Track Listing

1. Promised Land
2. There's a Honky Tonk Angel (Who Will Take Me Back In)
3. Help Me
4. Mr. Songman
5. Love Song of the Year
6. It's Midnight
7. Your Love's Been a Long Time Coming
8. If You Talk in Your Sleep
9. Thinking About You
10. You Asked Me To
11. Loving Arms [*]
12. I Got a Feelin' in My Body [*]
13. If That Isn't Love [*]
14. She Wears My Ring [*]
15. My Boy [*]
16. Spanish Eyes [*]
17. Talk About the Good Times [*]
18. Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues [*]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12981 in Music
• Released on: 2000-05-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Import

Customer Reviews

Proof that The King could still ROCK in the 70s!
This new and greatly improved reissue of "Promised Land" shows that Elvis Presley was NOT a washed up has-been by the 70s. There are a lot of fine moments on this disk, which is composed of the entire 1975 LP of the same name as well as 8 out of the 10 tracks from the 1974 LP "Good Times". In fact, this particular release combines every master Elvis recorded in Stax Studios in December '73.

1-PROMISED LAND Elvis goes full steam on this Chuck Berry rocker. This particular mix is very groovy, with the echo effect and the backing vocals. For some reason, on the "Walk a Mile In My Shoes" 70s box, they used an alternate mix, without the echo and no backing vocals. Fine outtakes of this song are found on "Rhythm and Country" and "Platinum: A Life In Music"

2-THERE'S A HONKY TONK ANGEL This rather typical country song is elevated by Elvis' voice. Another example of the singer improving an otherwise ordinary tune.

3-HELP ME Elvis really identified with the words of this song, a pleasant easy-listening tune. It is rumored that Elvis was so into doing this one, he was literally down on his knees in the recording studio when recording this one.

4-MR. SONGMAN One of this CD's lesser moments, this is basically a throw-away number. It's not a BAD song, but very unmemorable.

5-LOVE SONG OF THE YEAR Another so-so country tune, again elevated by Elvis' pleasant voice.

6-IT'S MIDNIGHT An excellent ballad, Elvis lets his range get a good workout on this highlight.

7-YOUR LOVE'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING Another fine song, again sung passionately by The King.

8-IF YOU TALK IN YOUR SLEEP One of the funkiest tracks Elvis recorded in the 70s, this features a nice horn arrangement.

9-THINKING ABOUT YOU Another fine ballad, again with a lot of compassion from Elvis.

10-YOU ASKED ME TO A catchy country number, this features a nice arrangement, and fine backing vocals (especially Kathy Westmoreland's soprano singing).

11-LOVING ARMS Recently recorded by the Dixie Chicks, it'd be no surprise if this particular recording was the inspiration of them doing so. Great vocals from Elvis.

12-I GOT A FEELING IN MY BODY Another funky tune, featuring inspired singing by Elvis and a nice echo effect.

13-IF THAT ISN'T LOVE A nice gospel ballad, sung with a lot of passion. Also of note is that it is the final gospel recording Elvis made in a recording studio.

14-SHE WEARS MY RING Another ordinary country song, again elevated by Presley's voice.

15-MY BOY For some reason, a lot of people like to dismiss this song as one of Elvis' lesser moments. I fail to agree... I think it's a WONDERFUL ballad and Elvis loved the song as well. In fact, he had performed it in concert months before finally recording it in the studio.

16-SPANISH EYES An old standard, Elvis sings it very well, but it's nothing memorable compared to the other tracks.

17-TALK ABOUT THE GOOD TIMES A very catchy song, this (along with "Promised Land" and "I Got a Feeling In My Body") shows that Elvis still had quite a rockin' feel in this point in time.

18-GOOD TIME CHARLIE'S GOT THE BLUES Another fine ballad, Elvis again seems to relate to the words of this one. Fine singing and a haunting way to end an album as well.

Nicely packaged with greatly improved sound when compared to the earlier CD releases of "Promised Land" and "Good Times", this is certainly worth the investment. Plus, it's a good starting point for those who want to hear Elvis in the 70s.

Best of Elvis in the mid-70's is great
PROMISED LAND is one of the two or three best studio albums Elvis made in the last seven years of his life, that is, after 1970. The emphasis is on slower country ballads, but as with any Elvis album there's a mix of styles, from the infectious rocker "Promised Land" to the exotic romance of "Spanish Eyes." Several are spiritually oriented: "Help Me," "I Got a Feelin' in My Body," and "If That Isn't Love." Though Elvis's health had declined some by 1973, there's little evidence of that here - his voice was still strong and he sang with much conviction. Still, the material and Elvis himself seldom equal the benchmark he set in his great 1969 Memphis sessions (check the CD SUSPICIOUS MINDS), but that was perhaps the peak of his career.

As with most of his '70s recordings, PROMISED LAND has a very "lush" background of instrumentals and vocals, but in my opinion this is seldom excessive ("My Boy" being an exception) and never is Elvis himself hard to hear. The stereo sound quality is very good, apart from an occasional background hiss.

PROMISED LAND is one of three albums that came from Elvis's 1973 "Stax Sessions" in Memphis. Tracks 11-18 on this CD were not on the original album, but are the best songs from the album GOOD TIMES, making this a really great deal. The weakest of the Stax albums, but still well worth having, is RAISED ON ROCK. Together, they disprove the common notion that Elvis was no longer making good music by 1973. Listen to these recordings and hear that he was still The King.

"Sing me away to a summer night...."
This underrated album is the best Elvis album from the '70s. It shows a good range of styles as well as excellent singing throughout.

Promised Land- 10/10 An awesome performance of the Chuck Berry classic and the best Elvis rock song from the '70s.

There's A Honky Tonk Angel (Who Will Take Me Back In)- 8/10 A great song, but my problem with it is the lack of drums.

Help Me- 10/10 One of his best gospel performances. You can tell he is singing from his heart on this one.

Mr. Songman- 10/10 My favorite song on the album. The song is so sad, yet so powerful.

Love Song Of The Year- 10/10 And if there was, indeed, an award for love songs of the year, this song would have won in the year 1975. Another sad song, and my 2nd favorite on the album.

It's Midnight- 10/10 The B-side to the Promised Land single, and what many fans call one of the best Elvis songs.

Your Love's Been A Long Time Coming- 9/10 A very average country song which is above average only because of the performance.

If You Talk In Your Sleep- 10/10 One of the funkiest performances Elvis ever did. This song just screams out Motown.

Thinking About You- A great love song with a folk-rock feel and a beautiful melody.

You Asked Me Two- A Waylon classic given a wonderful performance by the King.

The reissue of this album features several bonus tracks, which I will not comment on, but my favorites include My Boy, Loving Arms, Talk About The Good Times, and Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues.

This is what Elvis chose to record, he didn't just slip into a Vegas act, but continued to make astounding music up until his death. Elvis Presley is not known by today's audience for anything outside of his hits, while most of his great songs are found on the albums. This album should be in any music lovers collection.