Customer Reviews

From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential 60's Masters

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Most of you have your favorite era of his music. I like them all in different ways, but I like the sixties best, and this box shows why. There were many aspects to his music, but this set focuses on those secular recordings that were made in the studio and which were not connected to a movie. The best of the movie music is available on Command performance - Essential sixties masters volume 2, which I've already reviewed, while the gospel and live recordings are also available separately.

With those exceptions, every song Elvis recorded during the sixties is here. These include most of his big hits from the period, among them It's now or never, Are you lonesome tonight, Surrender, His latest flame, Good luck charm, Suspicion, She's not you, Don't cry Daddy, In the ghetto and Suspicious minds. Of course, there are a few missing, because they were from the excluded categories, but anybody who wants a Greatest hits collection will find plenty to choose from.

Apart from the hits, you get all the album tracks, many of them long forgotten except by fans of Elvis. These include covers of Fever (Peggy Lee), Memphis Tennessee (Chuck Berry), And the grass won't pay no mind (Neil Diamond), Just call me lonesome (Eddy Arnold), Gentle on my mind (Glen Campbell), I'm movin' on (Hank Snow) and I'll hold you in my heart (Eddy Arnold) among them.

Among the songs written for Elvis but which remain obscure to all but his fans, there are many good songs, any of which might one day be rediscovered and used in a movie or TV advertisement. The song Gently, from one of his early sixties albums, was translated into French and recorded by Petula Clark. I can't ever remember another cover of this song in any language, though there probably is one somewhere - just one of many great songs in this set that you're not likely to hear on the radio.

The last half of the final CD is made up of selected alternate takes of some of the songs, although the most famous alternate take, his laughing version of Are you lonesome tonight, is not among them. Nevertheless, this is a fine collection which will appeal to a far wider public than just his dedicated fans.

Elvis' 1960's work, especially his movie soundtracks which are not on here, gets mostly unfairly overlooked and dismissed. Sure, after coming home from the army in 1960, his style changed to a more pop sound with an occassional dip into the blues, (most of disc 1) and was and still is criticized for not continuing his 50s mastery of rock n roll. However, while Elvis was on his two year hitch, music changed. The rockers like Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Chuck Berry gave way to Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Darin, Fabian and in all a more pop sounding version of rock n roll. So when Elvis started cutting records in 1960 his sound changed also. Sure, "Stuck On You" was a leftover sound of the late 50s, but new sounds like "It's Now Or Never", "Make Me Know It" and others made the transition for Elvis and he was never more popular. His first four single releases went to #1 in the US with many more following through 1962. This box, which runs in chronological order, gives you every studio master that Elvis cut (minus gospel and movie tunes). Disc one is an absolute masterpiece which covers his first studio album of the 1960s, "Elvis Is Back" as well as other classic tracks from early 1961 such as "I Feel So Bad", "Give Me The Right", and a personal favorite "I'm Coming Home". Disc 2 bridges his '61 work with 1962 and part of 1963 and features excellent tunes such as "His Latest Flame", "Little Sister", "Kiss Me Quick", "She's Not You" and another personal favorite "Witchcraft". If there was to be a "weak disc" in the set, it would be disc 3. It's not really weak, (it's rather good) but not nearly as good as the others. It features great tunes such as "It Hurts Me", "Memphis", "Down In The Alley", "Ask Me", "US Male" plus more. These were recorded between 1964 and 1967 which was probably the lowest point of Elvis' career. Disc 4 contains the legendary 1969 material which cemented Elvis' comeback. While Elvis' hitmaking was as prolific as it was 9 years before, he still enjoyed a handful of top ten hits and his first #1 with "Suspicious Minds" since 1962's "Good Luck Charm". Highlights on disc 4 are "Suspicious Minds", "In The Ghetto", "Don't Cry Daddy", "Rubberneckin'" and another personal favorite "Power Of My Love". Disc 5 is a mixed bag of goodies which features the last of the 60s masters, several alternate takes and the awesome live duet performance of "Love Me Tender"/"Witchcraft" with Frank Sinatra. Wrapped up in an attractive box and an excellent booklet filled with pictures, stories and session notes, this set if the perfect set for the Elvis completist to go along with the excellent 50s and the 70s boxes.

The "Nashville to Memphis" box set represents the essential Elvis Presley - from "Reconsider Baby" in 1960 to "Stranger in My Home Town" in 1969. Despite the plethora of movie soundtracks, Elvis continued to rock in the studio. However, he also matured as an artist and his versatile talents can be heard in classic tracks such as "Little Sister," "It Hurts Me," "Love Letters," "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" and "U.S. Male." Overall, a superb collection of Presley's finest studio work - more insightful and revelatory than the 1950s or 1970s box sets.

Of any CD I own (and I own a ton of CDs), I listen to any of the five discs that make up this CD collection the most. If you're considering getting an Elvis collection that includes music from the 60s, you're short changing yourself if you pass this collection up for a single disc comp. There are too many Great songs in this boxed set to pass up. Along with absolutely incredible songs, you'll find that this box guides you through the maturation of Elvis. It's really remarkable listening to the set slowly move from the cute songs of the early 60s to the more mature songs with his changing, mature voice that started taking over in the later 60s. Starting around the second quarter of Disc 3 (and the incredibly beautiful "Tomorrow is a Long Time", you really see the change in Elvis starting to take effect. By Disc 5, you're hearing Elvis sing "Kentucky Rain"...a far cry from "Soldier Boy" on the first disc. Only two movies are (slightly) represented in this movie: Tickle Me, which is his only movie that contains songs that aren't centered around the plot of the movie, and Clambake...one of his last movies, and songs from this movie appear near the end of Disc 3.

Listening to this collection is really like listening to 5 different shades of Elvis....all of them spectacular in their own way. Listening to this collection is like listening to Elvis grow up through his music.

Too many excellent songs in this collection to name. Before I bought this collection, I probably knew about 30 of the songs that made up this 5 disc set. Now that I've been listening to this collection for several years, there are very few songs that I don't absolutely love, and I can honestly say that Elvis' best songs have never received radio airplay.

If you know Elvis only by single CD collections and by what you've heard on the radio, then this boxed set, a perfect collection of Elvis music, will take you to a whole new Elvis world. Get it and enjoy some of the greatest music you never knew existed.

I'm a relatively new Elvis fan and I didn't know where to begin because there are so many albums and hit collections... I decided on starting with this box set because it spanned so much of his career and because it included an alternate version of my favorite song of his - Suspicious Minds.

The sound remastering is excellent and the packaging is great. Well worth the $$.

This is a must have for the long-time Elvis fan or the new fan like me! I'm definitely hooked on Elvis now and I plan to follow up this purchase with his 50s and 70s box set.

This 5 CD Box Set together with the Boxes "The Complete 50's Masters", "The Essential 70's Masters" and the sountracks recordings are the best comprehensive treat of Elvis' extremely rich back catalog that the label ever did. Before them (and also after them) there were uncountable collections of greatest hits, best of's, ballads collections, love songs, etc, as well as the re-issues of some of his albums, containing many overlapped material while some great songs were always absent.
The sountracks recordings are not included in this set, at this point I agree with critics that nearly all those recordings are the most poor songs that Elvis did. I don't agree with them when they say that the best of Elvis were his 50's recordings, because in the 60's he sounded more sedate and calm. Maybe his 50's songs were the most influential in the 20th century music, but I also like very much the ballads, he recorded many beautiful ballads during the 60's and 70's, some of them became classics as well as his earlier rockabilly songs; besides the rock'n'roll was always present in all the decades.

For many, the raw purity of Elvis' 1950's recordings define his greatness. His post-army work is often relegated to also-ran status. Truly, the early recordings were filled with an overpowering invention that Elvis would never fully recapture. By the time of his return in 1960, numerous changes affected his comeback. First, Elvis himself had matured, and the songs that suited him just a few years earlier didn't fit the same way. Second, the music scene itself had moved along. Third, the 1960s saw Elvis starring in a progressively more mediocre string of films, churning out blander and blander soundtrack material. The dilutive impact of the awkward movie music makes Elvis' 1960's catalog tricky to evaluate as a whole.

Luckily, RCA's sweeping series of box sets provides a clear view of Elvis' mid-period catalog by removing the movie music to its own collection. Although this relegates some fine tracks such as "Return to Sender," "I Can't Help Falling in Love," and "Viva Las Vegas") to reside with a large harvest of lemons, it also cleanses this presentation of his non-movie work. The resulting five-disc "Nashville to Memphis" box set features substantial hit tracks and numerous lesser-known (but no less worthy) album tracks, padded out by a large helping of passable chaff that, sung by someone else, would still be laying in the vault.

By 1960 the galvanic fire of Elvis' early sides was mostly extinct, replaced by a variety of new direction that often bore fruit. Rather than turning himself to '50s anachronism by trying to reproduce his earlier sound (or, worse yet, consigning himself to a follower's role by aping then-current trends), Elvis dug deeply into himself, and especially into the capabilities of his voice, to find new veins of artistry.

Elvis' first post-Army single, "Stuck on You," resounds with the freedom of someone liberated from barracks life. Same for "I Gotta Know," with a backing vocal that playfully tracks Elvis on the later verses. The easy swing and playful growl in Elvis' voice would soon become the province of pretty boys like Bobby Rydell, but heard here, it's a natural maturation from Elvis' earlier years.

The early- and mid-60s served up some fine rock 'n' roll, including Leiber & Stoller's shades-of-the-Coasters' "Dirty, Dirty Feeling," the blazing "Feel So Bad," and Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman's "A Mess of Blues" and "Little Sister." Scotty Moore provided some great guitar riffs on the latter two. Elvis and the band jammed strongly on bluesman Lowell Fulsom's "Reconsider Baby."

Mid-tempo tunes provided Elvis the chance to sing happier pop like "Good Luck Charm," and the dramatic longing of "She's Not You" and "His Latest Flame." The latter, with its loping Bo Diddley beat, piano-charged uptempo chorus and popping bass is a perfect frame for Elvis' voice.

Dramatic ballads like "Fame and Fortune," "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" and "Surrender" introduced a style that would stick with Elvis until the end. More sparely arranged songs like "Fever" and "Starting Today" spotlight the sheer beauty of Elvis' voice.

Elvis visited Country ("Judy" "Just Call me Lonesome" "I'm Movin' On"), gospel ("I Gotta Know"), and covers of Bob Dylan ("Tomorrow is a Long Time"), Chuck Berry ("Too Much Monkey Business") and others. A few covers, such as an oddly orchestrated take of "Suspicion" and a hurried, horn-heavy arrangement of "Fools Fall in Love" miss the mark.

Those interested in the hits and lost gems (and there are plenty, including "Devil in Disguise," "Don't Cry Daddy," "Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers," "It Hurts Me," and "Love Letters") may be overwhelmed by the dross and clunkers. "The Girl of My Best Friend" is too soft for Elvis, and come off as a Brill Building reject. "Girl Next Door Went A'Walking" could have been drawn from one of Elvis' lesser soundtracks, and "Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello" shows that Leiber & Stoller were just as capable of writing duds as hits.

The arc traced by this collection begins in 1960 with an outpouring of Elvis' pent-up artistic expression. By mid-decade the great songs get fewer and further between. You can almost hear the air rushing out of the initial bubble of enthusiasm. As the decade wears on, the productions take on unfortunate contemporary trends (e.g., faux sitars). Their are still high-points at decade's end (the trio of "In the Ghetto," "Suspicious Minds" and "Kentucky Rain," for example), but the material is more uneven and the enthusiasm often wanes.

1969 provided some fine performances, including "Power of My Love," "Without Love There is Nothing," "After Loving You," and a cover of Johnny Tillotson's "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'." But the year also produced less successful choices such as the soul-dance "Rubberneckin'" and an overwrought remake of "From a Jack to a King." Covers of "Hey Jude" and "Only the Strong Survive" find Elvis adding little to the originals.

Disc 5 includes several alternate takes (including "In the Ghetto" "Suspicious Minds" "Kentucky Rain") presented in rough form (e.g., no backing singers). The lack of final production leaves the focus on Elvis' vocals, generally reaffirming the producer's choice of take for the hit single. Also included are snippets of studio dialog, and a 1960 Presley/Sinatra live television performance of the duo trading "Love Me Tender" and "Witchcraft."

The sound throughout is superb, mostly the product of RCA's Nashville Studio B. The backing, especially on the early tracks, retains some of the rock 'n' roll group energy from Elvis' early years, but by mid-decade, though all very professionally arranged and played, the songs sound more constructed than evolved. The accompanying liner notes from Elvis biographer Peter Guralnick are top-notch, as is the accompanying discographical information.

Of the three main box sets (50's, 60's, 70's) this one is my favorite. The reason is Elvis' voice is in absolutely top form. Especially on songs like "Fame and Fortune"! Not even Bing Crosby could've done that one better. And that's saying a lot. The first couple of discs are simply incredible. Elvis was apparently nervous when he was in the Army waiting an excruciating two years to find out if America still wanted him on the throne. Maybe that's why his performances are so mesmurizing. He wanted to out-perform his 50's records, and without a doubt (vocally) he did. There are some filler songs on disc 3 that are of the same caliber as his movie soundtracks, but at least they are fun. I'm glad they were all included anyway. Disc 4 features many great tracks such as "Suspicious Minds", "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind", "Anyday Now", "Long Black Limosine" and many more. Disc 5 features a lot of filler (like unpolished versions of songs like "Kentucky Rain") but the best track on #5 is the great duet with Frank Sinatra "Love Me Tender/Witchcraft", a clever combo of the two songs sung together. A lot of critics say Elvis recorded nothing but movie soundtracks during the 60's, but this box set proves otherwise. Only a couple of these songs were from the movies. It's interesting to hear the decline in song-quality in the middle of the box set (in other words in the mid-sixties.) It's obvious that there was a time when he wasn't getting good songs anymore. But the songs from the beginning and end of the decade remain classics and Elvis never sounded better. It is disappointing that "If I can Dream" is missing. But that's forgivable considering the excellent booklet and liner notes that come with this set including tons of great pictures. If you are just getting into Elvis though I would start with the 50's box set first. They are better when heard in order.

The Elvis 60's have been vastly under-rated by critics and supposed fans alike. This collection does not include much, or any, of Elvis's substandard soundtrack work from the 60's and includes many of the excellent Nashville tracks from the end of the decade. The material is not always top-rate in and of itself, but every song on this collection is made great by Elvis. Not only is this collection notable for Elvis's vocal power, but for the use of fuzz-guitar and musical styles that give you an idea of just how up with (and ahead of) the times Elvis was during the 60's. This collection represents some of the best music made in that decade, bar none. If you haven't guessed yet, it was listening to this collection that sent me over the top for Elvis, rather than some of the starter set greatest hits packages RCA has put out in the past. (Well, actually, the real kick over the edge always will be the original Sun Sessions, but that's another story completely.) This set is the ultimate proof of the old adage that it is the singer and not the song that makes a recording great, as Elvis twists some mediocre songs (amidst some great ones, as well) into real rock classics.

Elvis reclaimed his throne immediately after his return from the army in 1960. This 5 CD set illuminates the reasons why. From the early 60s through to the beginning of the 70s Elvis captured the feel of pop music in its purest form: "Loveletters", Dylan's "Tomorrow Is A Long Time", "In The Ghetto" and "Reconsider Baby" are essential recordings for the pop connoisseur. "From Nashville To Memphis" is Elvis at his unqualified best.