Jan 02: Elvis Presley released “Elvis Country” 1971


Elvis Country

Elvis Presley released “Elvis Country” 2 Jan 1971

“Elvis has come out with a record which gives us some of the very finest and most affecting music since he first recorded for Sun almost 17 years ago”- Peter Guralnick (Rolling Stone Magazine 1971)

“…Elvis was at his peak when he cut Elvis Country. Actually, Elvis Presley was positively on a roll at the time. A decade after the end of what were thought to be his prime years, he was singing an ever-widening repertory of songs with more passion and involvement than he’d shown since the end of the 1950s…”
~Bruce Eder (allmusic.com)

 

Elvis Presley – Funny How Time Slips Away (Willie Nelson):

Wikipedia:

Released January 2, 1971
Recorded June and September 1970
Genre Rock
Length 38.49
Label RCA Records
Producer Felton Jarvis

Elvis Country (I’m 10,000 Years Old) is the eleventh studio album by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Records (LSP 44600 in January 1971. Recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville, it reached number 12 on the Billboard 200. It peaked at number six in the United Kingdom, selling over one million copies worldwide. It was certified Gold on December 1,1977 by the Recording Industry Association of America. 

The lead single for the album, “I Really Don’t Want to Know” b/w “There Goes My Everything” was released on December 8, 1970 and peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, number two on the Adult Contemporary chart, and number 23 on the country singles chart.

Tomorrow Never Comes:

Elvis Presley started a great run with his 1968 Comeback Special, then went on to  the brilliant From Elvis in Memphis , and then the “bonus” album, Back in Memphis), the very good  live abum On Stage, and the studio/live That’s the Way It Is in 1970.

And then…

In January 1971 Elvis Presley returned with Elvis Country: I’m 10,000 Years Old, and again the artist was addressing his roots, though with some more modern sounds. This is Elvis at the top of his game and it is one of his best albums.

It is available in several editions, the original single Album version, The FTD version with many outtakes and the Legacy edition that includes the album, Love Letters from Elvis. Love Letters was drawn from the same four days of Nashville sessions as Elvis Country. It also has a few bonus tracks and good liner notes on both the albums, written by Stuart Coleman in 2011.
cd_elviscountrymain_set_2011_11_21
This is The Legacy edition on Spotify

Other 2 January:

From Wikipedia:

Roger Dean Miller (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs. His most recognized tunes included the chart-topping country/pop hits “King of the Road”, “Dang Me” and “England Swings”, all from the mid-1960s Nashville sound era.

In addition to 11 Grammy Awards, Roger Miller won Broadway’s Tony award for writing the music and lyrics for Big River, which won a total of 7 Tonys including best musical in 1985. He was voted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1995. Miller’s 11 Grammy Awards held the record as the most won by any artist until Michael Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller. In Erick, Oklahoma where he grew up, a thoroughfare was renamed “Roger Miller Boulevard” and a museum dedicated to Miller was built on the road in 2004.

Dang Me:

Woodward Maurice Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974), better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting (son John and grandson Jason). He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

– Hallgeir & Egil

3 thoughts on “Jan 02: Elvis Presley released “Elvis Country” 1971”

  1. I listen to Elvis from 69-70 more than anything else. I wish people who aren’t Elvis fans, would listen to him from this period when almost everything he did was great. Just listen to ‘How the Web Was Woven” from the studio portion of the “That’s the Way it is” album. Amazing.

    1. I agree, Elvis is underrated by todays audience. What is most baffling in my opinion is when looking at the rehearsal footage from That’s the way it is (the dvd), how Elvis goes in and out of arrangement of songs with such ease. He was a master musician and singer, no doubt!

      I’ve bought two Elvis box-sets in 2013, they are both unbelievably good.

      – Hallgeir

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