Elvis Presley: Get your fix here
(CBS) When Elvis Presley died on Aug. 16, 1977, he left behind such a massive body of work - and then there are all the releases that have sprung up since his death - that the casual listener or fan can get lost wading through all the material. Here's a short list to get you started if you don't know where to begin.
Pictures: Famous Elvis fans
Pictures: Elvis fans mourn at candlelight vigil
Elvis Presley: Presley's first album, simply titled "Elvis Presley" - featuring what became an iconic photo of the kid from Tupelo, Miss., on the cover - is as a good a place as any to start. Here's Elvis at his most unaffected and exuberant with great backing musicians playing the hell out of the faster numbers and laying back on the ballads.
"Heartbreak Hotel" hit no. 1, and this album contains covers of Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" and Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti." The album cover was imitated by The Clash for its 1977 classic, "London Calling."
NBC-TV Special '68 Comeback!: After acting in several movies he wasn't excited about, Presley really raised his energy level for the television special "Elvis." Most people call it the "'68 Comeback Special" - the soundtrack album is called "Elvis (NBC TV Special)" - and it's easy to see why. The show aired on Dec. 3, 1968, and featured Presley performing with more gusto and enthusiasm than he'd exhibited in many of his films, and the music performances were top notch. At a time when The Beatles and The Rollings Stones and lots of other younger and seemingly tougher groups were breaking through, the special and its soundtrack proved Presley could still deliver the goods. The section (on television) with Presley wearing the black leather suit is ridiculously enjoyable.
Love Me Tender: Presley's first movie is the only in which he didn't receive top billing. He gets an "introducing" title card on screen. The story, about the Reno brothers and its trials and tribulations during the American Civil War, is for the birds, but this movie is one of the few in which Presley seems to be invested in the material. Maybe that's because it's his first.
Jailhouse Rock: Again, the story is nothing special, but this movie features that great choreographed number of Presley and a bunch of convicts performing the title song, one of his best.
Flaming Star: This movie is the least typical of Presley's career. A drama, it features the singer as a half-white, half-Kiowa man. There's only one song, a ballad, but as an actor Presley acquits himself, taking the material seriously and giving a solid performance. The film's director, Don Siegel, had directed "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and went on to direct Clint Eastwood in five films, including "Dirty Harry."
