Elvis Presley

It’s hard to go wrong with these stand-alone collections of performances by Elvis Presley, unless you’re a collector in possession of the source material. For newcomers and casual Elvis fans though, this second volume is a cleanly un-contextualized selection of film, television and concert footage of the King as the complete showman he was. Essentially chronological, it begins with Presley gyrating through a lip sync of "Blue Suede Shoes,” his first screen test for long-time film producer Hal Wallis in 1956, and ends with the wonderful version of "An American Trilogy,” which Presley and his amazing TCB band delivered on the 1973 television phenomenon (1.5 billion viewers!), Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii. In between, there are classic musical moments from Elvis films, including King Creole’s "Trouble,” the great "Bossa Nova Baby” from Fun in Acapulco and iconic moments from the ’68 Comeback Special, specifically a raw "One Night” and the convincingly overwrought "If I Can Dream.” Some commentary analyzing the significance of these performances would be nice but it’s rewarding to watch Presley perform all the same.