The Stax Trilogy

Each year on August 16 I try in my own way to celebrate the legacy of Elvis Presley, and most of the times it involves listening to some carefully picked Elvis music during the day. This time around, inspired by the recent Elvis At Stax release, I will play songs from the three Follow That Dream classic albums making up what I like to call “The Stax Trilogy,” that is, Raised On Rock, Good Times and Promised Land (the first one recorded in July 1973 and the last two in December that year).

 

Not only do these three titles represent some of the best releases from the FTD label so far, they also feature a lot of my favorite tracks with Elvis, (both masters and alternate takes) and this is especially true when it comes to the two albums recorded in December 1973.  Also, they are good examples of albums where Elvis’ ability to master all kind of musical styles, such as pop, rock, ballads, country funk and gospel, is clearly evident.

I also like the fact that the outtakes on the FTD classic album version of Raised On Rock present the Elvis’ 1973 July recording session at Stax in a much more positive light than was the case on the original 1973 album. That said, Raised On Rock clearly is the weakest of the bunch, and although not anywhere near Good Times or Promised Land, it would have made for a stronger album had Elvis not insisted on “I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby” and “Take Good Care Of Her” be taken of the album for a future single release instead.

Finally, I’d like to share a comment my brother Mårten made when I posted my review of the FTD classic album version of Good Times in 2009, where he responded to another well written comment (by the signature David) ending with the line “Taking the best from each one of these two albums [Good Times and Promised Land] would have resulted in one of the very greatest albums of his career - in hindsight, if only quality was more important than quantity.”

This is what Mårten wrote: “I've always thought about what a great 12 track album we could have had from the December 1973 sessions. Here is my versions of it (Leaving of Help Me b/w If That Isn't Love for an Easter 1974 single and the rest of the tracks as B-sides for singles):

Side A
Talk About The Good Times
If You Talk In Your Sleep
Loving Arms
You Asked Me To
Thinking About You
It’s Midnight

Side B
Promised Land
There’s A Honky Tonk Angel
I Got A Feeling In My Body
Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming
My Boy
Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues

Listening to those 12 tracks will be as good start as any to commemorate Elvis, don’t you think?

Further reading:

• Raised On Rock Revisited (posted July 4, 2012)
  
• Promised Land – A Review (posted December 28, 2011)
  
• Good Times Never Seemed So Good (posted January 2, 2010)