And now the end is near

The year was 1976. Elvis Presley was too depressed, or just plain lazy, to go to a recording studio. So, in order to fulfill his contractual obligations, RCA Records brought a mobile recording studio to his house. They set it up in his den, nicknamed "The Jungle Room", hence the title of this album. This CD features alternate takes from those recording sessions. The results are a mixed lot. Some really great songs were recorded, such as "Moody Blue", "For the Heart", "Hurt" and "Way Down". There were also some not so great songs recorded, like "The Last Farewell", "Never Again" and "It's Easy For You". There is even a song here that does not feature Elvis at all, called "Fire Down Below". The story behind that is, one night they couldn't get Elvis to come out of his bedroom for a recording session. So, they went ahead and recorded backing tracks to a couple of songs, so Elvis could overdub his voice later. Well, for some reason Elvis never got around to recording a vocal for "Fire Down Below". There is also one unlisted bonus track included. It is a fragment of "America the Beautiful". The story behind that is, they attempted to record "America", but were unsatisfied with the results. The tapes for that song were erased, and only a brief segment of one take survived. Despite the uneven quality of the performances here, this is a fascinating document of an artist in decline. I would recommend it for serious fans of the King.

The Jungle Room Jams

I just got back from touring Graceland for the first time. In one of the gift shops, I saw this album and picked it up. This is a cool record and I hope that someday RCA decides to release it on their major label. BMG decided to release this under the hard to find "Follow that Dream Records" label. For more info on this release you can go to ALLMUSIC.COM or use FOLLOW THAT DREAM RECORDS for your search word. Here are some highlights: Track 17-Fire Down Below Instrumental- a rocker, ELVIS never put down vocals on this, it would've been cool to see the possible lyrics. The remaining tracks on this set are alternate takes from the last two studio albums THE KING released in his life. RCA sent a truck loaded with recording equipment and parked it in the backyard of GRACELAND. The famous JUNGLEROOM Sessions provided the world with MOODY BLUE,WAY DOWN(Guinness Book:Lowest Vocal Recorded),BLUE EYES CRYING IN THE RAIN,HE'LL HAVE TO GO,SHE STILL THINKS I CARE,FOR THE HEART,HURT,PLEDGING MY LOVE,THE LAST FAREWELL,I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN to name a few. These songs and more are on this cd. Two complaints-1.No liner notes,2. Hard to find status increases price. Do yourself a favor and visit the beautiful state of TENNESSEE, stay at the HEARTBREAK HOTEL, check out GRACELAND,SUN STUDIOS, SMITHSONIAN ROCK-N-SOUL MUSEUM, BEALE STREET; head on down to NASHVILLE and GATLINBURG!