Elvis Presley FTD CD reissues (part 6)

I received the new "Pot Luck Sessions" for Christmas, and started to listen earlier tonight. On Disc 2, on takes 8-11 of "His Latest Flame", there are some digital glitches (mini pauses) during playback. I checked the disc which appeared fine (no fingerprints, scratches etc), and then played on another CD player with the same results on the same tracks. Has anyone here had the same playback issues? Otherwise, I find the sound on this set to be quite pleasing.

 

I just played that section back to check and I didn't hear anything unusual.

 

How's the sound on the new Pot Luck Sessions? I haven't ordered it yet.

 

I opened the Fun in Acapulco Sessions set today and started with outtakes (CD2). So absolutely fun!!! I love the vibe of the tracks, lots of spirit, and it's hilarious to hear Elvis giggling through some of it. Maybe the most fun I've had with session sets so far, just because of the material. Maybe that playful latin rhythm just worked especially well.

 

Sound is excellent throughout. Mastering is perfect, and is not too loud or compressed. One track that sounds especially great is take 4 of His Latest Flame. Nice prominent bass from Bob Moore and driving guitar from Hank Garland.

 

Update: So I decided to make a CD-R copy to listen in my car, and those glitches are not there on the copy, but the original disc has them. Can't quite figure that one out...Anyway, the sound on this set is outstanding throughout. Even though most of it is available on other FTD sets, this one is the keeper.

 

That outtake has become my own master since I discovered it on the "Essential 60's Masters", almost 30 years ago: it's pretty close to the actual master take but that awesome rockabilly / bo didley beat played by Garland makes it superior on every way.

 

Supposedly an FTD Elvis On Tour CD/Book combo is on tap for 2022.

 

While this is good news, I wish Sony would issue a box set similar to the 1969 one with some complete shows from the tour and maybe a Blu-Ray of the best performances (issued and unissued) from the original 16mm reels.

 

I think it is much better as well, but for some reason (Steve Sholes' influence? ) was passed over and re-done a bit more relaxed.

 

Woohoo, another book/disc combo.

 

For me, Fun in Acapulco is the winner of the sessions sets so far. The sessions set made me re-evaulate the original album to the point that it’s become one of my favorite and most played Elvis albums.

 

A bold statement but I can see where you’re coming from. It’s certainly caused me to have a much greater appreciation for the album.

 

I had the opposite reaction. Yes, the sound quality is fantastic, but sometimes more can be too much. Take after take of Vino, Dinero Y Amor and Guadalajara in succession is a challenge to sit through in one sitting. The original FTD edition, while inferior in the sound quality department, is my go-to version because I think it has the more manageable and superior sequencing. Ernst has spoken highly of Fun In Acapulco over the years, and it seems to be a personal favorite or a soundtrack that is one of his guilty pleasures, so it isn't surprising that it was one of the earlier "sessions" releases.

 

Likewise, it fits FTD’s 1960-1963 complete session modus operandi.

 

I hope they re-do the May 1963 and January 1964 Nashville sessions as part of the sessions sets. I know it wouldn't even fill 2 discs, but it would be great to have it to make the sessions sets more complete. There were a few some gems here, mainly "Devil in Disguise", but also the sublime vocals on "Love Me Tonight", "Never Ending", "It Hurts Me" and "Ask Me". These sessions were on the tail end of Elvis' sweetest sounding vocals.

 

The challenge there is I think everything but a single false start on Love Me Tonight is on the Elvis Sings Memphis Tennessee FTD (?). Not that the material isn’t deserving though!

 

Complete agreement there. The only thing they could really do is put everything in sequential order and maybe add the mono single/LP versions to flesh it out.

 

Ah great idea about the mono mixes!

 

To anyone having trouble when ripping these "complete sessions" discs:

I had been having a hell of a time getting accurate rips on the final few tracks of these discs. I even bought a new ASUS disc drive for my computer and it actually seemed to get worse after that.

Well, I did a little digging and it turns out that on CD's with a running time that is near the discs capacity, the data for the final tracks is physically located toward the outer edge of the disc. When your disc drive is spinning the CD at a high speed like 52X that outer edge begins to vibrate and it makes it hard for the disc drive to accurately read the data.

I use dbPoweramp to rip. I went into the settings and set the maximum read speed to 16X. Now, all these CD's rip just fine. No errors, no "re-ripping frames" for half an hour, etc. Just quick, accurate rips.

Hope this helps anybody that was in the same boat I was in.

 

That is helpful, thank you. I've had discs with max running time and ripping sometimes had issues. Never thought to reduce the rip speed. Will give it a try on problematic discs.

 

Thanks for that - I might finally be able to rip the final track on Massive Attack's Collected CD!

 

Oh no, I was hoping that Sony would put out a set, including the rehearsals. The cost of the CD/book sets are fairly prohibitive...

 

There may be a scaled-down Sony issue as well.
The rehearsals deserve a set of their own.

 

I would guess that the concert material will be issued via Sony Legacy, and the FTD book project will contain near complete rehearsals in the vein of the TTWII project.