The HBO documentary ELVIS PRESLEY: THE SEARCHER debuted Saturday, APRIL 14 on HBO in the US.
The companion 3-CD deluxe edition box set offers an expanded 55-track overview of Elvis’ career as heard in the film including familiar hit recordings, powerful vocal performances and rare outtakes plus a bonus disc of additional recordings relevant to the film - including singles that inspired Presley and two original instrumental pieces composed for the documentary by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready.
While keen fans may already own all the chosen songs Director Thom Zimny's selection is so eclectic that there is still plenty to enjoy and discover.
Below EIN's Piers Beagley provides an indepth review and investigates how the new box-set works compared with the HBO documentary....
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Now updated with EIN readers comments - see below |
If your main interest in Elvis is his music then HBO’s ‘Elvis: The Searcher’ will probably become your favourite documentary ever produced about our hero.
This Deluxe 3-cd set was specifically released as the companion to the Thom Zimny directed documentary that the publicity noted would "push past the larger-than-life image of The King of Rock and Roll, portraying him instead as a man and an artist ‘who wanted to heal, to find that thing that was always felt to be missing, and to do it through the music’."
This, for once, is no ‘Greatest Hits’ package.
The last time RCA released a box-set that focused more on Elvis’ musical creativity over greatest hits was the excellent ‘Artist Of the Century’ from RCA/BMG in 1999 which ignored Elvis’ sixty movies and also included tracks such as ‘Anyplace Is Paradise’, ‘Like a Baby’, ‘Run On’ and ‘Tomorrow Is a Long Time’. But ‘Elvis: The Searcher’ is something truly different.
The 3-CD edition features a 55-track overview of Elvis’ musical career as heard in the film plus a bonus disc of additional recordings, the majority of which would have influenced Elvis’ musical legacy as well as being part of his own record collection.
It also includes a 40-page book of photos with an essay by Warren Zanes plus producer's note from film director Thom Zimny.
A fair few Elvis collectors, like me, will already own The Complete Masters and plenty of FTD releases and so will already have all the tracks on this compilation. However I always enjoy hearing other people’s favourite compilations and this selection from Thom Zimny really works. The documentary makes me want to hear the complete songs on the box-set while listening to the non-chronological selection makes me want to re-watch the documentary.
The Director's Note includes..
.. I came to think of (previous) films and their musical aftermath as two parts of a single event. And the movies that mattered the most to me allowed the music to resonate in new ways, like one more layer had been revealed. There was a lot of joy and a lot of discovery in this.
No surprise, then, that in the process of making Elvis Presley: The Searcher, the soundtrack was in my mind from the beginning. I wasn't just making a film, I was thinking about the collection of recordings I would gather for a person who saw the film, who wanted to complete the experience, just as I always had... To me, this collection is part of the film.
To live with the music of The Searcher over a period of years was more than a privilege. It changed my thinking about the emotional life of songs, both for those who make them and those who listen to them. - - -- Thom Zimny
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The Packaging & Design
In the same format as ‘Elvis At Stax’ and ‘Prince From Another Planet’ it is housed in 8" x 8" packaging with a booklet plus fold-out 3-sided cardboard sleeve with the cds locked into slots.
Like some other fans I personally would have chosen another cover photo over the red-eyed sad looking Elvis on the cover. Perhaps a shot of Elvis thoughtfully playing a guitar might have indicated more of the idea of Elvis "doing it through the music".
However all is forgiven with my favourite cover photo ever on the CD sleeve showing Elvis walking on stage at Russwood Park, Memphis, July 4 1956. He has a serious, focussed look in his eye as he walks across the stage in front of the band. Several fans look in awe while a lot of fans haven’t noticed him. It’s a cracker, one of Wertheimer’s best.
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The photos in the book feature Elvis in the creative fifties, several from the Comeback Special along with plenty live action shots as well as candid photos.
While it is a relief to get away from the usual "Elvis in a white jumpsuit" I would have liked to have seen more photos of Elvis in the seventies as there are only two black & white 70’s images included.
While the project is of course about "the music" and not "the showman", Elvis was still being creative in the 70s.
The 40-page book is well laid out and with an appealing design similar to the previous Elvis At STAX booklet.
The selection of photos in the book are well-chosen and nicely reflect the liner notes in the book.
While none will be particularly rare to the keen collector there are a couple of great candid photos of Elvis and the wily Col.
The insightful essay by Warren Zanes (musician / writer with a Tom Petty connection) describes the HBO documentary and at the same time helps explain why certain tracks are chosen.
This is important as the tracks are not chronological and some fans will have bought this set without yet seeing the documentary. Having seen the documentary however the selection makes sense.
When is the last time we had any Elvis mainstream compilation without a hit single at the start? Here ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ doesn’t feature until track 16 and in the documentary it is not played until over an hour into part 1.
If anyone is in doubt the essay nicely explains why Elvis was "The Searcher". When all the general public and tabloids usually discuss about Elvis are the jumpsuits, drugs and bad movies it is so, so refreshing to have such an insightful essay on why Elvis mattered and why he is a still a musical legend 40 years after his death. I love the thought of Elvis looking back to his musical roots as he also pushed forward creating some of the best music ever recorded by anyone.
This compilation, as well as the documentary, is about what made me an Elvis fan - his music and creativity.
The use of judicious quotes throughout the booklet nicely focusses on some key comments from some of the interviewees.
Warren Zanes explains in the Introduction...
.. There is so much in that word "searcher" that captures not just Elvis Presley but the many artists whose work keeps mattering to us. Hank Williams, Sam Cooke, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley. To describe them as "searchers" may be among the simplest, most incisive ways to describe just what those singers are doing with those songs. They're up there on the stage, in the recording studios, doing all they can to enter the landscapes of the material they're singing, letting us bear witness as they bring some song's words into their bodies and minds and hearts ... as if looking for something they've lost.
Elvis Presley: The Searcher is a film that walks us past the lights and the limos of Presley's career.. This is a film that wants us to move in closer, where a man is singing . . . because he has lost something and thinks, maybe, he can find it in a song.
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If anything I would have liked lengthier liner notes and a bigger booklet. The track order still makes little sense unless you have seen the film. CD3 provides a wonderful selection of material from over twenty years from as far back as 1947 and are a fascinating additional lesson about Elvis’ musical influences. What is badly missing is any real explanation of why these songs on CD3 have been selected. Similarly there no mention at all in the book of the Gladys Presley recording – surely an important find.
However, this is surely about The Music and if you have seen the HBO documentary then the track selection of course makes sense.
The HBO documentary is so packed with key musical moments, beit Elvis or his influences, that they often are only heard as brief snatches, some only a few seconds long. This is where Zimny is correct in noting that the soundtrack album – where you can hear each track in full – is a very important part of the whole experience.
DISC 1 - PART ONE– 71 minutes
CD 1 Kicks off with the rousing ‘Trouble / Guitar Man’ from the Comeback Special as does the documentary. This is then juxtaposed against (one of my all-time favourites) 1956’s ‘My Baby Left Me’ which follows before jumping back to the Comeback Special and ‘Baby, What You Want Me To Do’ with Elvis basically getting down on guitar from the first 'Stand-Up' Show’.
To be honest the sonic contrast between the three tracks I found a little jarring, as they do elsewhere. However part of the reason for this compilation is to expose listeners to a new journey and make you re-think key points in Elvis’ amazing legacy.
Of Part One Warren Zanes writes,
… The Elvis Presley of The Searcher is a man of returns. Whether it's the musical return of the '68 Comeback Special, his regular retreats into gospel material, or in the final Graceland recording sessions that found him cutting in the home he associated with his beloved mother, Gladys, Elvis was returning, going back to get something. Tracks included here such as "Old Shep," "Blue Moon," "Peace In The Valley," or the 1968 recording of "Baby, What You Want Me To Do": these are only the most overt returns.
His beginnings remained with him through every phase of his career. And it was in the very beginning, when poverty and uncertainty defined family life, that Elvis discovered music as a kind of elsewhere, a place safer, more hopeful than what daily life offered, where he could build something that neither poverty nor uncertainty could take away. If only for the duration of a song.
Elvis’ musical journey then kicks off in a more chronological fashion with ‘Old Shep’, ‘That's When Your Heartaches Begin’ (the acetate), ‘That's All Right’ and ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’ following.
Zimny then includes some obscure cuts in the acetate of ‘Fool, Fool, Fool’ ("captures Presley in the midst of the early work") and the live ‘Tweedlee Dee’. This is certainly not a sequence of songs that most fans would put together but it does create an interest because it is so different.
More great SUN tracks are featured, along with the rarity of ‘When It Rains, It Really Pours’, and it is not until over halfway through that Elvis’ first RCA hit ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ makes its appearance.
The second section includes the delicious ‘Crawfish’, as well as home recordings ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘Hide Thou Me’. I found all these tracks made me want to go back and explore more of these sections of Elvis’ legacy – and to re-watch the documentary!
Listeners will be surprised by the ending with the sweetest version of ‘Loving You’ you will ever hear (outtake #16) plus another ‘Lonely Man’ (solo version) alternate take and then followed by the stunner of the Memphis Sessions’ ‘Power of My Love’ which plays over the part 1 credits.
DISC 2 – PART TWO - 79 minutes.
Packed CD.2 begins with ‘Milky White Way’ and what a powerful start it is. If I am listening to Elvis gospel then I’m sure to be playing his albums, so hearing ‘Milky White Way’ as the lead track for the second part of Elvis’ journey is a sublime choice, especially for the "general public" who may have never explored Elvis gospel before.
‘A Mess of Blues’, ‘Fame and Fortune’ and ‘Like a Baby’ all show the marvellous side of Elvis 60’s return along with the historical Frank Sinatra duet ‘Witchcraft / Love Me Tender’. Again a "classic" hit single is not in sight until the sixth track and ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’
Warren Zanes' Part Two notes include..
As The Searcher helps us to understand, though, the promising beginnings of the post-army period never get the full realization they deserved. The shift in emphasis to films brought Elvis up against the artistic limitations imposed by his managerial situation.
... Robbie Robertson describes the movies as "no man's land." Tom Petty goes further, believing they were unambiguously "harmful." In Landau's words, "Elvis is churning out stuff that he couldn't possibly have believed in."
.. But The Searcher refuses a black-and-white reading of this moment of crisis. Presley's art is crowded out by commerce, is given less space ... but it is not gone.
Personally I have to skip the embarrassment of ‘Wooden Heart’ which is used in the doco to show how things went wrong with his movies - "a disheartening compromise" says Ernst Jorgensen – but the sleeve notes for some reason say it shows "Elvis pushing through the limitations imposed on him, as if Elvis was willing an artistic moment despite conditions". Truly for me ‘Wooden Heart’ demonstrates the opposite and Elvis not "searching" for anything bar knocking off a required movie song in just two complete takes!
However ‘Swing Down, Sweet Chariot’ and ‘Reconsider Baby’ then put things to rights. The anomaly here for me was that almost ¾ through the collection and we still have only got to 1960!
Elvis’ musical resurrection then starts with the wonderful ‘Tomorrow Is a Long Time’ (also featured in the first part of the documentary and included here on CD2), more gospel with ‘Run On’ leading to the Comeback Special and another ‘Baby What You Want Me To Do’.
‘Suspicious Minds’ is used as the classic song from Elvis’ 1969 Memphis Sessions but here Zimny uses the alternate Take 6 without the overdubs and usual fade in ending. It is a great version and hopefully will be appreciated by fans who only know the single release.
Elvis’ return to live performances is represented by the rehearsal kick-arounds of ‘Baby, Let's Play House’ and The Bee Gees ‘Words’. Again strange choices but ones that made me want to listen to more 1970 rehearsals.
Live versions of ‘That's All Right’ (Opening Night, August 10, 1970), ‘Never Been to Spain’ (M.S.G), plus Aloha’s ‘An American Trilogy’ and ‘You Gave Me a Mountain’ provide a look at Elvis in concert.
Two ‘Elvis On Tour’ rehearsals again provide a nice surprise for collectors. The cool ‘Burning Love’ (where Elvis grabs the slower funk-rhythm of the song, enthusiastically adding some great falsetto parts with a tremendous ending) plus the emotional ‘Separate Ways’ where Elvis' vocal has just the right feeling of solitude and confusion.
All the tracks so far have been previously releases as mastered by Vic Anesini however these two ‘Elvis On Tour Rehearsals’ tracks have been newly re-mastered by Matt Ross-Sprang at Sam Phillips studio Memphis. Compared to the previous FTD versions they are vastly improved with a much richer sound. Ross-Sprang has also added extra echo giving the tracks more of a professional finish rather than a "dry" rehearsal. This bodes well for the future ‘On Tour’ box-set.
It is however a disappointment to me that so much of Elvis' mid-seventies period is ignored. While he was less interested in going in to the studio, Elvis was still searching and putting his soul into some extremely emotional material. Why 'Wooden Heart' was included over Stax material such as an emotional outtake of 'For Ol' Times Sake' I cannot fathom.
Hurt’ Take 5 demonstrates the pure, vulnerable Elvis of 1976 recording in the Jungle Room at his final "studio" sessions. Tony Brown notes in the documentary "He was no longer ‘Elvis Presley’ he was Elvis" as the track plays to a moving montage from his whole career. As the documentary finishes it cleverly loops back to Elvis’ musical renaissance of June 1968 and the magnificent ‘If I Can Dream’ as the finale.
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DISC 3 – 58 minutes
CD3 features as noted in the publicity "Original recordings by artists who influenced Elvis during his formative years".
Having such a fascination with rock’n’roll history I have been a collector of similar compilations over the years such as "The Roots Of Elvis Presley". Hearing the rather staid originals of Elvis’ classic songs proves just how much Elvis changed the future of pop and did create the rock’n’roll movement. If in doubt listen to Bill Monroe’s ‘Blue Moon Of Kentucky’ or Little Junior’s ‘Mystery Train’ originals. The documentary uses plenty of these key influences, if only as very short snippets - as it demonstrates both Elvis’ creativity as well as his search for inspiration. Fans who have never heard these original versions should be fascinated by this collection.
Zimny’s selections makes for a fabulous history lesson. My real disappointment is that there is not one line in the whole book that explains why these tracks were selected, nor their importance. ‘Satisfied’ by The Blackwood Brothers Quartet is fascinating gem from 1951 yet there is no note about how Elvis tried to record a version of this very song at SUN at his ‘Good Rockin’ Tonight’ session in September 1954.
Fans are in for a treat with Howlin' Wolf’s ‘Smokestack Lightnin'’ and Joe Hill Louis, influences from Elvis’ Beale Street days, as well as the crucial ‘Rocket 88’ by Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats from 1951 often described as the very first Rock’n’Roll song. In the documentary Ike Turner, who played guitar in Jackie Brenston’s band, describes how the young Elvis would be spotted down on Beale Street soaking up the vibes.
There are two versions of ‘Just Walkin’ In The Rain’. The original by The Prisonaires as recorded at SUN, plus the later cover from Johnnie Ray which in the doco helps demonstrate that in the fifties "the whole industry was tied up in white music". Elvis met The Prisonaires through their recordings at SUN and Elvis even visited lead singer Johnny Bragg in prison – this is the stuff that should have been in the sleeve notes. Amazingly there is not even one mention about the newly discovered Gladys Presley recording of ‘Home Sweet Home’ – and who is that singing with her and playing the piano and where was Elvis at the time?
There are two tracks from 60’s folk artist Odetta which again help demonstrate the soul and passion that Elvis put into his music. Odetta’s version of Dylan’s ‘Tomorrow Is a Long Time’ sounds so pure and "choir-like" that her singing, "If I could hear his heart softly pounding, Only if he was lying by me, Then I'd lie in my bed once again" sounds so inexpressive compared to the lust and longing Elvis imparts to the lyrics.
The final revelation is one of the very best songs of the sixties Robbie Robertson’s ‘The Weight’ included in the documentary and fitting in so perfectly. In the film it features as part of the tragedy of 1968 – the death of Martin Luther King in Memphis which hit Elvis very hard, plus the worldwide demonstrations – but it also happens to play against Elvis’ May 1967 wedding to Priscilla. Was this also part of ‘The Weight’? "My bag is sinking low, and I do believe it's time"
And if you haven’t heard The Orlons’ ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ from 1964 (one of EIN’s Nigel Patterson’s favourites on his Rock’n’roll radio show) then you are in for a treat.
Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready also contributes two fine atmospheric instrumentals. However Tom Petty’s ‘Wooden Heart’ seems totally out of place to me as the play-off. After over 3 hours of Elvis’ musical creativity and the power of ‘If I Can Dream’ a lighter ending was obviously required, but why not something from The King? Both ‘That’s Someone You Never Forget’ and ‘Always On My Mind’ would have been perfect or for something a little special why not an ‘After Loving You’ outtake?
It is a real shame that EPE/SONY/HBO didn’t manage a timed worldwide TV release of the HBO documentary as this impressive 3-CD set will not make the chart impact it deserves.
Overall Verdict: Unfortunately this 3CD box-set truly only works if you have seen the HBO documentary. However, even if you already own all the Elvis tracks, the real positive about this eclectic collection is that it drives one to explore parts of Elvis’ amazing musical legacy all over again. It also makes you want to re-watch the HBO documentary. As Zimny noted this soundtrack album is a very important part of the whole "Searcher" experience. The third disc of Elvis’ musical influences, the first time this has ever been used on a mainstream Elvis release, is also well put together and a fascinating bonus. My only major complaint is that the book is not as substantial as the documentary and sorely lacks in any info about the third disc. Elvis fans who see the documentary need to buy this set. Hopefully some mainstream viewers and music collectors will also buy this set and learn something new about the creative genius that was Elvis Presley.
CD Review by Piers Beagley.
-Copyright EIN April 2018 - DO NOT COPY IMAGES OR INFO WITHOUT PERMISSION.
EIN Website content © Copyright the Elvis Information Network.
Click here to comment on this article
The Searcher 'Best Of' set.
As for the single ‘The Searcher’ cd set, I'm sorry but surely no fan needs a new Elvis compilation with ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, ‘Hound Dog’, ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ and ‘It's Now or Never’ all over again.
While I can understand ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ being featured as Elvis’ RCA creative breakthrough the other over-featured tracks would have been better replaced by other key creative songs from the set. |
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DELUXE TRACKLIST Disc 1: 1 Trouble / Guitar Man, 2 My Baby Left Me, 3 Baby, What You Want Me To Do, 4 Old Shep, 5 That's When Your Heartaches Begin, 6 That's All Right, 7 Blue Moon Of Kentucky, 8 Fool, Fool, Fool, 9 Tweedlee Dee, 10 Baby Let's Play House, 11 Good Rockin' Tonight, 12 Trying To Get To You, 13 Blue Moon, 14 When It Rains It Pours, 15 Blue Christmas, 16 Heartbreak Hotel, 17 Lawdy, Miss Clawdy, 18 Money Honey, 19 Hound Dog, 20 (There'll Be) Peace In The Valley (For Me), 21 Crawfish, 22 Trouble, 23 Farther Along, 24 Mona Lisa, 25 Hide Thou Me, 26 Loving You (End Title Take 16), 27 Lonely Man (Solo Version), 28 Power Of My Love
Disc 2: 1 Milky White Way, 2 A Mess Of Blues, 3 Fame And Fortune, 4 Love Me Tender / Witchcraft (Duet With Frank Sinatra), 5 Like A Baby, 6 Are You Lonesome Tonight?, 7 It's Now Or Never, 8 Wooden Heart, 9 Swing Down Sweet Chariot, 10 Reconsider Baby, 11 Bossa Nova Baby, 12 C'mon Everybody, 13 Tomorrow Is A Long Time, 14 Take My Hand, Precious Lord, 15 Run On, 16 Baby What You Want Me To Do, 17 Suspicious Minds (Take 6), 18 Baby Let's Play House (Rehearsal), 19 Words (Rehearsal), 20 That's All Right, 21 Never Been To Spain, 22 An American Trilogy, 23 You Gave Me A Mountain, 24 Burning Love (Rehearsal Version), 25 Separate Ways (Rehearsal Version), 26 Hurt (Take 5), 27 If I Can Dream
Disc 3: 1 Mike Mccready - Dissolution 2, 2 The Blackwood Brothers - Satisfied, 3 Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup - That's All Right, 4 Joe Hill Louis - She May Be Yours But She Comes To See Me So, 5 Little Junior's Blue Flames - Mystery Train, 6 Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning, 7 The Blackwood Brothers - Rock-A-My Soul, 8 The Prisonaires - Just Walkin' In The Rain, 9 Jackie Brenston And His Delta Cats - Rocket 88, 10 The Ravens - Write Me A Letter, 11 Bill Monroe - Blue Moon Of Kentucky, 12 Eddie Snow - Ain't That Right, 13 Johnnie Ray - Just Walkin' In The Rain, 14 Lloyd Price - Lawdy Miss Clawdy, 15 Gladys Presley - Home Sweet Home, 16 Odetta - Blowin' In The Wind, 17 Odetta - Tomorrow Is A Long Time, 18 The Staple Singers - The Weight, 19 The Orlons - Heartbreak Hotel, 20 Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Wooden Heart, 21 Mike Mccready - Rebound |
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EIN readers have sent in the following comments
From Antonio R
The 3rd CD is my fave in this set.
I would have wanted an explanation as what these tracks meant to Elvis. The snippet of Gladys Presley singing was cool, but where did it come from?
The CD pockets are terrible as it difficult to take the cds out.
A good collection overall.
From Steve P
I have enjoyed playing this new set but a few tracks are standouts that have never been used in previous compilations and it was a great idea to use alternate takes.
Hearing the Loving You (alt take), not the regular Suspicious Minds plus two On Tour rehearsals Burning Love and Separate Ways is a blast.
The SUN material also rocks
On CD3 Rocket 88, Smokestack Lightning and The Staple Singers The Weight are the best
From Victor
Even though a great box set.. It unfortunately bombed..
EIN points out that without the combined publicity of the HBO documentary being on TV the box-set could not be a big seller to the general public
The fact that it hasn't been shown in the UK or Australia explains the dismal chart performance
From Mikael A
Thanks
Nice review but the one piece of info missing : will we ever get a super Deluxe having both the dvd and the music included ?
EIN notes that the future DVD release is all down to HBO/SONY marketing.
Ernst Jorgensen says has no details about a future DVD release or when it will be
Personally EIN is hoping for a expanded DVD with all those video clip as extras.
Would not be difficult.
However EPE have stuffed things up before
From Brian W
Great to have the newly remastered Separate Ways and Burning Love from Elvis On Tour by Matt Ross-Sprang
I am hoping that these have been done as part of the EOT future box-set
From Paul S (in Australia)
I have not been able to see the documentary yet as it has not been shown here.
I have bought this new release but the track order seems all over the place even with the sleeve notes.
I am sure it will make more sense when I have seen the film.
Very disappointing that EPE did not get it shown everywhere on TV at the same time.
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‘Bicycle Rider: Thoughts on The Searcher’: One of EIN’s most insightful contributors George Smith has written a stunning essay on the new HBO documentary ‘Elvis Presley: The Searcher’.
In his review ‘George Smith’ captures the essence of the narrative, Zimny’s production decisions and notes the difficulty of having to create a documentary about Elvis’ music and having to keep it under 4 hours.
His review includes,
“The genius of the documentary though, is in its decision to present Elvis Presley to all viewers in a new and unexpected fashion. For the devotees this is realised through the constant use of new film (professional and amateur) and studio outtakes: it keeps the faithful on their toes and creates the impression of seeing and hearing Elvis anew. This is why Zimny insisted on using the alternative Aloha, the handheld “Trilogy” and “Never Been to Spain”, the “Burning Love” rehearsal, the “If I Can Dream” outtake, the off-air segments from ’68, the non-masters of “Lonely Man”, “Hurt”, “Suspicious Minds”, “Loving You”.. It is a deliberate and clever approach which was much appreciated by this writer.”
Go here to “Bicycle Rider: Thoughts on The Searcher” this is essential reading.
(Spotlight; Source;GeorgeSmith/ElvisInfoNet)
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'Elvis Presley: The Searcher' Official Trailer: HBO have posted the official trailer for 'Elvis Presley: The Searcher'. Fans will love the fact that it DOES feature plenty of new home-footage that has never been officially released before. Includes some stunning footage from the 50s, 60s and 70s. This looks AWESOME - at last a documentary fit for a king.
With this film, filmmaker Thom Zimny (director of several documentaries for Bruce Springsteen) sought to showcase Elvis Presley in a way that few have seen: past the larger-than-life image of The King of Rock and Roll to reveal the man and the artist “who wanted to heal, to find that thing that was always felt to be missing, and to do it through the music.” Elvis Presley: The Searcher offers unprecedented access to Elvis, featuring new interviews with his collaborators, artists inspired by him (Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Emmylou Harris) and never-before-seen photos and footage of Presley at work and at play. The result is an intimate look at a performer countless audiences around the world have heard but only few have truly known.
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'Elvis Presley: The Searcher' Deluxe 3CD Release: The new multi-part documentary Elvis Presley: The Searcher, directed by Thom Zimny and airing on HBO on April 14, pushes past the larger-than-life image of The King of Rock and Roll, portraying him instead as a man and an artist “who wanted to heal, to find that thing that was always felt to be missing, and to do it through the music.”
The 3-CD deluxe edition box set offers an expanded 55-track overview of Elvis’ career as heard in the film including familiar hit recordings (“Heartbreak Hotel,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”), powerful vocal performances (“That’s All Right,” “Tomorrow Is a Long Time,” “Trouble/Guitar Man”) and rare outtakes (“Suspicious Minds,” “Separate Ways”), plus a bonus disc of additional recordings relevant to the film - including singles that inspired Presley (Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s original version of “That’s All Right,” Odetta’s gospel version of Bob Dylan’s “Tomorrow is a Long Time”) and two original instrumental pieces composed for the documentary by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. - 3CD Deluxe set priced at $40
Elvis Presley: The Searcher (Original Soundtrack) Deluxe includes a 40-page book of photos, liner notes by Warren Zanes, and a producer's note from film director Thom Zimny. |
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Disc 1: 1 Trouble / Guitar Man, 2 My Baby Left Me, 3 Baby, What You Want Me To Do, 4 Old Shep, 5 That's When Your Heartaches Begin, 6 That's All Right, 7 Blue Moon Of Kentucky, 8 Fool, Fool, Fool, 9 Tweedlee Dee, 10 Baby Let's Play House, 11 Good Rockin' Tonight, 12 Trying To Get To You, 13 Blue Moon, 14 When It Rains It Pours, 15 Blue Christmas, 16 Heartbreak Hotel, 17 Lawdy, Miss Clawdy, 18 Money Honey, 19 Hound Dog, 20 (There'll Be) Peace In The Valley (For Me), 21 Crawfish, 22 Trouble, 23 Farther Along, 24 Mona Lisa, 25 Hide Thou Me, 26 Loving You (End Title Take 16), 27 Lonely Man (Solo Version), 28 Power Of My Love
Disc 2: 1 Milky White Way, 2 A Mess Of Blues, 3 Fame And Fortune, 4 Love Me Tender / Witchcraft (Duet With Frank Sinatra), 5 Like A Baby, 6 Are You Lonesome Tonight?, 7 It's Now Or Never, 8 Wooden Heart, 9 Swing Down Sweet Chariot, 10 Reconsider Baby, 11 Bossa Nova Baby, 12 C'mon Everybody, 13 Tomorrow Is A Long Time, 14 Take My Hand, Precious Lord, 15 Run On, 16 Baby What You Want Me To Do, 17 Suspicious Minds (Take 6), 18 Baby Let's Play House (Rehearsal), 19 Words (Rehearsal), 20 That's All Right, 21 Never Been To Spain, 22 An American Trilogy, 23 You Gave Me A Mountain, 24 Burning Love (Rehearsal Version), 25 Separate Ways (Rehearsal Version), 26 Hurt (Take 5), 27 If I Can Dream
Disc 3: 1 Mike Mccready - Dissolution 2, 2 The Blackwood Brothers - Satisfied, 3 Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup - That's All Right, 4 Joe Hill Louis - She May Be Yours But She Comes To See Me So, 5 Little Junior's Blue Flames - Mystery Train, 6 Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning, 7 The Blackwood Brothers - Rock-A-My Soul, 8 The Prisonaires - Just Walkin' In The Rain, 9 Jackie Brenston And His Delta Cats - Rocket 88, 10 The Ravens - Write Me A Letter, 11 Bill Monroe - Blue Moon Of Kentucky, 12 Eddie Snow - Ain't That Right, 13 Johnnie Ray - Just Walkin' In The Rain, 14 Lloyd Price - Lawdy Miss Clawdy, 15 Gladys Presley - Home Sweet Home, 16 Odetta - Blowin' In The Wind, 17 Odetta - Tomorrow Is A Long Time, 18 The Staple Singers - The Weight, 19 The Orlons - Heartbreak Hotel, 20 Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Wooden Heart, 21 Mike Mccready - Rebound
(News, Source;SONY/ElvisInfoNet) |
'Elvis Presley: The Searcher' Single CD Release: The new multi-part documentary Elvis Presley: The Searcher, directed by Thom Zimny and airing on HBO on April 14, pushes past the larger-than-life image of The King of Rock and Roll, portraying him instead as a man and an artist “who wanted to heal, to find that thing that was always felt to be missing, and to do it through the music.”
This soundtrack features 18 songs as heard in the film including familiar hit recordings (“Heartbreak Hotel,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”), powerful vocal performances (“That’s All Right,” “Tomorrow Is a Long Time,” “Trouble/Guitar Man”) and rare outtakes (“Suspicious Minds,” “Separate Ways”).
Elvis Presley: The Searcher (The Original Soundtrack) – Single CD / Digital - Priced at $12
1. Trouble / Guitar Man, 2. My Baby Left Me, 3. That’s All Right, 4. Baby Let’s Play House, 5. Heartbreak Hotel, 6. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy, 7. Hound Dog, 8. Crawfish, 9. Mona Lisa, 10. Milky White Way, 11. Like A Baby, 12. Are You Lonesome Tonight?, 13. It’s Now Or Never, 14. Tomorrow Is A Long Time, 15. Suspicious Minds (take 6), 16. Separate Ways (rehearsal version), 17. Hurt (take 5), 18. If I Can Dream.
(News, Source;SONY/ElvisInfoNet)
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'Elvis Presley: The Searcher' 2LP VINYL Release: The new multi-part documentary Elvis Presley: The Searcher, directed by Thom Zimny.
Also released as a DOUBLE-VINYL set this soundtrack features 18 songs as heard in the film including familiar hit recordings (“Heartbreak Hotel,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”), powerful vocal performances (“That’s All Right,” “Tomorrow Is a Long Time,” “Trouble/Guitar Man”) and rare outtakes (“Suspicious Minds,” “Separate Ways”).
Elvis Presley: The Searcher (The Original Soundtrack) – CD / Digital - Priced at $25
LP. Trouble / Guitar Man, 2. My Baby Left Me, 3. That’s All Right, 4. Baby Let’s Play House, 5. Heartbreak Hotel, Side 2 - 6. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy, 7. Hound Dog, 8. Crawfish, 9. Mona Lisa, 10. Milky White Way,
LP Two - 1. Like A Baby, 2. Are You Lonesome Tonight?, 3. It’s Now Or Never, 4. Tomorrow Is A Long Time, Side 2 - 5. Suspicious Minds (take 6), 6. Separate Ways (rehearsal version), 7. Hurt (take 5), 8. If I Can Dream
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