Elvis Presley Sunset Boulevard 2025

Oh boy, another Elvis Presley release. According to Wikipedia, there have been 840 Elvis Presley releases:

Studio albums 24

EPs 38

Soundtrack albums 17

Live albums 8

Compilation albums 21

Budget albums 19

Box sets 81

Posthumous compilations 334

Remix albums 23

Follow That Dream albums/EPs  275

If we stick to original, non-compilation, material released during his lifetime, and ignore the EPs (most of that material is duplicated elsewhere), we get 49 records. Still a pretty good sized stack, although most of the soundtrack records were 1 or maybe 2 hits plus filler, so 32 without the soundtracks.

This set of five CDs includes one CD of songs recorded in 1972 and 1975 at RCA's Sunset Boulevard studio C in LA. The 1975 recordings were Presley's last studio recordings. The songs are remixed and stripped of overdubs, which gives them a more immediate sound than the previous releases of the material. The songs were originally released on Elvis (The Fool album) 1973 (two songs) and Today 1975 (all ten songs). The second CD is outtakes and alternate takes from the same sessions, also with the new mix applied. 

The last three CDs consist of in-studio rehearsals for live tours recorded on July 24, 1970 and August 16, 1974. There's some good stuff there, but the recording isn't particularly great, and Presley is rehearsing. Sometimes he sounds fully invested, sometimes he's just walking through.

So why would anyone, other than the obsessed, need this release? No reason, really. But if you're streaming, the first CD is quite good. It's well worth a listen, and the stripped back mix removes a layer of muck that makes the songs sound better than the original releases. Presley was still a powerful singer even if not all the material was deserving of his voice, which is the common complaint for his 70s output.

As for actually purchasing this set, see "the obsessed" above. But the best of the first two CDs is also available on a 2 LP set, and that might make a nice gift for a vinyl-loving Elvis fan.

Lance Cohen Against The Grain 2025

I raved about Lance Cowen's debut So Far, So Good from 2024. As Country/Folk/Americana music goes it doesn't get any better. Ditto this sophomore effort. This record is equally ideal. And beautiful.

Excellently recorded mostly acoustic music, the warm and cozy voice, and exceptional writing both melodically and lyrically.

Beautiful melancholic love songs One More Chance, Will Belinda, Love Anyway, and More or Less. The story of growing up in a coal town that is Old King Coal. Prayer For a Child expresses the hopeful sentiment of every parent. The sensitive character pieces that are Against the Grain and Going South. The downright rocking near desperation of Ragged Edge of Nothing, and the self explanatory sense of loss that is I Can't Stand the Winter. Ten songs, every one poignant and true.

Cowen writes and sings these lovely compositions and gets help from A-list Nashville musicians including Vinnie Santoro (drums), Jay Turner (bass), Todd Smith (piano), Dan Dugmore (pedal steel, dobro), Pat Flynn (guitar), and Chip and Billy Davis (harmonies).

Words can't do it justice. Find a way to hear it.

Van Morrison Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge 2025

Van just keeps cranking them out. This one is mostly blues covers with four Morrison originals, including the title track. There's twenty tracks, and while most of them are good, 80 minutes is too long. You can see it as value for your dollar, or you might think Van needs a producer that would cut the chaff. I'm leaning towards the later opinion.

At 81, Morrison is in excellent voice. He has a highly skilled band behind him as usual, and there are several guests, including Elvin Bishop, Taj Mahal, and Buddy Guy.

Tempos are perhaps too similar throughout. But then there's an unusually slow version of Fats Domino's Ain't That A Shame that transforms the song in an interesting way. 

Song selection is just fine. It's a who's who of classic blues composers.

Taj Mahal plays harmonica and sings along on four tracks. He's good, and a better harmonica player than Van. Elvin Bishop plays guitar on five songs, and he's a hot guitarist, but Anthony Paule in Morison's band is no slouch and plays plenty of good leads. Bishop's fills and leads on Loving Memories and You're The One are pretty special. John Allair plays Hammond organ and piano throughout, and also gives a featured boogie-woogie piano break on his own (Go To The) High Place In Your Mind. 

But the guest star that makes the most impact is Buddy Guy on the last two tracks. Guy's idiosyncratic guitar playing is nothing short of amazing, and the two tracks he plays on own the record.

So I could do with 4 or 5 less songs, as several seem interchangeable, and eighty minutes is too long. It could have been compressed into a stone classic. With too many songs, it plays like the 30th anniversary version with the songs that were rightfully cut added to a perfectly fine record. As it is, it's good. 

Play On: A Raspberries Tribute 2025

 

Here's a fine idea. Get a bunch of pop and power pop bands and artists to cover Raspberries songs from their four LPs, which were released between 1972-1974. 2 CDs, 37 songs, only two artists get more than one song. Lemon Twigs get two, and author and musician Ken Sharp gets two. Sharp also plays on and produces many of the recordings. Usually these things stick mostly to the hits, but there's plenty of deep cuts here. In fact, those four original records contain a total of 39 tracks, so all but three songs are represented here. That math doesn't work, but there is also a cover of Please Let Me Come Back Home, a demo that was only included on the Raspberries - Greatest Hits Columbia CD from 2000.

Plenty of big names contribute, but so do some less well known bands and artists, as well as a few names I didn't think were still recording (Shoes, Spongetones). Almost everyone does a fine job. In fact, the quality of these covers is consistently very good compared to how discs like this usually go. That may be due to the level of respect that The Raspberries have achieved, or maybe the songs are just that good. Spending time with those four originals certainly supports the later theory. 

I could nitpick and point out the three or four efforts that are inferior. But four out of 37 is darn good for a various artists tribute record. So this is one great tribute to one great band, who deserve the adulation they have belatedly achieved.

There is only one better way to listen to these songs. I made a playlist of the originals in the same order as this set. You can do a good job of covering The Raspberries, but you can't really improve on the originals.