Customer Reviews

Golden Celebration

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Excellent historical overview of early live Elvis performances. The sound is good considering the circumstances. The liner notes and B&W photographs are also very good. If your a fan, I would pick this up if you could find it.

Today is the fourth anniversary of this set's reissue on compact disc, and already it is out of print! First released in 1985, when Gregg Geller was briefly put in charge of the Presley catalog, it signalled the first posthumous era of respect for Presley's legacy by his record company, with its compilation of rare performances when the singer was still at the peak of his powers, including quality sound from all the 1956 television appearances, plus a historic concert in Tupelo from the same year! Except for some minor redundancy in the Sun and 1968 "comeback" material, the reissue in the 1990s fit right in a new era of quality releases when Ernst Mikael Jorgensen and Roger Semon put together the Fifties box set and consolidated the singer's best material into historically coherent, CD-length compilations (_Tomorrow Is A Long Time_, _Suspicious Minds_) and expanded reissues (the inclusion of additional hit singles as bonus tracks for the _Gold(en) Records_ series, for example), especially with the addition here of new liner notes from Colin Escott, one of the most knowledgeable writers about Elvis (aside from Peter Guralnick and Jorgensen himself). Until executives at BMG (which now owns the Presley catalog) come to their senses again, your best bet is either to find a record store that still has one last copy lying on its shelves or to order it used.

Absolutely brilliant! This set looks great and sounds even better. Hear Elvis' first electric performances on the T.V. And then listen to his awesome power as he rips it up live at the 'Mississippi Alabama Fair' in front of his hometown fans. This is Elvis in his prime and at his best. Enjoy...

All Music Guide: "When Gregg Geller took over responsibility for posthumous Elvis Presley releases at RCA Records in 1984, he attempted to upgrade the generally mediocre state of the label's efforts to date. Conceiving a half-centenary salute pegged to what would have been Presley's 50th birthday (January 8, 1985), he assembled a series of releases including reissues of key albums, new compilations, and, as the anchor of the celebration, this box set. Comprised of six cassettes running close to four hours, it leads off with recordings from Presley's Sun Records sessions of 1954-55 (two previously unreleased) and ends with two sides of home recordings and a slew of performances from the Elvis comeback television special in 1968. But the bulk of the box, taking up four of the six tapes, was TV and live material from 1956-57. All of Presley's small screen appearances during this period when he broke out as a national figure were included, starting with guest shots on The Dorsey Brothers' Stage Show and continuing through The Milton Berle Show, The Steve Allen Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. And Presley's entire performance (afternoon and evening shows) at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show in his hometown of Tupelo, MS, on September 26, 1956, took up three sides. Of course, sound quality was not terrific and there was a lot of repetition, including five performances of "Heartbreak Hotel" (one of them backed by the Dorseys' orchestra) and seven of "Hound Dog." But the historical importance of the box far outweighed its flaws as a listening experience. It wasn't the kind of album you'd recommend to start a Presley collection, but it was easy to imagine tens of thousands of Presley fans who would love it, and, indeed, it was a substantial hit upon release, getting into the upper half of the charts."

THIS IS A VERY GOOD BOX SET TO BUY BECAUSE YOU HAVE EVERY T.V APPEARANCE THAT ELVIS DID IN THE 50'S AND THEY WERE VERY GOOD PERFORMANCES BY ELVIS.ALSO YOU HEAR SOME RECORDINGS THAT ELVIS DID OUT OF THE STUDIOS AND YOU COULD HEAR HIS VOICE PERFECTLY GOOD WITHOUT ANY MISTAKES IT GOES TO SHOW ALL THESE NON-BELIEVERS THAT ELVIS COULD REALLY SING.

Wonderfully remastered versions of Elvis live! Television shows, including his first appearance on Ed Sullivan's show, 102 songs from 1964 thru 1968. Some never released, that could only have been heard live when he performed them. A must for all true Elvis fans! Excellent sound quality!