August 17, 2016

Sparks Fly on Elvis’s “Way Down in the Jungle Room”

This late-career compilation features the last single The King released in his lifetime.


Elvis Presley
Way Down in the Jungle Room
RCA/Legacy

Courtesy of Sony Music

When Elvis Presley sings Lights are goin’ dim on “Way Down,” the leadoff track of this late-career compilation—and the final single released in his lifetime—you could well be braced for a set of depressing, half-hearted performances. Happily, that’s not the case. Recorded in the den of Graceland, his Memphis home, in 1976, this two-disc, 33-track collection finds Elvis relaxed and in fine voice, joined by a typically stellar supporting cast, including guitarist James Burton and drummer Ronnie Tutt. If he was a bit too fond of sentimental fare like “Hurt” and “Danny Boy,” Presley still knew how to generate sparks when the mood struck, as “For the Hurt” and “Way Down” attest. All hail The King!

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