"Good
things come to those who wait"
is a generations-old expression that I'm sure all of us
have heard throughout our lives. Last year, the "30th Anniversary" Elvis "weak"
left me concerned about the future (please read the previously posted column to
re-live the experience with me). So "wait" I did...a full 365 days until Elvis
Week 2008 and boy, did good things come to me ( who waited). Even the CLARION
hotel got their s**t together and the COLLECTING THE KING show was back there
again . And this year they didn't overcharge my credit card. I told you good
things happened.
Firstly, I
must shamelessly, indeed proudly, announce that Elvis Week 2008 included the
public debut of the book ELVIS:SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY from That's All Right!
Publishing, an enterprise and project
assembled by myself and fellow "Elvis Squad" contributor
Steve Barile.
I
won't get into any hype, soapboxing or wild promotions here, but I will suggest
that each and every fan check out the official website (
www.thatsallrightpublishing.com) , read the reviews and you should decide the
book is a must for your collection. That's the extent of what I plan to say
about my own project in this column. Beyond this, I will let the quality and
reputation of the book speak for itself. By the the way, this is NOT a one-shot
release. No less than two projects are in development from Thats All Right
Publishing as we speak, so please stay tuned.
Attendance
was "Way Down" in Memphis this year. But what morphed from the smaller crowds
was a nice sized group of "us" ( "us" meaning a number of
EP-friends from across the globe who congregated and "hung
out" in various factions throughout the entire week)... and had a blast. As a
result, I experienced the most satisfying and "quality time" Elvis Week I can
remember. It was great to see friends from Canada,Minneapolis,Chicago,Austraila,
Germany etc. (you know who you are) and also meet some "long lost" Elvis-world
giants like Rocky "Strictly Elvis" Barra and noted "original" fan Judy Palmer.
Great food all week too, except for a miserable visit to a joint called
NEELY's...ugh!!
New
Elvis releases were pretty minimal, but excellent. Our "Elvis-Something For
Everybody" book, Producer Steve Binder/JAT Publishing's " '68 at 40" (great text
as well as photos) and Sue McCasland/Praytome Publishing's "Elvis At Lake Tahoe"
book were the three "biggies", along with the three long anticipated FTD CD
sets. All of the aforementioned book projects are highly recommended."Inside
Love Me Tender" was also floating around town,however I only got to peruse it
for a brief moment. It quickly impressed me as the best of the "Inside box"
releases from ELVIS UNLIMITED. I look forward to getting it and reporting an
appropriately sized review of it's contents in the future.
The
'68 COMEBACK 4-Cd set from BMG was such a non-necessity, I passed it up and put
it on my Christmas list instead.
The LOVE
LETTERS (2-Cd FTD) is fantastic! Just fantastic. I read some horrendous comments
about these sessions (for instance, one fella claimed these sessions, featuring
some of Nashville's hottest and greatest musicians, were "flat as a pancake"...was
he serious?)
Honestly, I'm often mortified by some of the comments on
these"message boreds" as I cynicaly refer to them . Are these people supposed to
be Elvis fans? I'm not suggesting
everything EP ever did was perfect and without flaw, but these people just tear
up or tear down virtually everything the man did! And don't even mention the
1977 CBS special! That raises major ire. But personally, I
think this LOVE LETTERS release is just a joy! If that's
a crime, I plead GUILTY of all charges.
Yes, I like
it all..This Is Our Dance, I'll Never Know, Life...all of it. Great alternate
takes and undubbed masters, and overall the set features great mixes (although
the piano on the SYLVIA outtakes is mixed absurdly loud)..but NO extensive
reason to complain. We must THANK Ernst and Roger for having the tenacity to
continue releasing these gems unabated, despite being barraged
by knuckleheads and ungratefuls.And worth special
mention is the 9-minute workout of THE SOUND OF YOUR CRY. Elvis absolutely has
his "mojo workin'" on these sessions. One of the greatest outtakes ever! Flat as
a pancake...NOT! (That writers HEAD maybe)
Likewise,
ELVIS SINGS MEMPHIS,TENNESSEE (2-cd FTD) set gets a hearty thumbs up too...and a
special round of applause for one of the best covers EVER on any 60's-themed
Elvis release. (Sure beats the previously available CD titled THE LOST ALBUM
where the cover sported a brown paper mailing package!) Wow! what an improvement.
AMERICA, an
FTD soundboard recording from April 1976 has gotten quite a raking because of an
imbalanced sound mix (basicly, the female background singers are usually up too
high, sometimes way,way too high)...but I can defend this release choice because
it is one of the ONLY recordings ever from this tour...and Elvis himself is
pretty charged-up and sings quite commitedly on a number of songs (in other
words, he doesn't sleepwalk through the show as he sometimes did in performances
later that summer). Simply put, we have become spoiled (myself included,to a
degree). Here, the live mix was on cassette and FTD can't change that. It's
better to have the concert than to not,right? Also, another great cover design
with a dramatic concert pose courtesy of Sean Shaver. By the way, when someone
criticizes Elvis's physical appearance (i.e,his weight) I can't tell you how
dissapointed I am that anyone would hold that against Elvis's reputation as a
great singer and performer. If nothing else, this disc contains one of the best
versions of TRYING TO GET TO YOU ever. The two "bonus" tracks are from Spokane 5
days later, however they are not particularly noteworthy.
If
the AMERICA CD had come out 10 or 15 years ago, we would all have been climbing
over each other to get one. Many Elvis fans are just becoming spoiled brats,
quite frankly. And PLEASE folks, quit complaining about the concert set lists.
Elvis chose what he wanted to perform, you can't blame anyone but him. He's
deceased,and the setlists are what they are (as of August 16, 1977). They aren't
ever going to change, no matter how much we balk. Elvis hasn't done any more
shows or released any new material that I know of. Do you? So let's be thankful
for FTD, or someday it might not be there to kick around anymore.
So the gist of this Elvis Week was that it was low-key...but more fun than a Clambake!
Joe Russo
*******************************
Thanks for listening--any fellow Elvis fans with comments or rare-Elvis tips, please e-mail me at epshots@yahoo.com
Joe Russo 2008