One morning in the studio Daniel ask me what we would be working on and I handed him some lyrics. I said this is a song that I had and idea for and that it would be a fun song. He took a look at the lyrics and started laughing and I said see I told you it would be a fun song and Daniel replied I wasn’t laughing because it is a fun song but seriously the title is "I Became Elvis". I said yes, and that is who I want you will be this morning. It doesn’t have to be a perfect Elvis but just that it appears to be him. You only have to be Elvis on the chorus and be yourself on the verses. After a few times of me teaching him the first verse Daniel said lets do it (he is a very quick learner). We always record the verses first, the chorus second and then any background vocals if needed. After completing the verses, I sang the chorus for him and then we started recording and…well I guess you’ll just have to hear it for yourself.

I Became Elvis


I know
You want believe
But something fell over me
Then I became Elvis

Standing
Upon that stage
I began to sing these songs
With the voice of Elvis

A well a bless my soul what’s a wrong with me
I’m doing the jailhouse rock
Don’t be cruel to my teddy bear
And of course my hound dog

It’s strange
Yes I know
But the spell came over me
And I became Elvis

Repeat chorus

It’s bright
These Vegas lights
But I’ll never give up these songs
Cause I became Elvis


Style - elvis1.sty elvis 1- 50’s rock shuf blues
Drums - Country shuffle - Shawn Soucy
Bass - 2287 - acoustic jazz swing ron walking - Ron Carter
Guitar - 372 - acoustic strumming - Tony
Piano - 1855 - acoustic country boogie - Jeff Taylor
Guitar solo - 1710- electric western swing - Brent Mason


HP AMD Athlon(tm)II B28 processor with 3.4 GHz 16GB ram - Mixcraft 6 DAW with Waves Diamond effects - 32" Westinghouse flat screen monitor - Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 interface - Studio Projects B1 mic - Sony HDR 7506 and Sennheiser HD 202 headphones - 2014 BIAB.

Sonny and Daniel...

HAHAHA! Y'all really nailed the sound. Nice instrument group and a very good mix.

The vocals on the verses are really in the pocket. The background vocals (again!) are stellar!

A fun listen, for sure...

floyd

S & D , I was completely hooked from the first measure. Super production. The guitar break is killer. The vocals are over the top. The mix is as good as it gets. Really outstanding work in every way. Tom

The Kings live on!!, King Daniel and King Sonny that is

That is EXCELLENT!!
Everything is perfect and that guitar solo really made me want (Scotty) moore !
The backing vocals were spot on.

A good write and an excellent production

really enjoyed
Alyn

Hi Daniel & Sonny,

The chorus really sounds like Elvis!
It's a top notch musical production.
Sonny: did you sing the verses too, or only the choruses?
The description was not completely clear to us (Dutch as we are )

Rob and Anne-Marie

Hi Sonny and Daniel,

a real fun song. Very well done, from the lyrics to the arrangement and the vocals. I especially liked
the background vocals.
I enjoyed this very much.

Guenter

Thanks Floyd, It was a lot of fun doing this one.
Sonny

As I said above, Daniel was totally surprised that I ask him to try an Elvis impersonation but he rose to the challenge as he always does. He is game for just about anything.
Thanks for the feedback,
Sonny

Wow Alyn! Thanks for making my day! Daniel will really be surprised with your comments. Elvis's early years were my favorite and I did try to find something in BIAB to get the Scotty Moore sound and Brent Mason was as close as I could find. Thanks,
Sonny

Great job on this one. Enjoyed it from start to finish.

Actually Daniel, who is a good friend, did all of the vocals. Up to this point he has done all of my vocals. I do the arrangements and vocal stylings and of course the lyrics and instrumentation. I will let Daniel know that you guys liked his Elvis.
Rob and Anne-Marie thanks for your kind comments,
Sonny

Thanks Guenter, I will let Daniel know what you said about him. I really appreciate you listening and sharing your thoughts.
Sonny

Thanks Charlie, I am glad that you took time to listen and give me your assessment. I enjoyed getting into BIAB and coming up with a band to pull this one off. Usually I don't look for a particular artist (just styles of music) to imitate, but I had to do something in the way of Elvis. It was a challenge and turned out to be a lot of fun.
Sonny

Sonny,

This is excellent! Loved everything about it.

Bob

I might be the odd man out...and usually I am.... but I never really liked Elvis. Seriously.

Then for a time, I played in a band where the leader of the band, and singer, thought he was Elvis.... and did a fairly poor imitation.... complete with the jump suits and scarfs. I knew this and he assured me that he wasn't going to do an Elvis show any more.... first night on stage, about the 3rd song in.... he says... "gimme a G chord boys"... and whips into "Well its a one for the money, two for the show....." Wasn't on the set list and we hadn't worked it up in practice. Suddenly, a dozen EP songs were on the set list every night. (gag me) Then he comes up a few weeks later and says, "Hey, I booked a New Years Eve gig for some good money.... but they want the full EP show.... suit, scarves, hair....we gotta get you guys some tuxes " I quit the band soon thereafter because I said, hey, if we're gonna do that crap, we ought to do it right and work it up.... he disagreed and didn't feel we needed to rehearse any of it.... so I left before I was fitted for a tux.

But I digress.....

Your song is cool...as far as EP goes.

Hard for me to add to what's been said, but I agree with it all!! Very well done. Your son is an excellent singer, and he really "became Elvis" in those passages. Wonderfully done. You nailed it!! Take care. Greg

Hi Sonny,

You and Daniel have done a great job with this! It's a well-earned standing ovation from me!!!

A terrific listen.

All the best,
Noel

• my lastest song: Can You Imagine

Thanks Bob, I really appreciate your feedback. Thanks for listening and letting me know your thoughts.
Sonny

Herb I truly understand...I do appreciate your honesty. There are a lot of top performers throughout the years I have little interest in myself. It would be hard for me to give a non-bias assessment of some artist that falls in that category but as far as the people on this forum I would look at their accomplishments as you did and avoid the well known artist. I enjoyed your story and I can see why there would be frustration...I have played in three different bands (many years ago) and what you went through would be the end for me also. Too bad you didn't wait and get the tux and then leave (just kidding).
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Sonny

Hi Greg,
Thanks for posting your comments...Daniel (he is a friend) and I really enjoyed recording this one and I sent him a text tonight about all the comments we have been getting from the songs that I have posted. He was very thrilled and a bit surprised by this song (he did not know how it would go over). Hopefully he can free up some time in the near future and we can do some more recording.
Thanks again,
Sonny

Noel that is a great compliment! You have certainly encouraged both Daniel and I. All the time we have spent on the songs we have recorded has been worth the effort.
Thanks so much!
Sonny

Just adding to all that's already been said. - it's a clever write and well performed.

Sonny,

Funny stuff! This would kill in a bar, especially if the singer physically imitated Elvis in the choruses, then went back to "normal" for the verses.


Regards,

Bob

Well... there was another early band, more of a country club easy listening band.... we all seem to have been in something like that at one time or another.... The band leader played piano and sang. He literally knew thousands of songs by memory. Very talented guy. What a trippy dude. We were playing country clubs one night and hole in the wall juke joints the next.... figure that out. He bought a limo and had the drummer's wife drive it.... to the gigs. Talk about being on a head trip. His wife and mom..... oh yeah, he didn't go anywhere without his MOM.... his wife drove the gear van. If his mom didn't approve of something, she let everyone know about it and was, in fact, the defacto general manager.

Anyway, we had a gig at the beach in a hole in the wall joint. He says.... "Tuxes boys, we're gonna look sharp for this gig". I knew the place and it wasn't a tuxedo kind of place. Not even close. BTW: we had lite blue tuxes and I believe he had ordered some other color as well. The blue ones came in first. Sky blue.... I showed up in my van and set up my gear. Heck, this place didn't have a stage.... we were in the corner beside the jukebox.

Show time comes and there's like 6 people in the place beside the owner and bar tender. I'm still in jeans and a t-shirt and the rest had changed to their tuxes. He asks me to get changed and I told him ...'Ooooops.... sorry man, I forgot it on the couch at home" ... he acts all mad. Peak crowd was like 25 people in the second set. It was so slow, and his choice of songs had me almost falling asleep so I decided to pull up a barstool to sit on and I almost fell off it from nodding off... or as close as one can get in the middle of a "show".

At the end of the night, he starts in on the "forgotten" tux and the stool and this and that, yada yada........
Me: screw you man, I quit. This band sucks.
Him: return the tux tomorrow and I'll pay you for tonight
Me: heck I'll give it to you now..pay me and I'm outta here
him: I thought you left it at home
Me: nahhh I just didn't want to wear it

So I never got to wear the dang thing.....

Ahhh the joys of some of the early bands I played in.....

Thanks Peter, I appreciate you listening.
Sonny

Yeah that would bring the crowd alive! One of the bands that I was in many years ago pulled a similar stunt but it was James Brown instead of Elvis. The only thing was...we were all white! The crowd had a good imagination though. It's amazing to me how an artist can have so much of an impact on us...especially Elvis.
Thanks Bob for the feedback,
Sonny

This is hilarious!! I can't wait to hear some of your other stories.
Sonny

Hi Sonny.

This is brilliant.

A wonderfully imaginative song and perfectly executed.

Even the "Jordanaires" in there!

So cool.

ROG.

Now how cool was that? I'll answer my own question:

VERY!

I was a huge fan of the pre-army Elvis from the first time
I saw him on TV around 1956. I was ten and to this day
I think that set me on a musical journey that has endured.

WTG!! Lots of fun and well produced.

J&B

You know I am glad you mentioned the Jordanaires. I did not intend to copy their style (I had them in mind though) but I just wanted a quartet in the background consisting of 1st tenor, 2nd tenor, baritone and bass. Daniel did all those parts as well as the lead and (Elvis). Thanks for bringing that up for I feel like they were a huge part of Elvis's success at least in the early days.
Sonny

Thanks for listening and letting me know your thoughts. I like the way you answered your own question (that was cool). I learned about Elvis through my older sisters and even though I was only 9 years old in 1956 Elvis made a lasting impression on me.
I am sure that he has inspired so many over the years and it seems like his memory will never die. Thanks guys!
Sonny

Brilliant! Congratulations Sonny and Dan. Almost missed this one and glad I didn't. Cheers.

Thanks Rich! Sometimes I feel like I am missing someone's post also. I try to listen to everything that is new but the post re-arrange so often that I get lost in the shuffle.
Sonny

Sonny, how do you come up with something like this?! Great job. I loved the Elvis bits, and the song title is clever. The whole idea is clever. :-D

So Daniel is your singer?

I liked hearing about your workflow. It's interesting that you sing all the verses first, then go to the chorus. I'm going to try that and see how it works.

Nice production but what I really like the best is the Jordanaires backing vocals. I also like the way you change the lead vocal EQ between the verse and chorus.

Just years of being crazy I guess...I have known Daniel for many years although we have never worked together. I started doing a quartet CD project for a mutual friend of ours and Daniel was doing the practice demos for them...he was recording all the parts separately for the quartet (which he is still doing). Well he came over to my house with Joe (our friend) to help each person with pitch as they recorded their individual parts (I record one at a time). Then (long story short) one thing lead to another and we spent about a year working with each other. He learns the song I want him to sing the day that he comes over...that is one of the reasons I do verses first. We will finish at least two songs (sometimes three) from 9:00am until 12:00 noon. Of course we don't record every week. Although I have the music to all my songs finished, I still need time to write lyrics. I do four different genres of vocal music (Christian, Country, Pop and Lite Rock) and I have completed three genres of instrumental music (Smooth Jazz, Bluegrass and Easy Listening). I hope I have given you an insight into the way I usually record (there are always exceptions). Thanks for listening and sharing your thoughts.
Sonny

Good catch Jim! My intention was not to try and make Daniel sound more like Elvis but less like Daniel. We had a lot of fun and lots of laughter with this one. Thanks for the feedback!
Sonny

I'm a n00b to this forum and to music production, and I'm so impressed by the variety and quality of the music here. So many talented song writers and singers. A lot of you guys are technically proficient, too! I hear people using words I don't know yet. hahahaaa! Maybe someday.

I look forward to hearing more of your music!

This was a fun listen.

Enjoyed the listen and the style, clever and catchy.

Kenny

Great song; really Elvis's feeling.

I like the guitar solo a lot.

Sergio

What a fun creative song and the production sounds great!

David thanks for listening.
Sonny

Kenny I appreciate your feedback, we sure enjoyed doing it.
Sonny

Thanks Josie,
Out of all the songs that Daniel and I have recorded, this was the one that we had so much fun doing. I kind of wish now that we could have put it all on video (if only I had video camera of good quality).
Sonny

Hi Sergio,
Thanks for your comments...also thanks to BIAB for giving all of us such a wonderful program. BIAB came up with the Elvis style and provided me with all the artist to choose from and then it was just a matter of me using my imagination to fill in the blanks. I always think of talking to each artist and saying either "you are a great musician but I just can't use you on this song (maybe later) or hey man you are perfect for this song and I choose you!". I often wonder if any of these professional musicians come into the forum and listen to what all of us are doing with their talents.
Sonny