This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
“The King is gone but he’s not forgotten,” Neil Young wrote back in 1979. It’s still just as true today.
On Aug. 16, 1977, Elvis Presley left the building for good — or so they would have us believe. Either way, his legend still looms large. Maybe not as large as the man himself got to be toward the end there, but large enough to keep his memory alive. Of course, the people who recall Elvis most with the most love would have be those at his longtime record label RCA. Which is likely why, over the past several months, they’ve been quietly putting classic Elvis titles back into circulation. If you’re thinking about spending some quality time with The King, pick up one of these at your nearest CD store. And if the guy who sells it to you has mutton-chop sideburns and smells of peanut butter and bananas, wish him a happy anniversary from us, would ya?
Pot Luck With Elvis
First Released: 1962.
The Lowdown: The title says it all. His only disc released in a year when he made three movies, Pot Luck sounds like a cobbled-together mish-mash of half-baked cuts and rewarmed leftovers — including (heaven help us) bossa nova tracks.
Essential Hits: Nothing to speak of, though the Stand By Me revamp Suspicion might ring a bell.
Buried Treasures: The groovy Steppin’ Out of Line and Gonna Get Back Home Somehow are tasty little morsels, but otherwise the pickings are slim.
The Last Word: This was Elvis’s last secular, non-soundtrack album for seven years. He should have gone out with a bang instead of this whimper.
