Elvis Presley ‎– Elvis At Stax (3CD Deluxe Edition) (2013)

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Elvis Presley ‎– Elvis At Stax (3CD Deluxe Edition) (2013)

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The year 1973 was a monumental one in the carrer of Elvis Presley. Riding high on the success of the TV show Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite, which was seen by over 1.5 BILLION viewers globally, Elvis did something remarkable - he chose to take control of his own business. He sold his pre-'73 catalog to RCA, secured a new 7-year contract, and started a new publishing company. No one would tell him what to do ever again.

Elvis decided that his next recording project would be on his home turf at the red-hot STAX STUDIO in MEMPHIS that was the launching pad of such greats as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave and Isaac Hayes. He assembled the best musicians in town - members of The MG's, The Memphis Boys and his own TCB crew - to create the ultimate band. Such songs as "I Got A Feelin' In My Body" and "Loving Arms" reflect his new path and demonstrate an artist looking to broaden his palette and reach.

The STAX material, an amazing chapter of Elvis' career, has never been positioned coherently as a whole body of work - UNTIL NOW.

Amazon Editorial Reviews

ELVIS AT STAX: DELUXE EDITON chronicles the 40th Anniversary of Elvis' historic hometown studio sessions of July and December 1973.

Deluxe 3-CD Box Set marks the first gathering of 28 masters and 27 outtakes in one comprehensive package.

The last major studio sessions in the career of Elvis Presley have finally been gathered together for the first time in one comprehensive package, as ELVIS AT STAX: DELUXE EDITION. The deluxe 3-CD box set, a 40th anniversary chronicle of a dozen nights that Presley spent at Stax Recording Studios in his hometown of Memphis in July and December 1973.

ELVIS AT STAX: DELUXE EDITION bristles with energy and dynamism. The proof is in the six consecutive singles that the Stax sessions produced, all of which skirted the Top 40 from 1973 to 1975. In effect, they rivaled some of the hottest streaks that Presley had charted a decade earlier.

The Stax singles still resonate today:
"Raised On Rock" b/w "For Ol' Time Sake" (Hot 100 #41, country #42);
"I've Got A Thing About You Baby" b/w "Take Good Care Of Her" (Hot 100 #39, country #4);
"Promised Land" b/w "It's Midnight" (Hot 100 #14, country #9);
"If You Talk In Your Sleep" b/w "Help Me" (Hot 100 #17, country #6);
"My Boy" b/w Thinking About You (Hot 100 #20, country #14); and
"Mr. Songman" (B-side of "T-R-O-U-B-L-E," Hot 100 #35, country #11).

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The title "Elvis at Stax" is slightly misleading, suggesting Elvis Presley decided to set up shop at the famed Memphis recording studio so he could use their house band, or perhaps co-opt some of the Southern soul groove. That wasn't the case. Elvis chose the Stax studios to conduct several recording sessions in 1973 for a simple reason: it was close to his Memphis home. He rented out the studio twice, once in July and once in December, and brought in his crack backing band, recording enough material to fill out three CDs. This music was doled out over the years, accounting for five hit singles over three years (a B-side and a posthumous single also came from these sessions), along with three albums: 1973's Raised On Rock, 1974's Good Times, and 1975's Promised Land. These albums were all strong, but aren't often considered part of Presley's core canon, possibly because this mid-'70s run of records were often packaged like product (certainly there's not a memorable album cover among them), possibly because, apart from "Promised Land," there were no hit singles that could be called a true smash or part of his core canon. And that's why Elvis at Stax is so valuable: taken as a whole, these 1973 sessions are revealed as his last great blast of creativity in the recording studio. Essentially, he was working the same ground he began to plow on his 1968 comeback, but the aftershocks of Elvis Country are apparent, along with just the slightest hint of funky, organ-driven grooves. In this context, the preponderance of alternate takes are not tedious, but rather show Elvis' good humor and creativity as he tries out slightly different approaches on each take. What impresses is Presley's virtuosity and how he cannily constructed his performances to seem effortless: there's sweat fueling these tight, punchy renditions, and heart behind his ballads, and you can hear him work it all out on the alternate takes, then reach full flight on the finished masters. None of this was readily evident on the three LPs of Stax material, but this triple-disc, alternate-laden box lays it out plain and it's a joy to behold.

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Elvis Presley ‎– Elvis At Stax (3CD Deluxe Edition) (2013)

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Elvis Presley ‎– Elvis At Stax (3CD Deluxe Edition) (2013)

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Elvis Presley ‎– Elvis At Stax (3CD Deluxe Edition) (2013)

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