Jamie Aaron Kelly Karaoke

For those who don't know me, I've been an Elvis fan since before I could walk, and been an Elvis performer for 22 years at the time of this writing. Over the years, I've heard everything from the old "American Sound" and "Star Trax" background tracks from the ‘80s up to today's companies like Music Maestro, Sound Choice, and others. As I got older, my standards for what I considered "good" background tracks got higher, as I'm sure they did for everybody else. However, as I started to fully come into my own as an Elvis fan, I got even more strict because I got so used to hearing and knowing Elvis' own versions of the songs that I started cringing when I didn't hear the same sounds on the tracks I bought. I'm pretty good with an audio editing program, and I even tried splicing the first notes of Elvis' versions onto background tracks and adding harmonies just so I could get into the song more. Then I got to thinking: paying anywhere from $30 to $160 for a single CD when only a few of the tracks on each were any good usually (and that's when I was lucky) was..... um... well, it wasn't good, I'll put it that way.

So I thought to myself... I know that there are many people in the Elvis Entertainment business who feel the same way about the quality of background tracks and who'd love to have tracks that really come as close to the originals as possible in both the feel of the music AND the notes themselves, not just one or the other. And so, I've decided to "put my money where my mouth is," so to speak, and make the background tracks myself, and make them affordable so that everybody can have them (especially since recording all this can get REALLY expensive, as much as $40,000 for a single CD of material).

And so here is a company - Just Awesome Karaoke - from the Elvis Fan and Performer TO the Elvis Fan and Performer. The first two CD releases will be a comprehensive collection of Elvis' SUN Records and Louisiana Hayride songs. Here is a complete list of what songs will be on the 2 CDs:

STUDIO SONGS/VERSIONS:

Just Awesome Karaoke: The Sun Years Collection Vol. 1
1. That's All Right
2. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
3. I Love You Because (SUN version w/ guitar intro)
4. Harbor Lights5. You're Right, I'm Left, She's Gone
6. Just Because
7. Baby Let's Play House
8. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone-slow alt
9. I Forgot To Remember To Forget
10. Blue Moon
11. Milkcow Blues Boogie12.You're A Heartbreaker
13. I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')-master
14. I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine
15. Good Rockin' Tonight
BONUS SONGS:
16. I'll Never Stand In Your Way
17. It Wouldn't Be The Same Without You

Just Awesome Karaoke: The Sun Years Collection Vol. 2
1. Tweedle Dee-live
2. Maybellene-live
3. Hearts Of Stone-live
4. Blue Moon Of Kentucky-live 54
5. That's All Right-live 55
6. I Got A Woman-live 55
7. Fool, Fool, Fool
8. Shake, Rattle, & Roll
9. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone-slow master
10. Trying To Get To You
11. I Love You Because (RCA version w/ whistling intro)
12. Mystery Train
13. Tomorrow Night
14. Blue Moon Of Kentucky-alt
15. When It Rains, It Really Pours
BONUS SONGS:
16. I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')-alternate
17. My Happiness-acetate version
18. That's When Your Heartaches Begin-acetate version

ALL of these recordings will capture the feel and vibe as well as the notes of the originals as closely as possible, even down to using the same microphone tricks to get the sound they got and mimicking many of the mistakes they made since all those mistakes added to the charm of "perfect imperfection" that Sam Phillips and Elvis believed in. On top of all that, the songs were recorded at THE VERY PLACE Elvis recorded the originals --- SUN RECORDING STUDIO in Memphis!

Since many of the SUN and Hayride recordings are not in the cleanest audio quality, our recordings will have an authentic but much cleaner sound to be more suited to live performance, while still retaining the feel and everything of the originals. A guide vocal version will also be offered for a small additional cost if needed.

The discs won't break your bank account either.. retail price for each CD is only $30 + shipping & handling. The CDs will be released on April 25th, 2005. These will be real, pressed CDs and not CD-Rs, with full royalty rights paid for. I have been asked this question, so I'd like to answer it now - these are completely real and completely legal.

Over time, the label will hopefully release everything Elvis recorded, from the well-known to the obscure - all of it just as authentic as these first discs - and using Elvis' own singers and even musicians whenever possible. However, to do this properly takes a lot of time and effort, and also a lot of cost, so we need everyone to encourage their fellow Elvis fans and performers to buy them and not trade them so that I can keep making releases for everyone and we'll all win.

And to get the ball rolling and get everything in place, we're doing a special pre-order offer: for everyone who pre-orders both CDs between now and March 12th, you'll get the CDs for $25 each plus shipping (total is $50 + shipping - $10 off), and they will also be shipped to you as soon as the pressed CDs come to us (even if they come early) so you'll be among the first to receive them!
So thanks to everybody for your interest, and with your help, we can really set the Elvis World on it's ear, starting April 25th!!

When Elvis first started out, nothing like what he was doing had ever been done - it was a fusing of styles that created "rockabilly," and Elvis is generally credited with being the father of rockabilly. At his early shows, he was very nervous and that energy contributed to his movements, but he wasn't well received everywhere initially. Bill Black would often clown around with his stand up bass, trying to loosen the people up into accepting the wildly different style they were putting out, as well as the wildly different Elvis, who experimented with clothing color combinations that were often very crazy - which likely threw off more than a few audience members.

Over time, Elvis slowly perfected his style, in his singing, movements, and clothes. To listen to Elvis' first Hayride appearance, and his last, shows this very well. By 1956, Elvis had built up a good deal of confidence, but was still testing the waters of what worked well with an audience. It was in this year that he learned to "play" with an audience, doing little things to tease them and get them screaming and yelling for him. Watching Elvis' 50's TV appearances is a great way to see this - as Elvis' first appearance was great, but his last ones really show how he grew from just being confident in their act to being very sure of himself, which the audience could feel and were swept away in. Watching those shows now still has that same effect almost 50 years later.

In his music, Elvis' voice improved, including slowing his vibrato and building vocal strength in general along with the vocal richness that came with age. His confidence in this area grew also, which can be heard in both the ballads and the rockers - he sounds smoother, richer, and although he could always put emotion into a song, his vocal improvements allowed him to do his famous "vocal gymnastics" with even more effect. Gordon Stoker has said that "Any Way You Want Me" was the first song that really showed a jump in ability for Elvis, to where Gordon thought, "Man, this guy can SING!!!" (quote) .

By 1957, the Colonel had suggested to Elvis to make his stage performances even more deliberate in getting the people crazy, which Elvis started doing as the year went on. Elvis' stage makeup became darker during this time to accent his eyes and features that much more, and on at least one occasion, Elvis grabbed the RCA "Nipper" dog prop and rolled to the front of the stage with it. On another, he came down to the front of the stage and laid on it, the mic between him and the stage and his arms dangling off the edge. This was balanced by his Gospel and Christmas albums, and growing effort by the Colonel to show Elvis' "good, wholesome boy" side to the general public.

In ‘57 and ‘58, Elvis was still progressing as an artist, and in the June, '58 session you can hear the start of the sound and feel that would produce the rocking yet professionally rounded output of the "Elvis Is Back" sessions in 1960.

Many Elvis performers tend to overlook the subtle yet amazing changes of Elvis in these years, and it's easy to generalize and not see the real picture. Something also forgotten by many fans and performers who haven't looked at the details is how much Elvis did see himself as a serious artist with a vision for many of his songs (though he was often too humble to admit it).

This has just been a brief overview of some of the changes in Elvis through the ‘50s. The more you know about Elvis and even the smaller details, the more people will see a difference in you and your performances, too! To find out more about this, the following books, DVDs, and CDs are recommended. (TO SEE LIST OF JAMIE’S RECOMMENDED RESOURCES SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE).