'The Essential Elvis Presley' BMG CD Review
The Essential Elvis Presley: Cover and Design
‘The Essential Elvis’ features some good colour images of Elvis along with an essay by Michael Hill on the importance of Elvis along with several classic photos from throughout Elvis’ career. The notes are to the point and informative including. . .
"The newspaper pundits of the day took a decidedly square view of Elvis, focusing on his seemingly salacious dance moves. In teenagers, his gyrations provoked rapture; in grownups, furor. After Elvis's second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show,New York Times television critic Jack Gould, in his column, urged the leaders of the day - apparently without irony - to consider immediately adding sex education to public high school curriculums, to calm down youthful libidos in the wake of Elvis's nationally broadcast workouts.
Not everyone was quite so dismissive; in fact, fellow Times-man John S. Wilson penned a think-piece in 1957 that took Elvis seriously as a singer, articulating in a remarkably prescient way what scholars and fellow musicians would declare many years later: "There are several sides to Mr. Presley. He is a blues singer imbued with the spirit and style of those Negro country blues singers represented, at the peak, by Big Bill Broonzy (and it is probably no coincidence that both Mr. Presley and Mr. Broonzy come from Mississippi, a state that has nurtured this particular blues style). He has also absorbed that straightforward, unhokumed part of country singing that runs from Jimmie Rogers to Eddy Arnold. But he is not adverse to the nasal bathos of some country balladeers or to crossing this style with that of more sophisticated crooners." Among the many tracks here that support Wilson's thesis are "I Was The One," a ballad that Elvis himself considered his best recording back in `56, the blues number "Reconsider Baby," the gospel tune "Peace in the Valley," the socially conscious "In the Ghetto" and the beautifully arranged country-soul of "Kentucky Rain."
And later..
"Those who witnessed and reported on Elvis’ live performances describe an artist who, despite the outre outfits and outsized gestures of scarf-tossing and karate chops, offered a lesson in unparalleled charisma.
When Elvis played Manhattan in June 1972 for his first-ever shows there, New York Times writer Chris Chase declared, "Once in a great while, a special champion comes along, a Joe Louis... a Joe DiMaggio, someone in whose hands the way a thing is done is more important than the thing itself... Friday night at Madison Square Garden, Elvis was that. He stood there at the end, his arms stretched out, the great gold cloak giving him wings, a champion, the only one in his class." That is the essential Elvis: the only one in his class. - Michael Hill
– a shame that a similar idea wasn’t used in the #1 album ‘The King’ as well.
In terms of cover design & booklet 'The Essential Elvis Presley' is the definite winner.
Sadly the #1 album ‘The King’ has no liner notes whatsoever and only 4 photographs, three of which are copied identically from this earlier ‘The Essential’ compile! Surely the design team could have found a few new images of "the most photographed" artist the world has ever known? It’s just plain laziness. The smouldering red & blue-eyed Elvis on ‘The King’ cover photo is however sensational.
As always a quick glance through the sleeves picks up a few minor discrepancies
‘I Just Can’t Help Believing‘ is not the August 13th 1970 version as noted on ‘The Essential’ but the August 11th Master. ‘Suspicious Minds’ was recorded around 2am on January 23rd 1969 – ‘The King’ says Jan 22nd, ‘The Essential’ says Jan 23rd.
The Music
‘The Essential Elvis’ leads chronologically through his career, which being in three distinct decades 50s/60s/70s is hard to split into only two CDs. (‘The Artist Of The Century’ release perfected the three decade approach back in 1999 – see below).
Considering that nearly every music fan must own the ‘Elvis 30 #1s’ CD, this 40 track compile presents a good alternate view with only 15 classic #1 tracks repeated here.
CD 1 features ‘That’s All Right’ through to the wonderful ‘Little Sister’ and ends with ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’. Nice to hear 'Peace In The Valley' and 'Trouble' featured as well as the sensational 'Elvis At Sun' version of 'Mystery Train'. 'Reconsider Baby' is the upgraded "1,2,3" intro version as well.
The second CD starts with ‘Return To Sender’ and goes through to ‘Moody Blue' - the seventies represented by only 8 tracks.
It’s fascinating to consider that Elvis who jump-started Rock’n’Roll with ‘That’s All Right’ would end up singing a disco-lite number such as ‘Moody Blue’, and have a major hit with it.
On CD 2 it’s nice to have the audio delights of remastered ‘Big Boss Man’ and the original ‘A Little Less Conversation’ in chronological context. ‘Steamroller Blues’ and ‘Hurt’ are also nice additions.
Other tracks on ‘Essential Elvis’ that are not featured on ‘The King’ or the ‘Elvis 30 #1s’ compilation are; ‘Trouble’, ‘Baby Let’s Play House’, ‘Mystery Train’, ‘I Was The One’, ‘Reconsider Baby’, ‘Follow That Dream’, ‘Peace In The Valley’, ‘Bossa Nova Baby’, ‘Memories’, ‘Don't Cry Daddy’, ‘Kentucky Rain’, ‘Polk Salad Annie’ and ‘Little Sister’ - now how can that classic be missed off ‘The King’?
In the end why couldn’t BMG have released 25 tracks a side (CD 1 only runs 52 minutes) or even better a 3 CD set such as presented with ‘The Essential Bruce Springsteen’ – surely our man is as historically important?
Verdict: While I would have preferred the importance of Elvis’ legacy to have been reflected with a 3 CD set or 50 tracks the overall packaging, sleeve notes and the "a little different" track selection makes this a fine companion to the Sony/BMG ‘Essential’ series. The audio sparkles and the CDs present a good, if brief look at Elvis’ musical legacy. In the end if fans had bought this superior compile in the run up to the August 30th Anniversary there would be little need for them to then buy ‘The King.’ Maybe this is reflected in ‘The King’ only making #4 in the Australian album charts.
EIN Note: The majority of the tracks have been remastered by Vic Anesini previously, ie on the ‘Genre’ releases, for instance ‘Big Boss Man’ is from ‘R&B Genre’ and ‘Steamroller Blues’ was remastered for ‘Elvis By The Presleys’, ‘Hurt’ however is a new addition here in this quality.
Review by Piers Beagley
-Copyright EIN, November 2007
‘The Essential Elvis’ features some good colour images of Elvis along with an essay by Michael Hill on the importance of Elvis along with several classic photos from throughout Elvis’ career. The notes are to the point and informative including. . .
"The newspaper pundits of the day took a decidedly square view of Elvis, focusing on his seemingly salacious dance moves. In teenagers, his gyrations provoked rapture; in grownups, furor. After Elvis's second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show,New York Times television critic Jack Gould, in his column, urged the leaders of the day - apparently without irony - to consider immediately adding sex education to public high school curriculums, to calm down youthful libidos in the wake of Elvis's nationally broadcast workouts.
Not everyone was quite so dismissive; in fact, fellow Times-man John S. Wilson penned a think-piece in 1957 that took Elvis seriously as a singer, articulating in a remarkably prescient way what scholars and fellow musicians would declare many years later: "There are several sides to Mr. Presley. He is a blues singer imbued with the spirit and style of those Negro country blues singers represented, at the peak, by Big Bill Broonzy (and it is probably no coincidence that both Mr. Presley and Mr. Broonzy come from Mississippi, a state that has nurtured this particular blues style). He has also absorbed that straightforward, unhokumed part of country singing that runs from Jimmie Rogers to Eddy Arnold. But he is not adverse to the nasal bathos of some country balladeers or to crossing this style with that of more sophisticated crooners." Among the many tracks here that support Wilson's thesis are "I Was The One," a ballad that Elvis himself considered his best recording back in `56, the blues number "Reconsider Baby," the gospel tune "Peace in the Valley," the socially conscious "In the Ghetto" and the beautifully arranged country-soul of "Kentucky Rain."
And later..
"Those who witnessed and reported on Elvis’ live performances describe an artist who, despite the outre outfits and outsized gestures of scarf-tossing and karate chops, offered a lesson in unparalleled charisma.
When Elvis played Manhattan in June 1972 for his first-ever shows there, New York Times writer Chris Chase declared, "Once in a great while, a special champion comes along, a Joe Louis... a Joe DiMaggio, someone in whose hands the way a thing is done is more important than the thing itself... Friday night at Madison Square Garden, Elvis was that. He stood there at the end, his arms stretched out, the great gold cloak giving him wings, a champion, the only one in his class." That is the essential Elvis: the only one in his class. - Michael Hill
– a shame that a similar idea wasn’t used in the #1 album ‘The King’ as well.
In terms of cover design & booklet 'The Essential Elvis Presley' is the definite winner.
Sadly the #1 album ‘The King’ has no liner notes whatsoever and only 4 photographs, three of which are copied identically from this earlier ‘The Essential’ compile! Surely the design team could have found a few new images of "the most photographed" artist the world has ever known? It’s just plain laziness. The smouldering red & blue-eyed Elvis on ‘The King’ cover photo is however sensational.
As always a quick glance through the sleeves picks up a few minor discrepancies
‘I Just Can’t Help Believing‘ is not the August 13th 1970 version as noted on ‘The Essential’ but the August 11th Master. ‘Suspicious Minds’ was recorded around 2am on January 23rd 1969 – ‘The King’ says Jan 22nd, ‘The Essential’ says Jan 23rd.
The Music
‘The Essential Elvis’ leads chronologically through his career, which being in three distinct decades 50s/60s/70s is hard to split into only two CDs. (‘The Artist Of The Century’ release perfected the three decade approach back in 1999 – see below).
Considering that nearly every music fan must own the ‘Elvis 30 #1s’ CD, this 40 track compile presents a good alternate view with only 15 classic #1 tracks repeated here.
CD 1 features ‘That’s All Right’ through to the wonderful ‘Little Sister’ and ends with ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’. Nice to hear 'Peace In The Valley' and 'Trouble' featured as well as the sensational 'Elvis At Sun' version of 'Mystery Train'. 'Reconsider Baby' is the upgraded "1,2,3" intro version as well.
The second CD starts with ‘Return To Sender’ and goes through to ‘Moody Blue' - the seventies represented by only 8 tracks.
It’s fascinating to consider that Elvis who jump-started Rock’n’Roll with ‘That’s All Right’ would end up singing a disco-lite number such as ‘Moody Blue’, and have a major hit with it.
On CD 2 it’s nice to have the audio delights of remastered ‘Big Boss Man’ and the original ‘A Little Less Conversation’ in chronological context. ‘Steamroller Blues’ and ‘Hurt’ are also nice additions.
Other tracks on ‘Essential Elvis’ that are not featured on ‘The King’ or the ‘Elvis 30 #1s’ compilation are; ‘Trouble’, ‘Baby Let’s Play House’, ‘Mystery Train’, ‘I Was The One’, ‘Reconsider Baby’, ‘Follow That Dream’, ‘Peace In The Valley’, ‘Bossa Nova Baby’, ‘Memories’, ‘Don't Cry Daddy’, ‘Kentucky Rain’, ‘Polk Salad Annie’ and ‘Little Sister’ - now how can that classic be missed off ‘The King’?
In the end why couldn’t BMG have released 25 tracks a side (CD 1 only runs 52 minutes) or even better a 3 CD set such as presented with ‘The Essential Bruce Springsteen’ – surely our man is as historically important?
Verdict: While I would have preferred the importance of Elvis’ legacy to have been reflected with a 3 CD set or 50 tracks the overall packaging, sleeve notes and the "a little different" track selection makes this a fine companion to the Sony/BMG ‘Essential’ series. The audio sparkles and the CDs present a good, if brief look at Elvis’ musical legacy. In the end if fans had bought this superior compile in the run up to the August 30th Anniversary there would be little need for them to then buy ‘The King.’ Maybe this is reflected in ‘The King’ only making #4 in the Australian album charts.
EIN Note: The majority of the tracks have been remastered by Vic Anesini previously, ie on the ‘Genre’ releases, for instance ‘Big Boss Man’ is from ‘R&B Genre’ and ‘Steamroller Blues’ was remastered for ‘Elvis By The Presleys’, ‘Hurt’ however is a new addition here in this quality.
Review by Piers Beagley
-Copyright EIN, November 2007
- 表演者: 猫王 Elvis Aron Presley
- 发行时间: 2007-01-02
- 流派: 摇滚
- 出版者: Bmg / Elvis
- 专辑类型: 选集