Elvis Presley FTD CD reissues (part 6)

Apologies for being a contrarian but I reckon in some respects it is part of that series, okay not a session set per se but these FTD 8" sets are seemingly now settling down to becoming more "alright, this is is all we have from this particular project, here it is..." catch all sets. I would also love an "On Stage - February, 1970" collection, collating all those professionally recorded tracks as mentioned by @hodgo upthread...

 

I think he means apart from any of the Sessions releases he was only interested in those two live sets.

 

Yes February 1970 - it would be great to have an all singing and dancing set. I think there are a couple of things on the Writing For The King massive tome cd which are unique to that book project. Is there much unreleased soundboard or multitrack material?

 

I have no idea about unreleased material but what do we have is spread over several releases, so if nothing else, it'd be nice to have it all remastered consistently and in one place...

 

I pre-ordered Devil in Disguise and From Vegas to Tahoe from ShopElvis in June, was promised shipment in July, and canceled my order yesterday because they couldn’t tell me when my order might ship. I want to support these FTD releases, but not if they can’t press and distribute them.

 

Both are in stock at the Graceland online store, Shop Elvis not having them seems to be a Shop Elvis issue, not a FTD issue:
Elvis Presley: Devil In Disguise The Lost Album Sessions FTD 3 CD Set
https://store.graceland.com/collections/follow-that-dream-series/products/elvis-from-vegas-to-tahoe-ftd-3-cd-se

 

A couple of weeks ago I ordered the Lost Sessions box from Shop Graceland and had it in less than a week. They run a much tighter ship for some reason. I haven't used Shop Elvis since 2016.

 

I’ll take that tip and check out Shop Graceland.

 

I had the exact same issue with Shop Elvis a few years ago. I have been using the much more reliable Shop Graceland site ever since. I always seem to get my Elvis product a lot quicker with no problems.

 

I stopped buying new release FTDs from Shop Elvis a couple of years ago, when it became clear they're not able to manage disc replacements (i.e. the Elvis Is Back Sessions disc replacement that FTD issued). Catalog titles that have been out for a while, no problem buying those, but new releases, I stick to Graceland.

 

For the last few years, I've been ordering my FTDs from Shop Graceland, and have never had any issues with them, like others above have stated, I'd give them a shot.

 

Does anyone know why on the Aloha FTD they didn’t add the masters/released versions for the extra tracks and not just the rehearsals? They still had over 30 mins of space on that disc..

 

The complete session is on Disc 3, including the masters.

If you're referring to the 70s mixes of those masters, there are no original mixes on the FTD set. The original mixes can be found on FTD's Elvis (1973 - the "Fool" album) Classic Album and the Legacy Edition of Aloha From Hawaii.

 

Thanks. I didn’t think the masters were there as everything is listed as a “take” or a “rehearsal”.

 

My understanding is that there is at least another CD of multi-track material from the On Stage reels that could be compiled. With FTD's classic album series reissue of On Stage and the subsequent Off-On Stage, there is already three discs of quality music in great sound from the concert reels, not sure how thrilled I would be to have it all recycled again at a premium price just to get some additional outtakes, but I suppose it is better than repurchasing an entire studio session of material for 30 seconds of a false start.

 

Any potential price for an 'On Stage' set could be off-set by flogging the other sets, I suppose...

 

Nope you got to keep them all. Someone will discover something different about them!

 

That's very true actually, what on earth was I thinking! A moment of weakness on my behalf, keep everything unless destitution is on the horizon...

 

But then, do you really need that 30 second false start only available on xx?

 

A hardcore Elvis fan would never ask such a question

 

While that statement is a tongue-in-cheek, I do know a lot of fellow hardcore fans are drawing the line with some of these Sessions sets. I’ve acquired a few, but I’m being very selective from here on out.

 

Agreed, of course.
@croquetlawns's comment made me think that the whole Elvis empire is built on alternate takes and false starts.
Over at the Beatles Revolver forum I read posts saying "I'm not really interested in rehearsals and alternate takes" and all I can think about is "never been an Elvis fan, evidently", 'cause my reaction is "Beatles alt takes? Yes please!"

The two catalogues have been treated in a completely different way, and I for one have enjoyed immensely first the unofficial releases and then the FTD.

And for what it's worth, after years of collecting the King live, for me complete sessions offer more than a live concert (apropos, has there ever been a dead concert? Asking for a friend).

 

I don't disagree, particularly because most of the existing concert tapes consist of mediocre to substandard soundboards from 1974-1977. That said, most of the session material has been released, aside from some false starts and the occasional take, so "complete" sessions are not overly compelling either. And don't get me wrong, I like hearing every possible relevant note of music by my favorite artists, but spending upwards of $100 for a session where 99% of it has already been previously released in great sound just for a 30 second unreleased snippet, is hard to justify.

 

I buy my FTDs from the Bear Family site.
Top notch service.

 

Agreed. They do seem to ship much faster.