2025 in 2025: Day 78

The FTD marathon continues...

FTD008: One Night in Vegas (10 August 1970) - Elvis Presley
This is actually the opening night of Elvis' Las Vegas residency that was recorded for the That's The Way It Is film (which itself completely rules). It is a great show. I didn't need more rehearsals at the end...
Highlights: I Can't Stop Loving You, You've Lost That Loving Feeling, Patch It Up
7.5/10 for the concert, 3/10 for Elvis doing yodels in rehearsal

FTD009: 6363 Sunset Boulevard
This is another collection of outtakes - this time from 1972 & 1975. This undubbed take of Always On My Mind is stellar. Other than that and a strange version of Burning Love, I am pretty sure I have the rest in similar form; the rehearsals from On Tour are probably included in that set and the outtakes from Today are very similar to the un-overdubbed versions found in that set.
Highlights: Always On My Mind [Take 3], Burning Love [Take 2], See See Rider [Take 2], T-R-O-U-B-L-E [Take 1]
6/10

FTD010: Easter Special - Elvis Presley
A collection of Gospel outtakes. I would say mostly like the masters, but some are slightly different. Like, a couple are a little bit faster and some have less overdubs going on. This version of Saved is bombastic! And I Got a Feeling in My Body is just... wooo!
Highlights: Saved [Take 1], If That Isn't Love [Take 2,6,7], I Got a Feeling in My Body [Take 6,7], I'm Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs [Take 2,3]
7/10

FTD012: The Way It Was - Elvis Presley
Rehearsals for That's The Way It Is. And it starts of incredibly poor - not the performances, the recordings. The tape must have been found buried beneath 3 tonnes of mud and lava and dinosaur fossils. Thankfully, things get more listenable after a few songs. I definitely prefer I've Lost You without the horns and whatnot. Oh, there are actual live songs as well
Highlights: I've Lost You, I Can't Stop Loving You, You've Lost That Loving Feeling
6/10

FTD013: Memphis Sessions - Elvis Presley

This is a collection I enjoy a lot; I love From Elvis in Memphis (and Back in Memphis, to a lesser degree) and these are basically undubbed/slightly less polished versions. The harmonica is much more present in Stranger in My Own Home Town (and Elvis is just completely getting into the whole thing). It owns. This is the most chilled version of Suspicious Minds you will ever hear. FTD released a big 5-disc set of all this stuff a few years ago and I sometimes think I should have got it. Today is one of those days...
Highlights: Stranger In My Own Home Town [Undubbed Master], True Love Travels On A Gravel Road [Takes 6 & 7], Wearin' That Loved On Look [Takes 3 & 10], You'll Think Of Me [Take 14]

7/10

FTD014: Silver Screen Stereo - Elvis Presley

More movie song outtakes. I'm sure the world needed more versions of Clambake and to put more focus on those dodgy lyrics of Kissin' Cousins. Elvis going to go and get him cancelled again...
Highlights: Viva Las Vegas [#1, 2], The Lady Loves Me [#9], C'mon Everybody [#1, 2, 3], There's So Much World To See [Alternate Master]

6/10

FTD016: Fame and Fortune - Elvis Presley

Outtakes from the Elvis is Back sessions. Mostly. And they sound mostly like the finished masters. Mostly.

Highlights: Make Me Know It [Take 11], Stuck On You [Take 1], Such a Night [Take 1], Girl Next Door Went a Walking [Takes 1,2,3]

6/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 633

2025 in 2025: Day 63

It's an Easter Elvis Extravaganza!

Elvis On Tour: April 9, 1972, Hampton Roads - Elvis Presley

Oh, you thought we were done with Elvis? Silly amateurs. Of course I have the Elvis On Tour boxset, with the original film on blu-ray + 6 CDs of concerts and rehearsals. This, obviously, is the first concert in the set. We lose Elvis' vocals for most of I Got a Woman, so that's not fun. But the rest of this show is a delight. Elvis has some difficulties with the crowd and then gives his piano player some stick for playing Teddy Bear too fast. This rendition of Bridge over Troubled Water is killer, but someone tell Ronnie Tutt to calm down! Suspicious Minds also goes off the rails, but that's because Elvis is getting attacked by female fans or something. They brought more photo albums from the plane...

Highlights: You Gave Me a Mountain, I Can't Stop Loving You, Bridge Over Troubled Water, An American Trilogy, How Great Thou Art

8/10

Elvis On Tour: April 10, 1972, Richmond - Elvis Presley

Concert number two! Never Been to Spain is such an awesome song - I even found a live performance by Three Dog Night that was very enjoyable. Those dudes could sing. Some woman just yelled like she was having a minor orgasm. This show is certainly better in some ways, and not as great in others. The piano seems a bit more defined in the mix (often hard left) and it really lifts a few of the songs, because the playing is fantastic. I never enjoy when Elvis mocks Charlie Hodge - he is your dear friend, you should be nicer and not make the crowd think he's a dork. And his harmonies are perfect. Holy balls that ending for Can't Help Falling In Love is the stuff! The Elvis souvenirs are items you will treasure...

Highlights: Never Been to Spain, You Gave Me a Mountain, Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel, Bridge Over Troubled Water, I Can't Stop Loving You, Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Can't Help Falling in Love

8/10

Elvis On Tour: April 14, 1972, Greensboro - Elvis Presley

Something is up with the mix on this album; it sounds a bit dull and I've had to kick up the volume a notch. Which is not what I need when I'm still recovering from a loud concert. So maybe it is just my ears getting tired after two similar sounding concerts? Hawtdam Elvis' voice on Bridge Over Troubled Water is phenomenal, but again Ronnie Tutt gets carried away. The setlist actually gets a bit of a change and a couple of new songs are added; Burning Love is performed with the caveat of "We don't know this one too well" and then they proceed to completely lose it halfway through. Man, Release Me is hilariously unkind. An Elvis button for $0.25? Get me four, please.

Highlights: Never Been to Spain, You Gave Me a Mountain, Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel, A Big Hunk O' Love, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Can't Help Falling in Love

7.5/10

Elvis On Tour: April 18, 1972, San Antonio - Elvis Presley

By chance, today is the 53rd Anniversary of this show! Let's hope it's a good one...
It is largely just a complete no-nonsense performance - very little jibber jabber or joking around and a big focus on putting on great performances. That is, until Suspicious Minds and Elvis completely loses the plot. They only make minor mistakes in Burning Love this time, and instead save that for An American Trilogy. They dropped Release Me? Bummer, I would have taken that over Funny How Time Slips Away yet again. A wonderful memento of this evening's show.

Highlights: Never Been to Spain, You Gave Me a Mountain, Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel, How Great Thou Art, I Can't Stop Loving You, Burning Love

8/10

Elvis On Tour: The Rehearsals - Elvis Presley

This is all very... here. Clearly even in rehearsal Elvis could not remember the words to Burning Love. I would guess it didn't last too long in the setlist after this tour. One thing this demonstrates that Elvis between songs, Elvis clearly enjoyed just randomly singing some of his old 50s numbers. If you want to hear Elvis and the band mess around with For the Good Times for an hour, then these discs are for you! The final takes are pretty impressive performances and are basically how Elvis and crew would have sounded in concert without an orchestra. I wish he had been around long enough to try that. The gospel jams here are again a standout.

Highlights: Burning Love [Version 1], Burning Love [Version 2], Never Been to Spain [Take 2], I John, Bosom of Abraham, You Better Run

6/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 502

2025 in 2025: Day 43

The Complete Elvis Presley Masters - Elvis Presley

1967 to 1977

Clambake... yeah... these songs are... songs? Maybe? Confidence is just bad, I can't even pretend anything else. The soundtrack for Speedway is better. Marginally. Crazy that someone heard this version of Guitar Man and thought 'this needs to be the central song to the 68 special!'; it isn't bad, but it certainly doesn't match the version recorded for the '68 Comeback Special. Anyways, I think we are done with soundtracks now. I have a few different versions of Elvis doing Too Much Monkey Business - they all are quite different - and this version has some pretty funky acoustic guitar and really subtle drums. It's pretty groovy. Clean Up Your Own Back Yard is about people being hypocrites telling other people how to live when they are doing the bad things - the irony of The King singing that is not lost on me. We hit 1969 for the brief tracks on here; I have these in some form as part of the From Elvis in Memphis reissue, but they are the mono masters there and I should have full stereo versions of Suspicious Minds and Kentucky Rain at all times. Strangely, I never got around to getting the On Stage reissue, so that pops in here. I can always take some 1970 live Elvis in Vegas fun. Interesting they abandoned the chronological order for the recording date and put this album in original tracklisting instead. I have not really listened to this album much, but I do enjoy that some of the songs have quite slower tempos to how they were performed on That's The Way It Is. I am yet to pick up the From Elvis in Nashville box set (despite having the follow up set, Back in Nashville), so from here we move on to the legendary first Nashville sessions. Well, except for the gospel recordings (I have those in a separate set as well). I'm not as in love with these as Elvis world would demand I be; they're okay, but mostly very country and I'm not the biggest country fan. It's fine, but I prefer rockin' Elvis. Or just straight up ballad Elvis. Or gospel Elvis. Huh, I guess I didn't remove the Back in Nashville tracks, because I am now Back in Nashville? Perhaps because these are the original masters and that set is all the overdubs removed. Interesting. I should put them on back to back and see which I prefer. But not right now, I still have about 20,000 other songs to listen to... like Elvis singing Christmas songs. The cowbell in Burning Love is life. I've finally made it to 1976, when Elvis is far from his physical peak. But his voice is more powerful than ever. I love the massive harmonies in Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall. This is a reminder I need to get that Jungle Room compilation so I can separate out all his final recordings and enjoy those outtakes as well. FUN FACT: the final live masters were recorded on my birthday... just 3 years before I was born. And because nothing is ever easy with me, these are all followed by bonus live masters. I'm guessing these weren't included in the main section because they are rarites than anything; some are poor quality (and I'm pretty sure a few of them are in the Boy From Tupelo set), some are different renditions not found elsewhere, and then there is the "laughing version" of Are You Lonesome Tonight, in which Elvis just breaks in to hysterics and derails the entire performance. I love that for him. The overdubbed version of Unchained Melody is certainly much cheesier than the original performance found on the main set (and recorded as a pre-birthday present to me!).

Highlights: Suspicious Minds, Kentucky Rain, Walk A Mile in My Shoes, Just Pretend, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, Where Did They Go Lord, Whole Lot-ta Shakin' Goin' On, Burning Love, Always On My Mind, Way Down

"Albums" listened to so far: 334