Collecting The King
By Robert Alaniz
Follow That Dream
CD Reviews
The Follow That Dream CD series has been a true blessing to fans of
Elvis’ music and the people at FTD continue to bring us some great
releases. But with the state of the economy today and the hefty price tags
attached to these CDs, fans are more than a little hesitant on which ones to
spend their hard earned money on. Here are my own personal reviews of some
of the recent 2008-2009 FTD releases that may help you sort out the
best for your buck.
The “Collecting The King” rating system:
5 STARS = essential Elvis.
4 STARS = worth having
3 STARS = consider it
2 STARS = marginal
1 STAR = pass on this one
STANDING ROOM ONLY
– This is a very interesting FTD release where Ernst Jorgensen and
company has re-imagined the proposed RCA LP release from the early 70’s,
which was scrapped in favor of the Elvis Recorded Live At Madison
Square Garden LP. The cover of this 2-disc CD package
features the original concept cover for Standing Room Only LP
(the full body picture of Elvis on stage was used for Madison Square
Garden instead). This is a great concept release and one that
I really enjoyed. Although all the songs here offer nothing new, it is
interesting to imagine what the original Standing Room Only
release would’ve been like had RCA gone through with the project.
Elvis: That’s The Way It Is is one of my all time favorite Elvis LPs
and to think that (according to the liner notes) they were considering this
to be another LP patterned after that one is intriguing. Combining studio
recordings and live performances (specially recorded for this LP release)
also makes for an interesting take on where Elvis’ taste in music was at the
time. I still don’t know why Elvis was compelled to record songs by Perry
Como or a show tune from Man Of La Mancha. The second disc contains
alternate takes of most of the studio material on the first disc with
nothing really exceptional but still fun to hear. In addition, FTD
chose to release a special vinyl 2 record set of this release. Being a
collector of Elvis’ records, I was excited to hear that they were doing
this. However, I was quite disappointed with the picture of Elvis used on
the front of the gatefold cover. Opting not to match the CD, FTD
decided to go with a different cover, which was a fine idea. It’s just that
the picture they chose (a slightly out of focus head shot of Elvis in a blue
jump suit, looking upward) looks like it came from an old bootleg LP from
the 80’s. With the thousands of concert photos taken of Elvis during that
time span, they could have picked a better one.
RATING: CD: 4 STARS –
VINYL: 3 STARS
BLUE HAWAII – Elvis’ movie soundtracks are my
favorite FTD releases. Even though they were ignored by music critics
of the day as being nothing more than processed fluff for his movies, they
still played a part in Elvis’ musical career whether the music was good, bad
or even ugly. The FTD releases usually include many treats from the
vaults (as well as original soundtrack recordings taken directly from the
movie) and I am always surprised at what they come up with. Not so much the
case here with Blue Hawaii. As with most of the previous movie
soundtrack releases, this 2 CD release includes another great booklet filled
with interesting movie production facts and lots of alternate takes from the
soundtrack recording sessions. However, there’s nothing really new here that
hardcore fans of Elvis’ movie music haven’t already heard. Most of the
material on the second disc consists of alternate takes that originally
showed up on a couple of bootleg LP sets (there were a LOT of alternate
takes) from the 70’s called The Blue Hawaii Sessions.
Still, it’s a great all-in-one package of the original Blue Hawaii
LP and the best of the alternate takes. Like Standing Room Only,
FTD decided to produce another vinyl 2 LP set of Blue Hawaii.
But unlike SRO, the front of the gatefold cover of this LP was a
pleasant surprise. Maybe knowing very well that there has been numerous
(close to ten) reissues of Blue Hawaii on vinyl, FTD
decided to go with an original and unique cover that mirrors the original in
design, but uses an entirely different picture of Elvis holding a ukulele
(probably from the same photo shoot as the original). What a great cover!
RATING: CD: 4 STARS –
VINYL: 5 STARS
ELVIS PRESLEY – IN PERSON AT THE INTERNATIONAL HOTEL, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA –Another
International Hotel concert from 1969? Well, actually it’s the first one
that was released by RCA on LP in 1969 as part of a 2 LP set entitled
From Memphis to Vegas / From Vegas To Memphis. This 2-disc FTD
CD release is from the live LP of the original release featuring all the
songs from that LP on disc one and a different ’69 concert on the second
disc. Once again, here we have historic recordings from Elvis’ career that
is mandatory for any Elvis fan however you look at it.
RATING: 5 STARS
LOVE LETTERS FROM ELVIS
– At first I was a little surprised when I heard that FTD was
releasing this CD, being that the original LP was such a big flop. But after
giving this 2 CD set a fair chance, I have to say that this is now one of my
favorite FTD releases. In addition to the songs that were originally
released on this LP, FTD has included some interesting stand out
alternate takes and undubbed masters, as well as an original radio
commercial promoting the LP. In fact, it is those takes that make this
FTD release well worth owning.
RATING: 5 STARS
WILD IN THE COUNTRY – As I said before, I love Elvis’ movie soundtracks. Unfortunately, this single-disc CD of a soundtrack that never was should have easily been left that way. Not only are the songs on this CD not very good (with the exception of “Lonely Man”), they don’t even feel like they belong together. This comes off like a blatant attempt at putting together a movie soundtrack from a collection of songs and alternates that do nothing for the overall concept. Nice attempt, but not worth the money. RATING: 1 STAR
A NOTE ON ALTERNATE TAKES: The Follow That Dream series make great use of alternate takes in almost all of their releases. But let’s face it, you need a scorecard to keep track of all the alternate takes that are put on these releases. Without accurate knowledge of Elvis’ complete recordings sessions, the average fan could easily be duped into believing they have something they’ve never heard before. If alternate takes are one of the main reasons you buy FTD CDs, do your homework and pay close attention to the take numbers on the songs in each release and make sure you don’t already have them on another CD.
Robert Alaniz
SOUNDZ GOOD RECORDS
Be sure to read Robert's column "Collecting the King"
in Elvis® International Magazine.