Elvis Presley - The Albums and Singles Thread pt3 The Seventies

Lol
It's weird, I normally flick through books in these box sets, but I don't think I have even pulled it out yet lol ... "note to self - perhaps pull the book out at some point"

 

Once it's in your hands, you'll wonder why you ever doubted the purchase.

 

Yes indeed, I agree with all of our Elvis's experts above about the need to purchase the RCA Album Collection. As @PepiJean so well points out in his post, the great remastering alone by Vic Anesini, easily the most highly revered sound engineer for Elvis's mainstream catalogue, makes the 60 discs album collection really essential. It also scare me a little when I see the price for the box set at UK Amazon now at $400. We never know when this box set could go out of print and that could actually send the price of a new box, which is now around $200, up dramatically.

If price alone is a huge issue, the only other box set I could recommend for a newer Elvis fan in order to have a whole lot of highlights across his entire career is the Elvis 75 Good Rockin' Tonight box set, which has 100 songs spread across four discs for around $60. It has the same remastering by Vic Anesini with a very nice booklet as well. I love this collection, but I would not want to be without the RCA Album Collection for all the great reasons all our Elvis experts mention above in their fine posts.

 

Erick Crews has the multi-track masters, but he's not sure about the rights to issue them.

Rev-Ola/Cherry Red resorted to poor needledrops for their AGP/RCA singles collection.

My promo copy of AGP 116 isn't perfect, but it sounds better than Rev-Ola's effort. Here 'tis:



Roy Hamilton - Hang-Ups

 

Well the sound on For LP Fans Only and A Date With Elvis in this box leaves a lot to be desired though. Essentially no better than the 50s box. Get Elvis At Sun and the first two albums mastered by Kevan Bud in 1999 to remedy that. (most of the material anyway)

 

You will learn a lot of interesting statistics. Such as EPs charted on LP charts, individual songs on EPs charted on singles chart and for about two years (58-60) EPs even had their own charts. And many of Elvis EPs that have been out since 1956 and 1957 STILL topped the EP charts when it was started up to two years later in 1958! A couple of EPs charted on the EP chart, the LP chart and the singles chart.

 

I bought mine a couple of years ago and it's been my go to Elvis music ever since. They sound great although I've yet to do a track by track comparison with the 1990s albums CDs or the various decades box sets. I do like the album collection better than the decades box sets overall. I've been holding out on many of the other Elvis CDs and sets available. After reading these threads, I feel much more informed when choosing what additional Elvis CDs I want.

 

Minor correction, but Elvis at Sun came out in 2004, and the Budd-mastered versions of the first three albums came out in 2005.

 

Man, I had forgotten about that great guitar riff taken from Suspicious Minds that comes at the 2:12 mark in the song. I guess Reggie Young is entitled to steal from himself on that great lick, if anyone was going to do it. Thanks for posting these songs to remind us all how great a vocalist Roy Hamilton was in his time. I would really loved to have heard Elvis's version of Angelica, but I have to admit that I am not confidant that Elvis could have sung it any better, and I believe Elvis was the greatest singer in the world, so I guess that is pretty high praise coming from myself.

 

Yeah, you're right. I was the first iteration of the expanded first three albums that came out in 1999. Budd redid then in 2005. Sorry about that, Chief.

 

Agreed 100%. I have no doubt that Elvis would have delivered a masterclass vocal on the song, but at the same time, I can't see how he would have been able to top Roy's interpretation. To pick out just one moment (or series of moments), the way that Roy's voice modulates whenever he draws out the name "Angelica" is utterly devastating. The song itself is a bit melodramatic, but in Roy's hands (voice), it becomes something quite extraordinary and meaningful.

 

Promised Land
Written By :
Chuck Berry

Recorded :
Stax Studios, Memphis, December 10-16, 1973 : December 15, 1973. take 6

In December 1973, Elvis Presley recorded a powerful, driving version. Presley's version of "Promised Land" was released as a single on September 27, 1974. It peaked at number 14 on the Billboard charts and 9 on the UK Singles Chart in the fall of 1974.[1] It was included on his 1975 album Promised Land. The Presley version was used in the soundtrack of the 1997 motion picture Men in Black.
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This is a great way to open a new album. We have that D6 clavinet which always seems to bring the funk, and with the band seemingly fully engaged and enjoying playing some rock and roll, this song rolls along with the unstoppable force of waves pounding the shore.
I mean everybody is just smashing it here. The piano is excellent, that clavinet is just pumping and I'm assuming James is just tearing out some lead.
Elvis really doesn't have too much to do here, he just has to get his delivery correct. That isn't a criticism or dismissal of his vocal or anything, but this is a song that merely requires a rhythmically correct delivery, it isn't a multi octave powerhouse, it is a steaming locomotive of a song that merely requires the singer to hit their mark.
We start off with Elvis speaking ( I can't tell what he says, the mrs is still asleep, and my volume is low) over the intro of the D6, and this is always a good sign, when Elvis is just getting into the vibe of what they are doing he often has some adlib bits of vocal that I personally always enjoy.

 

There's A Honky Tonk Angel (Who Will take Me Back In)
Written By :
Troy Seals & Danny Rice

Recorded :
Stax Studios, Memphis, December 10-16, 1973 : December 15, 1973. take 8

This was released as a posthumous single, and hit number 6 on the Hot Country chart, and it doesn't surprise me really. I think this is an excellent execution of a country ballad.
I know a lot of folks really don't like the fact that Elvis moved into the Country zone, but I think it really suited his ageing voice, and also his somewhat depressed melancholy... it also makes sense to note that although everyone always makes the consistent reference that the Blues Had A Baby and Called It Rock And Roll, that is only half the picture, because country music was a huge ingredient of early rock and roll, and someone like Bill Haley was essentially country swing, but is seen as one of the forefathers of Rock and Roll .... Anyhow, I'm rambling... sorry.
Personally i think this is fantastic. I may have heard the Conway Twitty version, because my Dad used to love Conway, but i was surprised to see Cliff Richard had recorded a version.
Sorry to sideline us, but I find it incredibly interesting that Cliff recorded the song, and released it as a single in 1975. He actually got some feedback from some of his fans, who said they were surprised he had recorded the song, due to a "honky tonk angel" apparently being slang for a prostitute (I wasn't aware of this either lol ... I assumed it was just picking up a girl at a bar type thing lol) but anyway Cliff was taken aback by this information and wanted the single withdrawn, and after some jostling between him and the record company, the single was withdrawn ... anyhow.

Elvis' version of this track is beautifully paced. His vocal is perfect. The backing is spot on. The only thing not to like about this would be the country flavour.
I enjoy this track a lot.

 

This may be my all-time favorite song. It always puts a smile on my face and gets me pumped up to kick some ass. The volume knob always gets cranked when this one is playing.

The montage with this song from "This Is Elvis" is magical. They use an alternate take with Elvis harmonizing the vocal.

 

I like Elvis's harmony vocal that was brought forward in the This Is Elvis mix.

 

Most known versions.

 

I agree with everything you say. I’m a huge fan of 70s country Elvis. For me, alnost all of his triumphs from roughly 1973 to the end came in the country genre.

 

It doesn't get any better than Elvis doing Promised Land. Adding a bit to what Mark said, while the vocal range of the song isn't tought, the pacing is frantic - try singing along to the whole thing, let alone leading a band! And as Mark mentions, Elvis nails it. In aprticular, I love how he phrases 'swing down chariot, come down easy, taxi to the terminal zone...' The band is just on fire.

I'm also a fan of There's A Honky Tonk Angel. It's one of those vocal performances that seems fully authentic. And the way he builds his vocals in power over the bridge to the chrous, and then back down again. It's a shame he didn't add this one to his set list.

 

Promised Land is a great track, of course, easily one of the best from Stax, but I confess that I prefer the Chuck Berry original. Both are magical, but Chuck's has a genuine sense of propulsion. It really makes you feel like you're traveling (rushing?) from town to town...and those guitar solos! Just perfection.

The real star of the Elvis master is Ronnie Tutt, imo. His drum licks are everything. As far as Elvis' vocals go, I prefer take 4 (the one that's prefaced by that wonderful snippet of Columbus Stockade Blues on Elvis At Stax). His timing is more precise, and his vocals have more attack, especially on the "Los Angeles!" part. He sort of fluffs that line on the master, but on take 4, it's a fitting climax to the song.

On another note, this is one case where they absolutely nailed it with the original mix. The Ferrante and 2nd To None remixes don't even come close to matching its tight energy.

There's A Honky Tonk Angel is a bit dull. Musically speaking, it reminds me of If That Isn't Love. It sounds a bit better in the context of Elvis At Stax Disc 3, but it's still not a song that I ever get the urge to listen to.

 

Good point, forgive my omission of that detail .. I'm still on the beach lol

 

Mark really nails the greatest of this performance for me. It really is fantastic for all the reasons he mentions. The band was simply on fire and according to Ernst Jorgensen in A Life In Music, Elvis was "now in complete control of the session," having already noticed a bum note from guitarist Johnny Christopher, who Elvis himself gently corrected. Elvis loved the energy and feel of this song and as Mark also noted in his fine post that whenever Elvis ad libs a line or two ("Ah, get on it!"), it usually indicates he was really into the song.

I think we might be overlooking the genius of songwriter/guitarist Dennis Linde, who did some overdubbing on this cut, like he usually reserved on his own copyrights, like Burning Love or I Got A Feeling In My Body. He always seemed to add a little magic to the sound, but not being a musician myself, I cannot exactly say what it was, but the finished master always sounded better to my ears with his overdubbing guitar.

 

Can you imagine a late 60s / early 70s studio session with Elvis and Chuck Berry doing rock'n'roll songs?
And the resulting "Elvis sings Chuck Berry" album?

At least we've got enough material for a full album:

SIDE A
1- Johnny b. goode ("In person")
2- Brown eyed handsome man ("Million dollar quartet" new edit)
3- Maybellene ("A boy from tupelo")
4- Memphis Tennessee ("The lost album")
5- Too much monkey business ("Tomorrow is a long time")

SIDE B
6- Promised land ("Promised land")
7- Merry christmas baby ("Elvis sings the wonderful world of christmas") - not Berry's song but he recorded it
8- Johnny b. goode ("That's the way it is" rehearsal)
9- ...
10- ...​

 

I too was going to add Ronnie Tutt to the list of musicians that make this song come to life. I think Burton, Briggs, Putman and Tutt were simply on fire that night.

 

I agree with everything you say here. As I said in another post earlier, I actually prefer Elvis's version over Conway Twitty's very fine hit single.