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

Oh sure, it's probably hopeless to try to document local stations' actual dates of plays of the older films at all hours of the day. (I am 90% sure I first saw Love Me Tender, all chopped up for a 90 minute local period, on WMAL at 1pm on a Saturday. It was shown on their 4:30 movie sometime too.) But it could be something more to trace when each individual film entered any particular syndication movie package, and the "name" of the package. It can be assumed that local stations began playing them after they bought into such a package. If they bought it, they played it.

 

The four 1950's films all played in syndication in the early 1960's. I was surprised to find LOVING YOU playing on local stations in color starting May 1964!

LOVE ME TENDER went to TV in April 1961; JAILHOUSE ROCK in February 1966 and KING CREOLE in October 1964.

 

Gutted that I missed the Amazon UK deal. Has anybody seen it cheaper than that?

 

Yeah, words to the effect of why come here tonight? "All of us are a little older except me".

 

That's the lowest it's ever been on Amazon, but there was also someone on eBay matching that price - that's where I got mine because I also had an eBay discount code. Unaware of any fakes of this set, and mine is deffo legit, so might be worth a look.

 

Thanks for the tip!

* I found a seller on Bay selling for a steal of a price ($140 USD) but they're from China. Is that the one? I dunno about buying from China...

 

Swerve the Chinese one! eBay.co.uk still has the £100 deal - the stock is in the UK. Received mine within two days but not sure about international postage.
Just listened to girls girls girls...not too bad!

 

There’s a UK seller on eBay who has it for £100. I’ve never dealt with them so don’t know if this would be a wise first purchase.

 

I looked at that, they seem pretty legit..

 

Quite a few bad feedbacks though.

 

Aren't you protected though when buying through eBay?

 

Yes, but I don’t want the hassle if it does go wrong.

 

I just checked, pay by PayPal and if not what it says just return for full refund including postage. I have never had a problem with eBay, yet anyway...

 

Coming soon:

 

cool! looks great!

 

Wow, "Elvis Presley: The Searcher" looks like it could be the definitive documentary of Elvis, the musician. How long have we waited for a modern documentary to focus on Elvis the musician instead of Elvis the tabloid fodder?

Another great Elvis project that just came out a few days ago is the very entertaining and surprisingly well researched book by Mark Duffett called "Counting Down Elvis His Finest 100 Songs." The man has a PhD from the University Of Wales and it is actually a very thoughtful and heavily footnoted book that I think breaks some ground by listing a lot of songs that a lot of so called mainstream critics choose to ignore based on their own bias or need to feel "hip" or respected by other critics.

Okay, a lot of fun about anyone making a list of Elvis's greatest songs or I think more accurately you might say "performances" is that of course you will find that each of us have some major differences with some of his picks or more importantly, omissions. That is the very nature of the beast about a project of this magnitude. I think that Mr. Duffett's following quotation directly from his book says it all quite humbly:

" I was lucky to be asked to write this book. I had to skip a lot of gems and make some hard choices. I'm not going to pretend to claim some kind of superior status as a devotee or critic. There are always other ways to hear Elvis's music. There is much, much more to learn.

This is my personal 100 countdown. If you are a dedicated fan, part of the fun will be in deciding how much it resembles yours.

All that I ask is that you listen."

Well stated by the author and so let the debate begin in the great spirit of the author. I will start by saying that there are several songs from his second top 100 list that I believe should be moved to the first top 100 list. This would include the following songs:

Stranger In My Own Hometown
Any Day Know
Kentucky Rain
Long Black Limousine
After Loving You
Only The Strong Survive
True Love Travels On A Gravel Road
Just Pretend
I've Lost You
Danny Boy
My Boy
I Just Can't Help Believin'
Separate Ways
The Girl Of My Best Friend
I Really Don't Want to Know
I've Got A Thing About You Baby
It's Midnight
Love Me
Hard Headed Woman

Secondly, the following songs are missing in action by the author and I would include them in any top 100.

A Mess Of Blues
Stand By Me

I'm sure there are others, but I have just skimmed this book so far and this is what stood out. What I like about his lists is the inclusion of songs like Hurt, Bridge Over Troubled Water and Unchained Melody as well Elvis's stupendous and spontaneous version of The Lord's Prayer that many Elvis experts have given short attention to or dismissed completely for the previously mentioned reasons.

What I disagree with is he may have slightly shortchanged some of Elvis's great blues effort. I mean how does A Mess Of Blues not make a top 200 Elvis list? What about Without Love (I Have Nothing). How can those great efforts not make the top 100?

Let the Elvis experts on this great forum weigh in. I really dig this book and the footnotes are fantastic and full of tidbits about what records were actually in Elvis's own collection and where he might have first heard a song that he decided to cover.

 

So exactly why was the 2010 The Complete Elvis Presley Masters 30 disc set so expensive and now so rare while this set is becoming much more affordable and accessible?
Do you think the cd falling more by the wayside by 2016 and today plays a role vs 2010 timeframe?
Also, is it that they actually treated the Complete Masters as a collectors addition as it is now out of print I believe?

 

The answer is in the key word in your question - it is "rare"

 

Yes The Complete Masters set was a limited edition released for Elvis' 75th birthday. Originally it only received a single, numbered print run but I believe it sold out before the preorder period was complete (although I may be misremembering this with the Beatles Mono CD set) so it received a second, still limited but unnumbered print run which eventually sold out as well. Its size and additional contents was a major reason for it being priced around $800; well beyond even where I would go where price range is concerned. There was also a Franklin Mint set that came out around the same time that had the core discs (1-27) of TCM, but was rearranged into themed discs instead of chronological order. For a while both sets included some unique masterings of some albums that couldn't be found anywhere else.

The Album Collection was released to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Elvis signing with RCA. Unlike the TCM set which was ordered by recording order, this set incorporated 57 lifetime albums (a combination of studio, soundtrack, hits compilation and Camden budget albums) and 3 "From The Vaults" discs consisting of rarities, making for 60 "albums". Controversially, the producers of this set opted to append bonus tracks to albums instead of dedicating the last discs to them like other album box sets, and at any rate excepting the SUN era tracks which were ported over from A Boy From Tupelo, no attempts were made to upgrade the sound on those 3 rarities discs despite better alternatives being available. All tracks had been remastered again for this set (most just EQ differences likely closer to the original vinyl, but some have noticeable improvements) however unlike TCM, many tracks that had received new mixes (mainly quality problem tracks) were reverted back to the lifetime mixes. Also it's smaller form factor brought the price way down, and it was aimed at a wider audience at any rate.

Yeah that about covers it: one was intended as a very limited edition aimed at a very specific market, the other was aimed at a more general market but with collectors still in mind.

 

Yeah, I really appreciate the time of your detailed response and you were correct about the first run selling out quickly along with Beatles mono.
I do not own TCEPM but I do own this RCA complete albums set along with the 3 1990s 50s, 60s and 70s box sets and many other Elvis cds.
The pre owned copies of TCEPM are going for 2 grand.
I would have never paid 750 new.
This RCA set was expensive enough but I finally got it at an unbeatable price Dec 2016.

 

The Complete Masters was a truly deluxe edition of Elvis's entire recordings during his lifetime and originally only 1,000 copies were printed. It also included extra bonus tracks like the laughing version of Are You Lonesome Tonight as well as some other rare live and studio outtakes.

It was a huge 13 x 13 deluxe box set with a silver gilded book approximately the same dimensions as the box case with a great essay by Elvis biographer Peter Guralnick and a beautiful leather like bound fold out case that stored all 30 discs. This was a numbered and signed collection by noted Elvis producer Ernst Jørgensen. The certificate with his actual autograph was a total surprise when I received my early copy. It is a magnificent looking package and the fact that it included all of Vic Anesini's remastering for all the mainstream material released in his lifetime was a real bonus. It is my favorite box set in my entire collection of over well over fifty sets including many Bear Family box sets that I worship, like Jim Reeves Welcome To My World set.

Because the initial 1,000 limited copies of The Complete Masters sold out so quickly, Sony Legacy ordered another 1,000 copies, but they were not numbered or signed to the best of my knowledge. It truly is a collector's edition and I consider it a family heirloom to hand down to my children one day.

 

One day, maybe this week, someone will buy the rare box set for $100 or even much less at an estate sale somewhere. They will not advertise their success, and both the buyer and seller will be happy.

 

But will there even be cd players to play it on?

 

Many people who collect the King are getting up in years. It might be an estate sale, it might be a moving sale, it might be a downsizing sale, it might even be a "Gee, I have not played that thing hardly ever" thing.

 

And when it goes for cheap, it might be an "I don't even have a CD player anywhere" thing