New Millbranch Release

[JohanD]

I have no idea if the mono versions are real, or just folddowns, but i do know it sounds very good.

About the dvd.
Very well and clever edited.
It's in themes, it goes back and forth from official material to import quality.
From (all kind of) rehearsal, on stage, in the studio, to live performances, it uses voice overs, unkown stuff and known.
I enjoyed it a lot.... Millbranch delivers a very fine product!

[Lee Wood]

Original mono releases from the mid 60s and onwards were often folddowns from stereo recordings.

Do you happen to know if that's the case for the MONO tracks included on the Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4 FTD? The sound on those tracks are incredibly clear... but I don't know how to tell an original MONO mix from a stereo folddown...

I'd better leave this for the experts to answer But stereo folddowns can be genuine. At some point the studios stopped doing dedicated mono versions, focusing on stereo instead, as many consumers had replaced / upgraded their systems from mono to stereo by then.

On topic: Has anyone received this release and watched the DVD?

See a couple of posts before yours.

[Paul Allen]

Original mono releases from the mid 60s and onwards were often folddowns from stereo recordings.

Do you happen to know if that's the case for the MONO tracks included on the Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4 FTD? The sound on those tracks are incredibly clear... but I don't know how to tell an original MONO mix from a stereo folddown...

I'd better leave this for the experts to answer But stereo folddowns can be genuine. At some point the studios stopped doing dedicated mono versions, focusing on stereo instead, as many consumers had replaced / upgraded their systems from mono to stereo by then.

Sorry to stray off topic... I just wanted to make an additional comment about a mono album that I was interested in...

Several months ago I saw an original 1969 RCA mono version of "From Elvis In Memphis" LPM-4155 (manufactured in South America) on eBay.
If I remember correctly, the price was about $45 or $55 with an additional cost of about $25 for shipping.
I was hesitant to buy it (and I didn't) because I wasn't sure if it was just a stereo folddown or a dedicated mono mix. If I had known for sure that it was a true dedicated mono mix, then I definitely would've bought it!

[emjel]

Original mono releases from the mid 60s and onwards were often folddowns from stereo recordings.

Do you happen to know if that's the case for the MONO tracks included on the Elvis' Gold Records Volume 4 FTD? The sound on those tracks are incredibly clear... but I don't know how to tell an original MONO mix from a stereo folddown...

I'd better leave this for the experts to answer But stereo folddowns can be genuine. At some point the studios stopped doing dedicated mono versions, focusing on stereo instead, as many consumers had replaced / upgraded their systems from mono to stereo by then.

Sorry to stray off topic... I just wanted to make an additional comment about a mono album that I was interested in...

Several months ago I saw an original 1969 RCA mono version of "From Elvis In Memphis" LPM-4155 (manufactured in South America) on eBay.
If I remember correctly, the price was about $45 or $55 with an additional cost of about $25 for shipping.
I was hesitant to buy it (and I didn't) because I wasn't sure if it was just a stereo folddown or a dedicated mono mix. If I had known for sure that it was a true dedicated mono mix, then I definitely would've bought it!

I doubt it was anything but a fold down from the stereo. The only other country I am aware of releasing FEIM in mono was the U.K.(RCA RD 8029) and with stereo being so popular as the listening format throughout the world at that time, I cannot see RCA spending time and money on producing a special mono mix just for a couple of countries.

[Edwin]

I have no idea if the mono versions are real, or just folddowns, but i do know it sounds very good.

About the dvd.
Very well and clever edited.
It's in themes, it goes back and forth from official material to import quality.
From (all kind of) rehearsal, on stage, in the studio, to live performances, it uses voice overs, unkown stuff and known.
I enjoyed it a lot.... Millbranch delivers a very fine product!

Hi Johan,
What is the 'unknown stuff' you mention?
Hope to hear more about it.
Thx

[billyblues]

Several months ago I saw an original 1969 RCA mono version of "From Elvis In Memphis" LPM-4155 (manufactured in South America) on eBay.
If I remember correctly, the price was about $45 or $55 with an additional cost of about $25 for shipping.
I was hesitant to buy it (and I didn't) because I wasn't sure if it was just a stereo folddown or a dedicated mono mix. If I had known for sure that it was a true dedicated mono mix, then I definitely would've bought it!

Quite possibly our (Brazilian) edition, which was a fold down of the stereo version. Mono was still around here until '72, so lots of albums were released in fold down mono. In the case of Elvis, his 1969 albums were released in mono only, but in 1970 they released On Stage in both mono and stereo editions.

By the way, I wouldn't recommend our Elvis records from back then for listening purposes. They don't sound good.

[ale]

Is it possible to post the trackilisting of the dvd?....is it split screen?
Thanks in advance

[JohanD]

I have no idea if the mono versions are real, or just folddowns, but i do know it sounds very good.

About the dvd.
Very well and clever edited.
It's in themes, it goes back and forth from official material to import quality.
From (all kind of) rehearsal, on stage, in the studio, to live performances, it uses voice overs, unkown stuff and known.
I enjoyed it a lot.... Millbranch delivers a very fine product!

Hi Johan,
What is the 'unknown stuff' you mention?
Hope to hear more about it.
Thx

For example, new (to me) where the parts you see him singing "It's now or never" and "A fool such as i"... Didn't had that on my 8dvd set from then....
It's really well done, a true fan product

[JohanD]

Is it possible to post the trackilisting of the dvd?....is it split screen?
Thanks in advance

There is no real "tracklist" , just the segmentsmenu where it all is build around.
There is much more to be seen then these parts.
Sorry for the bad pics...
It's very well edited!

As for the audio: very good too! The mono stuff really stands out, so glad to have "The next step is love" in this quality, my to go to version from now on!
The master of "Bridge" without the harmony vocal is beautiful too.....

[ale]

Ok, thanks Johan
At least...do you remember how many songs contains the dvd?....aprox

[trevorelvis]

Does anyone have a contact for millbranch music
If they’re reading this I often sell the occasional bootleg on my Facebook group and page his truth is marching on
We have over 160,000 members


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[rockinrebel]

The U.K. mono version of From Elvis In Memphis is definitely a fold down, rather than a dedicated mix, but it does have a great, punchy sound.

I have no idea whether all of the Millbranch mixes are genuine. The sleevenotes make reference to mono single masters and the Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits sets, but I'm still not sure why tracks that were only ever intended for stereo albums would be given dedicated mono mixes.

That said, it's a great listen overall, and The Next Step Is Love is a real highlight. I appreciate the work that went into the DVD, in terms of editing and syncing audio, but it's probably not something I would watch on a regular basis due to the quality of the source material.

[LSP-4445]

The only positive thing about this release for me is that the editing is very good but still this is not a dvd I will watch again due to the poor video quality.
Also some nice&rare footage that could be included is missing on this release like the Live version of Words.(unless I fell asleep and missed it)
And the cd was nothing special either…..and Mary In The Morning gave me some kind of headache so skipped that one after 30 sec or so.
Weird.

[YDKM]

Hmm hardly an essential release then!?

[On Tape 1972]

Hmm hardly an essential release then!?

I've now seen most of the DVD and listened to the CD. Some of the mono tracks on the CD sound genuine, others sound no different than the regular masters folded down to a single channel. However I do not own any of the Venus titles, so I've no idea where all the tracks were "borrowed" from. The unreleased "takes" of Sylvia are a bit of a joke. The takes 5-7 consist of about a minute of studio talk, a few count-ins, no music whatsoever and all of that extended with Sylvia take 8 from a different source.

The DVD is over-edited and lacks a clear direction. The film starts off promising, with a nice intro but after that it's too many cuts, split-screens (sometimes 3 x Elvis) and it tries to be everywhere all at once. But I've yet to see the final 45 minutes so who knows, maybe it'll finish nicely.

Overall, I've enjoyed MBM's previous releases a lot more than this one.

[rockinrebel]

I think they've found a niche with the CD / DVD combos, and their presentation is excellent. However, the main selling point is always going to be new material, or at least superior sources for the footage, but in the case of the TTWII out takes, the same source material has been circulating for years, and this is what Millbranch have used here.

Given that The Lost Performances featured a good selection of the newly recorded Nashville studio masters in the live setting, and the picture quality is better than the out takes, I thought Millbranch might have used this for the basis of their documentary.

However, had that been the case, I'm sure some fans would have been disappointed, given that the footage is already quite common. Whereas in comparison, whilst the TTWII out takes are certainly not scarce in collector's circles, the raw footage isn't something you would want to watch on a regular basis, and there has certainly been an attempt to put it to good use here.

The problem now though, as opposed to when this material first started circulating on VHS tapes many years ago, is that we are all used to HD video and don't have quite as much patience for poor quality footage anymore. Therefore, a great idea couldn't be fully realised due to the quality of the source material, but I certainly appreciate the efforts.

[thermoking]

I am very impressed with this set. It strikes me that the DVD should not really be watched on the laptop, but it looks really nice on TV. We are back in the VHS era. I just Can't help believing is a real highlight, but I also think Polk Salad Annie and the Walk are great. I had never seen the support act before.
I have twenty of those DVDs all watermarked and green bits.

It's a real shame that Warner never took the trouble to make it a nice musical document.
i read the criticism about Silvia, would be very strange the Venus and the Millbranch came out almost at the same time

The tracklisting of the dvd

Opening
You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
Got My Mojo Workin'
A Thing Called Love (By The Imperials)
The Other Side (By The Imperials)
That's All Right
I Just Can't Help Believin'
One Night
A Fool Such As I
Froggy Went A Courtin'
Such A Night
It's Now Or Never
Tiger Man
Make The World Go Away
I've Lost You
Polk Salad Annie
The Walk
You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
Hound Dog
Blue Suede Shoes
Heartbreak Hotel
Mary In The Morning
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Stranger In The Crowd
There Goes My Everything
Just Pretend
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
The Next Step Is Love
Patch It Up
Love Me Tender
Little Sister / Get Back
Suspicious Minds
Can't Help Falling In Love
Suzy Q (instrumental)
Are You Lonesome Tonigh