Elvis At Stax: Deluxe Edition

[Rocker]

Sony/Legacy is doing another Presley project. This time it's about his sessions at Stax in 1973 which imo gave us some of Elvis' very best 70s material but also some of his very worst. More infos:


ELVIS AT STAX: DELUXE EDITION CHRONICLES 40th ANNIVERSARY OF HISTORIC HOMETOWN STUDIO SESSIONS OF JULY AND DECEMBER 1973

DELUXE 3-CD BOX SET MARKS FIRST GATHERING OF 28 MASTERS AND 27 OUTTAKES IN ONE COMPREHENSIVE PACKAGE

Master recordings at Stax Studios in Memphis include 1973-1975 RCA single sides: Mark James’ “Raised On Rock,” Tony Joe White’s “I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby,” Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land,” Larry Gatlin’s “Help Me,” plus Dennis Linde's "I Got A Feelin' In My Body," Danny O’Keefe’s “Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues,” Waylon Jennings’ “You Asked Me To,”and more

Available everywhere through RCA/Legacy on August 6, 2013

The last major studio sessions in the career of Elvis Presley have finally been gathered together for the first time in one comprehensive package as ELVIS AT STAX: DELUXE EDITION. The deluxe 3-CD box set, a 40th anniversary chronicle of a dozen nights that Presley spent at Stax Recording Studios in his hometown of Memphis in July and December 1973, will be available everywhere August 6, 2013 through RCA/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. The box set arrives in stores ten days before the anniversary of Presley's death on August 16, 1977.

Released simultaneously will be a single CD of highlights from the box set simply titled ELVIS AT STAX, and a 180-gram, double-vinyl LP.

ELVIS AT STAX: DELUXE EDITION bristles with energy and dynamism. The proof is in the six consecutive singles that the Stax sessions produced, all of which skirted the Top 40 from 1973 to 1975. In effect, they rivaled some of the hottest streaks that Presley had charted a decade earlier. The Stax singles still resonate today:
•“Raised On Rock” b/w “For Ol’ Time Sake” (Hot 100 #41, country #42);
•“I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby” b/w “Take Good Care Of Her” (Hot 100 #39, country #4);
•“Promised Land” b/w “It’s Midnight” (Hot 100 #14, country #9);
•“If You Talk In Your Sleep” b/w “Help Me” (Hot 100 #17, country #6);
•“My Boy” b/w “Thinking About You” (Hot 100 #20, country #14); and
•“Mr. Songman” (B-side of “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” Hot 100 #35, country #11).

"I Got A Feelin' In My Body" (recorded at Stax, catalog RCA PB-11679), was reissued as a posthumous single by RCA Records in 1979.

The historical significance of Presley’s work at Stax is appreciated by such music scholars as Peter Guralnick, the award-winning author of Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley (1994) and Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley (1999); and producer Ernst Mikael Jørgensen, respected director of RCA’s Presley catalog for over two decades, and author of the critical research guide, Elvis Presley: A Life In Music (St. Martin’s Press, 1998).

Jørgensen has long been concerned with doing justice to the Stax sessions, which were never acknowledged by the artist's record label RCA as a unified whole. Instead, as with most of Presley's studio work in his second decade as a recording artist, the tracks were scattered onto LPs and intermingled with material recorded in Nashville and Hollywood. The bulk of the Stax cuts showed up on Raised On Rock/For Ol’ Times Sake (1973), Good Times (1974), and Promised Land (1975). For ELVIS AT STAX, many of the outtakes originated on the CD-era reissues of those three albums on Jørgensen’s and co-director Roger Semon's own label, Follow That Dream (FTD) Records. ELVIS AT STAX was produced by Jørgensen, Semon, and Rob Santos of Legacy A&R.

Taking up the cause for ELVIS AT STAX is another scholar and aficionado of the artist, award-winning resident Memphis journalist Robert Gordon, who has written an in-depth, day-by-day (i.e. night-by-night) liner notes essay for the box set. Previously, Gordon and his wife Tara McAdams (author of The Elvis Handbook, 2004) co-wrote the liner notes essay for RCA/Legacy's From Elvis In Memphis: Legacy Edition (2009). In addition to major biographies of Muddy Waters and Jerry Lee Lewis, Gordon is the author of two important Elvis Presley studies, The King on the Road: Elvis Live on Tour 1954 to 1977 (St. Martin’s, 1996) and The Elvis Treasures (Random House, 2002). Gordon has also written two books on the Memphis music scene, the acclaimed It Came from Memphis (Faber & Faber, 1995, foreword penned by Peter Guralnick) and the upcoming Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion (Bloomsbury USA, set for publication in November 2013).

Etched in music history, 1973 was a crucial watershed year for Presley, in the wake of his return to extended concert touring in 1972, after 12 years away from the stage and 27 movies in Hollywood. His New York City concert debut was emblematic of an exciting new chapter in his career. It was chronicled last year on the RCA/Legacy deluxe 2-CD+DVD box set, Prince From Another Planet: Elvis As Recorded Live At Madison Square Garden / 40th Anniversary Edition, which captured an afternoon and an evening concert staged on June 10, 1972. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, sought a world-class mega-event to underscore the touring, which led to the one-hour global satellite broadcast from the Honolulu International Center Arena on January 14, 1973, viewed by over one billion people around the world. That, too, was recently chronicled on the RCA/Legacy double-disc set issued this past March, Aloha From Hawaii: Legacy Edition.

The highs of 1972-’73 led Presley and Colonel Parker to accept RCA’s $5.4 million offer for an outright transfer of Presley's complete back catalog. He wanted a new start, new control, and a new publishing company. But the RCA deal also called for his return to the studio and a promise for him to deliver 24 new masters, i.e. two new singles (four songs), a new pop LP (ten songs), and a new gospel LP (ten songs).

Four years earlier, in 1969, Presley had made his Memphis recording return (after a 13-year absence) at Chips Moman’s American Studios. These triumphantly successful sessions had yielded a year-long string of ‘comeback’ hit singles: “In the Ghetto” (#3), “Suspicious Minds” (#1), “Don’t Cry Daddy” (#6), and “Kentucky Rain” (#16), the last such string of major consecutive hits in his life. But by 1973, American had closed up shop, and most of its musicians had relocated to Nashville. However, Stax Studios, the launching pad of such greats as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Booker T. and The MGs, and Isaac Hayes was still thriving at its original 926 E. McLemore Avenue space. In fact, Isaac Hayes relinquished his studio time to accommodate Presley. Ironically, less than two years later in 1975, the Stax offices would also be closed.

Presley spent 12 days at Stax in 1973 (July 21-25 and December 10-16), and the rollercoaster ride of those sessions is meticulously detailed in Gordon’s liner notes. ELVIS AT STAX neatly compartmentalizes the results:
•Disc 1: The R&B and Country Sessions – The Outtakes: 17 tracks
•Disc 2: Part 1 – The Pop Sessions – The Outtakes: 10 tracks
•Disc 2: Part 2 – The July 1973 Masters: four single sides and six album tracks, and
•Disc 3: The December 1973 Masters: seven single sides and 11 album tracks.

ELVIS AT STAX: DELUXE EDITION by ELVIS PRESLEY
(RCA/Legacy 88883 72418 2)

Disc 1: The R&B and Country Sessions – The Outtakes: Selections –
1. I Got A Feelin’ In My Body - take 1 (I)
2. Find Out What’s Happening - takes 8-7 (B)
3. Promised Land - take 4 (I)
4. For Ol’ Times Sake - take 4 (I)
5. I’ve Got A Thing About You, Babe - take 14 (I)
6. It’s Midnight - take 7 (F)
7. If You Talk In Your Sleep - take 5 (J)
8. Loving Arms - take 2 (I)
9. You Asked Me To - take 3A (F)
10. Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues - take 8 (I)
11. Talk About The Good Times - take 3 (I)
12. There’s A Honky Tonk Angel - take 1 (I)
13. She Wears My Ring - take 8 (I)
14. Three Corn Patches - take 14 (I)
15. I Got A Feelin’ In My Body - take 4 (J)
16. If You Don’t Come Back - take 3 (I)
17. Promised Land - take 5 (H)

Disc 2:
Part 1 – The Pop Sessions – The Outtakes: Selections –
1. Mr. Songman - take 2 (F)
2. Your Love’s Been A Long time Coming - take 4 (I)
3. Spanish Eyes - take 2 (I)
4. Take Good Care Of Her - takes 1,2,3 (D)
5. It’s Diff’rent Now (unfinished recording) (G)
6. Thinking About You - take 4 (I)
7. My Boy - take 1 (D)
8. Girl Of Mine - take 9 (I)
9. Love Song Of The Year - take 1 (F)
10. If That Isn’t Love - take 1 (I)

Part 2 – The July 1973 Masters:
11. Raised On Rock (Hot 100 #41, country #42) (A)
12. For Ol’ Time Sake (charts same as track 11) (A)
13. I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby (Hot 100 #39, country #4) (C)
14. Take Good Care Of Her (charts same as track 13) (C)
15. If You Don’t Come Back (A)
16. Three Corn Patches (A)
17. Girl Of Mine (A)
18. Just A Little Bit (A)
19. Find Out What’s Happening (A)
20. Sweet Angeline (A)

Disc 3: The December 1973 Masters: Selections –
1. Promised Land (Hot 100 #14, country #9) (E)
2. It’s Midnight (charts same as track 1) (E)
3. If You Talk In Your Sleep (Hot 100 #17, country #6) (E)
4. Help Me (charts same as track 3) (E)
5. My Boy (Hot 100 #20, country #14) (C)
6. Thinking About You (charts same as track 5) (E)
7. Mr. Songman (Hot 100 #35, country #11) (E)
8. I Got A Feelin’ In My Body (C)
9. Loving Arms (C)
10. Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues (C)
11. You Asked Me To (E)
12. There’s A Honky Tonk Angel (Who Will Take Me Back In) (E)
13. Talk About The Good Times (C)
14. She Wears My Ring (C)
15. Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming (E)
16. Love Song Of The Year (E)
17. Spanish Eyes (C)
18. If That Isn’t Love (C)

Album source index:
A – from Raised On Rock/For Ol’ Times Sake LP (RCA APL1-0388, released October 1973)
B – from Raised on Rock CD (FTD 86971 28432, released July 2007)
C – from Good Times LP (RCA CPL1-0475, released March 1974)
D – from Good Times CD (FTD 50602 09750 0 3, released December 2012)
E – from Promised Land LP (RCA APL1-0873, released January 1975)
F – from Promised Land CD (FTD 50602 09750 1 9, released December 2011)
G – from Walk a Mile in My Shoes – The Essential ’70s Masters 5-CD box set (RCA 7863-66670-2, released October 1995)
H – from Platinum - A Life In Music 4-CD box set (RCA 67469, released July 1997)
I – from Rhythm and Country CD (RCA 07863-67672-2, released August 1998)
J – from Today, Tomorrow and Forever 4-CD box set (RCA 07863-65115-2, released June 2002)


Source: http://elvisnews.com/news.aspx/elvis-at-stax/14199








with Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns


Elvis at Stax Studio July 22, 1973 &
Elvis' 1972 Stutz Blackhawk at Stax Studio December, 14, 1973. © Photo by Sandi Pichon



Here's just some of the music recorded by Elvs at Stax in 1973:

"Promised Land" - this was a hit, peaking at #14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nhLWymOZBs

"If you talk in your sleep" - this was later covered by Little Milton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5bRvciQS9g

"Good time Charlie's got the blues"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk4eQTVNTaw

"For ol' times sake" - the story is that the writer of this song - Tony Joe White - was in the control room during the recording. Elvis told him afterwards that TJW was writing about Presley's life. During the Stax sessions, Elvis recorded another White composition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZINvp6SEw4

"Talk about the good times"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3QPyZbqyoM

"It's midnight"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGKNQOXn49Q

[Moon Dawg]

 The December 1973 sessions were productive, resulting in several hits ("If You Talk in Your Sleep", "Promised Land" and "My Boy") and a good if truncated LP (PROMISED LAND) which found Elvis in fine voice.  The overblown "My Boy", btw, was #1 on the Billboard AC chart. "Talk in Your Sleep" was a funky track about adultery written by Elvis' cousin/buddy/bodyguard Red West. Ironically, Red's lyric had Elvis playing the Mike Stone* role. "Promised Land" was of course a rollicking rendition of the Chuck Berry classic that should have peaked higher than #14.

 The July sessions were a bit of a mess. Elvis was in a funk, and unfortunately his blue mood did not translate to great art. RAISED ON ROCK is likely his worst 70's studio LP. His singing...was not up to par.

 I believe there was a concerted effort by Elvis to clean things up (a bit) following the finalization of his divorce and a subsequent hospital stay sometime in October, resulting in a vastly improved set of recordings at the latter sessions. Unfortunately, he did not make it back into the studio until about March 1975, for the sessions that produced the TODAY album. 

 * Mike Stone: Priscilla Presley's karate instructor and lover.

[Bean Bag]

I'm all over this release!!

TCB

[cablegeddon]

So Elvis didn't do a concert between 60 and 72??

[Rocker]

So Elvis didn't do a concert between 60 and 72??

Well, they used a confusing wording.

Etched in music history, 1973 was a crucial watershed year for Presley, in the wake of his return to extended concert touring in 1972, after 12 years away from the stage and 27 movies in Hollywood.

1972 marked the first year of extended touring. In '69 he only played Vegas. The first tour was in '70 but as in '71 he was still mostly in Vegas with some small tours thrown in. 1972 had him touring across the country, selling out Madison Square Garden 4 times in a row and making the concert movie Elvis On Tour.
While on this topic I have to post the link to this website that I can't praise enough:
Elvis Presley In Concert

"Talk in Your Sleep" was a funky track about adultery written by Elvis' cousin/buddy/bodyguard Red West.

They weren't related.
Red wrote some quality material for Elvis. I wished they had done more together musically.
West is a succesful actor btw.

Here's Little Milton's version of "If you talk in your sleep":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NivDiCuCUfk

Little Milton wasn't very impressed by Elvis' version so he recorded it. Unfortunately I can't find the quote online.
Milton talked about Elvis again in 2005:
https://rockhall.com/blog/post/8799_interview-with-little-milton-campbell-on-elvis/

[MBE]

I think the funny thing is that I like Raised On Rock as an LP, and in my Elvis book I discuss why.

[Rocker]

At Stax

I think the funny thing is that I like Raised On Rock as an LP, and in my Elvis book I discuss why.

For some strange reason I like it too. But certainly not because of Elvis' performance. The band plays great and funky, the songs are cool. BTW Elvis got the idea to record "If you don't come back" "Three corn patches" and "Just a little bit" from T-Bone Walker's great '73 album "Very rare" (produced by Leiber & Stoller). Those three songs featured the Sweet Inspirations on T-Bone's album so I guess that was the connection.
IIRC Elvis mentioned during an interview in '72 that he was about to cut a rock or blues album and I wonder if "Raised on Rock" is what remained of that idea. After "Aloha" he needed a strong album but unfortunately this wasn't it.

Looking very much forward to reading your book!

[cablegeddon]

So Elvis didn't do a concert between 60 and 72??

Well, they used a confusing wording.

Etched in music history, 1973 was a crucial watershed year for Presley, in the wake of his return to extended concert touring in 1972, after 12 years away from the stage and 27 movies in Hollywood.

1972 marked the first year of extended touring. In '69 he only played Vegas. The first tour was in '70 but as in '71 he was still mostly in Vegas with some small tours thrown in. 1972 had him touring across the country, selling out Madison Square Garden 4 times in a row and making the concert movie Elvis On Tour.
While on this topic I have to post the link to this website that I can't praise enough:
Elvis Presley In Concert

Cool! Would green rep if I could!

[Rocker]

So Elvis didn't do a concert between 60 and 72??

Well, they used a confusing wording.

Etched in music history, 1973 was a crucial watershed year for Presley, in the wake of his return to extended concert touring in 1972, after 12 years away from the stage and 27 movies in Hollywood.

1972 marked the first year of extended touring. In '69 he only played Vegas. The first tour was in '70 but as in '71 he was still mostly in Vegas with some small tours thrown in. 1972 had him touring across the country, selling out Madison Square Garden 4 times in a row and making the concert movie Elvis On Tour.
While on this topic I have to post the link to this website that I can't praise enough:
Elvis Presley In Concert

Would green rep if I could!

I'm afraid I don't know what that means...  



Anyway, instead of opening another thread here are the "Follow that dream"-releases for June. Another one of the '69 shows. Fantastic! Doesn't get any better than those concerts:

Next month FTD will release 2 new CDs and a 2LP set. There will be a limited reprint of The Best of British. The items will be added to the shop when we receive the cover art.

ELVIS PRESLEY SOLD OUT! 2-CD
FTD is proud to announce their next release focussing on the 1974 March & June tours. Prepared and researched for FTD by Robert Frieser / Hans Slebos ( 'Forty Eight Hours To Memphis' and '3000 South Paradise Road') this release will be presented in 7" format accompanied by 16-page 4-color booklet and extensive liner notes

HOT AUGUST NIGHT 1-CD - AUGUST 1969
Includes the complete live recording from the amazing midnight show, August 25, 1969! Presented in 7" format with 12-page 4-color booklet.
Tracks: Blue Suede Shoes, I Got A Woman, All Shook Up, Love Me Tender, Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel, Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, I Can’t Stop Loving You, My Babe, Mystery Train/ Tiger Man, Life story Monologue, Baby What Do You Want Me to Do, Runaway, Are You Lonesome Tonight, Words, Yesterday/Hey Jude, Elvis introduces, Tom Jones, Buddy Hagard, Shelly Frabares, and Nancy Sinatra, It’s Now or Never (one line), In the Ghetto, Suspicious Minds, What’d I Say, polk Salad Annie (one line), and Can’t Help Falling in Love

ELVIS RECORDED LIVE ON STAGE IN MEMPHIS 2-LP Vinyl
FTD's next vinyl release features, for the first time on this format, the complete concert recorded on March 20,1974 in Memphis Tennessee. Issued on 180gram vinyl.


Source: http://www.elvisnews.com/news.aspx/ftd-june-releases/14201

[Moon Dawg]

So Elvis didn't do a concert between 60 and 72??

  He played a benefit in Hawaii in 1961, then no live performances until the 1968 sit-down shows. After that, about 1100 concerts from 1969-77.


  BTW-Thanks for correction on my error re Red being Elvis's cousin.

[Lonely Summer]

Raised on Rock was one I bought in a bargain bin years ago, and it was worth the 3 or 4 dollars I paid for it, but I much prefer Good Times and Promised Land. The December sessions produced a lot of great music - Elvis sounds committed again, and there's some great material there. I am surprised this is going to be a Legacy release - but hoping it is the beginning of a new type of release for that label.

[Rocker]

Just wanted to post the covers for the new FTD's:





FTD is proud to announce ELVIS PRESLEY – SOLD OUT! featuring the March and June concerts in 1974 from Tulsa and Cleveland. Prepared and researched for FTD by Robert Frieser / Hans Slebos ( 'Forty Eight Hours To Memphis' and '3000 South Paradise Road') this release will be presented in 7" format accompanied by 16-page 4-color booklet and extensive liner notes.

DISC 1

01) Also Sprach Zarathustra 1:19
(Richard Strauss)
02) See See Rider 3:21
(Trad. Arr. E. Presley)
03) I Got A Woman/Amen 3:05
(Ray Charles)(J. Hairston)
04) Love Me 1:38
(J. Leiber/M. Stoller)
05) Trying To Get To You 2:13
(Singleton/McCoy)
06) Sweet Caroline 2:33
(Neil Diamond)
07) Love Me Tender 1:44
(V. Matson/E. Presley)
08) Johnny B. Goode 1:49
(Chuck Berry)
09) Hound Dog 1:10
(Leiber/Stoller)
10) Fever 2:58
(Davenport/Cooley)
11) Polk Salad Annie 3:19
(T.J. White)
12) Why Me Lord? 3:01
(Kris Kristofferson)
13) Suspicious Minds 3:28
(Mark James)
14) Introductions by Elvis 1:28
15) I Can't Stop Loving You 2:26
(Don Gibson)
16) Help Me 2:41
(Larry Gatlin)
17) American Trilogy 4:00
(Mickey Newbury)
18) Let Me Be There 4:04
(John Rostill)
19) Funny How Time Slips Away 2:42
(Willie Nelson)
20) Can't Help Falling In Love 1:39
(Peretti/Creatore/Weiss)
21) Closing Vamp 0:49
22) Announcements 0:39

Recorded March 1, 1974 at Mabee Special Events Center, Oral Roberts University, Tulsa Oklahoma

DISC 2

1) See See Rider 3:51
(Arr. by E. Presley)
2) I Got A Woman /Amen 5:33
(R. Charles) / ( J. Hairston)
3) Love Me 2:03
(Leiber/Stoller)
4) Trying To Get To You 2:06
(McCoy/Singleton)
5) All Shook Up 1:11
(Blackwell/Presley)
6) Love Me Tender 1:41
(V. Matson/E. Presley)
7) Hound Dog 1:23
(Leiber/Stoller)
Fever 3:13
(Davenport/Cooley)
9) Polk Salad Annie 4:58
(Tony Joe White)
10) Why Me Lord 2:58
(Kris Kristofferson)
11) You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me 2:08
(Wickham/Napier-Bell/Donaggio/Pallavicine)
12) Suspicious Minds 3:52
(Mark James)
13) Introductions 3:17
14) I Can’t Stop Loving You 2:50
(Don Gibson)
15) Help Me 2:50
(Larry Gatlin)
16) Bridge Over troubled Water 4:12
(Paul Simon)
17) Let Me Be There 5:04
(John Rostill)
18) Funny How Time Slips Away 2:50
(Willie Nelson)
19) Big Boss Man 3:21
(Smith/Dixon)
20) Can’t Help Fallling In Love 1:45
(Peretti/Creatore/Weiss)

BONUS SONG

21) Turn Around, Look At Me (four lines only) 0:35
(Jerry Capehart)

Recorded June 21, 1974 at Convention Center Public Hall, Cleveland. Ohio
Track 21 recorded June17, 1974 at Louisiana State University Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana


Compilation produced by Ernst Mikael Jørgensen & Roger Semon
Mastered by Jan Eliasson at Audio Planet

Project coordinated and researched by Robert Frieser
Artwork and Design by Hans Slebos


[Rocker]

Here's the merely terrible artwork:




And the cover for the FTD Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis vinyl:


Source: http://elvisnews.com/news.aspx/cover-recorded-live-on-stage-in-memphis/14223

[Rocker]

Here's the tracklist for the vinyl Elvis At Stax:

Disc: 1
1. Promised Land
2. I've Got A Thing About You Baby
3. If You Talk In Your Sleep
4. Raised On Rock
5. Help Me Presley
6. I Got A Feelin' In My Body (Take 4)
7. For Ol' Times Sake (Take 4)
8. Talk About The Good Times (Take 3)
9. Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues (Take
Disc: 2
1. You Asked Me To (Take 3A)
2. Loving Arms (Take 2)
3. Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming (Take 4)
4. Spanish Eyes (Take 2)
5. It's Midnight (Take 7)
6. Find Out What's Happening (Takes 8-7)
7. Three Corn Patches (Take 14)
8. My Boy (Take 1)

Source: http://www.amazon.com/Elvis-At-Stax-Anniversary-Vinyl/dp/B00DD1X99C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1372336166&sr=8-2&keywords=elvis+at+stax

[Rocker]

Ready for pre-order: http://www.shopelvis.com/Dept.aspx?cp=796_56191_14047

[Ian]

I never listen to the July material but the Dec 73 Stax sessions feature some great late period Elvis.  But I question how generally happy he was-he seemed the most invested in his "Love gone wrong" material.  Loving Arms, Good Time Charlie and It's Midnight are the stand-outs for me.  Those three are really sad. He was the master of translating emotion into a song.  As I said once before-a lot of his sixties material (1961-1967) weren't always particularly good songs-but he really added of emotion even to trite material.  He had better material in the 70s-but I think it now depended on his mood.  If he really felt the song-he was still great, but if he didn't-you'd have a limp master-like much of that July stuff.  Also he had a lot of great musicians with him-but he always seems like a guy in a hurry-I bet musicians didn't really get enough time to come up with stuff-it was basically get it right on the first few takes or move on.

[Rocker]

I never listen to the July material

Not even "For ol' times sake"? I can understand it for the other recordings but that one is a standout on all levels imo.

I bet musicians didn't really get enough time to come up with stuff-it was basically get it right on the first few takes or move on.

Yes, that is what I was told that one of his studio musicians mentioned (I don't remember right now who it was though). On the other hand there are enough examples of times it worked perfectly. 

[Ian]

yeah-that one is ok.  But the rest are not that exciting.  Other than packaging-I am not sure I need this release. I own all 4 box sets (50s masters, 60s, 70s and the film songs box).  Even though I am a major fan-I feel like there is not much else I really need-except a few songs here or there that I have downloaded (for some reason I really love "I Need Somebody To Lean On" and "Big Love, Big Heartache" neither of which was on the movie-Boxset)

[Rocker]

yeah-that one is ok.  But the rest are not that exciting.  Other than packaging-I am not sure I need this release. I own all 4 box sets (50s masters, 60s, 70s and the film songs box).  Even though I am a major fan-I feel like there is not much else I really need-except a few songs here or there that I have downloaded (for some reason I really love "I Need Somebody To Lean On" and "Big Love, Big Heartache" neither of which was on the movie-Boxset)

For some reason?! "I need somebody to lean on" is one of the best things he's done in the 60s.
I don't think the packaging on this release is very good. Not sure if I'll get it. I think I'd rather buy the FTD's which I don't have.

[Ian]

well when I just listen to "I Need Somebody To Lean On' it is nice but when you watch the movie scene it is great.  I agree with Guaralnick that it was one of the few times in his 60s movies where song and image really gel to create a satisfying whole without kids, bathing suits or animals, etc.

[Rocker]

USA TODAY's Elvis Presley special edition celebrates the 60th anniversary of his first recording, a $4 acetate of 'My Happiness' that he cut as a gift for his mother. The 48-page keepsake, on newsstands July 9, covers the King of Rock 'n' Roll's influence on music and society.





Need evidence to defend the King's throne? Read on; USA TODAY's Jerry Shriver plays DJ.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Why quibble whether 'How Great Thou Art' was greater than 'Hound Dog'?
The King of Rock 'n' Roll recorded more than 750 songs
USA TODAY's special Elvis edition is on newsstands July 9



Wise men say only fools rush in to a debate on Elvis' oeuvre. The man could, and did, sing just about anything. Including the phone book (cue up Memphis, Tennessee).

Elvis Presley adopted Mario Lanza-inspired romantic pieces, Arthur "Big Boy'' Crudup's down-and-dirty blues, pop tunes from Brill Building wiseacres Leiber and Stoller, Jackie Wilson-style R&B and several shades of country — and spit them out as rock 'n' roll.

Along the way, there would be cool Christmas songs, blue-eyed soul, soundtrack snoozers and enough schlock to make you Do the Clam. Plus, he knew gospel, chapter and verse. Lord, could Elvis sing gospel.

He was Americana before we knew the word.

That's why, when assessing the more than 750 songs Elvis recorded, it's more useful to appreciate his mastery of multiple styles rather than quibble over whether How Great Thou Art was, well, greater than Hound Dog.

So put your suspicious minds at ease and savor this survey of the best of his breadth, from the Sun sessions to the sunset years: 20 essential Elvis songs and the moments in them that make you turn your head (and pelvis) toward the speakers.



Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/07/08/20-essential-elvis-presley-songs/2497407/

[Rocker]

Found on the For Elvis CD Collectors-message board, here's a review from the Uncut magazine:

[MBE]

Btw for Elvis fans here I just finished today one of the final drafts of my Elvis book. I am really happy and I think I whipped into good shape. Had my gall bladder out last week, and the book release date is only three months away  so I had to really push. Funny though it makes it that much more rewarding when you are through. Hope you don't mind a little plug here.
http://www.amazon.com/Elvis-Music-FAQ-Recorded-Series/dp/1617130494/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374107234&sr=8-1&keywords=elvis+music+faq


I wonder if the vinyl is going to really be that skimpy. They really should just put all the outtakes on vinyl and forget about the original cuts for it if they needed to not release the entire thing on the format. After all getting vinyl on the original Stax LP's isn't too hard.

[Bean Bag]

Hey Mike -- do you have (or can you) post any samples from the book?

[Rocker]

Here's an interview with bassist Norbert Putnam about the Stax sessions.
A little trivia: Elvis did cut two other Dobie Gray songs at Stax - "There's a honky tonk angel" and "Loving arms"





Source: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2013/07/presleys_bassist_recalls_stax.php


The year 1973 was a pivotal one for the King. Elvis Presley was at a definite crossroads, both personally and professionally.
On one hand, he had returned to consistent live shows in 1969 after a lot of years making mostly insipid movies in Hollywood, to rapturous audiences. And the live record from his then-groundbreaking television event, Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite, was selling well.

On the other hand, he was in the throes of marital separation and divorce from wife Priscilla, heartbroken over time he'd lose with daughter Lisa Marie, and starting to pack on weight. And what was with all those little brown bottles?

Partly to fulfill a contract obligation to RCA, and partly because the studio was just a ten minute drive from Graceland, Elvis chose Stax Studios - where Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes, and a galaxy of soul stars laid down their biggest tracks - to record some new material.

In two separate week-long sessions in July and December, Elvis, producer Felton Jarvis, and a crack band finished 28 master recordings. They came out over several records, but did not meet with the commercial success Elvis or manager Colonel Tom Parker was hoping for.
Now, all of those masters, along with a treasure trove of outtakes and alternate versions, come together on the 3-CD compilation Elvis at Stax: Deluxe Edition (RCA/Legacy).

Muscle Shoals-born Norbert Putnam was the bassist for the December sessions, and spoke with Rocks Off about both the performer and private man.

"Fans really want to hear everything that was recorded -- and I mean everything from Elvis, even if it was just him joking with the band," Putnam recalls. "But he had a great sense of humor. He would entertain us for hours with stories and the karate demonstrations. It was like the last thing he wanted to do was make a record! And even when he was chastising you, there was a smile on his face. He never thought he was superior."


ElvisStaxcover.jpg
Among the tracks on the CD which Putnam counts as his favorites are the hard-chugging Chuck Berry cover "Promised Land," a perfectly weary take on "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues," and the sentimental "My Boy."
The last song -- about a father's fear for what marital separation would do to his child -- obviously hit home for Elvis. But Putnam says they tried another, even more painful number, that they never finished.

It was a song called "We Had it All" that Dobie Gray had previously done, about a chance, sad meeting between a divorced husband and wife, or at least ex-lovers. Presley decided on the spot he wanted to do it.

"Now Elvis was a very quick study, he could hear vocals and arrangements once or twice, grab the lyric sheet, and just kill it," Putnam says. "But on this particular night, we four, five six takes, and he wasn't getting it. I'd never seen him have problems like that before."

He says they ended up with two or three incomplete takes before a frustrated Elvis just threw the microphone on the ground and loudly proclaimed the stunned assembled "You can put that one out after I've been dead 20 years!"



"We thought at first it was a joke," affirms Putnam. "Then Jarvis said he just couldn't get through the words because he was thinking about himself."
Another futile stab at the song the next day yielded nothing usable.

It wasn't all doom and gloom, of course, as the finished tracks show. Wildly varying in genre, the songs recorded at Stax ran the gamut from rock, pop and country to ballads, gospel, R&B, and even Spanish-influenced numbers.

And Elvis performed them with a flair and passion usually missing from the movie soundtrack recordings. The new compilation will, if anything, renew appreciation for the material original record buyers may have missed nearly four decades ago.

Still, Putnam couldn't help but see a "troubled man" in front of the mike, on a variety of levels. That trouble would, unfortunately, not get better in the coming years.




Coming up tomorrow: Norbert Putnam and what might have saved Elvis and who he holds accountable, more from the Stax sessions, how he fell into record producing by accident, and which song he's been involved with that is heads-and-parrot-supporting shoulders above all others in terms of influence and affluence.





Dobie Gray - We had it all: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-58IT0FbdRw