Hands down one of the greatest albums of all time. The way he sings "Well, I never, I never loved another, oh my heart, all my dreams..." in Long Black Limousine is proof enough - not that there was ever needed - that he towers above everything, lost in music.
It would not have mattered if Felton Jarvis produced the sessions and if Elvis' material was predominately supplied from his own publishing entities. Look what happened with Elvis' work at Stax in 1973 -- there is nothing "Stax" about those results.
Exactly! Jarvis and Parker poisoned Elvis mind against Chips Moman purely out of their own self interest. Had this not occurred maybe Elvis could have worked more with Chips and gained access to better material.
Yeah overall, but I think we could probably create pretty good playlist from those sessions that holds up to the Stax name. Promised Land Honky Tonk Angel Loving Arms My Boy I've Got A Thing About You Baby For Ol' Times Sake Help Me If That Isn't Love It's Midnight Spanish Eyes You Asked Me To I think those are all good songs and performances
I think the Stax sessions produced very mediocre results overall. There were a couple of highlights (Promised Land is arguably one of Elvis' finest recordings from the 1970's), but a lot of the recordings were uninspired and the quality of material uneven. I would never list Elvis' recordings from the famed studio as contributing to the Stax legacy in any noteworthy way. Here is my attempt at compiling a single disc album from the 1973 sessions (including Palm Springs). The rest of the recordings I would have relegated to the vaults indefinitely. Side A: Promised Land I've Got A Feeling In My Body Loving Arms If You Talk In Your Sleep Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues Side B: I've Got A Thing About You Baby For Ol' Times Sake You Asked Me To There's A Honky Tonk Angel Are You Sincere
Interesting that twice in his career, Elvis had a sound on his records, captured in a particular studio by a particular producer, that was never completely duplicated by the vaunted RCA and their facilities. Must have been something about Memphis. I'm not sure that's there for anyone anymore now that American is dust and Sun is a museum.
I would suggest these on vinyl 1.The Many New Sides of Charlie Rich-Monoraul 2.Charlie Rich-Fully Realized(2LPs-Re-Stereo of MNSOCR&SWFTGLCR) 3.Charlie Rich The Best of Charlie Rich(1972 Epic ) 4.Dusty Springfield Dusty in Memphis
Should read: Fully Realised is a 1974 compilation of Charlie Rich's two Smash albums The Many New Sides Of Charlie Rich (1965), and Fast Talkin', Slow Walkin', Good Lookin' Charlie Rich (1966).
The 40th anniversary/Legacy Edition has Vic Anesini's mastering, a solid track lineup (both LP's of '69 Memphis recordings plus mono singles), and is reasonably priced and easy to obtain. https://www.amazon.com/Elvis-Memphis-40th-Anniversary-Legacy/dp/B002BX4VEK
It's worth noting that record contains remixes which (IMO) are notably inferior to the original mixes. That was actually the first version of the album I ever heard, and when I later heard the original mixes I was blown away by how much better they were.
Neil Diamond was asked to reschedule his recording session so Elvis could get in there. The LP That has Sweet Caroline on it was at least partially recorded there. A favourite of mine.
The original planned tracklist for this release didn't include the mono singles, did include the stereo singles and the track order was a tad different (and a much more satisfying listening experience for disc 1): Sadly even this earlier design was underwhelming, turning Elvis' first Legacy Edition release into a glorified "twofer". A better commercial presentation of the Memphis Sessions was 1999's "Suspicious Minds - The Memphis Anthology" Disc 1 launched with the From Elvis In Memphis album, then continued with the singles and "producers' choice" best of the sessions. Disc 2 contained the remaining session masters and 10 outtakes. It is better compiled, but doesn't sound as good as the Legacy Edition. Ironically it is more like a traditional Legacy Edition in compilation though.
The mono singles are what sold me on the Legacy Edition. I already had the other tracks (some on multiple releases), so those singles were the only thing that was "new" to me. But I can understand the desire to have "Suspicious Minds" in stereo. There was room available to include it (in addition to the mono version, of course).
I heard the Legacy Edition of FEIM for the first time last week and really enjoyed it. Based on that I've decided to explore his 70s work starting with Legacy Editions of Country, On Stage and That's The Way It Is. Any suggestions on how to proceed after that? At what point does the quality of the studio work go downhill in terms of material chosen?
Things go down hill fast after Elvis Country. After you get the above mentioned 70s Legacy Editions, then it is time to move to the 50s and 60s Legacy Editions, the Debut album and Elvis Is Back. But it is hard to top the FEIM/EIB Legacy Edition!
I agree, adding the mono singles was the thing that sold this set to many of us. That said there was also enough room to have all the singles featured in both their mono and stereo incarnations.
Its funny, as a rule I tend to lean toward liking mono mixes best but, I think I prefer the stereo mix of Kentucky Rain that's on The Essential Elvis Presley collection to the mono single mix on FEIM. Its fun to compare the two of them. Not sure if the mix on Essential is from back in the day or a newer remix.
Here is a video by a youtuber I follow. He has a whole lot of very interesting stories about Elvis that we may have heard about but he takes us to the places that they actually happened through research he has done. Probably my favourite youtube channel.