Folkways Years 1959-1973, The - Memphis Slim

Advantages: The King, Fantastic career, and Many hits
Disadvantages: None

...Elvis Presley was born in 1935 in Memphis, he was known as "The King", and he was and still is one of the biggest stars of the twentieth century. "Heartbreak Hotel", was his first number one single, followed by three more number ones, before he made his first film "Love Me Tender" from which the title song of the same name gave him his fifth number one. He had a hit with "Teddy Bear" from his second film "Loving You", followed by "Jailhouse Rock", which was taken from his third and best ever movie "Jailhouse Rock" I have seen all of Elvis's movies, but I recken that Jailhouse Rock was the best one. In early 1958 he got draughted inot the army, where he spent two years driving trucks in Germany, also in the same year he joined the army, his mother died, to whom he was very close, Elvis described her death as the worst tradedy of his... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: An album which takes several listens to appreciate
Disadvantages: An acquired taste - not for fans of Roy Wood the pop singer!

...When "Wizzard Brew" was first issued in 1973, fans were astonished to find that they didn't have an album with ten more "See My Baby Jive" soundalikes but a handful of progressive rock and jazz instead, while critics wrote it off as gross self-indulgence. Only years later can it be appreciated for what it really is - Roy Wood's masterstroke, in effect an amalgamation of the heavy rock sound he was aiming at in the latter days of The Move, his love of 50s rock'n'roll, and his yearning to break out of the three-minute pop song straitjacket to tinker with classics and jazz as well. You want heavy riffs, a la "Brontosaurus" with added saxes, cellos, phasing and reverse tape drums? Listen to the opening track, "You Can Dance The Rock'n'Roll". Fancy 12 minutes of sax-driven jazz-rpck improvisation? "Meet Me At The Jailhouse" will do... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Two bona fide Elvis classics
Disadvantages: A patchy album overall

...By the mid 1970's The King had matured into a stellar MOR performer and recorded some of his greatest songs, though consistency was still a problem and this album is no different from a few others he made at the time, having some overall excellent vocal work (by 1973 in my opinion he was sounding as good as he was in 1956) let down more than once by some weaker filler material on his LP's, a situation not helped by the two-album-a-year deal he was in at the time. Any artist, whoever they are, would struggle to produce two geniunely listenable albums in a 12 month span. So it was to Stax Studios in Memphis that the Elvis entourage headed in December 1973; the original plan was to record with some of the house musicians there but sadly things didn't work out and the Presley live band were drafted in to back him up. Therefore... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful