A Guitar For Elvis
Various - Solid Air
A new collection from Solid Air records is always an event in the guitar world. Since Henry Mancini: Pink Guitar won a Grammy, each installment of this series has been greeted with both enthusiasm and high expectations. Both were justified in Cole Porter: Delovely Guitar and Poppin' Guitars: A Tuneful of Sherman. The latest entry in the series is A Guitar For Elvis, featuring songs recorded by Elvis Presley. Once again James Jensen of Solid Air has assembled a dazzling array of talented guitarists.
The previous entries in this series focussed on songwriters with a great sense of both melody and harmony, which allowed for very inventive arrangements. If A Guitar For Elvis is not the finest in this series it is because of the songs themselves. The guitarists play well and some of the arrangements are very inventive, but often they seem constrained by melodies that sound less than compelling on solo guitar. The quality that made Elvis "The King" of rock and roll was his voice, and his ability to turn a simple melody into a powerhouse. Think of the power and subtlety of the first verse of Heartbreak Hotel and his contrast of the extraverted, almost shouted opening and how he shifts it to an internal dialogue of loneliness within a few bars. How can you capture that type of vocal nuance on any instrument?
This presents the guitarist-arranger with a double problem: how do you generate interest in the accompaniment, and how do you get the melody across with some approximation of Elvis' vocal prowess? This CD presents almost as many solutions as there are tracks (14 in all). These range from a bare bones approach to a virtually impressionistic take. This wide range of styles is almost too much of a good thing as at times the CD seems to lose focus somewhat.
Nonetheless there are some fine performances here that are a testament to the originality and commitment of the arrangers. Pat Donohue does yeoman service on All Shook Up, and if it is impossible to get that Elvis "warble" on the melody then the exuberance of the accompaniment surely makes up for it. A similar handcuffing by the melody would seem to threaten Suspicious Minds, except that Laurence Juber is a master par excellence of the groove, and there is no resisting it in this highlight of the set! On top of that, LJ always seems to know how much to vary a melody to keep it interesting while never losing its original feel. Mike Dowling's use of slide and open tuning make Little Sister another noteworthy track that is well worth a listen, while the duo of Doug Smith and Mark Hanson really get rocking with a rousing rendition of Viva Las Vegas.
The rest of the tracks vary from fairly straightforward presentations of Can't Help Falling in Love (Doug Smith), Love Me Tender (Brooks Williams), and Are You Lonesome Tonight (Jim Tozier); to "rocking guitar" arrangements of Mystery Train (Al Petteway), Heartbreak Hotel (Kenny Sultan), Hound Dog, and Jailhouse Rock (Eltjo Haselhoff); to the slide version of Don't (Tim Pacheco), the multi-tracked Loving You (Elliot Easton) to the impressionistic version of Don't Be Cruel (Benjamin Verdery).
So this CD offers an opportunity to hear a fine selection of solo guitarists playing songs that Elvis made famous. Despite my concerns there is still a lot of fine playing here, and some of these arrangements will make you smile with their sheer invention. Elvis fans will no doubt love the CD, as will fans of rock and roll guitar in general.
You can buy the CD directly from Solid Air Records or from Amazon USA
