music

Elvis Presley

From Elvis in Memphis (Legacy Edition)

During January and February 1969, Elvis Presley created some of the most inspired music of his career. Recording in his hometown of Memphis for the first time in years, he and producer Chips Moman cooked up a set of tracks that made an artist who seemed past his prime sound fresh and relevant again. Elvis and a tight, funky band laid into the complex emotions of “Suspicious Minds” and the social commentary of “In the Ghetto,” while shaking the dust off country favorites like Eddy Arnold’s “I’ll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms) and Hank Snow’s “I’m Movin’ On.”

A dozen of the tracks were released as From Elvis in Memphis that June, while the remainder was parceled out on subsequent albums and singles over the next several years. This reissue presents the original album alongside much of the other material recorded at the same time, spread across two CDs. It’s proof that more than a decade into his career the King was very much alive.

• August 17, 2009
• by Chris Neal