Elvis Presley - So many albums - like an insane amount of albums!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Aug 10, 2018.

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  1. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    It might be a great album and recognized as such in some quarters, but - rightly or wrongly- most people won't think of it as being in the same class as Pet Sounds or Sgt. Pepper or Exile. I think that it would be held in higher esteem had it included Suspicious Minds and Kentucky Rain...just as Elvis Is Back! would be an undisputed, universally-acknowledged classic had it included It's Now Or Never, Are You Lonesome Tonight?, and even Stuck On You in place of its lesser tracks.
     
  2. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Clearly there were exceptions, but typically, at the beginning of a session, Elvis was presented with stacks of songs submitted by his publishing entities, Felton Jarvis, and other associates. Elvis had little flexibility when it came to material, or at the very least, was resigned to recording from his submissions. While theoretically he was free to record songs of his interest, he generally worked with what was presented to him.

    Songs like "Hey Jude" and "Don't Think Twice" were on Elvis' mind during their respective sessions and were laid down on tape, and neither were properly developed because the producer at each session was unprepared (at a minimum, there was no sheet music for Elvis follow lyrically). Moman placated Elvis and let him get "Hey Jude" out of his system before turning to the session's real work. Jarvis taped at least two long-winded jams of Elvis and the band jamming to "Don't Think Twice," but never attempted to arrange the song into anything workable. Later, out of desperation, Jarvis released both cuts commercially.
     
  3. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    While "That's The Way It Is" is generally respected among many Elvis enthusiasts, upon closer scrutiny, I think it contains a number of deficiencies. There is a noticeable drop in the overall quality of material in comparison to 1969, and no matter how hard Felton Jarvis tried to emulate the sound and feel of the American Sound recordings, he was unable to pull it off. He simply did not have the same musicians, studio, or in this case, Chips Moman to bring out Elvis' best (Elvis starts to over-sing on a number of recordings during the Nashville sessions). While the American Sound recordings had plenty of orchestral overdubs (some which Jarvis oversaw), the arrangements for the Nashville 1970 recordings moved much further toward a pedestrian, schmaltzy, MOR sound. That is not to say there are not some quality studio performances on the album, but the album is essentially saved by the live cuts. One suspects that an entire album of studio material would have been much closer to the abominable "Love Letters" LP that followed "That's The Way It Is." "Elvis Country" on the other hand is gem.
     
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  4. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Yes, even his studio albums contained mostly songs that were either published by his companies OR the songwriters relinquished 1/3 (sometimes 1/2) of the publishing rights. That loosened up a bit in the mid 70s. Felton brought in a few songs through his connections that Elvis' publishing had no stake in. In some cases the publishing deal was finite. For example had Elvis not released One Night in time, he would have lost out on the publishing share.
     
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  5. bamaaudio

    bamaaudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Elvis is one of those artists I can do with just a strong compilation like DCC's 24 Karat Hits.
     
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  6. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    If I were to get a handful of single discs, none of them would include only his hits, if any.
     
  7. dmiller458

    dmiller458 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midland, Michigan
    One of the best countrypolitan albums ever (IMO).
     
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  8. I333I

    I333I Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ventura
    Yes, Elvis Is Back should be considered a classic. As should Elvis Country. Amazing stuff.
     
  9. I333I

    I333I Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ventura
    Very interesting that multiple people offer Elvis Is Back as a certified “classic”. I would have to say that even without those singles EIB is a classic. Maybe in my world, though. It’s a shame that Elvis’ singles weren’t included on the albums. Just one of many bizarre things that Colonel handled in a bizarre way.
     
  10. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Not updated as in extra songs. Don't think it comes with the stamps.
     
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  11. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    I like all the RCA Camden vinyl something iconic about those seventies album covers now.
     
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  12. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    This list drives me nuts as far as his ranking are concerned. Elvis Is Back! and From Elvis In Memphis do not even make it in his top five albums of all time. The former album does not even make it in his top ten best albums ever. He has a slew of very average to decent soundtrack albums and compilations ahead of the very excellent Elvis Thats The Way It Is album. Oh, and the truly outstanding Elvis Country album cannot even make it higher than number 40 on his list. He gets a few things right near the top of the list, but a lot of these albums are not ranked accurately as far as I am concerned.
     
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  13. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Odd.
    Maybe it reflects sales?
     
  14. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I think the list just reflects the esthetics of the music critics that compiled the list. They seem to have a higher respect for the soundtrack material than many of his fans or more mainstream music critics do.
     
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  15. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Some deep cuts on the soundtrack albums. But ..not my EP list for sure.

    Maybe there should be a Elvis Presley poll list.. here ..favourite albums. Be interesting? Lot of albums ..maybe leave comps out.
     
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  16. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Yes indeed, Skatterbrane started a great thread last year, My Top Ten Favorite Original Elvis Albums, I believe was the name of the thread.
     
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  17. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Locked no doubt.
    Top twenty LPs would be better choice.
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2018
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  18. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Picture Disc

    Location:
    England
    Are the Camdens in the 60CD box accurate in terms of the mixes and when a mono version of a song appears?
     
  19. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Sixties cd box great, fifties box has a better cover.
     
  20. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    GI Blues - Soundtrack Deep Cut.
    Pocket Full Of Rainbows.
     
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  21. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I think it is still open for comments last time I checked. Yes, its funny but I remember some of us complaining that the list should have been top 15 or top 20 to make it a little easier, I mean I had to leave off some very good albums as I recall, like both of his Christmas albums if I remember correctly.
     
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  22. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    Almost In Love and Let's Be Friends are the only accurate ones.
     
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  23. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Picture Disc

    Location:
    England
    :( oh, thanks Claus. I don’t understand why they go from stereo to mono sometimes, I presumed it was just to mimic the original thrown together LPs, but C’mon Everybody from the 60CD box does it too.
     
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  24. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    C'mon Everybody and I Got Lucky were all mono on the original vinyl. The box contains stereo mixes except the Follow That Dream soundtrack where no stereo mixes exist for most of the songs.
     
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  25. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Time for another one. There's always a million Beatles threads. A Elvis thread ( one of two ) surely no probs.
     
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