The album that changed the world. Presley's first album for RCA.
Today marks the 32nd anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death at only 42 years of age. The “King” or the “King of Rock n Roll” died a miserable death having been destroyed by the ravages of excessive drug abuse and a generally poor lifestyle becoming obese and sickly. For all Elvis accomplished, and the many ways he reinvented himself, by the mid-70’s, Presley had become a fat, sickly mess barely able to hang on between the variety of drugs he was taking and a hideous diet. Everything about him seemed much older than his age.
Considering Elvis’s final days became much more poignant after Michael Jackson’s death in June revealing haunting similarities in how both pop icons died. Jackson too had suffered a miserably unhealthy life style and was constantly doped using his inner circle and handlers to maintain his lethal habits.
Of course there was the strange intersection of the King and the King of Pop when Michael Jackson briefly married Elvis Presley’s only daughter, Lisa Marie, a relationship that created a huge media uproar.
What both fallen stars share besides their grotesque fates is their incredible body of work, and few performers changed the face of music the way Elvis Presley did. Michael Jackson worked within styles of music already well established, but it was his showmanship and ability to capture a new medium, the music video that helped make his career so stellar.
To think the teen audiences who went crazy for Elvis in the mid 50’s are now in their 70’s. Rock n Roll, the music of youthful angst and rebellion has reached old age, but there’s nothing old about Elvis’s groundbreaking early recordings from the material he recorded for Sam Phillips at Sun Record to his first worldwide hits for RCA.
His work for Sun helped define the essence of rock music, the union of the blues and rhythm of Southern African American music with the melody of country music. True to this form, he recorded blues legend, Arthur Crudup’s, “That’s Alright Mama,” and the country classic, Bill Monroe’s, “Blue Moon of Kentucky.”
Once landing a major label contract with RCA, the output of hits in rapid succession was something perhaps only equaled by the Beatles in 1964 who of course cite Elvis as among their greatest influences. The first wave of hits and his first album, Elvis Presley, in 1956 included both original material and brilliant covers such as: “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Heartbreak hotel,” “I Got a Woman,” “Shake Rattle and Roll,” “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” and a new pumped up version of “My Baby Left Me.” Not to be outdone, his second wave that year which yielded an album simply called, Elvis brought forth “Hound Dog,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Long Tall Sally,” and “Love Me Tender.” Meanwhile, a wave of a completely new sound completely changed the face of pop music as romantic crooners backed by lush orchestrations were replaced by small combos and charismatic young singers often with just a guitar or two, bass, drums, and maybe a piano or saxophone. The other underlying factor was young white musicians were playing music either originally performed by or highly influenced by black performers. Elvis dominated simultaneously the pop, country, and rhythm and blues charts. When has there ever been an artist who could have accomplished that.
The Elvis phenomenon continued at a feverish pace until October 1, 1958 when Elvis was drafted into the army where he attempted to meld in as just another soldier.
His popularity and the revolutionary nature of his music including the hip wagging swagger and the apparent raw sexuality created quite a backlash of horror. Some would see Elvis as ushering in the very destruction of our civilization itself. Frank Sinatra, who’d later come to appreciate Elvis was quite hostile at first, observing, “His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac. It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people." The FBI under J. Edgar Hoover’s paranoid reign even suggested Presley was a danger to US security. Preachers sermonized against him. Judges threatened to arrest him but Elvis rocked on.
A different Elvis emerged coming out of the military, perhaps best identified as Hollywood Elvis. Through most of the 1960’s, Elvis performed in one cheesy movie after another including “Blue Hawaii” and “Viva Las Vegas.” The King had his share of hits, but nothing matched the intensity of the 1956-1958 period. By 1964, Elvis was now the old guard as Beatlemania swept the world. Still, one could not dig too deep into the material of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones and not see a strong Elvis influence. In fact, Mick Jagger attempted to display black influences and exploit sexual themes to create even a more intense furor than what Elvis accomplished.
By 1968, Elvis was ready for a comeback and delivered with a December TV special featuring a live segment that showed Presley sure could still rock and helped introduce him to a new decade of fans who came to rock and roll through the British invasion and flower power. The program opened with, “You looking for trouble…you came to the right place.” Some mighty powerful rock and roll showmanship followed. 1969 saw Elvis hit his greatest creative peak of his later career with the release of “From Elvis in Memphis” a more mature, decidedly country and blue eyed-soul effort accompanied by two highly successful singles not on the original album, “Suspicious Minds” and “Kentucky Rain.”
Soon Elvis would be back in Vegas, at first triumphantly, but as time went by, the image of Las Vegas Elvis would become the very symbol of his demise. The 1970 release of Elvis in Person at the International Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada showed just how powerful the Elvis big band Vegas show could be, backed by a core band of Glen Hardin on piano, James Burton on guitar, Jerry Scheff on bass, and Ron Tutt on drums. Additional musicians, and singers including the Sweet Inspirations who worked with Aretha Franklin, and a Vegas orchestra helped produce a most powerful show. The lavish, big show, live album would be repeated with various degrees of success, On Stage, February, 1970; Elvis Recorded at Madison Square Garden; and Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite. During this time, Elvis released his last critically acclaimed album, Elvis Country (I’m 10,000 Years Old from 1971).
After 1973, the album output would ease up as would the quality. 1975 saw the release of Promised Land featuring a lively rocking version of the Chuck Berry song. The 1977 release of Moody Blue, an album finding his career gasping for breath, though the single, the album’s title track, was certainly a decent country single for its time and is clearly recognizable as the work of Elvis.
Today, Elvis’s prime recordings drift in and out of print with various singles and alternate recordings often recorded. The most recent generation feature some excellent remasters often including singles not included on the album and some additional material. Not all albums have gone beyond their original CD release. For the casual fan who wants a good dose of Elvis for his or her music collection, Elvis: 30 Number 1 Hits featuring his number one worldwide hits and Second to None which rounds out his work featuring well-known work that was not a chart topping single.
Still, for the music fan wanting to capture the essence of rock music, two revolutionary albums that set the stage for so much we’ve enjoyed for the last half century plus, the original RCA albums Elvis Presley and Elvis are must haves. Both are supplemented with concurrent singles that give the listener the whole Elvis story of that landmark year in American music, 1956, the year the King took his throne.
Considering Elvis’s final days became much more poignant after Michael Jackson’s death in June revealing haunting similarities in how both pop icons died. Jackson too had suffered a miserably unhealthy life style and was constantly doped using his inner circle and handlers to maintain his lethal habits.
Of course there was the strange intersection of the King and the King of Pop when Michael Jackson briefly married Elvis Presley’s only daughter, Lisa Marie, a relationship that created a huge media uproar.
What both fallen stars share besides their grotesque fates is their incredible body of work, and few performers changed the face of music the way Elvis Presley did. Michael Jackson worked within styles of music already well established, but it was his showmanship and ability to capture a new medium, the music video that helped make his career so stellar.
To think the teen audiences who went crazy for Elvis in the mid 50’s are now in their 70’s. Rock n Roll, the music of youthful angst and rebellion has reached old age, but there’s nothing old about Elvis’s groundbreaking early recordings from the material he recorded for Sam Phillips at Sun Record to his first worldwide hits for RCA.
His work for Sun helped define the essence of rock music, the union of the blues and rhythm of Southern African American music with the melody of country music. True to this form, he recorded blues legend, Arthur Crudup’s, “That’s Alright Mama,” and the country classic, Bill Monroe’s, “Blue Moon of Kentucky.”
Once landing a major label contract with RCA, the output of hits in rapid succession was something perhaps only equaled by the Beatles in 1964 who of course cite Elvis as among their greatest influences. The first wave of hits and his first album, Elvis Presley, in 1956 included both original material and brilliant covers such as: “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Heartbreak hotel,” “I Got a Woman,” “Shake Rattle and Roll,” “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” and a new pumped up version of “My Baby Left Me.” Not to be outdone, his second wave that year which yielded an album simply called, Elvis brought forth “Hound Dog,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Long Tall Sally,” and “Love Me Tender.” Meanwhile, a wave of a completely new sound completely changed the face of pop music as romantic crooners backed by lush orchestrations were replaced by small combos and charismatic young singers often with just a guitar or two, bass, drums, and maybe a piano or saxophone. The other underlying factor was young white musicians were playing music either originally performed by or highly influenced by black performers. Elvis dominated simultaneously the pop, country, and rhythm and blues charts. When has there ever been an artist who could have accomplished that.
The Elvis phenomenon continued at a feverish pace until October 1, 1958 when Elvis was drafted into the army where he attempted to meld in as just another soldier.
His popularity and the revolutionary nature of his music including the hip wagging swagger and the apparent raw sexuality created quite a backlash of horror. Some would see Elvis as ushering in the very destruction of our civilization itself. Frank Sinatra, who’d later come to appreciate Elvis was quite hostile at first, observing, “His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac. It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people." The FBI under J. Edgar Hoover’s paranoid reign even suggested Presley was a danger to US security. Preachers sermonized against him. Judges threatened to arrest him but Elvis rocked on.
A different Elvis emerged coming out of the military, perhaps best identified as Hollywood Elvis. Through most of the 1960’s, Elvis performed in one cheesy movie after another including “Blue Hawaii” and “Viva Las Vegas.” The King had his share of hits, but nothing matched the intensity of the 1956-1958 period. By 1964, Elvis was now the old guard as Beatlemania swept the world. Still, one could not dig too deep into the material of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones and not see a strong Elvis influence. In fact, Mick Jagger attempted to display black influences and exploit sexual themes to create even a more intense furor than what Elvis accomplished.
By 1968, Elvis was ready for a comeback and delivered with a December TV special featuring a live segment that showed Presley sure could still rock and helped introduce him to a new decade of fans who came to rock and roll through the British invasion and flower power. The program opened with, “You looking for trouble…you came to the right place.” Some mighty powerful rock and roll showmanship followed. 1969 saw Elvis hit his greatest creative peak of his later career with the release of “From Elvis in Memphis” a more mature, decidedly country and blue eyed-soul effort accompanied by two highly successful singles not on the original album, “Suspicious Minds” and “Kentucky Rain.”
Soon Elvis would be back in Vegas, at first triumphantly, but as time went by, the image of Las Vegas Elvis would become the very symbol of his demise. The 1970 release of Elvis in Person at the International Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada showed just how powerful the Elvis big band Vegas show could be, backed by a core band of Glen Hardin on piano, James Burton on guitar, Jerry Scheff on bass, and Ron Tutt on drums. Additional musicians, and singers including the Sweet Inspirations who worked with Aretha Franklin, and a Vegas orchestra helped produce a most powerful show. The lavish, big show, live album would be repeated with various degrees of success, On Stage, February, 1970; Elvis Recorded at Madison Square Garden; and Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite. During this time, Elvis released his last critically acclaimed album, Elvis Country (I’m 10,000 Years Old from 1971).
After 1973, the album output would ease up as would the quality. 1975 saw the release of Promised Land featuring a lively rocking version of the Chuck Berry song. The 1977 release of Moody Blue, an album finding his career gasping for breath, though the single, the album’s title track, was certainly a decent country single for its time and is clearly recognizable as the work of Elvis.
Today, Elvis’s prime recordings drift in and out of print with various singles and alternate recordings often recorded. The most recent generation feature some excellent remasters often including singles not included on the album and some additional material. Not all albums have gone beyond their original CD release. For the casual fan who wants a good dose of Elvis for his or her music collection, Elvis: 30 Number 1 Hits featuring his number one worldwide hits and Second to None which rounds out his work featuring well-known work that was not a chart topping single.
Still, for the music fan wanting to capture the essence of rock music, two revolutionary albums that set the stage for so much we’ve enjoyed for the last half century plus, the original RCA albums Elvis Presley and Elvis are must haves. Both are supplemented with concurrent singles that give the listener the whole Elvis story of that landmark year in American music, 1956, the year the King took his throne.
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