Agreed. The Nashville 1970 sessions were uneven and did not produce the same kind of singles/hits that resonated with the public at large. Even with American Sound's hits and its historical importance, I still think a pricey, expansive five-disc set would have been limited at retail. A Nashville 1970 will be even more limited, but Sony continues to be committed to celebrating Elvis' music and legacy on an annual basis with a music set of some sort at mainstream retail, so this year Nashville 1970 finally gets the nod (and it is an opportunity to protect copyrights of any remaining unreleased outtakes).
Oh I’m sure there will be a Boxset (not necessarily physical though) , but as I mentioned, this is where it gets messy especially for mainstream, so I reckon it could be another digital set to keep costs down with FTD doing it for the fans under their new "Sessions" series. Not sure off the top of my head how much of a difference there is with the number of songs recorded between the two sessions (69 and 70), but I think it’s pretty close. Of course the deciding factor will be the number of takes so I guess it will be a 5 or 6 CD set.
I beg to differ. "Elvis Country" came out of the 1970 sessions, and a favorite of many. Also IMO, Elvis's voice was great, and never better after that year.
Your missing the point. Memphis had the historical context as being part of his big comeback and which produced a couple of truly rememberable singles. It would have gathered interest from reviewers thus enticing some interest for the general public. The 1970 sessions did not have that kind of thing - You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me and There Gors My Everything are not quite in the same league as In The Ghetto and Suspicious Minds. I am not disputing that Elvis Country was a great album nor that there were a few great tracks on the TTWII album, but that probably only represents around 55% of the songs recorded at those June sessions. The fact that two songs on Elvis Country were not done at the June session is something else. But the general public are not that interested in a big box set based around that percentage of the material being great - with the word "great" probably being put forward in the main from members of the fanbase. Not sure the general public are particularly interested in a load of outtakes for Life, The Sound of Your Cry, Sylvia or This Is Our Dance.
Upfront, I am totally biased as many know. Nevertheless, 1970 was the continuation of the comeback, and a marathon session with such a wide range genre wise, is going to have differing subjective interests. Elvis's fan base grew tremendously worldwide during the 70's with non rock related (MOR), Country, and Pop material. Elvis in 1970 had indeed, "Something For Everybody".
I take these current reissues on a case-by-case basis. I passed on the Elvis Is Back sessions box because I already have the old FTD of that title, and that suffices for me. I don’t have any of the FTD issues of the Nashville Marathon sessions, so I may be tempted to get this new box.
Yes, we know you are totally biased, and there lies the problem. Many fans seem to think that because a product has Elvis name printed on it, it will be a tremendous success, but it won’t because outside of the big hits, much of his music does not resonate with the general public so much, especially in 2020. I am not saying such a boxset will not sell, but you’re more likely to be looking at the lower tens of thousands rather than a few hundreds of thousands. I know the fanbase grew back then...I was there at the time. And I know a couple of girls I worked with who became really big fans after seeing the 68 TV Special. They were "so into Elvis” buying not only current records, but wanted some back catalogue stuff too, constantly asking me for recommendations. The newsagent helped their fix with copies of Elvis Monthly. Then by the end of 1971, it had virtually dropped off. I’m not saying that this was or is indicative of everyone who became a fan back then, but I never saw or heard those 70s sessions getting the same kind of comments that the ‘69 stuff did. Radio DJs in London were buying imported copies of FEIM and Suspicious Minds - on one Saturday afternoon, the whole album was given a one hour review programme on BBC Radio 1 of most of the tracks. the feedback was tremendous. I never really saw or heard that kind of thing from those outside of the fanbase for the 1970’s sessions. Yes, 1970, especially the beginning of the year was a continuation of the comeback, but I believe it had flattened out by the end of the year. Yes, there was more interest in him than there was in 1967 as an example, but as good as many of those songs were from that 1970 session, they did not have the wow factor that the Memphis sessions did. So i might be totally wrong, but it is difficult to believe that as Sony did not do a physical boxset for those Memphis Sessions, that Sony will produce a physical box for mainstream release for those June 70 sessions.
Even though you are not totally sure what this boxset actually is or that there actually will be one. Have RS picked up on the forthcoming FTD set. Not sure FTD will produce two sets this year if they are doing the Book/CD set in June/July. When you say you don’t have anything, do I take it then that you don’t have the three Classic Albums sets from those sessions, namely TTWII, Elvis Country or Love Letters From Elvis or do you mean the 5" Nashville Marathon release.
Correct. Sumner and the Stamps didn't join Elvis's band until late 1971. Some people like to complain just to hear themselves.
It wasn't a complaint, it was a statement directly addressing the OP's statement of the last box not selling well. I used the "divebomb" simply as an example of the same thing over, and over, and over again.
The problem with Nashville 1970 is that it does not have a significant or notable commercial identity, which creates challenges at retail if Sony would like to see more than a few thousand units sold to a faction of hardcore Elvis enthusiasts (and at this point, maybe that is what Sony is resigned to). Frankly, producing a 3-disc set of 1973 era recordings was a stretch as well, but at least Sony could promote the Stax moniker -- arguably a misleading idea, but the combination of Elvis' name and the Stax name created a marketable concept, even though Elvis' recordings from Stax had little to do with the Stax sound. Here, there is nothing like the Stax name to tie-in Elvis' work from 1970, nor is there a body of work from 1970 that resonates with the general public (for example, there is no Suspicious Minds). No one outside of Elvis' devoted fan-base cares about Elvis Country. Years ago I suggested Sony produce a 1970/1971/1972 hybrid box set, and by doing so, the focus could have been on the entire early-1970's period, rather than narrowing the focus to one specific uneven session or album. There was enough quality music recorded during the period that a compelling set could have been produced, maybe one that even included one of the 1972 EOT live concerts as an additional marketable item. Anyone familiar with FTD's classic album series editions of Elvis Country and Love Letters (and the studio outtakes from That's The Way It Is) knows what to expect with this upcoming box set. Like Sony's 2019 American Sound download release, there will likely be a few unreleased session scraps issued alongside mostly previously released outtake content from the FTD releases.
I concur with those thoughts. And it was a bit like Down In The Jungle Room which had historical significance due to it containing the very last songs that Elvis recorded - something that had interest for reviewers to write about, although that didn’t exactly fly off the shelves. The general public are not going to be that interested in a physical 70’s session set and are probably not that bothered with TTWII or Elvis Country either. Both albums have been released in a variety of ways over the years without any big chart success outside of the original releases. Digital allows a low cost release and a drip feed kind of sale for Sony whereby those interested can pick and choose the tracks they want, when they want whether that be download or streaming. So I see FTD picking up the option for a sessions box release like they did with the Memphis tracks. Whether that happens around the anniversary of the sessions is doubtful as they are doing the big book project based around the film. Personally, I would have preferred a boxset of the sessions in June and the book based around the film around the anniversary of the movie release. That would at least spread the cost. Moving on, its for those reasons that I understand the reluctance by Warner’s/Sony to do a special boxset project for Elvis on Tour. Whilst some fans would be wetting themselves with excitement over a 4 or 5 CD set and thinking it would be a really spectacular release, the shows are basically identical to what he did at MSG - so the biggest market would be the diehard collectors. The general public wouldn’t give a damn about it being the 50th Anniversary of Elvis on Tour. As far as they are concerned, it is Elvis performing yet again in a jumpsuit, whether it be white, red or blue. For me, it seems the only way Sony can stimulate interest in Elvis product these days is to repackage the same material in a slightly different box and give it a new title every few years in the hope that fans will buy it yet again or that non fans might think they do not already own it or some of it. And that’s basically why the Elvis catalogue is in such a mess.
Rolling Stone Magazine just posted a brand new article titled, Can Elvis Rise Again?, which describes a coming full court press to try to get Elvis's entire image and talent back out to a younger generation. Obviously, the coming biopic will be a key component of the new plan, but Sony VP John Jackson hints about the coming box set as well in an article by David Browne. In an office at Sony, Jackson is at work on a box set documenting the 50th anniversary of three intense days of 1970 Presley sessions, and he’s also in the midst of supplying master tapes for Luhrmann’s biopic. “There’s been no more beautiful of a human being than that, right there,” he says, pointing to a box set with a photo of peak Fifties Presley on its cover. “It needs to remind people that, ‘Look, that guy existed once.’ ” www.rollingstone.com › elvis-presley-business-revenue-953324
I say 5 discs of outtakes and concerts will never do good in the general public. "Vegas '69" should have been an FTD release as the American Sessions were. Mainstream should've gotten a 2 disc Memphis '69 set or a three disc set like "A Boy From Tupelo". Personally I haven't been buying the Elvis releases lately (as pretty as they look). I'll buy the On Tour set when and if it ever happens. Other than that, I'm good. I have all the concerts, outtakes and various masterings of the masters I can handle.
@RSteven - good article, thanks for bringing it to my attention. That Beatles-Monkees paragraph had me shaking my head.
There is still no clarification as to whether this boxset is physical or digital. As much as I think the slightly bigger 8" boxes are okay, for me, a proper box set that has real impact within stores must be 12" in size like Apple do with The Beatles. That of course can be accompanied by a normal double CD for the casual buyer and vinyl release too. But I suspect this will be digital unless Sony want to lose money in doing a physical a box. Let’s face it, if Sony didn’t think that the Memphis Sessions warranted a physical release, it is difficult to understand why they think the 70s set would do better. Reading that article, it seems they are in some kind of desperation mode to get Elvis out and probably selling as well as the recent Beatles re-releases and to a current generation too. No one has quite figured it out yet, and as much as I like Elvis, I cannot think of any Elvis album in particular that resonates with the general public in the same way as Pepper, The White Album and Abbey Road have done. The latter has sold over 628,000 copies since January 2019, and that is more that the majority of any Elvis album did when they were originally released back when he was alive. I’m sure that the re-issued Let It Be when it comes out later this year will also sell reasonably well to , as would Revolver if they get around to do that one. Elvis does fine with hit compilations, Christmas albums, or reworked music like the RPO albums but you can only revamp those so often before the public get bored. Of course a lot of the blame lies with Sony/BMG/RCA who over the years have milked the Elvis back catalogue with all kinds of revamped albums and re-issue double Legacy sets that make the catalogue difficult to negotiate. The difference between The Beatles back catalogue is that the whole thing is strictly controlled - all releases are co-ordinated around the world and have been for decades - individual territories are not allowed to issue their own little compilation sets - The Beatles catalogue is just the same now as it was when the group disbanded with 14 albums and has a few additional titles that are available throughout the world, and brings the total up to around 22, and that’s it. Sure, Elvis’ original album catalogue was 5 times that of The Beatles, but instead of leaving his catalogue almost intact, not only have Sony allowed all kinds of odd ball budget compilations to appear like Greatest Country Hits, Greatest Gospel Hits, Greatest Live Shows, Best of Las Vegas or Greatest Movie Hits, but a plethora of the usual Greatest Hits Of Elvis albums and Christmas albums that have come out with the same songs under the guise of a different title. Big boxsets that cover three decades of his music are available ...a 60 CD box of all his individual albums is available, and as good as that is, there are fundamental clangers dropped with the way it has been compiled with bonus tracks popping up on original albums that were not there in the first place. Then there are an assortment of Legacy Releases that not only contain the original albums, but additional tracks to pad them out. Various rarities compilations such as Platinum A Life In Music and Today, Tomorrow and Forever are to be found on the shelves. You only need to do a Google search on his discography or look at the website Elvis on CD to see what has been issued over the years. Yes a lot of the titles are probably out of print now but it will give you an idea of what has been released which has the effect of reducing any impact a newer release now has. And now they want to put out another boxset most of which will contain stuff that the Elvis fan and collector will already have via FTD. Basically Elvis’ catalogue is a complete mess - No wonder the casual buyer is confused and has no real idea what they own or what to buy and unless someone can wave a magic wand and delete every release that is currently available around the world, and that includes physical or downloads, and reset everything to a nice clean installation as such, it is probably too late to rectify the situation.
The Elvis Stax sessions were an all time artistic low point but Sony managed to get massive press coverage and a high chart position with their archive release. You never know what's going to go over well with the public. JB still has shelves full of Way Down in the Jungle Room and The Searcher.
The next and perhaps last of the "Unreleased Holy Grail" of Elvis will be the unreleased films from the 1972 Tour. I asked Schmidlin years ago how much unreleased film footage there was from 72' and he said "Enough to scare you" Still waiting.
If you are talking about proper studio stuff which turned into masters for record release, probably around 650 songs. Then add maybe another 120 to that to cover "live" albums, but of course a great deal of those songs were just "live" versions if the studio stuff. There are not that many songs that he sung "live" that he did not actually record in the studio - maybe 20/25. and then there are some which just happened to get captured on tape like rehearsals, home or private recordings that often do not have the best sound, even some that are no more than just the odd line, which some will class as being recorded, which whilst technically true, I do not class as being proper recordings, although that hadn’t stopped a Sony or whoever from putting them out.
