At least a decade removed from most of his seminal Sun recordings, and their aftermath, fully out of the service but having only stood for several less than stellar recordings in that time, while making arguably mediocre movies, the question remained as whether or not The King had anything left.
With that backdrop, Presley began recording in Memphis what was expected to be an album and two singles, but with an unexpected secret weapon, legendary Memphis producer/arranged Chips Moman.
The first disc of this set is the total one-off production collaboration between Moman and Presley. Whoever had the idea, it was brilliant. The first 12 tracks comprise the legendary result of this, the "Elvis in Memphis" album. Among the classics recorded for that release were "Suspicious Minds," "Kentucky Rain," and "Mama Liked the Roses." The genius of Moman was that he was able to wring every emotional wrinkle out of Presley, creating a conduit from his seminal Sun work in the Fifties.
The second disc contains mostly a number of ballads recorded at the session, complete with studio chatter, jokes and the kind of informal jamming and exchange of ideas crucial to such a master production. Here, the enthusiasm and happiness of Elvis, just what Moman pulled out of him, is readily apparent, and represents perhaps the final important sessions of his career.
- Mark T. Gould****1/2