Do you think they are "craggy" and "rootsy" enough? For some reason,
that's the Cash they were able to sell in those later sessions.
As for Elvis, he's forever living down his sad demise at 42, and the melancholy of those tunes inevitably still comes off to non-fans as a reminder of all that.
I agree that the FTD did a lot to redeem those sessons, but I still can't avoid some of the darker associations of a man who was in that kind of ultimately subpar condition.
Either that, or it's because I'm on the final pages of Jerry Hopkins "
Elvis: The Final Years" and finding it a useful reminder of the end.
I'm happy to hear more of these tracks on "Made In Memphis" but the Jungle Room sessions should never really rise to the level of discussion of say, Memphis' American recordings of 1969, or even Stax, 1973, in my opinion. I'm willing to be convinced otherwise...