Love Me Tender

It was all rock and roll.

And I think I saw Love Me Tender, and I thought, "That's it, I wanna be a film star." I was...

And then I thought, "Well, Elvis got to the movies because he's a singer, so I'll be a singer." And then a guy walking down the lane towards me, his name was Andy, I stopped him and said, um, "Do you know anyone who plays the guitar around here?" He said, "Well, I'm just starting." I said, "You'll do rehearsals at my house Saturday morning." And he, "Bring a couple of friends," and he did, and it all went on from there.

And that, that was the, the memory I have, which is so vivid, of just a dream and suddenly, "Yeah, well, right, let's do it," you know? And, uh, it all sta- kicked off.

It must be a thing.

But yeah, during the, the '50s songs especially, you can count on Love Me, Love Me Tender, All Shook Up, Teddy Bear, Don't Be Cruel, you can count on him not paying attention to the songs [laughs]

Yeah

... for the most part.

I mean, even the ones-

Yeah

... well, he doesn't do Love Me Tender.

Uh, I mean, we get a bonus Love Me Tender, but that's the one that he's usually just g- gone off mic entirely.

Ooh, love me.

Love me." And then, "Love me tender." Uh, well, he's saving that for when, for his wife.

He's gonna do Love Me Tender, but it's just like, what? These creepy dudes who think that they can just beat up people, um, control your every move, just like the mother.

It, basically, I know this is gonna be controversial, what I'm gonna say about this character, but I feel like Sailor is an extension of her mother but just with a penis [chuckles] because if you don't address your mommy and daddy issues, it just rolls into the next person you're with, and it just continues.

It's like a horrible spiral that just Or what was, what was told to me.

He lies on the ground 'cause he's knocked out, and then he sees Glinda the Good Witch, who is Sheryl Lee, AKA Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks, and she's floating in a pink bubble above him, and she tells him, "Don't turn away from love, Sailor." He gets up.

He runs into the tra- the traffic jam.

He finds Lula and their son, and he climbs on the hood, and then he's singing "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley.

She

said, meanwhile, Rick proposed with an Elvis music box playing Love Me Tender.

Oh, I did.

Yeah, I did

Mm-hmm

... and starred in his first film, Love Me Tender.

Um, and now he's returning to Tupelo, Mississippi, the town where he was born and lived until he was 13 years old.

Um, it must be so interesting to think about how that would have felt to come home when the entire country, like, suddenly-

Love it.

Um, yep.

He's now on his way to Hollywood, and he has done "Love Me Tender," so by September 1956, Elvis is, like, a national phenomenon.

He's not just this hillbilly cat, like, hillbilly flash, flash in the pan type of thing.

to.

Get a copyright strike for Love Me Tender by Elvis Presley.

Yeah, that's true.

Whatever, he needs the money.

Yeah, they essentially swapped their biggest hits.

They do Love Me Tender and Witchcraft.

And this is where the musical mechanics get so fascinating to me.

When you look at the transcript of their banter right before they start singing, Frank says something like, you do Witchcraft okay and I'll do one of the other ones.

He leans right into that swing.

He honors the jazz phrasing completely.

And in return, Sinatra takes on Love Me Tender, which, structurally speaking, is basically an old folk ballad.

Yeah.

Three? Three? Yes, please, if that's all right.

I've got Elvis Presley, Love Me Tender.

Beautiful.

Oh, it is, let me tell you.

Yep.

Endless love.

How deep is your love? Love me tender.

Yes.