Stax

[Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man]

I think the best 10 track album from STAX would have been:

1 Promised Land
2 I've Got A Thing About You Baby
3 You Asked Me To
4 Loving Arms
5 If You Talk In Your Sleep

6 I Got A Feelin' In My Body
7 Honky Tonk Angel
8 Find Out What's Happening
9 For Ol' Times Sake
10 Talk About The Good Times

That would have been pretty good with no filler tracks at all, just solid recordings.

[Juan Luis]

...I am sure a single, great album could (and should!) have been released containg the best of the Stax songs in the spring of '74

Even paring down the Stax sessions to a single disc does not create a "great" album.

But a very good Elvis album. Which would have been great.

Elvis' "great" work is widely respected and has a general reputation of greatness. It is hard to imagine that a single disc album of Stax recordings would ever be labeled as a great album with a lasting legacy outside of some 70's enthusiasts. A single disc release would have been a decent mid-70's effort with some clear deficiencies and questionable song selections. There are not 10 great songs and/or performances from the Stax sessions.

You misunderstood. It would have been better for one very good album or (now I add) good for that matter. Than multiple mediocre ones. And that would have been great! For grade-point average, legacy etc..

[midnightx]

...I am sure a single, great album could (and should!) have been released containg the best of the Stax songs in the spring of '74

Even paring down the Stax sessions to a single disc does not create a "great" album.

But a very good Elvis album. Which would have been great.

Elvis' "great" work is widely respected and has a general reputation of greatness. It is hard to imagine that a single disc album of Stax recordings would ever be labeled as a great album with a lasting legacy outside of some 70's enthusiasts. A single disc release would have been a decent mid-70's effort with some clear deficiencies and questionable song selections. There are not 10 great songs and/or performances from the Stax sessions.

You misunderstood. It would have been better for one very good album or (now I add) good for that matter. Than multiple mediocre ones. And that would have been great! For grade-point average, legacy etc..

And I do not disagree with the sentiment that the Stax sessions pared down to a single album would have been looked at in a much different and respected manner. Of course, RCA never would have funded sessions that yielded nearly 30 masters only to release 10-12 of them, leaving the remaining inferior tracks in the vaults as unsuitable outtakes. So, Elvis' A&R representative Felton Jarvis and Elvis' publishing representatives would have needed to be able to pare down the list of possible song inclusions to the core group of 10-12 songs that were to make up the ideal Stax album -- and clearly none of those individuals were up to that task.

[Matthew]

Well of course realistically we're talking about RCA pooling from 20 masters, since an album predating the December 1973 sessions (i.e. Raised On Rock) was always going to come out around October 1973, heavily mining the 12 songs cut in July and September.

[Juan Luis]

...I am sure a single, great album could (and should!) have been released containg the best of the Stax songs in the spring of '74

Even paring down the Stax sessions to a single disc does not create a "great" album.

But a very good Elvis album. Which would have been great.

Elvis' "great" work is widely respected and has a general reputation of greatness. It is hard to imagine that a single disc album of Stax recordings would ever be labeled as a great album with a lasting legacy outside of some 70's enthusiasts. A single disc release would have been a decent mid-70's effort with some clear deficiencies and questionable song selections. There are not 10 great songs and/or performances from the Stax sessions.

You misunderstood. It would have been better for one very good album or (now I add) good for that matter. Than multiple mediocre ones. And that would have been great! For grade-point average, legacy etc..

And I do not disagree with the sentiment that the Stax sessions pared down to a single album would have been looked at in a much different and respected manner. Of course, RCA never would have funded sessions that yielded nearly 30 masters only to release 10-12 of them, leaving the remaining inferior tracks in the vaults as unsuitable outtakes. So, Elvis' A&R representative Felton Jarvis and Elvis' publishing representatives would have needed to be able to pare down the list of possible song inclusions to the core group of 10-12 songs that were to make up the ideal Stax album -- and clearly none of those individuals were up to that task.

You are jumping back to reality. If the single LP had been released, the stuff you mentioned wouldn't have been in the equation. And we might be discussing that " insert song title", might have been a sleeper hit had it been released in the 1970's ! lol...

[drjohncarpenter]

Well of course realistically we're talking about RCA pooling from 20 masters, since an album predating the December 1973 sessions (i.e. Raised On Rock) was always going to come out around October 1973, heavily mining the 12 songs cut in July and September.

Let's not forget those vocal overdubs and such at Palm Springs in September 1973 were nearly the final statements from Presley, given his near-death in October.

[mysterytrainrideson]

Good ideas, but I feel Promised should have led off any Stax imaginary album. You just cannot beat this song as the opening track from those sessions. It grabs you head on.

"There's A Honky Tonk Angel" would have been a good B side, i think.

Yes, "Promised Land" is a killer !!

[Lohmax]

A
Promised Land
Raised on Rock
I Got a Feelin' in My Body
If You Don't Come Back
Talk About The Good Times
B
Loving Arms
My Boy
It's Midnight
If You Talk in Your Sleep
For Ol' Times Sake

or a concept album (lyrice needed some adjustment, though)

I Got a Feelin' in My Body
Talk About the Good Times
Thinking About You
It's Midnight
My Boy

Loving Arms
If You Don't Come Back
For Ol' Times Sake
Your Love's Been a Long Time Coming
Girl of Mine

[poormadpeter]

A Stax album could have worked quite well if programmed in a similar way to Something For Everybody back in 1961: with a mostly under-stated ballad side and an upbeat side - at least it would be better than ten or twelve tracks thrown together in a seemingly random order. And if people are mining the July sessions for their make-believe track listings, then then the Palm Springs recordings should be considered as well:

Side A
For Ol' Times Sake
There's A Honky Tonk Angel
I Miss You
Thinking About You
Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues
(+ Loving Arms if a 12-track album)

Side B
Promised Land
If You Talk in Your Sleep
You Asked Me To
(I've Got a Thing About You Baby if a 12-track album)
I Got a Feelin' in My Body
Talk About the Good Times

Matthew has a point in saying that the July sessions would have been mined for the autumn '73 album but, in an ideal world, that would have been set aside for a Gold Records 5 - it would have made perfect sense after Aloha to pull together Elvis's best singles from 1968-1973, with an album that would have included If I Can Dream, Suspicious Minds, In The Ghetto, Don't Cry Daddy, Kentucky Rain, I'm Leavin', The Wonder of You, YDHTSYLM, Burning Love, and I Really Don't Want to Know (if a ten-track album) effectively showing Elvis as a relevant artist in the early 1970s.

[Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man]

A Stax album could have worked quite well if programmed in a similar way to Something For Everybody back in 1961: with a mostly under-stated ballad side and an upbeat side - at least it would be better than ten or twelve tracks thrown together in a seemingly random order. And if people are mining the July sessions for their make-believe track listings, then then the Palm Springs recordings should be considered as well:

Side A
For Ol' Times Sake
There's A Honky Tonk Angel
I Miss You
Thinking About You
Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues
(+ Loving Arms if a 12-track album)

Side B
Promised Land
If You Talk in Your Sleep
You Asked Me To
(I've Got a Thing About You Baby if a 12-track album)
I Got a Feelin' in My Body
Talk About the Good Times

Matthew has a point in saying that the July sessions would have been mined for the autumn '73 album but, in an ideal world, that would have been set aside for a Gold Records 5 - it would have made perfect sense after Aloha to pull together Elvis's best singles from 1968-1973, with an album that would have included If I Can Dream, Suspicious Minds, In The Ghetto, Don't Cry Daddy, Kentucky Rain, I'm Leavin', The Wonder of You, YDHTSYLM, Burning Love, and I Really Don't Want to Know (if a ten-track album) effectively showing Elvis as a relevant artist in the early 1970s.

In much the same way, a good 1976 album could have consisted of

1 For The Heart
2 Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
3 She Thinks I Still Care (uptempo)
4 Danny Boy
5 Moody Blue

6 Tiger Man (1975 Studio jam)
7 He'll Have To Go
8 Pledging My Love
9 Hurt
10 Way Down

[drjohncarpenter]

In much the same way, a good 1976 album could have consisted of

1 For The Heart
2 Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
3 She Thinks I Still Care (uptempo)
4 Danny Boy
5 Moody Blue

6 Tiger Man (1975 Studio jam)
7 He'll Have To Go
8 Pledging My Love
9 Hurt
10 Way Down

It would have had to be released in December 1976. And that listing is quite a stretch.