| Release: 2000 | BMG 07863 67840-2 | EU | 17 € |
| Release: 2000 | BMG 07863 67840-2 | USA | 17 € |
| Release: 2000 | BMG BVCM-31042 | Japan | 25 € |
|
Part of the "Essential Elvis Presley" series |
Since Elvis Presley reissue specialists Roger Semon and Ernst Mikael
Jorgensen began their Essential Elvis series in 1986 (long before
they were given overall responsibility for the Presley catalog), the
joke has been that "essential" is exactly what the releases are not,
at least in the common meaning of "indispensable," because they
consist largely of alternate takes of songs that are almost
invariably better performed in their better known versions. In the
sense of distilling the essence of Presley's work, the series
actually does live up to its name, giving a glimpse into the studio
while the singer is working, and presenting his music as it comes
together. The first three volumes contained material from '50s
recording sessions leading up to Presley's departure for his stint
in the army, then the fourth and fifth volumes jumped ahead to the
early '70s. Such a Night, the sixth volume, returns to chronological
order, picking up where the third volume, Hits Like Never Before,
left off by starting with Presley's first session back from the army
in 1960 and continuing to select tracks from the non-soundtrack work
he did in RCA's Studio B in Nashville through 1964. As annotators
Colin Escott and Jorgensen point out, these sessions resulted in 81
masters, of which only 20 get alternate treatment here. (The album
leads off with the standard version of the title song, but it is
preceded by several false starts.) The choice of what to include
seems to have been predicated more on finding good, interesting
takes than on using the best songs, since hits like "It's Now or
Never" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?," as well as great rockers
like "(Marie's the Name Of) His Latest Flame" and "Return to
Sender," all of which were recorded at these sessions, are not
featured. Still, one gets to hear well-performed outtakes of such
favorites as "Stuck on You," "Fever," "Surrender," "Little Sister,"
"Suspicion," and "Memphis Tennessee." Sometimes the take compares
very favorably with the originally released one, although at other
times there are obvious mistakes or breakdowns. Clearly, though he
was never credited as producer, Presley is in charge of the sessions,
stopping takes and changing tempos here and there. Such a Night is
not an album for anyone other than Presley fanatics who already know
the conventional versions of these songs by heart, but for them it
will be a welcome addition to their collections. (AllMusic Review by
William Ruhlmann
) |