Reconsider Baby (1954-1971)

It shouldn't be any surprise that my favorite albums by Elvis Presley are barely albums proper in the way we typically think of albums now. He just never was that much of an albums artist, too busy making himself a colossal force of culture. Or anyway making movies, or something. So if The Sun Sessions was cobbled together 20 years or more after the fact, and Elvis' Golden Records, Vol. 3 appears deceptively to be just another entry in the ongoing ossification of the '60s, this was conceived, assembled, and released in 1985, nearly a decade after his death. I don't think it ever got a real CD release and it's not particularly easy to reassemble its various pieces from the bewildering thickets of product existing out there now. Its stated purpose was to make the case for Presley as an accomplished blues singer; note the hues of the album cover, for emphasis. The track listing: "Reconsider Baby," "Hi-Heel Sneakers," "Stranger in My Own Home Town," "Down in the Alley," "Merry Christmas Baby," "Tomorrow Night," "So Glad You're Mine," "One Night," "When it Rains, it Really Pours," "My Baby Left Me," "Ain't That Loving You Baby," "I Feel So Bad." I haven't been able to reproduce this album since my turntable went bust and I let it slip away in various purges of vinyl, at least in terms of the versions I remember for each title, but with what's out there now one can still come close enough to affirm, positively, "Mission accomplished." Presley reportedly found his greatest comforts and pleasures singing gospel, he's adequate as a crooning balladeer (some would surely argue he's even better than that), and of course he's the widely acknowledged "king of rock 'n' roll." But he was no slouch when it came to the blues, whether it's flavors of raunch, rave-up, desperation, jumping joy, or just plain sadness. He was all over it. This is a set, though you may have to go to some trouble now to gather it up together in one place, that stands up to and actually gets better and better with extended regular play. Sometimes I feel like Presley is overrated, with all the hoopla and everything that is claimed for him. No one could live up to that. But when I listen to a set like this I realize how genuinely gifted he was. Multiply that across varying tastes by the millions and I think you start to get some idea where the reputation comes from. He's one of those rare figures who comes very close to managing to be all things to all people. And if you'll excuse me now, I really must go spend another six minutes with this amazing version of "Merry Christmas Baby" that's just starting....