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Elvis Presley
From Elvis in Memphis
[Legacy Edition]
(RCA/Legacy)
First Appeared in The Music Box, November 2009, Volume 16, #11
Written by John Metzger
Thu November 19, 2009, 06:30 AM CST
Elvis Presley might not have invented rock ’n‘ roll, but he did come to
define it. He seemed to absorb every sound with which he came into contact —
from the bluegrass works of Bill Monroe and the western swing of Bob Wills to
the gospel recordings of Sister Rosetta Tharpe and the early R&B of Arthur
Crudup. By channeling all of it into a youthful blast of raging hormones and
intense longing, Presley became a massive cultural force in the 1950s, the likes
of which hadn’t previously been seen.
Arguably, Presley’s recordings at Sun Studios in Memphis remain the pinnacles
of his career. In fact, nearly everything that followed can be viewed as an
attempt by Presley to recapture the raw power of his emergence as an artist. In
his defense, though, his ascent was extraordinarily rapid. Once he was thrust
into the limelight, the demands that were placed upon him were undeniably
immense. For a while, Presley managed to weather the storm of attention, and his
two-year stint in the armed forces likely provided him with a much needed
respite.
When he returned in 1960, though, Presley hadn’t figured out how to escape
from the insanity of his schedule. He plunged back into the same routine of
recording music and making movies, but the process became ridiculously
formulaic. It’s no wonder his passion was noticeably absent to the point where
his soundtrack albums were padded with previously unreleased material. The most
perplexing thing of all, however, was the fact that he appeared to have no
desire to break out of his artistic decline. By the middle of the decade, his
career was in a tailspin, and his reign over the charts had been supplanted by
The Beatles.
Consequently, when Presley entered the recording studio to begin work on From Elvis in Memphis, everything was on the line. He knew this might be his
last chance to salvage his legacy, too. His audience had been primed for his
return-to-form by a television special that had aired in December 1968.
Featuring his first live performances in seven years, the program not only
provided a retrospective examination of Presley’s career, but it also alluded to
the places he would go on From Elvis in Memphis. For the first time in
quite awhile, Presley wasn’t merely going through the motions in order to earn a
big paycheck.
If there were any doubts about Presley’s ability to mount his creative
re-emergence, they quickly were erased when he returned to Memphis in January
1969. Settling into American Studios, which was in the midst of spawning an
astounding string of hit singles, Presley began to run through the material that
would compose From Elvis in Memphis. The expanded Legacy Edition of the
recording features all of the tracks that were completed for the project,
including the songs that fueled its sequel From Memphis to Vegas/From Vegas
to Memphis as well as several tunes that turned up on other efforts in the
early 1970s. As such, the collection serves as a thorough examination of this
portion of Presley’s career.
Throughout From Elvis in Memphis, Presley sounds fully engaged in his
work. Although he deployed many of his familiar touchstones, the outing wasn’t
meant merely to retrace his steps. Instead, Presley concocted a complementary
blend of country, gospel, and R&B that was more sophisticated and mature, one
that was dipped in more modern influences that ranged from Otis Redding to The Beatles. Like many of his outings, it is adorned with an assortment of strings
and horns. Yet, the arrangements aren’t nearly as obtrusive as they could have
been. They don’t mask the in-the-moment urgency of Presley’s impassioned
delivery, largely because he fought hard to be heard above the din that
surrounded him.
Much has been written over the years about Presley’s various personal and
professional struggles. He seems to address many of them head-on during From
Elvis in Memphis. Each song seems to have been selected to serve a purpose,
one that allowed Presley to make a statement about his own experiences. His
fight to reestablish himself as an artist and reconnect with the fans who had
deserted him seems to play out in his tales of broken relationships. Of course,
the themes that bind the set together also could be taken literally,
foreshadowing many of the problems that would plague his family life.
Despite the clarity of its mastering, the latest installment of From Elvis
in Memphis still sounds like it was meant to be heard through the diminished
speakers of a countertop A.M. radio. Most of the material is presented in
stereo, but the 10 mono singles that are appended to the end of the set pack the
greatest sonic punch. Within this confined format, tunes — such as In the
Ghetto and Any Day Now — were able to blossom within spaces that just
felt natural. It’s no wonder that other tracks from the era — Suspicious
Minds, Kentucky Rain, and Don’t Cry Daddy, among them — were
presented solely as 45s.
Presley had been lost in the wilderness for so long that he was just
beginning to explore the possibilities that a cohesive suite of songs could
present. The thematic flow of From Elvis in Memphis is an indication that
he was ready to turn the page and carry his career into a new era.
Unfortunately, under the weight of renewed pressures from the outside world,
Presley was never able to capitalize upon his new objectives. If he had, there’s
no telling what he might have accomplished alongside the other artists — most
notably Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash —
who were reshaping Nashville by leaving it behind. 
Of Further Interest...
Janis Joplin - Pearl: Legacy Edition
Jerry Lee Lewis - A Half Century of Hits (Boxed Set)
Roy Orbison - Crying
From Elvis in Memphis: Legacy Edition is available from
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2009 The Music Box
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