Lisa Marie Presley was a fan of all the eras of her father’s music, but it was Elvis Presley‘s 1970s songs that resonated with her the most. “I’m definitely a fan of all that stuff,” revealed Presley in 2012. “But for me, it’s just the fact that I was around more to see him perform in the ’70s.
She added, “But I absolutely have tons of songs from that Sun [Records] period, all periods in fact, that I really love of his.”
Born February 1, 1968, Lisa Marie said she liked her father’s earlier work with Sun during the 1950s but naturally gravitated toward the songs he released during the final era of his career, while she was growing up, from the late ’60s with songs like “Kentucky Rain” and “In the Ghetto” and more throughout the 1970s like “Solitaire” and “Just Pretend,” among others.
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“They bring back more memories,” said Lisa Marie of this era of Elvis’ and added that she tends to like more of the darker songs sung by her father. “The sad ones, I get into, the dark ones that weren’t particularly a hit on the radio,” she said. “Those I love.”
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Here’s a deeper look at five Elvis songs that Lisa Marie considered her favorites.
1. “Just Pretend” (1970)
Written by Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett
“I’m still really attracted to those songs of his like ‘Just Pretend,'” said Lisa Marie. “I’d see him perform those songs regularly so I had an attachment to them.”
Released a year after Elvis made his Las Vegas debut, “Just Pretend” centers around longing and distance, and pretending to be close to the one he loves once again: Just pretend, I’m holding you / And whispering things soft and low / And think of me, how it’s gonna be / Just pretend I didn’t go.
Recorded on June 6, 1970 at RCA Studio B in Nashville and written by Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett, “Just Pretend” was released on Elvis’ 12th album, That’s the Way It Is, but was never released as a single.
In 2016, “Just Pretend” appeared on The Wonder of You: Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a album of new renditions of Presley songs with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and a duet with Helene Fischer.
When Lisa Marie died on January 12, 2023, at 54, Elvis Radio, the SiriusXM radio station that broadcasts live from Graceland, played one of her favorite songs, “Just Pretend,” on repeat in her honor.
2. “Mary in the Morning” (1970)
Written by Michael Rashkow and Johnny Cymbal
“There’s a song called ‘Mary in the Morning’ that I just love,” said Lisa Marie of another track on That’s the Way It Is, which was accompanied by the documentary film Elvis: That’s the Way It Is.
Written by producer Micahel Rashkow and singer Johnny Cymbal, “Mary in the Morning” is a heartfelt ballad about the enduring love a man has for a woman: When I awake and see her there so close beside me / I want to take her in my arms / The ache is there so deep inside me.
In 1967, Glen Campbell also covered “Mary in the Morning” on his sixth album Gentle On My Mind.
3. “Separate Ways” (1972)
Written by Red West and Richard Mainegra
Perhaps, one of the more personal songs among Lisa Marie’s favorites, “Separate Ways” was written by Elvis’ former bodyguard, and Memphis Mafia member, Red West and songwriter Richard Mainegra. The song directly reflected the deterioration of Elvis’ marriage at the time. He and Priscilla divorced in 1973 when Lisa Marie was 4 years old.
Lisa Marie called the song “treacherously painful” yet one of the most “beautiful” songs by her father.
There’s nothing left to do but go our separate ways
And pick up all the pieces left behind us
And maybe someday, somewhere along the way
Another love will find us
Some day when she’s older, maybe she will understand
Why her mom and dad are not together
The tears that she will cry when I have to say goodbye
Will tear at my heart forever
[RELATED: The Somber Meaning Behind Lisa Marie Presley’s 2003 Single “Lights Out”]
The song was released as the A-side to Elvis’ cover of “Always on My Mind” in 1972, which was first recorded by Brenda Lee and became a No. 1 for Willie Nelson in 1982 and again in 1987 with a cover by the Pet Shop Boys.
“’Separate Ways’ wasn’t paid nearly enough attention to as it should have been,” said Lisa Marie. “It’s really beautiful.”
4. “You Gave Me a Mountain” (1973)
Written by Mary Robbins
“I also love “You Gave Me a Mountain,” too,” said Lisa Marie of the 1973 song from Elvis’ album Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite. Originally written by country singer and songwriter Mry Robbins, the song became a hit when it was released by Frankie Laine in 1969, hitting No. 1 ont he Billboard easy Listening chart and peaking at No. 24 on the Hot 100.
The heartbreaking ballad tells the story of a young man who never receives his father’s love.
Born in the heat of the desert
My mother died giving me life
Deprived of the love of a father
Blamed for the loss of his wife
You know Lord I’ve been in a prison
For something that I never done
5. “It’s Over” (1973)
Written by Jimmie Rodgers
There’s a song called ‘It’s Over’ that killed me,” said Lisa Marie of Elvis’ cover of Jimmie Rodgers 1966 song. Elvis’ version of “It’s Over” was also released on his 1970 album Elvis’ Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite and was inspired by a real-life breakup Rodgers had witnessed.
“I was with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass at Carnegie Hall in New York, and there was a girl there at the show,” said Rodgers of the song. “She was standing outside crying and we began to talk. She had just broken up with her boyfriend. I asked if she was okay. She said, ‘No, my boyfriend and I broke up today and it’s over.’ I went back to my room and wrote ‘It’s Over.’ I never had Elvis in mind to do it when I wrote the song.”
Photo: Jun Sato/WireImage
