I'm not sure I need to invest in this. If it was "Harum Scarum" maybe, but this isn't material I'm particulary in love with. Its a big investment for something I won't play very much. Think I'm gonna stand down.
Oh this is a purchase for sure - there is an absolute treasure trove of outtakes contained here. We can find fault with it and pick it apart, but can we all agree this release beats the hell out of another 1976 soundboard?
1976 Soundboards are like pizza, one or two slices and you're fine but you keep guzzling back more and more thinking you're fine till you hit that wall and your plumb ready to puke it all right back up... Then you just can't face pizza for a long time. Voice of experience, right there. In regards to pizza and '76 soundboards...
What is the group consensus on the likelihood of Vic Anesini doing the remixing and remastering on this must have FTD release. Are there any hints at all about who did the remastering on this beauty?
If it follows the trend of how the most recent soundtrack/classic album FTD's were handled (American Sound Sessions, G.I. Blues, Speedway, Roustabout), then I'd wager that Sebastian Jeansson will handle the mastering and Vic Anesini will do the mixing. It has proven to be a winning combination in the past.
Oh, that sounds like a winning combination to me. Both of those men have done great work on Elvis reissues to say the least. Thanks, MD!
Hmm, guess it's no surprise considering all the hinting of moving in this direction, but I have absolutely no interest in a complete sessions set for Viva Las Vegas. I need to play a bit of catch up actually, the On Stage release has passed me by so far.
Matthew, I really dig that Off-On Stage FTD release. The mix and mastering by Mr. Anesini is fantastic. I know that we have all these songs in different versions already, but to get Elvis in his prime with Vic's great mix and mastering is more than worth it to me. I was surprised that there was so little talk on the thread about how great the sound was too!
Now that we're getting the first three disc complete sessions set, what others are likely candidates for similar treatment and how much material is still left outstanding in the vaults for those releases?
Here's ones I could realistically see: Elvis Is Back!: Most material already released, but scattered about; also is a high stature session that I think many will purchase. Blue Hawaii: Mostly just some false starts and unspliced masters (or, takes that were later spliced into masters). There is a lot of officially unreleased material from Can't Help Falling In Love though. Also some material by The Surfers, and I love me some Polynesian music. Follow That Dream: What exists (outtakes, not stereo masters in most cases except Angel) has been released, but a sonic upgrade would be most welcome Kid Galahad: Lots of material, and the unedited masters desperately need to be remixed (the FTD uses the 1990's Double Features mixes). I like former FTD contributor Ken Jenson's suggestion that Follow That Dream & Kid Galahad be released on 1 3-CD set, as according to him everything from both sessions would fit nicely. Girls! Girls! Girls!: Apparently not much exists in the vaults outtake-wise to begin with (just masters and alternates except for 2-3 reels from later on in the sessions) but utilizing Lene Reidal in the mist of the early days of the Anesini/Jeansson era was a missed opportunity IMO, and could now be rectified. Could even be expanded into a 2-CD set if they go the Ann-Margret route of including all the material Glenda Maiken (voice double for Elvis' co-star Stella Stevens) did for the picture. It Happened At The World's Fair: A LOT of material unreleased in any form, this set is a no-brainer. Fun In Acapulco: A LOT of material unreleased in any form, this set is a no-brainer. Kissin' Cousins: Just got a classic album release, but I could still see it expanded into a sessions set if released near the end (and if people are able to put up with tracking sessions, other than myself of course who legitimately enjoys them ) Girl Happy: A LOT of material unreleased in any form, this set is a no-brainer. Ideally, the masters would get much needed remixes, but unfortunately I beleave that they 3/4-tracks for the masters are still AWOL. Harum Scarum: A LOT of material unreleased in any form, this set is a no-brainer. Also the material desperately needs a sonic upgrade, especially as the sessions were recorded at RCA Studio B. Frankie & Johnny: A LOT of officially unreleased material, this set is a no-brainer. Paradise, Hawaiian Style: A LOT of officially unreleased material, this set is a no-brainer. Spinout: There is a lot of material officially unreleased, but mostly false starts. Elvis 1966-1967 (How Great Thou Art & related sessions): Might need to be in 2 volumes made up of 2-3 CD's each; I think there's enough material to make such a release worthwhile. Double Trouble: Unfortunately only masters and alternates survive on 3-track, but a Speedway-like sonic upgrade would be most welcome. Also some songs exist as unedited masters. Easy Come, Easy Go: Don't know what's in the vaults, but if everything does exist this set is a no-brainer. Clambake: A LOT of officially unreleased material, this set is a no-brainer. Also the material desperately needs a sonic upgrade, especially as the sessions were recorded at RCA Studio B. Stay Away, Joe: A LOT of officially unreleased material, this set is a no-brainer. Also @hodgo you might like this one, even though we already have the excellent single disc FTD. Live A Little, Love A Little: Thanks to the recovery of the session reels a few years ago there is a LOT of officially unreleased material, so despite the excellent single disc FTD from a few years ago this set is a no-brainer. Would prefer them to wait on it though. Elvis (NBC-TV Special): STILL a lot of material, and it honestly seems inevitable they're going to milk the comeback sessions once more. Elvis: The Last Movies: Think of this as an expanded version of the recent single disc set; would prefer them to wait on it though. American Sound Sessions: Mostly just false-starts left, but it feels inevitable at some point if the series lasts. Might be an opportunity to present the overdubbed masters remixed. Elvis 1970's studio sessions: Take your pick, honestly any of them could be expanded, and they would be in the context of sessions, not albums. The only one that really needs an upgrade is the Today sessions, but this era has proven to be perennially popular. This is not intended as an exhaustive list, nor does this mean FTD will do them, just those I imagine FTD releasing with this new paradigm of release strategy.
You are apparently correct, my apologies. I don't have many of the movie soundtrack FTD's (partly whay I'm not "burnt out" on them yet) and I had once read someone complaining about the mastering for that reason. As I assume you have the FTD and have confirmed it is indeed an Anesini/Jeansson mastering I retract my statement.
There are additional recordings for “Elvis Is Back!” that could pad out the album to three discs, but it is unclear how many of the remaining unreleased tracks consist of false starts and other incomplete takes. It is one of Elvis’ greatest albums, so I will be surprised if FTD does not expand it. The American Sound albums may also receive “complete” session releases. That said, with both the 1960 and 1969 sessions, there will be a lot of recycled content fans have to reacquire just for the unreleased music, which is a problem.
It would make sense to redo many of the movie soundtracks that Reidel worked on because they are subpar (I would definitely buy Kid Galahad), but if they are re-doing all the good releases that Jeansson or Anesini worked on, I am not sure I would buy them. It's a lot of money for a set that only contained a few complete takes and a lot of false starts. Is it really important to have every second of every session? It would make more sense to me to release a Blue Hawaii vol. 2, like they did for G.I. Blues and Jailhouse Rock.
With regard to the soundtracks, I question whether FTD is going to expand many of them because of the questionable quality. One suspects that many of the session highlights have already been issued.
I had a hard enough time bringing myself to spend $30 on Paradise Hawaiian Style the first time. I really don't think I'll be able to bring myself to buy it or any of the soundtracks again. ...except for Harum Scarum.
So much of what you have listed isn't "realistic" at all. Very few of these have enough unreleased material to make a 3CD set, and I'm not sure how many fans are really looking for a sonic upgrade of, for example, Double Trouble, that is likely to cost them £40? Or, indeed, why fans are going to pay that amount for what is essentially a bunch of false starts from Blue Hawaii, or a few scraps from Elvis is Back. All you are suggestion here is a licence for FTD to encourage people to buy stuff YET AGAIN for the sake of a few minutes of unreleased material. And, in all honesty, if a 2 or 3-CD set of Stay Away Joe and Live a Little Love a Little comes along just three years after the 1 disc efforts, then one has to question FTDs motives in not making them 2CD sets to start with. Was it just so people bought it all again a few years later? If so, that another kick in the balls for Elvis fans by those looking after the label. I also don't see how 3CD sets of the likes of Clambake or Paradise Hawaiian Style are "no brainers" either. Do people really want to hear yet more takes of Datin', Queenie Wahine, and Confidence? I don't buy into the idea that everything should be released just because it exists - or that enough people want to hear it because it exists. FTD needs to finish with a flourish when it ends, not with a bunch of expensive barrel-scraping 3CD sets that most people don't give a damn about. I think there are a few legitimate possibilities for the more deluxe packaging. The January/february 1972 Vegas season seems the most obvious. The items released already are scattered everywhere, and vary in sound from solid to downright awful. Bringing that together, remixed and remastered, with other multitrack material from the season over 2 discs, and adding the opening show on soundboard as a third disc seems perfectly reasonable to me. And maybe one three-disc set featuring unreleased material from the poorer soundtracks in the mid-1960s might also be a possibility instead of forcing people to rebuy material they already have to get it (if, indeed, they want it). Likewise, if there is more material from the non-formula movies from the late 1960s, bring it together under one package. And the other option, in all likelihood, would be to bring all of the home recordings together under one roof, presuming sound can be improved and there is something of interest unreleased (such as the Eddie Fadal sessions) .
Good points. I guess a lot of it comes down to how many of any given set they want to sell. The Viva Las Vegas set is being advertised as a limited edition - anyone know how limited? If it, or almost any other title, are going to be produced in editions of, say, 500, I don't think - over time - FTD will have trouble selling them all out (yes, even for Clambake). If those numbers are around 3,000 then it's a different story.
VLV was an obvious candidate for an expanded reissue because of the sound quality and content issues with the original FTD release, but Ernst knows there are serious concerns relating to future “complete sessions” releases with regard to long-time FTD supporters and consumers having to repurchase a significant amount of previously released content for a handful of unreleased false-starts and recordings. It is not a forgone conclusion that there will be an expansive “complete sessions” reissue series.
The only 2 no-brainers for me are expanded FTDs of It Happened At The World's Fair and Fun In Acapulco, just because I think that they're decent soundtracks that weren't given the 2 disc treatment the first time. The rest, especially considering the price of these expanded sets, are going to be a tough sell to me.
I think you are right on the money hear, both with regard to potential commercial success as well as artistic merit. I know we all have many versions of these sessions on various incarnations, but I do think a complete deluxe package on FTD of each session would be a highly meritorious idea!
I really shouldn't have used the terms "no-brainer" and "realistic", especially when people clearly take issue to me using them in the way I did when talking about my personal viewpoint on what is viable. I never said that my predictions were absolutely the route FTD was taking, I was just throwing ideas out there and commenting on how viable I personally feel they are. Alright I'm done with my rant, carry on. No hard feelings.
I really like a lot of your possible ideas hear and appreciate your diligence compiling such a list. I'm just trying to focus on the best possible ones that you mentioned on your very fine list.
I don't think there is much left from the "Elvis Is Back!" sessions. The 2-disc FTD pretty much covers it, although there's a few other bits on "Elvis' Golden Records, Vol. 3". From what I can gather, there's a few takes of "Make Me Know It", "Soldier Boy" and (officially) takes of "Fame and Fortune". The only thing we really don't have (and may or may not exist) are the first 3 takes of "I Will Be Home Again". Even if they are just false starts, it would be great to have them. Everything else is essentially accounted for. Bring on "Viva Las Vegas"!
Several months back, @ClausH posted the following list of unreleased “Elvis Is Back!” material: Make Me Know It - 7 takes Soldier Boy - 7 takes Fame And Fortune- 3 takes Like A Baby - 1 take The Girl Of My Best Friend - 3 takes I Will Be Home Again - 3 takes Reconsider Baby - 1 take It is unclear how many of these are complete or are false starts. Regardless, that comprises of maybe one disc of material. In this case, I don’t like the idea of re-acquiring 2.5 hours of previously released EIB material just to get the remaining songs and session scraps. And based on FTD’s sequencing of the upcoming VLV complete sessions collection not being in chronological order, there is a possibility that EIB will also not be in chronological order, and will simply be an expanded compilation if it comes to fruition. Again, VLV was an obvious contender for an expanded release, but I am skeptical about whether expanding other titles that are already very well represented on two discs is sensible.
