Customer Reviews

Love Letters From Elvis

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

 

 

I can't say I quite agree with either of the previous reviewers of this album, which does indeed offer the "leftovers" of Elvis' justly legendary June 1970 Nashville sessions but is still well worth hearing for the most part. After the Sun recordings and his 1969 American Studios sessions, the King's 1970 stay in Nashville probably qualifies as the most important and productive stretch of time he ever spent in a studio. The five-day burst of music-making resulted in three LPs (THAT'S THE WAY IT IS, ELVIS COUNTRY and LOVE LETTERS FROM ELVIS) as well as several of Elvis' greatest seventies singles. It's no surprise that TTWII, as the first album to come out of these dates, featured the strongest material, nor that EC, by virtue of its concept, was a far more solid and coherent package than LOVE LETTERS; but enough good stuff remained to make this album a worthwhile release at the time, and RCA's decision to delete the CD version and divide most (though maddeningly not quite all) of its contents between the WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES box set and the expanded reissues of TTWII and EC means that it's still worth seeking out for hardcore fans of the King's seventies work.
The Nashville dates showcased Elvis in an incredibly broad musical context, attacking everything from the schmaltziest of pop ballads to some of his hardest latterday rockers, and while the quality of the songs themselves varies greatly the performances are, for the most part, outstanding. Elvis never sounded better, and his band (most notably lead guitarists James Burton and Chip Young) crafted consistently strong soundscapes which are every bit as essential to the success of these tracks as the singer's delivery. Whether jamming out on the extended coupling of "Keep Your Hands Off of It" and "Got My Mojo Workin'" (one of the strongest things to come out of these sessions and mysteriously left off the earlier albums), gently swaying through a pretty and underrated ballad like "If I Were You" or stretching drama to the breaking point on the silly but appealing "Love Letters," Elvis and company manage to make all of this material more than listenable, even if the results don't add up to one of the King's greatest LPs.
With two of its tracks (the lackluster gospel outing "Only Believe" and the lighthearted, countryish "This Is Our Dance") currently unavailable elsewhere, LOVE LETTERS is still a necessary purchase for completists; but more to the point, it's hardly a disaster even in purely musical terms. Sure, it's the last and least of the packages in which these sessions were disseminated - and, interestingly enough, the only one composed entirely of material from them - but such was the strength of the results Elvis and Company achieved in those few days in Nashville that even the leftovers have a fair bit of flavor.

This RCA hodgepodge of leftover material from the King's 1970 Nashville Marathon has its moments. The best tracks on "Love Letters From Elvis" (1971) are the rip-roaring jam of "Got My Mojo Working," a free-wheeling "Cindy, Cindy" (featuring terrific guitar work by James Burton) and the gospel song "Only Believe." Another gem is the country obscurity "It Ain't No Big Thing." Despite his best intentions, Presley's remake of "Love Letters" did not improve upon the original. The remaining cuts - especially the pretentious single "Life" - should have stayed in the vault.

In June of 1970 Elvis embarked on a marathon recording session that resulted in more than 30 cuts. Two extremely fine albums-"That's the Way it is" and "Elvis Country"-came out of that session and then there was this, which pretty much scraped up the dregs. If Elvis had not had to meet RCA's excessive contractual demands for product, it's almost certain that he would not have allowed this to be released.

For the most part Presley is in pretty fine form vocally but most of the material on here is treacly pop poorly suited to his style. The cut "Life" is a stiff and perverse attempt to define the Universe and is downright laughable. Tracks like "This is Our Dance" and "I'll Never Know" are shameless pandering and Elvis can't find a home in either. "Only Believe" is perhaps his most uninspired gospel track and "If I Were You" is almost Elvis movie bad. "If I were you I know that I'd love me". That's an actual lyric. And the random nature of the tracks undercuts any coherence this might have as an album.

The good stuff is scarce but effective. The remake of "Love Letters" is darker and more aggressive than his 1966 recording with Elvis' voice at its most hoarse and featuring some wild uncontrolled melisma. "Got My Mojo Working" is high on spirit, though Felton Jarvis' horn overdubs dampen the otherwise excellent experience. "Cindy Cindy" is nothing great but it does rock a little unlike almost anything else on this album (except for the last two cuts rock, country and blues are nowhere to be found). And while "Heart of Rome" is piffle Elvis has fun with it.

[store] has done nothing to make the rerelease more palatable. There's no backcover. The liner notes are flimsy (six paragraphs) and still list Preston Foster as the composer of "Mojo" not Muddy Waters. Finally, the entire CD is only about 33 minutes long. There is plenty of time for bonus tracks. Elvis released three singles "Rags to Riches", the beautiful "I'm Leavin" and "It's Only Love" and a b-side "The Sound of Your Cry" that have never been issued on a LP in 1971 and this might have been an ideal place to put them. BMG didn't think so. All that's here is the poor original album and nothing more. <>Mark this for hardcore fans only and pick up "Elvis Country" and the expanded "That's the Way it is" which give a much better idea of where Elvis was at artistically circa 1970.

This cd starts out with a wonderful 1970 remake of "Love Letters". What's great about the new version is it's distinction from the old, giving us two unique renditions that don't sound repetitious. The orchestration is lush and dreamy while Elvis' voice has that rough sound characteristic of 1968-1970. After that, a plaintive up-tempo ballad called "When I'm Over You" followed by the very mellow, soft horn driven "If I Were You". Then Elvis gives us "Got My Mojo Working". This is slammin'. This is fast blues with piercing horns that will wake you up, get your foot tappin, or maybe get yo' mojo workin'. Following "Mojo" is an INCREDIBLE SONG CALLED "HEART OF ROME". Roy Orbison eat your heart out, this song takes Elvis' range on a joyride and Elvis is quite up to the job. This is not a rock song, it's more a bolero-flavored powerhouse of a man enjoying making music. Another knock-down bluesy number is "Cindy Cindy", performed originally by Rick Nelson. Elvis tears it up, and the musicians earn their keep as usual. The guitar is funky, the horns soar, and the beat is pumping. The album ends with a song called "Life" that poetically takes you from the first stirrings of life in the universe to reflections of the concept of "sin". Don't overlook this cd, it's essential. The title of the cd doesn't do justice to the content. Buy this one, you'll love it.

This was the third album to feature songs that Elvis recorded at the "Nashville Marathon" of June, 1970. As the third album, it's not quite as good as the previous two, but it does feature some strong material. Okay, "This is Our Dance" stinks, but the rest of the album is good. Strangely, the album opens with "Love Letters", which Elvis had already recorded back in 1966. The story goes that pianist David Briggs was never satisfied with his playing on the original version, so he talked Elvis into rerecording the song. The original version is better, to my taste. My personal favorites here are "Got My Mojo Working" and "Cindy, Cindy". Elvis fans should enjoy this CD.

I really love Elvis, but I was disappointed with this CD.The reason being I paid 48.96, for this cd that only has 10 songs on it. I could have gotten the same cd for a cheaper price. I would like to send it back and get one that is cheaper or that has extras with it. As of right now I am very disappointed with this purchase. I have always gotten good service from Amazon. I would like to get my money back or exchange it for a cheaper CD. I will be looking for another cd with more music on it for the same price. I wanted the CD that was not an IMORT. I can't see paying almost $50.00 for cd in a cardboard jacket and insert that is not in English. I'm sorry but I am going to send this back and order one that is sent from the US. Again Amazon has always been good to me, but I just want something I can read (English). I will be ordering any all things ELVIS, I will just watch were it comes from. Thanks, Nancy Cannon
RE: Love Letters from Elvis CD

I looked online for this CD and it was a rare find. I listened to the CD when it arrived, the sound was great. I will now enjoy playing the song "This Is Our Dance" by Elvis Presley at my wedding this August.

I am aware that Elvis was very human and had his faults like all of us, but I am very upset and appalled at the selections put in the undubbed masters they choose for LOVE LETTERS FROM ELVIS. I think Elvis would round over in his grave and be very upset if he knew these takes were being sold. There is only one song on the first CD that has foul lanuage in it and it's a first take of the song. Now the second CD is all undubbed and all of the songs are full of foul remarks. Since Elvis'fan base starts are 6 years old and older I do not think this is one a family would want to buy. I would not give this as gift, share with my ELVIS fan club, play this while children visit or at my office. The entire office staff listens when I get a new Elvis CD. I wasted my money and are very disappointment in RCA and Musictoday for their choices in this album. This albums is just more dirty laundry as Lisa Marie sang about.