Angel Corpus Christi – Elvis Elvis (Independent)
Ah, this is all wrong, you know. It is all over far too quickly. I found it that good that I had to play it again straight away to ensure I got my fix of this. Angel Corpus Christi (one Andrea Ross) is a brave girl indeed, messing around with seven well-known Elvis tunes. Andrea Ross got her start as a freelance writer and quietly moved to being song writer. Then she discovered remixing Elvis tunes. Okay, all tunes by Elvis are well known, but I want to make a point here, and that is you sometimes take on more than you can handle with some jobs, and end up wishing you never started it in the first place. In this case, as far as I am concerned, ACC has pulled off a master stroke with her sublime interpretations of such Elvis immured material as “Now Or Never”, “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Are You Lonesome Tonight”, to name but three.

So why has she only attempted these seven songs, which come in at around twenty-one minutes, barely a first side if this was a vinyl album? I sure hope cold feet didn’t play a part, as I feel robbed of half an album here! On reflection, I doubt this, as she is well represented in the field of covers, with Louie Louie in 2005 - songs for, by and about Lou Reed - and not forgetting 2003’s Divine Healer, featuring covers of Motley Crue songs (Motley Crue covers?!) as well as original material; a brave girl indeed, then.

This is truly marvelous stuff, despite the brevity, done with obvious love and affection for the great man, without taking any liberties at all… except, perhaps, for making each song her own, and anyone who doesn’t like it be damned (I suppose that a lot of hard-nosed Elvis fans will no doubt want to lynch her sometime soon).

I never really managed to take to Elvis myself (which is why, maybe, I feel this is totally marvelous), although as an icon of his time(s), I fully understand, and appreciate hi legacy. ACC has managed to give these songs a timeless feel, whilst giving most of them a classic 50s touch as well, with a whiff of serenity. I have no idea how she has done this, but whatever gave her the nerve to do it I, for one, am very glad indeed. This is a splendid covers album, and one good reason why the genre exists, and should never be dismissed as second-rate filler in an artist’s career.
www.angelcorpuschristi.com
Kev A.

ANGEL CORPUS CHRISTI – DON’T BE CRUEL

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