Elvis Presley: The Album Collection - 60th anniversary of Elvis' RCA contract (18th March 2016)

The version on the Clambake album is the Nashville recording "Specially recorded for records". The Clambake movie version was never released in Elvis' lifetime.

 

Ok. Good.

The Nashville version is so much better than the movie version.

 

Yes, I was very lucky to be able to find the set for a decent price on sale at popmarket, back when they still had them.

As for the link you posted, that looks pretty sketchy to me, I would probably stay away.

 

For someone just getting into Elvis what would be a good set to start with? I've been listening to the Elvis XM radio station a lot. Preferably I would like a set with Kentucky Rain.

He has positive feedback for this set, but seeing that he has 93 available and the price, as well as the marketplace, it's safe to say this is a bootleg.

 

This complete album set would be the BEST set to start with. Only completest would have to venture further.

 

How is Elvis' output in general? I am not familiar with his albums to be 100% honest so wasn't sure if it would be worthwhile to start with a massive set like this.

 

Well, for the price you'd save a lot of money buying this set even if 1/2 of the material you do not like. To chase down only stuff you would like for sure would end up costing more and duplicating a ton. Most people agree the movie soundtracks only have a few songs each that are good (some more, some less). I am not a fan of much after the 1970 recording sessions and the 1970 Las Vegas engagements. But there are a LOT of people who prefer the 70s material. I would actually rather listen to the Spinout album than any album after Elvis Country.

If you want to pick and choose, I could help you, but I'd have to know your preferences first.

 

As someone who owns Elvis' entire catalogue of masters I would not recommend someone new or casually aware of his material to get a complete albums set like this. That is a LOT of music and about half of it is substandard (big chunk of that is 60s movie soundtrack dross) that can only really be appreciated by the super-fan.

And many of Elvis' original albums was thrown together affairs.

Cost may be one thing, necessity is another.

I would seek out Elvis 75 - Good Rockin' Tonight and start from there. Afterwards if you want to go deeper, pick up some of the Legacy Editions.

If you think you're going to go "all in" with Elvis then I guess a complete album set like this may be fun, but I doubt you'll end up playing many of the CDs. Besides, half the fun of discovery is the accumulation and the hunt over time.

 

Your suggestion makes sense. I have been collecting Elvis since 1968 and I can only think of the money, frustration and time saved if I could have bought a box set such as this the first wack! After he goes the route your suggesting (which seems logical) he will end up spending more money than this box, and he will make missteps galore in both selecting for content AND selecting for sound quality. And on top of that he will be getting so much confusing and divergent advice on how to select "the best" CD to get him started. I have my own alternate advice which is in alignment with yours and I could get even more specific on which Legacy Editions to get first. But I consider this box an outstanding value even at the full $350 price. It would be overkill for most, but it would be a cheap and easy way to be done with it already. (I am a very impatient person but I have been waiting for this since the advent of CD) Even if one buys this box and sells off the individual CDs he does not want for $3 each, he'd be WAY ahead of the game.

He already knows of Elvis by the XM radio station. I am assuming he likes Elvis enough.

 

You speak as a fan, which is fine, so am I. But I have to believe there are plenty of people out there who will not want, or have any need for Elvis' complete discography in their collections.

As for sound quality, I think it is a much easier landscape in 2016 to land on the right releases. The box-set I suggested along with the Legacy Editions are pretty uniform in their excellences when it comes to this. 10 years ago would be a different story.

And let's not forget that this set has not been released yet. Supposedly it is remastered all over again, does not mean it is better than the previous effort. There were errors on the previous big set, it stands to reason there may be some on the new project.

Elvis 75 - Good Rockin' Tonight is under $50. The Legacy Editions can be had for $10-$15 each. For the serious music fan/casual Elvis appreciator, they seem to be a better investment.

 

Yeah Im really on the fence sliding down towards the no side of the yard on this set. Too much crap on a lot of his albums. Too bad the old Colonel locked Elvis into the movie garbage. Or maybe Elvis himself did it, whomever or both.

Can you imagine having 10 more albums of prime Elvis in place of 10 of the meh ones? We'd be glad to pay twice or more the price of this set if that were the case. I really think Elvis is a singles guy more than anything.

 

Well in that case I would recommend:
Elvis At Sun
Elvis Presley Legacy Edition
King Creole
Elvis Is Back Legacy Edition
Tomorrow Is A Long Time from 1999 (collecting the non movie sides from 1966-1968)
From Elvis In Memphis Legacy Edition
On Stage February 1970 Legacy Edition
That's The Way It Is Legacy Edition
Elvis Country Legacy Edition
Burning Love from 1999
Promised Land Expanded from 2000, has the best mixes of the Dec 1973 Stax material.


And Good Rockin' Tonight has most of the big hits and a few obscure tracks thrown in.

 

This set contains virtually ALL of his original masters. So it would be impossible to add another 10 more albums of prime Elvis in place of the 10 meh ones on this set. The point is, here you get ALL the prime Elvis. If you spent $1mil you could not get much more prime Elvis as there just isn't much more to be had (excluding outtakes and live material and a few random masters not on this set).

 

That is almost $200 worth.

If you like Elvis even a bit and can get this new set at $250 or so, I think that in the long run you would save money.

 

That is my point, after all. You want ALL the prime Elvis for the least amount of money? Buy this set....period.

I know some people have a psychological problem with buying things that include stuff they do not want, even if the alternative would cost them MORE. So what if you use 1/2 of the discs as coasters IF you get all the prime Elvis there is to have in one fell swoop at a great price?

 

Just wanted to say, thank you to everyone for all the information. I really appreciate it. So even for the major Elvis fans out there, how much of his discography isn't worthwhile?

So far I have enjoyed anything Elvis I have heard to be honest, although many have mentioned the movie soundtracks as being low points. Some favorites (excuse me if the song titles are messed up): It's Alright, Kentucky Moon, Kentucky Rain, If I Can Dream, GI Blues, Bossa Nova.

Don't get me wrong, almost every artist I liked I started with greatest hits and it just ended up with me buying the full discography later (Elton John, Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, etc). So at that point it does become worthelss to have the greatest hits type stuff down the line as you own the albums anyways.

Would the fans here say that most of Elvis' catalog is worth owning? If so, I suppose this box set would be the better investment.

If not then Good Rockin Tonight sounds like it is the compilation to get.

 

If you think you'll be happy with only Good Rockin' Tonight, then that would be the way to go.

If you want ALL the prime Elvis, you cannot get it much cheaper than this box. You will have to decide if you want to do it slowly and spend more money, or if you will be happy with one good compilation (Good Rockin' Tonight) or if you want all the prime Elvis. Even my list above does not get you ALL the prime Elvis. You'd have to buy even more CDs to get all of it. It sounds like your main objection is owning Elvis material that you do not want.

If I only wanted a steak and it costs $32.00 or I could get the same steak for $24.00 as a special which includes carrots and lima beans I won't eat, I am going for the $24.00 special and take the carrots and lima beans outside for some homeless guy to eat.

 

I realize what it contains. My comments perhaps werent clear. I was fantasizing what we would be looking at if Elvis had not made so many crap albums and went a more artistic direction.

 

Well that is a fantasy many of us have. Some of the Colonel's policies were very effective, for a time. As times changed his policies did not. One thing that would have been great is if Elvis were allowed to source better material, even if he did NOT secure publishing rights. But let's face it, he make far more in publishing than he ever could or would from record royalties.

 

I think that's overkill, and the sound quality on retail releases of King Creole, Tomorrow Is A Long Time, Burning Love and Promised Land (2000) is not first rate.

Good Rockin' Tonight contains all the key Sun singles, plus his first demo, a wealth of the classic 50s material, all the important material from Tomorrow Is A Long Time, 1972 and from Stax.

For the casual appreciator there is little need for it plus those additional releases.

 

I have Tomorrow Is A Long Time on a mixed compilation and I love it, his voice is just so good on that song.
When was it released as I don't remember it as a single?

 

Tomorrow is s Long Time is a great sounding CD. Most of the masters sounded almost exactly the same as on the highly regarded FTD Guitar Man when I compared them around 5 years ago. The Burning Love and Promised Land CDs are definitely inferior to other releases due to mixing and processing, but they're not sonic disasters for a new listener, and cost peanuts.

The Burning Love CD was my adult re-introduction to 70s Elvis when it came out and Mrs BlueRoseSpeedway's too. Never gets played now but it did the job!

I agree re King Creole (and Jailhouse Rock) - useless at retail.

 

On the album Spinout in 1966. You aren't the only one who appreciated Elvis' take on it, which seems to have taken inspiration from Odetta's. In a 1969 interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone, the song's author Bob Dylan called it "the one recording I treasure most."

 

Tomorrow Is A Long Time is derivative from the same early 90s BMG transfers done for The Essential 60s Masters box-set. I got rid of it a long time ago. Does Guitar Man play at the right speed on it? My recollection is it suffered the same 2.4% increase in speed as it did on the 60s Masters, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, for a new person to Elvis, the 5 best cuts from that CD are on Good Rockin' Tonight, namely: Tomorrow Is A Long Time, Guitar Man, Big Boss Man, U.S. Male, and Too Much Monkey Business, all in superior sound.

The Burning Love CD is a mixed bag, and unfortunately the title cut suffered the worst with a hard mid-range. Again, the content (apart from the unreleased material) is derivative from the mid-90s BMG transfers (and mixes) made for The Essential 70s Masters box set.

The audio on Promised Land (2000) is atrocious. Yes, the content is remixed, but it is poorly processed. And pretty redundant for the casual music fan, the best Stax tracks are on the Elvis 75 box.

 

Thanks.
I wasn't even aware that Dylan wrote it.