Customer Reviews

Elvis' Gold Records Volume 5

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

 

 

The fifth volume in the "Golden Records" series does a very good job of compiling the best material from his later years, where he was able to rack up an impressive 20 top 40 singles, as well as some earlier work. Songs like "Suspicious Minds", "Burning Love", "Kentucky Rain", "Guitar Man" and "For The Heart" are some of the best singles Elvis ever released. Still, if you're a hardcore Elvis fan, you will realize that the following top 40 hits from this period are missing:

"The Wonder Of You" (# 9 in 1970)
"I've Lost You" (# 32 in 1970)
"I Really Don't Want To Know" (# 21 in 1970)
"Rags To Riches" (# 33 in 1971)
"I'm Leavin'" (# 36 in 1971)
"Until It's Time For You To Go" (# 40 in 1972)
"Separate Ways" (# 20 in 1972)
"Steamroller Blues" (# 17 in 1973)
"I've Got A Thing About You Baby" (# 39 in 1974)
"Promised Land" (# 14 in 1974)
"My Boy" (# 20 in 1975)
"Trouble" (# 35 in 1975)
"Hurt" (# 28 in 1976)
"My Way" (# 22 in 1977)

Still, this is an excellent cd of Elvis' later years and is good for all fans.

This cd has some of the most soulful music I've ever heard ANYbody sing ANYwhere at ANYtime. Someone earlier said Elvis had lost his soul, WHAT? What do you consider soulful, G.I. Blues? I'm sorry, but for me soul means just that - COMING FROM THE SOUL. And these are songs Elvis sang because they meant something to him, they moved him, or just plained rocked him. It's got 'If You Talk In Your Sleep', now I don't know what some of you know about singing, but that is pure soul and r&b. It's got the funky horns, the clavinette keyboard, the bassline, every thing that makes a great early seventies soul recording. 'Clean Up Your Own Backyard' has always been one of my favorites, this is where Elvis tells people who are all up in his business to take care of their own affairs and leave him be. It too is very soulful. 'For The Heart' is like a mixture of rock and soul, which is always great. But I suppose for the fan who only wants to hear songs like "Hound Dog" and "Stuck On You" you won't find that teeny-bopper stuff here. This is a true soul singer doing what he does best and don't let anyone tell you any differently. I'd say get a strobe light, a black light, and some candles, put this CD on and watch the magic begin.

In late 1997, RCA re-released all of Elvis' Gold Record albums, digitally remastered and, best of all, contained hard-to-find bonus tracks. ELVIS' GOLD RECORDS, VOL. 5 annotates the home stretch of Elvis' career, containing the essential hits from 1967-77. 3 of the bonus tracks, "Big Boss Man", "Guitar Man", and "U.S. Male" show a picture of a man wanting to break free from the monotony of the lightweight movie soundtrack fluff that had so dominated him for the majority of the decade. Even though the songs were not big hits, they seemed to indicate a change was in the air, and months after the release of "U.S. Male", his comeback special aired to critical raves. 2 songs from that special are spotlighted in this collection, the achingly beautiful "Memories" and the powerful ballad "If I Can Dream".

Having been rekindled, the spirit carried over into his first Memphis recording sessions in 14 years, which yielded the hits "Kentucky Rain" and "Suspicious Minds", the latter becoming Elvis' first #1 hit in 7 years, and the last #1 he would have in his lifetime. (Inexplicably, "Don't Cry Daddy" was not included in this set). The rest of the tracks are the essential 70's hits, the biggest (and best) one being "Burning Love" (although if I had my way, I would have included "Promised Land" in with the bunch). The other hits made bigger impacts on the country charts (even though Elvis' hits had always been big country hits).

This CD is only a piece of the Elvis puzzle. It represents the best work he put out during the last years of his life. It spotlights his struggle to regain his rock and roll crown, and succeeding, only to settle down to the ballads that all too often reflected his diminishing zest for life ("Way Down", however, is an exception. It was a good note to finish on, as it become the last top 40 hit he saw in his lifetime.) All in all, the compilation is good (I still would have like to have seen the songs I mentioned), and it is essential. A must for those who don't already have it (and the same goes for the first 4 gold record CDs.)

Glad they picked some pre-68 comeback special songs for this package, "US Male", "Guitar Man", "Clean Up..." are excellent and could have easily been overlooked. Could have used a little more Memphis-session songs, like "Don't Cry Daddy" and "Rubberneckin'". For a "B" side to be included, "AnyDay Now" or "You'll Think Of Me" would have been much better choices than the throwaway "Edge of Reality". For the "Fat Elvis on Stage" era, "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" is pretty typical lounge act stuff, "The Wonder of You" would have made a better selection. Otherwise, the last burst of good Elvis material is well represented (and cherry-picked) with "Way Down", "Moody Blue", and "For the Heart". Would have loved to have seen "I've Lost You", "I'm Leavin'", "I Really Don't Want to Know", "Promised Land", and "T-R-O-U-B-L-E". You can, of course, get these elsewhere, but I like the Volume 1-5 Gold Record series cause they are much easier to digest. Enough good songs left out for Volume 6, but I'm afraid the "30 #1's" and "2nd to None" series will overwhelm the market. At least until the Presley estate wants to make some more money.

I have to agree with David Kenner of Fort Worth when he argues that the sound on this cd is not what it should be. When my wife bought this cd for me, I was initially excited only to be brokenhearted when I listened to "Kentucky Rain." The vinyl version of this song is superior. How often do you hear that vinyl sound is better than cd? On the cd version, background voices and instruments, especially the excellent horns, are almost nonexistent. The scariest thing about this is that it will make me hesitant to buy remastered Elvis cds in the future. My vinyl is in too good of a shape to be throwing good money away on bad remastering.

As with anything about Elvis, it's no wonder his Gold Record series would contain 5 volumes. This was from the later part of his career and is without a doubt the best of the series. Elvis' 70's era contained many remarkable recordings and it doesn't surprise me that there are too many to include on this volume. Promised Land, My Way, My Boy, The Wonder Of You, T-R-O-U-B-L-E, Seperate Ways, Hurt, I've Got A Thing About You Baby, I've Lost You, Steamroller Blues and others are greatly missed here, but maybe they'll show up in a Volume 6 some day.

It took them waaay to long to come out with a Gold Records Vol. 5 ! This is an excellent overview of the last decade of Elvis career. It includes most of his big hits from the period (Suspicious Minds, Kentucky Rain, In The Ghetto, Burning Love, and Way Down) and some not so big hits that may jog your memory (Clean Up Your Own Back Yard, For The Heart, Guitar Man, and U.S. Male). I especially like If I Can Dream, which I think is one of the most inspirational and underappreciated songs that Elvis ever recorded! Sure I wish they had included a few more songs, but still this is an excellent collection!

Now if they would only come out with a Vol. 6 to catch some of the songs they missed!

The songs found on volume five of Elvis' Golden Records tell us a sad, but inevitable, story about chronic drug abuse and its extremely damaging effects. This story emerges from considering the recording dates which are printed by the song titles. Elvis' music on volume five of Elvis' Golden Records begins with a strong flourish in the 1968 through 1970 recording dates, when he sings If I Can Dream, Suspicious Minds, Kentucky Rain, and In The Ghetto. Elvis returns, very strong once again, in 1972, when he records Burning Love. All five of these songs are outstanding, and all five songs are among the top twenty-five songs that Elvis Presley ever recorded. If I Can dream and In The Ghetto are Elvis Presley's two "message" songs. They reveal the depth and thoughtfulness of Elvis, and tell us to look both within ourselves and outside of ourselves to better understand the meanings of life. Burning Love shows us once again "the rock "n" roll Elvis" that seemed to almost disappear as Elvis grew older and focused more upon singing popular songs that were previously recorded by others. However, the remainder of the songs found on volume five of Elvis' Golden Records were recorded after 1972. In these post-1972 songs we find a decline in Elvis' delivery of these songs. Heavy orchestration was often used in these songs to cover both the decline of Elvis' voice and the decline of his commitment to making outstanding music. All of this analysis leads us to conclude that by 1973, Elvis' mental and physical health were so negatively affected by his chronic abuse of prescription drugs that the formerly outstanding quality of much of his music was also very negatively affected. By 1977, Elvis' health was so very bad that Way Down had to be recorded at his Graceland mansion because he felt incapable of leaving his home. Therefore, the quality of volume five of Elvis' Golden Records is best described as uneven, with a flourish of greatness at the beginning of the cd and a decline in quality of the music that follows. In at least one of his public interviews during his lifetime, Elvis pointed out to us how difficult it was for a real human being like himself to live up to his elevated, and thus distorted, public image. In volume five of Elvis' Golden Records we gain a rare clear glimpse inside this elevated public image, and learn how prolonged prescription drug addiction had severely affected the real Elvis, who was still publically regarded as "The King of Rock and Roll." If you are a devoted Elvis Presley fan, volume five of Elvis' Golden Records in an important cd to own because: 1) it includes five outstanding Elvis' songs, and 2) it chronicles the sad, but inevitable, mental and physical decline of the "King". It is sometimes difficult for me, and perhaps for other true Elvis fans, to fully accept the chronic drug abuse part of Elvis Presley's legacy. But if we are to truly understand and appreciate this outstanding legacy we must fully accept the entirety of Elvis Presley's life. The outstanding beauty of much of Elvis Presley's music, the high volume of outstanding songs, and the unsurpassed effect that he had upon popular music and popular culture remain, and are undeniable, in spite of the drug addiction that plagued his adult life and eventually destroyed him. As real people, might we all accomplish as much greatness in our own lives.

John

I'm not much of a Elvis' fan but I love this CD. It has all my favourite songs. Even my son sing along in the car and he's autistic... well done, Elvis!!!

This is a wonderful representation of Elvis' work. His voice can be soothing and mellow, or raw and powerful. It's hard to claim one Elvis song as my favorite, but I think it would be "If I Can Dream". This is an inspirational song and only Elvis can sing it as it should be sung.