Words & Music:
Darrell Glenn
Our friends all ask me
The last time I saw you
And I smile and tell them
It's been a day or two
There's no way to explain it
The way that I miss you
And my love, you have left me
Indescribably blue
I talk to your picture
My fav'rite one of you
I wish that you were here with me
But what good will it do
Having no way to tell you
The pain that I’ve been through
Oh, my love, you have left me
Indescribably blue
Yes, my love, you have left me
Indescribably blue
Recordingdate: 1966/06/10, first released on: single (album)
Musicians
Musicians who contributed to the first recording of Indescribably Blue:
(guitar)
(guitar)
(steel guitar)
(bass)
(drums)
(drums)
(piano)
(organ)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(sax)
Availability
Find available albums with Indescribably Blue.
This single was very much underrated and deserved to be a lot bigger hit than it was in the UK. I remember Alan "Fluff" Freeman praising the record many years ago when he did Pick of the Pops.
I love this song it's just plain beautiful ..i mean the guy sing it perfect!
Nice lyrics, beautiful melody, Elvis is great + The Imperials and Millie Kirkham sound amazing !
Elvis' voice was still changing from the youthful sound of the early sixties recordings to the powerhouse of the late 60's and 70's when he cut this record so we get the best of both worlds here. Brilliant song brilliantly recorded. Love the passion on this one.
Nice song & well sung but I knew it would never be a hit. Not 1966 hit material at all. The over backing of all those voices & the big blustery ballad arrangement just made it sound so out of touch with pop music at the time.
One of Elvis´ best love songs. What a masterpiece!
A masterpiece and what a voice !
One of my favorite songs. What a soulful quality to his voice! It doesn't have to be a #1 hit to be great or have an impact.
A wonderful example of the way Elvis could turn an ordinary song into a masterpiece. I don't think anyone could make a better version of this songs as our man did.
Outstanding performance by Elvis here! What a shame it didnt chart well but thats because RCA never promoted Elvis' music the way it should have.... esp. from the mid 60s and on.
This is a very ordinary tune. Well sung but an album cut at best. Even with airplay the kids werent buying this kind of material in 1966. Just compare it to the songs he cut in Memphis less than 3 yrs later. By the way, the high soprano voice & voices killed many an Elvis song and this is one of them. Good on gospel, doesnt work here.
A masterpiece, yes indeed. There's so much pain and "undiscribable" loss in this song, that it hurts everytime you listen to it. Definitely not meant for the singles buying audience.
Excellant performance by Elvis. I really enjoy this song especially listening to it with headphones on. I wish Elvis had included this song in his live performances.
This is a beautiful, haunting song which is performed amazingly by the king.
I still recall the release of this song. It was indeed quite different from the material released before. At that time we did not know what was to come, so no need to relate to that. Also I liked it much more than the music that was popular in that time frame. It might not have a strong appeal to the younsters at that time, but that goes for so many other things. Being a youngster myself at that time I remember being coerced by my peers to listen only to the contemporary music (I don't think much ahs changed in the course of time). Luckily I had the inner drive to decide for myself.
Simply love that song- and what a performance! It was so great back in ´66 to hear these beautiful "bonus songs" on the Spinout album showing that he still had it. Great arrangement, too, with fantastic guitar picking, and I must admit that I admire good old Millie. What a voice!
Great song, great singing, beautiful and really perfect ! Always El.
I never liked it. Way too much production going on and those searing background voices were distracting. If you listen to the hit ballads of the day, Yesterday, Release Me, Summer Wind, they all had simple backing and played well on the radio. This is an average album cut at best with no radio appeal (also was not a bonus song as someone mentioned)
great voice and it shows in this great song by the king
I don't know how the song fared elswhere but it just missed the top 20 in the UK in 1967 and would have been bigger but for the lack of plays on the radio. Still a great recording today and very much underrated.
Blue was Elvis's biggest Uk hit in 1966 getting to #21. It was the follow up to the Uk top 10 hit 'If everyday was like Christmas' so perhaps it should have done better. Good enough recording at a time when movie singles had died on Rca. So what do Rca do, they follow up 'Blue' with,,, 'Love Machine' & 'Long Legged Girl', both movie recording but either Uk top 30 hits. This was the time Elvis should have demanded new orginal material, but we had to wait until 1968 for that to change. Then Elvis got his songs, the ones he wanted, Big Boss Man, Guitar Man, US Male, Let Yourself Go, the comeback was underway. But yes, 'Blue' was a good recording and should have started the string of better songs in 1966.
Not good single material at all. Not even a real strong song. Well sung, yes, good song & arrangement? No. Its funny when I read comments like it doesnt have to be a # 1 song to be good. Most folks on this site are obesessed with Elvis' record sales. If you want strong sales, you have to have good material. This was not commercial at all. They should have released the Dylan song instead. That would have shook things up for sure.
This has always been one of my favorites and I am surprised at the mixed reviews. As far as whether it was a good choice for a single that depends on what audience in '67 RCA was trying to sell Elvis to. For his fans that were entering their late 20's and early 30's at that time and for people buying records in the easy listening market, it was a good choice. If they were trying to sell him to the teens, then it was a bad release. Overall, the results were mixed as the single reached #33. This was seven spots better than his previous single "Spinout" and his next release "Long Legged Girl" would end his consecutive top 40 streak and peak at #63.
This is among my favourites, just the way Elvis pauses a little ( 30 sec. into the song ) is a beautiful touch that goes to show how Elvis almost always brought a little extra to a song. And by the way it is not always the songs that place highest on the charts that are the best or the ones that stands the test of time. Of course I love the fact that Elvis had so many hits, but I am even happier that he left so many good songs for us to enjoy, more than ANY other artist or group that I know !! TCB
This is such a magnificent song and it's one of my twenty most favorite Elvis songs. This song should definitely be way better known than it actually is.
A powerfully sung atmosphric ballad in that fine tenor baritone voice with a touch of latin guitar. Sold over a million globally and would have sold a lot more if he had been making concert or TV personal appearances.
I don't agree that Elvis had to be in touch with his times. A lot of big stars, for example Dylan, tried to do that in the eighties, and we all know what that resulted in. A good song is a good song, no matter what. And this is a decent song, very well sung. What songs did Dylan or Lennon ever sing good? None.
This is a song that has stood the test of time imo. It came along in a time when pop/rock music where into a trend following the British invasion, flower power and you name it. As such the single was somehow out of touch. But, Elvis' performance of the song is simply beautiful, no matter what. Someone else mentioned it, and that is the impact of Elvis' best performances and recordings over the years still stands. New fans finding Elvis today, doesn't have to reflect over chart positions, being a hit or not. The songs and performances stand on their own for everyone to like or not. I think Indescribably Blue is one of those songs. It is simply a very good song and performance by Elvis.
Overblown is the word here. Supposedly a hit on his 4th "Elvis' Golden Records" series hits album; by whose standards I'd love to know as RCA was really stretching the limits to fill this album. It's good for a listen once in awhile, but gets lost back in the day when he was to be blunt, irrelevant.
A personal favorite. I have a soft spot for "hurting" songs! I understand why it wasn't a big hit at the time. Elvis was in decline and the musical tastes changing. It would have been a bigger hit 2-3 years earlier. But it is songs like these that make Elvis stand out. Relatively unknown but still very highly rated by many. How many artists can claim that? How many artists can claim to have so many masterful performances outside their big hits?
Elvis did an excellent job with this song. I've always liked it. I'd rather listen to this a hundred times than most of that British Invasion stuff assaulting my ears back in the day. Thank goodness I still had Elvis to listen to. 4 stars.
I agree the arrangement & soprano could be less dominant. Having said that, beautifully performed by Elvis - not only a wonderful voice, but believable as well. Prefer this over CIA-induced hippie culture anytime.
According to Charlie Hodge, Elvis recorded his vocals for this song in a hotel room on a bed. Regardless this track is still a masterpiece. I tend to agree with other posts that the backing vocals are overcooked, but it’s still a five star performance.