Elvis In The 90s

Review: LOVE LETTERS FROM ELVIS CD [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this review back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #4, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

Love Letters From Elvis (RCA), recorded by Elvis Presley, produced by Felton Jarvis. Recorded June 4-8, 1970, RCA Studios (Nashville). Released: May 1971. Re-released: 1992 (CD).

Despite the fact that Love Letters From Elvis was billed as an album of romantic songs, this is not “Love Me Tender” to the 12 power. In fact, along with the ballads, there are two religious songs and three up-tempo songs that are delivered equally as well as the love songs.

“Love Letters” is a re-recording of his 1966 single and is superior to that version. By far, the best song on this album is “This Is Our Dance,” which is very different from Elvis’ post-1971 ballads which tend to be sentimental pieces reflecting his problems with Priscilla.

Elvis picks up the pace with “Cindy, Cindy,” a song previously recorded with slightly different lyrics by Ricky Nelson under the title “Get Along Home, Cindy.”

The album concludes with “Life,” a song that manages to tell the complete story of the universe in under four minutes.

Love Letters From Elvis suffers from overpowering instrumentation on many tracks, a problem which was corrected for the most part on his future albums.

Songs:

  1. “Love Letters”
  2. “When I’m Over You”
  3. “If I Were You”
  4. “Keep Your Hands Off Her/Got My Mojo Working”
  5. “Heart Of Rome”
  6. “Only Believe”
  7. “This Is Our Dance”
  8. “Cindy, Cindy”
  9. “I’ll Never Know”
  10. “It Ain’t No Big Thing”
  11. “Life”

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review: ELVIS IN PERSON CD [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this review back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #4, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

Elvis In Person (RCA), recorded by Elvis Presley, produced by Felton Jarvis. Recorded August 22-26, 1969, International Hotel (Las Vegas). Released: November 1970. Re-released: 1992 (CD).

Elvis was at his musical best in the years 1969 and 1969, a period encompassing the ELVIS televions special, the Memphis sessions, and his triumphant return to live performances. The Elvis In Person CD, arguably his best album, captures the Summer 1969 Las Vegas concet engagement that brought him back before an audience after years of movies.

The contents of Elvis In Person had previously been released as Record One of the two-record set From Memphis To Vegas/From Vegas To Memphis in late 1969.

He performs every song on this album with the skill of a true master, from rockers like “Johnny B. Goode” to beautiful ballads like “Words.” With only one or two exceptions, each song on Elvis In Person is the greatest live rendition ever released by him. Never before and never again was Elvis so unbelievably awesome as he was in 1968 and 1969.

Although his subsequent live albums certainly deserve merit, none would exceed the magic of this album. After so many years of mediocre movie soundtrack albums, Elvis was finally back.

Songs:

  1. “Blue Suede Shoes”
  2. “Johnny B. Goode”
  3. “All Shook Up”
  4. “Are You Lonesome Tonight”
  5. “Hound Dog”
  6. “I Can’t Stop Loving You”
  7. “My Babe”
  8. “Mystery Train/Tiger Man”
  9. “Words”
  10. “In The Ghetto”
  11. “Suspicious Minds”
  12. “Can’t Help Falling In Love”

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review: BACK IN MEMPHIS CD [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this review back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #4, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

Back In Memphis (RCA), recorded by Elvis Presley, produced by Felton Jarvis and Chips Moman. Recorded January 13-23 and February 17-21, 1969, American Sound Studios (Memphis). Released: November 1970. Re-released: 1992 (CD).

Back In Memphis was the second album released from Elvis’ early 1969 Memphis sessions that produced some of his best studio work. The contents of Back In Memphis had been previously released in November 1969 as Record Two of the double album From Memphis To Vegas/From Vegas To Memphis.

As was typical of his entire career, Elvis performs a variety of musical styles on this album, and as usual, pulls it off with perfection. His best performances on Back In Memphis are “Inherit The Wind,” “Stranger In My Own Home Town,” and “You’ll Think Of Me.”

However, Elvis’ best recordings from the Memphis sessions had already been released either as singles or on the first album, From Elvis In Memphis, and when compared to those works, Back In Memphis is a slight disappointment.

Songs:

  1. “Inherit The Wind”
  2. “This Is The Story”
  3. “Stranger In My Own Home Town”
  4. “A Little Bit Of Green”
  5. “And The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind”
  6. “Do You Know Who I Am”
  7. “From A Jack To A King”
  8. “The Fair’s Moving On”
  9. “You’ll Think Of Me”
  10. “Without Love”

Rating: 7 out of 10

New Elvis movie CDs released [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this piece back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #4, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

A new Elvis compact disc series from RCA has begun. Each disc in the “Elvis Double Features” series contains two complete movie soundtracks.

The first four to be released are:

  • Kid Galahad/Girls, Girls, Girls
  • Viva Las Vegas/Roustabout
  • It Happened At The World’s Fair/Fun In Acapulco
  • Harum Scarum/Girl Happy

Review: ELVIS TODAY CD [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 17 when I wrote this review back in 1992 for The Elvis Beat #3, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

Elvis Today (RCA), recorded by Elvis Presley, produced by Felton Jarvis. Executive Producer: Elvis Presley. Recorded March 10-13, 1975, RCA Studios (Hollywood). Released: May 1975. Re-released: 1992 (CD).

The country-flavored Elvis Today has a very sad tone which is probably a reflection of the impact Elvis’ personal life had on his selection of material to record. Two of the best songs on the album, “Pieces Of My Life,” and “Bringin’ It Back,” could be interpreted as messages aimed at Priscilla.

Despite the sad tones, or perhaps because of them, Elvis Today is an excellent album which stands as an example to disprove criticism that Elvis released no meaningful songs or albums after 1970.

This is one of several 1970s Elvis albums which unfortunately had been deleted from the RCA catalog. Thanks to the “Elvis In The 90’s” series, these albums are finally beginning to return, and Elvis Today is one of the first. Its superior sound quality stands a testament to RCA’s new commitment to Elvis releases.

Songs:

  1. “T-R-O-U-B-L-E”
  2. “And I Love You So”
  3. “Susan When She Tried”
  4. “Woman Without Love”
  5. “Shake A Hand”
  6. “Pieces Of My Life”
  7. “Fairytale”
  8. “I Can Help”
  9. “Bringin’ It Back”
  10. “Green, Green Grass Of Home”

Rating: 8 out of 10

New Elvis CDs released [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 17 when I wrote this item back in 1992 for The Elvis Beat #3, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

The following new Elvis CDs have been spotted, in addition to the ones listed in our last issue, at local record stores as part of the “Elvis In The 90s” RCA series:

  • Elvis In Person
  • Back In Memphis
  • Love Letters From Elvis

Elvis lives on in the 90s [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 17 when I wrote this article back in 1992 for The Elvis Beat #2, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

1992 is a revolutionary year for Elvis on CD. With the release of ELVIS: The King Of Rock ‘n’ Roll – The Complete 50s Masters, a 5-CD set containing 140 songs, and the new “Elvis In The 90s” series, RCA seems to have finally made a commitment to release quality Elvis recordings in the CD format.

The “Elvis In The 90s” series is dedicated to bringing back all of the key albums yet to be released on CD or which have been deleted from the RCA catalog completely. Also planned for the future are boxed sets for this 1960s and 1970s material. Work on this massive project is expected to be finished by 1996.

Below is an incomplete list of Elvis CDs released within the last year. Due to the large number of discs currently being released, the list is not up-to-date.

Elvis’ New CDs

  • ELVIS: The King Of Rock ‘n’ Roll – The Complete 50s Masters (5 CDs)
  • Collectors Gold (3 CDs)
  • The Lost Album
  • ELVIS – NBC TV Special
  • On Stage
  • He Touched Me
  • As Recorded At Madison Square Garden
  • Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite
  • Elvis Today
  • Elvis In Concert