Elvis Presley’s Stax Sessions Released

Today, Elvis Presley’s recording sessions at Stax Records will be released together for the first time. Titled Elvis at Stax: Deluxe Edition, the three-CD box set also features outtakes and rare photos from the July and December 1973 sessions, which resulted in three separate albums.

Back in 1973, Presley was hitting the comeback trail hard. However, the singer-songwriter had a contractual obligation to fulfill, so he headed to Memphis, Tennessee to create some new material. Presley ended up with two recording sessions at Stax Records, tapping into the Memphis soul tradition of Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes and Sam and Dave.

Elvis at Stax: Deluxe Edition includes a July 20th-23rd session from 1973 during which Presley laid down “Raised on Rock,” “I’ve Got a Thing About You Baby” and “For Ol’ Time’s Sake.” While recording “Girl of Mine” on the last night, he discovered his personal microphone had been stolen.

After that, Presley returned to Stax in December for a week long recording session and worked out songs like “I Got a Feeling in My Body,” originally written by Dennis Linde. Bassist Norbert Putnam, who recorded with Presley in the Stax sessions, remembered that the star had put on some weight and was less energetic than a previous session they had done in Nashville. But once the music kicked in, Presley was as on-point as ever. “We started an old Chuck Berry tune, and he came alive,” said Putnam. “He immersed himself in the music.”