The Good: Some truly amazing songs, Everything from Elvis from the '50's! Interview.
The Bad: Some truly esoteric and dull tracks, Repetitive musical sound, Limited vocal range.
The Basics: A weak recommendation for a massive music collection that reveals how dull rock and roll in the 1950s was when presented by Brand Elvis.
As my little Elvis festival nears its end, I am strangely overjoyed that I have reached Elvis: The King Of Rock 'N' Roll - The Complete 50's Masters. So much of the music I have been listening to the last month has been Elvis Presley and, frankly, I've heard all of his works from the 50's more than ten times each now and I am a little tired of it. With The Complete 50’s Masters, fans of Elvis Presley's works get all of the joy of Presley's eight (there were nine, but one was a pure compilation with nothing new) full length albums from the 1950s. The nice thing about The Complete 50's Masters is that there are tracks not previously available or were difficult to track down.
The bottomline for this recording is simple: fans of Elvis Presley are likely to enjoy the popular and obscure favorites encapsulated in this boxed set, but it is likely to be a bit much for those who are more casually interested in the music of Elvis.
Over five discs clocking in at more than six hours of music, The Complete 50’s Masters is a one hundred forty track archive of all of the songs Presley recorded during the 1950s as well as an interview, and a disc chock full of material that was previously unreleased or not released on compact disc. Basically, the first four discs encapsulate the materials on his eight studio albums of the day (see links below) and because I have done extensive reviews of those, the remainder of this review will focus almost exclusively on the final track of disc four and the fifth disc.
The final track of disc four is an interview with Elvis Presley from the press conference when Private Elvis Presley was shipping out to Germany for his Army service. This presents an intriguing side of Elvis as he jokes, discusses his celebrity and sounds momentarily vulnerable at moments about his future. He is charming and mostly confident and one of the interviewers repeats questions that are off-mike so the listener is granted the full back and forth between Elvis and the press pool. It is an interesting, twenty minute track that rounds out the album well. Unfortunately, it also is incredibly boring upon the fifth relisten and beyond. This becomes twenty minutes of filler and this becomes a track most likely to be skipped by those going through the collection repetitively.
That leaves the final disc. This collection of twenty-six live, alternate take and obscure performance tracks that appear on the prior discs. There are only four tracks ("Fool, Fool, Fool," "Tweedle Dee," "Maybellene," and "Reconsider Baby") that are not on other discs in other - usually more finished or produced - forms. This disc is also repetitive in that it contains multiple versions of some of the track, like two alternate takes of "Shake, Rattle And Roll" and various tempo changed versions of "Loving You." These are interesting in an academic sense, but the disc is not terrible exciting from a listener's perspective, especially if one follows the prior four discs with a listen to this one.
Many of the tracks have only subtle differences to the original. I'm not a huge fan of the song "King Creole," but the alternate version sounds remarkably similar to the one I do not like, which was the released version. Similarly, the versions of "Old Shep" and "I Beg Of You," which were alternate masters, are not incredibly different from the released versions, making one wonder what even the historical value of releasing them in this collection is.
The most impressive musical bit collected on this disc would have to be the mini concert represented by tracks thirteen through sixteen. From a performance live at the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas from May 6, 1956, The Complete 50’s Masters collects "Heartbreak Hotel," "Long Tall Sally," "Blue Suede Shoes," and "Money Honey" live for the listener. Introduced by Presley, these four tracks are presented in a live way that seems fresh and spontaneous. Hearing Presley stumble through introducing the songs is intriguing and is a very different presentation compared to how he is portrayed in history classes. But the live performances sound good and with Presley on guitar, it becomes clear that he actually rocked, especially on "Blue Suede Shoes."
Most of the tracks are not as fresh and interesting as the live tracks in the middle of the album. The up-tempo version of "Loving You" is interesting following on the heels of the slow version, but the interest in it is mostly in the contrast. Having heard the studio version on prior discs ad nauseam, this sampling is recognizably different.
As for the four unique tracks to this disc, they reveal nothing more about Presley than what one hears on the other tracks. Presley did not write, produce, or mix any of the tracks, so it once again reinforces the concept of Elvis the Performer as opposed to Elvis the Artist. He does sing and play guitar on the four unique tracks, as well as most of the others on this disc. The unique tracks are from various sessions from 1954 through 1956.
Ultimately, what he final disc does is reinforce the other four discs of musical information. As one trundles through this bulky set, several things become quite clear: Presley can sing, Presley has some abilities on the guitar, and while his songs are predominately moody ballads as opposed to straightforward rock and roll, like he is characterized as.
All of this is a polite way of saying that The Complete 50’s Masters reveals well a performer who struck into a niche and stuck there into the collective unconscious. With less popular performers, this would be called a rut and it, in many ways, is truly one. Disc five presents alternate takes, many of which do not expand appreciably Presley's known repertoire. They do not challenge his vocal range and none present audacious music that make the listener rethink their perceptions of Presley. Indeed, there is nothing groundbreaking or truly unfamiliar on this disc or even in this collection. By the end of the first disc, Presley has locked into his sound: mellow vocals and strong guitar or piano-driven tracks. Disc five does not challenge that.
Neither "Lawdy, Miss Clawdy," nor any of the other songs on this final disc reinterpret the mood or feeling of the originals, they are simply slightly different recordings. Honestly, I have not been this disappointed in alternate versions since seeing the music video for Reba M. and Kelly Clarkson's duet of "Because Of You" and getting to the end to see that Reba did not alter Clarkson's vision. In other words, Clarkson presented the song and in the video had the protagonist returning to her abusive partner. In Reba's version she simply does the same thing; there's not even the audacity to suggest that in her version Clarkson's character successfully extricates herself from the terrible situation. It's boring, it begs the question "Why make a cover?"
Presley's works are almost all covers - others wrote almost all of his material and some say the "almost" is an overstatement as he might have been credited for writing he was not actually involved in. So, given a disc of alternate versions, the most audacious thing is a tempo change to one song . . . that's just sad.
The entire collection is thorough, but ultimately, it makes one wonder how Presley became such a phenomenon. The sound and vocals to most of the songs is repetitive and by the third disc, Presley is not saying anything new in any new ways. He simply repackages same musical themes in new poetics and slightly different melodies. The result is a massive collection that a true Elvis fan might adore, but most people will find more interesting on an academic level than a musical enjoyment one.
The best track is the fast version of "Loving You," the low point is the unremarkably and indistinctly different version of "King Creole." Recommendation is ultimately for Elvis fans ONLY!
For other works by Elvis Presley, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Elvis Presley
Elvis
Loving You
Elvis’ Golden Records
Elvis’ Christmas Album
King Creole
For LP Fans Only
A Date With Elvis
50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong: Elvis’ Gold Records Volume 2
Today, Tomorrow, And Forever
Heart And Soul
30 #1 Hits
5/10
For other music reviews, be sure to check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the albums and singles I have reviewed!
© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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