And since they claim to be an audiophile record label, favorited by many fans, I compare this new outing to the audiophile version the Mobile Fidelity record label put out earlier this year.
It is no punishment to play this great album a few times comparing these two editions. As Peter Elders wrote on All Music: "one of the greatest white soul albums (and one of the greatest soul albums) ever cut ... Presley is rejuvenated artistically while he's supported by the best playing and backup singing of his entire recording history".
And the usually critical Rolling Stone magazine wrote about the album: "I had to leave town for a little while," Presley sings in the first track. Along with his 1968 TV special, this record announced he was back. Cut at Chips Moman's American Studios, it is little short of astounding. With help from a crack crew of Memphis musicians, country ('I'm Movin' On'), gospel ('Long Black Limousine'), soul ('Only the Strong Survive') and pop ('Any Day Now') as well as message songs ('In the Ghetto').
Design
The design of this album is an almost exact copy of the original LP, even advertising the Stereo 8 cartridge. Like the previous 2003 outing, the printing could have been sharper. But same as other labels that do Elvis re-issues, like Music On Vinyl, Speakers Corner is not supported by Sony with any high resolution graphically material for an efficient result.
The orange labels on the LP are replicas of the original LP too. The vinyl itself is very solid, as black - you can see through the recent Mobile Fidelity vinyl - and as flat as it should be. It even feels heavier than the 180 gram it is supposed to weigh.
Nowhere it says “Speakers Corner”, it states “RCA Victor”. We only find the Speakers Corner details on the sticker on the front. I really like these details keeping it as original as possible.
Setting the scene
Speakers Corner is a family company, specializing in quality vinyl releases with a main focus classical and jazz releases. But the company has a nice pop-catalog too, including various albums from our man; 'Elvis Christmas Album', 'Elvis Is Back' and the before-mentioned 'For LP Fans Only'.
The original edition of ‘From Elvis in Memphis’ from this label was released in 2003. That was before Sony started to restore their Elvis Presley Masters in 2007, which became the go-to masters for Elvis releases since then. Speakers Corner used the old analogue Masters that were offered to them by RCA / Sony Germany. The LP itself was mastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head before being stamped on 180 audiophile virgin vinyl at Pallas.
Looking at other recent vinyl releases of ‘From Elvis in Memphis’ we have the Music on Vinyl LP from 2011, which uses the restored and repaired Vic Anesini Masters. That's why this LP sounds more clean / slightly better according to part of the fan-base. This LP was re-issued in 2019 on yellow colored vinyl.
The Friday Music record label also used the Vic Anesini Masters for their 2012 release of this album. The tapes were remastered by Joe Reagoso and Kevin Gray and the LP was manufactured at RTI.
The Follow That dream collectors label released a double LP edition of this album in 2013, but as it contains alternate takes, I consider that another album.
The original Mobile Fidelity record label, that had to shut down in 1999 and was sold in 2001, released an incomparable high-end edition of this LP in 1981. More recently, the “new” Mobile Fidelity record label created their own Masters, by transferring the analogue tapes by themselves in the Sony studios in America, as a 256 DSD copy, to a digital hard-drive, and then working only digitally in the restoring process and remixing these files to their own Masters and pressed these on their own vinyl.
Content
To compare these two outings of ‘From Elvis In Memphis’ I played the album at the same volume (sorry neighbours!) on an standard record player and audio installation as these albums should be enjoyed by every fan, and not only by those who had to take out a mortgage to finance their audio equipment.
The risk of a review like this is, of course, that I may be nitpicking this new LP, which isn’t fair. Therefore I asked my friend with the “golden ears”, Anthony Stuchbury, for his opinion on the sound of these two versions to be as unbiased as possible.
So here it goes. On 'Wearing That Loved On Look' Elvis is nicely up-front in the mix with a very a clear piano in the break. The bass sounds particularly strong. There is a lot of echo on the backing vocalists on 'Only The Strong Survive', it sounds almost spatial. The ladies are standing on the right, just like on the MoFi edition.
'I'll Hold You Un My Heart' we hear a little on Elvis' voice, but that fits with the almost haunting sound the song’s theme needs. Elvis could have been mixed a bit more upfront in the mix as the drums and bass are a little dominant. But this was part of the original mix like all choices regarding the position of Elvis, the musicians and vocalists in the studio.
The backing vocalists are not fixed stationary and move to the left throughout ‘Long Black Limousine', the band sounds less clearly separated than on the other songs. Here I prefer the MoFi version. That said, this song remains one of the highlights of the LP, both as a composition and as a performance. Just listen to the opening with the Hammond organ! This is not just another ‘Hammond A Gogo’ LP, here Bobby Emmons drives his Hammond organ straight through your front door, and he doesn’t bother to knock!
'It Keeps Right On A Hurtin' sounds clear. Backing vocalists moved back to the right side of the studio. On 'I'm Moving On' it sounds like Elvis moved a little to the left side, otherwise a nice mix.
The 'Power Of My Love' rocks from the opening notes, it is one of the best sounding and powerful performances on this album. Due to the placing of the instruments and vocalists Elvis sometimes has to compete for the lead on the right of left channel.
'Gentle On My Mind', is another strong performance, well mixed, very clear backing, on the left again. The bass line on "Gentle On My Mind" is breathtaking and here Elvis sounds like he is standing in your room. Together with the previous song it got another spin!
'After Loving You' continues the line of solid performances on this LP. The drums, placed primarily on the right, draw your attention. ‘True Love Travels On A Gravel Road' is a balanced a bit better from a stereo perspective as we hear more instruments, so there is more to divide to the left and right side.
On 'Any Day Now' the violins drew my attention to the left, but Elvis, taking center stage, drew me back to the middle, restoring the balance. A great performance of an underestimated song.
The classic 'In The Ghetto' closes the album and here Elvis really takes the lead and draws the instruments and vocals together as a whole. A solid mix and performance.
Conclusion
Comparing this Speakers Corner edition of ‘From Elvis In Memphis’ to the previous outing on the Mobile Fidelity label, I found the sound of the latter to be more clean(ed) and more powerful, or should I say louder. For some fans the MoFi version may sound “too sophisticated”, especially when compared to the sound of the original 1969 release. One fan even wrote: “I don't want Elvis to sound like Steely Dan, I want this album to rock”.
For me MoFi added an extra layer of depth to the mix which I really enjoy. The louder mix may have added to this conclusion, as for me it emphasized the drama and passion of the compositions on this LP which can be felt throughout all performances.
Overall the B-side of this new LP sounded louder than the A-side to my ears. This something I can’t really explain as both sides feature strong and powerful compositions and performances by Elvis, the band and vocalists.
So no, this version did not take the top spot on my favorite versions of this LP. It is an enjoyable and solid mix that sounds close to the warmer sound of original LP. It sounds better because of the attention being paid to the analog production process and the use of high quality vinyl. But in the end it is very hard to beat a 45 RPM double LP with a regular 33 RPM single disc LP.
Besides the packaging, the quality of the vinyl, the audio-mix and let’s not forget the price, there always remains the factor taste and preference of a certain (original) sound when you select the version you want to buy.
And let’s not forget, we can focus on the little things, comparing two high-end outings of this LP - just like we do when comparing newly created stereo mixes to the mono originals - but in the end it is all about the music. The music should remain the main (selling) point of this classic white soul (with a touch of country) album that put Elvis back where he belonged as a performer!
With that in mind, I’ll leave it up to you which version of this classic album you should add to your collection. But you basically can’t go wrong with either one of the two outings released this year.
For a more detailed review of the content of this LP and the Mobile Fidelity edition >>> click here.
For more information on this Speakers Corner edition of this classic album, or to buy it, go to the >>> Speakers Corner website.
(Amazon associate link)