An Accidentally Good Elvis Budget Compilation

Charro is an underrated track. A nicely produced "western" themed soundtrack recording with a tasteful arrangement and quality Elvis lead vocal.

 

And a monster bass part!

In Ernst's book it lists Raymond Brown and Max Bennett on bass - I assume that is 'The Great' Ray Brown on double bass and Max on electric?

The fade is one of my favourite bass moments

 

I've always thought he did a great job with this:

 

Is there a compilation of Elvis's worst movie songs? I would buy that in a second.

BTW, "Bossa Nova Baby" is not a bossa.

 

But of course - and it's classic..."Elvis' Greatest Sh-t" on the Dog Vomit label. Well worth seeking out.

 

bossa nova baby is getting a ton of airplay in a tv commercial these days.. i mean a ton....sounds like a great song...

 

“Bossa Nova, Baby” really sounds great in mono---it’s no “Do The Clam”, but what is?


Other Camden comp albums to “enjoy” of his movie crap:


· I Got Lucky (it has one of the worst songs EVER: Yoga Is as Yoga Does)

· C’Mon Everybody

· Elvis Sings Hits From His Movies Volume 1 ("Confidence" and "Old MacDonald" are the true “gems” in this collection)


CD comps:


· Elvis Out In Hollywood

· Elvis In Hollywood

· Elvis The Hollywood Hits

· Elvis Command Performances: The Essential 60s Masters II


I’m sure there’s others around.

 

You don't make excuses for genres? Have you ever heard Elvis Presley live?

 

Are you picking apart Elvis? Why do that? Did you know that Elvis Presley was the best singer or entertainer ever to live?

 

Perfect pitch , perfect phrasing , breathing in the right places ... you 'd probably better liked to hear a song sung by a computer voice like Siri

and ad a drum machine also, to get real steady drumming. And a computer simulation of the band, orchestra and back up singers, to be shure they are in perfectly pitch.

 

On your recommendation I asked a keen Presley friend of mine to make me this up from her extensive collection (including the songs that you didn't rate). I'm only a casual Elvis listener but I'd agree with you. A most entertaining selection.

 

Indeed.

And the trillions of fans that appreciate his singing need to be schooled on proper singing technique in the operatic tradition

 

I agree - I always loved that song. Ever hear the Django Unchained main theme?? Very Elvis-like!

 

ShockControl is a troll

 

This has to be the most ridiculous sentence I've ever read about Elvis!
A clear reflection that the poster has no idea what he's talking about.

 

I wouldn't care if the OP claimed that Elvis ate babies and worshipped the devil, I appreciate the tip on an otherwise overlooked album that sounds really interesting.

Is this the album we're discussing?



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Almost in Love is the 39th album by Elvis Presley, released in November 1970 on budget label RCA Camden. It was the first of several albums on the RCA Camden subsidiary (others including C'Mon Everybody and I Got Lucky) whose remit was to make available in LP format tracks that had previously been available only on 45 rpm singles or EPs.

Tracks of note include 1968's "A Little Less Conversation" from the soundtrack of Live a Little, Love a Little (a re-recording of this song by Elvis for his 1968 TV Special would later be remixed by Tom Holkenborg aka Junkie XL and become a hit in 2002) and "Rubberneckin", a 1969 single from the film Change of Habit that had also been recorded in Memphis during the 1969 recording sessions. The song would later be remixed by Paul Oakenfold in 2003. The track "Stay Away, Joe" (the theme from Elvis's 1967 film of the same title) was included in error as it was already released earlier in 1970 on the compilation Let's Be Friends); when RCA reissued Almost in Love in 1973, it replaced it with a different song, "Stay Away", from the same film, which had never previously been available on an album. The title track of the album is a song from Presley's 1968 film, Live a Little, Love a Little. The album was re-released by Pickwick Records in 1975 and was issued on compact disc in 2006. It was certified Gold and Platinum on January 6, 2004 by the Recording Industry Association of America.[2]



Track listing[edit]

Side one



1.

"Almost in Love"

Live a Little, Love a Little

2:54

2.

"Long Legged Girl (With the Short Dress On)"

Double Trouble

1:27

3.

"Edge of Reality"

Live a Little, Love a Little

3:14

4.

"My Little Friend"



2:50

5.

"A Little Less Conversation"

Live a Little, Love a Little

2:00

Side two



No.

Title

Film

Length



1.

"Rubberneckin'"

Change of Habit

2:12

2.

"Clean Up Your Own Backyard"

The Trouble with Girls

3:10

3.

"U.S. Male"



2:42

4.

"Charro!"

Charro!

2:45

5.

"Stay Away, Joe" (replaced by "Stay Away" on 1973 re-release and the 2006 compact disc release)

Stay Away, Joe

2:07

 

Yep, "Almost In Love":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almost_in_Love

 

In the UK, we got all those blue label 'Camden' comps released on the green 'International' label. My Brother bought them all as they were released and I got them along with his entire album collection in the mid-'90s when he decided to go all-CD. On the whole, those 'International' albums do sound very, very good (as do the Bowie green label versions). Of course, the fact that most of them are fairly short sides helps with the cutting space allowed for each track; usually five tracks per side, with one side of 'Elvis Sings Flaming Star' only having four!. While they do have some filler (even with ten tracks per album), they were my introduction to Presley and - as such - I'll never be without them.

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and so you are entitled to yours.
I'm sure there are at least a few people that believe that Mother Theresa was a vile, spiteful woman that hated the poor, but the evidence from her life leads millions to believe otherwise.
Same goes with Elvis. Clearly one of the best, if not the best singer of the Rock'n'roll era. The evidence is there and millions of regular people as well as knowledgeable music people think so. So you just go ahead and listen to his songs and fret over every misplaced breath or whatever phrasing you think he doesn't get to your satisfaction. As for me, I will continue to enjoy his voice and his delivery.

 

Almost in Love is certainly one of his best budget label compilation albums. In order to appreciate what a great singer he could be, I would recommend some of his albums that rise above most of his soundtrack albums. 3 of my favorites are His Hand in Mine (white gospel doesn't get any better), Elvis Country: I'm 10,000 Years Old (my favorite of his '70s albums), and Elvis' Christmas Album (I actually prefer the Camden reissue over the original but they're both keepers).

 

I have a soft spot for these Camden/Pickwick releases. Mainly due to nostalgia. I recall shopping for groceries with my Mom in the 70s and they would sell these in the supermarkets! I would ask for one, she would buy me one! Just last week I recovered these from my parents house and brought them home; C'mon Everybody, Almost In Love, Let's Be Freinds, Flaming Star and I got Lucky. I always liked Let's Be Friends....call me crazy, but I always liked that Charro outtake, "Let's Forget About The Stars."

 

Cool thread.

 

Well, except for the thread starter saying he thinks Elvis is a poor singer...

 

I remember seeing this compilation in HMV and thought it looked quite good, though I haven't seen any of his movies outside the docs and concert films.

 

Although you say your interest in Elvis is limited, I and many more qualified people than me would respectfully but very strongly beg to differ..

"When healthy and serious, he was flat-out the world's greatest singer. In his voice, he possessed the most beautiful musical instrument, and the genius to play that instrument perfectly; he could jump from octave to countless other octaves with such agility without voice crack, simultaneously sing a duet with his own overtones, rein in an always-lurking atomic explosion to so effortlessly fondle, and release, the most delicate chimes of pathos. Yet, those who haven't been open (or had the chance) to explore some of Presley's most brilliant work - the almost esoteric ballads and semi-classical recordings -, have cheated themselves out of one of the most beautiful gifts to fall out of the sky in a lifetime. Fortunately, this magnificent musical instrument reached its perfection around 1960, the same time the recording industry finally achieved sound reproduction rivaling that of today. So, it's never too late to explore and cherish a well-preserved miracle, as a simple trip to the record store will truly produce unparalleled chills and thrills, for the rest of your life; and then you'll finally understand the best reason this guy never goes away".
- Mike Handley, narrator and TV/radio spokesman, Westwood One Network.


"Elvis Presley has been described variously as a baritone and a tenor. An extraordinary compass- the so-called register-, and a very wide range of vocal color have something to do with this divergence of opinion. The voice covers two octaves and a third, from the baritone low-G to the tenor high B, with an upward extension in falsetto to at least a D flat. Presley's best octave is in the middle, D-flat to D-flat, granting an extra full step up or down. Call him a high baritone. In "It's'now or never", (1960), he ends it in a full voice cadence (A, G, F), that has nothing to do with the vocal devices of Rhythm and Blues and Country. That A-note is hit right on the nose, and it is rendered less astonishing only by the number of tracks where he lands easy and accurate B-flats. Moreover, he has not been confined to one type of vocal production. In ballads and country songs he belts out full-voiced high G's and A's that an opera baritone might envy. He is a naturally assimilative stylist with a multiplicity of voices - in fact, Elvis' is an extraordinary voice, or many voices"
- Henry Pleasants, in his book "The Great American Popular Singers"


"I suppose you'd had to call him a lyric baritone, although with exceptional high notes and unexpectedly rich low ones. But what is more important about Elvis Presley is not his vocal range, nor how high, or low it extends, but where its center of gravity is. By that measure, Elvis was all at once a tenor, a baritone and a bass, the most unusual voice I've ever heard"
- Gregory Sandows, Music Professor at Columbia University.


"I am reminded of a comment made shortly after the death of Elvis Presley by a musician he had worked with. He pointed out that despite an impressive vocal range of two and a half octaves and something approaching perfect pitch, Elvis was perfectly willing to sing off-key when he thought the song required it. Those off-key notes were art."
- Patrick H. Adkins, The Dream Vaults of Opar


"He got even more maturity in his voice as he got older; I was often amazed at his range, just as one singer listening to another. He could sing anything. I've never seen such a versality, and in fact I don't see it today. Usually a voice can sing one way, but he had that ability about him, and he helped me to learn the importance of communication with an audience. He had such great soul. He had the ability to make everyone in the audience think that he was singing directly to them. He just had a way with communication that was totally unique"
- Gospel tenor Shawn Nielsen


"Presley brought an excitement to singing, in part because rock and roll was greeted as his invention, but for other reasons not so widely reflected on: Elvis Presley had the most beautiful singing voice of any human being on earth."
- William F. Buckley, Jr., the National Review on June 11, 2001.


"He would probably be considered a baritone, but he could reach notes that most baritone singers could not. Much of his abilities emanated from a very intense desire to execute a song as he wanted to do it, which meant that he really sang higher than he would normally be able to. When the adrenalin is going, and the song is really pumping, you can get into that mode where you can actually do things, vocally, that you couldn’t normally do. So he had a tremendous range because of his desire to excel and be better, and that’s why he could do a lot of things that most people couldn’t."
- Terry Blackwood, lead singer of the Gospel group, the "Imperials"


"The young Elvis Presley, without any doubt."
Top New Zealand opera star and soprano Kiri Te Kanawa's answer to UK show-host Michael Parkinson ( who probably expected her to name Luciano Pavarotti, or Maria Callas), when asked whose was the greatest voice she had ever heard (as published in Blabbermouth.net, 3 January 2007)


"People will often say that opera singers sound too stiff and operatic when singing contemporary music. This is because the vowels in an operatic style tend to be more open, whereas in a rock style singers tend to thin out the vowel. There is nothing wrong, and everything right, in opening the vowel in the higher register so that the higher notes can be sustained. Elvis Presley was very open in his singing style even though he was 'the' rock and roller."
- Brain Gilbertson, world-famous voice teacher.



"But it was on the gospel numbers, such as the stunning "How Great Thou Art", (1977) that Presley showed the awesome power of his voice. The fact that he has one of the greatest voices in popular music has been obscured by the mystique that has surrounded him."
- Steve Millburgh, writing for the "Omaha World Herald", on one of Presley`s last concerts, on 19 June 1977.


"In 1956, even the youngest of his fans knew that the 21-year-old Elvis Presley was unquestionably the whole package; and, obviously, his great three octave tenor voice, with a lower register close to bass, seemed to vibrate on the inner scale of every teenager in America; they loved the high tenor, but when he "got down" with that lower register, fans exploded; Elvis translated this into his moves on stage, so it was a 10.0 assault on the senses"
- Sugarpi Productions´' essay on Elvis Presley, as published in Clay´s.Daily.Double.com



"I am indebted to Scott W. Johnson, my fellow at the Claremont Institute, for many things over the years, but not many rate higher than his "introducing" me to Elvis Presley. I came of age (i.e., reached the 9th grade), just in time for the "British Invasion" and, despite my childhood memories, soon came to think of him as the ultimate in passe; so, I was astonished when Scott told me, a year or two ago, that in his opinion Elvis Presley was the greatest male vocalist of the 20th Century; I had never thought of him in that light, to put it mildly, but that conversation caused me to realize that I had never actually 'listened'; starting then, I did - with the aid of Scott's encyclopedic music collection -, so if you have never gotten past a cartoon image of Elvis, do yourself a favor and 'listen'".
- John H. Hinderaker, the Claremont Institute



"In Elvis, you had the whole lot; it's all there in that elastic voice and body. As he changed shape, so did the world. His last performances showcase a voice even bigger than his gut, where you cry real tears as the music messiah sings his tired heart out, turning casino into temple. I think the Vegas period is underrated. I find it the most emotional. By that point Elvis was clearly not in control of his own life, and there is this incredible pathos. The big opera voice of the later years -- that's the one that really hurts me."
- lead singer Bono, of U2, for Rollingstone Magazine, as published in their April 15, 2004 edition.


"Elvis Presley`s talent as a musical artist was double barrelled and more; his voice, on the one hand, was extraordinary for its quality, range and power, as well as being a unique stage performer with instinctive natural abilities in both areas; he was the master of a wide and diverse range of vocal stylings and ventriloquist effects, from the clear tenor of his C&W heroes, to the vibrato of the Gospel singers he loved, his voice invariably possessing an aching sincerity and an indefinable quality of yearning virtually impossible to pigeonhole".
- From the U.S Department of the Interior`s paper on criteria for greatness as a vocalist, which, together with all aspects of his life and legacy, led to the inclusion of his home, Graceland, in the National Register of Historic Places, in 2006.



"Blues, country, pop, rock and roll, gospel, and beyond, this man could sing anything. From the rockabilly of the Sun Sessions, to the MOR of "Wooden Heart", to the later day "Burnin' Love", Elvis proved that he had the skills as a vocalist that few have, or will ever have"
- Rob Jones, Canadian musicologist, writing in "Helium: Where knowledge rules".


"The greatest voice of all time".
- "Q" Magazine Judging panel´s laud of Elvis Presley, from a poll published on their March 4, 2007 issue.


"What he actually did was take 'black' and 'white' music and transform them into this third thing; (in the final analysis), no one sang so many different kinds of music - rock, gospel, country, standards -, as well as Presley sang them, at such a high level, and for such a long time"
- Greg Drew, world famous voice coach


"Had Presley never sung a note he might have still caused a stir, but sing he did. Watershed hits such as "All Shook Up" (1957) or, for instance, "Are You Lonesome Tonight", (1960), were imminently Presley's from the moment he put his stamp on them. His jagged, bubbly highs, and Southern baritone jump from those recordings like spirits from a cauldron. Elvis crooned romantically, then screeched relentlessly, always pouring his heart into the lyric and melody. After Elvis, the male vocalist could no longer just sing a song, especially in the new world of rock-n-roll. The "feel" of a performance far out-weighed the perfection of the take."
- James Campion, in his book "The 25 Most Influential Americans of the 20th Century", published in 1996



"The voice is so melodious, and - of course, by accident, this glorious voice and musical sensibility was combined with this beautiful, sexual man and this very unconscious - or unselfconscious stage movements. Presley's registration, the breadth of his tone, listening to some of his records, you'd think you were listening to an opera singer. But…it's an opera singer with a deep connection to the blues."
- Jerry Wexler, co-founder of Atlantic Records.



"He treats the song as a private meditation, full of pain and the yearning to believe. Though the lyrics speak of hope, Elvis turns them into a cry, as if reaching for one last sliver of light in engulfing darkness. 'I am alone', he seems to be saying. But maybe, just maybe, we can find someone or something to cling to. In his case, it's God. But each of us, hearing him, reaches for our own salvation; if great art needs nakedness (then), those few minutes of Elvis alone at the piano amount to the most naked performance I've ever witnessed."
- Nick Cohn, commenting on Elvis Presley's rendition, alone at the piano, of "You'll never walk alone" , at the Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, (1975) and published on the Guardian's Sunday edition, on January 21, 2007, in an article entitled "The 25 best gigs of all time".


"We are startled, on the amazing "Blue Moon," by his trick of shifting, in a heartbeat, from saloon baritone to pants-too-tight wailing and by his near Hawaiian avoiding of consonants ("Ya-hoo A-know Ah can be fou'/ Sittin' home all alo'"), from "Don't Be Cruel", a song that comes close to redefining the art of the pop vocal; So, what's left? A terrific crooner who was closer, in intonation, vocal virtuosity and care for a song's mood, to Bing Crosby, than to any top singer of the rock era. Toward the end, he still had it as a Gospel ballader, the choir-soloist power of the hymn "He Touched Me" — his voice breaking poignantly at the end of the hymn, as if he had just seen Jesus — still thrills and haunts. So does his desire to please an audience of kids and grandmas, instead of comfortably occupying a niche, as almost every pop star has done since"
- Richard Corliss, TIME magazine

"He had a musically textured rhythmic voice that had emotional intelligence; concentrate on his voice: sweet, remorseful, defiant, suggestive"
- Eileen Battersby, literary correspondent, citing the reasons for her being hooked on Elvis after "discovering" him inadvertently as she changed the dial looking for her favorite classical music radio station, as published in the "Irish Times" in August of 2002.


"During the early going at the Charlotte Coliseum, there were scattered notes here and there that made you wonder if finally he was gonna do it but, always, he would pull up short, rely on the grins, the charisma and the legend, until finally a little before 10:45, he came to the gospel classic, "How Great Thou Art"-. And that was it. As he came to the part where he belts out the title, he sounded like Mario Lanza with soul, cutting loose a series of high notes that would tingle the spine of even the diehard skeptic; but crescendo came on a song called "Hurt"; it's an old song that Elvis didn't record until a couple of years ago, and the key ingredient is its range, an awesome collection of notes that could leave a normal set of vocal chords in shreds; he finished in what seemed his most potent style, but wasn't satisfied, and mumbled to the band, "Let's do that last part again."; he did, and if there was anyone among the packed-house crowd who had thought Elvis was a fluke, they no doubt came away converted.
- Frye Gaillard, reviewing his February 20, 1977 show at the Coliseum, for the "The Charlotte Observer



"He had an incredible, attractive instrument that worked in many registers; he could falsetto like Little Richard, his equipment was outstanding, his ear uncanny, and his sense of timing second to none.."
- Jerry Leiber, who with Mike Stoller, co-wrote some of the greatest R&R and Pop hits of the 50's, and early 60's.


"There comes a point when the voice starts to wash over you. You get inside of it, start to really hear what he's doing, and you realize his singing has this extraordinary, effortless quality to it. Sometimes it's like listening to a stream of honey. It's a very smooth ride, the voice of Elvis Presley. I don't think you focus on the words when he's singing. I think he's doing what bel canto singers do - you don't listen to the words, "just" to the beauty of his voice-. When I say "just", that makes it sound as if he's denying you something else but, actually, that's quite enough".
- Barb Jungr, reviewing the album "Love", for "The Scotsman", as published in its 25 June, 2005 edition



"Even in his laziest moments, Presley was a master of intonation and phrasing, delivering his rich baritone with a disarming naturalness. And when he caught a spark from his great T.C.B. Band, Presley could still out-sing anyone in American pop. You can hear it here on inspired versions of Muddy Waters' "Got My Mojo Working", Wayne Carson's "Always on My Mind", Chuck Berry's "Promised Land", McCartney's "Lady Madonna", Percy Mayfield's "Stranger in My Own Hometown", Dennis Linde's "Burning Love" and Joe South's "Walk a Mile in My Shoes".....
- Geoffrey Himes, reviewing the "Essential 70's masters" box-set, for amazon.com


"Take a track like "One Sided Love Affair" and really examine every nuance of his voice, every caress, every tease and every growl that he lets loose for the song's duration, and you`ll you come to understand that the reason Presley's voice has been so often imitated is because it was unique and, furthermore, damm great.."
- Daniel Reifferscheid, reviewing Elvis' first album, for Toxic Universe



" It's so easy to forget that Elvis was, or is, a great singer. Any account of his impact that omits that fundamental fact amounts to a dismissal."
- Robert Christgau, Dean of American Rock critics, in his 1973 book "Any old way you choose"



"..Elvis had talent, plain and simple. The guy had a thousandth-octave range, and a variety in his vocal styles and approach, he could make more vocal tones, with just his voice, than a guitar player with 50 pedals and gadgets. If you never even saw the guy, you could plain feel, not just hear, the emotion and passion in his voice, and you are immediately taken in, one hundred percent. On the merit of vocals alone, he had more talent in the barbecue stuck in his teeth than the singers who sell millions of records do today."
- Country singer Roger Wallace, in the web`s "Soapbox".


"Elvis' range was about two and a quarter octaves, as measured by musical notation, but his voice had an emotional range from tender whispers to sighs down to shouts, grunts, grumbles and sheer gruffness that could move the listener from calmness and surrender, to fear. His voice can not be measured in octaves, but in decibels; even that misses the problem of how to measure delicate whispers that are hardly audible at all."
- Lindsay Waters, Executive Editor for the Humanities at Harvard University Press, in his essay "Come softly, darling, hear what I say".


"During his rendition of "Hurt", (1976), he was in even better voice, singing in a register that gave more impact to his phrasing, and even hitting notes that could cause a mild hernia. And, after they drew a good crowd reaction, he offered them in a reprise that was tantamount to masochism."
- Mike Kalina, reviewing Elvis' 1976 New Year's concert for the "Pittsburgh Post Gazette", January 1, 1977.


"We can even hazard a little analysis as to what made his voice so appealing. "That curious baritone," one critic called it. Actually, that is inexact. The voice had mixed propensities, hovering between tenor and bass and everything in between. Even a convincing falsetto lay within his range.."
- Jackson Baker, in "Memphis Magazine", July 2002 issue.


"I don't really think Elvis' voice was significantly lower than those of any other baritones. The color of the voice and the sense of warmth and richness of tone gave the sense that the voice was much deeper. Elvis, in fact, did not force his lower register, comfortable as he was with it, which in turn gave the impression that it was lower than those of other baritones."
- Brian Gilbertson, world famous voice teacher, explaining the deepness of Elvis' lower registry.


"Elvis was a (Gospel) singer par excellence. On "Milky White Way", (1960), he' got the strength of a bassman and the sweetness of a tenor. The heritage we have in Elvis' gospel music is a gift to the world".
- Paul Poulton, as published in "Cross Rhythms Magazine"