Matt Ross-Spang Discusses New Elvis Presley Box Set, Memphis

Across more than 100 tracks, MEMPHIS captures Elvis from the earliest stages of his career at Sun Records/Memphis Recording Service to his final recordings in Graceland's Jungle Room, with stops at other iconic studios such as American and Stax along the way. On this new collection, listeners have never been closer to Elvis – as all overdubs are stripped from the material by Matt Ross-Spang, who mixed all the tracks leaving fans with only what Elvis heard "in the room".

I caught up with Matt, who we interviewed in Tape Op #117, and asked him a few questions about the process of reimagining this album from The King!

What was your approach going into the project?

The producer, Ernst Jorgensen, is the compass of the whole project. He is a leading historian (and fan) of Elvis, and a wonderful A&R man. He has an incredible knowledge of all the recordings of Elvis. He really guides me through each project. Otherwise, I try to honor the original producer/engineer and artist's vision, and not get carried away trying to "perfect" everything. It's easy to go too far with some of the new tools at our disposal.

Was the goal a totally new presentation of the tracks, or to simply strip the overdubs away?

Ernst could speak best to this, but with the last few boxsets Ernst has had the brilliant idea to remove the overdubs so you can hear the magic of Elvis and the band in the room. A fly-on-the-wall perspective, so to speak. I think this box set really shows what an impact Memphis and its characters had on Elvis.

How much reference to the original music did you do?

Quite a bit! That's extremely important to me.

Was it remixed using the original gear?

I mix these projects analog on the desk with very few plug-ins. I happen to use mostly vintage equipment, which I used on these mixes (Pultecs, 1176s, a Fairchild 670 copy, EMT plates, and a real echo chamber).

How much restoration was needed?

Not much! They had some incredible engineers and studios. I did a little noise reduction on certain tracks if the hiss was overbearing, but for the most part you could put the faders at "0" and hear a wonderful balance!

Any surprises or challenges once you were under the hood?

The American [Studios] sessions were mostly tracked to 4-track, so things were committed together, like electric guitar/piano, bass/organ, or bass/acoustic. I love those commitments, so for me it was all a joy to get to hear! Most times the reverb was committed to the vocal, and the American chamber was stellar so I loved it!

We're there any stand-out tracks for you?

It's hard to pick a favorite, but I love "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues," "True Love Travels on a Gravel Road," "For the Heart," "Promised Land," and "Kentucky Rain"!

Be sure to check out Matt Ross-Spang's interview with Dan Reeder in Tape Op #162!