From Elvis in Memphis: Legacy Edition

Elvis Presley | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 28, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Sony Legacy
• ASIN: B002BX4VEK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,735 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #56 in Music > Country > Classic Country > General AAS
  • #74 in Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Wearin' That Loved On Look

2. Only The Strong Survive

3. I'll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms)

4. Long Black Limousine

5. It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'

6. I'm Movin' On

7. Power Of My Love

8. Gentle On My Mind

9. After Loving You

10. True Love Travels On A Gravel Road

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Inherit The Wind (Digitally remastered)

2. This Is The Story (Digitally Remastered)

3. Stranger In My Own Home Town (Digitally Remastered)

4. A Little Bit Of Green (Digitally Remastered)

5. And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind (Digitally Remastered)

6. Do You Know Who I Am (Digitally Remastered)

7. From A Jack To A King (Digitally Remastered)

8. The Fair Is Moving On (Digitally Remastered)

9. You'll Think Of Me (Digitally Remastered)

10. Without Love (There Is Nothing) (Digitally Remastered)

See all 18 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

This is the Legacy Edition of one of Elvis most significant albums, the critically acclaimed June 1969 release, From Elvis In Memphis. This brand new 2CD set contains all tracks from the sessions recorded at American Studios in Memphis In January and February of 1969, newly remastered for optimum sound quality.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Stellar expansion of 1969 Elvis milestone July 28, 2009

By hyperbolium

Format:Audio CD

Elvis Presley wasn't just the King of Rock `n' Roll, he was an artist who prospered in spite of an unsympathetic manager, and a star who rose to a second great peak, resurrecting himself from the ashes of a moribund career. His incendiary, game-changing hits of the `50s led to the start of a bright film career, but after losing his crown in a repetitive string of artistically lean popcorn movies, it took a string of three key performances to regain the throne. The first, 1967's How Great Thou Art, was a gospel album anchored in Elvis' musical roots; the second, an iconic NBC comeback special in 1968, proved he still had the rock `n' roll spark; and the third, this 1969 return to his Memphis home ground, showed he still had something new and potent to offer. There was more, including live and country albums in 1970 and 1971, but the artistic and commercial renaissance of 1967-69, capped by this soul and gospel masterpiece (and its hit single, "In the Ghetto"), is one of the great comebacks in music history.

Even more impressive, the album's dozen tunes are less than half the Memphis sessions' output. RCA's 2-CD Legacy reissue collects 36 tracks from Elvis' stay at Chip Moman's American Studio, adding ten tracks from the second platter of From Memphis to Vegas - From Vegas to Memphis (subsequently reissued as Back in Memphis), four single mixes of album tracks, six non-LP singles (including the trio of chart hits "Suspicious Minds," "Don't Cry Daddy," and "Kentucky Rain"), and four bonus tracks. Having recorded in Nashville and Hollywood since his mid-50s departure from Sun, Elvis returned to Memphis to find soul music still heavily influenced by gospel and blues, but also powered by the bass-and-horns funk developed by the Stax, Hi, FAME, American and Muscle Shoals studios.

Buoyed by the success of his televised comeback, Elvis shook off the insipid material he'd been recording, and dug deeply into a set of blues, country, gospel and pop sounds, pushed by Moman and his crack studio band. You can hear Elvis rediscovering himself as he tests his crooning, wandering through a loose arrangement of "I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)" that turns Eddy Arnold's 1940s country twanger into an emotion-soaked gospel. He's commanding with the testimony of "Power of My Love" and swaggering and blue at the same time on "After Loving You." He nails a slow-burning gospel-tinged cover of "Long Black Limousine," lightens to horn-lined Memphis melancholy with "Any Day Now" and closes the album with the stunning "In the Ghetto." The extras on disc one are finished tracks that include Bobby Darin's "I'll Be There," the Beatles' "Hey Jude," and the gospel "Who Am I?"

The ten tracks of the follow-up album open disc two, and though the sessions were well picked-over for the original album, there are several highlights in the second set, including the slow building blues rocker "Stranger in My Own Hometown," the dramatic farewell of "The Fair's Moving On" and the gospel soul "Without Love (There is Nothing)." Disc two's pay-off are the original mono single mixes, six of which don't appear on either Memphis album, including the hits "Suspicious Minds," "Don't Cry Daddy" and "Kentucky Rain," and the supremely funky "Rubberneckin'." All of these tracks have been previously released, scattered across LPs and singles, and brought together on collections such as The Memphis Record and Suspicious Minds. But never before has Elvis' homecoming been drawn as such a vivid portrait.

This brief leave from Col. Parker's stifling control gave Elvis a chance to go home, both literally and figuratively, and the circumstances in which to wax one of the two or three finest albums of his career. The energy created in Memphis sustained the King through a resurgent live show, but as the bubble closed back around him, these blue-eyed soul sessions turned into the last studio high point of his extraordinary career. Legacy's 2-CD set is delivered in a tri-fold digipack that reproduces the covers of both From Elvis in Memphis and Back in Memphis, and includes a 24-page booklet stuffed with photos and excellent liner notes by Robert Gordon and Tara McAdams. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Lean, Mean, Singin' King! May 19, 2000

By T. Schmidt

Format:Audio CD

This is the single best collection of Elvis' 1969 comeback recordings. The first compilation of this material, _The Memphis Record_, suffered from muddy sound quality and horrible mixing (especially in the removal of the brass and strings from "Suspicous Minds"). Last year's 2-CD _Suspicous Minds_ contained the masters in their entirety, including a handful of fairly weak tracks. The reissue of _From Elvis in Memphis_ compresses the best of these sessions onto one smokin' disc!

The original 1970 release of _From Elvis in Memphis_ contained 12 tracks, with "In the Ghetto" as the torch-bearer. The new reissue pads the original 12 tracks with another 8 which were initially released as singles around the same time. The result is perhaps the best single Elvis CD ever released.

While the King is generally regarded as a "country boy", it is the R&B tracks which are most memorable. "Wearin' That Loved On Look" kicks off the proceedings with a fiery energy which sustains itself throughout the entire CD. "Long Black Limousine" and "Power of My Love" easily justify Elvis' title as the King of Rock n' Roll. These are the performances of a man reborn; a man eager to reclaim his place in the rock and roll hierarchy.

No Elvis record is complete without a country influence. This CD does more than satisfy. "It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin'" and "True Love Travels on a Gravel Road" both come across as heartfelt performances while Glen Campbell's "Gentle on My Mind" gives this reviewer goosebumps.

The true centerpieces of this incredible CD are the three smash hits culled from the '69 sessions: "In the Ghetto", "Suspicous Minds", and "Kentucky Rain". Need I say more?

While Elvis would go on in the 70's to reach new isolated musical heights (the _Elvis Country_ album, "Burning Love", "Promised Land", "Way Down") this would be the last time that he would be so consistent in the quality of his output.

If you're an Elvis completist, you'd probably be better served by _Suspicous Minds_ or _From Nashville to Memphis_. But if you want to get to the core of what Elvis was all about circa 1969, this is the one to get!

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Elvis' finest album November 16, 2001

By DJ McGovern

Format:Audio CD

Elvis was 34 years old when he recorded this brilliant collection of pop, country, blues and soul music. It's an eclectic mix, and probably not to all tastes, but one thing is abundantly clear - Elvis was at his peak when he set foot in the American studios in Memphis that winter of 1969.

Vocally, this is a very different Elvis from even two years earlier, when he was still producing the sweet almost-crooning sound associated with soundtracks such as Blue Hawaii. Here his voice is stronger and darker, and the raucous opening track (Wearin' that loved on look) shows he is not afraid to sacrifice beauty of sound for a more dramatic effect. That's not to say this album doesn't contain some mellow singing as well - In the Ghetto is proof of that.

But what makes this album great is the sheer individuality displayed in every track as Elvis gives each song his trademark commitment and energy. Stand-outs for me include Only the Strong Survive, in which Elvis transforms an otherwise standard song into a very personal statement; a definitive Gentle on My Mind; After Loving You (with its brilliant vocal gyrations); Any Day Now; and the haunting and moving True Love Travels On A Gravel Road.

The bonus tracks include two songs that should have been on the original album - Suspicious Minds and Kentucky Rain. It's great to have them reunited with their companion pieces from the same recording sessions.

Just one tiny criticism - why has BMG included a photo of the Hollywood Elvis on its cover? It's precisely THAT Elvis that this album seeks to escape from! Perhaps they were being ironic?

The liner notes are excellent, and complement a masterful artistic statement from pop's greatest icon.