i would not, look you see, be at all surprised to find that there are a few more, but anyway. today, with today being the 8th January, is a day on which two of the most celebrated musical artists, like, totes ever, do, or sadly would, celebrate their birthday.
David Bowie is very much one of them. my blimey goodness, it is a year since we said farewell to him, give or take a few hours. but he's not the subject of the post for the day today. no, the one that i cannot and will not say farewell to, The King, Elvis Presley, is the birthday boy for the day today.
the above, as you can so very clearly see, are two albums off of The King, Elvis Presley. for me, though, they are two albums off of my Mum & Dad. my Dad came across them, so to speak, and has posted them on to me. nice one - very much appreciated, and indeed very well done Royal Mail and whoever else for getting them to me in time for they date of his 82nd birthday.
yes, sure, there's a non-Commodore 64 mode picture on the way, but for now if for some reason you can't work out what they are, they are the deluxe editions of Way Down In The Jungle Room and That's The Way It Is. with the latter very much being something i've wanted for a while.
Elvis - That's The Way It Is as a film is arguably rivalled only by Stop Making Sense featuring Talking Heads as the greatest ever capturing of the essence of an artist at their greatest on film. the movie covers him recording some songs and getting ready for one of his legendary Las Vegas residency stints.
as a record, That's The Way It Is is far more than a simple soundtrack. on this "legacy" edition you get a while show off of one of those residency gigs, but also the songs recorded and a few of the live cuts which partially featured in the film.
if for some reason you've never seen Elvis - That's The Way It Is then it is absolutely totally suggest that you find and have a watch of. as for this album, well, it's superb. the 70s output of The King, Elvis Presley was so extraordinarily brilliant that it would be hard to say just one album personifies the best of the era, but this comes darn close.
Way Down In The Jungle Room features, ostensibly, the final recordings of The King, Elvis Presley. this is true at the least of what we know was recorded and what we know exists. maybe one day more will surface, but for now, as the saying goes, this is it.
provenance or origins of the recordings? i am sure someone else has written it better than me somewhere on the internet, but these recordings hail from 1976. The King, Elvis Presley, was living a somewhat hectic life, with heavy duty performance commitments being a barrier to his recording new materials. the record label elected to install a recording studio in his home, the mythical Jungle Room at Graceland.
at least i think that Way Down In The Jungle Room is supposed to be representing the final known recordings. i mean, i don't know - the booklet and CD artwork is a little non-committal in this respect. my apologies, then, if these are known to be not the final recordings. for a start, i would wager that there were some more shows after these recordings that got taped.
so is Way Down In The Jungle Room any good? oh goodness me yes. there's always a danger with musicians in assuming that the last recordings are going to be lesser, as that's what they did towards the end of their career. with The King, Elvis Presley, these were all at a time when absolutely no one thought anything other than he would be recording and performing for at least as many decades ahead as he had done that laid behind.
anyway, i need to get on with some top level listening to these records, thanks. your time would probably be better spent doing the same, rather than simply reading of my musings.
thank you very much indeed once again, Mum & Dad - a lovely surprise and exceptionally happily appreciated and welcomed into my collection! and thank you Katie for addressing the envelope!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment