Elvis Is Hiding in a Crate Near You

Finding treasures fit for the King

I’ve been remiss in posting about all the crates I’ve taken headlong dives into over the past few weeks. I hope you know that I haven’t been wasting my time as the summer winds down.

Ever since my brother visited and we watched the HBO documentary, Elvis: The Searcher, I’ve fallen hopelessly, helplessly in love again with the music that guided my early life, through my teen years.

Back then, I mainly bought Elvis’s singles, and I still have picture-sleeve 45s of “Suspicious Minds,” “Don’t Cry Daddy,” and “Kentucky Rain.” Recently I bought The Essential Elvis Presley, a two-record LP, just to have that last song on playable stereo. I’ll write more about those songs one day soon.

But while my daughter and granddaughter were visiting two weeks ago, we took a little trip to Tryon, NC, with two ulterior motives. The first is that my daughter would love Tryon enough to consider moving there one day—and thus so much closer to us. The second is so we could explore the Tryon Antique Mall where treasure troves of LPs lie waiting for people like me.

My wife, who thinks we’ll need to build an addition to our house soon to support my record-buying obsession, should feel like one of those enablers she’s always talking about, because we hadn’t been inside the mall but a minute when I heard her say:

“Here are some records—and a big Elvis section!”

That’s another way of saying, “Burning Love” for sure.

While I didn’t limit my purchases to the following five Elvis records, these are definitely the highlights and as you consider them, remember that no price is too great or small for precious memories.

1. Burning Love and Hits From His Movies (RCA Camden Vol 2 CAS-2595, 1972).In Near Mint condition, this record cost $8 and features Elvis’s last big hit along with such gems as “Tonight Is So Right For Love” (from GI Blues), “It’s a Matter of Time,” and “Tender Love” (from Kissin’ Cousins).

2. Elvis: Almost In Love (RCA Camden CAS-2440, 1970). Another Near Mint conditioned record, this package also contained a postcard wishing you “Happy Birthday in 1973 from Elvis.” Who knows where or when this got placed in the LP, but it supplements an already fine collection of songs including “Rubberneckin’,” “A Little Less Conversation,” “Charro,” and “Stay Away.” Price of this LP: $10.

3. More on the pricey side at $22 is 1970’s Elvis: Back in Memphis (RCA-Victor LSP-4429, 1970). While the cover is in Very Good shape, with ring wear, the LP itself is beautiful. Song selection includes “Stranger in My Own Home Town,” “From a Jack to a King,” “Without Love (There is Nothing)”—a big hit for Tom Jones— and “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind,” written by and a minor hit for Neil Diamond. I have Neil’s version on 45, too!

4. And then, the true gem of this class: 1960’s His Hand In Mine by Elvis (RCA Victor LSP-2328), an original pressing for only $14. I suppose not many people today want a copy of Elvis’s first pure gospel album (in Living Stereo), but I do. I’ll have to look for Peace in the Valley now, a 1957 collection of hymns, but I’ll be satisfied for this moment with songs like “In My Father’s House” and “If We Never Meet Again.”

5. This last one didn’t come from the Tryon Antique Mall, but rather from my friend Joe at Cabin Floor Records. I happened in a few days after finding the other four, and as I looked on his wall of new acquisitions, I saw an original pressing of the 1964 release, Elvis’ Christmas Album (RCA Victor LSP 1951e), for a mere $12. From “White Christmas to “Blue Christmas” and in between, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and “Here Comes Santa Claus” on the first side, and “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” and “Silent Night” on the more religious second side, I can’t wait for the holidays to come so that as we prepare for my granddaughter Pippa’s second Christmas, we can do so in this kind of style.

It’s been fun and enriching building my Elvis collection. I wouldn’t have guessed a month ago that I’d go this crazy again. Not only do you never know which direction the music of your past will come from and take you, it’s just impossible to see the future and what that crate under someone’s collection of baskets will, without any suspicious mind, provide for you.

So keep looking and please share your findings with the rest of us and especially with me, at Dig It.