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A Boy from Tupelo rounds up all the known existing Elvis Presley recordings from 1953 through 1955, a sum total of 53 studio takes and 32 live performances. The subtitle of the triple-disc set is The Complete 1953-1955 Recordings but it could as easily been dubbed The Sun Years, as the first two discs not only contain all the masters Elvis released for Sam Phillips' legendary Memphis label, but all the outtakes, the four alternate mixes of Sun material released by RCA, and the four acetates Presley privately cut for Phillips' Memphis Recording Service. The third disc is devoted to live material, primarily recorded at the Shreveport radio show Louisiana Hayride, but there are also some tracks recorded at concerts and radio stations in Texas and Mississippi. A lot of this third disc has shown up on prior Presley compilations, usually collections targeted at the hardcore Elvis fans, but A Boy from Tupelo presents all this music in a logical, orderly sequence that suits Legacy's previous big Presley boxes, such as 2011's Young Man with the Big Beat: The Complete 1956 Masters. If A Boy from Tupelo doesn't seem as revelatory as that five-disc box, blame it on the fact that apart from the live recordings -- which are cleaned up, but often can still seem pretty rough -- this is heavily recycled material. Elvis' Sun sessions were first reissued as a 16-track LP called The Sun Sessions in 1976, which was trumped 11 years later by the CD release of The Complete Sun Sessions -- which itself wound up getting usurped in 1999 by the double-disc Sunrise. Additionally, this music can be found on 1992's five-CD The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50s Masters, the massive 2010 box The Complete Elvis Presley Masters, and 2016's The RCA Album Collection, albeit spread over some of that set's 60 CDs, so no matter how well executed A Boy from Tupelo is -- and it's very well done, boasting a handsome, detailed book and clean sound -- it can't help but feel a little old hat. Still, those consumers in the market for the earliest Elvis will be satisfied by this, as it not only has everything in one convenient box but the addition of the live material does provide a nice coda to the familiar Sun sessions.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Peterson, Composer, Lyricist - Blasco, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Raskin, Composer, Lyricist - Errol Brown, Composer, Lyricist - Fisher, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Hy Heath, Composer, Lyricist - Fred Rose, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Jimmy Wakely, Composer, Lyricist - Fred Rose, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer - James Kennedy, Composer, Lyricist - Hugh Williams, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Leon Payne, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Arthur Crudup, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Bill Monroe, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Lorenz Hart, Composer, Lyricist - Richard Rodgers, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Sam Coslow, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer - Will Grosz, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Jimmy Wakely, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Mack David, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Bob Shelton, Composer, Lyricist - Joe Shelton, Composer, Lyricist - Sid Robin, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Roy Brown, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Kokomo Arnold, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Jack Sallee, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer - Stanley Kesler, Composer, Lyricist - William Taylor, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Arthur Gunter, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Stanley Kesler, Composer, Lyricist - William Taylor, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Stan Kesler, Composer, Lyricist - Charlie Feathers, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer - Scott Moore, Guitar - Bill Black, Bass - Johnny Bernero, Drums
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Herman Parker, Jr., Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer - Sam C. Phillips, Composer, Lyricist - Scott Moore, Guitar - Bill Black, Bass - Johnny Bernero, Drums
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Charles Singleton, Composer, Lyricist - Rosemarie McCoy, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Billy 'The Kid' Emerson, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Arthur Crudup, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Bill Monroe, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Leon Payne, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Sam Coslow, Composer, Lyricist - Will Grosz, Composer, Lyricist
DISC 2
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Jimmy Kennedy, Composer, Lyricist - Hugh Williams, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Jimmy Kennedy, Composer, Lyricist - Hugh Williams, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Jimmy Kennedy, Composer, Lyricist - Hugh Williams, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Leon Payne, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Leon Payne, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Leon Payne, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Arthur Crudup, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Bill Monroe, Composer, Lyricist - Sam Phillips, Engineer, Producer
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Richard Rodgers, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Richard Rodgers, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Richard Rodgers, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Lorenz Hart, Composer, Lyricist - Richard Rodgers, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Spoken Word, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Jimmy Wakely, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Roy Brown, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Mack David, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Stan Kessler, Composer, Lyricist - Bill Taylor, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Stan Kessler, Composer, Lyricist - Bill Taylor, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Stan Kessler, Composer, Lyricist - Bill Taylor, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Stan Kessler, Composer, Lyricist - Bill Taylor, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Stan Kessler, Composer, Lyricist - Bill Taylor, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Wayne Walker, Composer, Lyricist - Webb Pierce, Composer, Lyricist
Elvis Presley, Associated Performer, Main Artist - William Emerson, Composer, Lyricist
Album review
A Boy from Tupelo rounds up all the known existing Elvis Presley recordings from 1953 through 1955, a sum total of 53 studio takes and 32 live performances. The subtitle of the triple-disc set is The Complete 1953-1955 Recordings but it could as easily been dubbed The Sun Years, as the first two discs not only contain all the masters Elvis released for Sam Phillips' legendary Memphis label, but all the outtakes, the four alternate mixes of Sun material released by RCA, and the four acetates Presley privately cut for Phillips' Memphis Recording Service. The third disc is devoted to live material, primarily recorded at the Shreveport radio show Louisiana Hayride, but there are also some tracks recorded at concerts and radio stations in Texas and Mississippi. A lot of this third disc has shown up on prior Presley compilations, usually collections targeted at the hardcore Elvis fans, but A Boy from Tupelo presents all this music in a logical, orderly sequence that suits Legacy's previous big Presley boxes, such as 2011's Young Man with the Big Beat: The Complete 1956 Masters. If A Boy from Tupelo doesn't seem as revelatory as that five-disc box, blame it on the fact that apart from the live recordings -- which are cleaned up, but often can still seem pretty rough -- this is heavily recycled material. Elvis' Sun sessions were first reissued as a 16-track LP called The Sun Sessions in 1976, which was trumped 11 years later by the CD release of The Complete Sun Sessions -- which itself wound up getting usurped in 1999 by the double-disc Sunrise. Additionally, this music can be found on 1992's five-CD The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50s Masters, the massive 2010 box The Complete Elvis Presley Masters, and 2016's The RCA Album Collection, albeit spread over some of that set's 60 CDs, so no matter how well executed A Boy from Tupelo is -- and it's very well done, boasting a handsome, detailed book and clean sound -- it can't help but feel a little old hat. Still, those consumers in the market for the earliest Elvis will be satisfied by this, as it not only has everything in one convenient box but the addition of the live material does provide a nice coda to the familiar Sun sessions.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 3 disc(s) - 85 track(s)
- Total length: 03:41:28
- Main artists: Elvis Presley
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: RCA - Legacy
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock
This compilation (P) 2017 RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
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