Elvis Presley: Memphis (Box Set)

[Rocker84]

What's with the organ on promised land ?
Spoils it just doesn't sound right

[Walter Hale 4]

Matt Ross-Spang Discusses New Elvis Presley Box Set, Memphis

Across more than 100 tracks, MEMPHIS captures Elvis from the earliest stages of his career at Sun Records/Memphis Recording Service to his final recordings in Graceland’s Jungle Room, with stops at other iconic studios such as American and Stax along the way. On this new collection, listeners have never been closer to Elvis – as all overdubs are stripped from the material by Matt Ross-Spang, who mixed all the tracks leaving fans with only what Elvis heard "in the room".

I caught up with Matt, who we interviewed in Tape Op #117, and asked him a few questions about the process of reimagining this album from The King!

What was your approach going into the project?

The producer, Ernst Jorgensen, is the compass of the whole project. He is a leading historian (and fan) of Elvis, and a wonderful A&R man. He has an incredible knowledge of all the recordings of Elvis. He really guides me through each project. Otherwise, I try to honor the original producer/engineer and artist's vision, and not get carried away trying to "perfect" everything. It's easy to go too far with some of the new tools at our disposal.

Was the goal a totally new presentation of the tracks, or to simply strip the overdubs away?

Ernst could speak best to this, but with the last few boxsets Ernst has had the brilliant idea to remove the overdubs so you can hear the magic of Elvis and the band in the room. A fly-on-the-wall perspective, so to speak. I think this box set really shows what an impact Memphis and its characters had on Elvis.

How much reference to the original music did you do?

Quite a bit! That's extremely important to me.

Was it remixed using the original gear?

I mix these projects analog on the desk with very few plug-ins. I happen to use mostly vintage equipment, which I used on these mixes (Pultecs, 1176s, a Fairchild 670 copy, EMT plates, and a real echo chamber).

How much restoration was needed?

Not much! They had some incredible engineers and studios. I did a little noise reduction on certain tracks if the hiss was overbearing, but for the most part you could put the faders at "0" and hear a wonderful balance!

Any surprises or challenges once you were under the hood?

The American [Studios] sessions were mostly tracked to 4-track, so things were committed together, like electric guitar/piano, bass/organ, or bass/acoustic. I love those commitments, so for me it was all a joy to get to hear! Most times the reverb was committed to the vocal, and the American chamber was stellar so I loved it!

We're there any stand-out tracks for you?

It's hard to pick a favorite, but I love "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues," "True Love Travels on a Gravel Road," "For the Heart," "Promised Land," and "Kentucky Rain"!

Be sure to check out Matt Ross-Spang's interview with Dan Reeder in Tape Op #162!



By Geoff Stanfield

TAPE OP online

[minkahed]

There’s this channel called “Elvis A-Z” on YouTube and the guys name is Rick.

He keeps reiterating that the new Memphis set is in “Mono”!!! WTF???

[Walter Hale 4]

There’s this channel called “Elvis A-Z” on YouTube and the guys name is Rick.

He keeps reiterating that the new Memphis set is in “Mono”!!! WTF???

Good one minkahed

Now there's a thought.

Hows about a Mono-only companion edition for the Memphis box set, but with the old boot from 27 years ago given an official release, the Mid-South Coliseum concert from March 16 1974 remastered

Loads of Mono purists and collectors alike would welcome such a product i'm sure.

Bring it on

[Walter Hale 4]

found yet another, this time a short and concise, summary by long time critique Chris Roberts, hope you find interesting:


"A rewarding retrospective, not dissimilar to the kind revered artists get at major museums": Elvis Presley's Memphis recordings are immortal gold
Memphis is a mammoth, probably definitive set of Elvis Presley's Bluff City belters

Seventy years after his epochal debut That’s All Right invented, or at least popularised, rock’n’roll, this colossal collection – 111 tracks across five CDs (or debatable highlights on a two-LP edition) – gathers everything Elvis Presley ever recorded in his home town. It’s a rewarding retrospective, not dissimilar in breadth and depth to the kind revered visual artists get at major museums.

It runs from his early, savant, sex-driven emissions, through his responses to freakout levels of fame, on to his final, intimate Graceland grabs for grand emotion. Suspicious minds might ask if it’s anything more than yet another Elvis cash-in, but its scholarly diligence will satisfy those who just can’t help believing. The latter titanic track alluded to there is the major omission, which shows the problem with defining a box set by geography.

But there’s so much of both historic importance and physical energy here that to quibble would be to clutch one’s pearls at the young Elvis’s hip rotations. The Sun singles and RCA LP start the fire, with Baby, Let’s Play House still throbbing like a badass.

By 1969, In The Ghetto emblemises his era of seeking and achieving gravitas, while the Stax 1973 selections showcase an underrated phase, ranging from the effortlessly motoring (Promised Land) to the magnificently maudlin (My Boy). The Homecoming Concert spits out comets like Polk Salad Annie, the Graceland ‘76 trophy cupboard carries you way on down. To try to be iconoclastic about this immortal gold would be twerpish.


By Chris Roberts
( Classic Rock )
published 9 August 2024

[DayVee Bee]

I guess all of CD1 & half of CD2 is in Mono

[Fabbe]

good one here by The Elvis Workshop (aka: Richard) as he shows his recent purchases as well as talks about Elvis Week and from the 10 point on his monologue vid - the Memphis box.
Richard talks about "Suspicious Minds" controversy mix and what Matt Rose SPANG answer was.

Thanks for sharing.

From the video, it seemed like they discussed the overall mix. However, the issue with 'Suspicious Minds' wasn't the mix itself, but a technical glitch. The guitar track was slightly out of sync, even though it was perfectly aligned in previous releases of the same take.

While I believe this is a fantastic release overall and admire Matt's work on these tracks, I think these technical errors could have been avoided.

I hope this issue will be addressed in future releases.

[drjohncarpenter]

I have to say that the last three comments are pretty crass!

Maybe. But also . . . spot-on?

[Walter Hale 4]

I guess all of CD1 & half of CD2 is in Mono

yes , but with a mono-only they could simply re-produce from the authentic original masters so fans get a product that sounded just as it was when released the first time, no remastering except for the March 16 1974 Memphis concert to cut out the reverbs.

[Walter Hale 4]

good one here by The Elvis Workshop (aka: Richard) as he shows his recent purchases as well as talks about Elvis Week and from the 10 point on his monologue vid - the Memphis box.
Richard talks about "Suspicious Minds" controversy mix and what Matt Rose SPANG answer was.

Thanks for sharing.

From the video, it seemed like they discussed the overall mix. However, the issue with 'Suspicious Minds' wasn't the mix itself, but a technical glitch. The guitar track was slightly out of sync, even though it was perfectly aligned in previous releases of the same take.

While I believe this is a fantastic release overall and admire Matt's work on these tracks, I think these technical errors could have been avoided.

I hope this issue will be addressed in future releases.

good on you Fabbe,

it's great to see vids like this and add them here, the way that fans have built up and established their own rooms into Elvis shrines.

They look like they're extremely proud and longtime collectors.

[Walter Hale 4]

but they all seem to be male fans however, be good to hear and see a woman's take every once in a while.

That "Ashleys Adventures" young american lass who does the historical Videos regularly, would be my pick

[Walter Hale 4]

look at that !

JB Hi-Fi Local distributor has the Memphis box already available here which was a surprise! CD products are very scarce in my neck of the woods.

There's a store available across the large main road from where i live !

https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/cd-presley-elvis-memphis-limited-expanded-box-set-5cd-box

[Gregory Nolan Jr.]

Anyone else hearing a glitch (missing audio) at 2:27 of Any Day Now? I'm referring to the physical CD.

What's with the organ on promised land ?
Spoils it just doesn't sound right

I just caught up with the last few weeks of threads and I recommend you both do the same. Both were addressed *ad nauseum* - just toggle back and you will see plenty on these items if you are patient It's also where I learned some tips on the best ways to secure an affordable new copy of it here in the U.S. which helped get me off the sidelines.
I am working my way through the CD set (finally on the second to last disc - the live set) and I am glad to report that whatever the well-documented beefs with the set (a big reminder of the ruckus on this very forum when "ELV1S"" came out early this century), I have enjoyed "MEMPHIS" thus far with the newly-applied "coat of paint" (or rather the opposite). And I recommend taking the retail / marketing theme a little less literally and just roll with or allow for some of the latter-day artistic decisions made by the RCA/ Legacy production team. It''s not like we have to surrender or turn in our preferred other sets . For most of us, it means somehow locating more shelf-space for our ever-fascinating musical hero. And finding new ways to hear this frankly often over-familiar material in new ways is itself a feat. That the "MEMPHIS" set has garnered some high-profile reviews and a beautiful presentation (no streams for me) is gratifying for this life-long fan.

[Walter Hale 4]

Anyone else hearing a glitch (missing audio) at 2:27 of Any Day Now? I'm referring to the physical CD.

What's with the organ on promised land ?
Spoils it just doesn't sound right

I just caught up with the last few weeks of threads and I recommend you both do the same. Both were addressed *ad nauseum* - just toggle back and you will see plenty on these items if you are patient It's also where I learned some tips on the best ways to secure an affordable new copy of it here in the U.S. which helped get me off the sidelines.
I am working my way through the CD set (finally on the second to last disc - the live set) and I am glad to report that whatever the well-documented beefs with the set (a big reminder of the ruckus on this very forum when "ELV1S"" came out early this century), I have enjoyed "MEMPHIS" thus far with the newly-applied "coat of paint" (or rather the opposite). And I recommend taking the retail / marketing theme a little less literally and just roll with or allow for some of the latter-day artistic decisions made by the RCA/ Legacy production team. It''s not like we have to surrender or turn in our preferred other sets . For most of us, it means somehow locating more shelf-space for our ever-fascinating musical hero. And finding new ways to hear this frankly often over-familiar material in new ways is itself a feat. That the "MEMPHIS" set has garnered some high-profile reviews and a beautiful presentation (no streams for me) is gratifying for this life-long fan.

Good one Gregory Nolan Jr

[jurasic1968]

Great post, Gregory Nolan Jr.

[TCB-FAN]

I am working my way through the CD set (finally on the second to last disc - the live set) and I am glad to report that whatever the well-documented beefs with the set (a big reminder of the ruckus on this very forum when "ELV1S"" came out early this century), I have enjoyed "MEMPHIS" thus far with the newly-applied "coat of paint" (or rather the opposite).

That "Fresh Coat Of Paint" analogy pretty much sums up the new Ross-Spang's mixes on these masters. Some prefer the old coat. To each their own. Well put Gregory !

[Walter Hale 4]

a part two summary by
MJL3764. i added his first on here before.

[a mess of polk salad]

I've been enjoying the new MEMPHIS box set very much but listening to the 1969 Memphis recordings has pushed me to listen to the fantastic AMERICAN SOUND SESSIONS 5-CD --a release that is a firm favourite . Stunning to hear all those great recording sessions , every song a golden nugget .....

IMG_20240902_072017.jpg

Its a shame they weren't complete on the new MEMPHIS set---with many songs missing .....

[attachment=0]IMG_20240902_072017.'

[LSP-4445]

Played the whole Elvis At Stax 2013 3-CD edition and must say overall I like the mixes here
better than the Memphis release (CD3)

[Walter Hale 4]

The story of 'Memphis': How new Elvis box set brings listeners closer than ever to the King

During the course of a 20-year recording career, Elvis Presley would cut at the top studios in New York, Nashville and Hollywood, but his most uniquely powerful work was captured in his hometown of Memphis. RCA Records and Legacy Recordings will celebrate that body of work with a new Elvis box set titled, fittingly, “Memphis.”

Set for release Aug. 9, "Memphis" includes 111 tracks spanning Presley’s recordings in the city, with 88 of those tracks newly remixed by local Grammy-winning engineer/producer Matt Ross-Spang at his Crosstown studio, Southern Grooves.

Produced by noted Elvis archivist Ernst Jørgensen, the five-CD set — which will also be released digitally and in a pared-down two-LP vinyl package — marks the first “fully comprehensive collection” of the recordings Presley made in the Bluff City. The box set chronicles Presley’s 1954 and 1955 sessions at Sun, his comeback at American Sound Studios in 1969, the music he made at Stax Records in 1973, live recordings from a 1974 show at the Mid-South Coliseum, and a final set of songs cut in the Jungle Room of his
Graceland home in 1976, a year before his passing.

Aside from the iconic Sun recordings, all the tracks on "Memphis" were newly mixed by Ross-Spang, removing overdubbed strings, horns and additional backing vocals, offering a unique "fly-on-the-wall" glimpse of how the studio material sounded as Elvis was first laying down his vocals.


For Ross-Spang — who has worked on various Elvis projects, mixing live shows and de-mixing studio recordings, for nearly a decade — the "Memphis" box set allowed him to employ modern technology to bring the listener closer than ever to the King.

“On these recordings, I do a little bit of audio cleanup where I get any major tape hiss, clicks, pops or anything like that out of the way,” says Ross-Spang. “And then I've kind of developed a technique to really add a lot of presence to Elvis' voice, so you can really hear the detail. I think that's the part I'm most excited about, for the listener to really hear Elvis loud and proud with all the nuance in his voice better than ever.”


Stripping the overdubs from the Memphis sessions only makes them more Memphis,” says author and historian Robert Gordon, who wrote the liner notes to the new box set. “Whereas Nashville and Los Angeles are all about the icing, Memphis is about the muscle, it's about the rawness and the edge. I think this box makes us feel Elvis more than has ever been possible because there's less in the way. We literally are hearing what Elvis heard in the moment and hearing Elvis' response to it. So it puts us in his shoes in a way that's never been possible before.


The magic of Elvis and The Memphis Boys

Following his historic Sun sessions with producer Sam Phillips in the mid-‘50s, it would be another 15 years before Elvis recorded in Memphis again. Presley had spent the bulk of the ‘60s in Hollywood making films and recording mostly lightweight songs for those movies.

While Presley was busy turning out his musicals, producer Chips Moman and his American Sound Studios — located on Thomas Street in North Memphis — had grown into a monster. Moman had recruited a crack unit of players from the house bands at Hi Records and Phillips Records to form the American Studio group, dubbed The Memphis Boys: guitarist Reggie Young, drummer Gene Chrisman, pianist Bobby Wood, organist Bobby Emmons and bassists Mike Leech and Tommy Cogbill.

The lineup, mostly with Moman behind the board, would become a hit-making machine in the latter
half of the '60s, working up a series of chart smashes for artists like the Box Tops ("The Letter"), Dusty Springfield ("Son of a Preacher Man"), Neil Diamond ("Sweet Caroline"), B.J. Thomas ("Hooked on a Feeling") and Bobby Womack ("Fly Me To The Moon"). When Elvis decided it was time to get serious about making music again, he decided to go back to Memphis and work at American.

“Imagine it's 1969 and Elvis is walking into American studio,” says Gordon. “He's spent a decade in Hollywood, been in state-of-the-art recording studios, world class facilities. And he steps into this ramshackle Memphis recording studio and he's got to be taken aback, and he's got to wonder what he's gotten into.


“But I think also he's got to be thrilled. Like, OK, I understand this — and especially as he gets to know The Memphis Boys and Moman, he realizes how basically they're just like him. Now, he's recording with Southern boys who were raised like he was raised, to understand what he understands, who share the same musical affinities. I think that there's this moment where Elvis’ heart has to soar because he's gone from the shiniest and maybe falsest situation to the funkiest situation and he feels great about it. You can hear that in his performances.”


“One of the big takeaways for me on the American material,” says Ross-Spang, “was that these were the best music session musicians, the best producer and the best singer, and all of them were at the top of their game.”

The American sessions would prove a major comeback for Presley. Released in June of ’69, the resulting “From Elvis in Memphis” album would reach No. 13 on the Billboard album charts, while a string of singles from the sessions, including “In the Ghetto,” “Don’t Cry Daddy,” “Kentucky Rain” and “Suspicious Minds,” would return Elvis to top of the singles charts.


The emotion of Elvis' Stax and Jungle Room recordings

The triumph of the American sessions would give way to the more complex period in Presley’s life and recording career. He would again record in Memphis in 1973. By then, Elvis was in the midst of a divorce from his wife, Priscilla. RCA was on him to deliver more product, but Elvis didn't want to leave Memphis and his young daughter, Lisa Marie, to record.


By then, the hottest studio in town was Stax, home of the Memphis soul label. At the time, Stax was exploding: Isaac Hayes' "Shaft" soundtrack had been released the previous summer, and Stax had entered its second golden age. Stax had stopped renting the studio to outside acts, but the opportunity to host Elvis was too special to pass up. The label's resident superstar, Hayes, even gave up time he'd already booked to let Elvis record. The choice for studio was also a logistical one: Stax had a proper security setup and guards at its gate and was mere minutes from Graceland.

Gordon notes that the Stax sessions are highlighted by moments of deep personal meaning for Presley — who was in a dark place emotionally as a result of his failing marriage — including his rendition of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me.”


“Elvis had an image he felt he had to uphold," says Gordon. "A sense of being macho, where you can't be vulnerable. And it's only in a song like ‘Help Me’ where Elvis can imbue his need for compassion and empathy, and he can ask for the help he needs without feeling like a wimp. He can do it artfully.”


Another stirring moment comes during Elvis’ final sessions captured at the Jungle Room in 1976, just a year before his death, with a gut-wrenching version of the traditional ballad, “Danny Boy.” While the original contained considerable musical embellishment, the new version on the "Memphis" box set is powerfully spare.

“Elvis is at the piano singing this folk song and initially might seem like a throwaway. But as you listen to it, you can hear Elvis throwing himself into the depths of the song,” says Gordon. “This is a song that has lasted generations, eons, it has lasted continents and cultures — and it's his father's favorite song. And in the new presentation we get more to the heart of darkness that's underlying Elvis' life at that moment. We feel him putting his imprint on those eons of time through this song.”

- Bob Mehr
Memphis Commercial Appeal Online
https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/07/31/elvis-presley-new-releases-2024/74588682007/

[jurasic1968]

Great post. Thanks a lot, Walter Hale.

[Alexander]

I finally got around to buying both the 5CD set and the vinyl and give (the box set) a proper listening session.
Thought Matt Ross Sprang did a great job on the Las Vegas 1969, From Elvis In Nashville and Back In Nashville box sets but this one did not catch my enthusiasm.
- For the Sun sides A Boy From Tupelo will be my go-to set.
- For The American sound sessions, I perfectly happy with the FTDs and complete sessions set and I even favor the good old Memphis Record over these mixes.
- For the Stax sessions I personally prefer Elvis at Stax, as I prefer Jungle Room Sessions (FTD) and Way Down In The Jungle Room over the representation on this album.
- The Memphis 1974 might just have a bit more punch on this release than previous mixes, but pales in comparison to the quad mix (also the original From Elvis In Memphis and Promised Land quad mixes sound blow these mixes out of the water).
Personally I am not very enthusiastic about this release and I think it is a hit and miss job with quite a few sound issues and odd mixing choices like Don't Cry Daddy. I will leave the records sealed and store the box set in my collection > not something I will revisit frequently.

[lucio]

I finally got around to buying both the 5CD set and the vinyl and give (the box set) a proper listening session.
Thought Matt Ross Sprang did a great job on the Las Vegas 1969, From Elvis In Nashville and Back In Nashville box sets but this one did not catch my enthusiasm.
- For the Sun sides A Boy From Tupelo will be my go-to set.
- For The American sound sessions, I perfectly happy with the FTDs and complete sessions set and I even favor the good old Memphis Record over these mixes.
- For the Stax sessions I personally prefer Elvis at Stax, as I prefer Jungle Room Sessions (FTD) and Way Down In The Jungle Room over the representation on this album.
- The Memphis 1974 might just have a bit more punch on this release than previous mixes, but pales in comparison to the quad mix (also the original From Elvis In Memphis and Promised Land quad mixes sound blow these mixes out of the water).
Personally I am not very enthusiastic about this release and I think it is a hit and miss job with quite a few sound issues and odd mixing choices like Don't Cry Daddy. I will leave the records sealed and store the box set in my collection > not something I will revisit frequently.

I agree with you regarding the generally inferior mixes for '69, '73, '76 on this set but as far as Elvis' voice specifically, if one did an A-B comparison, it has never sounded better than here. If we could take the voice upgrade of Memphis and the instrumental mixes of the previous releases you mention (minus the often overpowering back up vocalists), then that would be a winner for me.

[TCB-FAN]

The Memphis 1974 might just have a bit more punch on this release than previous mixes, but pales in comparison to the quad mix (also the original From Elvis In Memphis

Now if only Ernst could dig up & locate the complete Memphis concert master tape (if in fact it exists),mixed by Dennis Ferrante in 1997 & release that, it would be quite nice. It would put ALL other mixes & releases to shame, including the latest Ross-Spang mix.

[Robert]

The Memphis 1974 might just have a bit more punch on this release than previous mixes, but pales in comparison to the quad mix (also the original From Elvis In Memphis

Now if only Ernst could dig up & locate the complete Memphis concert master tape (if in fact it exists),mixed by Dennis Ferrante in 1997 & release that, it would be quite nice. It would put ALL other mixes & releases to shame, including the latest Ross-Spang mix.

Adding up all releases so far I think this latest sound and the FTD is the best we'll ever get.
The concert recording has it's limitations in terms of thin bass track, weak snare drum and kick drum doesn't seem to be recorded at all.
Even on the Platinum mix there's no kick drum during the Steamroller intro and we know Ronnie did use it heavily.

Matt Ross stated he leaned on the audience track quite a bit and it gives you a true concert feel so I'm quite ok with the MEMPHIS audio.
The overall sound is pretty cool and Elvis voice shines.
And it's obviously better than the Legacy release but that was an easy game.