1 – Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley – # 1 in the charts the year I was born, this stark, grown up blues, is stunted in despair and stark as a threadbare transient hotel, everything about this is nightmare and horrifying, including the solo – A+
2 – Don’t Be Cruel – Elvis Presley – It sounds like the purist pop move ever, this is how you have it both ways: rock and pop, soulful and playful – A+
3 – Hound Dog – Elvis Presley – Blues meets country, everything brought together for a Leiber and Stoller giant – A+
4 – Love Me Tender – Elvis Presley – Faux ballad, very lo fi, the voice, spiritual harmonies in the background, that’s about it – A
5 – All Shook Up – Elvis Presley – A perfect Presley creation for a man who moved with his hips – A+
6 – She’s Not You – Elvis Presley – This straddles the line between pop puffery and country soul. The diver is the voice – A
7 – (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear – Elvis Presley – The glory of Presley in these just past the Sun years period is how it maneuvered himself as a teen idol, this was a thrilla, it was a come on without a shock threat: teen romance you love enough – A+
8 – Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley – Presley as a juvenile delinquent saved by rock and roll – A+
9 – Little Sister – Dwight Yoakam – Dwight connects the dots between rock and its country roots – A-
10 – Little Sister – Elvis Presley – Presley has more presence…in NINETY SIXTY ONE!!! – A
