Celebrate Elvis Death Day with "Elvis at Stax"

Elvis A(a)ron Presley supposedly "passed away" on this day in 1977. We all know it's a hoax and a conspiracy generated to give the King some time away from the spotlight, but for the purposes of this post, let's just play along, shall we?

Elvis left behind a vast body, and a vast body of work, much of it overlooked during his lifespan. The most recent archival release from Elvis Presley Enterprises, Elvis at Stax, looks to be a true must own, and not just because there's a huge golden TCB medallion on the cover.

Elvis at Stax collects for the first time the series of 1973 sessions the King did at Stax Studios, Memphis's other legendary sonic cathedral. Sun Studios, as we all know, is where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and so many others got their start in the 50s.

But across town was Stax, the hotbed of soul and funk where a few years later Otis Redding, Booker T & the MG's, Wilson Pickett and others wrote the book on Southern-fried soul and R&B.

Elvis went to Stax to shake things up and plus it was right across town. The results really TCB'd and, as this amazing cover and video of Chuck Berry's "Promised Land" shows, the King still had plenty of gas left in the tank.



Elvis at Stax is a welcome addition to the King's Katalogue. It's available in a deluxe 3-CD or  single-disc or configurations - I say go whole hog, you know Elvis would.

Buy Elvis at Stax:
iTunes
Amazon