Elvis Presley’s legendary 1970 marathon sessions in Nashville are among the King’s last shining moments. The sessions would notably lead to albums like Elvis: That’s the Way It is, Elvis Country (I’m 10,000 Years Old) and Love Letters from Elvis but would also mark the advent of a pop-sounding country rock which influenced numerous wannabe-cowboys (a style which would nevertheless fizzle out before the end of the 70s). For the session’s 50th anniversary, the songs are all reunited in a never-before-heard unaltered version that omits layers of overdubbing and supplementary orchestrations. Matt Ross-Spring (who has worked with John Prine, Jason Isbell and Margo Price) provides a radiant mixing here. Some rarities and previously unreleased material like the covers of Willie Nelson’s Funny How Time Slips Away and Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge over Troubled Water are including as an additional bonus. Here is an Elvis on the rise once again after his marvellous 1968 Comeback Special and the masterpiece From Elvis in Memphis released the year later… In the famous studio B of Nashville’s RCA studios (which was all-familiar to Presley) for five days in June (an additional session took place on the 22nd of September), the King is surrounded by multi-instrumentalist Charlie McCoy, bassist Norbert Putnam, pianist David Briggs, and his legendary stage guitarist James Burton (and his demonic solo on I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water !) and former Muscle Shoals member Eddie Hinton. In short, the band are loyal virtuosos and five-star session men who bring a great sense of confidence to the record as they magnify the King’s great voice. These marathon sessions mix country songs with rock and a dash of soul. All compositions are chosen by Elvis himself. Live in the studio, his singing is godlike, and Ross-Spring’s flawless mixing brings a sense of modernity to the general sound of these seances. There’s no need to be an expert on the King to appreciate the value of these 4 and a half hours of lively and pure music. An essential. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz