Elvis Is Back!

During Elvis' two years in the army no real competitors had stood up to claim his throne, so it was time to retake the position he had before he joined the army. What better title for the album than "Elvis Is Back!" with a big explanation mark at the end to underline the statement. Cover Art The cover art of this release is simple, a good shot of Elvis on the cover with the statement "Elvis Is Back!" and (an) army shot(s) of Elvis on the back. Content The Elvis who returned to the States was not the same as the one who joined the army. He was less flamboyant but had a voice that had matured in those two years. Elvis knew it and wanted to sing more ballads besides the Rock And Roll songs he made claim for fame with. It was the first album Elvis recorded in full Stereo so the listeners in those days got the idea to stand in between Elvis and the musicians in the studio. On March 20 and 21 and April 3 and 4 Elvis returned to the studios for his first studio album since the "King Creole" soundtrack. Bill Black had started his own combo, but Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana, Floyd Cramer and The Jordanaires were available. Besides the rocker he was on songs as "Make Me Know It" and the sweaty exhilaration on Johnny Ray's "Dirty Dirty Feeling", the army obviously didn't tame him, he also recorded three great blues songs. "Reconsider Baby", which Elvis already performed at the "Million Dollar Quartet" sessions, received a really great treatment with Booth Randolph on saxophone. You can almost hear Elvis living the song. It proved without a doubt that Elvis was one, if not the greatest white blues singer in those days. On 'Like A baby" and "It Feels So Right" you can hear the same sensuality in Elvis voice as on the Peggy Lee classic "Fever" he recorded during these sessions too. The only weaker song on this release is "Soldier Boy". It's understandable that this track is added, Elvis Is Back from his time as a "soldier boy" but the song can't compare to the other, stronger, tracks on the album. Listening to all the tracks on this album you can hear all the vocal styles Elvis could bend his voice to. We can only conclude that with this release Elvis Was Back! It's not that strange that this was one of Elvis' albums that was released on a 24 karat Gold Disc a few years ago. It's too bad that in the years to come Elvis did not (or perhaps could not) keep this level of quality.

CD

ElvisNews review

Tracklisting