If you’ve ever done either lip synching to a song, or gone to a place where they have Karaoke, you know that there is inevitably a) a young indie lady to sing something by Patsy Cline and b) either an overweight white middle aged guy or a young Asian who’s going to pick some Elvis song. We won’t get into Cline’s attraction, but I believe Elvis was one of the few male vocalists that got the loyalty from both guys and dolls is because every guy thinks he can sing and pose like him, and every doll thinks they could have rehabilitated him. But that’s for another article.
What we have here is a follow-up to the highly successful If I Can Dream album where vintage Elvis recordings have been augmented with extra drapery by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Here, you get all the reasons Elvis 40+ years after his death is still sets the standard for a male vocalist sounding like, well, a male. In stark contrast to today’s skinny-jeaned, limp wristed and bearded hipsters who sound like they grew up on hormone-injected chicken, Elvis sounds bold, confident and declaratory on songs that range from pop-opera to love lost Grand Ol’ Opry and heart wrenching trucking anthems.
The rollicking strings work amazingly well on a Las Vegas-styled big show climax on “A Big Hunk O’ Love” while Old School Country will put a tear in your bear on “Just Pretend,” “Love Letters” and a gut wrenching duet with Helen Fischer on “Just Pretend.” A take of “Amazing Grace” is, as only Elvis can pull off, both reverent and glitzy, while every aspiring vocalist will want to get down pat these versions of “Suspicious Minds,” “Memories” and “Let It Be Me.” All of these songs beg to be covered by a jazz artist.
Best of all is a rendition of “Don’t” that, in the hands of Donald Trump would come off like sexual assault, but with the King, it is a seductive charmer. What’s he got that I ain’t? I asked my wife, and she just said, “if you have to ask, it’s too late.” At least you can sing along with the Master’s voice here, with each song sounding fresher than before.