REVIEW OF NEW UPCOMING "1956" BOX SET BEING RELEASED LATER THIS SUMMER

Sound Check: Young Man With the Big Beat Changed the Face of Popular Music

By Chris Dortch

Published Saturday, July 30, 2011 7:39 am EST

Where would popular music be today if an 18-year-old Elvis Presley hadn’t worked up the courage that fateful summer day in 1953 to walk into the Memphis Recording Service, plunk down four bucks and cut the song “My Happiness,” for his mother? I don’t even want to think about it.

As we know by now, Elvis was the source from which rock and roll erupted. Sure, well before Elvis came along there had been blues, R&B and even country artists making great music that, in hindsight, could easily be placed into the rock canon. But it took Elvis to bring all those genres together, with maybe a dash of gospel throw in, and spin them into rock and roll.

It’s impossible to number the artists Presley influenced, though it’s fair to say that in some ways he’s influenced anyone who came after him. In my book, if he’d done nothing more than inspire those four cheeky lads from Liverpool to become the Beatles, he would still be known as the King of Rock and Roll.

Elvis took the world by storm, and his impact is still being felt. RCA/Legacy Records is making sure of that with yet another repackaging of his early recordings. When Elvis transformed from popular regional artist to world-wide phenomenon in 1956, RCA, which had bought Presley’s contract from Sun Records owner Sam Phillips, touted his debut album with a poster that called him the Young Man With the Big Beat. The latest box set of Elvis’ 1956 output takes its name from that apt description.

At first glance, this new collection seems to be only for completists. How many outtakes of “Lawdy, Miss Clawdy” and “Shake, Rattle And Roll,” does one need? The fourth disc of the “Young Man With the Big Beat,” contains nothing but those two songs. As the proud owner of the box sets “The Complete ’50s Masters” and “The Essential ’60s Masters I,” I thought that was plenty of Presley for my collection. But the more I listen to the new box set, the more nuances I hear and the more essential it becomes.

I’ve always loved studio banter—check out the Chess record catalog for some hilarious back and forth between owner/producer Leonard Chess and his stable of artists, notably Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson—and there are snippets of it on this set. And it’s also a treat to hear Elvis’ original band (Scotty Moore, Bill Black and D.J. Fontana) supplemented with a crack crew of studio musicians, including legends Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer.

Elvis put out some giant records in 1956, including “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Hound Dog,” and “Love Me Tender.” They’re all here (as though we didn’t own them already), along with the rest of his incredible body of work recorded that year in New York, Nashville and Memphis. Presley’s first two albums—“Elvis Presley” and “Elvis” are represented in “Young Man With the Big Beat,” and there are also some non-LP singles and EP tracks.

My favorite early-Elvis song is “Trying To Get To You,” which was actually recorded in 1955 at Sun Records. Moore’s haunting guitar work on that track never fails to give me the chills, and I’ve played it hundreds of times.

Another favorite is “My Baby Left Me,” which again features Moore’s rocking guitar. Why hasn’t someone done a documentary on this guy, who was the first rock guitar hero? And if anyone wonders why people freaked out when they heard Elvis for the first time, they need to listen to his vocals on “My Baby Left Me.”

“Young Man With the Big Beat” includes some other goodies, including a detailed 1956 Elvis timeline, some rare remasters of live shows in Las Vegas, Little Rock, Ark. and Shreveport, La. and some interviews. It’s funny, more than half a century after Elvis exploded onto the national scene, to hear him explain the stage presence that was so controversial back then.

“I guess the first thing people want to know is why I can’t stand still when I’m singing,” Presley said. “Some people tap their feet. Some people snap their fingers. And some people just sway back and forth. I sort of do ’em all together I guess. Singing rhythm and blues really knocks it out.”

Below is a tracklisting of the forthcoming 5-CD box set.

TRACKLISTING

Disc: 1 Elvis Presley (1956)

1. Blue Suede Shoes 

2. I m Counting On You 

3. I Got A Woman 

4. One-Sided Love Affair 

5. I Love You Because 

6. Just Because 

7. Tutti Frutti 

8. Trying To Get To You 

9. I m Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry (Over You) 

10. I ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin )

11. Blue Moon 

12. Money Honey 

13. Heartbreak Hotel 

14. I Was The One 

15. My Baby Left Me 

16. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy 

17. Shake, Rattle And Roll 

Disc: 2 Elvis + Love Me Tender EP(1956)

1. Rip It Up 

2. Love Me 

3. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again 

4. Long Tall Sally 

5. First In Line 

6. Paralyzed 

7. So Glad You re Mine 

8. Old Shep 

9. Ready Teddy 

10. Anyplace Is Paradise 

11. How s The World Treating You 

12. How Do You Think I Feel 

13. I Want You, I Need You, I Love You 

14. Hound Dog 

15. Don t Be Cruel 

16. Any Way You Want Me (That s How I Will Be) 

17. Too Much 

18. Playing For Keeps 

19. Love Me Tender 

20. Let Me 

21. Poor Boy 

22. We re Gonna Move 

Disc: 3 Live (Vegas, Little Rock, various)

1. Heartbreak Hotel 

2. Long Tall Sally 

3. Blue Suede Shoes 

4. Money Honey 

5. Heartbreak Hotel 

6. Long Tall Sally 

7. I Was The One 

8. Money Honey 

9. I Got A Woman 

10. Blue Suede Shoes 

11. Hound Dog 

12. Heartbreak Hotel 

13. Long Tall Sally 

14. I Was The One 

15. Love Me Tender 

16. Don t Be Cruel 

17. Love Me 

18. I Got A Woman 

19. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again 

20. Paralyzed 

21. Hound Dog 

Disc: 4 The Sessions + bonus interview

1. I Got A Woman take unknown 

2. Heartbreak Hotel take 06 

3. I m Counting On You take 13 

4. I Was The One take 02 

5. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy take 01 

6. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy take 03 

7. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy take 04 

8. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy take 05 

9. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy take 06 

10. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy takes 07, 08, 09 

11. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy take 10 (master) 

12. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy takes 11,12 

13. Shake, Rattle And Roll takes 01, 02 

14. Shake, Rattle And Roll takes 03, 05, 06, 07 

15. Shake, Rattle And Roll take 08 

16. Shake, Rattle And Roll takes 09, 10, 11, 12, 12 (undubbed master) 

17. The Complete Warwick Hotel Interview 

Disc: 5 Elvis Talks

1. The Complete TV Guide Presents Elvis interview 

2. Colonel Parker Interview 

3. The Truth About Me 

4. The Truth About Me Interview 

5. Victrola Radio ad 1 

6. Victrola Radio ad 2