Elvis [Remastered] - Elvis Presley > Reviews > ►A 6 foot hunk of sweaty black leather.....

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Aren't they obvious?
Disadvantages:	Isn't that obvious?

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

۞ By the late 60’s Elvis had had enough of the mindless gaudy offerings that his manager kept throwing at him via a movie script.
Since his last live performance, The Welcome Home Elvis Sinatra Timex special, back in 1960 [when he came out of the army] Elvis has started to miss the electricity of a live audience. The movies that he was churning out were moneymakers but there was nothing satisfying about them at all. So when Steve Binder came knocking with talk of a live TV special, Elvis jumped at it. Tom Parker didn’t want him to do because there wasn’t enough money involved. Not usually one to go against the words of his manager, Elvis went ahead and did it anyway. From that moment on, the King was back.

The Singer Company sponsored the show and Elvis rehearsed the show June 17 –19, he laid tracks down on the 21 – 22, and taped the show on June 27th in Studio 4 at NBC, Burbank, California. The final production taping was completed by June 30th and the show was aired on BBC2 on December 1968.

An album followed swiftly behind the completion of the TV special, and the CD of that album that I have in my hot sticky little hands has to be one of the best albums that Elvis released.

The artwork is basic, a front cover of Elvis standing in a white suit in front of a large and lit up sign. It may not be state or the art, or highly inspiring, but then, Elvis never needed those gimmicks. The inlay is standard, could have been better, could have been worse.

When ever I listen to this CD, its hard not sit and visualise the King as his strong voice fills the room. When Elvis made a comeback, he made it with a capital C. Dressed head to toe in black leather [which had to be cut off after his performances] he unleashed the pent up fury that had accumulated over 8 years of movie making fluff.

Due to the fact that this is a soundtrack, you don’t get your usual 12 tracks all labelled nicely and neatly, and placed in numerical order. No siree. When you pop this puppy in the first you’ll notice is that only 8 entries register and your left thinking, “Hang on a gawd damn picking minute, I din’t pay neigh on 9 squids for 8 measly tracks y’know” …… But hold ya horses pardner, you ain’t just getting those 8 measly tracks, what you’re actually getting is around 30 big snippets [half a song in some cases] from some of the Kings most known and well loved hits. Out of the 8 tracks, 6 of them are medleys and 3 of them run for a good 12 minutes each. So, you’ve got 8 tracks but over an hour of good music listening. Ain’t grumbling now are ya?

There’s no introduction, there’s no need. Straight in with track 1 and TROUBLE/GUITAR MAN. From the opening beat, there’s no denying that this is the music the King was born to play. His voice is raw, husky, and sexy. With only a couple of lines from Trouble under his belt, much to quickly we change songs and go in Guitar Man, although the tune has changed, the voice stays the same, strong and in command.

Because album is the soundtrack of the actual live taping, the start of certain tracks are filled with friendly banter between Elvis and his 3 piece band [Scotty Moore / J.D Fontana ~ both members of original The Blue Moon Boys and Charlie Hodge] This stopping and starting is not really a problem for me, but of you’ve come looking for back to back tracks with nothing but singing, I really wouldn’t go any further if I were you?

Track 2 starts off with a burst of clapping with the audience, and then straight into LAWDY MISS CLAWDY / BABY, WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO. A few screaming females add their vocals during these numbers, as Elvis is obviously ‘getting down’ on stage. His voice is being strained again. Not strained in a bad way though, no siree, he’s playing the raunch and the huskiness to the max. He’s building on the fact that he’s a sex god in black leather with a hoard of screaming women at his feet.

The heavy drum beats of the first song throw us into the track 3 and the first medley that boasts a play time of over 14 minutes HEARTBREAK HOTEL / HOUND DOG / ALL SHOOK UP / CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE / JAILHOUSE ROCK / DON’T BE CRUEL / BLUE SUEDE SHOES / LOVE ME TENDER. In this track, while he has to maintain the ‘sex’ for a couple of the tunes, when the need comes for the more gentler sound, his voices changes with no problem. There is a couple of pauses in this track and one in particularly when we go from All Shook Up to Can’t Help Falling In Love. These pauses are only due to the tempo of the tune rather than Elvis’ vocal range since he handles the change of song with no problem when the tunes are of the same speed. These are his songs, he knows how to sing them, and it’s evident that he’s wanted to sing them for last 8 years.

Now I’m not into religious music at all, but there are certain singers that can get away with it [Elvis and Eva Cassidy being the only two!] and I even look forward to track 4 playing WHERE COULD I GO BUT TO THE LORD / UP ABOVE MY HEAD / SAVED. This part of the show wasn’t actually live so it’s a studio track. No clapping, no screaming women. You do however have a female backing group [The Blossoms] and an orchestra, both make their presence known and is quite a change from the basic 3 piece affair that we have been used to. At times the songs are calling for some strong input and this Elvis supplies but this time its done in such a way that it doesn’t ooze his usual ‘sexy huskiness’. Elvis was a religious man, and he took his gospel singing seriously, its almost as if you can hear his devotion in his voice.

As soon as Elvis has finished with being ‘saved’ its right back straight to the 3 piece band, at times a little basic and crude, especially when leaving an orchestra based song, and a rather heavy handed tambourine player in the background for track 5 [actually for most of the way through the filming this tambourine player was making a prat of himself, laughing loudly at the not so funny jokes and generally being a nugget, but at one point Elvis turns to this gimp and gives him a ‘look’ and you don’t hear a peep out of him all night] BABY WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO / THAT’S ALL RIGHT MAMA / BLUE CHRISTMAS / ONE NIGHT / TIGER MAN / TRYING TO GET TO YOU. A double up here, because the CD album offers 8 bonus tracks and Baby What You Want Me To Do is one of them. There isn’t a great deal of difference to tell you the truth but its there, and any Elvis song is a bonus right? Any listener to 1970s Elvis will know that he often changed the words to some of his songs for a comedic approach, here he does it with the start of One Night. Elvis was actually quite a comedian and he loved to make people laugh, when he does it, he does it well. But as soon as the laughing has finished, he has played to his audience, he’s right back down to the job in hand and his voice is getting ‘down and dirty’ with Tiger Man. This song is a bit like Trouble for they both command a husky edge for them to sound right. This medley is finished with Trying To Get To You and it was one of the first songs Elvis released way back in the 50s. Of course, his voice was younger back then and higher, but Elvis’ lower and older voice adds something newer to the song. Again he uses his huskiness and the ‘gravel effect’ is pumped to the max but if you think that you like the early rendition of the song, you ain’t heard nothing yet folks!

Track 6 finds us on the first of the only two regular songs, i.e. not a medley. MEMORIES is an excellent song. And no matter who covers it, the words and the arrangement cannot make this a bad song. Elvis starts the song off slow and gentle, just as it should be. The orchestra comes into play with this track and the music glides over the lyrics. Neither one out shines the other and Elvis’ voice is easy. He’s having no problem with task in hand. And the backing vocals, while they don’t really sing but just hum, add to the haunting tune.

It seems to me, that this album has left the best till last, as far as I’m concerned, the first part of the album Elvis did his stuff, in these last two tracks ……….. He rocks.

The next, and last medley NOTHINGSVILLE / BIG BOSS MAN / LET YOURSELF GO / IT HURTS ME / GUITAR MAN / LITTLE EGYPT / TROUBLE / GUITAR MAN is a filmed part of the Special. There are several dancing routines and Elvis ‘acts’ in a couple of songs. There are no live background clapping in this track, but it does contain a couple of double ups. These were acted in the special, rather than sung when Elvis was on the stage in the middle of the audience with his 3-piece band. Although, in all honesty, the double ups are mere lines rather than whole songs, and with just one line from Guitar Man at the beginning one is left wondering why mention it at all? The medley actually finishes with another 3 or 4 lines from that song so I guess in total, we are getting the whole song but just in dribs and drabs. All of the songs, and to be honest, there is a weird selection [Let Yourself Go and Little Egypt are from 2 of his films] are all in the same tempo pretty much. It Hurts Me starts off quite slowly and the first couple of lines over power the instrumentals as it drops back, but it soon gets faster, and as the music gets louder …… Elvis gets louder and more powerful. All songs in this medley in time, command that straining huskiness again. Strength is needed. You get the odd burst of female backing but they are simply that. It adds a little bit of variance, and it breaks up Elvis gravvely effect just nicely. Trouble is one of my favourites and I’m pleased that although you only got the one line in the first track, it comes back and gives you pretty much all of the song.

Last and by no means least, track 8 brings you IF I CAN DREAM and a mention in probably most Elvis fans favourite songs of all time. This song although written over 30 years ago, still holds true today. It tells of a man who wants more for the world. He has a dream. The slow introduction is soft, and a horn section is very evident. The tempo isn’t too fast for the first verse, but towards the end, it does get decidedly quicker. This is another orchestra-accompanied song for it simply would not work with the basic 3-piece set up. The horns continue to be prominent all through out, even as it gets faster and Elvis’ voice gets stronger.
If you have seen the TV Special, you will see the effort that Elvis put in this song. He bends double while creating the right sound; he takes the ‘huskiness’ right to the max. To be truthful, he looks in pain, as if by singing with all of his might, the dream will come true.
In fact, when the song ends and Elvis thanks the audience, you can hear the tiredness in his voice, he gave the best he had vocally in this song and his ‘Thank you, goodnight’ [the last words spoken on the album] sounds as if the speaker has no energy at all.

Its been said that if you consider yourself to be a ‘real real music fan’ you have to have at least one Elvis album in your collection. Maybe not to sit and listen to on a regular basis, but just to put in the stereo and appreciate just what this man did for the world of music. If you are a real real music fan, I’d make it this one.

The King came alive again in 1968.

Amazon ~ £8.99
EBay ~ A little cheaper

If you want a real treat, buy the accompanying DVD [3 disc set] entitled the same at

Play.com ~ £23.99
Amazon ~ £24.59

www.elvis.com

©ASIL1508 ~ 2005 :o)

 

Pictures for the review

Display pictures

The album cover