A little off topic, but I am curious about songs which originally weren't available in stereo, but later showed up in stereo -- and where the various mixes can be found. (Same goes for original mono single mixes too.) That probably could be the subject of its own thread. The one that blew me away was "Love Me Tender!" Of course, recently a few songs have shown up on various artists comps in DES stereo, which is technically not the same thing. But they are pretty cool too.
I do not agree with this. He was needed by RCA much more than A&R Joan Deary in the sense of being the hands -on producer till the end. It was directed/asked to him by RCA, which by that time with Vernon still alive, most probably had Tom Parker behind this as well. As for the overdubs. His subjective opinion was that the recordings were not fit for release as they were. My opinion, he was going to get the credit anyhow, cause he actually taped the performance(s). If I am the head of RCA in 1977-78 Elvis division (with the chaos of sales). Would I go out for an outsider? Or would I use the people that were there? Do I think all the overdubs were good? No.
The single and LP version is take 5. But the reverb I am talking about is the alternate take used on disc 2 of Memories, which may very well be the one sung live to the backing track on the actual TV Special. The master on disc 1 is in stereo and does not have all that added digital reverb the alternate take on disc 2 has. The versions that Elvis lip syncs at the end of each stand up concert has a LOT of reverb. I am not sure if that was original or not. These can be heard on The Complete 68 Comeback Special. I am not even sure what takes they are because I cannot even stand to listen to them all the way through! But I THINK they are both take 5. The TV Special itself features Elvis singing live to the same backing track that was take 5. Take 1 can be heard on A Life In Music.
The Fifties Easy Reference guide 1959 - Feb 10 1964 - Reference guide April 1964 - Sept 1967 October 1967 - December 1969 January 1970 - March 1974 May 1974 - October 1977 --------------------------------- Feb 1978 - He Walks Beside Me It's Impossible If I Can Dream Feb 1978 Unchained Melody/Softly As I Leave You Unchained Melody - Unchained Melody May 1978 - Mahalo From Elvis
Jarvis was no longer necessary after producing the Elvis In Concert soundtrack during the fall of 1977. Joan Deary was arguably a better compiler of material and any rapport Jarvis had with Elvis as part of the recording process was irrelevant after Elvis' death. A number of competent producers could have sweetened material (perhaps more tastefully) if necessary to complete a fully-realized production of posthumous material -- the fact that Jarvis oversaw post-production during the 1970's, often with controversial and bland results, doesn't mean his continued direction was essential for some sort of consistency.
Nah, the first five years of Elvis' posthumous catalogue is filled with polarizing and uneven releases. Actually, if one thinks about it, controversy is still very much ongoing to this day with a multitude of issues with FTD releases and other mainstream releases.
Since all the Elvis LPs were in print after Elvis’ death in 77 why did they create such compilations re packaging material. They should have just released unreleased recordings from the start.
Elvis is my favorite artist and I most likely own all of the albums from these decades. It really gives me a headache to think about them though. So many problems... The only thing that springs to mind is how they did good job in 1985 for the 50th. That run of albums "Rocker", "Always on My Mind", "Reconsider Baby" and even re-releasing the original mono "Christmas Album". They had the right idea then. I look forward to this thread. I'm gonna have to go to my storage unit and grab the boxes that contain all these releases out and enjoy them again.
Elvis The Collection, A 4 CD set in individual jewel cases. Is this set a good one to own? This set was my introduction to Elvis on CD back in the early 90's. I bought them individually over a few months, they are my first Elvis CD's. What are our experts opinions on this set. Are there any rare versions within it? Thanks.
I have only heard volume 3 and 4 and it's a repackaging of the the German box set The Legend from 1983 which was one of the first Elvis cd releases. Elvis* - The Legend First Edition The sound is quite good and there are a few unusual takes: Wild In The Country (outtake from the Silver box) Follow That Dream (outtake from the Silver box) If I Can Dream (outtake from He Walks Beside Me) There Goes My Everything (mono) Rags To Riches (stereo mix from the Silver box) It's Only Love (stereo mix from the Silver box)
I was thinking more along the lines of controversy amongst ourselves. Elvis left the building so-to-speak so we can’t argue about his song selection, condition etc. And will someone really defend Sings for Children and Grown-ups too? But The Jarvis discussion continues...
At the release of EIC, how much pull did Parker retain with RCA? I assume he still had some say in post 1973 material being as intertwined in EPE as he was and in the publishing of nearly the entire Elvis catalogue. It may have been strictly business politics if Jarvis had a good rapport with Parker.
In hindsight any producer could subjectively gotten better results. But my point is that he was the one to do it at the time. It was only natural. And that is what any business person director RCA etc.. would of done at the time, instead of wasting time to see what other person(s) could do better. By that much later time, the window of sales opportunity would have been lost. Would that make business sense? That is the most important thing in a business...profit. No?
I know it's not a US release but I have a few questions about the very first Elvis CD set, The Legend. I've been thinking of getting one. Does the 1950s disc 1 have the ERS used on the LPs or the ERS from the very first CD versions of the albums? I've been told that they are different.
Neither. They are mono. 'A Big Hunk O' Love' sounds a little more processed than the US CD versions of that song, not sure if that was how it was presented to the Europeans as a single or if that is some leftover 'artefact' from some ERS pressing but it is still mono. 'Heartbreak Hotel' and 'My Wish Came True' seem to have the original single processing that I recall from my Dad's UK pressings too. I have the silver second press of 'The Legend', though as many have mentioned, if you purchase The Collection Volumes 1 - 4 you'll have the exact same content via a more reasonable outlay, albeit without the same prestige as 'The Legend' First Edition comes with...
The Legend was also reissued in a silver box version, and it may be easier to find and a bit less expensive. If you are a hardcore collector then only the gold box will do.
Thank you "When In Rome", I've just checked my 4CD set of Elvis The Collection & I found that I bought all four CD's at the same time, Sunday 23rd Nov 1997 from the HMV megastore in Manchester (No longer there sadly), at £9.99 each. There are 15 tracks on each CD.
Parker was not particularly a big Jarvis supporter. It is difficult to imagine that after 1977, Parker was overly concerned with who did post-production as long as it got done and product was moved. Parker still had influence because in 1978, he was managing the estate and in many ways the same business dynamic between Elvis' camp and RCA was in place, but RCA still had total control over the pre-1973 catalogue and all of the reissues and archival material that came from it.
Parker was more with Joan Deary. It is kind of ironic to me that he didn't allow (back in 1973), any further post production work (a good thing on some tracks), on a few STAX songs to fulfill the RCA contract release schedule, and saving money at the same time. With Joan Deary, he more or less did the same thing with the "Memories Of Elvis" series. Sloppily mixed out the overdubs from the multitrack tape. I say sloppily..cause there was plenty of leakage. I am pretty sure this saved money as well.
