Every once in awhile you have to clear the musical palate and return to basics. Elvis Presley may not have invented rock ‘n’ roll but he helped to establish the form and his music is always a nice place to visit.
I can’t count the number of Presley compilations that the RCA Label has released since his death over thirty years ago. The Decade Sets remain the most comprehensive and best of those releases. I recently reviewed From Nashville To Memphis: The Essential 60’s Masters and Walk A Mile In My Shoes: The Essential 70’s Masters, which as representative of their respective decades have some ups and downs. Elvis: The King Of Rock 'N' Roll – The Complete 50’s Masters has no such problem as it presents the heart of the Elvis catalogue. It was this 1950s material that made him a household name and established rock as a commercial and cultural presence in The United States. The music contained in this box set was essential in steering rock ‘n’ roll from its country and rhythms and blues origins to the advent of The Beatles sound in 1963.
This massive 140 track, 5 CD set contains every original master released by Elvis Presley during the 1950s plus 14 unreleased performances. The huge booklet contains an excellent biography, notes from each session, and a number of pictures from the era. When you add it all up you have one of the better box sets in existence and certainly one of the most essential.
Disc one traces Elvis’ evolution from country rockabilly singer for the Sun label to his earliest releases for RCA. Songs such as “That’s All Right,” “Mystery Train,” “I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone,” and “Blue Moon Of Kentucky” have a raw appeal as they present the pre-rock Elvis who is still in a developmental stage. By the Time “Heartbreak Hotel” and "Blue Suede Shoes” blast out of the speakers that development is complete.
Article comments
1 - MauriceColgan
Many thanks for the above.
From the unique 1953 "My Happiness" recording by the one and only Elvis Presley featured on my blog, to the roaring 50/60s, Elvis's meteoric trajectory was surely the brightest RISING star ever witnessed on Carl Sagan's, "Pale Blue Dot", of a planet.
2 - Alf
Elvis is the king of MUSIC FULL STOP