Strange U2 history question. I was randomly listening to one of the JT 87 Denver shows, and during the intro for ISHFWILF Bono mentions going through Elvis Presley's record collection, etc.
I was always under the impression that the Sun Studios/Graceland portions documented in Rattle and Hum took place around the same time U2 played in Tennessee, in late November. However the Denver shows were Nov 7 & 8. I know it's of course possible that they visited Graceland more than once. But does anybody know the dates of the Sun Studios/Graceland/Memphis scenes from Rattle and Hum?
I have contradictory information. U2 themselves have a different record of it.
From my archives for the demo's recorded at Sun Studios...
"According to the following Facebook post from the official U2 Facebook account on Thursday 29th November 2018...
"U2
29 November at 15:47 ·
'You mighty young to write such heavy lyrics…' On this day in 1987 the band went in to Sun Studios, where they recorded 'Love Comes To Town' with BB King.
#U2 #lovetown #rattleandhum #bbking"
...meaning this recording was from 29th November 1987 - unless of course the band had multiple days in the studio there - which is entirely possible - but if I recall correctly when Bono talks about Sun Studios in 'Rattle And Hum' he mentions "...recording five new songs in five hours...", so I believe it's highly likely 29th November 1987 is the correct date for the recording at least.
---
And with regards to the Graceland visit, from my archives for the R&H outtakes...
"Precise date unconfirmed but the band played Murfreesboro, TN. on the 28th November 1987, so it was likely around then. They had free dates on 27th, 29th and the 30th November and the 1st and 2nd December in 1987."
So, they visited Graceland and recorded at Sun Studios either on 29th November 1987 the day after their Murfreesboro, TN. gig (as U2 themselves have it documented) or on the 2nd Nov 87 as the TN museum website has it. Not saying that, that one is wrong, but the band were between St. Paul and Indiana around 2nd Nov 1987 - some distance away. Whilst they actually played in TN. on the 28th November with several gig-free days in the schedule after this show.
I've personally gone with 29th November in my archives.
That said, having had a more thorough read of that blog article on the TN. State Museum website, I'm not entirely sure...
"But why Memphis, when according to their tour schedule they would have to squeeze the session into one day in between dates in Indianapolis, Indiana and St. Paul, Minnesota? To Dickerson, there was Sun’s famous slapback sound and King’s connection to the studio. He recorded there before Elvis Presley did. To reporter Michael Donahue at the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, in an article published after the session, U2 lead singer Bono offered up a loftier explanation. “We figured the best thing to do was get to the center of it,” he told Donahue. “This is the center. This is where rock and roll was invented. As we’re reinventing it, we might as well team up. The spirit’s in the air. They’re all here. All these people. And not just in the photographs. They’re walking around here. We just can’t see them.”
Seems a bit mad to have gone down to TN. on a day off between 2 shows to do all that - quite some distance away from their previous/next gig, when they were heading that way on a few weeks later with a big gap in the schedule anyway.
Yep true especially when they were a bit younger - but U2's own records conflicts with this info. So who knows. I just feel like 29th Nov is more likely. I know for some of the R&H o/t I've dated stuff from close-ups of the clapperboards... might have to trawl back through the Graceland / Sun Studio material and have a closer look now
I guess they must have zipped down to Memphis on the 2nd Nov 1987 then (going by the Denver 7.11.87 comment during ISHFWILF and the TN Museum website article) - and did the Graceland visit and Sun Studio session on that same day before heading back up to Saint Paul
Something else that might point to this is at the Saint Paul gig on 3rd November Bono sings a brief snippet of Glen Campbell's 'Rhinestone Cowboy' after 'Out Of Control' - maybe a tip of the stetson to 'Cowboy' Jack Clement who may have been on his mind from the previous day's visit - or maybe he was a guest at the gig that night - both very plausible indeed.
There's still the oddity of U2 themselves stating it was the 29th November (and I have another source that states the 29th November too).
Maybe there was an additional session during their downtime on TJT gig schedule on the 29th November to polish things up from their visit on 2nd November? Or maybe on the 2nd November they went to Graceland and just did a preliminary visit to Sun Studios to check the place out or to work on JC.
Yeah for years I was always under the impression that U2 did Sun Studios and Graceland at some point in late November. But for some reason I just decided to listen to that particular Denver bootleg and he mentioned going to Graceland, and I thought WTF??
It’s highly possible that they recorded “Jesus Christ” at the Nov 2 session, and went to Graceland that day. Then they decided to return to Sun Studios on Nov 29 or whenever to record some of the other new songs they’d been working on, and go back to Graceland with the intention of shooting footage of both things for the R&H movie.
Yeah sounds quite plausible to me. Seem to recall Edge playing the JC demo on a Walkman in the limo ride to Graceland. Those limo rides were mildly amusing to watch and see the behind-the-scenes dynamics at play. Got a memory of Adam ripping the piss out of someone on the street for having red shoes on or something. I might have to go watch all those R&H o/t again soon, it's been a little while, and they're great.
