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Suspicious Minds: The Memphis 1969 Anthology is a
two-disc compilation of Elvis Presley's studio recordings at
American Sound Studio during the winter of 1969, released in 1999,
RCA 67677-2. This set features all of the master recordings made by
Presley that would eventually feature on multiple singles as well as
the albums From Elvis in Memphis and the studio disk of From Memphis
to Vegas/From Vegas to Memphis. Original recordings produced by
Chips Moman and Felton Jarvis.
For the bulk of the 1960s, Elvis had been trapped in a cycle of
making three movies a year, and recording their attendant
soundtracks in either Nashville or Hollywood. After the success of
his Christmas special on NBC in December 1968, Presley made a
decision not to continue with business as usual, but instead to
return to recording in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, to take
advantage of the thriving soul music scene active at the city's
studios such as Stax and Hi Records. Presley chose American Studios,
run by songwriter Chips Moman, for several reasons. First, their
music staff was populated by session musicians steeped in Elvis'
upbringing in blues, country, gospel, and rock and roll; second,
they knew how to give the music a "commercial" gloss, Moman having
already produced or written hits for Aretha Franklin and The Box
Tops; third, after hitting the top ten on the singles chart only
once since 1963 with a song that had been recorded in 1960, Presley
needed hits.
The choice would prove fortuitous, as singles gleaned from these
sessions would yield three top ten hits, including the last
chart-topper of Presley's career, his latter-day signature song "Suspicious
Minds." The album work would be equally respected, From Elvis in
Memphis being considered by myriad sources as one of Presley's
greatest. In 2003, the album was ranked number 190 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The first twelve tracks of disc one present From Elvis in Memphis in
order, including the lead single of "In the Ghetto" backed with "Any
Day Now," released two months before the album hit the stores. It
continues with the hit singles and "Stranger in My Own Hometown," a
song Presley would return to in the future, a Rehearsal version
issued on disc five of the 1970s box set. The second disc compiles
the balance of From Memphis to Vegas, along with the remaining
masters that ended up buttressing various albums in the 1970s. Ten
alternate takes are included, along with a previously unissued
snippet of a song attempted at the sessions but never completed. The
success of this material would infuse Presley's career with a new
vigor, which would fuel re-acquaintance with his talents both in the
studio and in live performance during the early years of the new
decade. (wikipedia
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