Elvis. Can’t help falling in love.

When I was first asked to learn this song, my initial reaction was not one of excitement. I’ve never been a fan of Elvis, and my personal preferences have always taken me in a different direction… open tunings… Neil Young, the Tea Party, Big Wreck… etc.

But being an artist is about embracing change and new ideas, right?

I’ve grown to appreciate this song more and more over the years. It’s such a beautiful chord progression with a lot of depth. The melody falls right out of each chord… making it beautiful to play on a solo acoustic guitar.

In putting together wedding playlists for couples, Can’t help falling in love finds its way into a ceremony more often than not. Much like when I first started performing it, couples are surprised how it translates on an acoustic guitar. It’s dynamic, spacious, flowing, dramatic, and incredibly memorable. 

Contrast plays a huge part in a great wedding ceremony, and this song plays a beautiful role. Couples will often bookend this as a processional cue with more modern selections. The impact is substantial, and there’s a cross-generational memorability that draws people in for an incredibly poignant moment.

Recording notes – Danielle and Graeme Russell’s anniversary project. 

I had the privilege of being a part of Danielle and Graeme Russell’s wedding in 2021. It was a high note in a year where we were all adjusting to a post-pandemic world… slowly easing back into things. It’s odd in retrospect see how we had to take these wedding photos as a distance.

They were a memorable couple for several reasons… first and foremost, for bringing a jolt of hope, optimism and romance during a difficult time. Second, they introduced me to a Paramore song (The only exception), that I can’t believe I missed somehow along the way 🙂

They chose some great songs for their major wedding cues. For their processional, I learned The only exception (Paramore). This is an incredibly beautiful acoustic guitar song—it has that perfect 6/8 feel, haunting major-seventh chords, and an easily-accessible melody on a solo acoustic guitar. For their first dance, they went with a polar opposite… Can’t help falling in love. 

Danielle had reached out a number of times about an anniversary recording for Graeme. Finally, the stars aligned this summer, and we were able to put something together. In the end, she decided to do two songs: The only exception and Can’t help falling in love—the former having a stronger connection to her memories of the day, and the latter for Graeme.

In this recording of Can’t help falling in love, I was going for a more distant acoustic guitar sound. It’s hard to capture the expanse of what performing outdoors is like. There’s such an amazing sound at the Millcroft Inn’s outdoor wedding garden. You can get a little further away from the sound source and hear an echo off the surrounding trees.

Many thanks to some phenomenal talents involved in this recording: James McKenty for the mastering, Haileigh Rantin for the cover art, and Sue Morley for the photography.

Recorded at the ‘H’ (Mount Pleasant, ON) • © Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore and George David Weiss (1961) • ℗ 2024 Jake Dudas (SOCAN) • For audition purposes only • Not for sale or distribution • All rights reserved.

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