ElvisNews.com: From Elvis In Memphis

From Elvis In Memphis

By ElvisNews.com/ Lex, Aug 4, 2009

For the 40th anniversary of Elvis’ legendary recordings at the American Sound Studios in Memphis Sony re-re-released From Elvis In Memphis once again. Is it worth to buy yet another version of this great album?

Design

Finally Sony (including its predecessors) released a very worthy package. For the first time (okay, excluded the box sets) we really get a dedicated release.

The package carries the original front of the album (excluding the logos and the strange gray bar on the picture) and on the back you’ll find the picture of the single cover of Suspicious Minds, next to some commercial text for the sessions and the track listing. Upon opening the package you’ll find the album cover of Back in Memphis and a famous shot of the NBC special, with sweat on his face, looking like a teardrop. Behind the CDs (which are printed like the original RCA label) you’ll find the single covers of In the Ghetto and Suspicious Minds.

The booklet carries the original album art (front and back) of From Elvis In Memphis. Inside great liner notes by Robert Gordon and Tara MacAdams (The Spirit of Home) are decorated with candids, memorabilia and some pictures of the August press conference and the shows in Vegas.

The track information is quite extensive, even including recording dates.

Content

I guess we all know the songs by heart, so there is no need to discuss them. The 1990’s re-release of the album is on my MP3 player for years, but for comparison I tossed that one into my CD-player again too. I didn’t notice a huge improvement, also not compared to Suspicious Minds collection that was released 10 years ago.

I must admit that I like the compilation the way it is done, but I really don’t understand why the mono masters of the singles are included, especially since they sound very poor on my MP3 player (on 256 kbps).

Conclusion

There is no real need to buy this compilation again, but it is for sure a collection that I’d recommend to anyone, since it belongs to Elvis’ best material.

Tracklist:

Wearin' that Loved-on Look
Only the Strong Survive
I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)
Long Black Limousine
It Keeps Right on A-hurtin'
I'm Movin' On
Power of My Love
Gentle on My Mind
After Loving You
True Love Travels on a Gravel Road
Any Day Now
In the Ghetto
I'll Be There
Hey Jude
If I'm a Fool (For Loving You)
Who Am I?
Inherit the Wind
This Is the Story
Stranger in My Own Home Town
A Little Bit of Green
And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind
Do You Know Who I Am
From a Jack to a King
The Fair's Moving On
You'll Think of Me
Without Love (There Is Nothing)
In the Ghetto (mono)
Any Day Now (mono)
The Fair's Moving On (mono)
Suspicious Minds (mono)
You'll Think of Me (mono)
Don't Cry Daddy (mono)
Rubberneckin' (mono)
Kentucky Rain (mono)
My Little Friend (mono)
Mama Liked the Roses (mono)

Give Your Opinion

Reactions

John4126 (profile/ contact) wrote on Oct 2, 2009report abuse

It's good stuff but Abbey Road is streets ahead.

eric c (profile/ contact) wrote on Sep 6, 2009report abuse

I've almost worn mine out.The packaging is cool(except for the clear plastic case)and is well worth a purchase.I still believe the Suspicious Minds 2D set is THE set to have but any fan MUST get this....one of if not his greatest album.I like to listen to this new collection with the FTD memphis sessions CD (also a must)....it's like being there in the studio when this magical music was created.

Greg Nolan (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 16, 2009report abuse

It seems unlikely...

theoldscudder (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 11, 2009report abuse

To my ears the Japanese paper sleeve have a richer sound. Very close but they are still a little better than this new release.

Matt W (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 11, 2009report abuse

elvistruth - the sound quality on this new Legacy Edition of "From Elvis In Memphis" is FAR superior to that found on the Japanese Paper Sleeve editions of "From Elvis In Memphis" and "Back In Memphis".. far superior. It improves on the "Suspicious Minds" anthology from 1999 as well due to the obvious fact that no noise reduction has been used on this new release. Vic Anesini has done it again! SUPERB work!

Greg Nolan (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 6, 2009report abuse

Sorry, "ElvisTruth" but that's a bit over-the-top. The sound is quite fine to these ears and many others. I was able to pick up this fine release for 13 bucks with free shipping on the Amazon site here in the US and have to say I'd have paid more for it.

As Rusty and other say, it's a real beauty, all around. A mild demerit for not including the stereo masters (if only to please the permanently cranky on this site) as I think what's lost is what a fine package it is overall. I'm ready to buy this again-- for my brother and friends. It's that good.

Don't let the stereo issue keep you from buying it. I'll not waste time arguing for the audiophile case for mono but just buy it and then try to get yourself to return it! No, you'll love it and keep it. Admit it. You will- it's a keeper.

elvistruth (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 6, 2009report abuse

Sound with this new release is a lot poorer than in japanese 20bit releases ("From Elvis in Memphis" and "Back in Memphis") from ten years ago!!!! So if this is the great job of Vic Anesini I think it's better old japanese releases or vinyl. The same as "The Wonder of you" (FTD) one more time sound is worst than concert from TTWII PVC box from nine years ago or the job from Audionics!!!!
My question is near all Elvis masters and tapes are missing and they are working with copies??? Or the people working on Elvis are absolutely mediocre??? The sound on live concerts from Sinatra, Doors, Joplin, Miles Davis and hundreds more is 1000 times more alive than Elvis releases. It's a tragedy. No more words.

Steve V (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 5, 2009report abuse

MJB63 - Its still a terrible idea. I'll tell you why. A lot of people (I know a few ) hate hit collections. They'd rather buy an artist's acclaimed albums. I know one such person who only has his first album, From Elvis In Memphis and Elvis Is Back when they were previously released. Doesn't care at all about about Teddy Bear on a 30 # 1 hits package. This type of buyer finally buys this acclaimed album and gets mono sound (on 10 songs no less) in 2009! Let's face it, Sony put the mono cuts on here as an incentive for the collecting die-hards that see a new mix and now have a reason for buying this since they have these songs multiple times over. They should have included the stereo masters as well then. Why do they do things half-way? At least the forthcoming Beatles re-releases will give the buyer a choice, mono or stereo. Their label does things right.

benny scott (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 5, 2009report abuse

Indeed Lex, the review says it all ! I forgot to mention this. Jimmy should have read it in the very first place ! Always El.

MJB63 (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 5, 2009report abuse

"Elvis 30#1 Hits" is the best mainstream release by BMG."From Elvis in Memphis"Legacy Edition is the 2nd best,regardless of the mono mixes.If a first time fan has #1 hits cd they have "Suspicious Minds" in stereo then add From Elvis in Memphis and you have an essential collection to start with.

Lex (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 5, 2009report abuse

Agreed Benny... or at least read the review :-)

benny scott (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 5, 2009report abuse

Reading first Jimmy Cool's reaction and then Rusthy's, proves again how easy it is to give negative comment ! Never judge before having seen or heard the release itself.Always El.

Rusty (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 5, 2009report abuse

With reference to Jimmycool's comment about a cheap sleeve and ugly grey bar on the front,
well having just bought this release I can confirm that the grey bar is not on the cover it just has the original full cover from 'Elvis In Memphis' also the packaging is far from cheap as it's a triple card digi-pack design with a 20 page insert and the inner folds have photos of the original sleeves from the two Memphis albums, if the whole package was blown up to a 7" size it would be just like an FTD release, in fact I think it was planned to be so at some point and then somebody in marketing decided to make it a mainstream issue and reduced the size to conform with store racks.

JimmyCool (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 5, 2009report abuse

It's a crying shame that they didn't included th Stereo Masters! You can make your own "mono" masters on your PC, but you can't make mono masters into stereo... I'll skip this release. To me "Suspicious Minds- The 1969 Anthology" is the definitive collection. This is a total wast of money... even the cover is cheap... what about that ugly gray bar? They should have put a sticker or somethink instead!

Herman (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 5, 2009report abuse

Ha ha ha...mono ! EJF you're right: I wouldn't mind the mono songs if they included the stereo masters as well. Make it a three disc set, and by the way...where is the dvd ?

Steve V (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 4, 2009report abuse

John - 100% on target. 10 mono songs on a future FTD makes sense for the collector since that is a collectors label. For a mainstream release not at all, it kills the whole flow of the music if you ask me. As for the much improved sound, I heard more bass here & there, and his voice was more upfront on some songs. That's about it.

John4126 (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 4, 2009report abuse

Re the negativity about the mono tracks. This release i would guess is not necessarily aimed at the fan who has the stereo mixes on countless releases, but the more casual buyer who is not interested in the mono or how it might have sounded on am radio in 1969 and frankly will probably be disappointed to hear these classic songs in this guise. I've said elsewhere that the mono mixes should be left to FTD. It's not quite on the farcical scale that dgirl mentions in respect of the 30 number ones but in my view it is a mistake.

As for the overall sound - there is minimal improvement to my ears compared to The suspicious minds 2cd set. Incidently a friend of mine was fortunate enough to speak to Neil Diamond when he toured the UK last year and Diamond claimed that the story where he gave up recording time on the proviso that Elvis recorded one of his songs was news to him!

Rusty (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 4, 2009report abuse

I'm wondering why there is so much negative comment about the mono masters, it was the mono masters that made me buy this CD as they have never been on CD before and to have the first single mix of 'Suspicious Minds' with the original brass overdub is worth the price of the CD alone ...
We have all the stereo masters on many other CD's but we don't have the original mono mixes that were the big hits at the time, I for one think these mono mixes sound amazing, real punchy radio play mixes with lots of bass.

schemies (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 4, 2009report abuse

Hi Folks, I agree, ALL stereo masters should have been there, especially since there is surely enough space left on disc 1. I hope the sound of all others is really improved. BUT I must say that I welcome the mono master of Suspicious Minds ! At the time the singles have all been released in mono, and to my knowledge so far this is the first release of the mono master on CD. The special thing about it is that the mono master has a different brass overdub as the stereo master, as you can find out on the fantastic website of Keith Flynn. And as far as I know, the first time the stereo master was released in 1981 in Greatest Hits Vol.1. So actually the mono master of Suspicious Minds is a collectors item. That's all, Folks.

elvis197475 (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 4, 2009report abuse

the sound is way better then any release to date.as far as mono singles i agree

dgirl (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 4, 2009report abuse

Well once again the label srews up on a major mainstream release for the general masses. Like they did with 30 #1 Hits by including the wrong masters, this time they give you Elvis' last #1 song (in the USA) in mono only but include the immortal The Fair Is Moving on in both stereo & mono. My goodness, a child could do a better job when it comes to an Elvis release.

FJE (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 4, 2009report abuse

I wouldn't mind the mono songs if they included the stereo masters as well. As it is I will only consider purchasing it in 2-3 years time when it becomes available cheaper. The Suspicious Minds 2-Disc Anthology sells for just €6.49 on Play nowadays. This is currently selling at €15.49.

Steve V (profile/ contact) wrote on Aug 4, 2009report abuse

I'd say that is a very fair review. A dedicated package (finally) on a great milestone in Elvis' career but def not an essential purchase unless you want it for the booklet and the 'slightly' improved sound. The mono songs kill it for me. Very bad idea.