Later in the year a number of Elvis’ gospel performances were licensed to K-Tel records, and they issued the album “Inspirations”. This was TV advertised and gave Elvis another chart album.
The
first album of 1981 was “Guitar Man”. A country compilation which featured
re-recorded backing tracks produced by Felton Jarvis at Young ‘Un Sound in
Nashville during 1980. Some alternate vocals were also used. The reaction to
this was mixed, and the ‘80’s production hasn’t aged well over the years,
but there was enough demand from fans for a CD version of these recordings to
warrant a release on the collectors label in 2000. RCA released the remade
“Guitar Man” coupled with “Faded Love” as a single to promote the album,
and it was a minor UK hit. A second single featuring “Loving Arms” and
“You Asked Me To” was also released but didn’t make the top 40.
Next came the soundtrack to the 1981 documentary “This Is Elvis” which contained both previously issued masters and new material. Amongst the highlights were a number of performances from Elvis’ explosive ‘50’s television appearances that were welcomed by fans despite the added overdubs from the Warner Brothers Orchestra, and the movie version of “Mean Woman Blues”. Some of the ‘70’s cuts were also given extra strings and a number of interview excerpts added to the documentary feel of the project. On a less positive note RCA tried to pass off an edited version of Elvis’ 1973 live recording of “Suspicious Minds” from “Aloha From Hawaii”, as a previously unreleased version from 1970. This album was packaged in a gatefold sleeve featuring colour photographs from the movie, and it also included a fold out sheet containing information about each individual track. In addition to the aforementioned overdubs some songs were re-edited for this release.
Following
“This Is Elvis” RCA in the US released “Greatest Hits Volume 1”, an
album that was originally planned for September 1977. “Greatest Hits” was a
strange title as a number of the featured tracks hadn’t actually been hits,
and some of the performances included were new previously unreleased versions.
The running time of the album was also short as it contained only 10 tracks, and
this prompted Roger Semon at RCA UK to add some extra tracks to the album in
order to extend the playing time, and give the fans better value for their
money. A number of performances, which had only previously been available on the
“Elvis Aron Presley” box set, were added, and the album’s title was
changed to “The Sound Of Your Cry” for the UK release. This album was well
received by the fans, and RCA promoted it by releasing the infamous laughing
version of “Are You Lonesome Tonight” as a single. The track may have been a
strange choice for a single release, but it started to gain airplay and
eventually gave Elvis another UK top 40 hit.
It was coupled with Elvis’ 1969 cover of “From A Jack To A King”. A
second single which coupled “The Sound Of Your Cry” with “I’ll Never
Know” was also issued as both a regular black vinyl single, and a picture
disc, but failed to make the charts.
In another tie in with K-Tel Records the live compilation “The Ultimate Performance” was released in the UK. This featured live tracks from the albums “Elvis In Person”, “Elvis Live On Stage At Madison Square Garden”, and “Aloha From Hawaii” edited together to make it sound like one complete concert. Sleeve notes were added from UK fan club secretary Todd Slaughter, and the album was TV advertised using clips from the “Aloha” special. Once again it made the album charts, and the idea was revamped in 2001 when the CD “The Live Greatest Hits” was released. Another K-Tel album “Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebel” was issued in 1982, and as the title would suggest this album concentrated on out and out rock ‘n’ roll. It seems K-Tel were determined to cover every aspect of the Presley career.