RCA / Legacy shared the third preview for the upcoming 'Memphis' multi CD and 2-LP sets: the undubbed version of 'Danny Boy' in a new mix by Matt Ross-Spang. He previously worked on this song for the 'Way Down - In The Jungle Room' album.
Publicity stated: In honor of this anniversary, RCA/Legacy have released a never-before-heard mix of "Danny Boy," a poignant track from Elvis' 1976 Jungle Room sessions. The new mix, crafted by four-time GRAMMY-winning engineer Matt Ross-Spang, strips away the overdubs, providing an intimate experience akin to standing next to Elvis as he performed. Ross-Spang, a Memphis native with credits including John Prine, Al Green, Margo Price, and Jason Isbell, shared his emotional journey in remixing the track:
"It was very emotional for me to mix 'Danny Boy' and I think it’s evident in Elvis’ performance that it was for him too," says Ross-Spang. "David Briggs, one of Elvis’ pianists on the session, made it clear to me that it was a very important song to Elvis. I think it’s one of his most impassioned vocal performances. My neck hairs were standing up the whole time!"
Grammy and Emmy-winning music historian Robert Gordon, who also hails from Memphis, provides insightful commentary in the collection's liner notes. Reflecting on "Danny Boy," Gordon writes:
"'Danny Boy' is personal. It’s Elvis' father’s favorite song, and one that has survived across generations and continents. A song about love across distances and realms, Elvis imbues it with some of the dark compassion he put into 'Long Black Limousine' seven years earlier."
This 5-CD collection of Elvis’ songs over the years features 111 tracks, 88 of which are newly mixed versions of the select recordings, pure and without overdubs. More information on this 111-track set when available.
The set is available on CD from >>> Amazon.
The set is available on LP from >>> Amazon.
(Associate links).
Best Album Covers Ever
Rolling Stone published the Top 100 Best Album Covers ever.
What makes an album cover a classic? Sometimes it’s a portrait of the artist — think of the Beatles crossing the street, or Carole King in Laurel Canyon with her cat. Others go for iconic, semi-abstract images, like Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, or My Bloody Valentine.
Many of these covers come from legendary photographers, designers, and artists, like Andy Warhol, Annie Leibovitz, Storm Thorgerson, Raymond Pettibon, and Peter Saville. Some have cosmic symbolism for fans to decode; others go for star power. But they’re all classic images that have become a crucial part of music history. And they all show why there’s no end to the world’s long-running love affair with albums.
At No. 33 we see the only Elvis' album, and the magazine wrote about it: Elvis never looked more flamboyantly Elvis than he does on his 1959 hits collection,'50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong'. The King struts in his gold lamé suit, surrounded by duplicate images of himself, the center of his own glittery solar system.
Colonel Parker commissioned the suit from legendary Hollywood tailor Nudie Cohn. Elvis wore the full gold tuxedo onstage only three times — he never liked the pants, which constricted his wiggling. By the time the record came out, he was in the Army and the suit was in storage. But this became his most iconic album cover, as well as his most parodied, copied by everyone from the Fall (50,000 Fall Fans Can’t Be Wrong) to Bon Jovi (100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong) to Phil Ochs (“50 Phil Ochs Fans Can’t Be Wrong”). The suit is now on display at Graceland.
Surprisingly, at No. 8 the magazine listed The Clash’s 1980 double album, 'London Calling', which honored Rock and Roll’s sacred mission while blowing up some of its central myths. Its cover was an advertisement for that paradoxical power.
The script on the cover was a faithful homage to Elvis Presley’s 1956 RCA debut LP. “When the Elvis record came out, rock & roll was pretty dangerous,” Simonon told Rolling Stone years later. “And I supposed when we brought out our record, it was dangerous stuff, too.”
Topping the list is Joy Division's ‘Unknown Pleasures’ (1979).
Read the complete list on the >>> Rolling Stone website.
Elvis' "Plane" On Display In Memphis
The Lockheed 1329 JetStar plane, which Elvis purchased in 1976, sat in a dilapidated state at the Roswell International Air Center in New Mexico for nearly four decades, returned home, or at least what's left of it.
The camper was in Memphis this week, and open to the public, "allowing visitors to take a look at the new luxurious interior while experiencing the nostalgia of Elvis' original plane".
Many Elvis fans will feel a certain pain and sadness at seeing this transformation, as the aircraft has not been preserved in its original condition (even though Elvis only bought the plane, but never set a foot in it). The conversion into a camper means that part of the authentic Elvis legacy has been lost.