Elvis Presley FTD CD reissues (part 6)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by hodgo, Feb 15, 2015.

  1. Phil D

    Phil D Forum Resident

    There is nothing too specific about any future releases/direction the label might take, but for lovers of the label, it is encouraging to hear directly from Ernst that it will continue. You'll see above, I've given details of the subscription rates for the mag, which is by a mile THE best and most informative Elvis publication I've ever read.
     
    Hep Alien likes this.
  2. Phil D

    Phil D Forum Resident

    Cuts both ways, ordering anything from the U.S. to the U.K. has become prohibitive owing to the crazy postal rates. To say nothing of E bay's "Global Shipping Programme" (U.K. spelling!) in which the seller becomes an unpaid tax collector.
     
  3. Completely agree. But with media like 'print', the option for electronic versions are there and it takes postage completely out of the equation. I'd subscribe if it were an option.
     
    Pelvis Ressley and ClausH like this.
  4. Phil D

    Phil D Forum Resident

    Contact Trevor and suggest it, for overseas readers it would make sense.
     
    johnny q likes this.
  5. IndyTodd

    IndyTodd Senior Member

    Location:
    Fishers, Indiana
    I'm definitely glad to hear FTD is going to be continuing for the foreseeable future. One of my biggest hopes for the label is getting some of the deleted titles back in print from time to time. Especially the higher quality ones where the material is not replicated on other releases. The future of the label doesn't only need to be about new releases. I think it should also focus on keeping this music in print and trying to make more people aware of it. I've always felt like it's flown under the radar. Why are there never any Rolling Stone, etc. articles about the label or it's releases? Why no inserts into the mainstream Sony Legacy releases directing people to the web for FTD releases?

    On a side note, I'm not sure what their hangup is regarding a cd release of Elvis In Concert. I can understand the concerns about a video release to a degree. However, with all of the 1975-77 soundboard material they've released do they really view Elvis In Concert as being that inferior to some of those performances?
     
    Pants Party likes this.
  6. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    One of the main things that has been speculated in recent years is that FTD will fold once Ernst retires, which is rumored to be happening in the next few years. I do not know if Ernst specifically addresses that in the interview because I have not read it yet. The fact that Ernst says the label will continue to exist and function for the foreseeable future is not that revealing. No one really expected it to cease functioning next year for example.

    With regard to deleted titles, one hopes that Trevor asked Ernst about it (as well as information concerning general sales figures for FTD titles). A lot of titles have allegedly gone out of print, so it would be interesting to hear Ernst's perspective on why and if there is a chance for some additional production runs.

    As far as "Elvis In Concert" is concerned, my understanding is that FTD has remixed and remastered the Omaha and Rapid City tapes, but has received a directive from Sony Legacy not to release anything -- perhaps suggesting that Sony has plans for some sort of reissue via Legacy. It sounds like Ernst says something about "Elvis In Concert" in his interview, but no one has said exactly what it is. Your point is well taken regarding the number of substandard 1975-1977 soundboard recordings released via FTD, so it is conceivable that Ernst is simply following a corporate directive concerning the "Elvis In Concert" tapes.
     
  7. I333I

    I333I Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ventura
    Why don’t you just read the interview?
     
  8. Pants Party

    Pants Party MOSTLY PEACEFUL

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    It sounds like the plan is to perhaps treat Elvis In Concert like all of Elvis' other 70's concert releases (Madison Sq Garden, Aloha, Live On Stage Memphis).

    Legacy. No FTD.
     
  9. Matthew

    Matthew Senior Member

    Live On Stage In Memphis received a FTD Classic Album, though 10 years before the Legacy Edition.

    It's still in print, as far as I know. (I think it sounds far better than the Legacy Edition.)

    I have a hard time believing FTD will not do something with the Madison Square Garden and Aloha shows, they seem to be going for completeness with the releases.
     
    PacificOceanBlue likes this.
  10. IndyTodd

    IndyTodd Senior Member

    Location:
    Fishers, Indiana
    That makes more sense then just not releasing it at all. I got it for my eight year old birthday present right when it came out. I was only eight but hey...I enjoyed it back then! The sound quality should be capable of being way better than the soundboards they've put out and the performance is not any worse. I'd personally like to see them put out a deluxe package with the tv show and the outtakes from it on Blu Ray or dvd. I know...we've heard all the reasons why not a million times but I'd personally still like to own a well mastered version of it on video. Some of it's decent...some not...but there is only so much footage of Elvis in that audio and video quality out there.
     
    Pants Party likes this.
  11. Phil D

    Phil D Forum Resident

    I think the problem is, while they're seeking an OK from the estate, it's unlikely to happen.
     
    hodgo likes this.
  12. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    I doubt Sony wants to release the footage. It is not a commercially viable project for a number of reasons; one in particular being that Sony has spent considerable time and resources promoting Elvis’ legacy in a positive manner and any sort of release of Elvis In Concert footage would receive a lot of negative scrutiny. I would imagine Sony is considering a release of the audio for a title that has allegedly been a consistent seller over the years.
     
    hodgo likes this.
  13. Matthew

    Matthew Senior Member

    Scratching my head how an Elvis In Concert - Legacy Edition fits into a release schedule now, with the anniversary almost over.

    Frankly if that hits the shelves ahead of any kind of On Tour release I'll be quite surprised (and disappointed).
     
  14. Pants Party

    Pants Party MOSTLY PEACEFUL

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    The FTD of Live On Stage In Memphis is actually my preferred version as well. By a w i d e margin! It is mastered loud as b@lls, but it's the most fun and energetic version of this concert. Given the strength of this show and it's importance, I'd say the FTD essential. To me anyway. It's simply one of Elvis' best later concerts.

    The abbreviated original release would be second -- but I really have no interest in an abbreviated concert at this point in my career. Good for others though. Lastly, the Legacy mix. It loses ALL the live energy and excitement -- and loses nearly ALL of Elvis' booming power. It is only of interest if you want to hear the band -- or if one doesn't like a live concert to sound like a live concert.

    I agree, MSG and Aloha should be getting some FTD release, at some point. Definitely low on my list. Though I would welcome (demand) a remix (especially of Aloha) so far as they don't kill the cr@p out of it, like they did with the Memphis concert.


    Lastly Elvis In Concert -- I don't know why this would be so "back-burnered" by FTD. They've certainly released unflattering material before. And the audio (as released) wasn't all that unflattering, considering what's probably sitting around on soundboards from this period. I guess the question of HOW to release it would be the only question. Do you keep it "as released" and include all the fan-dialog? Do you remix it? (yes, please). Do you just include the full shows and abandon the format of the original LP? I would recommend that they do an expanded highlights on disc 2, to give it a similar feel to the original. I bet there's some interesting dialog or other audio from the Special that they could include to make this an important release.

    I completely understand that Elvis In Concert represents more than just some more crummy '77 material. It's closely associated with his passing. The television special that accompanied it followed his death -- and probably served as an almost, "look at how messed up he got" moment. But FTD really needs to do this one and make it special. I do not think this is Legacy Edition worthy -- though it may actually have interest among non-FTD fans. What do you all think?
     
  15. MaestroDavros

    MaestroDavros Forum Resident

    Location:
    D.C. Metro Area
    I echo your sentiments regarding the Legacy mix. It's an issue I have had with the releases that were mixed by Santos/Rosenthal: far too dry with little ambiance. As I have said before here and elsewhere I really hope Vic gets a shot at remixing the Aloha concert and after show for FTD.

    Regarding EIC, at this point I think nobody knows what to do with it. Apparently based on what has been said above by Phil D, in the recent interview with Ernst in "Elvis: The Man And His Music" he says that EIC is very unlikely to happen on FTD because they need the estates approval (remember, the estate still have rights to royalties to any recording made after March 1973, so they likely have more input here) although that hasn't caused it to go out of print; maybe they've forgotten that. It looked like Legacy were going to do something with those recordings this year, but they (thankfully) were preempted for the Legacy reissue of "A Boy From Tupelo". So who knows?

    Anyways, I would like to talk about my most recent FTD acquisitions: first was *cough* "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" *cough* and you know what? It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (faint praise I know). I hadn't really listened to the album before so much of it was new to me. I know some might get irked by this, but I honestly didn't mind "A Dog's Life" all that much, at least the outtakes. It's a decent rocker let down by absolutely terrible lyrics. Had they taken the melody and written better lyrics it likely would have improved 10 fold. The best on the album are the titular track and "This Is My Heaven" and the worst are "Queenie Wahine's Papaya" and "Datin". In fact I thought the latter was so bad that I'd rather listen to the former 100 times than listen to "Datin'" once. SQ is what's to be expected with a Lene Reidel mastering effort: the masters are okay but the outtakes are brickwalled.

    Next was "Elvis Is Back!"... Disc 2. There's a story there. So when I was in Graceland about, oh, 6-7 years ago or so, I got "Elvis Is Back!" on FTD, but for whatever reason I didn't open it until a few years later, when to my dismay I found that I had 2 Disc 1's and NO Disc 2's. And a faint glimmer of hope thinking "maybe it's a misprint" was almost instantaneously extinguished when I played them back; they were indeed one and the same. To make matters worse, there really aren't vendors in the US that sell it cheaply despite still being in print, so I only now got around to ordering it from the UK (had already ordered several from over there, just hadn't gotten around to getting it). So my thoughts: it was worth the 7 year wait. Probably the highlight for me was hearing the first LFS of "Like A Baby". As fantastic as the final master is, there is something majestic in Elvis' performance of this aborted take (contrast this to "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" where Elvis is essentially growling out the vocal at times in pure spite). Oh, and the mastering by Sebastian Jeansson is (with a couple of exceptions that I do not wish to debate about) top notch as his work typically is with stereo recordings.

    It definitely made my day, especially after having a bad week on both the inter-webs and at home. That's one of the reasons I love Elvis so much: he's like my comfort food. :love:

    Anyways, very satisfied with my purchases overall.
     
    Pants Party likes this.
  16. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    I have stated it many times (probably in a handful of pages in this thread) that the Legacy Edition is by far the worst release of this concert, at least to these ears. The mix is atrocious, with Elvis' vocals buried and dry. The original edit, even with the added applause, is probably the best representation because it cuts out most of the concert bloat and condenses most of the interesting parts of the concert (the most notable remaining issues being the omission of Steamroller Blues and the inclusion of Let Me Be There). Still, if one is going for the full concert, the FTD edition gets the nod.

    FTD will probably reissue both Aloha and MSG for the sake of classic album completeness. In the case of Aloha, at least the post-broadcast recording session can be released in its entirety, so there is still some value that an expanded FTD reissue of Aloha can offer. A fresh remix by someone like Anesini would be plus as well because this is a concert that has never been released in particularly good sound (the 25th anniversary remix was a huge disappointment).

    MSG on the other hand seems to be more challenging; the Legacy Edition contains the Anesini remaster and the PFAP box set contains both MSG tapes remixed. What value can FTD offer at this point? I suppose FTD could reissue the original album along with the audience recording it issued this past summer with the MSG book project. Either way, I suspect the MSG reissue will be very underwhelming.


    Elvis In Concert is a head-scratcher. I am surprised that after 12+ years of classic album series releases, FTD has not released it. In fact, early in FTD's history during the early 2000's before the classic album series came to fruition, I thought the complete, remixed and unedited Rapid City multitrack would make for an interesting 5" single disc release because the concert was arguably the best from 1977. Last year, a well-known person in the Elvis world who knows Ernst stated that Sony gave FTD a directive not to release Elvis In Concert, creating the presumption that perhaps Sony had release plans for the soundtrack. The question begs, why? And now that the 40th anniversary has passed, what is Sony waiting for? If Sony releases something to coincide with the HBO documentary next year, it is very difficult to imagine that a Legacy Edition of Elvis In Concert will be part of those plans. This album is definitely not Legacy Edition worthy -- it is baffling that Rob Santos and Sony may actually think that it is.

    If FTD finally gets the green-light to release this title, I think they should bypass releasing the original album and should issue Rapid City and Omaha on separate discs. They can note which songs were originally released on the album from each show. However, if they stay true to releasing the original album in original form (something FTD deviated from for the aforementioned Memphis live album), they should reissue the original album on disc one, and issue a remixed version of the Rapid Concert on disc two.
     
  17. Flaming Torch

    Flaming Torch Forum Resident

    A release of both Rapid City and Omaha would be good. I think there are just 3 FTD titles from 1977 and they may well be out of print. I agree with those folk who believe Sony would be unlikely to release the concert special as a video/dvd type thing.
     
  18. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    The complete press conference could be included.
     
    PacificOceanBlue likes this.
  19. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    The complete Rapid City show would be good even though only three songs are missing from the original album.

    Somebody at FECC metioned that Ernst is considering releasing complete sessions on FTD. I think it would be a good idea for collectors but I would hate to buy a release of mostly previous released material just to a few new complete takes and false starts.
     
  20. Pants Party

    Pants Party MOSTLY PEACEFUL

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    I've always sort of enjoyed Paradise, Hawaiian Style. I absolutely love the cover art, have always dug the title track and there's a few other tracks that aren't bad either. Ultimately what I hear is, if had it come a few years earlier and/or had it been recorded LIVE with the band in the room -- it would have fared way better.

    It's during the outtakes that you can hear exactly why the album failed. Elvis is bored. Going through the motions. And quite frankly frustrated throughout the "sessions." If the band was in the room there would have been a much different vibe. Some levity. Perhaps a creative spark and some laughs. But instead, it was basically a shallow reading. In and out and done. Back to the golf course, or wherever.
     
    MaestroDavros and Fleet Fox like this.
  21. Flaming Torch

    Flaming Torch Forum Resident

    There are some sessions I would like to have more of. The 69 Memphis would be great as a Dylan Cutting Edge style release. I agree in that I really do not have room for loads of cds where a lot of material is duplicated and cost is also an issue. High resolution downloads would be good but possibly unlikely.
    Thanks for pointing out only 3 songs were missing from Rapid City on the original In Concert album - I had not realised that.
     
  22. Fleet Fox

    Fleet Fox Forum Resident

    Location:
    Waterford, Ireland
    Paradise, Hawaiian Style is a lot of fun. My 4 year old daughter loves the song 'A Dogs Life' ...

    The title track is good, I also love the beautiful 'This Is My Heaven' ,,,
     
    MikeP5877 likes this.
  23. Fleet Fox

    Fleet Fox Forum Resident

    Location:
    Waterford, Ireland
    I don't get the holding back of 'Elvis In Concert' either... for me it's not much different that Moody Blue,,that kind of same sound/vocal.
    Yes I understand about not releasing the DVD due to how Elvis looks , but even though obviously this is not Elvis at his best it still
    contains a few beautiful performances...
     
  24. MaestroDavros

    MaestroDavros Forum Resident

    Location:
    D.C. Metro Area
    I'm not going to discuss it too much here because I've already gotten into arguments with people about it, and TBH a look through my post history will showcase my thoughts on session reels, but yes, I'm in support of the idea. BUT I would like to point out that it depends on what comes out and how. If for instance we start getting releases of things that have largely been covered like "Elvis Is Back!" or "G.I. Blues" given priority over things like "Fun In Acapulco" or "Viva Las Vegas" or the 70's sessions for instance I won't be too happy. Hopefully (IF and only IF a release such as the type proposed is released) Ernst would plan out the releases carefully.

    Also although I'm not a gort, I have seen a lot of drama about the mere suggestion of the idea of complete session reels being released, so I really hope that we can discuss this civilly. As for me I'm going to not discuss it much unless we know for a fact that it is indeed coming to fruition.
     
  25. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    May I ask where you found Paradise Hawaiian Style and how much you paod?
     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine