Roots Revolution: The Louisiana Hayride Recordings
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| Release Date: |
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| Label: |
Tomato Music |
| Rating: |
5.0 |
Description: These 1954-56 live recordings of a young Elvis Presley (still a teen on many of them) appearing on the
Louisiana Hayride radio show out of Shreveport, Louisiana, have long been considered some of rock's most important documents, despite their often shrill and distorted sound quality. Their sonic limitations and legal status (most were recorded prior to Presley signing with RCA) have also kept them marginalized. Those sound problems (the original crude recordings were made solely through the singer's vocal mic, which often obliterated Presley's acoustic guitar and Bill Black's bass) inspired Tomato Records to commit what some may consider heresy on nine of the best-sounding recordings--that is, recruit contemporary musicians to recreate the muffled guitar and bass parts and dub them back into the mix. The results are both subtle and unobtrusive, giving the historic performances some much-needed immediacy. If the included
Hayride intros and promos and Lucky Strike commercial give the collection some additional perspective, they also help pad the running time of what is an otherwise
very brief CD. Still, a burnished Presley in his Sun prime (including Presley's landmark first
Hayride appearance, showcasing both sides of his first Sun Records single, "That's All Right, Mama" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky") is hard to resist.
--Jerry McCulley
Tracklist of Roots Revolution: The Louisiana Hayride Recordings
Reviews:
elvis 30#1 hits
this cd is the best you could possibly get. a must for anyone, even if they'r not an elvis fan. great sound,clear and very good. i give it 5 stars.
Elvis Like We'd Never Hear Him Again
This disc features the first ever "live" recorded performances of Elvis Presley taken from the famous radio show "The Louisiana Hayride." Only 19 years old at the time of the first performance, Elvis simply shattered the status quo. The energy, the power, the excitement he delivered was like no one before or after. The CD, ROOTS REVOLUTION, brings it all home. Slamming together blues, gospel, country and swing, Elvis took tunes like "That's All Right, Mama," "Maybelline," and "Baby Let's Play House," to new heights. Before long Elvis would be bigger than life, adored by millions, but at the time of the Hayride recordings it was still unadulterated, raw and real. I highly recommend this disc to any and all music fans.
Time capsule
Listening to this is like finding an old reel-to-reel recording made by your parents from a radio show. It's more a historical recording than a "good listening" recording, although the restoration is brilliant. If you're interested in hearing (the young) Elvis at his very best get the Sun Sessions CD. If you want to hear Elvis and feel like you're sitting in the waybackradiomachine, get this one. No reason you can't have it both ways...get one of each!