Million Dollar Quartet

Elvis Presley | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 22, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002W2G
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,272 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. You Belong to My Heart

2. Just a Little Talk With Jesus

3. Jesus Walked That Lonesome Valley

4. I Shall Not Be Moved

5. Peace in the Valley

6. Down by the Riverside

7. I'm With a Crowd But So Alone

8. Farther Along

9. Blessed Jesus (Hold My Hand)

10. As We Travel Along on the Jericho Road

11. I Just Can't Make It by Myself

12. Little Cabin on the Hill

13. I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling

14. Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong

15. Keeper of the Key

16. Crazy Arms

17. Don't Forbid Me

18. Brown Eyed Handsome Man

19. Out of Sight, Out of Mind

20. Brown Eyed Handsome Man

See all 36 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable musical artifact, January 4, 2003

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Million Dollar Quartet (Audio CD)

This is a remarkable recording, offering not only a glimpse of the real Elvis Presley but standing as a musical artifact of the birth of rock and roll. I should point out that the Million Dollar Quartet is a bit of a misnomer; although Johnny Cash was present at one point, the couple of songs he supposedly sung on have never been found. What we have is an incredible jam session featuring Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins (plus an assortment of lesser known musicians). The date was December 4, 1956; the place was the legendary Sun Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Elvis Presley was already a superstar, Carl Perkins was struggling to reproduce the success he had found with Blue Suede Shoes a year earlier, and Jerry Lee Lewis was basically unknown, having just cut his first tracks a couple of weeks earlier. They start singing some gospel songs, but the session picks up steam from there and continues through a great variety of musical songs and styles, all of which offer first-hand insight into the advent of rockabilly music and its metamorphosis into good ol' rock and roll.

Elvis dominates this session, but Jerry Lee Lewis is also prominent throughout, which is pretty amazing considering the fact that he was still on the verge of success. Carl Perkins remains in the background, taking the lead only on the short song Keeper of the Key. Elvis' tremendous gospel singing comes through loud and clear on such staples as Just a Little Walk With Jesus, Peace in the Valley, and Down By the Riverside, and Jerry Lee's strong backup on these songs surprised me with its uniqueness and power. Soon the guys shift to bluegrass, giving us snippets of several Bill Monroe classics. Then the real fun begins. Elvis explains how the song Don't Forbid Me sat in his house for months without his knowing about it; although it was written for him, Pat Boone ended up recording it. When he sings a part of it for the guys, all of us fans can only think what could have been because it is a great song. Then the guys do some Chuck Berry songs, repeatedly coming back to the truly entertaining Brown Eyed Handsome Man. Jerry Lee just loves the line about Venus losing both of her arms while wrestling to win herself a brown eyed handsome man. The greatest part of this session, to my mind, is Elvis' imitation of an imitation of his Don't Be Cruel. He talk about seeing a member of Ward's Dominoes perform the song in Las Vegas; he was so impressed that he went back four straight nights just to hear it. That singer was Jackie Wilson, and Elvis' imitation of Jackie's imitation of his own song is really something special. Toward the end of the session, the magic seems to evaporate somewhat, with Jerry Lee Lewis taking the lead on several songs. His End of the Road is classic Jerry Lee singing and piano-playing. Unfortunately, when Jerry Lee sings Crazy Arms, he is too far away from the microphone to be heard clearly, but that is not to be unexpected in a jam session such as this. Throughout the session, there is almost constant chatter among the musicians and those gathered around listening to them.

This CD is basically a time capsule left to future generations containing primary source material on the birth of rock and roll. Elvis fans will absolutely love it, but anyone interested in the music of that era should find much insight and enjoyment of their own in listening to it. Few of these songs are complete; most of the time, the guys constantly move back and forth from one song to another, sometimes having trouble remembering all the words (which is not a bad thing); all told, this CD features almost one hour and seven minutes of musical magic. The sound quality is not all that bad, especially considering when the session took place; it's pretty amazing that this would ever have been recorded in the first place. Sometimes the music gods smile down on all of us and grant us a miraculous gift, and this may well be one of the greatest gifts of them all. Early on, you can hear Jerry Lee Lewis say, "Boy, this is fun!"--my sentiments exactly.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first time Elvis met Jerry Lee Lewis caught on tape!, March 29, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Million Dollar Quartet (Audio CD)

As everyone knows, it's not really a quartet because Johnny Cash wasn't caught on tape. But Elvis, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis were -- and this was the first time Elvis met Jerry Lee, who was at the time just the pianist on Carl's session. At this point in time, Elvis was already recording for RCA -- so it was quite a treat to have him drop by the Sun Studios.

One of the highlights of the tape is Elvis telling the others about seeing one of Wards Dominoes (in fact it was Jackie Wilson) imitating him in Las Vegas. Elvis then imitates Jackie Wilson imitating him! Elvis also sings a version of Paralized (a song he had already recorded) in the style of Wilson -- and it is much better than the real recording!

How great to hear young Elvis with his contemporaries, just singing for the sake of jamming.

You can't ask for more.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holy Grail of Rock & Roll!!!, October 26, 2003

By 

"beatnix8" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Million Dollar Quartet (Audio CD)

It doesn't matter what you may think of Elvis, this album is the holy grail of modern music. Elvis sings everything from r&b to spiritual. Jerry Lee is great on the piano and holds his own against Carl, and Johnny. But, it's Elvis who steals the show. Carl is the only other star at this impromptu session (Jerry Lee, and Johnny Cash are relative unknowns, outside of the south at this point of recording.) Elvis who had just returned to Memphis stops in to Sun Records to say hello to Sam (Phillips) and Carl, during their recording session. Jerry Lee (who had only been signed with Sun for only 2 weeks at this point) is oviously awed by Elvis and his fame, he hangs on Elvis's every word. Johnny Cash is called in after the jam session had already started, by Sam Phillips. Cash comes in towards the end of the session. Over all this is THE MUST HAVE album if there ever was one. If you are a fan of rock music, YOU MUST HAVE THIS ALBUM. AM I MAKING MY SELF CLEAR? Until someone digs up the 65' Elvis & The Beatles jam session this CD will remain the holy grail of rock & roll. AMEN!!!!