Monday, August 10, 2020

'From Elvis In Nashville' box set by Elvis Presley coming in November

RCA/Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release From Elvis In Nashville, a 4CD/digital collection presenting a chronicle of Elvis Presley's 1970 marathon sessions with the "Nashville Cats." It comes out on Nov. 20.

Recorded live in RCA's Studio B in Nashville over the course of an epic five day/night run in June 1970 (with an additional session on Sept. 22), Elvis' performances from those sessions formed the core of three of his most successful studio album releases from the 1970s: Elvis: That's the Way It Is, Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old) and Love Letters from Elvis.

Now, for the first time, the master recordings from the 1970 Studio B sessions may be enjoyed together as a single official Elvis album. On From Elvis In Nashville, Presley's studio tracks from the 1970 marathon sessions are newly mixed by engineer Matt Ross-Spang (John Prine, Jason Isbell) without the added overdubs or orchestration appearing on earlier releases.

The collection will be available in a 4CD boxed edition including two bonus discs of rare and/or unreleased outtakes from the 1970 sessions (also available digitally). A highlights package will be available in a 2LP 12" vinyl pressing.


Graceland will be offering an exclusive 2LP edition of From Elvis In Nashville, pressed on aqua/tangerine 12" vinyl. Graceland's Elvis Week 2020 runs from August 8 through August 16 in Memphis, TN. Full details here. www.ElvisWeek.com

For those who would like to celebrate from the comfort of their own homes, Graceland is offering their first-ever virtual Elvis Week online during the same dates. https://www.graceland.com/elvisweekvirtual

One track on From Elvis In Nashville, recorded June 7-8, 1970, is Elvis' rendition of "I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water," a country classic penned by Cowboy Joe Babcock. That is available now through all digital service providers. Listen Here: https://Elvis.lnk.to/IWMHIMW

Backstory:

In June 1970, Elvis returned to his frequent recording site RCA Studio B to create a new sound for a new decade. From 1958-1971, Elvis recorded more than 200 tracks at Studio B, beginning with five songs--including "A Fool Such As I"-- before shipping off to Germany with the US Army in September 1958.

He recorded Elvis Is Back!, his first post-army album, at Studio B in March-April 1960. For his 1970 Nashville sessions, Elvis was able to handpick his own repertoire and, delve into a rich variety of American music, including bluegrass, honky tonk, Western swing and the rockabilly he'd virtually invented with contemporary pop, ballads and epic showstoppers.

Bringing a fresh and vital new approach to pop and country music, Elvis' performances on From Elvis In Nashville presaged and encompassed emerging trends from countrypolitan and Americana to outlaw country.

These sessions are widely recognized as among Elvis' best because of the undeniable chemistry between Elvis and his top notch studio band comprised of multi-instrumentalist Charlie McCoy, bassist Norbert Putnam and pianist David Briggs.

Known colloquially as the "Nashville Cats," this studio ensemble, like Elvis himself, connected the worlds of pop, rock and country music. For the June sessions, Elvis brought in his longtime on-stage guitarist James Burton; Eddie Hinton--who, like Putnam ad Briggs, was part of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section--played lead guitar on Elvis' Sept. 22 session. Elvis plays acoustic guitar throughout the June sessions.

The five-day "marathon" sessions—with work starting in the early evening and continuing until dawn—yielded a wide variety of material including a spirited rendition of Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away," the heartrending "I've Lost You," a powerful take on Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," and a new version of "Love Letters," which Presley first cut in 1966. A wild, single-take version of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" was one of the highlights of the Sept. 22 single day session.

The music Elvis created in his 1970 "marathon sessions" are presented here without layers of overdubbing heard on the original releases. It established musical directions he pursued the rest of his career, predicted his late-in-life pop- and-country radio successes and was influential to future musicians.

LegacyRecordings.com
Elvis.com
Graceland.com

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