Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. It Wouldn't Be The Same Without You
2. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
3. I Love You Because
4. Just Because
5. I'm Left, You're Right
6. I Forgot To Remember To Forget
7. I'm Counting On You
8. How Do You Think I Feel
9. How's The World Treating You
10. Old Shep
11. Your Cheatin' Heart
12. (Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I
13. There's Always Me
14. It's A Sin
15. Guitar Man
16. Just Call Me Lonesome
17. You Don't Know Me
18. After Loving You
19. Long Black Limousine
20. I'm Movin' On
21. I'll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms)
22. From A Jack To A King
23. Kentucky Rain
24. It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'
25. If I'm A Fool (For Loving You)
26. Release Me
27. Funny How Time Slips Away

Disc 2:

1. Little Cabin On The Hill
2. There Goes My Everything
3. I Really Don't Want To Know
4. Tomorrow Never Comes
5. Faded Love
6. Make The World Go Away
7. Help Me Make It Through The Night
8. For The Good Times
9. Always On My Mind
10. You Gave Me A Mountain
11. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
12. Welcome To My World
13. Take Good Care Of Her
14. It's Midnight
15. You Asked Me To
16. Loving Arms
17. Talk About The Good Times
18. There's A Honky Tonk Angel
19. Fairytale
20. Green, Green Grass Of Home
21. Susan When She Tried
22. T-R-O-U-B-L-E
23. She Thinks I Still Care
24. He'll Have To Go

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45401 in Music
• Brand: Bmg
• Released on: 2001-11-06
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Amazon.com
From the start, Elvis Presley's country roots were no secret. Like gospel, it remained a vital component of his music until his death in 1977. This double-disc set begins with his first country disc, a 1954 custom recording of "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You" made at Sun studios months before Sam Phillips began recording him in earnest for the Sun label. By and large, he invoked such classics as Eddy Arnold's "It's a Sin," Hank Williams's "Your Cheatin' Heart," and his boyhood favorite "Old Shep." His rocking 1958 cover of Hank Snow's hit "A Fool Such As I" made the song an Elvis standard as well. Not that he drew from the past alone. He recorded more contemporary fare like Porter Wagoner's "Green, Green Grass of Home," a 1967 hit version of Jerry Reed's then-new tune "Guitar Man," Eddie Rabbitt's "Kentucky Rain," and even the Pointer Sisters' "Fairytale." While everything here's been released before, it's a well-conceived overview of Elvis's best country excursions. --Rich Kienzle

Customer Reviews

A dream for country music fans
Whether you like it or not, Elvis changed country music forever when he became popular in the fifties with his rock'n'roll music. However, there is a saying - you can take the singer out of the country but you can't take the country out of the singer. So it was that Elvis recorded a lot of country songs throughout his career. Some were tucked away on B-sides or album tracks but others were A-side singles. Sometimes his recordings were faithful to the original and sometimes not. This compilation illustrates all aspects of the country songs recorded by Elvis.

I forgot to remember to forget was the first country chart-topper for Elvis. At that stage, nobody could have foreseen how his career would progress. Blue moon of Kentucky, as written by bluegrass inventor Bill Monroe, was a slow ballad. Elvis recorded it as an up-tempo rocker - this was definitely not a faithful cover. Eventually, Bill Monroe paid Elvis the highest compliment by recording an up-tempo version of his own. A fool such as I (originally a Hank Snow song) is another song that Elvis does in a more upbeat rocking style than the original, but the change is nothing like as dramatic as Blue moon of Kentucky. Old Shep, a very sad story about a dog that had to be put to sleep, is very faithful to the Red Foley original. I understand that Red based the song on the sad end to a dog he once owned.

All of the above songs and several others here were recorded in the fifties, but when most people think of Elvis singing country songs, they think of the latter part of his career. Indeed, the majority of the songs here were recorded following his comeback in the late sixties. Although this period of his career was inconsistent, he seemed to enjoy singing country, so the songs included here are among the best he recorded in his final years. It is interesting to note that Moody blue and Way down were both number one country hits, yet both have been omitted from this collection.

Always on my mind, though written with Elvis in mind, was first recorded by Brenda Lee - six months before Elvis cut it. There goes my everything was a Jack Greene country hit that gave both Engelbert Humperdinck and Elvis an international pop hit. Green green grass of home was a Porter Wagoner country hit that gave Tom Jones an international pop hit and which became a minor UK hit for Elvis.

There are several covers of Eddy Arnold songs, including It's a sin, Just call me lonesome, I'll hold you in my heart, I really don't want to know and Make the world go away.

Jim Reeves is also well represented via I love you because, How's the world treating you, There's always me, Welcome to my world and He'll have to go. I know Jim wasn't always the original singer, but I think of those songs as his.

Other covers include Your cheating heart (Hank Williams), I'm moving on (Hank Snow), From a jack to a king (Ned Miller), Release me (a country hit for several singers including Ray Price, which became an American pop hit for Esther Phillips and a major international pop hit for Engelbert Humperdinck), Help me make it through the night, For the good times (both songs written by Kris Kristofferson that became country and pop hits for various singers), You gave me a mountain (an extremely sad Marty Robbins song about the break-up of a marriage), I'm so lonesome I could cry (Hank Williams), There's a honky tonk angel (Conway Twitty), Susan when she tried (Statler brothers) and She thinks I still care (George Jones).

This is a fascinating collection of country songs recorded by Elvis. Many great songs that could have been included have been left out but every track here is worthy of inclusion.

country side of elvis
I enjoyed the CD very much. Many of these songs were sung at Memphis during Elvis Week

His best country collection!
This is Elvis' best country collection. It includes some of his earlist records for Sun Records right on through to his last recordings. It includes his first local number 1 hit "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" which was number 1 one the country charts in Memphis in 1954 and his first national number 1 hit "I Forgot To Remember To Forget" which was number 1 on the Billboard country charts for 5 weeks in 1955. Other favorites include the early country rocker "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone", the orginal version of "Guitar Man", the classic "Kentucky Rain", a great version of "Fairytale", and one of his latter rockers the underappreciated "T-R-O-U-B-L-E".

Highly recommended if you are a country music fan!