Tell me about it, shipping to the U.K. eye watering also. Unfortunately, this dealer seems to be the only one who has any left - I did a lot of searching believe me. If you can bite the bullet I would as this will keep going up I'm sure.
The scarcity of this release is curious. Books aside (because it seems the “run” was remaining books that were already printed right?) FTD would have had to have produced a certain number of CD sets. I can’t imagine the quantities line up equally with however many books where provided from Australia from the Bruce Jackson estate.
I wish FTD would stop all this nonsense of limited editions and tying CD releases to books. Yeah, keep doing physical CDs for those who like discs but just throw the stuff up as FLACs on Bandcamp so that the music remains available. Just look at how they handle Sun Ra’s music as an example: Sun Ra Otherwise, FTD will keep on feeding the over-priced secondary market which certainly doesn’t do the fans any justice.
I agree. At least have the releases on Spotify or just a platform to purchase albums digitally on an Elvis site. At the same time, if they’re out of print... they can release complete sessions sets like they have been... oh well.
I suspect FTD is now strictly sessions box-sets, occasional soundboard releases, and more book projects. From a "collection" perspective, I kinda wish there had been Classic Albums for Madison Square Garden and Aloha From Hawaii, and honestly, considering all the re-issued redundancy FTD has brought to the table the last couple of years, it's not like policy would prevent those, but from what I understand Classic Album is done. There's not a lot left to come out. The next couple of years are kind of a reckoning when it comes to fresh Elvis Presley projects. It is almost guaranteed there'll be an On Tour set at retail, I'd suspect in the 8" From Elvis In Nashville (etc) format rather than the 12" Young Man with the Big Beat" format, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's an 8" Aloha From Hawaii release including the two shows, rehearsal audio, and video on BluRay. Then it's like the circle is complete, right? Nothing else to be done at retail beyond ongoing re-issues. I suspect Ernst will bow-out in tandem in the next couple of years.
Sorry to interject here. not FTD but thought I'd ask. Does anyone have the LP box sets released in Australia "The Legend 1954-1961" "1961-1965" and "1965-1967". My record store has them available and I've never seen these. How is the sound on them? I'd hate to buy them and have the stereo effect on the 50's tracks. Not that I should be buying them, I own all of these tracks 100 times over, but I'm a sucker for Elvis. Elvis Presley - The Legend 1954 - 1961
I vote with my wallet and don’t buy any of the books. As I’ve said before, in a perfect world where I had unlimited money and shelf space, I’d perhaps buy the books, but I don’t have either of those things, so I just ignore the books, both new and on the secondary market.
Don't waste your money. I had the box in 1980 and tho mono the sound was substandard. The UK '56 Sessions LPs were superior as was the UK pink vinyl 2-LP
I agree, but I was never convinced there was much left to do with Madison Square Garden -- both shows were remixed, the original release was remastered by Anesini, and a substandard audience recording was released as part of the MSG book project. That said, the Prince From Another Planet remix/remaster was arguably unsuccessful, so a fresh remix by someone like Anesini in the style of The Wonder of You/Hot August Night could be an intriguing prospect (even Ross-Spang's work would be an improvement over Brauer's substandard result). With respect to Aloha, I maintain it is a viable candidate for an FTD reissue. The January 14 broadcast concert has only been remixed once, by Ferrante 23 years ago. It was an underwhelming result. A fresh remix could be coupled with a bonus disc of the complete post-broadcast concert session. I don't see the need for the January 12 rehearsal concert to be reissued, particularly considering Santos and Rosenthal just remixed it 7-8 years ago. But a classic album series reissue would be too easy; watch Ernst couple it with a $200 book.
Agreed. The entire thing is very strange. IIRC, the book was previously released as a niche product. Perhaps the book was a bust at retail, so Ernst made a deal with the Jackson estate where he guaranteed the sale of the estate's remaining stock of books that it couldn't move in exchange for access to a couple of Jackson's soundboards. If that is the case, why choose a couple of low-grade 1976 era soundboards? If Jackson was truly sitting on a stash of great and "missing" soundboards, why pick two from 1976, a period of mostly inferior shows and one that is well-represented by FTD?
But can you imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth if he picked a couple of choice soundboards from '71 instead and relegated them to an overpriced book set? In a way, I'm almost happy it was a couple of '76 boards.
Are there any good sounding soundboard concerts from the early 70’s left? I always took it as they’re just releasing what they have (plenty of 76 shows).
That is true. It seemed like the book was sold out before it even hit the market, so yes, fans would have been enraged that such tantalizing rarities were exclusive to an impossible to find, expensive book project. That said, I am not convinced FTD is going to continue issuing its most highly prized or sought after material in a traditional manner moving forward. It seems like that kind of material could mostly be earmarked for big, expensive book projects, or other pricey exclusives. Also, perhaps Jackson didn't have the exciting stash of live tapes speculated by some fans.
While the sound quality isn’t as good as what Vic has achieved, I find the sets certainly listenable/enjoyable. I have the first three in the series but am having a tough time finding the fourth volume. As @czeskleba has mentioned, these releases also present the material in the order that they were recorded, which gives a unique experience. There’s also a handful of not-super-common alternate versions on here.
FTD has a couple of 1971 shows (used to partially compile The Impossible Dream). There may be something left from August 1972. There is a Lake Tahoe soundboard from 1973 and one or two Las Vegas soundboards from February 1973. Additionally, there are still remaining February 1970 mulittracked live recordings, and one-to-two CD's worth of February 1972 mulittracked live recordings.
Looking at Keith Flynn's site, a couple of tracks from the Sioux Falls concert were first used by FTD ten years ago on A Minnesota Moment. It would appear that only the Atlanta soundboard was new to them.
Absolutely. Now we're a few months away from the initial announcement of this tie-up between FTD and the Jackson estate, I'm (sadly) more inclined to believe this is the only tape of interest the latter had. I understand a photo of the tape appeared in the original book. If it's the only such picture included and FTD issued a gig they already had in the vaults with this latest set, it makes sense. Unfortunately.
Agreed. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I will not be surprised if the Jackson estate archives do not have the stash of highly desirable tapes some fans have been lead to believe exist.
Fried food and the southern diet is tempting. I do try to stay off of it as much as possible, myself. Drugs are also tempting. Considering the circumstances of the tasty southern diet and drugs, it is an excellent TV special. One factor in the need to avoid comparisons to past glories is that people in general in 1977 didn't have older Elvis home video media so they could do a side by side comparison with the CBS special. Elvis delivered the goods, whether it was the 1973 Hawaii TV special or the 1977 CBS special. He rose to the occasion and exerted himself to provide enough quality material for the TV special.
I wasn't a fan till '77 yet even I'd absorbed enough of Elvis by then (you couldn't avoid him if you tried) to know that the CBS TV special was a travesty. I remember the silence in the room. Shock I suppose at what we were seeing.
New Zealand in those days wasn't exactly the boogie centre of the universe! It took us 3 months just to get the latest CREEM and NME!! Kidding aside, yes I remember the coverage around Elvis' death of his poor physical condition, but it was viewing the CBS special that really brought home the deterioration in his voice and appearance. His movies were all over TV back then, including films like 'Loving You' - my point being that there were lots of opportunities to make those comparisons in the pre-home video era.
