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Nothingville
Words & Music: Strange/ Davis
Nothingville
Phony little two-bit town
Where nothing's real
They treat me like a country clown
Nothingville
I ain't gonna keep-a-hangin' round'
The doors keep slammin' in my face
People keep puttin' me in my place
It's a rat's race at a snail's pace
Nothingville...Nothingville
Nothingville.....
Recorded: 1968/06/20, first released on Elvis NBC TV Special
Reactions
As a snipet in the nbc-special it's ok, but as a standalone? Who should care for it - and why? No voting, for obvious reasons.
I've always liked this spooky and short song, but I wish that this song would have been much longer in length. The other Elvis songs written or co-written by Mac Davis are "A Little Less Conversation", "Charro!", "Clean Up Your Own Back Yard", "Don't Cry Daddy", "In The Ghetto" and "Memories".
The song was fine as long as it lasted. In cuisine terms the starter was good, but what about the main meal.
The harmonica is played by Tommy Morgan. A great intro to a great medley. I assume it was written for that purpose. Hollywood must be that Nothingville Elvis is singing about.
Not really a complete song, just a short snippet used between songs in his 1968 "Comeback" TV special. Elvis makes the most of the few seconds of lyrics and sings them with a mean, arrogant tone to his voice. This song would have fit nicely into the 1964 movie "Roustabout", due to the fact that Elvis' character, Charlie Rogers hated the carnival for most of the movie.
The Strange/Davis team worked very well for Elvis. It was sort of a rebirth for his recording career. I wish it would have gone on into the 70's. The 'new wave' edge was lost by 1971.
This song perfectly fits within Presley's new repertoire and his attempt towards other songs as later seen on the Memphis album. He surely should have recorded a full version of this fine theme. lyricwise it comes close to what he was about to live during his last decade. He should have kept tight lazos with this fine songwriter team.
The Strange/Davis/Presley have been a winning combo throughout 1968....It should have lasted longer...
Great intro which in its own right contributed quite well to the special. It would indeed have been a valuable song to the long list of so many different aspects of Elvis' genre. He could have used this from time to time on stage too. With the proper lightning it surely would have been sort of mystic smile to it all.
Is there a real song to this? Its just a lead in for the medley. Would have been a great complete song. Blusey & cool.
Between them Mac Davis and Billy Strange wrote some memorable stuff for Elvis including Memories which was also in the TV special.I suppose being in the right place at the right time allowed the writers to get this "bridge " song the right person.
I like it... and he should have recorded a complete version... it's so different to anything he recorded, and it's kinda cool in a spooky way.
Quite decent but a little short. I really don´t understand why it was even included in that medley, the other songs in there were famous songs for Elvis. And got a little more attention from him
Spooky and too short. Unfortunately only part of a medley, where it was promising. I would love to have heard a complete version of it.
Available Alternate Versions