In 1976, Elvis Presley recorded what would become the last batch of songs in a studio setting...sort of...

After 1975's "Today" sessions, Elvis never again recorded in a bona fide recording studio. RCA, desperate to get SOMETHING new from The King (that was not in a live concert format), it was decided to bring the studio to Elvis. In February of 1976 (and later in October as well), Elvis cut tracks within his own home, Graceland.

This CD features the two final albums by the King featuring new material. They have been combined together in this package, making it a nice little investment. Tracks 1-9 are from the original "Moody Blue" album, and tracks 10-19 were from the album "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee".

1-UNCHAINED MELODY Recorded live in April of '77, this shows that Elvis's range has not deteriorated like his health and appearance had. Very effective, a similar performance was filmed in June of that year for the CBS special that aired shortly after his death. Although it didn't make the final cut of the special, it was later released on both the video "Elvis: The Great Performances-Center Stage" and the accompanying CD "Elvis: The Great Performances"

2-IF YOU LOVE ME, LET ME KNOW Elvis had been performing this song since his August '74 Vegas engagement, but no version of it was legitimately released until this one, recorded on stage in April '77. While not one of the King's more memorable performances, it's quite bouncy and fun. A similar version was recorded in June of '77 and is featured on the album "Elvis In Concert".

3-LITTLE DARLIN' This toungue-in-cheek performance, also from Elvis' April '77 concert tour, shows that despite being only months away from death, he still didn't lose his sense of humor.

4-HE'LL HAVE TO GO Elvis sings this Jim Reeves hit with a lot of nice low notes, comparable to "In the Ghetto". Recorded in Graceland in October '76, this would ultimately be the last studio recorded The King ever made.

5-WAY DOWN Also recorded in the October '76 Graceland sessions, this cool rocker showed that Elvis didn't do all slow ballads in the end. A late classic.

6-PLEDGING MY LOVE Recorded immediately after "Way Down", Elvis appears to be enjoying himself on this Johnny Ace hit. Nicely sung, a similar (and longer) version appears on "Platinum: A Life In Music"

7-MOODY BLUE Recorded in February '76 in Graceland, this is the closest Elvis ever got to doing a disco record. A happy tune, it did well on the country charts, peaking at #1.

8-SHE THINKS I STILL CARE Another country classic given a treatment by Elvis. Recorded in February '76 in Graceland, Elvis gives it a nice, if not outstanding, treatment. A slightly different version appears on "Walk a Mile In My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters"

9-IT'S EASY FOR YOU Recorded during the October '76 Graceland sessions, this melodramatic ballad would end up being the last song on the last album released during Elvis' lifetime ("Moody Blue", July '77). A haunting way to end a 20+ recording career.

The remaining tracks were all recorded during the Graceland sessions in February '76:

10-HURT A late Elvis classic, Elvis puts full gusto into this Timi Yuro hit. The power of his voice and range make this a must-listen.

11-NEVER AGAIN Another melodramatic ballad, Elvis puts a lot of soul in this rather ordinary tune.

12-BLUE EYES CRYING IN THE RAIN Nice lead guitar work on this one. Elvis sounds a little tired, though.

13-DANNY BOY Another old song given a try by the King. Not outstanding, but again kind of cryptic, considering The King would be dead a year and a half later.

14-THE LAST FAREWELL One of the lesser moments of the Graceland sessions, this ordinary tune isn't anything spectacular.

15-FOR THE HEART The most upbeat tune on the "From Elvis Presley Boulevard" album, this has a fine vocal by Elvis and cool background singing as well. A nice outtake appears on "Platinum: A Life In Music"

16-BITTER THEY ARE, HARDER THEY FALL Another melodramatic ballad, Elvis seems to pour a lot into this one. Not a song to play when in a manic depressive state.

17-SOLITAIRE This Neil Sedaka tune, recently a hit for the Carpenters, is done rather lethargically by Elvis. Nothing great by any means.

18-LOVE COMING DOWN Yet another depressing tune. One really wonders exactly HOW lonely Elvis felt at the time.

19-I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN Although the album was entitled "From Elvis Presley Boulevard...", a better title would have been "Elvis Sings Really Miserable Songs". This Tom Jones hit actually fails in the hands of Elvis Presley. Elvis fails to hit the high notes that he had done so graciously in the past on tunes such as "An American Trilogy" and "What Now, My Love".

This album is essential for the Elvis collector, considering that these are the final recordings done during his lifetime, save for the June '77 concert performances released on the posthumous release "Elvis In Concert"

The artwork is heavily borrowed from the original "Moody Blue" album, but now with a bigger, more recent photo. The original featured a rather tiny photo from the November '72 (!) tour, while this one features a summer '75 picture.

Nicely packaged, with good sound, it is a worthwhile investment. The highlights far outweigh the misses.

It goes without saying that in the legacy of rock music, Elvis is among the most important, and that most important in this case does not mean most consistent. When treating Elvis' catalog for remastering, I can see why RCA would not consider it practical to take Sony's approach and remaster every LP Elvis released as a single album, single disc release. On the other hand, the sloppy treatment rendered on Elvis' catalog is unforgivable, no matter how wildly varied these albums are. There are still dozens, if not hundreds, of throwaway compilations on the market, and now to further the problem, RCA is screwing with Elvis' original albums. The sequencing and tracklist of ON STAGE for instance, is a remastering of the original album with bonus tracks interspersed, and a medley replacing the original version of a song - and is for all intents and purposes a new CD. What RCA has done to MOODY BLUE amounts to the same damage.

MOODY BLUE isn't a masterpiece, and its history among Elvis fans is very divisble - but in its original form it was a really good record, featuring some excellent performances. The original album was made up of 3 tour tracks, 6 Graceland sessions, and a live cut from his 1974 live in Memphis album. "Unchained Melody" is a more theatrical cut than a straight performance, but Elvis handles the song well. His two Olivia Newton-John covers "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" and 1974 "Let Me Be There" are well-done. While some reviewers have noted the songs sound alike, that was why they worked as hits for Olivia as "If You Love Me" followed "Let Me Be There" up the charts; both written by John Rostill and have a similar style. Both are good songs, in particular I like Elvis' loose take on "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)". "Little Darlin'" isn't much of a performance though. The Graceland sessions include two excellent country classics "He'll Have To Go" (Jim Reeves) and "She Thinks I Still Care" (George Jones), in particular "She Thinks I Still Care" is a standout. The title track was Elvis' last #1, topped the country charts, and is a favorite, though one can detect a slight disco flavoring to the song. "Way Down" was a smart uptempo rock song, and the cover of "Pledging My Love" is beautiful. Though Elvis didn't intend it "It's Easy For You" was a beautifully sad note to close his last album.

Given that MOODY BLUE was my first Elvis record (child of the 1980s) I am especially fond of it, which makes RCAs remastering decisions even more atrocious. Whether or not the record is patchwork, which it is, there's a certain historical/artistic sense that is lost by the reckless tampering with the album's content. For this edition, RCA cut "Let Me Be There" which closed side one, and added the entirety of FROM ELVIS PRESLEY BOULEVARD IN MEMPHIS after "It's Easy For You," which damages the effect. While there are some good songs on that album, "For The Heart," "Hurt," "The Last Farewell," it neither works well with MOODY BLUE, nor does it make any sense to tag another album on as "Bonus Tracks."

This may be a purists' review, but RCA does Elvis fans a disservice by reorganizing a catalog that has stood for over thirty years. Its time for the label to show some artistic respect for Elvis' recorded achievements, aside from the hits. Why not remaster these albums (completely) and sell two-as-ones, keep them intact and identified as different albums. Rather than a revamped ON STAGE offer LIVE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL HOTEL and the original ON STAGE. Offer BACK IN MEMPHIS alongside FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS. Rather than restructure the MOODY BLUE album and attempt to pass off a different record as bonus tracks, fix the errors (the missing "Let Me Be There") and sell them as one set. This allows fans to appropriately build their Elvis libraries, and treats his catalog with some measure of respect.

In an amazing warping of truth in advertising, RCA has remastered and reissued the entire _From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee_ album, preceeded it with nine of the original ten cuts from _Moody Blue_, and dubbed the result _Moody Blue_ with "ten tracks orignally released on "From Elvis Presley Boulevard...."." They've even changed the cover art! Wouldn't it have been more effective to just delete the three forgettable live tracks from _Moody Blue_, added some alternate takes, and call it the _Complete Graceland Sessions_?

Of course, apart from _Elvis Country_, Elvis and RCA were never known for their sense of careful album planning. Enough bitterness...

These performances capture Elvis at a misunderstood period in his life. Yes, he was overweight, unhealthy, and bored with the superstar life. That did not, however, stop him from laying down consistently strong performances. "Way Down" is probably Elvis' most convincing rocker since "Burning Love" while "She Thinks I Still Care" and "He'll Have to Go" are two of his best country tunes since his final Nashville sessions in 1971.

Other highlights of this package include the King's haunting rendition of "Danny Boy", the great "Love Coming Down", "For the Heart", and "Solitaire".

Unfortunately, a handful of true stinkers weigh this collection down. The three remaining live tracks from _Moody Blue_ ("Let Me Be There" was left off even though there was still plenty of room on the CD for it. Plus, it was already available on a previous live album) are generally forgettable. "Unchained Melody" is okay, but reminds the listener of the shakiness of Elvis' final live performances. "If You Love Me" is barely decent but "Little Darlin'" may well be the worst song Elvis dared to release during the 70's.

Finally, there's the schmaltzy "The Last Farewell". If "Way Down" and "Burning Love" were reminders that the 70's Elvis could still rock with the best of them, the hideously overproduced (even by Elvis standards) "The Last Farewell" strongly supports the widely-held belief that Elvis was a washed-up, overweight Vegas crooner by 1976.

Overall, though, this is a very listenable compilation which would probably get three and a half stars it that were an option. A half star, however, was docked because of the screwed-up billing of this collection.

It is important to realize how bored Elvis was with everything around him at this stage of his life. His career, although not floundering was certainly not going anywhere. Elvis needed challenges to achieve personal highs, and at this time he was not challeged. He could record songs like this in his sleep. (Which was'nt far from reality here.) Which brings me to my point. The fact that he could turn in towering performances like HURT and UNCHAINED MELODY, and rock out with WAY DOWN and FOR THE HEART at this time in his life, prove one thing. Elvis, even at his most distracted and lowest point, is still better than dozens of other artists at their best. The country flavored tunes here like MOODY BLUE(which was his last #1 record)and SHE THINKS I STILL CARE would make Garth, Alan, Vince, etc...jelouse with envy. It's always been amazing to me how when Elvis covers songs like Olivia Newton-John's IF YOU LOVE(Let Me Know), he makes it his, even when the arrangement is identical to the original. One of my favorite tracks on this album is Elvis' version of the classic DANNY BOY. Recorded with just piano and Elvis, there is not a finer version of this song anywhere. Much has been writen about this session of recordings, as they were done at Graceland (in the "Jungle Room")and were the last of his lifetime (except for live recordings). Did he still have "it"? Yes he most certainly did! It's too bad Elvis was'nt there to enjoy it. Thankfully we still can today!

This was the last album released during Elvis Presley's lifetime. At this point in Elvis's life, he refused to go to a recording studio, for whatever reason. So, RCA Records brought a mobile recording studio to Graceland, in the hopes of getting another album out of him. Things didn't go exactly as they planned, as Elvis recorded only a handful of songs, despite how easy they made it for him. So, in order to have enough songs to fill out an album, they recorded Elvis live on tour, hoping he would perform some songs he hadn't previously recorded. Even then, they still didn't have enough songs for an album, so they padded out the album with "Let Me Be There", which had previously been released on the Live On Stage In Memphis album. So after all that, how is the album? Pretty good, actually, although it is far from Elvis's strongest album. "Way Down" and "Moody Blue" are strong efforts, and most of the other songs are pretty good, although "It's Easy For You" is kind of weak and "Little Darlin'" is treated as a joke. Not to mention that "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" is practically the same song as "Let Me Be There". As bonus tracks, the CD features the entire From Elvis Presley Boulevard album, which was also recorded at Graceland. This album also features some good moments and some not so good moments. "Hurt" is a fantastic performance that is arguably the last great recording Elvis ever made. "For the Heart" is another good one, and I have to admit that I have a soft spot for Elvis's version of "Danny Boy". The rest of the material is uneven, but at least Elvis was recording songs he actually liked, unlike some other occasions. This CD should appeal to all of the King's fans.