Elvis Presley - From Elvis in Memphis

Come for the classics and stay for the rest.

I'm very new to buying Elvis recordings, and my main reason for buying this CD is to get the classics "Kentucky Rain", "In the Ghetto", and "Suspicious Minds". The surprise here is that this is great stuff all the way through. I totally understand why some say that this was his finest album (even though two of the songs I bought it for are bonus tracks).

All in all, a great choice for the newbie Elvis music collector. August 30, 2007

Elvis at his best!

Off the heals of his 1968 Comeback Special, the King hit a ton of home runs during his Memphis recording sessions. This album just has everything! Top 10 hits in "Suspicious Minds", "In The Ghetto" and "Don't Cry Daddy", along with the great "Kentucky Rain".





Every song is pretty much a winner in this bunch. I could write out several paragraphs on each one and its unique qualities and what Elvis brings to the table with his awesome vocals, but I think Amazon.com would write me a nasty e-mail saying I used up way too much space in the review column.





I'll just say that if you are an Elvis fan, or even a rock fan of any kind, this album is some of Elvis' best work of his career, and arguably his best work period. He was a man with something to prove, an image to revive, and he scored in every aspect with this set of songs! June 19, 2007

This Is What a Broken Heart Sounds Like

After spending years putting out lame movie soundtracks (singing songs like "Do the Clam" and "The Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce"), Elvis Presley's confidence as a performer was about as low as he could get. Getting out of the movie contracts, Elvis returned to the music studio with a desperate desire to retake his throne and remind everyone what made him the king of rock and roll.

The raw energy and pure determination we all saw in the Singer TV Special, or "The 1968 Comeback Special," is on full display on what is definitely one of his finest albums, FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS.

About ten or fifteen years ago, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the 100 greatest rock albums of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s (I don't take RS too seriously since Yoko Ono is usually one of the judges for these things), but this is album was the one of Elvis' to make the list. They even called his version of "Long Black Limousine" a "harrowing" take.

I don't think I've ever heard a more tortured voice who sounded like he had some much to prove than on these songs. The despondent wail of "Long Black Limousine" IS harrowing. Other songs, after nearly forty years, still can bring tears to the listener's eyes.

That to me has always been the lasting appeal of Elvis Presley: his voice could make the most painful agony sound so good. June 14, 2007

Great Remaster

I have the 1969 release as well as the newer one from BMG.

The songs and performances from either release are all excellent. Sonically the newer release is clearly a superior product. I say it with caution because I have listened many re-masters where the engineers have cleaned up the noise but in the process lost the musical aspects of the recording. There is some of that happening in the remastered version but the loss is not significant.

The 69' release is noisy and musical. The BMG version is cleaner, organized, better separation, vocals are more palpable but IMHO it sounds like it has been carefully doctored in a lab. The sponteneity of the original master is not there.

All said and done I would put my money on the BMG version. February 16, 2007

Best Elvis Album of All-Time

I first heard this album almost 20 years ago...I was in Grade Nine. I had bought the vinyl at a second hand record store - and dubbed it onto a cassette to listen to during a school trip. From the moment "Wearin' That Loved On Look" started, I knew this was not a typical Elvis album. It remains quite frankly the best Elvis album of all-time. The rich rawness of his voice, the vulnerability of his career at the time, the classic arrangements by Chips Moman, the brilliant Memphis sound - are clear with each track. I fell in love with this album and this era of his recording history. I even had a gold album specially made of this record to hang on my wall. Simply the best the King had to offer. Better than Sun, RCA, Hollywood and Vegas, "From Elvis in Memphis" is not only my top choice, it deserves to be one of the greatest achievements of the American songbook. December 7, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...