Elvis Is Back

Elvis Presley | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002W35
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,382 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Make Me Know It

2. Fever

3. The Girl of My Best Friend

4. I Will Be Home Again

5. Dirty, Dirty Feeling

6. The Thrill of Your Love

7. Soldier Boy

8. Such a Night

9. It Feels so Right

10. The Girl Next Door Went A'walking

11. Like a Baby

12. Reconsider Baby

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

The King's first album of all-new material following his release from the Army, Elvis Is Back! is arguably the most fully realized album of his career. It's a slightly different Elvis here than the one who was drafted, slightly tamer (though he looks like a Martian on the cover), jumping from style to style--from R&B (a definitive cover of Clyde McPhatter & the Drifters' "Such a Night") to pure pop (a cover of Ral Donner's "The Girl of My Best Friend" with a Hank Garland guitar sound that presaged Merseybeat) to doo-wop (the gorgeous "Soldier Boy") to some of the hardest blues of his career (several cuts here, including an incredible version of Lowell Fulsom's "Reconsider Baby"). He even makes Peggy Lee's "Fever" his own here. No hit singles; just a great LP--and no indication of the "movie years" dreck soon to follow. --Bill Holdship

Product Description

In the mold of recent 2-CD Legacy Editions of the classic albums From Elvis In Memphis and On Stage, Elvis Is Back (Legacy Edition) is the definitive version of one of Elvis most essential albums, expanded to include another historically significant album from the time period and the hit singles associated with both albums.
It is argued by many that Elvis Is Back is possibly the best album Elvis ever recorded. During his two years in the army, Elvis had spent what spare time he had expanding his vocal range and improving his technique. Combined with a challenging and diverse repertoire, a new band of Nashville session aces, and improved three-track recording technology, it was an almost completely new Elvis who emerged in April of 1960. Recorded over just two nights, the sessions produced not only the twelve album tracks, but also six tracks for single release, including three #1 singles: all-time classics It s Now Or Never, Are You Lonesome Tonight? and Stuck On You. While the follow-up album Something For Everybody has not historically received the same reverence, Elvis voice on that LP may have been even better than it was the year before possibly the best of his career. These recordings burst with an impact that is immediate no surprise, considering the album was recorded in only one night. The bonus singles, which include the #1 hits (Marie s The Name) His Latest Flame and Good Luck Charm as well as the classic Little Sister, were also cut in just two additional sessions. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Run, Don't Walk, To Your Keyboard and Order This CD!, June 20, 2007

By 

T. Hayes (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elvis Is Back (Audio CD)

Having just paid almost $50 for an FTD (Follow That Dream) label 2-CD set of "Elvis Is Back", you can imagine that I was expecting some excellent entertainment value. FTD has delivered again! This INCREDIBLY fine sounding re-master of the 1960 Elvis Is Back LP---plus singles and outtakes from its associated March and April 1960 RCA Nashville sessions---is worth every nickel.

It is fun to hear the excitement build as Elvis and the band work through early versions of classic tracks like "Such A Night", "A Mess Of Blues", "Soldier Boy", "The Girl Of My Best Friend", "Fame And Fortune", "Fever", "Dirty, Dirty Feeling", "It's Now Or Never" and MORE. Elvis experiments with an assortment of interesting vocal phrasings, and the guys fool around with tempo and instrumentation as the session progresses. His operatic range on "It's Now Or Never" is legendary, and the emotion Elvis puts into "Soldier Boy" is stunning-- it is powerfully elegant...especially so on takes 1, 2 and 3. Eventually, take 15 of "Soldier Boy" (with a smoother vocal and what seems like a slightly faster tempo) became the "master"--the track chosen for the album.

Listening to this beautifully re-mastered CD, one feels as if they are there in real-time; not "were there", but ARE THERE-- in the control booth-- as the sessions come to life; the mix, and the instruments, particularly the bass guitar, have never sounded this good on a consumer release. FTD has done a terrific job; this true stereo mix has been opened up spatially (but not overdone), and the light touch of EQ, reverb and general lack of compression (revealing greater dynamic range) are much appreciated.

These were Elvis' first post-army studio sessions. He was in fine voice-- and you can HEAR the maturing of his vocal talent (range, interpretation and emotive achievement) revealing a refined, yet fresh new style. The choice of material also speaks volumes...country, blues, gospel, doo-wop, rock and wonderfully navigated pop. If you've ever wondered what Elvis is all about...this is a good place to learn. I can't imagine any singer alive today who could even come close to the capabilities of this guy.

This also represents (I believe) the first Elvis 3-track recordings...which means that the (then) new technology has joyously preserved what is truly an amazing collection of music production. Remember, Elvis recorded 'live to tape' with the band backing him in real-time as he made these hits...no going back later (like producers today can do with 8, 16, 24, 48 and 64-track machines). In this environment, Elvis feeds off the band, and the band feeds off Elvis' performances. To use the 's' word (synergy) here is appropriate---and not a surrender to the lure of the cliché.

This is a most compelling package of Elvis' early 60s pop, rock and blues tracks. When you hear the original album and single hit MASTERS-- alongside the outtakes and alternate versions-- you gain a great appreciation for the recoding process and the undeniable talent of Presley, his musicians and the Jordanaires (his long-time background singers).

With 53 tracks-- this trip back in time lasts about 2 hours. You will want to listen to this on a quality stereo system...not mini-headphones. (Don't wait too long. FTD only presses a limited number of discs. They may not re-issue because of the high production costs for what could be a potentially small market of second run sales.)

At first, the $50 price tag may seem too high, unless you consider this more of a time trip; in that light, $50 for the price of a ticket to take you back to two special nights, March 20, 1960 and April 3, 1960...and put you on a front-row chair INSIDE RCA's Nashville studios as you listen to Elvis work out on the other side of the glass...well, $50 seems like the deal of a lifetime.

Can you imagine how Elvis fans would feel TODAY--if someone had made arrangements back THEN--to film all, or even part, of his return to music making? In the absence of such a visual recording, close your eyes and open your other senses as you experience what all of America learned in the spring of 1960: "Elvis Is Back".

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Elvis, April 23, 2005

By 

Marc Haegeman "Marc Haegeman" (Gent, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elvis Is Back (Audio CD)

In the last few years there have been loads of Elvis Presley releases. Very few prove as exciting and essential as this double CD-set covering Elvis' first two post-army studio sessions in March and April 1960. These sessions not only produced a series of sterling cuts which made the original exemplary "Elvis Is Back" album, they also gave us true classics like "It's Now Or Never", "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and "Stuck On You".

This new "Elvis Is Back" set masterminded by the Follow That Dream team gives us the original album, the singles and all the substantial outtakes. Several of these outtakes have been released earlier (7 are released here for the first time, just as 19 false starts and workparts), but to have them all assembled often in augmented sound quality, makes the investment really worthwile.

This set, presented in the now characteristic tri-fold digipack the size of a 45rpm, has no less than 53 tracks, with both discs running well over 78 minutes each. Digitally transferred and mixed at the Sony Studios in New York, the sound quality is outstanding.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the Best Album The King Ever Recorded..., September 24, 2002

By 

Brent A. Anthonisen "Johnny Sideburns" (Alpharetta, GA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elvis Is Back (Audio CD)

...and one of the best CD re-issues, as well. If the original LP pressing of this album had included "Are You Lonseome Tonight?", "A Mess of Blues", and "It's Now Or Never" at the time of its original release, this easily would have qualified as the best rock & roll album ever recorded. In this re-issue format, the argument for it is incredibly strong.
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This is a remarkably well-rounded collection of material, with a stellar collection of pop tunes, romantic croonings, raving rockers ("Such A Night" got a bit of a shot-in-the-arm with "3000 Miles to Graceland", and as out-of-place as it may have sounded on that film's soundtrack CD, it absolutely grooves here), and some of the best blues tunes The King ever belted out this side of "Santa Claus is Back in Town". "It Feels So Right" may be the tamest of the NAS-TEE blues on this album, and that says a lot. "A Mess of Blues" is top-notch, but "Reconsider Baby" sets the standard even higher, and "Like a Baby" is just flat-out RAUNCHY. I don't know if a singer has ever come across as being as inspired as Elvis was on this album (except perhaps for Elvis during the '68 Comeback Special, but it speaks volumes about The King when the only one with whom he can compare is himself).
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The main problem is that this CD is AWFULLY bloody difficult to find; its availability is sketchy at best and pricy at worst. I was able to get ahold of an Argentinian copy (viva albiceleste!) via an online auction, and I don't notice any issues with its quality. I will be happy to provide a contact source for anyone who isn't successful finding a domestic copy or a different imported version; I assure you that you will feel 10 times rewarded when you listen to it, regardless of its pressing origin. TCB, baby!
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