I believe the set is older than last year. Is it not the companion to this DVD set?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00025L...80BQ7N654MS3Y7X

I have the DVD box set and, yes, it's worth the money.

Even without Colonel RCA never missed an opportunity to market Presley. My memory says this set was released in time for the Xmas season of '07 - just in time for the 39th anniversary of the '68 show or the soon to be 40th anniversary of the year in which the special was aired in November.

I had to go back and read the liner notes again. The "essay" is two short pages that serve to lionize the Elvis mystique but do nothing more than describe the events which were aired with sufficient hyperbole.

If you didn't already realize Elvis wore the black leather suit "as if he were born to it", then the liner notes might be of significance. Otherwise, there are multiple books and accounts of those few days before the tapings where Elvis would stand on the street corner of Hollywood and Vine not being recognized and in turn not recognizing the city he had visited (where he had rented numerous secluded bugalows which allowed him and the Memphis Mafia their play time) but to which he remained a stranger in the VietNam war protestors/Jefferson Airplane aura of 1968. The accounts of the shows are more completely covered and the atmosphere surrounding Elvis' "comeback" are better dealt with in resources other than this particular essay.

The DVD shows the performances in more detail and with all relevant rehearsal footage, first and second performances with multiple stops and starts and Elvis' reaction to a live audience and material worth performing for the first time in 8 years* with out-takes where they belong. (Though you can be certain RCA has yet more material to release when the 50th anniversary package rolls out.)

Without these visuals, I would think the CD is a bit of a mishmash.

*If you are an Elvis fan, go back and take a look at the various R&B/Blues numbers that Elvis performed in his string of same ol'same ol'movies and in between being asked to give life to numbers such as "Do the Clam". Even dumbed down for what was perceived as the typical Elvis fan, there is some great music handled by a true Son of Memphis raised on Beale Street juke joints being inserted here.

"King Creole", it's based on a '50's novel and therefore a bit over the top and predictable by today's standards but this was Elvis' favorite of his own films and is often cited as his best overall performance. Set in New Orleans the music is variable in quality but Elvis was young, looking to make a name for himself in Hollywood, could sing the alphabet and have girls swoon and gave most everything his all at this point.

Keep in mind Presely had no acting instruction other than what he received on the set of each film and many of his early directors were convinced Presly was a flash in the pan they need not spend much time with. His concept of good acting was "not smiling a lot" because he was taken by the sullen James Dean and morose performances of Tony Curtis both of whom he studied and memorized the lines to their films.

as a former member of the Stamps, (Elvis backup group for many, many years)

I will say, and respectfully,

I Hope to never hear another Elvis Presley song.

I spent several months last year touring with the original TCB Band, with Sonny and Red West... had a blast.

but... saw so many Elvis impersonators and so much of the Kitschy side of the man, that I grew quite disgusted with the whole thing.

The only Elvis I care to hear is the Sun stuff.

Quote:
The only Elvis I care to hear is the Sun stuff.

Ten songs out of the hundreds he recorded.

Brilliant, ncdrawl, just brilliant.