Customer Reviews

Elvis for Everyone

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've had this album since 1965 and Love how Evis can go from a country ballad upbeat "Your Cheatin' Heart" to a very Bluesy up tempo "When it rains it really pours". The Ballads of "Summer Kisses, Winter Tears & Tomorrow night", show the true vocal range Elvis had in the center of his career and never lost it. My most favorite song on this album is "Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers", and a very close second is "Sound Advise" Truly a great walk back to the SIXTYS, as a true artist and great talented singer. ENJOY

This is probably one of the least purchased recordings by the Entertainer of the Millenium, Elvis Aron Presley. It is actually recordings for earlier years, and there are not many 'great' songs on the album. However, the couple that is worth buying the album for is "Sound Advice", which can probably be found on the "Follow That Dream" soundtrack, and "Summer Kisses, Winter Tears", which is an OUTSTANDING song that makes buying this worthwhile, because the song can't be found on any other Elvis album.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

Without a doubt, one of his best albums, almost by accident: RCA wanted something out there to commemorate his 10th Anniversary with the label, and in 1965, they had to sift through non-commercial movie material, unfinished ballads, and alot of other stuff not destined for the Top 10.
But that's fine with me, because these "leftovers" are all listenable, and some, unbenownst to me at age 14, were true "gold", in the non-financial sense: a pearl of a blues ballad, "Tomorrow Night" pressed at 2:48, not the expected 2:58 [it's possible tht a power-that-be realized that the overdub was applied to a slowed down master], from the Lonnie Johnson and Lavern Baker catalogues, given royal post-production (11 years later!) by Mr. Chet Atkins. (Interesting that the vocal group actually echoed Lonnie Johnson's 1958 re-imagined [overdubbed] release of his '40s Classic.) This is pure Elvis, "real" Elvis, which back in '54/'55?, when Elvis cut the number, might have enraged fans who associated him only with the uptempo numbers that Sam Phillips believed in. Research of course shows that these heart emanations were possibly more "personal" and meaningful to the man himself.
Talkin' about ballads, well as you might expect, there are some brilliant and expressive cuts here - don't worry about *underproduction*, if you will on the film songs, because you can't argue with Elvis and guitar-only efforts - again, when I first heard "Forget Me Never" and "In My Way" [alternate take here!], I didn't associate Elvis with strumming for real on a recording. At that point, I wasn't sure that he was hitting the right chords on "Poison Ivy League", or something, from the movies.
History has enriched the tale of "When It Rains, It Really Pours", yeah, who knew it was a "remake" for Elvis at that point. Now this one does sound a little empty, it's not quite *there*, but Presley's raw vocal cascades over the tentative beat and licks. It's the 1957 sound, a year of successful experiments resulting in some of the most exciting sounds captured in the medium (to this day!).
"You're Cheatin' Heart" didn't find it's way out of the vaults back in 1958 - again, a progressive country-jazz-rock mixture, which despite some very entertaining vocal effects, actually good-natured imitations of Elvis from the Jordanaires, just couldn't find a B-side, or EP, or album spot. (Probably shoulda found it's way to that "It Happened at the World's Fair" 1963 album - boy, if an Elvis soundtrack ever needed a "bonus song"!!). Perhaps, Elvis was consciously injected some Jackie Wilson-feel into the traditional Country tune.
"I Met Her Today" is pure early '60s Nashville balladeering, Elvis employing that new near-falsetto, on the gentle, melancholy reflection. The rhythm approaches medium beat ballad, but it's been reported that after many takes, it was what it was. Perfect mix of an imperfect record.
He only reasonably contemporary track was the 1964 "Memphis, Tennessee", a double-drum entry, well-mixed despite what some critics have said. It was smart to recut the tune, which in that "Lost Session" session of '63 sounded tired and off-balance. That drum intro. was hooky enough to find a chart wormhole, but Elvis again tries something different - a soft, crooning style on an upbeat rock and roll classic. The great R & B group, The Spiders were specialists at this, but one would expect the Memphis Flash to take it higher.
Chuck Berry's masterpiece was all over the map at vthat time, garnering high numbers, so maybe El, Colonel, and co., said....whatever....we don't need it.
I have to assume that RCA at the time did not expect a release with such historical resonance. It's really is an Elvis showcase - turning those proverbial lemons into lemonade...for Everyone!
[By the way, It was Elvis For Everyone in the U.S.A. and Elvis For Everybody overseas].

This is a collection of previously recorded songs that were gathered together and released as an album in 1965 (a practice that Elvis' management would continue right on through his final years). So this is kind of a hodge-podge album. It includes some of his early recordings from the 50's along with some of his more current material recorded in the 60's. While it was a top 10 hit in 1965, it is really not that great an album. Not bad, but not real good either. Only for avid Elvis fans.

This Elvis Presley album was released in 1965. It consisted of songs that had never been previously released (other than "Summer Kisses, Winter Tears"). To be honest, most of these songs had been previously unreleased because they weren't considered good enough to release, until they got really hard up for material. The oldest song here is "Tomorrow Night" which dates all the way back to Elvis' second Sun Records recording session. Tragically, they ruined the song by overdubbing additional musicians and singers to it. As for the rest of the songs, there are some good ones and some not so good ones. No real "classic" Elvis songs here, honestly. My personal favorite is probably "Memphis". This album is a real hodgepodge. I might also mention that the album is only 24 minutes long, and it has a terrible cover.

This was the first album (yes album) I ever got. It was a Christmas present one year. So every song is very special to me and has a lot of memories. Elvis is one of my favorites anyone especailly at that time in his career. It is a great album.

What the hell is wrong with you people?!!! This is one of Elvis's greatest unheard albums to date!! Just because it doesn't contain the usual blockbuster hits that everyone has already heard does not mean that it is not a good album or is "forgettable". This is a rare gem!!! The songs are great and the cover is great as well.

I spent the majority of my childhood listening to THIS album along with his other more popular albums.
Please give this a listen it is worth it!!!

This album is a satisfying winner that at first glance just seems to be a hodge-podge of left-overs drawn from 4 sources, but somehow it works. From the Sun days you have "Tomorrow Night" that was overdubbed with extra instrumentation shortly before this album's release (hey, I thought they only did this when the artist was already dead!) and it works beautifully. From the early RCA days you have the playfull Your Cheating Heart and the gutsy When It Rains, It Really Pours. From the post-army, early 60's Nashville days you have an excellent homage to Chuck Berry and the King's home town: the lively Memphis Tennessee, plus 3 other varied tunes that also showcase the country-flavoured piano of Floyd Cramer. And lastly, you get 5 movie soundtrack songs where Elvis manages not to embarrass himself. Far from it, the passionate Summer Kisses, Winter Tears is a joy. When I first heard this song many years ago I wondered if it was derived from an Asian pop song. I was even in a Chinese restaurant once and I heard an instrumental version of this song playing for dinner music. Forget Me Never and In My Way are sincere solo folk guitar crooners. Sound Advice is a happy-go-lucky, toe-tappin', finger-snappin', whistlin' throw-away and that leaves just Santa Lucia. All I can say about this song is that if you belong to the F.B.I. (Full-Blooded Italians) you'd probably love the fact that Elvis sang this song for you.

Over all, this is a fine album even though there is no mega-hit on it like Jailhouse Rock or Suspicious Minds. But if you've already got all the hits but need more Elvis (doesn't everybody?) this CD would make an excellent choice.

ONE OF THE KINGS BEST ALBUMS, EVERY TRACK IS GREAT, ESPECIALLY WITH THE DIGITAL REMASTERING. MUST HAVE FOR ANY CD COLLECTION, BUT DON'T PAY THESE RIDICULOUS OVER-INFLATED PRICES, I BOUGHT MINE FROM THE MUSIC SPECIALIST ON E BAY, THEY ALSO HAVE A STORE IN GEMM, ANTEATERMUSIC. SAVE YOURSELF A TON OF CASH.
CHEERS!

...And this is one of the many records that prove it! Sure, "Elvis For Everyone" was thrown together to make way for the soundtracks, (which, in 1965, we're still making bundles of money!) but this is a fine record none the less; with some real gems like the rockin', "Your Cheating Heart," and "When It Rains, It Really Pours," but the crown jewel of "Elvis For Everyone" has to be "Tomorrow Night!" Yeah, it's the same "Tomorrow Night" from the legendary Sun Sessions, but producer (and guitarist extraordinaire) Chet Atkins added some lush back-up vocals to add real magic to what was already a magical song. This is not a great record, but there are a number of very tasty cuts that make this a worthwhile venture...and not just for Elvis fans!