ELVIS.....

Still the King!

"Thankyouverymuch"

quote:

Originally posted by mike/dallas:
Still the King!

Long live the King.

Chris N

amazing that he was so big and yet I rarely hear his work on the radio now. Turner was going to do a day of Elvis movies. I didn't care for his late career stuff. Big ballads and Vegas costumes. I do remember a TV special around 66 where it was a small set with band and he was really rocking in black leather. Then he went Vegas.

That would be his '68 come back special, avallable on:-
CD,vinyl & DVD

yes, he certainly was big over here but the Beatles made a bigger impact in the 60s I think and he didn't like them. He certainly was king in the 50s.

For music fans who aren't already that familiar with Elvis's recordings, one new reissue that I can heartily recommend is tilted "From Elvis In Memphis" which is a two CD set that covers his studio recordings from early in 1969. These came just after the acclaimed "Comeback TV special" and include many of his strongest latter day performances such as "In the Ghetto", "Suspicious Minds", "Gentle On My Mind" and others. He really had something to prove at that point, and sang with great passion and intensity. The Memphis studio he used was, at that time, probably the most prolific hit machine from the era, and the players are uniformly good, even if some of the arrangements do get a bit more crowded with strings and horns and girls than some might prefer.

Listening to those recordings, you really can sense what an amazing singer he was, whatever his cultural baggage, he was the King before he became a pin up and bloated pastiche of his image in Las Vegas.

For those with a love of spirituals, there is another box set which came out this year that is even more special titled "I Believe" which collects in one place all of his Gospel material, which informed writers like Peter Guralnick have pointed out as being the music closest to Elvis's own heart. He used to warm up in the studio signing Gospel and Spirituals and even as late in his career as the Vegas years, he used to host parties in his penthouse with informal singing sessions with his guests and various band mates. Some of that material is positively eery, you really get a sense of him being a simple country boy, just singing the music he grew up hearing in church as a boy.

Good Listening,

Bruce

bdnyc,
Good informative post.
Elvis recorded so much good music, much of it was not "Chart Fodder"
The excellent FTD CD releases "Follow That Dream" from BMG cover a lot of this material and is well worth investigating.

KR

Chris N

as kids in the mid 60s some woman gave my mom a bunch of old 45s Wake Up Little Suzie was one, I thought it was stupid. But also Elvis with Hound Dog and Jail House Rock, I really liked that one. Sure wish I had those 45s today. I also remember the Big Bopper and Fats Domino and a few twist records with the likes of Chubby Checker.