Collective Soul brings Elvis Presley’s spirit to Riverside Casino

Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper once sang that Elvis was everywhere — to hilarious effect. In the case of the most recent Collective Soul record, the two-CD “Here to Eternity,” the spirit of Presley was literally omnipresent.

Recorded on site at Presley’s California estate in Palm Springs, Calif., the album project was a dream come true for Collective Soul founding member Ed Roland, who was a devout fan of the “King” while growing up in Atlanta.

“The year before Elvis passed, he spent his last Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthday and did his last three gospel records there,” Roland explained in a mid-August interview. “RCA (Records) had set it up — soundproofing the Big Room and Elvis was able to record live. That’s how we record. I had met the guys who bought it on the courthouse steps because (Presley’s wife) Priscilla and (daughter) Lisa Marie wanted nothing to do with it, so it was dormant. So we had to stage it by bringing furniture in and things like that. We set the control room up in Lisa Marie’s room. Our producer/engineer was in Priscilla’s room and I got to sleep in Elvis’ bedroom. I’m the only man that can say that.”

After recording began in January 2023, Collective Soul banged out a dozen songs. With three weeks remaining on the lease, Roland was inspired to pursue his dream of recording a double album inspired by a number of influential albums from his youth, including Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and the Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main Street.”

The rock group will perform some of its favorites as it performs on Valentine’s Day at Riverside Casino & Golf Resort in Riverside.

“I went in there with 12 songs and the guys recorded them in four days. We still had the place for a month, so I told them to take a four-day hiatus,” Roland recalled. “I sat in Elvis’ room by myself, in his party room, and I had my vinyl brought out and just listened to people I grew up listening to and I wanted to see if I could write some more songs. Somehow, I got 10 done in four days. Then they (the band) came back in and we recorded in five days.”

The resulting 20 cuts range from the piano ballad “Be the One” and hearty Beatlesque earworm “La Dee Da” to the live gem “Bob Dylan (Where are You Today),” which resonates with a delicate balance of solo acoustic guitar, mournful harmonica and some topical lyrics. Throughout this joyful recording experience, Roland insists Presley’s spirit could be felt the whole time the Georgia native and his crew were there.

“There was a place where Elvis would sing, so I would sing there,” Roland said. “And he’d usually sing out by the pool, so I would do my vocals out by the pool. And it’s just part of knowing that nobody had been there since he died. The night Lisa Marie passed, we had set the control up in her bedroom and the ceiling fell down, so it was kind of a spooky vibe. We just absorbed it. We couldn’t believe we were there to be honest with you. The excitement is definitely there.”

The son of a preacher, Roland and brother Dean (who plays guitar in Collective Soul), caught the rock-and-roll bug early due to the fact that their mom played piano in church while their dad led the congregation in song. The latter was open-minded and influential when it came to secular music, taking his boys to see Johnny Cash in 1969 and subsequently Liberace and Elton John in later years.

As he got older, Roland decided he wanted to join his rock 'n' roll heroes by writing his own songs and he went on to form the original lineup of Collective Soul with his brother Dean.

The band from Stockbridge, Ga., came on the music scene with a bang when Atlantic Records signed the group and in 1993 released what was essentially a demo of Ed Roland songs as “Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid.” Featuring the hit single “Shine,” the album went double platinum.

Collective Soul’s second album, a self-titled effort, was even more popular, going triple platinum and generating five hit singles, including the chart topping “December,” “Where the River Flows” and “The World I Know.” The band finished the decade with two more successful albums, “Disciplined Breakdown” and “Dosage.”

But as the new century arrived, Collective Soul’s fortunes began to gradually wane, as four more studio albums saw diminishing returns. The band, which still includes longtime bassist Will Turpin, also went through some personnel changes, cycling through a pair of drummers before drummer Johnny Rabb joined in 2012. In 2014, guitarist Jesse Triplett became the band’s third guitarist (following Ross Childress and Joel Kosche), completing a current lineup that Roland feels is the best version yet of Collective Soul.

As Collective Soul returns to the road, Roland insists the familial vibes these three acts will be overflowing to those in attendance.

“Everyone is just enjoying this moment in time,” he said. “We’re just going out and playing our songs for the people.”