When "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee" was released in May 1976, a year had passed since "Elvis Today" hit the stores. It was the longest time span between two albums with new recordings of the king. On June 5th the longplayer entered Billboard's "Top LPs Chart", had a run of 17 weeks and peaked at number 41. On June 12th the record also appeared on the "Hot Country LPs Chart", where it stayed for 27 weeks and became a number one hit. In October 1977 the RIAA honored the domestic sales with a Gold Award, RCA celebrated the success in the country segment with a Golden Boot Award and the RVC Coporation credited the sales in Japan with a Best Seller Award. During the initial sales period RCA retailed 300,000 copies of "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee". In total the album sold 2 million units, which equals 300 million paid streams of the complete album or 3 billion paid streams of individual tracks. Therefore the longplayer sold better than Elvis' previous ones, but the sales were also driven by the king's demise in 1977. Simply because the people picked up whatever was available. On Spotify "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee" clocks in at 38 million streams.

The cover was made up with the same retouched photo, that had been used for the sleeve of the single "For The Heart" / "Hurt". Elvis looked much older than on the cover of "Elvis Today" and also appeared somewhat disheveled. The backside featured a letter from Elvis and the tracklist. At the time there was much discussion about the addition "recorded live", because the album neither had been taped in front of an audience, nor did it feature unedited performances without overdubs.

On the streaming platforms "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee" is presented the way it was issued in 2016 as part of the set "The Album Collection". For this project all tracks were scanned with high-resolution equipment and remastered.Therefore the album can be presented with the golden Hi-Res emblem. The better sound of these versions is owed exclusively to the new mastering (the elimination of interfering noise). Because first one cannot turn an analogue recording into a high resolution recording just by scanning the tape with hd equipment and second even an old cd with 16 bit/44.1 kHz exceeds the auditory sense of a human being.

Neither in 1974, nor in 1975 Elvis had delivered as many tracks as he was supposed to do and therefore had breached his contract with RCA. But instead of suing the unreliable artist, the label catered to his lethargy and installed recording equipment in the den of his Graceland mansion. The sessions were scheduled between February 2nd and 7th and ought to produce 24 new masters, the amount of tracks Elvis had agreed to deliver every year. Unfortunately the king just managed to tape 12 songs and insisted on saving "Moody Blue" and "She Thinks I Still Care", the most commercial tunes, for a future single release. Nevertheless RCA was happy to have enough material to fill a new longplayer. "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee" has a running time of 34:48 minutes. Elvis' band consisted of James Burton (guitar, February 2nd to 6th), Billy Sanford (guitar, February 7th), Charlie Hodge (guitar), John Wilkinson (guitar), Jerry Scheff (bass, February 2nd to 6th), Norbert Putnam (bass, February 7th), Ronnie Tutt (drums), Glen D. Hardin (piano, February 2nd to 6th), Bobby Emmons (piano, February 7th) and David Briggs (electric piano). The harmony vocals were provided by J.D. Sumner & The Stamps (Bill Baize, Ed Enoch, Ed Hill and Larry Strickland) as well as Myrna Smith and Kathy Westmoreland. The sessions were produced by Felton Jarvis and engineered by Brian Christian, Tom Brown and Ron Olson. The overdub sessions took place at the Young'Un Sound Studio in Murfreesboro/Tennessee under the supervision of Felton Jarvis (producer) and Al Pachucki (engineer).

In 2012 Follow That Dream Records released a collector's edition of "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee", which also included outtakes. For a review tap HERE.

Elvis recorded "Hurt" on February 5, 1976 within seven takes. Later harmony voices (February 16th) and drums (February 17th) were added. The song wasn't a new one, in 1954 Roy Hamilton had scored a top ten hit on the "R&B Best Sellers Chart" and in 1961 Timi Yuro's version even made it on the top 5 of Billboard's "Hot 100". When Elvis' cover version of the song by Jamie Crane and Al Jacobs was released on the b-side of "For The Heart", it at least made it on the top 30. I like the performance very much. The loved one of the narrator has a new partner and the hurt and pain is expressed in big voice and with a lot of drama. "Hurt" instantly became a regular feature of the king's live shows, one of these performances can be found on the double album "Elvis In Concert" (1977).

Here we have another big voiced ballad about a lost love, this time the singer swears to never fall in love again, because he couldn't handle another loss. The song was written by Billy Ed Wheeler and Jerry Chesnut, who had also come up with "It's Midnight" three years earlier. Just like "Hurt" Elvis doesn't just sing the song, but he virtually lives it. The song was recorded on February 6th, the 14th attempt was approved for post-production and release. On February 16th and 17th Felton Jarvis added harmony voices and drums, on March 24th the recording was enhanced with strings.

At the time most people associated "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" with Willie Nelson, because he had scored a number one hit on the country charts with it the previous year. In fact, the song by Fred Rose had been recorded for the first time in 1945 by Roy Acuff. The singer and his loved one have to part and he is sure, that they will never meet again in this world. Elvis taped "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" on February 7, 1976 within 5 takes, nine days later harmony vocals were added. Even though the king still sounds impressive at times, there are a few moments where his voice is wearing thin and has a nasal undertone. Felton Jarvis tried to hide these problems by adding an artificial echo, but for me this effect just makes it worse.

The song was written in 1910 by Frederic Weatherly and is based on "Londonderry Air". Expecting his death the singer says goodbye to his leaving son and does everything to get the tears flowing. Once again Elvis proves to be the master of rendition, his voice is full of sadness and sounds absolutely stunning. Without doubt nobody will ever be able to sing "Danny Boy" better than the king! The first recording of this song was done in 1915 by Ernestine Schuhmann-Heink. Elvis followed her on February 5, 1976 and needed ten attempts to deliver the ultimate version.

Many fans and critics consider it to be one of the greatest musical mishaps of the former rock'n'roll king to record a song by Roger Whittaker. But in fact Elvis loved the song and was eager to record it. In 1971 Whittaker hosted a radio show on which he encouraged his listeners to send him lyrics, which he turned into songs. A blacksmith named Ron A. Webster send a poem named "The Last Farewell". It's about British soldier on an island in the South See, who was ordered back home and has to part with his loved one, knowing never to see her again. Whittaker added a sentimental melody and sold 11 million singles (which translates to 1.7 billion paid streams). Elvis recorded "The Last Farewell" on February 2nd, the master take was spliced of the takes number 3 and 5. The result was later enhanced with Sherrill Nielsen's harmony vocals and strings. Even though I like the recording very much, the overdubs hide too many details of the master take. In this case less certainly would have been more.

The swamp rocker by Dennis Linde was supposed to be the a-side of Elvis' previously released single, but it was just listed on the "Hot Country Singles Chart" and never made it past number 45. Without doubt "Hurt" was the favorite song. The king recorded it on February 5, 1976 (bass and harmony vocals were added on February 15th and 16th), but he wasn't the first to release "For The Heart". The song had been issued the previous year by Teresa Brewer on an album called "Unliberated Woman". Even though Elvis sounds a bit toothless and tired, I like the song. He harmonizes very well with his background singers, it's somewhat reminiscent of the good ole' days with The Jordanaires.

After the short excursion to rhythmical domains the album returns to slow, big orchestrated ballads. This one was written and recorded by Larry Gatlin in 1973, Elvis taped his version on February 2, 1976. Take number seven was later enhanced with Sherrill Nielsen's harmony vocals and strings. Once again the singer bemoarns the failture of a relationship and once again the king delivers a good, believable performance.

The song stays on topic and describes the fate of a man, who was left by his wife and now spends his time playing cards. Elvis' voice is full of loneliness and pain, it's a very moving presentation. It was taped on February 3rd, the 11th take was selected for release. On March 24th Felton Jarvis added strings. By the way: Neil Sedaka didn't like Elvis' version of his song, because the king changed it too much for his taste. For me "Solitaire" is one of the highlights of this album.

George Jones recorded Jerry Chesnut's "Love Coming Down" in 1975, Elvis followed him on February 6, 1976. The 5th attempt was later enhanced with bass (February 15th), harmony vocals (February 16th), a guitar (February 24th) and strings (March 24th). The narrator hadn't paid too much attention to his wife, because he had focused on his career. Now she plannes to leave him and he asks for a second chance. Elvis performed the song in such a believable fashion, that one might think he revealed a part of his true feelings.

This ballad was written by Jimmy Currie and Lonnie Donegan, who also recorded it in 1962. But it was Tom Jones, who scored the big hit with "I'll Never Fall In Love Again". In 1967 his version made it to number 2 of the UK Charts and became a number one on Billboard's "Easy Listening Chart" in the US. On February 4, 1976 Elvis recorded five takes of "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", before he turned to "Moody Blue". Then he recorded another six takes of "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" and selected the 9th one (the producer continued the numbering) for release. The production was finalized on March 24th with the addition of strings. Here the narrator was cheated on by his wife and foreswears love completely. Elvis presents the song in an absolute believable way, but also sounds a bit strained.