Are you ready for an evening with the King? Elvis Presley’s final recordings from Music City are getting reworked into a new box set. And you’ve never heard Presley quite like this.
Presley last stopped in Nashville all the way back in 1971 for a recording session. Over the course of two months, from May to June, he recorded the songs featured on the box set. “Elvis: Back in Nashville” will feature 82 original recordings by the artist. Rather than just feature them, the box set also removes all overdubs from the songs.
According to Rolling Stone, the Elvis box set plans to drop on November 12th. But viewers can check out the first song below. The first tune is appropriately called “I’m Leavin'” and features some vocal acrobats by the King.
While Presley made his home in Memphis, Tennessee, he visited Nashville on several occasions as well. Although he bombed at the Grand Ole Opry in his first and only performance, Music City eventually welcomed Presley with open arms. By the 1970s, Presley had changed the face of music. Audiences didn’t view his style as quite as radical as they did in the 1950s. In fact, the rise of the rock genre made the King feel a little old fashion.
Elvis Presley in Nashville
“Elvis: Back in Nashville” is actually a follow-up box set. Previously, Presley’s estate released the box set “From Elvis in Nashville” last year. That box set focused on Presley’s visit to RCA Studio A in 1970. The singer would record from night to morning.
But Presley switched up his style just a year later. The new collection of songs feature an additional assortment of backup singers on the tracks. Mixing engineer Matt Ross-Spang oversaw the restoration process on the tracks. He really wanted Presley to shine through and to preserve the period within the King’s life. Most importantly, he said he didn’t want to change things too much.
“We’re not trying to change history,” Ross-Spang said while discussing the project. “But it’s amazing, with the abilities we have, to go back and showcase how invested Elvis was in the music and in the songs.”
It also sounds like there will be multiple ways to listen to the project. Presley’s box set will drop digitally as well as a four-CD collection and a two-LP vinyl set. So what can audiences expect to hear on the project? Well, Presley covered several different artists of the era.
So expect Presley to take on songs by Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, and also Gordon Lightfoot. He also performed renditions of “Johnny B. Goode” and the Beatles “Lady Madonna” as well. The project crosses genres from country to rock & roll to also Christmas songs and gospel hymns.
