sunset Boulevard, which encompasses recordings and rehearsals done between 1970-1975 at RCA's Studio C in Hollywood. The duo reflect on the the successes and shortcomings of this era of box sets that seems to be d...

Baz Luhrmann has released a teaser promoting the world premiere date of September 6, 2025, for "EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert" by dropping newly restored clip of Elvis's 1970 rehearsal performance of "Oh Happy Day." Gone is the grainy, washed out video, in are pristine, sharp film, vibrant colors... but also new audio! Elvis's vocal track sounds better than it ever has, which implies a new source...

Gurdip, Justin, Ryan, and Olivia all gathered round to discuss their thoughts on Peter Guralnick's new book, "The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World." Full spoilers within. We recommend people buy it to make their own judgment. It is available through most major retailers - you can learn more about the book and where to buy it here: https://w...

The TCBCast gang is waist-deep in preparing to discuss Peter Guralnick's new book but Gurdip and Justin snagged listener Kirsty Garland who currently runs the "Exposing Elvis Photoshops" pages on Facebook and Instagram for a quick episode. They dig into why Kirsty decided to take on the effort of debunking and providing sources for badly digitally manipulated photos of Elvis that have seemed to pr...

After an intensive two week deep dive reassessing the work of producer Felton Jarvis, Justin comes up for air only to find one Gurdip Ladhar waiting patiently at the surface.  Gurdip eases his way into the water, bringing along a favorite comfort Camden, 1971's "I Got Lucky," a collection of songs mostly comprised of movie material previously only available on Extended Plays (and one excellent non...

After setting the stage by understanding producer Felton Jarvis's career leading up to his early collaborations with Elvis, we continue to investigate and interrogate the fan belief that he was singularly to blame for the "syrupy" overdubs that diminished the "pure" unfinished tracks. Helped along by a 1980 interview done between Felton and Jerry Flowers of RCA in which the producer talks about hi...

Intrigued by the premise presented by the recent Sony box sets like "Sunset Boulevard" describing Elvis's undubbed recordings as "pure," Justin decided to investigate the story behind the man who has borne most of the heavy criticism aimed at the production on Elvis's music, Felton Jarvis, who was Elvis's main producer from 1966-1977. While we've previously touched on Felton's work as a producer i...

Olivia Murphy-Rogers joins Justin for an extra-special episode of TCBCast as they trace the real history behind the song "Frankie and Johnny," the title track of Elvis's 1966 film. They learn who Frankie Baker was, the man who "done her wrong," the song she couldn't escape, and the identity of the most likely songwriting candidate to have penned the original folk lyrics - on the very day of the tr...

Justin and Bec put on their sombreros, pour margaritas and head South of the border for an exploration of the January 1963 movie soundtrack sessions that gave us the "Fun in Acapulco" album. With its unusual genre stylings that evoked more Latin-flavored stylings, traditional Mexican songs and the whole Acapulco nightclub destination scene of the early 1960s, "Fun in Acapulco" offered Elvis Presle...

Justin was recovering from his madcap trip to the Hawkeye State, so we took a brief hiatus but will be returning next week with a "Fun," summery feeling sessions-and-album discussion (hint hint).  Enjoy this blast from the past in two ways: Justin & Gurdip's 2021 bonus discussion of the Billboard Top 10 from May 26, 1958, which offers up iconic rock and pop tracks, from Elvis's "Wear My Ring Aroun...

Justin and Bec give their reactions to watching Disney's live action remake of the 2002 animated classic "Lilo and Stitch," which prominently featured Elvis's music. The remake does, too, so we primarily center our discussion initially around how Elvis is used; but since Bec had never seen the original before, she gave it a watch after having gone to see the reworking in theatres, and the duo comp...

Justin was in Iowa on a non-Elvis trip but decided to swing up to see Jamie Kelley in his natural habitat: the EAP Society set! However, the set was undergoing major changes for their upcoming Season 4, so while nothing was filmed, the duo stepped outside and recorded an off-the-cuff discussion about Baz Luhrmann's announcement of the official title for his upcoming film utilizing Elvis footage, "...

Ryan Droste returns to TCBCast, this time to guide us through his response to an intriguing listener email all about how history teachers like him may choose to discuss Elvis's place in the broader story of American history, and how he specifically teaches his teenage students about Elvis, Sun Records, race relations and the music industry of the 1950s. For Song of the Week, Ryan picks the beautif...

This week, Justin and John Michael Heath from "EAP Society" discuss some recent Elvis news including the discovery of a longer, extended clip of behind the scenes footage from the making of Love Me Tender, confirmation from Disney of more Elvis songs returning in the Lilo & Stitch remake (review coming next week!), and then the guys talk about their recent adventures having their attention drawn t...

Bec and Justin discuss their favorites of the many songs Elvis recorded or performed titled after the women and girls they're about by name. From Caroline to Petunia, Marguerita to Marie and Annie to Kathleen, the tunes span the breadth of love, heartbreak and stories of unique musical characters. For Song of the Week, Justin takes the opportunity to jump from Elvis's messy but fun home recording...

This week, John Michael Heath from EAP Society joins Justin to reflect on the music of pianist, producer, and songwriter David Briggs, who first joined Elvis in the recording studio in 1966 and continued working through the rest of Elvis's career periodically in and out of sessions and live shows. David passed away this past week at the age of 82. The guys select some of their favorite tracks feat...

Rabia from "Suddenly: A Frank Sinatra Podcast" and "TCBCast After Dark" joins Justin for a main feed discussion all about the 1977 compilation "Welcome to My World," which brought together an intriguing collection of country recordings spanning from 1958-1973 with some loose thematic threads that we try to tease out. Plus, Rabia dug up a handful of original contemporary reviews that reveal how cri...

David "Ghosty" Wills, host of "We Say Yeah: A Cliff Richard Podcast" and the Vintage Rock and Pop Shop joins Justin this week to explore how the "rockabilly revival" era, which technically spanned a near 20-year period between roughly 1970-1990 but culminated around 1981-83, led to the release of two compilations of Elvis material that RCA felt best captured his image as a rebellious rock and roll...

For the first time since the third-ever episode of TCBCast, we're immersing ourselves fully in the music of the US Army's own Tulsa MacLean! Bec and Justin explore the three recording sessions in April & May 1960 that led to the iconic, bestselling #1 album. As it turns out, unusual for Elvis sessions, numerous songs had vastly different arrangements attempted as Elvis and the band struggled to fi...