Maybe I got a little carried away in '66/'67, but that's not to question the brillance of the American Studios sessions. I may like those earlier sesions as much, but there's so much more of the good stuff in 1969. If, in my opinion, Elvis arrived fully ready in Memphis, no redemption needed, it's still Moman's credit that he created the perfect condition for Elvis to stretch out in his country soul sound. I don't think I'll ever tire of this music - so full of life and all of the human emotions. Of course Moman also brought in some unbelievable songs for Elvis to cut - singles that finally allowed, Elvis, for a brief time, to align his release schedule with his talent.
I've ended up with this material in so many formats. The first I heard of it was on the 'From Elvis in Memphis' album (original 1969 12track album). I got this purely by chance, before I knew anything about Elvis in the '60s, before I'd swallowed a dictionary of rock criticism in Mojo and other magazines and books on music and internet message boards. It knocked me out. Whenever anyone handed me an acoustic guitar, I'd do my half-assed but sincere version of 'Long black limousine' (I'm so glad YouTube-covers didn't exist back then). I graduated to the 2disc 'Suspicious minds' comp - still the most complete overview of the sessions. 'From Elvis in Memphis' is included in its entirety and in its original sequence, so that one left the collection. Then later on I got the box set which has less alternate takes, but all the essential performances in session-sequence. Later still, I got the 'Back in Memphis' album (follow-up to 'From Elvis...') just cause it's got such a great song sequence. 'From Elvis...''s deep brother - tragic ballads and groove workouts. The best context to hear these 10 songs. Believe it or not, all of these versions have their uses, and I switch between them regularly.
I haven't said much about the music yet, but, you know, 'Suspicious minds', 'Kentucky rain', 'Only the strong survive', 'Any day now', 'True love travels on a gravel road', 'In the ghetto'... the list goes on and on. One of the great musical wonders of the '60s.
And to cap the year there was 'In person', Elvis's best live album (beating 1970's 'On stage' by a nose). There's a moment when Elvis says it's his first live appearance in 9 years - 'I've appeared dead before, but this is the first live one'. He doesn't know how right he is. This music is alive, frantic, wild, exhilarating, brilliant.
When I think of 'In person' I think of the bass playing. If you ever wondered how much fun it can be to play music in a band, you can hear it in this guy playing the bass all through this album - he goes nuts on 'Suspicious minds' but he's wild with glee all night. The notes sound like one excited hopped up grin. In fact, the whole band sounds exactly like being happy.
Highlights? 'Suspicious minds' is crazy. The opening threesome 'Blue suede shoes', 'Johnny B. Goode' and 'All shook up'. A manic 'Hound dog'. 'Words' - a beautiful song I don't know that he recorded it in the studio?
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