Elvis: Back In Nashville is the definitive presentation of Elvis Presley's May-June 1971 Nashville studio sessions, showcasing Elvis and his core band as they sounded during the actual sessions without orchestral overdubs and vocal accompaniment. These revelatory sessions chronicle the last time Elvis would record in Nashville.
Since The King of Rock 'n' Roll was the complete '50s masters, it was easy to assume that its five-disc '60s sequel, From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential 60's Masters, rounded up all the masters from that decade, which is simply not the case. The producers deliberately avoided the soundtracks to Elvis' movies, which perhaps makes sense, given that they are roundly and rightly disparaged as Presley's low point, which then opened the doors to presenting just what they judged as the best non-soundtrack recordings he made during the '60s. They also disregarded the gospel recordings, saving them for the double-disc 1994 collection Amazing Grace: His Greatest Gospel Songs, leaving this as an overview of the best of his pop and rock material of the '60s, all recorded after he got back from the army…
Elvis: Close Up is part of an ongoing series of Elvis Presley box sets BMG has created to keep collectors supplied with "new" material, in a manner of speaking. All 89 of the recordings are previously unreleased mixes and alternate takes, with each disc focusing on a different period of Elvis' career. The first disc contains stereo mixes of recordings from 1957, including "Jailhouse Rock" and "I Beg of You." These mixes, created from the binaural session tapes, will be worth the price for many stereophiles. The second disc has alternate takes of songs from four of Elvis' early-'60s movie soundtracks, with all of the recordings hailing from 1960 and 1961. Disc three is titled "The Magic of Nashville" and features Nashville recordings mainly from the early '60s…