Words & Music:
Percy Mayfield
I'm like a stranger
Like a stranger in my own home town
I'm like a stranger
Like a stranger in my own home town
My so called friends stopped being friendly
Oh but you can't keep a good man down
Oh no, can't get him down
I came home with good intentions
About 5 or 6 years ago
I came home with good intentions
About 5 or 6 years ago
But my home town won't accept me
Just don't feel welcome here no more
My home town won't accept me
Just don't feel welcome here no more
I came home with good intentions
About 5 or 6 years ago, yes I did
I came home with good intentions
About 5 or 6 years ago
But my home town won't accept me
Just don't feel welcome here no more
I'm like a stranger, like a stranger in my own home town
Yeah, I'm like a stranger, like a stranger in my own home town
My so called friends stopped being friendly
Oh but you can't keep a good man down
I came home with good intentions
About 5 or 6 years ago, yes I did
I came home with good intentions
About 5 or 6 years ago
My so called friends stopped being friendly
Oh but you can't keep a good man down
I'm like a stranger, like a stranger in my own home town
I'm like a stranger, like a stranger in my own home town
My so called friends stopped being friendly
Oh but you can't keep a good man down
Recordingdate: 1969/02/17, first released on: Back in Memphis (From Memphis to Vegas) (album)
Musicians
Musicians who contributed to the first recording of Stranger in My Own Home Town:
(guitar)
(bass)
(drums)
(piano)
(organ)
Others*
(harmonica)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(french horn)
(sax)
(sax)
(trombone)
(trombone)
(trumpet)
(trumpet)
(cello)
(cello)
(cello)
(viola)
(viola)
(viola)
(viola)
(viola)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
(violin)
*Orchestra, overdubs
Availability
Find available albums with Stranger in My Own Home Town.
Great blues jam from probably his best session ever. Can't get enough of it!
I know a lot of fans love this song, but I've never cared for it.
elvis at his finest. what happened to the fervor in his soul as the years went by...? outstanding.
The best song of the 60's absolutely perfect
The blues version, from the TTWII rehearsal if, for me, one of Elvis’s career highlights. The unedited performance it's outstanding!, One of my all time favourites! No wonder that Joe Coker said that The King was one of the greatest blues singers of all time! Too bad Elvis didn't explore the blues field, like he did in the country field.
I actually think the blues was Elvis' forte. He should have recorded more because every blues song he did was perfectly done. This was among his best.
Now this is the real Elvis!
Elvis proves once again here that he was the greatest white bluessinger ever. But it's a pity his performance gets buried in the enormous amount of overdubs.
Elvis was made to sing blues it was a natural thing to him he should have recorded more blues song he was and still is the greatest blues signer that ever lived.
Absolutely one of his best blues numbers. And he was made to sing the blues as well as R&R. I just wish he had recorded more great tunes like this.
A pretty mediocre track that goes on too long
One of my fav 60's tracks along with reconsider baby,loved to have heard it live!
Overrated! Don't care for this at all.
One of his best recordings,i like Elvis singing the blues,wish he made more.
Nice performance by Elvis but I think it´s a bit overrated. No way near his best blues numbers, like Reconsider Baby. I don´t care for the TTWII rehearsal either, the version of My Baby Left Me is much better to me. But still, I really love Elvis singing the blues, and I wish he had done it more often
A blues track recorded at the infamous "Memphis Sessions" of 1969. An interesting track, but Elvis sounds hoarse (he doesn't sound like himself) and it just never materializes into a great recording. As far as Elvis singing the blues, I prefer "Reconsider Baby" (more of a growl in his voice as opposed to hoarseness), "Hi Heel Sneakers" (much grittier) and "Merry Christmas, Baby (what a note he hits towards the end). This song in my opinion does not even rank as one of the best tracks on a mediocre album, "Back In Memphis".
This is truly one of the ALL greatest songs EVER he sang!
A favourite album but not a particularly good song I would say. The track grinds on forever and is far from inspiring and rather boring.
This is a great tune. If I am not all confused there's even a bluesier version in the vaults. Guess they were quite lucky to get a publishable version which was long enough to put on the Memphis record back then. Presley added quite lot of "creative" lyrics to it in the outros as several outtakes demonstrate...
This is a jam plain and simple and to be honest, one I can do without. Filler compared to the rest of the music recorded at Stax Studios in 1969.
Elvis in a nutshell! This is what I feel is so great about him. The jams! The same way he went through with the sit-down shows. The real feel and let loose treatment. To me some of the greatest moments of the real Elvis are all the jams. This one is mixed and overdubbed to create a real recording. Still, the sparkle is there! I think this is a great track!
Frequently, this is the song I have used to win over non-Elvis fans! They don't realize how soulful and bluesy and flat-out awesome Elvis really was! In fact, they usually do not even recognize his voice until I tell them who it is. Elvis had such a versatile voice. This is an absolute classic and is under-rated and not as well known as it should be. I am surprised to see slightly mixed opinion on this one. I figured EVERYBODY would love and consider this one a classic.
Love the song and the way Elvis does it! Did ya ever hear the "jam" session of it where Elvis changed the lines, "My home town wont accept me, just dont feel welcome hear no more" to..."Oh Joe, Charlie and Rich are gonna starve to death, n Sonny gonna be in the pen" ? It was hillarious and off the cuff, there was actually a bit more ad libbing but that was the funny part!! the version Im talkin about is considered the "X" rated version cuz El does a little swearin' in it too! If you havent heard this, you really should search it out on that "tube" thing...;)
Was this magnificent blues track the best recording to emanate from the Memphis 69 sessions. Maybe yes, maybe no but definitely in the top 5 from these sessions, and that says enough as to how good it is.
If you don't care for this, you don't care for the music that inspired the 'real' Elvis to emerge. Guess its time to go back to those 60's soundtracks. 5 stars all the way.
Definitely a 5 stars song. One of my favorites.
For me people who try to limit Elvis to one or two styles and call that the "real Elvis" don't get it themselves, The Real Elvis is the Elvis that no matter what style he sang in could make you "feel the song" better than anyone else. This song is a good (but only one of many) example of this. It is a song though, that I didn't like when I was younger, but now I love it. I think the version where he sings about Charlie, Joe and Sonny, can be found on the Essential 70' box set, and yes it is both funny and really good.
Five stars from me, too ! This is Elvis, at a great time in his amazing career ! The memphis sessions were exceptional.
This song is definitely a true masterpiece and Elvis' rendition of it should definitely be far better known than it actually is. I've never skipped it. I like every song that Elvis recorded during the 1969 Memphis sessions except for "Hey Jude" which I can't stand.
I've heard a shorter version without overdubs, and that's not as good as the released one with the overdubs. A truly outstanding song. I regret that I've never heard the original by Percy Mayfield.
An awesome recording with Elvis all over it. Maybe my favorite Elvis blues title. Can't say enough good things.
An amazing recording! Elvis once again at the top of his game.
sugartummy, if you would like to hear Percy Mayfield's recording of "Stranger In My Own Home Town"
there's a newfangled thingy called YouTube that you might want to check out.
Love the version released on the Reconsider Baby blue vinyl. The original release was over produced with too many horns. But the remixed version is well worth 5* Love it
Fantastic! The '69 version and the '70 version!
An enjoyable song from a good album. "Inherit the Wind" is my favorite from this album. SIMOHT is not a favorite of mine probably because I don't really like the blues as much. But I understand why it would be a favorite to those who like the blues. I read that many talk about the "real" Elvis in relation to this song. In my view the "real" Elvis is in all the songs he believed in, whether they were rock 'n' roll, country, blues, gospel, powerful ballads, pure pop or whatever. The "real Elvis" is in all of them!
Love it, Elvis at his comeback peak. This was a great time for Elvis fans who knew he would return.
A few years ago when I was still a babe 😊 I rated this magnificent and in the top 5 of those sessions. I have changed a bit and now think it was in the top 6. With him getting so much exposure because of the movie I am listening to the astute observations of some of the new breed and appreciating him a bit more vocally.