More Elvis Presley
If you’ve been on the site for any time at all you know how rare it is for any Elvis album to show up in Hot Stamper form. Most of his records don’t sound good on most of the pressings we play, and far too often the best sounding pressings are just too noisy to be of any real interest to audiophiles.
But we found this one, and it blew everything else out of the water. It’s got the glorious sound of 1972 (!) in its grooves.
Having done this for so long, we understand and appreciate that rich, full, solid, Tubey Magical sound is key to the presentation of this primarily vocal music. We rate these qualities higher than others we might be listening for (e.g., bass definition, soundstage, depth, etc.). The music is not so much about the details in the recording, but rather in trying to recreate a solid, palpable, real person singing live in your listening room. The best copies have an uncanny way of doing just that.
If you exclusively play modern repressings of older recordings (this one is now 44 years old), I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it — not often, and certainly not always — but less than one out of 100 new records do, if our experience with the hundreds we’ve played can serve as a guide.
What to Listen For (WTLF)
Copies with rich lower mids did the best in our shootout, assuming they weren’t veiled or smeary of course. So many things can go wrong on a record! We know, we’ve heard them all.
Top end extension is critical to the sound of the best copies. Lots of old records (and new ones) have no real top end; consequently the studio or stage will be missing much of its natural ambience and space, and instruments will lack their full complement of harmonic information.
Tube smear is common to pressings from and any era and this is no exception. The copies that tend to do the best in a shootout will have the least (or none), yet are full-bodied, tubey and rich.
Good Elvis Is Tough
We know a fair bit about the man’s recordings at this point. We’ve searched high and low for his records and played them by the score over the years. Only a few have made it to the site, so fans may want to snatch this one up before it’s gone.
TRACK LISTING
Side One
Help Me Make It Through the Night
Miracle of the Rosary
Hey Jude
Put Your Hand in the Hand
Until It’s Time for You to Go
Side Two
We Can Make the Morning
Early Mornin’ Rain
Sylvia
Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)
I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago
AMG Review
Recorded primarily in May and June of 1971, Elvis Now is quintessential ’70s Elvis Presley, an eclectic mix of ballads, rockers, and gospel numbers all seemingly arranged with Elvis’ lavish Las Vegas stage show very much in mind.
Much of the material would have been familiar to a Vegas audience even before they heard Presley perform it. “Help Me Make It Through the Night” had recently been a big hit for Sammi Smith, Ocean’s “Put Your Hand in the Hand” had reached number two months before Elvis recorded it, and “Early Morning Rain” was a big country hit for George Hamilton IV in 1966.
As usual, Presley’s singing is always good and occasionally breathtaking, and his backing band is excellent…
Wikipedia on Elvis Now
Elvis Now is a gold-selling Elvis Presley album from 1972.
Despite the “now” in the title, the tracks on this album were recorded anywhere from one to three years before its release. The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” was a leftover from the legendary sessions at the American Studio in Memphis in early 1969 and, judging by its casual performance, not intended for an album release. Sylvia and I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago were recorded during the Nashville “marathon” sessions of June 1970 (the latter had been released in fragmentary form on the Elvis Country album). The rest of the songs emanate from the more recent sessions held at RCA Studio B in Nashville in March, May, and June 1971.
Unlike Elvis’ other albums of that period (Elvis Country, He Touched Me and Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas, each dedicated to a particular genre) Elvis Now encompasses a variety of genres, including country, gospel, soul and pop.
The only single from the album, “Until It’s Time for You to Go / We Can Make The Morning” reached number 9 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in the US in March 1972 and number 5 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1972.