Though this is Elvis’s last LP, released a month before his death, it’s not as depressing as the album that came before it, From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee, which was recorded entirely at Graceland in February ’76.
Old ab soul albums full#
Unable to get a full studio set out of Elvis, RCA settled for this combination of tracks recorded at Graceland and live versions of never-released songs from his final concerts, including his legendarily decrepit but moving version of “Unchained Melody” (which you’re better off watching on YouTube). So, with a hip-swivel and a lip-curl, here’s our ranking of every LP containing new or previously unreleased tracks put out by RCA during Elvis’s lifetime. Even Presley’s worst soundtrack filler may get you there.
The received wisdom regarding his albums - which prizes the Sun Sessions (which, had this ranking included compilation albums featuring no new or previously unreleased material, would’ve been a strong contender for the top-spot), Elvis’s first records for RCA, and his ’68 “comeback” recordings - overlooks some worthy stuff within the often indistinguishable heap making up the rest of his corpus. In any case, he had the privilege and the burden of a voice that sounded legit trying out everything from a quavery tenor to a hubristic baritone, unafraid of operatic grandeur or gruffness or languor, with vibrato and falsetto and commitment, traces of which are present even when one can hear the poor guy itching to get out of the studio and back to his Graceland. Yet even under those constraints, he could inhabit just about anything asked of him within the affable-sexy spectrum, leading to a range of results sentimentally perfect (“Can’t Help Falling in Love”) or perfectly ridiculous (“Song of a Shrimp,” his fond send-off to a family of crustaceans). The string of soundtracks he released in the ’60s (largely at the behest of his exploitative manager Colonel Tom Parker) give the term formulaic as bulletproof a definition as anything in algebra, and consist of his shoddiest material. Despite his undeniable talents, Elvis was a wildly uneven recording artist. This year, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the release of Presley’s first record, his widow, Priscilla, and RCA have put together a massive box set presenting the King’s original recording career, pretty much unabridged.įor Elvis fanatics, this is probably a godsend.
Despite some recent hiccups in Las Vegas, 39 years after his death, Elvis Presley’s career is still going strong - his estate earned $55 million in 2015.
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