Little blurb at the end of a short article in the new RS states that a box set focusing on “three days” of recording in 1970 is on its way. I’m guessing it’s the June 4-8 sessions. (the article also stated that the 1969 box sold only a few thousand copies. We have to start buying these boxes if we want them to keep coming out!!)
Interesting, but honestly how many do they expect to sell of these box sets? These are aimed at a particular audience, and FTD have done a great job, but is there really that much left? Especially since a lot of the more recent releases have been live stuff, which for me personally isn't as exciting as unheard studio takes, but I'm not sure anything that interesting is left in the vault (but my knowledge of Elvis outtakes is limited, I'm just assuming) That said, I appreciate they still release stuff like this
I'm not buying any more Elvis, in fact I've been selling it. Don't need any more J.D. Sumner divebombs. FTD did do a great job. Now it's over. All things eventually end. Face it.
The Twilight Time movie blu-rays were limited to 3,000 copies and took years/discounts to sell out. IIRC, some weren't released outside the US on blu-ray.
went CD shopping today....there had to be over 100 used elvis CD's in the cabinet for sale. i told the guy it was overkill, and he said that hey hadn't sold one in months.
After the disaster that was the Elvis Is Back! sessions box (faulty disc, problems ripping the CDs), I'm going to wait until this actually comes out before I even consider getting excited about it (let alone purchasing it). It pains me to say that, because six months ago, a boxset focusing on the Nashville Marathon would have been a dream for me.
It was written in passing and there wasn’t any info. I was expecting it to be a Sony release but I suppose it can also be a new Sessions box from FTD?
Sony: abort any future box sets until you give us the Elvis On Tour Deluxe Box Set. Then we can talk about all the other projects you have in mind.
Wasn't "The Complete Masters" the Ultimate and all-encompassing set to own? What else would be needed after that?
At the end of the year every unreleased song from 1970 will be out of copyright in Europe so Sony is forced to release Elvis stuff it would never have put out in a million years. If it were Dylan they'd put out a box set of wax cylinders limited to 120 copies and only available in Finland but the Presley organization isn't that smart.
There have been a lot of great sets that have come out since then. Undubbed masters, outtakes and studio chatter are pretty damn interesting in my book.
FTD are doing a TTWII Book/CD Set this June that follows the pattern of the Making of Viva set. The 3 CDs will probably contain a mixture of previously released stuff and unreleased rehearsals. If Sony are doing something for June 1970 sessions that mirrors the ‘69 Memphis sessions, it will be interesting to know if it starts off life as a "digital only" release and then FTD doing a sessions set later in the year. It’s all going to get rather messy if Ernst has plans to do more "complete sessions sets" because it will leave the Sept 1970 sessions out on a limb.
Are you saying you haven’t bought the ‘69 box then?. Seriously, there was a reason that set didn’t sell very well and that is because of the contents. It was a set aimed strictly at the hardcore die hard fan. Joe Public had very little interest in buying into a set that contained 11 shows that were virtually identical. And even the casual Elvis fan probably had reservations too. As fans, we have been spoilt by FTD and as good as they have been to the Elvis fans, it has had an impact on how deluxe sets can be offered to the mainstream market to raise and continue awareness. Last year was a golden opportunity for Sony to release a deluxe set for the 50th Anniversary of From Elvis in Memphis in a similar way Apple have done with The Beatles. But the fact that Elvis collectors had already been served well with three FTD releases covering the sessions that the market was minimal, hence the reason for the digital only release. Of course once collectors realised there were going to be unreleased outtakes on that release, the complaints started coming in, so FTD then picked up the project under the guise of their new "sessions" sets. I doubt Joe Public are aware of that digital release either, so some of Elvis’ best work gets lost again.
I really think they got it the wrong way round with the live 69 box / American Sound sessions. The latter was digital only in the first instance, then there was a half-arsed release on FTD. I think they could have marketed a studio set done as a proper deluxe release much more successfully.
I think some people are overestimating the general retail appeal of an American Sound box set. The bottom line is that Elvis has largely become a niche artist at retail. Large-scale, expensive box sets are going to have limitations. I doubt a physical version of the American Sound via Sony would have done much better business than the live 1969 box set. The same thing will apply to the Nashville 1970 set -- it will have limitations at retail. Seriously, how many people outside of a faction devoted Elvis enthusiasts are going to want multiple discs of Elvis' Nashville 1970 recordings?
But there is a reason why they did not do that for the Memphis sessions and that is because there was not a strong enough market for it. Had FTD not given us the three Dbl disc sets, then there would have been a market via the fanbase for it to go into mainstream which would then have got the attention of reviewers and then some of the public. Outside of the usual hit compilation albums or re-worked RPO albums, Elvis does not sell well enough once the fanbase collectors are taken away. Having said that, I am not even convinced that had those FTD sets not been released, that the sales numbers would have been that good. We ain’t taking Sgt Pepper or Abbey Road here.
Personally, I think the Nashville 70s sessions have less appeal than the ‘69 Memphis. At least the Memphis sessions had some kind of positive historical context after all the poor soundtracks. There is nothing that special about those 1970 sessions and there are quite a few songs which can only be considered as okay that ended up on the Love Letters album.