Supremes Funny Girl Banner Ad Now Available

The Second Disc

Expanded and Remastered Music News

  • Home
  • News
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Features
    • Release Round-Up
    • Giveaways!
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Release Calendar
    • Coming Soon
    • Now Available
  • About
  • Second Disc Records
    • Full Catalog
  • Contact

/ News

Review: Elvis Presley, “Elvis Country: Legacy Edition”

January 3, 2012 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

The title of Elvis Presley’s 1969 double album said it all: From Memphis to Vegas, or if you turned the jacket over, From Vegas to Memphis. Both sides of the singer were on display both on the album and in its title: the superstar showman who had triumphed at Las Vegas’ International Hotel and the onetime Sun Records prodigy who’d periodically returned to his R&B roots. Though no studio album was released in 1970, the singer returned in January 1971 with Elvis Country: I’m 10,000 Years Old, and again the artist was addressing his roots, though with some decidedly contemporary flourishes. Nicely coinciding with the album’s 41st anniversary, RCA and Legacy Recordings have paired Elvis Country with its follow-up, Love Letters from Elvis. Love Letters was drawn from the same four days of Nashville sessions as Elvis Country, making for a particularly effective entry in the current series of Legacy Editions for the Presley catalogue. (Still more tracks from this studio marathon were utilized for the soundtrack of Elvis: That’s The Way It Is, which itself could be a contender for another upgrade down the road.)

The concept behind the Legacy Editions is a simple one: pair two related albums in one package, adding related singles, outtakes and ephemera, but largely avoiding the alternate takes that are the bread and butter of Follow That Dream, the Internet/mail-order Elvis-only collectors’ label. The Legacy Editions have been remarkably effective in streamlining the often-confusing state of Presley’s basic compact disc catalogue, and Elvis Country: Legacy Edition (88697 90439-2, 2012) is no exception.

Considering the furor which greeted Presley’s rise to national prominence, it’s remarkable from a contemporary vantage point that many of the singer’s earliest, most muscular recordings could today be considered as much country as rock and roll. The future King always paid respect to his Southern heritage in song, and so Elvis Country would be marked with deep soul and gospel intensity, even if filtered through the outsized presence commanded the stage at the International nightly in glittery jumpsuits. Befitting the famous “Nashville sound” pioneered at RCA, Presley’s band (James Burton, Chip Young and Charlie Hodge on guitar, Norbert Putnam on bass, Jerry Carrigan on drums, David Briggs on piano, Charlie McCoy on organ and harmonica) was supplemented with overdubbed musicians, with Burton, Carrigan, McCoy and Briggs all returning to participate in the overdubs themselves. (Burton, Young and McCoy were all familiar to Elvis, and Putnam, Briggs and Carrigan arrived via Muscle Shoals!) When Elvis joined these musicians for four days of recording in June 1970, he hadn’t set foot in a recording studio there since March 1969 when he recorded tracks for Change of Habit, the film in which he starred opposite a post-Dick Van Dyke Show Mary Tyler Moore as a nun. Not surprisingly, though, Elvis returned to Nashville like a fish getting back to water. The resulting album would be derived from the June sessions and one night in September which yielded four tracks: “Snowbird” and “Whole Lot-ta [sic] Shakin’ Goin’ On,” and “Where Did They Go Lord” and “Rags to Riches,” two single sides also included on the Legacy Edition.

The modern touches applied by nominal producer Felton Jarvis are apparent from the start of Elvis Country and suit the naturally deeper voice Presley had acquired by this point. An electric sitar figures prominently on the opening cover of Anne Murray’s “Snowbird,” written by Gene McLellan. It’s the same instrument familiar from B.J. Thomas’ “Hooked on a Feeling” or many of Thom Bell’s best Philadelphia soul productions. “Snowbird” segues rather jarringly into the first of many snippets of the old traditional tune “I Was Born 10,000 Years Ago.” This song, with its raucous and rollicking beat, is woven between the album’s tracks to create one of the most pronounced “conceptual” touches on any Presley album. Was the singer commenting on how integral these songs are to the musical firmament? The complete “10,000 Years Ago” recording was originally released on 1972’s Elvis Now and is included here as a bonus track. (The “clean” fades of the album tracks, minus the “10,000 Years Ago” segments, can be heard on various compilations and “complete” sets.)

The bolero rhythm of “Tomorrow Never Comes” isn’t typical country-and-western, though it was adopted from Glen Campbell’s recording of the Ernest Tubb composition. Elvis brings the song home with a booming gospel choir, big notes and even bigger passion a bit redolent of his 1968 rouser “If I Can Dream,” which also managed to be both singularly heartfelt and bombastic. Freewheeling, up-tempo tracks make the strongest impression, such as a tough, reworked “Whole Lot-ta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” which replaces Jerry Lee Lewis’ famous piano licks with furious guitar interplay and a vocal that finds Elvis shedding a few years in the process! He’s carried away as he admonishes drummer Jerry Carrigan to “take it out, Jerry! Take it out!” as the track draws to a close. Joe Babcock’s “I Washed My hands in Muddy Water” becomes another brisk, lean rocker in Elvis’ hands. On the bluesy take of Lee Hazlewood’s “The Fool” (credited to Hazlewood’s then-wife, Naomi Ford), you might have to turn your stereo up to hear Elvis’ conspiratorially whispered vocal!

The singer was equally comfortable with the ballads, however. Hank Cochran’s “Make the World Go Away” is a big AM-ready production drenched in strings, though Elvis’ strong vocal is still out front. It’s a mystery as to why this track wasn’t selected as a single. (Dallas Frazier’s “There Goes My Everything” and the Barnes/Robertson “I Really Don’t Want to Know” were the choices instead.) A sweet, tender and affecting one-take reading of Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away” is accented by Briggs’ lilting piano fills and Burton’s guitar. It’s said that the idea of a country album germinated when Elvis and his team realized the kind of groove the band had been creating in the studio, and there are many vivid instrumental contributions. The virtuoso Burton brings his distinct dobro to Shirl Milete’s “It’s Your Baby, You Rock It,” and Buddy Spicher’s overdubbed fiddle graces the sensitive “Little Cabin on the Hill.”

In addition to the full “10,000 Years Ago,” Elvis Country is expanded with a brief, frenetic studio jam of Flatt and Scruggs’ “A Hundred Years From Now” first issued on The Essential ’70s Masters box set, and another Dallas Frazier song, “Where Did They Go, Lord,” the non-LP single. Hit the jump to receive some Love Letters from Elvis!

Love Letters from Elvis was built largely around the unused material from Elvis Country and lacks the consistency of the prior release. While it’s without a question the lesser album, it’s a solid companion, emphasizing (out of necessity) the singer’s softer side, though far from exclusively. The title song, a 1945 movie song by Victor Young and Edward Heyman, was already a hit for Elvis in a 1966 version; though the voice was rather more burnished by this point, he managed to sing it in 1970 in the same key and with a very similar arrangement. He’s likewise gentle on Fred Karger, Sid Wayne and Ben Weisman’s “I’ll Never Know.”

British songwriter Geoff Stephens (“Winchester Cathedral,” “A Kind of Hush”) contributed two songs. The brassy, Tom Jones-flavored “Heart of Rome” features Elvis belting out its big melody, replete with La-la-la-la-las, while “This is Our Dance” is a thinly-veiled rewrite of Engelbert Humperdinck’s “The Last Waltz” which was written in part by Stephens’ co-writer Les Reed. “This is Our Dance” hardly matched the success of that song, and is devoid of even a snatch of Southern soul. But it makes for an enjoyable MOR diversion. (Stephens’ “Sylvia,” also co-written with Reed, appears here as a bonus track, having first premiered on Elvis Now.) A diversion of another sort came from “Got My Mojo Working” (incorporating a bit of “Keep Your Hands Off Of It”) on which Elvis certainly does, as well as from “Cindy, Cindy,” an incendiary rockabilly number given a makeover with an unstoppable drum beat, harmonica, horns and of course, James Burton’s typically smoking guitar.

Shirl Milete, whose “It’s Your Baby, Rock It” appeared on Elvis Country, further benefited from The King’s patronage with two more tracks on Love Letters including the twangy “When I’m Over You” and the grandiose and unusual single “Life.” The spacey, quasi-spiritual anthem (“Somewhere out in empty space, long before the human race/Something stirred, a vast and timeless source began/Intelligence was born and then, there was the world…”) was hardly standard fare for Elvis. The experiment doesn’t exactly work, and sits uncomfortably next to the stronger titles, concerned with either love or lust. But nobody could accuse Elvis of not throwing himself into the song, and his vocal is far from a detached one.

In addition to “Sylvia,” two more 1971 single sides have been added to the Love Letters line-up: Elvis’ full-voiced take on the Tony Bennett favorite “Rags to Riches,” composed by Richard Adler of Damn Yankees and The Pajama Game fame, and The Sound of Your Cry” by the Brill Building team of Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye. The Giant/Baum/Kaye team was one of the most frequent suppliers of songs for Elvis, and also penned songs for artists ranging from Lou Johnson to The Everly Brothers.

As with all of the Presley Legacy Editions, the albums are presented in their best sound yet of the CD era. Vic Anesini has remastered beautifully, bringing out the nuances in each track. It’s too bad that room couldn’t be found for the dedicated mono single mixes of these albums’ related singles, but the package is otherwise a solid accounting of this period. Stuart Colman contributes a strong essay about each of the two included albums, discussing each song and performance in detail. The familiar orange RCA labels grace each CD, and you’ll find the front and back covers of each album reproduced. The original poster enclosed with Elvis Country is also reprinted under the trays of the digipak, and there are full color photographs a-plenty. Unfortunately, in keeping with recent custom, this Legacy Edition isn’t slipcased.

It’s always tempting to wonder what might have emerged had Elvis Presley teamed with a visionary producer of the LP era, free from Colonel Parker’s influence. Ah, the might-have-beens! But with so many of Presley’s albums simply collections of disparate songs, however great, Elvis Country is a welcome change of pace. Emotions run high and the strains of Tennessee and Mississippi flow in the veins of these recordings. Elvis Presley may have affirmed “I’m 10,000 Years Old” on the original LP, and in fact, he only lived to 42. But a fitting epigram might be a toast borrowed from Frank Sinatra: “May you live to be 100, and may the last voice you hear be mine.” With the sweet sounds of Elvis Country still resonating, that might not be such a bad way to go.

Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Country, Pop Tags: Elvis Presley

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

Connect With Joe: FacebookTwitter

You Might Also Like

  • ElvisPresley FromElvisInNashvilleHoliday Gift Guide Review: Legacy Looks Back at 1970 With Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix Archival Offerings
  • ElvisPresley FromElvisInNashvilleRelease Round-Up: Week of November 20
  • johnny mathis merry christmasMarshmallow World: Legacy Reissues Christmas Classics from Andy, Perry, Dean, Elvis, Johnny, Kenny and Dolly, and More
  • Soul of the Memphis BoysThis Is Soul: Ace Collects “The Soul of The Memphis Boys” with Elvis, Dusty, Box Tops, More

Comments

  1. Best Jazz Books says

    January 3, 2012 at 1:28 pm

    I have never bought an Elvis album before. This one sounds nice. I’m assuming that picture is when Elvis was a young boy.

    Reply
  2. Hank says

    January 4, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    “That’s The Way It Is”, released in 1970, is not considered to be a studio album because RCA pretended it was a live album by adding applause to certain studio tracks; however, nine of its twelve tracks came from these June, 1970 studio sessions. An expanded, 3-disc “TTWII” was released in 2000, but mostly focused on the August, 1970 live and rehearsal material recorded in Las Vegas during the filming of the movie.

    I’ve always felt that “Elvis Country” needs a disclaimer: when indexed for the CD age, many tracks crossfade in and out of “I Was Born 10,000 Years Ago”. Anybody looking to hear certain individual “Elvis Country” tracks without the crossfades is advised to track down alternate sources such as the “Essential 70’s Masters” boxed set. Conversely, “Love Letters From Elvis” (actually released in 1971, not 1972) has been maligned over the years bysome for containing leftovers from not one, but two albums, but I personally like it better than “Elvis Country.”

    Reply
  3. avril greaves says

    January 4, 2012 at 2:55 pm

    I bought this album when it first came out and Istill listen to it. It is a classic piece of Elvis. Lots of style to choose from.

    Reply
  4. Bill Oliver says

    January 15, 2012 at 11:28 pm

    I always considered this album my favorite of Elvis albums.My favorite song on the album is,Make The World Go Away.

    Reply
  5. jackevans1996 says

    August 10, 2014 at 9:23 am

    He hadn’t recorded in Nashville since of Change of Habit but of course he had recorded in Memphis. Just a small point but other than that I thought it was a fantastic review.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Upcoming Releases

  • The Who Sell Out
    The Who Sell Out [Various Formats]
    The Who
    April 23, 2021
  • California Music Add Some Music
    California Music Presents Add Some Music
    California Music
    April 23, 2021
  • lennon plastic ono
    John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band: The Ultimate Collection
    John Lennon
    April 23, 2021
See Full Calendar

Connect

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,215 other subscribers

Popular

  • Bob Dylan Jokerman I and I
    Everybody Cut Loose: Sony’s RSD Line-Up Features Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Prince, Miles Davis, Kenny Loggins, More posted on April 15, 2021 | under News
  • David Bowie The Width of a Circle Items
    God Knows I’m Good: Live Rarities, Singles Collected on Bowie’s ‘The Width of a Circle’ posted on April 14, 2021 | under News
  • VMP 100
    Ladies and Gentlemen…: Vinyl Me Please Marks 100 “Essentials” Releases with New Pressings of Sold-Out Titles posted on April 12, 2021 | under News

Comments

  • small faces here come the nice2
    Return To Itchycoo Park: Small Faces’ “Here Come The Nice” Deluxe Box Set Arrives In January [UPDATED 12/3] 79 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 3, 2013 | under News
  • the beatles u s albums box2
    British Invasion! The Beatles Unveil “The U.S. Albums” Box Set in January 69 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 12, 2013 | under News
  • Rolling Stones in Mono
    Out of Their Heads: Stones Plan Mono Box Set 47 comments | by Mike Duquette | posted on August 10, 2016 | under News

Music Resources

  • Addicted to Vinyl
  • Crap from the Past
  • Discogs
  • Film Score Monthly
  • IMWAN Forum – From the Vaults
  • MusicTAP
  • Musoscribe
  • Pause & Play
  • Popblerd
  • Popdose
  • Record Racks
  • Slicing Up Eyeballs
  • Steve Hoffman Music Forums
  • Ultimate Classic Rock
  • Vintage Vinyl News
  • Viva La Mainstream
  • Wolfgang’s Vault

Labels of Note

  • Ace Records
  • Analog Spark
  • Bear Family
  • BGO Records
  • Big Break Records
  • Blixa Sounds
  • Cherry Red Label Group
  • Craft Recordings
  • Demon Music Group
  • Friday Music
  • Funky Town Grooves
  • Iconoclassic Records
  • Intervention Records
  • Intrada
  • Kritzerland
  • La La Land Records
  • Legacy Recordings
  • Light in the Attic
  • Masterworks Broadway
  • Now Sounds
  • Omnivore Recordings
  • Real Gone Music
  • Resonance Records
  • Rhino Entertainment
  • Rock Candy Records
  • Sunset Blvd. Records
  • Supermegabot
  • Varese Sarabande
  • Vinyl Me Please
  • Wounded Bird
Copyright © 2021 The Second Disc. All rights reserved. · Site by Metaglyphics

The Second Disc is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy