The album spent 10 weeks at number 1 on the Billboard charts, considered the first rock 'n roll record ever to make the top spot and the first to hit the one million marks in sales. As for personnel, there are some greats on this album including Shortly Long on piano, Chet Atkins on acoustic guitar and Scotty Moore plucking away on his Gibson ES 295 (he didn't start playing is enormous Gibson Jumbo 400 until Elvis' unfortunate post-army years). Scotty had said that Elvis was not an exceptionally talented musician, but he did have a remarkable feel for rhythm and timing.
Fun gear-head fact: the guitar that Elvis is playing on the cover is a Martin D-28.
Reviews!
Kelly:
I loooooove early Elvis, and this is a great record. You can totally tell that it's been pieced together, as some songs sound like Elvis was singing in a high school gymnasium, others a studio. He has such great enthusiasm and you can really hear the youth and energy in his voice, a far cry from his fat-bloated-dead on a toilet seat years. I can kind of see why people went so apeshit for Elvis when he first came out - after listening to the dreadful Sinatra records for a week, this was a breath a fresh air. The one thing that kind of makes me sad is that there was probably a TON of black musicians who were just as talented at singing this kind of music as Elvis was, but got little to no recognition due to their race.
I have a few favourite songs on this album - I Got A Woman, One-Sided Love Affair and Trying To Get To You. A lot of us probably will recognize I Got A Woman thanks to Kanye West and Jaime Foxx, but I didn't realize that Ray Charles had co-written it and recorded it. I feel like the song is exactly how Elvis should sound and if someone crawled out from the rock under which they had been living for the last 60 years and asked me what Elvis Presley sounds like, I would play them this song. Like my sister mentions below, I also love the cheesy half-time ending! I love One-Sided Love Affair because I love a good, dirty honky-tonk boogie-woogie piano and the second this song started, I was totally hooked. Besides the piano and drums, whatever other instruments are playing are quiet so it's almost like a duet between the saloon pianist and Elvis. Trying To Get To You is a fantastic vocal performance by Elvis, and we get to hear Scotty Moore wail on the guitar!
Did anyone else out there think Da Doo Run Run when they heard the intro to Money Honey?
To be honest, I'm not super crazy about the ballads on this album. I prefer high-energy Elvis. I'm really glad we got to listen to this album, and I think I'll be adding it to my 'to buy' list! 8/10
Holly:
Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley (1956): 7/10
It was a lot of fun to listen to early Elvis this week! This album was pieced together from a couple of different recording sessions, even a few years apart, and it definitely sounds a little bit slap-dashed together, but it’s totally forgivable.
I really like Elvis from the 50s. He has so much energy in his singing, and though sometimes it almost sounds like he’s parodying himself, it’s just so much better and more genuine than later Elvis. Well, that’s what I think anyway.
There are some definite highlights to this album, and some tracks I just didn’t enjoy. Let’s start with my favourite tracks. Trying to pick a favourite was kind of tough, but I think I’m going to go with Trying To Get To You, because I enjoy his singing the most on this one. It’s a great example of what Elvis’ voice can sound like, and I think it’s maybe the most skillfully sung song. I also just liked the song itself. It’s a good listen.
I also really liked I Got A Woman, mainly because it’s such an enjoyably cheesy version. I can’t help but hear Kanye somewhere in the distance, though. The very end of this version goes into this super cheesy half time feel thing. I want to hate it because it’s so terribly tacky, but I kind of secretly love it!
Just Because is probably my third favourite. Elvis is always just so close to being too tacky in this one, but he never quite gets there. I like the interaction between Elvis and the guitar in this one, and I like the high energy, quick pace.
The track I liked the least is definitely I’ll never let you go. The recording quality is terrible. It sounds like he recorded it in a tunnel, and it has lots of syrupy touches that too closes resemble fat, Hawaiian shirt-wearing Elvis. That one definitely did not do it for me.
All told, this was a fun album to listen to for a week. I’m not going to rush out and buy it, but I’m glad we had to listen to it!
Unfortunately we couldn't find the whole album on youtube, so here are links to each individual song:
This week we are listening to: Tragic Songs of Life - The Louvin Brothers
I especially like when you do albums. Just as a quick plug for people looking to stream an album they don't have access to, if Grooveshark.com doesn't have the album, you can usually recreate the tracklist yourself. That might be easier than linking to each individual song.
ReplyDeleteMy fave song here is definitely One-Sided Love Affair just 'cuz it sounds so Elvis, it could be an impersonator, you know what I mean?
Sorry, I cannot get down with you on I Got a Woman. Kelly, I mourn for you not knowing the Ray Charles version more than Kanye/Jaimie Foxx. Deeply. As a Ray fan, and as a wedding DJ, I feel the need to apologize to you, because of how I have perpetuated this response in people. Then again, there is truth in lines like, "if you ain't no punk, holla we want prenup".
Anyway, I think I have to thank you for making me listen to Elvis this week. I tend to get a little self-righteous around The King, and am all, "oh he was a popular white version of what black musicians did better". I do still think that, but listening to this album, I have to admit the guy was freaking fun, and had his own kind of unique flow and phrasing. I also find the slap-dashed-ness of this album super endearing, like it's more of a record of history, (see what I did there?) rather than a record of artistic/musical cohesiveness.
My first recollection of this album was of the older girl up the street having it and swooning over every thing Elvis but as a nine year old boy I thought, so what. Looking back it is easy to see this album was rushed to the shelves to take advantage of the awakening Elvis craze ( Col. Tom never passed a buck he wouldn't steal). It's a hodgepodge of different styles that surprisingly showcase Elvis and includes a number of tracks from the earlier Sun Records sessions. For my money the Sun Sessions were as good as Elvis would ever be
ReplyDeletestripped bare, raw, the angry young man unchained.
The iconic cover warned anybody snooping through the record store that this was not yer Frank or Bing style of lame ass music. BEWARE.
Here's a little test for you listen to Tutti Frutti by Elvis, Little Richard and Pat Boone in any order and see who had fire in their soul.
4.5/5 RD