Elvis Presley - Elvis Is Back (53 tracks) +Album Reviews

Run, Don't Walk, To Your Keyboard and Order This CD!

T. Hayes | Chicago, IL | 06/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having just paid almost $50 for an FTD (Follow That Dream) label 2-CD set of "Elvis Is Back", you can imagine that I was expecting some excellent entertainment value. FTD has delivered again! This INCREDIBLY fine sounding re-master of the 1960 Elvis Is Back LP---plus singles and outtakes from its associated March and April 1960 RCA Nashville sessions---is worth every nickel.

It is fun to hear the excitement build as Elvis and the band work through early versions of classic tracks like "Such A Night", "A Mess Of Blues", "Soldier Boy", "The Girl Of My Best Friend", "Fame And Fortune", "Fever", "Dirty, Dirty Feeling", "It's Now Or Never" and MORE. Elvis experiments with an assortment of interesting vocal phrasings, and the guys fool around with tempo and instrumentation as the session progresses. His operatic range on "It's Now Or Never" is legendary, and the emotion Elvis puts into "Soldier Boy" is stunning-- it is powerfully elegant...especially so on takes 1, 2 and 3. Eventually, take 15 of "Soldier Boy" (with a smoother vocal and what seems like a slightly faster tempo) became the "master"--the track chosen for the album.

Listening to this beautifully re-mastered CD, one feels as if they are there in real-time; not "were there", but ARE THERE-- in the control booth-- as the sessions come to life; the mix, and the instruments, particularly the bass guitar, have never sounded this good on a consumer release. FTD has done a terrific job; this true stereo mix has been opened up spatially (but not overdone), and the light touch of EQ, reverb and general lack of compression (revealing greater dynamic range) are much appreciated.

These were Elvis' first post-army studio sessions. He was in fine voice-- and you can HEAR the maturing of his vocal talent (range, interpretation and emotive achievement) revealing a refined, yet fresh new style. The choice of material also speaks volumes...country, blues, gospel, doo-wop, rock and wonderfully navigated pop. If you've ever wondered what Elvis is all about...this is a good place to learn. I can't imagine any singer alive today who could even come close to the capabilities of this guy.

This also represents (I believe) the first Elvis 3-track recordings...which means that the (then) new technology has joyously preserved what is truly an amazing collection of music production. Remember, Elvis recorded 'live to tape' with the band backing him in real-time as he made these hits...no going back later (like producers today can do with 8, 16, 24, 48 and 64-track machines). In this environment, Elvis feeds off the band, and the band feeds off Elvis' performances. To use the 's' word (synergy) here is appropriate---and not a surrender to the lure of the cliché.

This is a most compelling package of Elvis' early 60s pop, rock and blues tracks. When you hear the original album and single hit MASTERS-- alongside the outtakes and alternate versions-- you gain a great appreciation for the recoding process and the undeniable talent of Presley, his musicians and the Jordanaires (his long-time background singers).

With 53 tracks-- this trip back in time lasts about 2 hours. You will want to listen to this on a quality stereo system...not mini-headphones. (Don't wait too long. FTD only presses a limited number of discs. They may not re-issue because of the high production costs for what could be a potentially small market of second run sales.)

At first, the $50 price tag may seem too high, unless you consider this more of a time trip; in that light, $50 for the price of a ticket to take you back to two special nights, March 20, 1960 and April 3, 1960...and put you on a front-row chair INSIDE RCA's Nashville studios as you listen to Elvis work out on the other side of the glass...well, $50 seems like the deal of a lifetime.

Can you imagine how Elvis fans would feel TODAY--if someone had made arrangements back THEN--to film all, or even part, of his return to music making? In the absence of such a visual recording, close your eyes and open your other senses as you experience what all of America learned in the spring of 1960: "Elvis Is Back"."

Essential Elvis

Marc Haegeman | Gent, Belgium | 04/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the last few years there have been loads of Elvis Presley releases. Very few prove as exciting and essential as this double CD-set covering Elvis' first two post-army studio sessions in March and April 1960. These sessions not only produced a series of sterling cuts which made the original exemplary "Elvis Is Back" album, they also gave us true classics like "It's Now Or Never", "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and "Stuck On You".

This new "Elvis Is Back" set masterminded by the Follow That Dream team gives us the original album, the singles and all the substantial outtakes. Several of these outtakes have been released earlier (7 are released here for the first time, just as 19 false starts and workparts), but to have them all assembled often in augmented sound quality, makes the investment really worthwile.

This set, presented in the now characteristic tri-fold digipack the size of a 45rpm, has no less than 53 tracks, with both discs running well over 78 minutes each. Digitally transferred and mixed at the Sony Studios in New York, the sound quality is outstanding.

"

Elvis was trully BACK!

Petter Sellers | 03/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After two years of absence Elvis was back at the recording studio to turn a new leaf and provide new and exciting sounds

This is an album that is filled with Elvis vocal mannerisms that no one can master just as well. Throughout the various rock tunes, he provides again an example of a high pitched voice that can be next to a low baritone note. Do notice how he still passes his trademark of muffling or accentuating verses in order to escape from the constraints of a solid rocker. Inescapably, Elvis manages to jazz up the rock tunes based on his vocal acrobatics.

As far as the ballads go, Elvis is at the top of his form and never fails to provide full sound and distinct them all apart from each other. For example, Soldier Boy is a doo-up ballad that up to that point only major black vocalists could validate through their performances. Elvis is giving a new approach to this style. On the other hand, the ballad Fame and Fortune is a distant cry from doo-up melodies. Still Elvis manages to blend an operatic feeling with a doo-up following to it.

Overall, the album is a must for collectors.

The package presentation once again is superb and the outtakes are gold.

Do notice the one-two-three-four whisper preceding the epitome of Elvis Blues sound: Reconsider Baby

Enjoy!!!

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Elvis Is Back! 2005 FTD (Follow That Dream) Edition

D.C. Hanoy | Athens, Georgia | 09/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the greatest understatements in the history of rock and roll album titles, Elvis Is Back! declared in no uncertain terms that Elvis Presley wasn't as good as he was in the 1950s, he was better. From rock to pop, gospel-tinged ballads to tough Chicago blues, Elvis made magic in less than an hour. Seldom in his career would he be so consistently superb in voice, performance and material.

The deluxe, two disc edition of Elvis Is Back! on Follow That Dream (FTD), the official Presley collector's label, is the definitive look at the album, the worldwide hit single recordings cut at the same sessions, and how it all developed inside Nashville's Studio B in the spring of 1960. For nearly 160 minutes, FTD lays bare almost everything released, officially and otherwise, from the March 20/21 and April 3/4 dates. Not a second is less than a thrill and a delight.

The music itself is coherently and attractively laid out, from 'Album' to 'Singles' to 'First Takes' on CD 1 to 'March Sessions' and 'April Sessions' on CD 2. The usual gorgeous glossy booklet sports plenty of session and release details, along with several full color promotional portraits taken just before Elvis was discharged from the Army in March 1960. It's a shame he didn't have a few more days booked for additional studio work. Even the lesser tracks became golden with Presley and his able band.

The warmth of these 1960 master recordings is palpable, and as good as anything issued so far in the digital era. Evidently, such exquisite audio quality did not come easily for the FTD team, as certain master tapes were so heavily processed they could not be properly decoded. Careful use of an alternate source provided the higher resolution, more exciting result on the original album tracks, for example.

Citing highlights of the released stuff is slightly ridiculous. Of the 18 songs recorded, three were worldwide number one singles, with two -- 'It's Now Or Never' and 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?' -- showing new directions from the Tupelo, Mississippi native. It's evident that, while stationed in Germany, Elvis had worked to expand the power and range of his voice, as well as seek out the music that would define his return to civilian life.

Exclusive album recordings like 'Fever', 'Such A Night' and 'Like A Baby' are some of the richest of Presley's career, not to mention stunning single B-sides 'Fame And Fortune' and 'A Mess Of Blues'. Most importantly, the 1960 album closer, 'Reconsider Baby', is one of the ten best songs Elvis ever laid onto tape. In a nice surprise, the singer's count-in to his astonishing reworking of a classic Lowell Fulsom blues is included for the very first time as well.

For fans of this era, moving on to unreleased gems is where the fun really begins. 'Let's cut one', suggests co-producer Chet Atkins. And so begins an almost acapella take 1 of 'Make Me Know It', and Elvis' return to formal studio work in almost two years. According to engineer Bill Porter, the tension in the control booth was thick. Management and RCA executives alike wanted to know did Elvis still have 'it'? Their answer was delivered in less than three minutes Yes'.If I hit a few bad notes here because I can't my bearings right, you know, but uh, we got plenty of tape', apologizes Presley before a near-perfect take 1 of 'Fever'. Other numbers go through key, arrangement or tempo changes en route to perfection. Sometimes, as on 'Soldier Boy', it's just a little technical problem. 'OK, one more, we got a pop on 'feel' ... a mic pop, you know', explains Chet. 'I thought you said a puff', jokes Elvis.

The sexual firepower of Elvis' vocal on 'It Feels So Right' is coupled with a sense of menace on the outtakes, with Floyd Cramer's piano fills in nice, nasty counterpoint to Hank Garland's repeated guitar riff. It is Elvis himself who kicks off the guitar intro to Jesse Stone's 'Like A Baby', until he realizes it disrupts his vocal concentration. 'Hold it! I can't think of two things at once!' he exclaims. It's fascinating to hear how hard Presley worked to craft 'It's Now Or Never' as a powerful pop homage to vocal hero Mario Lanza. True to the legend, he did indeed hit the final ending notes in a single, complete take but, ironically, had to splice them onto to a later effort, as the band played the final bars that much finer.

In general, like much of the music taped at Nashville's Studio B by Elvis during the early-to-mid 1960s, the rejected performances are often only a hair worse than their released counterparts, a testimony to the talents of all involved. And Elvis Is Back! is undeniable evidence of a unique and enduring musical vision from the greatest singer of the twentieth century, Elvis Presley.

By Johnny Savage

Source: For Elvis CD Collectors Only

Elvis Presley.com.au: For Elvis Fans Only

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