On August 13th, Tomato Records released Elvis Presley/Roots Revolution: The Louisiana Hayride Recordings, a 16-track edition of the historic Elvis Presley “live” radio performances from the mid-50s.
Undergoing a complete sonic restoration, the original recordings have been brought back to life allowing the magic of a 19-year old Elvis Presley to shine through. Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Elvis’ death, Roots Revolution is a testament to the enduring impact Presley and his music have had on the world.
“We’re still trying to catch up with Elvis Presley after 50 years. These recordings began the sea change—the innocent, raw, profoundly unique Elvis Presley like we’d never hear him again. This is as close as you get to the Genesis in terms of what was to follow in popular culture—musically, sexually and racially—for the rest of time,” states Tomato’s Kevin Eggers.
On Roots Revolution, Tomato Records’ have gone to great lengths to restore the performances by using new musicians to help enhance the bass, acoustic guitar and drums, which were all but lost to distortion and crackle on the original tapes. Bass player Paul Nowinski (Keith Richards, Rickie Lee Jones, Les Paul), guitarist Jon Paris (Bo Diddley, Johnny Winter, Johnnie Johnson), and drummer Steven Wolf (Bee Gees, B-52s, Celine Dion) were enlisted to rebuild the tracks. Only the existing parts performed by Elvis and his band were fixed. There were no new arrangements, additional instruments or extra musical sections added. Authentic period instruments were used to replicate the original sound.
“We approached this much like that of restoring a master painting. Our intent was to bring out the original colors and energy of the music. Great care was taken to make sure the musical enhancements were 100 percent faithful to the original parts played by Elvis, Scotty, Bill and D.J.,” states Eggers.
The results are nothing short of magical, as Elvis’ voice cuts through crystal clear roaring through groundbreaking performances of “That’s All Right, Mama,” “Baby, Let’s Play House,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Maybellene” and more. It truly was a roots revolution. Music would never be the same, and some might argue that it would never be better.
TomatoRecords.com
