As you can see, the acoustic demos disc replicated what was previously
circulated (notably on OH SHIT!), but with some resequencing. It
should also be noted that it is SLIGHTLY more complete, as songs like
"Jack of All Parades" include the count in and opening chords, but
I don't notice any real difference in the sound quality between this
set and OH SHIT. I do feel the resequencing was smartly done-- everything
from track 7 and onwards flows remarkably well. As you can see, it
doesn't include "Suffering Face" or "I Hope You're Happy Now", which
I assume were amended to the set by a thoughtful compiler and not
part of the leaked demo reel. This, of course, suggests the possibility
of still unheard KOA demos that may very well show up on the upcoming
Rhino reissues... The performances here really warrant comment-- this
is simply Elvis at his BEST and his most passionate. It almost feels
like him sitting in your living room playing his new songs for you!
! , it's extremely intimate, and the covers that are included I think
provide a greater sense of the kind of music that actually inspired
KING OF AMERICA than "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" or "Eisenhower
Blues" . I hope Rhino makes copious use of this material when preparing
their reissue.
The second disc, comprised of outtakes and alternate/rough mixes,
does include material not previously included on the OH SHIT set.
The material here is also more complete in some instances (or better
edited), and there aren't any of the abrupt endings ("Sleep of the
Just" fades in the coda, instead of the cold stop, for example) that
occasionally showed up before. Although there are some real gems
(I *love* that "I Hope You're Happy Now", played at a cowboy pace,
and the slow "Brilliant Mistake", more elaborate "Eisenhower Blues"
and the pre-overdub "Blue Chair" are all great fun), in many cases
the differences between the official release and corresponding take
here are EXTREMELY subtle-- some of which I can't even immediately
discern any difference. This is made even more difficult by the fact
that it sounds to by ears like this set is culled from a dub of a
dub of a dub of the leaked reel (the sound quality is actually pretty
good, but there is some generation loss that seems to make the mix
noticably more murky than the official LP, though KING OF AMERICANA
*may* have accessed a higher generation source tape than the one that
was sourced on OH SHIT) and thus sometimes it's hard to say if some
of the tracks here sounds different simply some of the instrumental
detail has gone "mushy"). Perhaps after the set makes the rounds
we can collaborate on the list to identify exactly how each song is
different from the released product, but until then, don't expect
night and day from what you're already familiar with in much of this
material.
The packaging is fairly attractive, but not as sharp as Hiwatt's
previous ORPHEUM THEATRE release, and not as deluxe as material this
important may warrant. Nonetheless, the liner notes, while included
the occasionally factual slip (the author claims, for example, that
the Attractions backed EC on "Sleep of the Just"), seem to be written
by a fairly knowledgeable fan, thought he seems to dwell on a critical
and fan backlash to the released album that I never knew existed,
nor does he mention how highly it had come to be regarded by EC fans
in the years that followed. I think this set is a very very useful
companion to the official LP, and the demo disc alone makes it an
essential purchase (or trade!). - teej