Elvis

he can do no wrong in my ears!!!especially his early music.i play elvis in the car continuously.and once again superb condition for a used CD and not fogetting the low price.since i discovered amazon i have increased my collection 3 fold and discovered songs i never knew he had recorded .my friends are now taking notice!!!!

Excellant cd album.from 1956. I have original vynil album.this cd brings the sounds alive.there as fresh as day they were recording.i'm still bouncing round the room. Superb.

Fantastic is the the word to describe Elvis when he first blew onto the scene. Different than anything that had gone before or indeed was to come later. Elvis, before his term with Uncle Sam, was the man, unique, dynamic and wonderful

"Elvis" was the second of the man's albums and was the first to feature purely RCA studio material - his first album had been bulked up by tracks recorded whilst he was still at Sun. The CD release adds six tracks recorded in the same timeframe (mid to late 1956) and released as singles.The breakdown of the 12 tracks on the original album was as follows: 4 rockers (inc. 3 Little Richard covers), 4 ballads, 2 easy-listening (or what we used to call middle-of-the-road), 1 mid tempo old country chugalong, and 1 blues (a cover of yet another Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup number - Elvis evidently obviously knew his catalogue well). The 6 bonus tracks have a not dissimilar profile: 2 rockers, 3 ballads, 1 R&B number. Difficult to avoid the impression that, from as early as his second album, Elvis was being groomed for adult acceptance. Most worrying to me were the pair I've labelled, with tongue slightly in cheek, as easy-listening. The first was "Anyplace is Paradise". The otherwise excellent Notes refer to it as jazzy and state that "few had the in-depth musical knowledge to make this song work". I'm more inclined to think that there was someone in the control booth saying "you know that guy doesn't sound too bad when you give him a half decent song". The other track was "How do you think I feel". If I can quote the Notes again "an engagingly light rhumba treatment". This was the sort of thing that Elvis would trot out during the bad years, could even have been the theme song from one of the fluffy movies. OK I've got that out of my system. Neither is terrible but they weren't the sort of things I wanted to hear in 1957.One other gripe. It's on this album that group vocal backing adorns the majority of numbers. This emanates from the Jordanaires, originally a gospel harmony group. They first appeared on "I'm counting on you" from the previous album. From April `56 the Jordanaires were present at nearly all of Presley's recording sessions over the next 14 years - this was at Presley's own in insistence. They're a mixed blessing. On the more dramatic records they provide a form of counter balance to the Elvis histrionics. On others they operate almost as a doo-wop group with Elvis singing lead. However on many rockers they can dull the edge of the song. I hadn't realised until listening to the album again that these guys are singing during Scotty's famous break in "Hound Dog". But the great man rides over them regardless.On the positive side, within the bonus tracks on this album are two of his best rockers, "Hound Dog" and "Don't be cruel". Is there anyone who hasn't heard the former? A new super-aggressive Elvis with Scotty matching him every step of the way for both mood and volume and, in the process creating one of the best guitar breaks in rock`n`roll. How far away was heavy metal? The Notes record the fact that Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, writers of "Hound Dog" felt that Presley had brutalised their song. "Don`t be Cruel" is a complete contrast. It has the lightness of rockabilly without any of the genre's characteristic traits. Instead the Jordanaires supply a doo wop backing which on this occasion, works very well. The writer for this song was Otis Blackwell, who also supplied Elvis with "Paralysed" (on this album) and "All Shook Up" (recorded as a single within months) - all three get similar treatment.The three Little Richard numbers were virtually current hits - the double A sider, "Rip it Up" / "Ready Teddy" was released in July `56 and "Long Tall Sally" in January `57 - and Presley had already recorded a Little Richard number on his previous album. Of this group "Rip it Up" comes off best. Elvis captures the mood and Scotty provides extra urgency and a harsher sound in his solo. I feel that the other pair suffer from some over-enthusiasm; hoarseness from Elvis (from trying to imitate the Richard vocal or too many takes?) and heavy drumming. I'd add that Floyd Cramer, if it was him on piano, gets a bit lost on "Long Tall Sally". Every rocker worth his weight tried to do Richard Penniman. Very, very few succeeded. Elvis didn't do badly but one misses the sheer joy and exuberance of the originals, not to mention those horns.Of the ballads, "Love me Tender" has to be the stand out track, featuring a breathy, intimate Elvis seemingly accompanied by little more than an acoustic-sounding guitar - the session band was totally different than usual at the insistence of the producer of the film to which this song was the theme. Almost as striking are "Love Me" and "Any Way you want me"; both dramatic, pleading numbers, not dissimilar to "Trying to get to you" from the Sun period. Presley's voice suited this material and he gives the impression of enjoying acting out such mini-dramas.One of the ballads divides critics and reviewers alike. "Old Shep" is a heartstring-tugging country song about a dog. Elvis sang it in his first public performance at the age of ten. There's a simple piano intro and then it's Elvis singing with evident sincerity, with many of the usual vocal tricks absent, accompanied by not much more than the Jordanaires. Musically, to me, it works if you can back off a bit from the content. But I may be in a minority.And then there's the one solitary blues number, Big Boy Crudup's "So Glad you're mine". This comes from the January sessions in `56 rather than the later sessions and the difference shows. It's rougher . Elvis is more connected. His voice is playful - he's enjoying it, you can tell - this may have been a single take. Oh, and there's no sign of the Jordanaires.There were quite a few things going on in these sessions. The rock'n'roll had gotten heavier but there was room for lighter stuff as well viz. "Paralysed" and "Don't be Cruel". Rockabilly itself had almost completely disappeared. A range of approaches to ballads were used, from the intimate "Love me Tender" to the operatic, "Any Way you want me". Material was coming from a wide variety of sources but was increasingly solicited from writers and publishers. Numbers which appeared to be aimed at the grown-ups were included, though one shouldn`t discount Presley`s own propensity for such material. The ubiquitous choral backing whilst initially differentiating Presley records from some of the competition does today give much of the material a dated sound.Scotty Moore and Bill Black left in June 1958, being replaced by session men.

Great album one ofbedt

Bought for my husband..... brought back memories of when we had it on an album back along in the 60s. Elvis at his best!

great

Excellent