Customer Reviews

For LP Fans Only ( Elvis Paper Sleeve Collection Mini LP 24 bit 96 khz )

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Released in 1959 while Elvis was still in the Army, Elvis' management bundled together some of his old Sun records and several songs he recorded earlier for RCA to release an album. For years this was the only album to include some of his historic Sun recordings like the legendary That's Alright Mama, I'm Left You're Right She's Gone, and Mystery Train. It also includes a few single B-sides that were hits I Was the One, 23 in the US in 1956, and Playing For Keeps, which hit 34 in 1957. Poor Boy was previously released on an EP and made the top 40 in the US reaching 35. This album was a modest hit in the US, hitting 19 on the Billboard album chart no doubt due to the fact that Elvis was not available to promote it.

This album was thrown together mostly from old 45 RPM singles to get something on the market while Elvis was overseas, and the total time of its ten (monophonic) songs is just over 20 minutes.

Yet after 50 years, "For LP Fans Only" remains a monument to the genesis of rock 'n' roll. These cuts sound as fresh and new and electric as when they hit the country like a bomb during Eisenhower's first term. Elvis wasn't the first to cover these songs, but he was the first to combine the best of several genres to create the unique style that even today is instantly recognizable. Of the ten cuts, "Poor Boy," from Elvis' first movie, "Love Me Tender," is a bit weaker than the other nine, but it's still a good song.

As for the 24-bit, 96-khz mastering, it certainly beats whatever RCA did on their first domestic releases, and it's fun to have the disc in a miniature version of the original LP. However, I've heard a few individual songs from this album in later, DSD, incarnations, and I think DSD is better. Of course, the SACD should be better still, if RCA ever goes that route.