152. Elvis Presley — From Elvis in Memphis (1969)

Elvis, Elvis, everywhere

1. It’s 1969. America’s at war, with itself and with other countries it shouldn’t be; Ohio State defeated USC in the Rose Bowl; Middle America was looking for something safe, comforting, a throwback to an earlier time (perhaps why they elected Richard Nixon a year prior). In steps Elvis Presley, out of a series of blah film performances and into his studios in Memphis to record a new series of songs. The King gave them exactly what they wanted.
2. That’s neither praise nor condemnation. Elvis in Memphis is a generally pleasant collection of rockabilly, country, and southern soul pop tunes. Album opener “Wearin’ That Loved On Look” gets things moving right from the start; you can practically feel the hips gyrating. From there, however, it falls into a generally safe middle ground. None of the music on this record will repulse you, but little of it thrilled me, either.
3. Album closer “In The Ghetto,” however, stands out — a message tune moreso than many of Elvis’s works, it speaks to poverty, desperation, and struggle happening throughout America but especially in Chicago. It tells a tragic story of an impossible cycle to break, a cycle that has gotten worse and worse in this country in the subsequent fifty years thanks to the overwhelming power of capitalism and conservatism (it’s not lost on me that Elvis is a quintessentially conservative artist, and I find myself wondering his thoughts on this precise song — whether he saw it as a call to arms or a complaint about a segment of America). It’s not the best song Elvis ever recorded, but it’s the most interesting I’ve heard to date.

Next up: the Velvet Underground keep on keepin’ on.

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