Non-soundtrack recordings made between 66 and 68, these sides show that Elvis' 68 Comeback was inevitable. Jerry Reed gives Elvis 2 of his best songs "Guitar Man" and "U.S. Male" and the King knocks 'em out of the park. His cover of the Clovers "Down In The Alley" from 1966 is tough R&B. Also, check out his version of Bob Dylan's "Tomorrow Is A Long Time". A great performance. Yes, the man could do it all. So, while he was still making bad movies, these Nashville sides are proof that the King was on the verge of Rock and Roll's greatest comeback. His voice sounds great, the songs on this CD are generally good (a few too many remakes of other artist's hits), and you can just feel him committed to making great music again. Which he would.

A little bit of country, pop and rock 'n' roll. One of the best compilations of Elvis ever! And I mean it! This is not just a cd for diehard fans or rockabillies. Every rocker must have it! "Too Much Monkey Business" is an old Chuck Berry song, "Guitar Man" and "US Male" are Jerry Reed originals, "Tomorrow Is A Long Time" is Bob Dylans country, "Big Boss Man" is Willie Dixon's blues, "Stay Away" and "Going Home" are Wild West songs, "Love Letters" is Kelly Lester's, "Fools Fall In Love" is another Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller's song originaly recorded by The Drifters, but his is faster, "High Heel Sneakers" is another rock 'n' roll classic, and so on and on... This is really worth having. Rock On!

Due to the damage all those lame movies and soundtracks did to Elvis' musical image and reputation, these tracks were not paid much attention to when first released. Which brings about the point that not only were these songs very much underrated, but instead of them being released in the manner in which they are here, and should have been from the start, they were scattered about haphazardly on lame soundtrack and budget albums, therefore being buried with a bunch of garbage, and never given a real chance of being appreciated. This set corrects that problem, 30 years too late, but better then never! At least from here on they can be heard and appreciated in the way they should be. This set is most of the non-movie secular work Elvis laid down between 1966-68, and there are many gems! "GUITAR MAN, BIG BOSS MAN, U.S.MALE, HI HEEL SNEAKERS, DOWN IN THE ALLEY, TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS" are all great..great! Country/Blues/Rock performances that deserved a lot more attention at the time than they got. "I'LL REMEMBER YOU, LOVE LETTERS, YOU DON'T KNOW ME,and INDESCRIBABLY BLUE" are all gorgeous! You can feel the emotion in Elvis' voice on these..again very overlooked and great ballads. Also "FOOLS FALL IN LOVE" is a fun little romp, the title track shows that Elvis wasn't as out of touch with the newer music as some suggested, giving a great laid back 60's style rendition of Bob Dylan's composition-In fact Dylan has said this is his favorite cover of one of his songs...Nuff said! For myself, there is another personal little treat, I've always liked "STAY AWAY" and had a hard time finding it on CD until now, again it was buried on a movie album, and I didn't want to buy a movie disc for one or two songs so it's a little added bonus for myself. Anyway it's a nice little fast paced country ballad which sounds like it was set to the tune of "GREENSLEEVES". Any true Elvis fan will love this very underappricated body of work if they don't already, and they all sound great! JOHN from L.A. CA

I bought this CD the other day because I was wanting to hear US Male. I have it on vinyl. but needed the CD. WOW, the song selection was great, many different moods from the man who could sing from anyplace in his heart. This is a must own CD. the voice and the feelings he shares, it'll bring back wonderful memories or it'll create wonderful memories if you've never had the pleasure. Give this CD a spin, you'll be glad you did.

This CD compiles non-religious, non-soundtrack songs that Elvis recorded between 1966 and 1968. This was a low point in Presley's career. He was stuck recording mostly lousy soundtracks, which sold less copies each time out. His singles weren't selling that well, either. His last Top Ten hit had been "Crying in the Chapel" in 1965 (which was a song left over from 1960). But Elvis still managed to make some great music during this time, when he wasn't recording crappy soundtracks. It seems like whenever Elvis recorded something that wasn't for a soundtrack, he just sang whatever songs tickled his fancy. He recorded all kinds of great songs during this time period. Like Jerry Reed's country-blues songs "Guitar Man" and "U.S. Male". And Chuck Berry's rock and roll song "Too Much Monkey Business". And Bob Dylan's folk song "Tomorrow is a Long Time". And ballads like "Love Letters" and "Indescribably Blue". And blues songs like "Down in the Alley" and "Big Boss Man". These are great songs, but more importantly, Elvis is committed to the songs and seems to be having fun. Not that all the songs are great. There are a few mediocre songs like "Mine" and "Singing Tree". They aren't bad, they just pale in comparison to some of the great songs on this album. Anyway, it's great to finally have these songs together on one CD where they belong.