Customer Reviews

Platinum: A Life in Music

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This was the first of three Elvis box sets to primarily include previously unreleased versions and performances (the others being "Today, Tomorrow, and Forever" and "Close Up"). BMG/RCA must have been unsure of the marketability of a set made up exclusively of unreleased material, so they hedged their bets with this set by including 23 hits along with 77 previously unreleased recordings. This is a very good collection and provides some interesting insight into Elvis' artistic and recording evolution. While most of the alternate versions are close to the final releases, they tend to have a less polished sound which in some cases I actually prefer. Closing the set with an excerpt from Elvis' JayCees speach was a nice touch - very moving.

Out of the three "previously unreleased" box sets, I would rank this one a close second to "Today, Tomorrow, and Forever", primarily because that one contains 100 previously unreleased recordings while this one only has 77. However, both are certainly worthwhile projects for avid Elvis fans - though they are overkill for average fans.

This is perhaps the best *balanced* Presley boxed-set yet. Familiar classics mixed with less familiar alternate takes. The casual fan who might be unfamiliar with a later tune like "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" can hear it in its original release version; can also hear "Heartbreak Hotel" in an entertaining variation. For the dedicated student, there's an amazing amount of tracks with a level of creativity not reached in the first issue ("Guitar Man"), others.
Brightest highlight: a looser, more rockin' (if you can believe it) workout on "A Big Hunk O' Love" - I think Little Richard himself would be impressed. The hit single was one of the greatest in R & R history, but this less-polished take is one for the ages. The more serious, "personal", Country ballad, "Always On My Mind" caught me a little off-guard. I must be getting older because it nearly brought me to tears - this man is crying out from the deepest recess of his soul. Willie Nelson's made a terrific record of the tune, but this cut surpasses Nelson's *and* Presley's original. "Bossa Nova, Baby" lacks the punch of the hit 45rpm, but has the same fun atmosphere. A few different lyrics will make the collectors smile. "You'll Never Walk Alone" is another intense statement - and another lost multi-million seller. It took a while for folks to really appreciate his performance - and to learn that was him at the piano! It's still electrifying 37 years later.
There are some problems in sound quality, in A & R, and in historical notation. The "Bad Nauheim Medley" is barely discernable; "Blowin' In The Wind" never should have been included - it works only for the nearly obsessed collector; his accompaniment is apparently a record!. "After Loving You" has little relation to the gem on "From Elvis In Memphis". Also note that two tracks are said to be from '61 when now we read that they were from '59 - actually a big difference in time and in Presley's vocal development. Not a major flaw by any means but to have a progression of dates go '67, '66, then '61 on Disc 2 spoils the overall delivery somewhow.
The written notes of Colin Escott are tremendous; the photographs are too.

The seemingly never ending stocktake of RCA's Presley vaults has uncovered a genuinely outstanding package of performances by the master. Included in this set are tracks which were deemed to be unworthy of release at the time, underlining a musical integrity not apparent in the welter of commercially-driven soundtracks.

Choice moments include a brilliant account of "What'd I Say" from rehearsals for "That's The Way It Is", replicating Ray Charles to a tee, while his commanding performance of "You'll Never Walk Alone" is gut wrenching, leaving Elvis, and the listener, drained.

A gritty, determinedly "down home" reading of "Blueberry Hill" (transferred from acetate) effortlessly overshadows the officially released version, while a rare live version of "Stuck on You" (from the Sinatra TV special) and the blistering Milton Berle show performance of "Hound Dog" are indispensable additions to any true fans' collection.

Also of note is an interesting, "looser" take of "Bossa Nova Baby", with the band blowing up a storm on the instrumental break, and Elvis resorting cheekily to the original lyric ("drink you fink, oh fiddly dink I can dance with a drink in my hand").

"Platinum" is a terrific 4-CD overview of Elvis Presley's artistry from 1954 to 1977. Along with the essential classics, this set includes a gold mine of previously unreleased material. The 1970 jam sessions on Disc 3 are a revelation - proving that Elvis could out-rock all comers. Presley's hard-edged run-through of "What'd I Say" is a masterpiece. Other gems include alternate takes of "Burning Love," "Promised Land," "Hurt" and "Way Down." In retrospect, "Platinum" is the finest display of Elvis' creative scope - an indispensable chronicle of the man and his music.

Back in '97 when I purchased this, I can remember saving up money that I had gotten for my birthday and 12 days later going to the store and buying it the day it came out. I got home shortly after and listened to it start to finish. I was completely amazed. From disc one 1954 to disc four 1977, this collection spans The King's career wonderfully featuring 77 previously unreleased performances sprinkled in with 23 essential studio and live recordings. There's little to zero fill on here and this collection gives a wonderful insight to what went out between songs in many Presley recording sessions and his live performances also. Too bad the "Today, Tomorrow and Forever" collection didn't follow in Platinum's footsteps.

Let's say you have "Artist of the Century". And that, a while ago, you got "50 Worldwide Award Hits". Perhaps you own any one of the life-long compilations offered by TIME/LIFE. Nevertheless, you still need "Platinum"!!!!!! For where else you could find some of the most blistering performances by any artist, ever, as well as the best ever versions by Elvis ( even better than his own originals!!!!!) of songs as diverse in style, and inflection, as "Blue Moon", "I got a woman", "I am counting on you", "A big hunk of Love", "Tonight's all right for love", "I feel so bad", "You'll never walk alone", "In the guetto", "Miracle of the Rosary", "He touched me", "And I love you so", "It's midnight", "Steamroller blues", "Danny Boy", "Pledging my love" and "Way down"? That, in the process of delivering these (and another 74 or so masterpieces found in "Platinum"), Elvis goes through C&W, R&B, Straight Pop, Gospel ( white and black, mind you), while also burrowing deeply into Neapolitean Pop standards, Ballads, Broadway showstoppers, Rockabilly and plain, straight Rock and Roll is nothing short of monumental. More importantly, he delivers credibly in each style, and combines it all with a panache not found elsewhere in the annals of American music. "Platinum" also boasts the best ever liner notes, for a Presley CD compilation (or anyone else's, for that matter). I understand this CD is short, by a few copies sold, to go RIAA Gold, but I wouldn't be surprised if it reaches that plateau by next summer. Eventually, Platinum it shall be......!!!!!!

This box-set really shook me up! Not less than 77 unreleased performances of Elvis are included! You'll find a collection of rare alternate takes of the '50's, '60's and '70's in a great package with correct information, although the included recording of "My Way" isn't the last recorded version of this song sang by Elvis, as BMG claims (at page 39). Included are Rock'n'Roll, Country, Rhythm and Blues, Gospel etc. Hear the changes in Elvis voice if you compare e.g. the '50's with the '70's! Hear him singing "Bridge over Troubled Water" and you'll know why they call him "The King". Absolutely a must-buy for Elvis-fans and all people interested in hearing great music!

I am the only 13 year old on the block that so loves the King!! This set is essential for everyday life, in my opinion. The cuts of his most famous songs let you glimps a side of Elvis that you would never see otherwise. Live recordings, television appearences, they're all here!! Elvis is Immortal, he is forever, and this beautifully colaborated box set remids you of that.

RCA trots out another boxset of Elvis, and, yes, it still works!
To the silly charge of racism of a man who famously crossed racial barriers in the '50s, get with it. Start with Alexander Cockburn's piece in "Counterpunch" from last August, which states "Was Presley A Racist? On the occasion of the recent 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death I read a truly stupid piece in the London Guardian, "He Wasn't My King" by Helen Kolawole, to the effect that Elvis stole songs like Hound Dog from black folks, that Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton wrote Hound Dog and sang it better and that anyway Elvis was a racist, noted for having said, The only thing Negro people can do for me is to buy my records and shine my shoes.
Wrong on every count. Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, white men, wrote Hound Dog and Big Mama Thornton's version is markedly inferior to Presley's, made three years after her's. Peter Guralnick, in his Last Train to Memphis, The Rise of Elvis Presley (1994), cites a good story that appeared in Jet magazine on August 1, 1957.
"Tracing that rumored racial slur to its source was like running a gopher to earth", Jet wrote. Some said Presley had said it in in Boston, which Elvis had never visited. Some said it was on Edward Murrow's on which Elvis had never appeared. Jet sent Louie Robinson to the set of Jailhouse Rock "When asked if he ever made the remark, Missisissippi-born Elvis declared: 'I never said anything like that, and people who know me know I wouldn't have said it ."
Robinson then spoke to people "who were (itals) in a position to know" and heard from Dr W. A Zuber, "a Negro physician in Tupelo" that Elvis Presley used to "go round to Negro 'sanctified meetings'; from pianist Dudley Brooks that he "faces everybody as a man" and from Presley himself that he had gone to colored churches as a kid, like Reverend Brewster's and that "he could honestly never hope to equal the musical achievemets of Fats Domino or the Inkspot's Bill Kenny." "To Elvis," Jet concluded in its Aug 1 1957 issue, "people are people regardless of race, color or creed."
Visiting Memphis, Ivory Joe Hunter was invited by Presley to visitiwithhim in Graceland and Ivory Joe was worried about the stories of prejudice that had been circulating about Elvis through the spring of 12957. Presley received him with warmth and admiration, sang his composition "I almost lost my mind" with him, and they hung out for the day singing. Hunter said later, "He showed me every courtesy and I think he's one of the greatest." (Jimmy T-99 Nelson told Jeffrey St Clair the other day that Ivory Joe had the biggest feet he'd ever seen. Bigger than Howlin' Wolf's, Jeffrey asked. Bigger by far, said Nelson. When Ivory Joe stamped, the whole stage shook.)
If you want to look at some great photographs of Elvis in black locales and with black musicians in Memphis in the 1950s (with BB King, Bobby "Blue" Bland & Junior Parker), get Daniel Wolff's wonderful edition of Ernest Withers' photos, The Memphis Blues Again.When my daughter Daisy was around 12, in the course of a couple of chance encounters, I was able to get Lieber to play her Hound Dog and Yip Harburg to sing her "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", all in one summer. Oh, just something any Dad would do."That, this boxset, and Peter Guralnick's book also addresses this bogus charge. Still, start with the main boxsets first or ELV1S' 30 # Hits.

Buy it... You won't feel regret. Elvis's pure music is here wth every kind of style,sound and era. Especially the variety of songs are not the ones we see in typical compilations. Linear notes and pictures makes it A MUST FOR EVERY MUSIC FAN.