Favorite Album Cover #1-Elvis Presley

My favorite album cover is from the self titled first RCA release from early 1956. This is one of the more iconic covers of all time and has been very influential. A lot of people of copied this cover to some degree, most famous of course is the London Calling album by the clash. RCA couldn't have picked a better picture for this release in my opinion. This new thing Elvis Presley was a part of is all summed up in the picture. It is wild, loud, and out of control. You get a sense of just how out of control this music is in this picture. The twenty year old Elvis is flat out getting it on stage. The pink and green lettering was interesting as well, and something that has always been the theme of the artist who copied this cover.

Favorite Album Cover #2-Elvis Country

My second favorite album cover is from the 1970 album (I'm 10, 000 Years Old ) Elvis Country. I have always thought the picture on Elvis and his parents was very cool. One of my favorite pictures of Elvis period. Elvis was only 2 years old at the time of the picture.

Favorite Album Cover #3-Elvis Is Back!

This album was Elvis' first release after getting back from Germany. It was released in April on 1960. It has always been one of my favorite albums, and is one of Elvis' best. The cover for this album is cool and I dig Elvis' hair.

Favorite Album Cover #4-Elvis In Person

Elvis In Person is from the 1970 and contains a recording of a 1969 concert in Vegas. It was a very good show. I remember being very young and wanting this CD just because I thought it looked so cool. I love this picture and the way it is set in the black background with Elvis having the black suit on is very cool.

Favorite Album Cover #5

This week I am counting down my favorite album covers from Elvis. They are not necessarily my favorite albums. These don't include albums from movies either. Later I will have a separate countdown for those. Number five on my list is the cover from Elvis Golden Records Vol. 2, 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong. This was released in 1959 and is one of the more famous Elvis album covers. A few artist have borrowed the idea of this cover over the years.

Elvis Gold Records Vol. 2

I am going to talk about another one of the FTD's I got a few weeks ago. 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong is a classic. The album cover is one of the most famous Elvis covers ever. This has long been one of my favorite albums. I am so glad to get this wonderful 2 disc edition from FTD. Disc 1 has the ten LP masters as well as three bonus masters. All 13 are solid. I Need Your Love Tonight starts out the first disc. I have always thought this was a pretty good song, but not one of my personal favorites. Song two is one of my favorites, and one of Elvis' best, Don't. I think this song is wonderful and Elvis does a great job with this. I think this song is perfect the was Elvis delivers it. I Got Stung is on here and always been a song I like to listen to just for the fact it seems so out on control. It is fast paced and I have always had a hard time keeping up with it. Though I think that is why it appeals to me for some odd reason. It is just pure fun for more. My absolute favorite song from this album is (Now And The There's) A Fool Such As I. Probably one of my top ten favorite Elvis songs from the 50's. Doncha' Think It's Time in my opinion is a very underrated song. Disc one also contains takes from the February and June 58 sessions. Disc two is nothing but outtakes of I Need Your Love Tonight, (Now And The There's)A Fool Such As I, and I got Stung. As I have said many many times before, I love , love, love outtakes. Elvis was known to do take after take trying to get what he thinks is the right sound. That was really the case in the early RCA years. I only wish we had more of these gems to hear. I just love to hear the progression of a song and how he changes things and try different things. Most of the time I still think the master released was the best, but I do often find myself liking some outtakes better then the takes released. The first 18 takes of I Need Your Love Tonight are on this disc. I probably spent a half a day when I got this Cd just listening to these 18 takes over and over. I am fascinated by these takes. It teaches me so much more about Elvis' wonderful talent for making music and knowing what sounds good. I have found I appreciate this song so much more. I have done this with every song on this disc. I only with I had every take of every Elvis song. Now that would be awesome, even though I would never come out of my room. Overall I am very pleased as usual with FTD and the effort. This is a great addition to any Elvis music lovers collection. As much as I loved this CD it was my least favorite of the four FTD's I just bought. I still have yet to discuss Something For Everybody and Studio B. I will soon, but I am saving them for when I have the time to put some serious effort into the review. They are among my favorites ever!

Got a pocketful of rainbows

Tonight I am going to talk about one of my favorite movie soundtracks, G.I. Blues. When Elvis returned home he had to cut some records and start back making movies. Elvis would record this record in the spring of 60 in Hollywood. Elvis sounded great anyone that knows me knows I think Elvis was at his very best vocally in the early 60's. This album showcases Elvis almost perfectly. This was one of Elvis's biggest hit records but lets talk about the music first before we talk about what all the album did.I have the above CF which was a special collectors edition with alternate takes from this great album. The first song on the disc is Tonight Is So Right For Love. I think this song is pretty good and Elvis does a pretty good job. What's She Really Like is one of my favorite songs on the album. Beautiful song and Elvis delivers on it. Frankfort Special is a song that has grown on me over time and I must has grown in to one of my favorites as well. It is a fast pace song and Elvis seems to have a lot of fun with it. The song mixes in well with all the slower numbers that shows off Elvis as the true singer. Frankfort Special is a rocking number Elvis can just let go on. Wooden Heart is the one song that I probably don't go crazy over. Though I do not think it is as bad as some people I have heard criticize it. Interestingly enough Wooden Heart was a number one song in a lot of countries but was never released as a singer in the US until the mid sixty's.G.I Blues, this is just a classic movie song, not much needs to be said about it in my opinion. Pocketful Of Rainbows, my absolute favorite song of the movie. I think Elvis sound superb on it and masters the presentation. This song would be very ordinary and bland with most artist, but Elvis gives it a certain something and makes it sound so cool. Elvis could hear how a song should sound perfectly in his head and that one big reason he was as good as he was. Shoppin Around is another good song, that is a faster tempo song that again gives you another number to move around to, impossible song for me not to sing along to. Big Boots is probably my least favorite song on the album . I just can't get into it. Though I never skip it when I play the CD. Didja' Ever is the closing number and kind of has the same tone as G.I. Blues and is just as a good of a song. Blue Suede Shoes is a classic throwback to the days of the rock n roller days of Elvis and fits in nice in the movie. Doin' The Best I Can is a close number two for my favorite song on this soundtrack. I think it might just be the best all around song on the whole CD. Eight alternate takes appear on the collectors CD and they are all a great insight into the making of this special album. This CD is really solid. It is not only of his best soundtracks, but one of he best all around albums period. G.I. Blues the album made some history for Elvis. It would be a number one album for five weeks and would stay on the Billboard chart for 111 weeks. It would stay on the charts longer then any other Elvis album. Billboard ranks GI Blues on of the top number one albums of the 60's and in the top one hundred hottest albums ever. The album would go double platinum. I know this was a special edition back in the late nineties as well as a copy of Blue Hawaii, but I wish FTD would do a release on these two albums. If the have anymore material It would be worth putting out. The early sixties was something great musically for Elvis and some of his most successful work post Germany. Lets give these soundtracks of the early sixties there proper due. Please click on the video below and listen to my favorite song from the movie. Enjoy!

BURBANK 68

Today I got my new CD Burbank 68. It is a FTD of course, that's about all I buy anymore. It was the first release they had back in 1999. I did not really want this CD a lot, but thought I might need to get it now. It is pretty old and thought I might miss out since they don't always produce these long. I was wrong, I definitely needed this. I thought most of the material would be stuff I had but that is not the case at all. Nine of the songs are from recording of Elvis in his dressing room singing and playing with Scotty,DJ, and Charlie. Most of the recordings I have never heard. The twelve songs are takes from one of the stand up shows that was not included in the Memories two disc set. It also contains some dialogue throughout the disc that is entertaining. I am totally blown away with this CD. I am so glad I got it. The 68 special is alright in its original form. It really is not that great when you know of all the great stuff they left out. You can't appreciate how great the whole deal was until you see all the footage and hear all the music and the process of making the show. I feel now I have all the pieces to the puzzle. Back in the late 90's I bought CD of the original album that came out at the time of the show. Man, that CD is really bad when you hear the stuff they have put together since then. Memories the two disc set, Tiger Man, Let Your Self Go, and Burbank 68 really paint the whole picture. The Let Your Self Go and Burbank Cd's are FTD's and are as usual top of the line releases. The sound and production is out of this world. I honestly think of all the stuff I have that has to do with the 68 special, this new CD is my favorite though. You even get to hear Elvis jam to Blue Moon Of Kentucky which was pretty neat because I had not heard that before. That with the version of Love Me and One Night are my favorite tracks off the disc. The two instrumentals to start the CD off, Danny Boy and Baby What You Want Me To Do are fantastic as well.

I am up to 124 Cd's now! I already have the FTD in mind I am going to order this month. These things are high as all get out at thirty dollars. Tax and shipping puts them around thirty seven. My point is, they are worth it. I hope they keep putting these things out. For the serious Elvis music collector they are the real deal. I just wish it had not took me so long to catch on to them and would have just spent the money on them. I have missed out on a few that I wont ever be able to get. You get a lot more out of these then the same old re released stuff you can buy at the stores.

Lets go on a moonlight swim

This morning I have woke up watching one of the best movies ever Blue Hawaii. One reason this movie is so great is the soundtrack. I am going to talk a little bit about it today.I think this soundtrack is the best of all that Elvis did. It is my personal favorite barely edging out IT. The title song Blue Hawaii is a terrific song and one of my favorite movie songs ever. It is so soothing and Elvis does a great job on this. I think this is one reason I like to go to sleep to this movie. The song relaxes me and puts me at ease. Almost Always True is a fun song that fits in the movie well. Aloha Oe is a Hawaiian song that Elvis does a pretty good job with. Can't Help Falling In Love is a classic and is one of the songs people think about when they think of Elvis. I think this song is the best one on the soundtrack. Elvis would end up singing this song to his fans to close shows in his live acts later on in his career. Rock-A-Hula Baby might not be the best song on the track, but might just be the most fun. The scene in the movie where he sings it is one of the coolest parts of the movie. Moonlight Swim is my personal favorite from the movie. I don't know why but I have always thought this song was top notch. I think like all the songs in this movie it just fits with the flow of the movie and actually makes me the movie better. Slicin' Sand is a a fun song to jar around to and Elvis has a fit during the scene in the movie.Hawaiian Wedding Song I have always thought was pretty good. Other songs from the soundtrack Ku-U-I-Po,Ito Eats,Hawaiian Sunset,Beach Boys Blues,and Island Of Love. They are all pretty good songs for the most part. Steppin Out Of Line is also on the CD. The version of the soundtrack shown above also has some bonus alternate takes on it that are really good. It includes the movie version of Can't Help Falling In Love. As I said before this is my favorite soundtrack and in my opinion his best. Elvis's vocally was at his best around this time and really shined. Also unlike many of his later movies where most of the songs did not make sense in context with the movie, this does not suffer from that. I think the music actually lifts the movie and make it better. in closing all I can say is that Blue Hawaii(movie or soundtrack) is the freakin truth.

Elvis At Sun

I love lots of 50's music including Elvis as expected, but Im a huge fan of the late 60's Elvis. I ran across this CD at Best Buy and decided to purchase it to get more familar with Elvis when he first began. I gotta say that this CD easily jumped to my top 4 Elvis CDs that I have behind Memories (68 Comeback Special) , Thats The Way It Is Disc 2, and Elvis Aloha from Hawaii. This CD lets you hear how raw Elvis was with songs such as "Blue Moon", "Good Rockin' Tonight", "Baby Let's Play House", "Mystery Train", "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" (my personal favorite), and his first hit single "That's All Right". I'm already on my third time listening to this cd. This is a must buy for any Elvis Collector.

You Can't Say No In Acapulco

Tonight I am going to continue my reviews of the movie soundtracks. I am going to talk a little bit about the music in Fun In Acapulco. The movie and soundtrack came out in 1963. The soundtracks from the previous two films Girls! Girls! Girls! and It Happened At The Worlds Fair had not done so well. They almost decided not to even do a soundtrack for the movie. What a poor decision that would have been. You will notice with this soundtrack and with the ones that fallow, the material and quality work would go downhill. Some movies still had standout performances from time to time, but never a great soundtrack from start to finish. Fun In had elven tracks on the original album and two bonus songs. Elvis's voice was still great and it was a shame he was not given better songs, or he was not doing some normal album releases still. A few songs do stand out to me in this movie. Bossa Nova Baby is a great song and one of my favorite movie songs ever. I also think You Can't Say No In Acapulco is a good song. Mexico and I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here are also fun songs in my opinion. The FTD release of the soundtrack is awesome as usual. The bonus tracks are pretty good. As usual I go nuts over the outtakes. Hearing Elvis craft a song and even cut up at times is pretty cool. I really enjoy the first couple of outtakes of You Can't Say No In Acapulco. Elvis seems to have a hard time with the first of the song. In the end it turns out great and is the one song in the movie that still gives you a hint of the great vocal ability Elvis possessed at the time. Fun In, not the best soundtrack ever but certainly a lot of fun. I would rank it in the middle of the pack as far as soundtracks go.

MAHALO!

Now, here's an oddity. On January 14, 1973, Elvis performed a concert in Hawaii that was broadcast live in the Far East and Europe and taped for broadcast in the U.S. on April 4. After the performance, the audience was ushered out and he performed five more songs, four of which were added to the U.S. TV special but none of which appeared on the resulting LP, Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite. One of the five, "Blue Hawaii," and was released on Elvis: A Legendary Performer, Volume 2 in 1976. Finally, in 1978, all five tracks (the others are "Early Mornin' Rain," "Hawaiian Wedding Song," "Ku-U-I-Po," and "No More") I had personally never heard of this album or never knew it even existed until the past month. Overall for it to be rare, it's pretty darn cool. My favorite song on this album is "Early Mornin' Rain". Seeing how this came up on an album makes me anxious on what the future holds for Elvis, knowing there are recordings never heard or released. Ill keep my fingers crossed hoping the unheard material will come out.

Thoughts on new FTD's (continued)

The Jungle Room Sessions. I have been really wanting to hear this for a long time. As you can tell by the title of this disc, it was recorded in the Jungle Room at Graceland. These songs made up some of the material on the last two albums that would be released. This CD is awesome from start to finish. The standout tracks for me are Solitaire,Way Down, and He'll Have To Go.
Elvis Southern Nights is composed of material form a tour in 1975. This is a great live album. It is not the best I have heard, but it is pretty solid from start to finish. I liked hearing Elvis do Jambalaya.
Elvis At The International is a concert from Elvis' stint in Vegas in 69. This is the show from August 23rd midnight show. This CD is similar to the show from the FTD All Shook Up. As the case with All Shook Up, this CD rocks. Any of the show from the international in 69 are worth listening to. This gives you a glimpse into what the shows had been like when Elvis first came back to the stage.Reconsider Baby is my favorite from this disc. I love this song, and live it is even better.
Elvis In A Private Moment. This is a collection of private recording of Elvis from 59 all the way up to 1966. Most of the material comes from 59-60. I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder is my favorite. I put this CD in for the first time this afternoon and listened to this song about five times.
Pot Luck Is one of my all time favorite Elvis albums. I love all the eras, but If I was forced to pick my favorite, the early to mid sixty's studio work would on top of my list. Kiss Me Quick, (Such An) Easy Question, and That's Someone You Never Forget are awesome. To hear them in this quality of sound is cool. This is a two disc special so the second disc is full of different takes. This is what I love the most from FTD. It would be a travesty not to get to hear these great outtakes. The whole second disc is top of the line.

Thoughts on new FTD's

I am going to give you some thoughts about my new FTD's that I got while in Memphis. For those who might not know what I am talking about when I say FTD, let me give you a short explanation. Fallow That Dream records releases material that is not normally part of the usual releases by Sony BMG. Many live concerts and studio outtakes are found on these releases. This is for the serious collector when it comes to Elvis' music. They cost you a lot more than most normal CD's you can buy. It is worth every penny in my opinion though. My favorite CD's come from the FTD label. For a more detailed explanation visit the news and FAQ's section on Elvis.com.
Now to my thoughts on my new CD's. I picked up two movie soundtracks. I am a huge fan of the movies so I always make it a point to buy a soundtrack when I am buying new material. I picked up Girls! Girls! Girls! and Harum Scarum. The Girls CD is great. This has some great outtakes on it. I loved hearing Mama and I Don't Want To Be Tied outtakes. Harum Scarum was also a treat. This is not the best soundtrack the Elvis catalog has to offer in my opinion. I still find my self loving most of the songs on here. I have always liked the songs Hey Little Girl and Go East Young Man. Hey Little Girl has a few extra takes on the album that I enjoyed. I also got Long Lonely Highway. This covers some of Elvis' work in Nashville in the 60's. This will for sure be a favorite from now on. Most of the songs on here are favorites of mine.About sixteen of the songs are previously unreleased material. Shes Not You is my favorite track of this CD.
I am going to take a break now. I will be back shortly to cover the other five CD's I got.

Elvis: On Stage review

Elvis On Stage is a very good live album. Being a huge fan of his live concert albums, this has to be my second favorite concert record behind "That's The Way It Is". He sanga good lineup of songs in cluding covers such as "Sweet Caroline" , "Runaway" and "Proud Mary". Recorded in Febuary of 1970, he still had the kick and drive that made him put on a hell of a show. Other songs include 'Polk Salad Annie" "Don't Cry Daddy" "I Can't Stop Loving You" and one of my favorite songs live "Suspicious Minds". This is a must have for anyone that collects live album. If I don't get to post again tonight, Have a safe and Happy New Year!!

Lets spend an afternoon in the garden

I have recently got the album AN AFTERNOON IN THE GARDEN. Elvis played Madison Square Garden in June of 1972. It was the first time Elvis had ever performed in concert in New York. June 9-11 Elvis would play four shows there. On Saturday Elvis was to preform two shows. RCA planned on recording them for an album to be released fallowing the stint in NY. RCA ended up taking the second show and adding three songs from the afternoon and releasing the album we know as ELVIS AS RECORDED AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN. Almost a half a century later they finally released the material from the afternoon show in AN AFTERNOON IN THE GARDEN. This is one of the best live shows I have listened to in a long time. You can tell the energy was off the charts and Elvis gives a hell of a show. From start to finish this is gold. My favorites from this performance are You Don't Have To Say You Love Me,Reconsider Baby,For The Good Times, and I Can't Stop Loving You. Reconsider Baby being the real standout for me. I would suggest running out and getting this CD If you are an Elvis fan and don't have it in your collection yet. You will not be disappointed.