The Memphis 1969 Anthology: Suspicious Minds

Artist: Elvis Presley
Label: Bmg / Elvis
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 2

UPC: 078636767727
EAN: 0078636767727
ASIN: B00000IFT8

Release Date: 1999-04-13

The Memphis 1969 Anthology: Suspicious Minds

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Tracks:

Wearin' That Loved On Look
Only The Strong Survive
I'll Hold You In My Heart
Long Black Limousine
It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'
I'm Movin' On
Power Of My Love
Gentle On My Mind
After Loving You
True Love Travels On A Gravel Road
Any Day Now
In The Ghetto
Mama Liked The Roses
Suspicious Minds
You'll Think Of Me
Don't Cry Daddy
The Fair Is Moving On
Kentucky Rain
Stranger In My Own Home Town
Without Love (There Is Nothing)

Tracks:

This Time/I Can't Stop Loving You
After Loving You - (previously unreleased, alternate take)
Without Love - (previously unreleased, alternate take)
I'm Movin' On - (previously unreleased, alternate mix & vocal)
From A Jack To A King
It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin' (Alternate Take)
True Love Travels On A Gravel Road - (previously unreleased, alternate take)
Power Of My Love - (previously unreleased, alternate take)
You'll Think Of Me - (previously unreleased, alternate take)
If I'm A Fool (For Loving You)
Do You Know Who I Am
A Little Bit Of Green
And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind
This Is The Story
I'll Be There
Hey Jude
Rubberneckin'
Poor Man's Gold - (previously unreleased, incomplete take)
Inherit The Wind
My Little Friend
Who Am I?
Kentucky Rain - (previously unreleased, alternate take)
Suspicious Minds (Alternate Take)
In The Ghetto - (alternate take)

Similar Items:

Memories: The '68 Comeback Special
That's the Way It Is
From Elvis in Memphis
From Nashville To Memphis: The Essential 60's Masters
King Creole (1958 Film)

Amazon.com Music Reviews

Elvis Presley never sounded better than he does on these recordings made in Memphis at Chip Moman's American Sound Studios in January 1969. The artist was still on an incredible high following the success of his legendary NBC-TV "comeback" special, which had aired a little over a month earlier. Eager to record some relevant music after a decade of horrible movie soundtracks, Presley decided to work with Moman's smash-making (122 hits in three years) Memphis house band. Indeed, four charting singles came from these sessions--"Suspicious Minds," "Don't Cry Daddy," "In the Ghetto," and "Kentucky Rain"--as well as two critically acclaimed albums, From Elvis in Memphis and Back in Memphis. This two-disc set includes all the music the King recorded during that stint at Moman's studio, ranging from Neil Diamond, Bobby Darin, and Beatles covers to current and old country hits ("Gentle on My Mind," Johnny Tillotson's "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'") to a cover of Chuck Willis's classic "Any Day Now" that tops the R&B original. Of special note is "Long Black Limousine," a song about a huge star returning to her small hometown in a hearse. All the originally released American recordings are available on the From Nashville to Memphis box set. RCA fleshes out this collection with previously unreleased alternate takes (including the in-between studio chatter), as well as the Darin tune ("I'll Be There," a hit for Gerry & the Pacemakers) and a snippet of one previously unheard tune, "Poor Man's Gold." There's been much debate about the mix, but these tracks sounded great on vinyl in the late 1960s, and they'll continue to sound great for years to come, no matter the format. --Bill Holdship

Customer Reviews:

I'm savin' the last take for me........2007-01-23

After the success of Elvis Presley's NBC TV special in December of 1968, he needed to follow up that momentum with some new recordings. So, in January and February of 1969 recorded at American Studios in Memphis for the only time. American Studios was run by hip young producer Chips Moman. Chips and the American Studios house band prodded Elvis into making some of the best, most contemporary recordings of his career. The classic album From Elvis in Memphis, which many consider to be Elvis' best album, was assembled from these sessions. The classic hit singles "In the Ghetto", "Suspicious Minds", "Don't Cry Daddy" and "Kentucky Rain" were also recorded at this time. This collection features all the songs recorded at these sessions. Disc One starts with the twelve songs on From Elvis and Memphis, and ends with eight other popular songs. Disc Two features the rest of the songs recorded at the sessions, plus alternate takes of several popular songs. These are the best recordings of Elvis' career, other than his very first recordings at Sun Records. A must get for any Elvis fan.

The comeback sessions!.......2006-09-15

After years of recording mediocre soundtracks, Elvis' management loosened their reigns on him setting him up to work with Chips Moman at Memphis' American Sound Studios to record new material. This was Elvis' long-overdue return to making real music. And what a return it was! The new environment and material seemed to refresh Elvis' creative spirit and he delivered some of the best performances of his career! The sessions continued the comeback started by the 1968 TV special and produced several big hits: "In The Ghetto", "Suspicious Minds", "Don't Cry Daddy", and "Kentucky Rain". The second Cd includes some demos and alternate takes. All-in-all it is an excellent collection, however, casual fans would probably be better off to save a few bucks and buy the "From Elvis in Memphis" CD instead of this 2 CD set. It contains most of the better tracks here and all the hits.

Inexplicably, after the success of these recordings Elvis would never work with Chips Moman again nor be given this amount of creative freedom and quality material.

The song list is awsome--but not this version..............2005-12-17

I think most of the other reviews here are very accurate on their enthusiasm, admiration and satisfaction with this breakthrough album. However, I am very disappointed with THIS EXACT VERSION because I lost another version of these recordings and replaced it with this one. The big difference is that Elvis's voice is often overwhelmed by the instruments and music--sometimes you can hardly hear him at all mixed in with violins, piano and back-up vocals. Extremely disappointing is Suspicious Minds--which is almost entirely sung as a duet with who know who. There is another version--the name of the album escapes me, BMG and RCA have released so many versions of Elvis's music--but there does exist another version (versions) that highlight Elvis's voice more appropriately. The list of songs, and the groundbreaking return of this mega star is unquestioned--but something went wrong in the remastering and/or editing of this version IMO.

Elvis at His Peak in the Late 1960's.......2005-11-29

If asked the famous desert island question, I would definitely take this 2-CD set along. It collects all of Elvis's 1969 Memphis studio sessions, which to me were the best of his career. In 1969, Elvis was revitalized after years of bad films, and was in great health and spirits. Just as in his 1968 "comeback" TV special, here he is dynamic and intense, and goes back to the blues, rock, and country of his early career. His renderings of songs like "Long Black Limosine," "I'll Hold You in My Heart," and "In the Ghetto" seize you and won't let you go. Plus, by 1969 he was a more polished musician than in the 1950s, and this is in stereo, while his 1950s recordings were mono. Some reviewers here have criticized the re-mix of the songs for this CD, but I'm very picky about that too and I don't find that annoying at any time on these discs. Certainly the mixes here are far, far better than on the atrocious 1980s CD THE MEMPHIS RECORD that covered these same sessions. Some of the extras are great, too - several alternate takes are fascinating variations, rehearsal tracks are interesting, and the inclusion of good and obscure recordings like "If I'm a Fool" are welcome. If you don't have this album already, get it immediately!

Classic Tracks, Less Than Classic Remastering.......2005-04-04

While there's no debating the five-star quality of Elvis' 1969 American Studios recordings, SUSPICIOUS MINDS probably deserves to lose at least half a star for its extreme, and at times quite intrusive, remixing and remastering. Depending on your sound system, you may (as I did) find the King himself remastered right into the background on many tracks, while the instruments come forward with almost surreal (and decidedly post-sixties) clarity. I found that turning off the surround/loudness seemed to help a bit, but there were still more than a few awkward moments. The mix doesn't help things any, as the bass is confined to the left channel for most of the songs and the backing vocals are frequently all but inaudible no matter how one fiddles with the equalizer.
Several prior reviewers have given this set a thumbs-down in favor of 1987's THE MEMPHIS RECORD, which does indeed preserve the feel of the vinyl originals better overall. But with essential tracks like "My Little Friend" and "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind" missing, TMR is an ultimately unsatisfying package as well. SUSPICIOUS MINDS' great strength is its comprehensiveness, as it offers at least one version of every song Elvis recorded at American Studios a well as numerous outtakes and alternates (many without overdubs) to paint a truly definitive picture of these legendary sessions.
And what songs they are! The justly famed album FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS starts things off, its original running order preserved intact. The King gives some epochal performances here, notably on "Only the Strong Survive," "Any Day Now," the wrenching mini-tragedy "Long Black Limousine," the wistful and wordy "Gentle on My Mind" and of course his trademark hymn of late-sixties social conscience, "In the Ghetto." The hit singles "Suspicious Minds," "Don't Cry Daddy" and "Kentucky Rain" follow close behind, though for some reason only the first of these is properly paired with its B-side ("You'll Think of Me"). Other standouts include "Without Love (There Is Nothing)," wherein Elvis gives a foretaste of the huge vocal presence he'd develop over the next few years; Neil Diamond's dreamy "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind"; "Inherit the Wind" and an effective spiritual, "Who Am I?"

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