EMBARRASSED ELVIS

Hilburn’s right about the importance of Elvis Presley’s “The Memphis Record,” but the package has some flaws (at least in the CD edition) that deserve mention:

The overdubbed horns are not to be heard on “Suspicious Minds,” though the players are credited on the liner notes and can be heard in all their glory on the CD of “Elvis’ Golden Records, Vol. 5.”

The songs are given their proper CD track numbers, but no one bothered to alter the musicians’ credits from their “side, track” LP format, making it very difficult to tell who’s playing on which songs.

Whoever did the remix made the drums way too loud on about half the tracks. In short, a valuable reissue that’s not nearly as good as it should have been.

BILL BETTS

Laguna Beach