Elvis Presley
★★★★
Back In Nashville
RCA/LEGACY. CD/DL/LP
The King’s final Nashville studio recordings, undubbed and cut loose.
SAM PHILLIPS, Elvis’s first producer, once said, “Generally I didn’t go for overdubbing. Still don’t, even if they get 94 tracks. I understand all the techniques and all the bullshit but I just don’t see the spontaneity.” What you have here are the 82 prime recordings from Presley’s March, May and June 1971 sessions at RCA Studio B in Nashville, stripped of the musical embellishments added prior to their ’70s release, leaving just the man himself singing a mixture of a gospel, folk, pop and Christmas songs, live in the room with the band. In every instance, the unvarnished original beats the familiar overdubbed version hollow.