Elvis At Stax (Highlights) Elvis Presley

• 1 Promised Land 02:54
• 2 I've Got a Thing About You Baby 02:21
• 3 If You Talk in Your Sleep 02:28
• 4 Raised on Rock 02:39
• 5 Help Me 02:28
• 6 I Got A Feelin' in My Body 03:43
• 7 For Ol' Times Sake 03:44
• 8 Talk About the Good Times 03:40
• 9 Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues 03:29
• 10 You Asked Me To 03:11
• 11 Loving Arms 03:03
• 12 Your Love's Been a Long Time Coming 02:53
• 13 Spanish Eyes 02:53
• 14 It's Midnight 04:01
• 15 Find Out What's Happening 03:26
• 16 Three Corn Patches 03:35
• 17 My Boy 03:36
• Total Runtime 54:04

Info for Elvis At Stax (Highlights)

A collection celebrating the 40th anniversary of these legendary recordings. 1973 was a crucial year in the career of Elvis Presley. Riding high on the success of Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite, which was seen by over one billion, Elvis did something remarkable. He chose to take control of his own business. He sold his future royalties to RCA and he started a new publishing company. No one would tell him what to do ever again. Elvis decided that his next recording project would be on his home turf - at the red-hot Stax, the launching pad of such greats as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave and Isaac Hayes. He assembled the very best musicians in town and he searched for fresh new material that would reflect his new path. The Sax material, an amazing chapter of Elvis' career, has never been positioned as a whole body of work. Until now. 17 tracks.

The official website notes „Elvis At Stax“ bristles with energy and dynamism. The proof is in the six consecutive singles that the Stax sessions produced, all of which skirted the Top 40 from 1973 to 1975. Elvis spent 12 days at Stax in 1973 (July 21-25 and December 10-16), and the rollercoaster ride of those sessions is meticulously detailed in Gordon’s liner notes.

„The title "Elvis at Stax" is slightly misleading, suggesting Elvis Presley decided to set up shop at the famed Memphis recording studio so he could use their house band, or perhaps co-opt some of the Southern soul groove. That wasn't the case. Elvis chose the Stax studios to conduct several recording sessions in 1973 for a simple reason: it was close to his Memphis home. He rented out the studio twice, once in July and once in December, and brought in his crack backing band, recording enough material to fill out three CDs. This music was doled out over the years, accounting for five hit singles over three years (a B-side and a posthumous single also came from these sessions), along with three albums: 1973's Raised On Rock, 1974's Good Times, and 1975's Promised Land. These albums were all strong, but aren't often considered part of Presley's core canon, possibly because this mid-'70s run of records were often packaged like product (certainly there's not a memorable album cover among them), possibly because, apart from "Promised Land," there were no hit singles that could be called a true smash or part of his core canon. And that's why Elvis at Stax is so valuable: taken as a whole, these 1973 sessions are revealed as his last great blast of creativity in the recording studio. Essentially, he was working the same ground he began to plow on his 1968 comeback, but the aftershocks of Elvis Country are apparent, along with just the slightest hint of funky, organ-driven grooves. In this context, the preponderance of alternate takes are not tedious, but rather show Elvis' good humor and creativity as he tries out slightly different approaches on each take. What impresses is Presley's virtuosity and how he cannily constructed his performances to seem effortless: there's sweat fueling these tight, punchy renditions, and heart behind his ballads, and you can hear him work it all out on the alternate takes, then reach full flight on the finished masters. None of this was readily evident on the three LPs of Stax material, but this triple-disc, alternate-laden box lays it out plain and it's a joy to behold.“ (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG)

Digitally remastered

Elvis Presley
was an American actor and singer, born on January 8, 1935, in Mississippi. He played a key role in popularizing rockabilly and later rock ‘n’ roll, and is considered one of the greatest icons of all time. The King, who died on August 16, 1977, remains the second-biggest album seller in music history.

A talented and precocious artist

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo and showed a passion for music even as a child. At the age of ten, he took part in his first singing competition dressed as a cowboy and came fifth at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. On his 11th birthday, his family decided to give him his first guitar as a gift. Two of his uncles took the opportunity to give him guitar lessons, while his mother helped him improve his singing.

In 1946, Elvis Presley met Mississippi Slim, a local musician and radio host who helped him perfect his guitar chords. Seeing that Elvis had talent, Mississippi Slim decided to have him perform on his show, giving him his first public performance even though he wasn't even 12 years old! In 1953, after finishing school, he made the final decision to pursue a career in music.

A determined teenager

True to his dream of becoming a musician, Elvis Presley decided to visit the various record companies in Memphis to record his first single. When he arrived at Sun Records, he paid four dollars of his own money for his first recording! At the age of 18, he sang two cover versions: My Happiness and That's When Your Heartaches Begin.

The beginning of a great career

Elvis Presley then recorded several singles with Scotty Moore and Bill Black, who would later become his musicians. On July 5, 1954, in the middle of recording, Elvis Presley began to accompany his songs with body movements that Sam Philips found overwhelming. Considering these gestures to be a real revolution, the producer of Sun Records decided to launch the trio on the road to success.

The three men performed countless times and embarked on a local tour that lasted until 1955 to make themselves known to a wider audience. The success was huge. Elvis Presley's footwork was considered scandalous, but it attracted young audiences. Elvis Presley's sound, a mixture of blues and country music, was heard throughout the southwestern United States and soon became rockabilly. The group then signed with RCA Records, which created the “Elvis Presley Music” label specifically to record the phenomenon's first studio albums.

By 1958, Elvis Presley had become increasingly popular thanks to his albums Elvis Presley (1956) and Elvis (1956) and his film soundtracks: Loving You (1957) and the incredible King Creole (1958). After his appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on September 9, 1956, he became a national star. That evening, 60 million Americans watched Elvis's rendition of Love Me Tender, and over a million copies of the single were pre-ordered after the show.

The King: the birth of a legend

In 1956, Elvis Presley wanted to try his hand at other things and signed a contract with Paramount Pictures to become an actor. Despite mixed reviews, the first films in which Elvis starred were real commercial successes thanks to his fame. He then made several more films, such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1956) and King Creole (1958), before having to complete his military service from 1958 to 1960.

Despite his absence, his producers released the albums For LP Fans Only (1959) and A Date with Elvis (1959), featuring songs recorded years earlier.

In 1960, after returning from the army, he released the albums Something for Everybody (1961) and Pot Luck (1962), before signing an acting contract with Hollywood. The production company was eager to give him the leading roles in the films for which he was to write the soundtrack. He then starred in The Sheriff of These Ladies (1962), The Man for Everything (1964), and Tickle Me (1965).

At the top of the sales charts, despite a career break!

Although he put his music career on hold from 1960 to 1968, Elvis Presley managed to get ten original movie soundtracks to the top of the singles sales charts! These include Girls! Girls! Girls (1962) and Fun in Acapulco (1963).

The year 1968 is also considered symbolic of the King's return to his roots. In the show entitled Elvis, he is celebrated by the audience. The following year, he releases his first album in nine years: From Elvis in Memphis (1969). This album, which features more soul and less rock ‘n’ roll, demonstrates the King's ability to adapt to the musical trends of the time.

Elvis is determined to return to the stage with concerts and signs a contract for 57 dates over several years at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. At the first of these concerts on July 31, 1969, the audience is captivated by his performance and gives him three standing ovations.

In parallel with the contract with the hotel in Las Vegas, Elvis resumes his tours of the USA and releases seven albums between 1970 and 1973, including Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old) (1971) and Raised on Rock (1973). In the same year, he decided to give the first concert ever to be broadcast via satellite around the world. This took his career to global dimensions. In his white suit with the eagle on the back, Elvis became The King forever and released a double album: Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite (1973).

Due to excessive medication use, he died of a heart attack on August 16, 1977, in Memphis, the city where it all began.

Elvis Presley's awards:

Elvis Presley received an impressive number of awards throughout his career. In 2010, the total number of albums and singles he sold was estimated at over 600 million! His album Elvis' Christmas Album (1957), for example, went platinum nine times. In total, he received 144 awards for his singles and albums during his career, which spanned just over 20 years.

Elvis is also the American singer who has appeared most frequently in the charts of best-selling singles in the US. He placed 38 singles in the Top 10, 18 at No. 1 and 114 in the Top 40! He also spent more than 80 weeks at the top of the singles bestseller list during his career.

His musical awards include three Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance in 1968, 1973, and 1975, as well as a Grammy Award in 1971 for his life's work. Today, he has a star on the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard and belongs to three major music institutions: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

On the evening of Elvis Presley's death, US President Jimmy Carter summed up the singer's life in a now famous sentence: “Elvis may be gone, but his legend will live on forever.”

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