Elvis Now

Elvis Presley | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 22, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony special product
• ASIN: B002ZBEFEY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,654 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

His 1972 LP includes his Top 40 spin on Buffy Sainte-Marie's Until It's Time for You to Go ; memorable versions of Hey Jude ; Kris Kristofferson's Help Me Make It Through the Night ; Gordon Lightfoot's Early Mornin' Rain ; the classic Fools Rush In , and more!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The final phase of the King's studio output, December 29, 2010

By 

Mike (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Elvis Now (Audio CD)

1972's "Elvis Now" is interesting on two levels...first, in the way fans view it in the present day, and second, how it was viewed upon its release.

No matter what opinion critics may have of Elvis and his musical legacy, few...if any...have a bad word to say about the 1968 "Comeback Special." There's really nothing to say...there was a black leather-clad Elvis, rocking and snarling his way through classic rock and R&B after a too-long exile in "one star" romantic comedies.

The studio sessions that came from that period...From Elvis in Memphis: Legacy Edition, I'm 10,000 Years Old: Elvis Country...were the result of Elvis sequestering himself behind studio walls with the intention of slicing the material up into individual albums at a later date. When the barrel was empty, it was back to the studio.

This resulted in very good albums (like the two I listed above), not-so-good albums (Love Letters From Elvis, one of those albums scraped together as they reached the bottom of the barrel) and some painfully bad albums (like the "in between songs chatter only" album, Having Fun on Stage With Elvis.

"Elvis Now" was the first studio album following "Love Letters," and also the first in Elvis' final string of studio albums (He Touched Me, Elvis ("Fool" album), Raised on Rock/For Ol' Times Sake, Good Times, Promised Land, Today, Moody Blue...the continuity broken with the occasional concert albums, which also varied widely in terms of quality).

"The Comeback Special" was the result of Elvis in one final act of rebellion. He went to Hollywood for a couple of reasons. First, he wanted to be an actor from the beginning. But the reason he went from the "Hellhound On His Trail" blues, gospel, rock and R&B wailer of the Sun Records era to a trained seal barking out tunes like "Gonna Have A Clambake" on the silver screen was that Colonel Tom had a vision:

1). Make sure that any songwriters are willing to surrender a portion of their profits to Elvis in return for his recording their songs

2). Make a movie as quickly and cheaply as possible, starve the public of "legitimate" Elvis albums, make them go to the movies if they want to see and hear him, and put one or two major league studio tracks (like Elvis' Bob Dylan covers) on the soundtrack albums so that the faithful will reach into their pockets).

You can pick up any number of legitimate Elvis biographies and learn that Colonel Tom wanted the "Comeback Special" to feature Elvis singing traditional Christmas songs and carols, and at the end of the show he'd wink and look into the camera and say "Merry Christmas, everybody!"

Fortunately for viewers...and music lovers...Elvis chose to listen to the show's creators instead, and the rest is history.

Right around the time of "Elvis Now," the supernova that burned in the wake of the "Comeback Special" began to dim. 1973 brought Aloha From Hawaii - Via Satellite, and there are two schools of thought on that one, too. The first sees it as perhaps his final "great" concert film and album. The second sees it as the beginning of what was to follow...half-hearted renditions of the classics, delivered in a "let's just get through this" fashion, with Elvis merchandise for sale in the lobby.

So on "Elvis Now," your glass is half empty or half full.

Here's the play-by-play:

"Help Me Make It Through The Night" - An OK version, one of many songs in which Elvis turns in an acceptable performance but doesn't "take ownership" of the song.

"Miracle Of The Rosary" - An odd choice. Elvis' gospel albums are among the strongest in his catalog, but this track is out of place here. It's also a weaker song overall than many on the gospel albums (maybe that explains why it's here).

"Hey Jude" - Elvis had the same kind of love/hate relationship that Sinatra had with Elvis. The world was Elvis' oyster until the evening of February 9, 1964...the Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. You can believe or disbelieve the assorted comments attributed to Elvis in the years that followed, but having the Fab Four as competition for the top spot was probably less than pleasant. That said, Elvis' take on "Hey Jude" is just too timid and disinterested. He attempts a little bit of McCartney's "Jude, Jude, Judy" scat at the end, but it's far from McCartney's original Little Richard-fueled performance. Elvis' recording only makes you want to pull out the original and listen to it instead.

"Put Your Hand In The Hand" - This is one of those songs that is so dependent on the "hook" - the title in the chorus, the sing-along feel - that many people love it or hate it, and Elvis once again does an OK version, but not a great one. Depending on your feeling toward the song in general, I'm not sure that a "great" version is possible.

"Until It's Time For You To Go" - Decent ballad / country tune, but nowhere near as powerful as the songs found on the "Memphis" and "10,000 Years" albums. Hearing Elvis sing "I'm not a king, just a man" rates high on the irony meter, but the performance is a bit sleepy and laid back...I found the the "don't ask why, don't ask how" section to border on the annoying.

"We Can Make The Morning" - Probably the single best track on the album. Still far from his best, but the kind of song that probably made most people pick up a copy of the album in the first place. It "sounds like an Elvis song," and he has a greater level of passion and power on this track. If the other nine tracks had the same level of "ooomph," this would be a radically different review.

"Early Mornin' Rain" - Like the previous track, this is Elvis "in the zone." It has the moody, world-weary-but-optimistic feel of the "Memphis" and "10,000 Years" sessions. This is the kind of song you cherry-pick for an Elvis mix CD.

"Sylvia" - This is just a poor composition, a weak song, and Elvis can't redeem that. This is the kind of thing Colonel Tom brought to the recording sessions because he'd negotiated a fat cut for himself.

"Fools Rush In" - Well, Elvis got James Burton after his tenure with Ricky Nelson, so it's not entirely unreasonable for the King to re-record one of Nelson's greatest hits with the original guitarist's solo repeated note-for-note. In 1973, when this album was released, one critic noted that it was odd for Elvis, the ultimate idol, to be re-recording "photocopied" songs made famous by other teen idols. It's also a song that lent itself better to Nelson's voice than to the deep boom of the King's pipes.

"I was Born About 10,000 Years Ago" - Heard previously in snippets used to stitch tracks together on the "10,000 Years" album, this is the whole song. It's one of those "fun" Elvis songs, but I can't help seeing and hearing it in any one of his forgettable movies...it has that "Elvis soundtrack" feel...but he cuts loose and it's a fitting closer for an album with two tight tracks, everal OK ones, and a couple of missteps.

In 1973, a "three star" Elvis album was the best you got. Definitely worth the price Amazon is charging, but approach it with realistic expectations. "The Sun Sessions" it's not.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elvis Now & then!, January 23, 2010

By 

Bernard F. A. Roughton "Bernard R" (Dorset, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Elvis Now (Audio CD)

"Elvis Now" was originally released on vinyl in 1972 and the majority of the songs come from sessions held at RCA's Studio B in Nashville. However, just one song actually comes from the famous American Sound Studio Memphis sessions, held on January 21st 1969 and that is "Hey Jude"! The first two songs from Studio B come from a June 1970 session, with "I Was Born 10,000 Years Ago" getting it's first proper release here. It was previously used fading in & out between the tracks on "Elvis Country". From a session held in March 1971 Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain" was committed to wax, and it's a particularly delicate version, with good guitar work from Chip Young. A very long session, known as the "Nashville Marathon", from 15th to 21st June of the same year produced five more Studio B tracks, including the Hit Single "Until It's Time For You To Go/We Can Make The Morning". Interestingly this session also produced "The Miracle Of The Rosary", which has been rather mysteriously 'dropped' from several of his gospel albums. So get it here while you can! Another gospel song, the infectious "Put Your Hand In The Hand" is the final Studio B offering, from a session held on June 6th 1971. For those who may think Elvis only exists from 100 "Greatest Hits" compilations this album contains material you may well not have heard. For only $6.98 it's well worth expanding your Elvis horizons!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Non-Essential '70s Elvis (plus one) - still worth hearing and having, October 27, 2010

By 

Phil S. (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Elvis Now (Audio CD)

One of the strangest Elvis albums out there, mixing middle of the road, with pop, and Gospel. Elvis sings *out* on all tracks, especially on the "Miracle of the Rosary" and "We Can make The Morning", a B-sider all the way for EP, although it rings out nice and clean right here on this '72 release - a modest little beat ballad with an arresting hook.

The album altogether is a bit downbeat, especially kicking off with "Help Me Make It Through The Night", a great worldweary warble by the big man; then, followng immediately up with a modern Gospel tune. I was already looking for my Frankie and Johnny CD.

Terrific mediocrities include the '69 session leftover, "Hey Jude", ironically the best-produced track here - now wonder, as it came from the Chips Moman sessions. It's alwatys fun tp hea Elvis on a presumptive spur-of-the-moment muse, but the lyric adjust is too much - all I can imagine is a group of co-eds laughing at how the "former King" couldn't handle the sacrosanct number from the

"new Kings". A reviewer on Amazpon wrote that Presley did not sound Presley on this album - he was probably thinking of this semi-embarrassment. (El, y'mean there was no Carl Perkins song spinnin' 'round in your head, you coulda launched into, instead?).

The best track for me is "Sylvia", another Country ballad which Elvis devours. No lazy crooning here. A solid effort, though it's really album-only stuff.

To close out an unexciting (but musically adventurous) album is the Ricky Nelson arrangement of "Fools Rush In". I guess Elvis did it as a favor to his lead guitarist, James Burton, who played that classic break on the 1964 hit.