From Elvis in Nashville

by Elvis Presley

Overview

Elvis Presley headed to Nashville in June of 1970 for a series of marathon sessions at RCA Studio B, cutting enough material to be spread over three albums -- That's The Way It Is, Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old), and Love Letters from Elvis, to be precise. Each of these records had their share of overdubs -- Elvis Country was also connected by excerpts of "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago," an intriguing idea that was maddening in practice -- so the idea behind From Elvis in Nashville is inspired: the box presents those session as a whole, without overdubs or any kind of sweetening. Listening to these 74 tracks altogether doesn't quite rewrite Presley's history, as the original albums were quite strong on their own, but it does amount to a quiet revelation as it captures Elvis in the setting that suited him best: relaxed and comfortable, surrounded by ace musicians who can play whatever tune that either came to mind or came his way. A fair chunk of these sessions were devoted to relatively recent material, songs that were designed to bring Elvis a charting hit -- Gene MacLellan's "Snowbird," Eddie Rabbitt and Rory Bourke's "Patch it Up," and the AOR-friendly "Mary in the Morning" -- but these are punctuated by rampaging readings of "I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water," "Got My Mojo Workin," and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." Presley can be heard joking and swearing with his band and his high spirits are not only evident, they're infectious. The music is so good and so relaxed, it can take a moment to realize that within these four discs, Presley touches upon all of his musical obsessions and does so with the grace and skill of a master, all without losing sight of the song. Hearing these sessions as a unified set underscores that this may be the peak of Elvis as a mature artist, which means it's an essential listen. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	11/20/2020
Label:	Legacy / Rca / Sony Music
UPC:	0194397594126

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Opening Jam (Mystery Train)
2. Twenty Days and Twenty Nights
3. I've Lost You
4. I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago
5. The Sound of Your Cry
6. The Fool
7. A Hundred Years From Now
8. Little Cabin on the Hill
9. Cindy, Cindy
10. Bridge Over Troubled Water
11. How the Web Was Woven
12. Got My Mojo Working/Keep Your Hands Off of It
13. It's Your Baby, You Rock It
14. Stranger in the Crowd
15. I'll Never Know
16. Mary in the Morning
17. It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing)
18. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
19. Just Pretend
20. This Is Our Dance
21. Life
22. Heart of Rome

Disc 2

23. When I'm Over You
24. I Really Don't Want to Know
25. Faded Love
26. Tomorrow Never Comes
27. The Next Step Is Love
28. Make the World Go Away
29. Funny How Time Slips Away
30. I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water
31. Love Letters
32. There Goes My Everything
33. If I Were You
34. Only Believe
35. Sylvia
36. Patch It Up
37. Snowbird
38. Where Did They Go, Lord
39. Whole Lot-ta Shakin' Goin' On
40. Rags to Riches

Disc 3

41. Jam 2 (Tiger Man)
42. I've Lost You [Take 1]
43. The Next Step Is Love [Takes 3-6]
44. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me [Rehearsal]
45. Patch It Up [Take 1]
46. Twenty Days and Twenty Nights [Takes 5,6 & 8]
47. How the Web Was Woven [Take 1]
48. Mary in the Morning [Takes 3-4]
49. Just Pretend [Takes 1-2]
50. Stranger in the Crowd [Takes 1-5]
51. Bridge Over Troubled Water [Rehearsal] [Take 1]
52. Patch It Up [Take 9]
53. The Sound of Your Cry [Take 3]
54. Where Did They Go, Lord [Takes 2-3]
55. Rags to Riches [Take 2]

Disc 4

56. Jam 3 (I Didn't Make It on Playing Guitar)
57. Faded Love [Rehearsal] [Country Version]
58. The Fool [Take 1]
59. A Hundred Years From Now [Take 1]
60. Little Cabin on the Hill [Take 1]
61. Tomorrow Never Comes [Takes 10-11]
62. Snowbird [Take 1]
63. Faded Love [Take 3]
64. It's Your Baby, You Rock It [Take 3]
65. There Goes My Everything [Take 1]
66. Love Letters [Take 1]
67. If I Were You [Take 5]
68. Heart of Rome [Take 1]
69. Cindy, Cindy [Take 1]
70. I'll Never Know [Take 3]
71. Sylvia [Take 9]
72. It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing) [Takes 1-2]
73. Only Believe [Take 3]
74. Life [Take 2]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Elvis Presley   Primary Artist,Guitar (Acoustic)
Chip Young   Guitar
James Burton   Guitar
Charlie McCoy   Organ,Harmonica
Charlie Hodge   Vocal Harmony
Norbert Putnam   Bass
Jerry Carrigan   Drums
Eddie Hinton   Guitar
David Briggs   Piano

Technical Credits

Paul Bevior   Artwork,Design
Felton Jarvis   A&R
Ernst Mikael Jorgensen   Compilation Producer
Tom Burleigh   Production Director
Al Pachucki   Original Engineering
Vic Anesini   Mastering
Roger Semon   Art Direction
Rob Santos   A&R
John Jackson   A&R
Matt Ross-Spang   Mixing