And it points the way to his breakthrough “Hound Dog”/“Don’t Be Cruel” session a few months later, at which Elvis for the first time, and with only one exception pretty much for all time, proclaims himself to be his own producer. Fontana on drums), creating a sound both separate from, and an extension of, his Sun recordings. Here for the first time he makes full use of the studio potential of his band (Scotty and Bill on guitar and bass, with D.J. It’s perfectly clear, though, that he is singing, tenderly and heartbreakingly, about his mother.Īs much as this song can stand on its own as his second hommage to Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (the first, of course, was “That’s All Right”), it also points to Elvis’ own rapidly evolving stylistic independence. This in a sense is the only song that Elvis ever really wrote –even if his principal contribution came from suggesting its title and keening lyrical refrain to cowriter Red West. Still, it is lifted up by the feeling Elvis got from the music, and the inspiration he got from Hess, in this jaunty statement of belief.Īn extension of the natural, easy-rocking feel that Elvis first hit upon with “Don’t Be Cruel” four years earlier – as Sam Phillips said of the latter, “Now there is a groove.” What is it? It’s not blues, it’s not really a rocker, and it’s not pop – it’s just Elvis as he has come to know himself, with a stellar Nashville “A-team” accompaniment. Here we have the closest we will ever get to a duet between the two of them – though it’s been reduced to more of a “group sing” in the final mix. If the Lord Wasn’t Walking By My Side (1966)Įlvis had many musical mentors, none more so than the Statesmen Quartet’s lead singer, Jake Hess.

It is the perfect definition of Sun founder Sam Phillips’ counter-perfect credo of “perfect imperfection.” Just listen to the trailing laugh at the end for its note of pure spontaneity and joyfulness. Written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, it is like a dream sequence out of a Gene Kelly film plunked into the middle of Viva Las Vegas. Elvis would continue singing it (and singing it well) right up till the end of his life. The last song he recorded at Sun, a transformative song, a spiritual song despite its secular nature. I hope it will surprise listeners who may not be familiar with all these recordings and may lead them in turn to explore new directions of their own.

It’s not a “Best Of” – though it could in one sense reflect that.

I put this together to try to reflect all the things that Elvis was capable of.

Book last train to memphis