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

This looks like the same one I used, just scaled it up to 1000 and did a bit of work to disguise that fact. For those who don't care about image size, go for this one.

 

Thank you very much for this!

 

Sometimes OCD isn't a bad thing!

 

After much thought, shall I shall I not over the last 18 months I decided to treat myself as my birthday is later this month. So I ordered it from Amazon UK at £129.98 on Tuesday 30 Jan & It's just arrived now 2.30pm 1 Feb. Playing CD 54 Promised Land a favourite of mine & it sounds great. The book is something else, all the info about every disc. All wonderful so far.

 

Congrats on the purchase and happy birthday!

 

I also found a good offer (120 euros) and pulled the trigger. Very happy with the sound and the presentation so far (I've listened to the first ten or so). The book is great too, very informative.

 

Bit late to this one but those images that are floating about on the web have extra bits on the right hand side and bottom to compensate for the wrap around on the actual CD covers. They need to be edited to get a good square for artwork!!
Here's all of them included in this web article.

All 57 Elvis Presley Albums Ranked, From Worst to Best
Click on each of the images for full size and save. Cool!

 

I actually cropped those for my own use a while ago. When I have the time I can upload them to a Dropbox if anyone's interested.

 

On the mono/stereo issue, I've been listening to my Elvis vinyl collection in chronological order, mixing singles with EP's and albums. I play the mono LP first and then the stereo. I'm currently up to 1961 and BLUE HAWAII. Most of what I have are first pressings that I acquired in the late 60's/early 70's.

My opinion? The Radio Recorders movie sessions are vastly superior in mono without the hard left/right panning of the music and background singers. The movies were all mono in theaters and those mixes have a presence and punch that is sorely lacking in the stereo versions. VIVA LAS VEGAS is a prime example. The mono single jumps out of the speakers and the modern stereo mix is rather anemic.

I noticed at some point they decided to flip the left/right channels on BLUE HAWAII for reissue. The original 1961 LP had music on the right and The Jordanaires on the left channel. So far as I know, that's now reversed on all available editions of the album. Even the bonus WILD IN THE COUNTRY track on "Something for Everybody" had that mix so clearly, it's what was intended at the time.

Anyone know why it's been changed?

 

The 2009 FTD and other recent reissues of Blue Hawaii have preserved the original stereo mix spread (with Jordinaires on the left). Flaming Star, Wild In The Country and Blue Hawaii were recorded this way.

 

Thanks, that's good to know.

It's also worth noting that Elvis' stereo LP's were originally bigger sellers in mono. Consider the case with "Elvis is Back" in 1960; most sales were of the mono version.

It initially appeared on Billboard's "Mono Action" chart on May 9 and did not appear on the "Stereo Action" chart until September 12, nineteen weeks later.

It remained on the "Mono Action" chart for 28 weeks and the "Stereo Action " chart for 14 weeks. It would be very interesting to read the actual sales figures of the two versions.

It would also be quite interesting to learn when sales of Elvis LP's in stereo surpassed the mono versions.

 

I've said it before, but I really hope that they come out with a "The Complete Mono Masters: 1960-1975" box set, encompassing both the mono mixes from singles, EP's and albums from 1960-1968, as well as the unique mixes that made their way to both commercial and promo singles from 1969-1975. But it doesn't seem to be something that they're interested in doing right now. I'd even settle for an FTD series devoted to the mono mixes.

Ah well, one can dream.

 

I suspect that's not a high priority with FTD but it's certainly important for the historic record.

The Nashville sessions all benefit from the three (and later four ) channel mixes, including FOLLOW THAT DREAM.

The one exception is KISSIN' COUSINS. I suspect Bill Porter was instructed to maintain the hard left/right of the west coast Radio Recorders sessions for MGM.

 

Several years ago when the mono boom started, I thought that could be a viable set at retail. Interestingly enough, Ernst Jorgensen was asked about a mono package and essentially stated that Sony did not think it would perform well, so the idea was shelved.

 

IIRC some of them are great and some are like 150x150. I used the images directly from the box.

 

I want this as well.

 

I seem to remember reading that post when I was looking through the older FTD threads. A real shame, but if the way some people have reacted to the inclusion of mono mixes on some reissues is any indication, it's that they'd rather them not be included at all ("why mono if they're in stereo" is the usual complaint) so it would seem that quite a few Elvis fans simply don't have the desire for the mono mixes that fans of other artists have.
I guess tracking down great condition mono vinyls is a costly, yet necessary path to go down for the time being if you want them.

 

Here's a great comparison:

 

Which version do you prefer?

 

I don't care either way about "Viva Las Vegas" (although the second one sounds a lot better than the first one). However, I do want to know where I can get "Meet The Franks". Did Dave Dexter produce this album? I love his subtle sound-crafting work.

 

Mono, by a mile. Not only is Elvis' vocal more focused and powerful sounding, but all those little lead guitar licks sound so much better and properly in the background on the mono version. They are way too intrusive on the stereo version. Instead of complimenting the vocal line, they compete against it in stereo.

 

I agree 100%!

 

I second that!

 

The Bill Porter tracks are essentially fold-downs, but would still be nice to have on CD in mono. I've dubbed several of the Gold Standard 45's which used original metal parts, including these:



Elvis Presley - (You're The) Devil In Disguise (original mono mix)

Elvis Presley - Please Don't Drag That String Around (original mono 45 mix)