Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley (1st Album)
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Free Music Notes for Elvis Presley (1st Album)
Free Music Review: The Year Elvis Was The King
Hit: 5 Stars
This review is based on a documentary about the making of this album. The ideas expressed there apply to the album as well.
Over the past several months I have spend more than my fair of time investigating the effect of the career of Elvis Presley on my generation of '68, and on me personally. That has entailed listening to some CDs and looking at old footage provided in various DVD compilations. One such documentary, hosted by Jack Scott, traced Elvis's rise in the key year of 1954, the `dog days'. The present documentary breaks down a classic Elvis Presley (that is the title, and really all that is necessary as a title) album of 1956, his breakout year. The year he moved from Sam Phillips Sun Records to the big time, RCA Records.
This DVD is part of a series on classic American albums. I am not familiar with the others in the series yet but based on this introduction these efforts seem to be labors of love. Here we have the expected `talking heads' dissecting the meaning of each song, some anecdotes from various and sundry performers and music historians interspersed with very illuminating footage of Elvis's progress from Southern regional phenomena to national (and international) rock star at a time when the youth of my generation were desperately in need of a jailhouse breakout figure.
The highlight here is a very interesting discussion about Heartbreak Hotel, a song whose depressive lyrics would seem to be out of sync with what Elvis was trying to project (included here are also various takes on Elvis's performance of the song on television at different times). This segment makes a very strong case for Elvis's emergence as `king of the hill' in 1956. Whether he continued that role later is a separate question but 1956 was his year, and his alone. This little album also contained a very well thought out and performed mix of ballads, black bluesy numbers ("Shake, Rattle and Roll"), a little country, a little gospel. In short something any record producer would die for. If you need to know the history of rock and roll, or a slice of it anyway, this documentary is for you. If you just want the music grab the Elvis Presley CD, with both hands.
Free Music Review: Rock and Roll In Its Infancy
Hit: 5 Stars
This was the first album Elvis Presley recorded for RCA after leaving Sun Records. It is a historical recording and an essential component for any Elvis collection. For the average listener you may be surprised at the raw, gritty sound on most of the tracks. But it was that raw, gritty sound that first gained the attention of RCA, not to mention the world. This is Rock and Roll in its infancy. The early Rock recordings of 1954 and 1955, which is when these were made, were raw and earthy. You won't hear the polish of his later recordings here. This is the music that caused all the controversy and scandal.My favorite track is "Money Honey"; it's still rocks today. The big hit off of this album was "Heartbreak Hotel". It was a number one smash. Also included are familiar tunes like "Blue Suede Shoes", "Tutti Frutti", "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" and "Blue Moon". There are also gospel-influenced tracks like "I Was The One" and country-influenced tracks like "I'll Never Let You Go".
When you listen to this album, listen to it from a historical perspective. Think of how influential this music was. It was a new sound. For most people, this was their first exposure to Elvis. Think of how this music influenced the many artists to come.
Free Music Review: Not the original album, but just as great
Hit: 5 Stars
This has 6 extra tracks which were recorded at the same time as the original 12, so this isn't an exact duplicate of RCA's first gold record or the first rock 'n roll album to hit #1 on the charts. As such, I consider this a landmark album along with the Sun Sessions, Memories: The '68 Comeback Special, That's The Way It Is, and 30 #1 Hits. Each of these captures a very important side of Elvis.
This album is the still raw Elvis, maybe a bit more polished than during his Sun days, and more into a mixture of R&B, country, and rock than in his basically rockabilly days, although some of those are here too.
Some of his best such as "Heartbreak Hotel", "Blue Suede Shoes", "Tutti Frutti", "Shake Rattle And Roll", "I Got A Woman", and "Money Money" are here.
If you don't have any Elvis at all, I recommend Elvis 30 #1 Hits first, but follow that one up with this great CD.
Free Music Review: The Alpha of Rock -N- Roll
Hit: 5 Stars
For millions of Rock -N- Roll fans this is the beginning of time. Even though the Sun Sessions pre-date this album most of the Sun Recordings were Rockabilly. In 1956 RCA chose to include some of the Sun Session Recordings on Elvis' first RCA release but the RCA cuts are Rock -N- Roll, R&B, Country and Pop. This album is pure Presley and perfectly mirrors Elvis' taste. The only other music unrepresented on this album is Gospel. Some of Elvis' biggest selling records came from this album including Heartbreak Hotel and Blue Suede Shoes. Heartbreak Hotel and I Got A Woman were recorded inside a Methodist Church in New York City to give them the echo effect. This was the first RCA pop album to do a millions dollars worth of business. The album cover was a trendsetter. It was punk before punk with its mix color of black, white, pink and green. If your searching for more than just gold hits this is a great place to start.Free Music Review: Go, go, go!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a reissue of Elvis Presley's first album. The album featured seven songs recorded in January of 1956, and five Sun Records songs that were previously unissued (some of which dated back to 1954). The album almost perfectly mirrored Elvis' taste. Only gospel music went unrepresented. There were current hits and almost-current hits, R&B classics, country standards, pop standards and original songs submitted before the sessions. It's all really great stuff. The CD adds six bonus tracks, which were recorded between January and April of 1956. Highly recommended.