Review: Elvis: The Home Recordings CD – A Deep Dive into His Private Sessions
This latest release from RCA is a very difficult one to review. The reason for this is that in order to give it as fair and objective a criticism as it deserves (and it definitely does) you have to look upon it with two different pairs of eyes: The eyes of the devoted Elvis fan and the eyes of the casual rock fan and CD buyer. However, make no mistake: For the dedicated enthusiast, this collection of Elvis Presley Recordings is musically no less than a small revelation. RCA certainly deserves applause for releasing it, as it is the most daring official release in many years, taking for the first time a systematically approach to Elvis’s non-studio, non-live recordings.
What’s Inside: Track Details and Release Information
To lay out the formula straight, this release, titled “Elvis: The Home Recordings,” contains 22 tracks; all are home recordings of one form or another. Most of them were recorded at Elvis’s various homes in Los Angeles and Memphis, some were recorded in Germany, and a few in other places. Of these 22 tracks, 15 are previously unreleased, as stated on a sticker on the CD cover (which, by the way, like my copy of ‘Sunrise’, doesn’t have the ‘artist of the Century’-label on it – what happened to that campaign?). Of these 15 tracks, as far as I’m concerned, only one has been bootlegged: ‘I Understand Just How You Feel’ from the old Eddie Fadal tape. All the tracks have been digitally remastered for this release.
Cover art for the Elvis The Home Recordings CD featuring a youthful portrait of Elvis Presley with an acoustic guitar
Strangely, though, it doesn’t say anywhere in the cover or the booklet which tracks are the unreleased ones. Usually, they’re marked with an asterisk in the tracklisting, but this is not the case here. So, just for your information, the following tracks are the previously released ones: ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’ (‘Platinum’), ‘Write To Me From Naples’, ‘My Heart Cries For You’, ‘Dark Moon’ (all on ‘A Golden Celebration’), ‘Indescribably Blue’ (an original single A-side reaching number thirty-three in 1966), ‘I’m Beginning to Forget You’, and ‘Mona Lisa’ (both on ‘A Legendary Performer Vol. 4’). The last two had not been legitimately released since the first time around, and as they are a pair of fine performances, it’s great to have them available again as part of these official Elvis Presley Recordings. The others are easily available on the mentioned releases, though it should be noted that ‘Dark Moon’ has been cut short by almost four minutes, from 6:15 to 2:16, which in my opinion is too bad. In the long version, you can really hear how Elvis nosedives into the song, wraps it around him, and slowly but surely makes it an Elvis Presley song rather than a cover version.
The playing time of the CD is 49:14, which is once again quite a bit shorter than it could have been. This is especially true when you consider how much more material of this kind exists and makes it even stranger why ‘Dark Moon’ was shortened. Apparently, after some years of spoiling us with releases running 70-75 minutes, 45-50 minutes now seems to be the standard for some elvis presley recordings releases.
Packaging and Sound Quality
The accompanying booklet is okay, although not on par with releases like ‘Sunrise’ or ‘Memories’. The text is written by Colin Escott and Ernst Jorgensen together and seems strangely unengaging, consisting mainly of a run-through of the songs with a mention of their original and subsequent versions. The front has a good picture of Elvis in his green army shirt with an acoustic guitar, while the back has a picture of Elvis making a ‘v’-sign from his car outside of Graceland. The back of the CD features a picture of Elvis seated on a sofa, apparently playing an electric bass!
The sound quality varies significantly across these home elvis presley recordings, ranging from regular studio quality (‘Suppose’ and ‘Indescribably Blue’, both of which also have proper backing tracks as the only ones here) to just barely listenable (‘I Understand Just How You Feel’, which has, among a lot of other stuff, a baby crying in the background). However, overall, this is probably the best quality heard in this kind of recording so far. By comparing the songs previously heard on ‘A Golden Celebration’ with the same songs on this release, you’ll see that the difference in mastering is quite remarkable. But it has to be stressed that these recordings were never made with intentions of commercial release and were often made under less than ideal circumstances, and that the sound quality therefore cannot and should not be compared to actual studio recordings.
Appeal to Different Audiences
Hence the schism hinted upon in the first lines of this review. If you are an average rock fan interested in the great figures of rock ‘n’ roll who perhaps bought ‘Sunrise’ and next sees this in your local record store, you’re probably up for a major disappointment. You might be better off saving your money for a more traditional compilation like ‘Suspicious Minds’. If, on the other hand, you are a person belonging to that close circle of Elvis fans wishing to get a little bit closer to understanding Elvis’s relationship with music and being interested in exploring the many diverse sources that Elvis had for his own music, then this release offers the as-yet-best access to such knowledge among available elvis presley recordings. You might even be interested in exploring his movie career, perhaps starting with movie with elvis presley and ann margret.
What we get here is a very interesting look (or rather, ‘hear’) at Elvis singing some of his favorite songs, playing guitar and piano, fooling around with his friends, and in general just having one hell of a time. These private elvis presley recordings are a window into his passion.
Exploring Musical Influences in the Recordings
The songs cover a broad variety of styles, actually just about every style that Elvis was ever influenced by, including black gospel (‘When The Saints Go Marching In’), white gospel (‘I Asked The Lord’ and ‘Show Me Thy Ways, Oh Lord’), cowboy songs (‘Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds’, originally a great hit for The Sons Of The Pioneers with Roy Rogers), western swing (‘San Antonio Rose’, the signature song for another king, Bob Wills), country pop (‘I’m Beginning to Forget You’ from Jim Reeves’ repertoire, ‘Tennessee Waltz’, a breakthrough for Patti Page, and ‘After Lovin’ You’, which was a big hit for Eddy Arnold), musical theatre (‘Make Believe’ from Hammerstein/Kern’s classic ‘Showboat’ and ‘If I Loved You’ from Rodgers/Hammerstein’s ‘Carousel’), light opera (‘What Now My Love’ – the absence of ‘When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano’ should be noted here, as it was presumed to be planned for inclusion), white pop (‘Write To Me From Naples’), and black pop (‘Mona Lisa’, with Elvis’s version being closer to Nat King Cole’s than to anything else).
That just about leaves out only Hawaiian music, bluegrass, blues, and rhythm and blues. This absence actually clearly indicates just how important the influence of the last two mentioned genres were to the rockin’ side of Elvis’s repertoire, as not one single song on this set can with any justification be labeled as a rocker – ‘Hands Off’ probably comes the closest. It makes you wonder about his creative process; did elvis write songs himself, or was he primarily an interpreter?
Making their first appearances here are three songs by Elvis’s longtime buddy Red West: ‘I’ve Been Blue’, ‘Mary Lou Brown’, and ‘It’s No Fun Being Lonely’. All three can best be described as slow country ballads with a rhythm & blues feel, and while they are all nicely crafted pastiches, they also demonstrate that craft and art are made from two very different pieces of cloth.
Highlights and the Stark Contrast
There is no shortage of high points among these informal elvis presley recordings. My personal favorites would have to include ‘Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds’, which has much the same quality to it as the long version of ‘Dark Moon’ described above. Elvis just carries on and along the way, in just four minutes, transforms the song completely from a conversion of a favorite oldie to an original Elvis Presley performance. ‘After Lovin’ You’ shows that the funky soul-country style that he would perfect to such fine results in January and February 1969 was already in place three years earlier. ‘Tennessee Waltz’, which Elvis keeps trying to keep on the right track while the gang tries to sidetrack him singing instead ‘The Tennessee Horse’, and ‘Mona Lisa’, with Elvis delivering, in my opinion, the ultimate version ever of this song. Some of the performances are just a little bit too melodramatic for my tastes (‘Make Believe’ and ‘Write to Me From Naples’), but fans of the late-70s big ballads à la ‘Hurt’ and ‘Unchained Melody’ might consider them to be the most satisfying tracks on the album. Listening to these tracks makes you appreciate the various moods and moments captured in elvis presley recordings, perhaps even leading you to search for something like elvis presley good night to see the range of his performances.
Listening to these recordings, and especially the last 15 tracks, all dating from early 1966, it’s impossible not to see them as a corrective to the official curriculum of recordings made during these years, consisting mostly of some of the worst soundtracks that Elvis ever made: ‘Harum Scarum’, ‘Frankie and Johnny’, ‘Paradise, Hawaiian Style’, and ‘Spinout’ in 1965 alone, and not interrupted by just one proper recording session. Yet, a few months later, he was capable of recording material of this caliber solely for the purpose of his own enjoyment. As a matter of fact, we can probably presume safely that he was performing this material and more to himself and his friends even during the recording of the above-mentioned soundtracks. This leads, once again but with even greater poignancy, to the only relevant questions: What the hell was he thinking? Why on earth did he not enter a recording studio doing this kind of material? The discrepancy between these informal home recordings and the official soundtrack recordings is nothing but stunning. These home sessions truly show me elvis in a light rarely seen in official releases.
Conclusion: The Value for the Fan
The image that reaches you after listening to this album a few times is that of a man who not merely liked or played music. He was music; he ate music for breakfast; he consumed it raw and wholeheartedly, and likewise, it consumed him from top to bottom. Nowhere does this show more clearly than in these elvis presley recordings of Elvis being freed from the boundaries of the Radio Recorders studio and not being stuck with a load of rubbish songs from Hill & Range for the next movie.
With the benefit of hindsight, I suppose that we just have to be grateful that among all the movie dross, there are actually a few pearls, that Elvis did actually again make music showing his true format, and that the tape recorder was quite often rolling to capture the real Elvis performing real music. Hopefully, more will be made available to us in the future, though it would surprise me if this album turns out to be a massive seller, as it is inevitably an album that will appeal almost solely to the medium to hard-core Elvis fan. This collection offers a vital glimpse into the King’s private musical world, complementing official releases and providing context to his career, even contrasting sharply with periods like the one that produced ann margret and elvis viva las vegas.
The Home Recordings – Elvis Presley CD Tracklist
When The Saints Go Marching In – I Understand Just How You Feel – I Asked The Lord – I’m Beginning To Forget You – Mona Lisa – Hands Off – Make Believe – If I Loved You – What Now My Love – Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds – San Antonio Rose – Tennessee Waltz – Show Me Thy Ways, O Lord – After Loving You – I’ve Been Blue – Mary Lou Brown – It’s No Fun Being Lonely – Suppose – Indescribably Blue – Write To Me From Naples – My Heart Cries For You – Dark Moon
