According to Colonel Snow "the original version of Come What May was recorded on 22-04-57 by Etta James (Modern 1022); Clyde McPatter recorded his version on 26-02-58 (Atlantic 1195)."
So the Etta James version was first, not Clyde McPhatter as I originally had it. Source http://elvis-tkc.com/forum2/index.php?showtopic=3873 (The King's Court Forum)
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| Al Casey |
"a review of Al Casey's recording of "Come What May" on Dot 15563 appeared on 29 April, 1957, in Billboard."
Also mentioned here with a scan of the single http://www.poplartunes.nl/come_what_may.html
Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins; January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012) "was an American singer. Her style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as "Roll With Me, Henry", "At Last", "Tell Mama", "Something's Got a Hold on Me", and "I'd Rather Go Blind" for which she wrote the lyrics. She faced a number of personal problems, including drug addiction, before making a musical resurgence in the late 1980s with the album The Seven Year Itch.
James is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and is the winner of six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards." Read More here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etta_James
Clyde Lensley McPhatter (November 15, 1932 – June 13, 1972) was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He had high-pitched tenor, that was steeped in the gospel music he sang in much of his younger life. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question". McPhatter was lead tenor for The Mount Lebanon Singers, a gospel group he formed as a teenager.; and later, lead tenor for Billy Ward and His Dominoes. McPhatter was largely responsible for the success the Dominoes initially enjoyed. After his tenure with the Dominoes, McPhatter formed his own group, The Drifters before going solo. Only 39 at the time of his death, he had struggled for years with alcoholism and depression and was, according to Jay Warner’s On This Day in Music History, “broke and despondent over a mismanaged career that made him a legend but hardly a success.” Clyde McPhatter left a legacy of over 22 years of recording history." Read More here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_McPhatter
In ELVIS - A Study in Music - Robert Mathew Walker says of Presley's 1966 version
Recorded: RCA Studio B, Nashville, May 28, 1966
Recording: master take 8
The above scans come from Colonel Snow on The King's Court Forum
Here is an audio sample of Al Casey's version http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/ss/05/ss5484.mp3 - take a listen.
Further info is on this page http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/artist.php?key=case3600
Alvin W. Casey (26 October 1936 in Long Beach, California – 17 September 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona) was an American guitarist. He was mainly noted for his work as a session musician, but also released his own records and scored three Billboard Hot 100 hits in the United States. His contribution to the rockabilly genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
Casey began working at the age of six as a steel guitar player. He began a longstanding association with Lee Hazlewood while living in Phoenix, Arizona. His guitar is prominent on Sanford Clark's hit 1956 version of Hazlewood's song "The Fool", featuring a lick borrowed from the song "Smokestack Lightning", and on many other recordings by Clark. He was also part of the backup for Duane Eddy's recordings, playing bass, piano, and rhythm guitar. Casey wrote one of Eddy's earliest hits, "Ramrod" (1958), as well as co-writing another Eddy hit, "Forty Miles of Bad Road" (1959)." Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Casey_(rock_%26_roll_guitarist)
Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins; January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012) "was an American singer. Her style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as "Roll With Me, Henry", "At Last", "Tell Mama", "Something's Got a Hold on Me", and "I'd Rather Go Blind" for which she wrote the lyrics. She faced a number of personal problems, including drug addiction, before making a musical resurgence in the late 1980s with the album The Seven Year Itch.
James is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and is the winner of six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards." Read More here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etta_James
Clyde McPhatter of the Drifters recorded Come What May in 1958
Clyde Lensley McPhatter (November 15, 1932 – June 13, 1972) was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He had high-pitched tenor, that was steeped in the gospel music he sang in much of his younger life. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question". McPhatter was lead tenor for The Mount Lebanon Singers, a gospel group he formed as a teenager.; and later, lead tenor for Billy Ward and His Dominoes. McPhatter was largely responsible for the success the Dominoes initially enjoyed. After his tenure with the Dominoes, McPhatter formed his own group, The Drifters before going solo. Only 39 at the time of his death, he had struggled for years with alcoholism and depression and was, according to Jay Warner’s On This Day in Music History, “broke and despondent over a mismanaged career that made him a legend but hardly a success.” Clyde McPhatter left a legacy of over 22 years of recording history." Read More here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_McPhatter
In ELVIS - A Study in Music - Robert Mathew Walker says of Presley's 1966 version
" With Come What May we encounter a song which was out of date even when it was recorded. It is a fast rocker but the production, to a generation used to the sounds of Phil Spector, is raw and messy."
Below Elvis with Alternate Take No 7
Recorded: RCA Studio B, Nashville, May 28, 1966
Recording: master take 8
The above scans come from Colonel Snow on The King's Court Forum
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