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 Maximum Memphis Jul 25, 2008
Following the huge success of the 1968 NBC-TV special, which was more than a mere comeback and closer to a total resurrection of his career after a decade of mediocre movies, Elvis was wise to follow the advice of one of his Memphis Mafia, Marty Lacker, and record in his hometown under the aegis of legendary producer Chips Moman at American Studios. Those marathon recording sessions, which happened during January and February 1969 and often ran into all hours of the morning, resulted in Elvis making the most important music he had done in years, not to mention two hugely successful albums (FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS; FROM MEMPHIS TO VEGAS/FROM VEGAS TO MEMPHIS). And SUSPICIOUS MINDS: THE MEMPHIS 1969 ANTHOLOGY brings both of those albums together in one big package (plus numerous alternate takes of certain songs), so that everyone can know the whole story of this great period in the King's life.
As always, the important hits that were to hang around long after Elvis' tragic demise are here: "Suspicious Minds" (sadly his last #1, in November 1969); "In The Ghetto" (#3, June 1969); "Don't Cry Daddy" (#6, January 1970); and "Kentucky Rain" (#16, March 1970). But the hits are just the tip of the iceberg here, as Elvis went into areas that he long wanted to return to while plowing away through mediocrities like "Do The Clam" for much of the 1960s. Classic R&B-framed songs like "Wearing That Loved-On Look" and "Any Day Now", along with country favorites like Hank Snow's "Movin' On" and Johnny Tillotson's "It Keeps Right On-A Hurtin'" showed that Elvis was back to the business of reshaping American popular music during a time of extreme social and political turbulence. He also could be quite tender ("Mama Liked The Roses"; "The Fair Is Moving On"); and at other times, he and Moman's session crew could cut loose, as they do on "Stranger In My Own Hometown", a Percy Mayfield blues number that the King does with unbelievable gusto.
Probably the sleeper gem of the entire Memphis session period is the King's version of "Without Love (There Is Nothing)", the Danny Small-composed R&B/gospel chestnut that he had apparently been encouraged to record way back in 1954 when he started out at Sun Records. He didn't feel he had the vocal capacity to do it, however, until these sessions; and when he did, he took the opportunity and ran with it, as Clyde McPhatter and Ray Charles before him each had done, and as Tom Jones would also do. The passion shown by Elvis just on that one track alone was a preview of what we'd hear in the 1970s with songs like "Hurt" and "An American Trilogy", before his catastrophic downfall.
The extreme artistic and commercial success of the sessions (both of the original albums hit the Top 15 on the album charts), as always, makes one muse about what he might have been able to do had he not been turned into a Vegas lounge act by his manager, and been forced to tour endlessly for the last eight years of his life. But it is more important to look at what the man actually did when people believed in the real Elvis and not the Colonel's puppet on a string, and THE MEMPHIS ANTHOLOGY is the greatest example of that--arguably the most important music Elvis ever laid down in his life, and thus among the most important recordings of American popular music in history.
History Preserved Jul 10, 2007
His 69 recording session at American Studios in Memphis might be one of his all-time bests.This session gave use timeless standards like Suspicious Minds,Kentucky Rain,In The Ghetto and Don't Cry Daddy.But Elvis didn't stop there.Power of My Love,Long Black Limosuine,Any Day Now,Without Love,Only the strong survive,Move On,From a jack to a king,I'll hold you in my heart are beautiful gems brought to life by Elvis' dramatic voice and talent.He doesn't just sing these songs.He tears into them.He opens them up to different possibilities...a different sound and feel...he gives the song life.Some how he infuses his energy and power into these songs.Don't take my word for it...listen for yourself.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
I'm savin' the last take for me. Jan 23, 2007
After the success of Elvis Presley's NBC TV special in December of 1968, he needed to follow up that momentum with some new recordings. So, in January and February of 1969 recorded at American Studios in Memphis for the only time. American Studios was run by hip young producer Chips Moman. Chips and the American Studios house band prodded Elvis into making some of the best, most contemporary recordings of his career. The classic album From Elvis in Memphis, which many consider to be Elvis' best album, was assembled from these sessions. The classic hit singles "In the Ghetto", "Suspicious Minds", "Don't Cry Daddy" and "Kentucky Rain" were also recorded at this time. This collection features all the songs recorded at these sessions. Disc One starts with the twelve songs on From Elvis and Memphis, and ends with eight other popular songs. Disc Two features the rest of the songs recorded at the sessions, plus alternate takes of several popular songs. These are the best recordings of Elvis' career, other than his very first recordings at Sun Records. A must get for any Elvis fan.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
The comeback sessions! Sep 15, 2006
After years of recording mediocre soundtracks, Elvis' management loosened their reigns on him setting him up to work with Chips Moman at Memphis' American Sound Studios to record new material. This was Elvis' long-overdue return to making real music. And what a return it was! The new environment and material seemed to refresh Elvis' creative spirit and he delivered some of the best performances of his career! The sessions continued the comeback started by the 1968 TV special and produced several big hits: "In The Ghetto", "Suspicious Minds", "Don't Cry Daddy", and "Kentucky Rain". The second Cd includes some demos and alternate takes. All-in-all it is an excellent collection, however, casual fans would probably be better off to save a few bucks and buy the "From Elvis in Memphis" CD instead of this 2 CD set. It contains most of the better tracks here and all the hits.
Inexplicably, after the success of these recordings Elvis would never work with Chips Moman again nor be given this amount of creative freedom and quality material.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 The song list is awsome--but not this version....... Dec 17, 2005
I think most of the other reviews here are very accurate on their enthusiasm, admiration and satisfaction with this breakthrough album. However, I am very disappointed with THIS EXACT VERSION because I lost another version of these recordings and replaced it with this one. The big difference is that Elvis's voice is often overwhelmed by the instruments and music--sometimes you can hardly hear him at all mixed in with violins, piano and back-up vocals. Extremely disappointing is Suspicious Minds--which is almost entirely sung as a duet with who know who. There is another version--the name of the album escapes me, BMG and RCA have released so many versions of Elvis's music--but there does exist another version (versions) that highlight Elvis's voice more appropriately. The list of songs, and the groundbreaking return of this mega star is unquestioned--but something went wrong in the remastering and/or editing of this version IMO.
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