New Releases category interest

The first fully comprehensive collection of Elvis Presley's hometown recordings arrives today, Friday, August 9th with 'MEMPHIS' (RCA Records / Legacy Recordings) - a 111-track box set spanning from his earliest sessions at Sun Studio (which celebrate their 70th anniversary this summer) to his final recordings in Graceland’s Jungle Room. Along the way, the Bluff City serves as both home and muse to Presley, playing a pivotal role as he finds creative rebirth at American Sound in 1969, overcomes personal struggles at Stax in 1973, and brings his most extravagant and spellbinding live show to the Mid-South Coliseum in 1974. 

The new ‘MEMPHIS’ collection will be celebrated at Elvis Week next week, including two special events at Graceland. On Tuesday, August 13th, Graceland Soundstage will host an “Elvis: Back in Memphis” concert - blending live performances with storytelling from the musicians and vocalists who were part of these legendary recording sessions. Confirmed participants include American Sound drummer Gene Chrisman and vocalist Donna (Rhodes) Morris; and Larry Strickland from the Jungle Room Sessions. 

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On Wednesday, August 14 at 2pm CT, Sony Music will host a special 'MEMPHIS' listening event and QandA at Graceland’s Guest House Theater featuring broadcasting legend Tom Brown, MEMPHIS producer Ernst Jørgensen, Grammy award-winning record producer Matt Ross-Spang and Grammy award-winning music historian Robert Gordon to discuss how this box set was brought to life and the story behind ‘MEMPHIS.’ The event will be live streamed on both Elvis' Facebook and YouTube channels.

Produced by noted Elvis authority Jørgensen, with rare archival material and new liner notes by Gordon, ‘MEMPHIS’ is available in 5CD, 2LP, and digital configurations, giving fresh insight into the bond between Elvis and his eternal home. Earlier this week in a feature at Billboard, Jørgensen and Matt Ross-Spang spoke to the task of imbuing the set with reverence and building where appropriate on Presley’s artistic sensibilities. 

With the exception of the Sun recordings, all tracks on ‘MEMPHIS’ were newly mixed by Ross-Spang at Southern Grooves in Memphis, with overdubs stripped away - leaving the listener with only what Elvis heard live in the studio. With this intimacy, new revelations abound - from Elvis’ intuitive chemistry with “The Memphis Boys” at American, to the subtle way he builds his vocal phrasing around his backing singers in the Stax sessions, or the palpable joy he brings to his final sessions in the Jungle Room. Through it all, the listener is standing next to Elvis - hearing exactly what he is hearing.