Classic Pop Icons

This week saw the release of “Elvis Country – Legacy Edition,” which is a 40th anniversary upgrade of one of Elvis Presley’s most artistically satisfying albums.

The Legacy Edition pairs the original “Elvis Country” album, as first released in January 1971, with a weaker effort from the same year, “Love Letters From Elvis,” as well as singles and B-sides recorded at the sessions that produced those albums.

The music on “Elvis Country: Legacy Edition” was in large part the product of Elvis’ mammoth session at RCA’s Studio B, Nashville, in June 1970. Elvis was now around 18 months into an impressive comeback during which he had wowed America with a top rated television special, released some of his most critically acclaimed and successful music in years, and made a highly successful return to live performance.

Elvis and the band at Studio B, Nashville in June 1970:

Top: David Briggs, Norbert Putnam, Elvis Presley, Al Pachuki, Jerry Carrigan
Bottom: Felton Jarvis, Chip Young, Charlie McCoy, James Burton

CD 1: Elvis Country

Tracklist (including recording dates):

“Elvis Country” – original album

 1. Snowbird – (22 Sep, 1970)
 2. Tomorrow Never Comes (7 Jun, 1970)
 3. Little Cabin On The Hill (4 Jun, 1970)
 4. Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On (22 Sep)
 5. Funny How Time Slips Away (7 Jun, 1970)
 6. I Really Don’t Want To Know (7 Jun, 1970)
 7. There Goes My Everything (8 Jun, 1970)
 8. It’s Your Baby, You Rock It (5 Jun, 1970)
 9. The Fool (4 Jun, 1970)
10. Faded Love (7 Jun, 1970)
11. I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water (7 Jun, 1970)
12. Make The World Go Away (7 Jun, 1970).

Bonus tracks

13. I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago (4 Jun, 1970)
14. A Hundred Years From Now (4 Jun, 1970)
15. Where Did They Go, Lord (22 Sep, 1970).

The album opens with a solid cover of Anne Murray’s “Snowbird” which deviates very little from the original and is one of the more conventional country recordings on the album. “Tomorrow Never Comes” is an excellent power ballad that builds to an impressive crescendo. The song evokes Roy Orbison’s dramatic style and this was not lost on Elvis who can be heard in an outtake (not included here) singing “Running Scared” over the opening bars of the song.

“Little Cabin On The Hill” is a Bill Monroe song that Elvis had been fooling around with for years in private, including during the so-called Million Dollar Quartet session in 1956. The “Elvis Country” version is good, with a natural singalong quality, but it would have had a little more drive if sung in a slightly higher key. The same is true of “The Fool,” which is a cool bluesy tune that Elvis sings in slightly menacing fashion at the bottom of his register.

“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On” features one of Elvis’ best rock ‘n’ roll vocals of the decade. What makes it so great is the variety present in Elvis’ performance. Instead of sticking rigidly to the melody as written, Elvis is all over the place, even exploring the bass harmony on both the verses and chorus. This is a great approach as it brings the rather repetitive lyric to life and gives the performance real dynamic range. It’s the kind of imaginative performance that Elvis gave so often in his first decade of recording on tracks such as “One Sided Love Affair.”

“Funny How Time Slips Away” is a Willie Nelson-penned track that Rick Nelson had recorded for his 1966 album “Country Fever.” It is the Nelson version that inspired the Elvis cut and the similarities are heightened by the fact that James Burton plays dobro on both. As similar as the songs are instrumentally, Elvis invests far more emotion in his vocal and his is easily the more memorable performance.

“I Really Don’t Want To Know” features one of Elvis’ most passionate performances on the album. It is this type of performance that makes some choose this as their favourite Elvis period, because he rarely sang with such intensity and passion before or after.

Elvis arrives at Studio B for the June 4, 1970 session

Elvis delivers a flawless performance on the country standard “There Goes My Everything.” The song had been a big country hit in 1966 for Jack Greene and an even bigger hit the following year on the pop chart for Engelbert Humperdinck. Elvis’ version has a slightly looser arrangement and a very heartfelt vocal.

Don’t be put off by the slightly odd title of “It’s Your Baby, You Rock It” as James Burton’s melodic guitar work, Elvis’ highly engaged and imaginative vocal, and the well judged female backing vocals all contribute to make this a contender for the best recording on the album. The way Elvis sings the line “You made that bed you’re sleeping in and I’m tired of hearing about it friend” for the final time is the kind of moment that makes you want to start the song over.

“I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water” has Elvis and the band cutting loose on a great country blues jam. Elvis was so suited to this kind of performance that it’s a shame he didn’t do more in this style as the decade progressed. Stonewall Jackson and Johnny Rivers had both had success with the track several years before, but Elvis was perhaps drawn to the song by Charlie Rich’s version which was the flipside of “Mohair Sam” – the song Elvis repeatedly played when the Beatles came to visit in 1965.

“Make the World Go Away” is an excellent recording, with Elvis once again fully committed. Listen to him sing the line “Do you remember when you loved me?” for an example of Elvis’ ability to make you really believe a lyric. It’s not as polished as Eddy Arnold’s straight country rendition, but has a truckload more feeling.

“I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago” appears in snippets between tracks on the “Elvis Country” album, but is also present here in full as the first bonus track. It’s a fun, up-tempo gospel song which Elvis relishes singing. Elvis seems to also get a kick out of “A Hundred Years From Now,” which has its roots in bluegrass music and is the kind of song you can imagine Elvis fooling around with at home.

The final bonus track on CD 1 is “Where Did They Go, Lord,” which was released on single in 1971, peaking at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100.

CD 2: Love Letters From Elvis

Tracklist (including recording dates):

“Love Letters From Elvis” – original album:

 1. Love Letters (7 Jun, 1970)
 2. When I’m Over You (7 Jun, 1970)
 3. If I Were You (8 Jun, 1970)
 4. Got My Mojo Working/Keep Your Hands Off Of It (5 Jun, 1970)
 5. Heart Of Rome (6 Jun, 1970)
 6. Only Believe(8 Jun, 1970)
 7. This Is Our Dance (6 Jun, 1970)
 8. Cindy, Cindy (4 Jun, 1970)
 9. I’ll Never Know (5 Jun, 1970)
10. It Ain’t No Big Thing (But It’s Growing) (6 Jun, 1970)
11. Life – (6 Jun, 1970).

Bonus tracks

12. The Sound Of Your Cry (4 Jun, 1970)
13. Sylvia (8 Jun, 1970)
14. Rags To Riches (22 Sep, 1970).

The second CD features the complete “Love Letters From Elvis” album, plus three bonus tracks. The album opens with a remake of the song “Love Letters,” which Elvis had originally recorded in 1966. It’s sloppy compared to the original and it’s unclear what the motivation was to revisit the song, other than pianist David Briggs’ apparent desire to improve on the piano part that he had laid down on the original.

The songs “When I’m Over You” and “If I Were You” are both well executed country songs, but neither are particularly memorable compared to the best work Elvis was doing in this period. The same can be said of the Neopolitan-flavoured “Heart of Rome” which Elvis enjoyed singing but wasn’t really deserving of a spot on a mainstream Elvis release during a period where his work had been so strong. It’s also sung just a notch too high for comfort, which leads to a slightly over the top performance.

“Got My Mojo Working/Keep Your Hands Off Of It” is a different story, with Elvis ripping into an inspired medley of two old R&B tracks. Elvis’ natural feel for this type of music is very apparent and you only have to listen to the slightly exhausted laugh at the end to know how much fun he was having.

The gospel-flavoured “Only Believe” is simple material, but so well sung that it is a treat for those of us who simply enjoy Elvis’ voice.

“This Is Our Dance” is essentially Elvis occupying Engelbert Humperdinck territory and was actually co-written by Les Reed, who had a hand in penning Humperdinck’s monster hit “The Last Waltz.”

“Cindy, Cindy” was modified from a traditional folk song by songwriters Benjamin Weisman, Dolores Fuller and Fred Wise. It’s hard to escape the suspicion that Elvis isn’t particularly enamoured with the material, as he seems to be going through the motions a little here.

“I’ll Never Know” has a very appealing melody and delicate vocal from Elvis. It’s one of the better songs on the album.

Despite the pretty appalling title, which invites an obvious schoolboy joke, “It Ain’t No Big Thing (But It’s Growing)” is a very listenable straight country track, with good harmonica work from the great Charlie McCoy, an appealing lead guitar break from James Burton, and a solid vocal from Elvis.

“Life” is an unusual track which tells the story of the Creation. It’s the kind of song that is an acquired taste – acceptable as an LP track but a little surprising that it was selected as a single.

The bonus tracks commence with “The Sound of Your Cry” which has a well crafted melody and is nicely recorded, but Elvis perhaps gets a little carried away towards the end.

“Sylvia” was recorded at the June 1970 sessions but wasn’t released until 1972 when it appeared on the “Elvis Now” album. The song and performance is not without appeal, but ultimately it’s fairly average and the decision to hold it back is understandable. Felton Jarvis’ overdubs, which are often criticised, are quite tasteful and interesting here.

The final track on the album is “Rags to Riches” which Elvis delivers in bombastic but appealing fashion. The title suggests that the song might have an autobiographical element, but “Rags to Riches” refers not to financial status, but to the metaphorical change of fortunes that can arise from finding true love.

Summing up

The best of the music that Elvis recorded in Nashville in the summer of 1970 is a notch below his strongest 1969 material, but there is much to enjoy and the “Elvis Country” album that came out of the sessions is one of the most cohesive of his career – often noted as one of Elvis’ few real concept albums.

It’s no surprise that Elvis rose to the occasion on this material, because he had always had a real affinity with country music. What we get here though is rougher and more earthy than the classic Nashville sound of the 1960s. Just as Elvis had done when he first recorded for Sun Records in the mid-’50s, on these tracks he merges genres and puts his own stamp on what are often familiar and well worn song selections.

This release follows the pattern of the previous Elvis Legacy Editions by coupling the main title with a second album from the era. However, this time the policy has attracted more criticism because of the decision to include what is regarded as a classic Elvis album (“Elvis Country”) with a more throwaway selection (“Love Letters From Elvis”). Clearly, the two albums were deemed a neat fit because most of the material came from the same sessions, but there is a marked difference in quality between the two and this release would have been stronger if some of the best outtakes from the main “Elvis Country” album had been included, instead of the weaker material.

Criticisms aside, there is enough strong material here to make it a worthwhile release, particularly given the surprisingly low price and the fact that the highly regarded Vic Anesini 2007 remasters are used throughout.

If you admire Elvis Presley, the album “Elvis Country” belongs in your collection.

“Elvis Country – Legacy Edition” is available now from:

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