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The “Elvis Sings the Great British Songbook” double album, which was released today, is not a great Elvis compilation. It’s not terrible either, but there are much better options for those wanting to delve beyond Elvis’ greatest hits. There are two main problems with the album. The first is that in including pretty much every song that has a British connection, there are duds among the gems. The second is that this comprehensive approach means there are performances included that do not represent Elvis at his best or even close to his best in some cases.

Highlights

There are some great performances on the double album, particularly “This is the Story,” “A Little Bit of Green,” and “The Fair’s Moving On,” which were recorded in Memphis in 1969 and feature an enthused and committed Elvis who is on top of his game. There are also strong performances on several songs recorded in June 1970 in Nashville, namely “Just Pretend,” “How the Web Was Woven,” “I’ve Lost You,” “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” and “Twenty Days And Twenty Nights.” For each of these, the song is worthy of Elvis’ talent and his performance is first class.

Too many filler songs

Add a few more to the above selection (eg “Danny Boy,” “My Boy” and “How Great Thou Art”) and you have a solid single CD release that would be a good introduction to Elvis’ lesser known work. Instead, the release is bloated with lesser quality filler songs, such as “Heart of Rome,” “Girl of Mine” and “Softly as I Leave You.” I don’t think I’ve ever made it through the latter without reaching for the skip button and I am a major Elvis fan.

Songs such as “Softly as I Leave You” are collectors’ material and not deserving of a place on a mainstream Elvis release. The same can be said of “Hey Jude.” The original is of course a classic song, but this was an unfinished recording by Elvis, complete with incorrect lyrics and an awkward vocal. It was not intended for release in 1969 when recorded, but did find its way onto the “Elvis Now” album from 1972, due to a lack of material and RCA’s artistically questionable three album per year policy.

Bonus tracks

The album features three bonus tracks. Two are Christmas songs from a session that Elvis didn’t want to be at (and it shows) and the third is a jam on The Beatles’ “Lady Madonna.” The latter is actually a lot of fun and its inclusion as a bonus is merited.

“Elvis Sings the Great British Songbook” tracklist

CD 1:

01. You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me
02. Wonderful World
03. Something
04. This Is Our Dance
05. Sweet Angeline
06. It’s Easy For You
07. Love Me, Love The Life I Lead
08. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
09. The Fair’s Moving On
10. Just Pretend
11. How The Web Was Woven
12. Softly As I Leave You
13. My Boy
14. I’ve Lost You
15. Girl Of Mine
16. Let Me Be There
17. Let’s Be Friends

CD 2:

01. Yesterday
02. Words
03. Amazing Grace
04. Hey Jude
05. If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
06. This Is The Story
07. The Last Farewell
08. Sylvia
09. A Little Bit Of Green
10. Heart Of Rome
11. It’s A Matter Of Time
12. Danny Boy
13. Twenty Days And Twenty Nights
14. Stay Away
15. How Great Thou Art

Bonus recordings:

16. O Come, All Ye Faithful
17. If I Get Home On Christmas Day
18. Lady Madonna (Studio Rehearsal)

Conclusion

With so many predictable greatest hits or genre-based releases in the Elvis catalogue, it is encouraging to see the record company coming up with something a little different. The idea just didn’t come off entirely because of the paucity of great quality relevant material. It’s far from a horrible release, but only provides glimpses of Elvis at his best and would have been a stronger single disc release.

Those who haven’t explored beyond Elvis’ greatest hits would be much better served by the two-CD legacy issue of “From Elvis in Memphis,” “Elvis Country” or, for fans of early rock ‘n’ roll, “Elvis at Sun.”