Album Reviews

Elvis in the army meant no new albums or singles from the King so RCA producers raided the vaults to put together this album and A Date With Elvis (LPM-2011).

Issued in February of 1959 For LP Fans Only was Elvis’s 7th RCA album. It’s a short, twenty three and a half minute compilation of ten tracks only available previously as singles, or in the case of “Poor Boy” on the Love Me Tender EP. Collectors are most attracted to the album for its inclusion of three rare Sun singles: “Mystery Train,” “My Baby Left Me,” and of course “That’s All Right.”

Other tracks are “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” “Playing For Keeps,” “I Was the One,” “Shake Rattle and Roll,” “I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone,” and “You’re A Heartbreaker.”

This is not only for LP fans only, it’s for hardcore Elvis fans only! The recording quality is variable, with some tunes recorded at 20th Century Fox’s Stage One, some at Radio Recorders, a few at RCA Nashville, two at RCA New York and the rest at Sun.

There are enough great player and performances here to make it worth having since it compiles such a broad swath of the early days of rock’n’roll in one package.

RCA’s attempt to recreate the “Sun Sound” was kind of corny as they bathed Elvis in distant reverb that sounds like a caricature of what Sun did—but that doesn’t really matter. It’s worth having for the Sun tracks alone. Plus you can enjoy the playing of Scotty Moore, Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer, D.J. Fontana, Bill Black and other legendary players.

I have no idea from what source this LP was made. One hopes it was authentic and analog, which would mean either the tape RCA shipped to Germany (where Elvis was coincidentally stationed during his time in the service) for its original 1959 German release or from a more recent dupe from the original compilation sitting in BMG/Sony’s American vaults.

Whatever the source, it doesn’t sound “digital,” but don’t expect the kind of sonic greatness later achieved upon Elvis’s return when he recorded and RCA released Elvis Is Back.