BEST OF ELVIS PRESLEY GREATEST 1956 SONGS 22 Hits CD 56

THIS IS A MUST HAVE CD FOR FANS OLD AND NEW !!!!

Elvis Presley , THE KING OF ROCK & ROLL AND ROCKABILLY , COUNT OF SOUL ,BARON OF BALLADS ,  DUKE OF BLUES  AND A PRINCE OF COUNTRY, is the single most important figure in American 20th century popular music , hands down, nobody else is even close so look at those record sales. Sorry even the Beatles when you see the numbers are a poor second place in singles/album chart sales sucess .  No sane person could argue with the fact that he was the musician most responsible for popularizing rock & roll on an international level. Viewed in the hard math sales figures, his impact was phenomenal. Dozens upon dozens of international smashes from the mid-'50s to the mid-'70s, as well as the steady sales of his catalog and reissues since his death in 1977, make him the single highest-selling performer in music history. More important from a music lover's perspective, however, are his remarkable artistic achievements.  Elvis was certainly the first to assertively and succesfully fuse country and blues music into the style known as rockabilly. While rockabilly arrangements were the foundations of his first  recordings, Presley could not have become a mainstream superstar without a much more varied palette that also incorporated pop, gospel, and even some bits of bluegrass and operatic  here and there. His 1950s recordings established the basic language of rock & roll; his explosive and sexual stage presence set standards for the music's visual image; his vocals were incredibly powerful and versatile. To some Elvis is more icon than artist. A lifestyle that gave his life story a somewhat mythic status. By the time of his death, he'd become more a symbol of  America up there with Movie star John Wayne. The continued speculation about his incredible career has sustained interest in his life, and supported a large tourist/entertainment industry, that may last indefinitely, even if the fascination is fueled as much by his celebrity than his music. Born to a poor Mississippi family in the heart of Depression, Elvis had moved to Memphis by his teens, where he absorbed the vibrant melting pot of Southern popular music in the form of blues, country, bluegrass, and gospel. After graduating from high school, he became a truck driver, rarely if ever singing in public. Some 1953 and 1954 demos, recorded at the emerging Sun label in Memphis primarily for Elvis' own pleasure, helped stir interest on the part of Sun owner Sam Phillips. In mid-1954, Phillips, looking for a white singer with a black feel, teamed Presley with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. Almost by accident, apparently, the trio hit upon a version of an Arthur Crudup blues tune, "That's All Right Mama," that became Elvis' first single. The rest they say is history.Elvis' five Sun singles pioneered the blend of R&B and C&W that would characterize rockabilly music. For quite a few scholars, they remain not only Elvis' best singles, but the best rock & roll ever recorded. Claiming that Elvis made blues acceptable for the white market is not the whole picture; the singles usually teamed blues covers with country and pop ones, all made into rock & roll (at this point a term that barely existed) with the pulsing beat, slap-back echo, and Elvis' soaring, frenetic vocals. "That's All Right Mama," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Good Rockin' Tonight," "Baby Let's Play House," and "Mystery Train" remain core early rock classics. The singles sold well in the Memphis area immediately, and by 1955 were starting to sell well to country audiences throughout the South. Presley, Moore, and Black hit the road with a stage show that grew ever wilder and more provocative, Elvis' swiveling hips causing enormous controversy. The move to all-out rock was hastened by the addition of drums. The last Sun single, "I Forgot to Remember Forget"/"Mystery Train," hit number one on the national country charts in late 1955. Presley was obviously a performer with superstar potential, attracting the interest of bigger labels and Colonel Tom Parker, who became Elvis' manager. In need of capital to expand the Sun label, Sam Phillips sold Presley's contract to RCA in late 1955 for 35,000 dollars; a bargain, when viewed in hindsight, but an astronomical sum at the time. But another bad business deal as Sam would repeat this with other stars . And the REST THEY SAY IS HISTORY !!!!!

Joining Rca Elvis named Dean Martin as one of his chief heroes from the get-go. At RCA, his rockabilly was leavened with enough pop flavor to make all of the charts, not just the country ones.At the beginning, at least, the results were hardly any tamer than the Sun sessions. "Heartbreak Hotel," his first single, rose to number one and, aided by some national television appearances.The ED Sullivan tv show helped make Elvis an instant superstar. "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" was a number one follow-up; the double-sided monster "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel" was one of the biggest-selling singles the industry had ever experienced up to that point. Albums and EPs were also chart-toppers, not just in the U.S., but throughout the world. The 1956 RCA recordings, while a bit more sophisticated in production and a bit less rockabilly in orientation than his previous work, were still often magnificent, rating among the best and most influential recordings of early rock & roll.

Elvis'  and Colonel Parker's  aspirations were too big to be limited to records and live appearances. By late 1956, his first Hollywood movie, Love Me Tender, had been released; other screen vehicles would follow in the next few years, Jailhouse Rock being the best. The hits continued unabated, several of them  "Jailhouse Rock," "All Shook Up," "Too Much" are with a doubt in a word excellent, and often benefiting from the efforts of top early rock songwriter Otis Blackwell, as well as the emerging team of Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller. The Jordanaires added both pop and gospel elements with their smooth backup vocals to many of the King's early classics. The Dean Martin influence began rearing his head in smoky, sentimental ballads such as "Loving You"; the vocal swoops became more exaggerated and stereotypical, although the overall quality of his output remained high. And although Moore and Black continued to back Elvis on his early RCA recordings, within a few years the musicians had gone their own ways.

Presley's recording and movie careers were interrupted by his induction into the Army in early 1958. There was enough material in the vault to flood the charts throughout his two-year absence during which he largely served in Germany .When he re-entered civilian life in 1960, his popularity, remarkably, was at just as high a level as when he left to join the service. One couldn't, unfortunately, say the same for the quality of his music, which was not just becoming more sedate, but was starting to either repeat itself, or opt for operatic ballads that didn't have a whole lot to do with rock. Elvis' rebellious, wild image had been tamed to a large degree as well, as he and Parker began designing a career built around Hollywood films. Shortly after leaving the Army, in fact, Presley gave up live performing altogether for nearly a decade to concentrate on movie-making. The films, in turn, would serve as vehicles to both promote his records and to generate maximum revenue with minimal effort. For the rest of the '60s, Presley ground out two or three movies a year that, while mostly profitable, had little going for them in the way of story, acting, or super song content. While there were some quality efforts on Presley's early-'60s albums, his discography was soon dominated by forgettable soundtracks, mostly featuring material that was dispensable or downright ridiculous. In time he became largely disinterested in devoting much time to his craft in the studio. There were some good singles in the early '60s, like "Return to Sender"; once in a while there was even a flash of superb, tough rock, like "Little Sister" or " Marie's the Name  His Latest Flame." But by 1963 or so there was little to get excited about, although he continued to sell in large quantities of albums and movie tickets. The era spanning, roughly, 1962-1967 Elvis sit back relax and enjoy life years .Make a few films and lots of cash.The pretenders to the throne  the Beatles, all big Elvis fans, displaced Presley as the biggest rock act in the world in 1964 for a short period .  Elvis Presley, still churning out movies in Hollywood as psychedelia and soul music became the rage, seem irrelevant, even as he managed to squeeze out an obscure Dylan cover " Tomorrow Is a Long Time" on a 1966 soundtrack album.

By 1967 and 1968, The King was Back to reclaim his throne from the fab four as they where shown the door. Singles like "Guitar Man," "Big Boss Man," and "U.S. Male," though hardly classics, were at least genuine rock & roll that sounded better than much of what he'd been turning out for years. A 1968 television special gave Presley the opportunity he needed to reinvent himself as an all-out leather-coated rocker, still capable of magnetizing an audience, and eager to revisit his blues and country roots. The 1968 album  Elvis in Memphis   was the first LP in nearly a decade in which Presley seemed cognizant of current trends, as he updated his sounds with contemporary compositions and touches of soul to create some reasonably gutsy late-'60s pop/rock. This material, and 1969 hits like "Suspicious Minds" and "In the Ghetto," returned him to the top of the charts. But Elvis' voice did sound good, and he returned to live performing in 1969, breaking in with weeks of shows in Las Vegas. This was followed by national tours that proved him to still be an excellent live entertainer par excellence of show-biz extravaganza. To much sadden world Elvis never did play outside of North America and Hawaii, possibly because Colonel Parker, it was later revealed, was an illegal alien who could have faced serious problems if he traveled abroad.  Hollywood was history, but studio and live albums were generated at a rapid pace, usually selling reasonably well.

Presley's 1970s recordings, like most of his '60s work,  Elvis was on, the equal of anything he did in the 50's, especially in terms of artistic diversity. It's true that the material was pretty eclectic, running from country to blues to all-out rock to gospel  .Presley periodically recorded gospel-only releases, going all the way back to 1957 . 

 On August 16, 1977, Presley was found dead in Graceland.  Millions of people each year hear and live the Elvis experince almost thirty years after his death.) Amazingly The Legend of Presley grows around his legacy, kept alive by the hundreds of thousands of visitors who make the pilgrimage to Graceland annually. Elvis memorabilia, on ebay is another industry in his own right. Dozens if not hundreds make a comfortable living by impersonating the King in live performance. And then there are all those Elvis sightings, reported in tabloids on a seemingly weekly basis.

Although Presley had recorded a mammoth quantity of both released and unreleased material for RCA, the label didn't show much interest in repackaging it with the respect due such a pioneer. Haphazard collections of outtakes and live performances were far rarer than budget reissues and countless repackagings of the big hits. In the CD age, RCA finally began to treat the catalog with some of the reverence it deserved, at long last assembling a box set containing nearly all of the 1950s recordings. Similar, although less exciting, box sets were documenting the 1960s, the 1970s, and his soundtrack recordings. The fans want and deserve more from  RCA . In death, as in life, Presley continues to be one of RCA's most consistent earners. Fortunately, with a little discretion and a little searching any Presley fan can collect , a good Elvis library can be built with little duplication, sticking largely to the most highly recommended selections from his long musical career.

  YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY ELVIS CD ALBUMS ADD THIS ONE

EXCELLENT DISC FANTASTIC SONGS WOW LOOK AT SOME OF THE HITS

THE WHOLE CD IS EXCELLENT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elvis was a talent bar none and this  IS a great collection .This album's tracks can hold up with anything that  anyone does now a days . TRust me he is a whole lot better and thats WHY HE IS THE KING. LONG MAY HE REIGN !!! 

An indispensable part of any true Elvis's collection and a superb introduction to the roots of a musical legend a must for all Presley's fans.The word craftsman makes each song his own, and if you love these favorites from the stars in their original version, you will LOVE this CD, because the Lyric Master improves upon them and makes them his own .He in many cases provides new meaning and insight. A lot of thoughtfulness went into the selection of songs and the order in which they play .Wow it is pure perfect. So sit back Listen & Enjoy !  .  This is a GREAT CD and WONDERFUL to hear and sing along to !!!! 

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If you are a ELVIS  fan you want to get this CD. Even if you aren't a fan you'll definitely Like the way this guy can  craft a tune