Much like his peers in the Rat Pack, Elvis Presley was inclined to feature contemporary material and covers in his setlist. Where Frank Sinatra would cover The Beatles just a few years after denouncing their music, The King would turn to Bob Dylan, the veteran songwriter who revered Presley. Tomorrow is a Long Time is a sensational piece of work, the longing and hope presented on that track is worthy of being the centrepiece of an album, not some castaway on a Greatest Hits: Vol. II release. But such is the impact of Dylan and the weight of his work that it was bound to filter through to those in the music industry. Presley, who by this point had seemingly been cornered by the Las Vegas entertainment market, would surprise, on occasion, with a cover track. But his ear for great music can be found far earlier than that. In a studio recording from 1966, Presley would cover the song Dylan wrote, but did not release until half a decade later.
Presley’s grasp of the Dylan-penned wonder is clear. It even has the soft country twang Dylan would feature on albums coming out at the time, particularly Nashville Skyline and New Morning a few years after this recording released. Presley’s vocal style, much slower than the rock and roll hits he’s known for, is a perfect match for Tomorrow is a Long Time. It’s a tearjerker of a piece, a real classic that, like the Dylan original, was buried on an album that does no justice to the song. Those who found a deluxe version of Spinout, the movie soundtrack, were served well by a cover Dylan once said is the one he “treasure[s] the most.” Understandably so, it’s a staggering rendition of an already superb song. It’s the softer instrumental flourish, the swaying tone brought on by the rattling tambourine, the finger-plucked acoustic guitar work, that brings out the emotional quality.
A fine vocal performance, too, is important. Presley matches the quality of the Dylan original and, crucially, brings a little extra flourish to the track. A mesmerising beauty to say the least. Tomorrow Is a Long Time is in safe hands as The King demonstrates his vocal quality, something he would do just a few years later with If I Can Dream. It’s tapping into that softer side of his voice, the slower tempo and the need to focus on melody rather than all-out rock swagger, that’s what serves Presley well here. And he, in turn, serves the song perfectly. He carries the moodiness, the contemplative sense that the Dylan recording would. Sentimentality doesn’t work alone, it needs that instrumental exploration, the slight country-styled working to it. Some real beautiful work from Presley here, but that should be no surprise given the comeback he was mounting at the time.
What is a surprise is the deeper scope Presley can give the song. Not that he couldn’t do that for his own songs, but he sounds as though he connected with a much deeper part of Tomorrow is a Long Time, a part of the track that goes unsaid. Reflections on what a person has lost hit a little harder to those who have lost it all. Tomorrow is a Long Time has that story unfold, and for Presley, whose career had taken a dive in the years before, it can’t avoid the gut-punch feeling. It’s hard to move on from that harshness, the bitterness which could’ve overwhelmed the song. But Presley does, and his version of Tomorrow Is a Long Time is all the better for having made that peace. He sounds tranquil and relaxed here, a far cry different to what he had offered before this recording, and what would follow it.
