In retrospect, this pair of 12-track, post-army projects, Elvis Is Back and its immediate follow-up Something For Everybody, which the hillbilly cat began recording in Nashville in the spring of 1960, are now regarded as possibly the two best albums he ever made.
Shortly after the release of Everybody, Presley gave television appearances and live performances up for the Hollywood hills and nearly a decade of plotlessly vapid film musicals that, unlike his earlier Jailhouse Rock and King Creole epics, were full of third-rate songs and uninspired, flaccid singing. They were a far cry from the albums under consideration here. Both feature top-notch studio bands, harmony vocals by The Jordanaires, a challenging and diverse repertoire (heavy on the R&B with rootsy covers of hits by the likes of Little Willie John and Lowell Fulson, along with originals from Leiber & Stoller, Jesse Stone, Charlie Rich and Otis Blackwell among others), as well as a newfound sensual, often smouldering depth to Presley’s vocal approach. Each disc also contains a series of period singles.
