1) A nice alt take of In the Ghetto opens the album. Quite similar to other takes we've heard of this song in its basic undubbed studio sound. Labelled take 13, I suppose it must be take 14, but I haven't had the time to check this. One other fine performance of this classic song.
2) I've always loved take 16 of You'll think of Me, officially released on Suspicious Minds. This much earlier take 8 is less polished, with Reggie Young still a bit behind on sitar and Elvis flat in a few spots. The performance gets better and better as the song progresses.
3) After 2 brief falsestarts, with Elvis commenting "yeah, it's too slow now I think", a complete take 4 of Do you Know Who I am ? follows. A sincere performance, but Elvis and the band haven't nailed the song yet and Elvis singing variation and comment at the end make it clear enough he knew this.
4) I've liked If you don't Come Back for as long as I remember, even though it's clearly not the best song that the famed Leiber & Stoller team came up with and Elvis wasn't in top vocal form either. This take is actually stronger in my opinion that the take released on Rhythm and Country and almost as good as the master. On the other hand, the mix and mastering may be a bit dry for this kind of funky material.
5) We've only had a late outtake of Three Corn Patches up to now (issued on Rhythm and Country as well). Here take 6 presents a different, slower approach. I like this arrangement but the least one can say it that Elvis doesn't sound fully focussed towards the end of the song, not even half interested. He must have had real doubts cutting this. I still enjoy this nice, cool performance, with a true R&B feel.
6) A true highlight of the CD is a late take of Find Out What's Happening. Elvis annonces the take with "Lucky 7 !" He starts the song sounding a bit uninvolved but soon wakes up and then everybody seems to enjoy the music. The feel is infectious. When the song falls apart after a long final repeat, Elvis comments to the backing female vocalists "Hey, that's good girls, whatever you're doing..."
7) It's Midnight is an all-time favourite of mine and any unreleased take is treasured, especially when Elvis' vocal is so much clearer here than it was on the originally released master. Elvis really wanted to cut a perfect version of this and he went through no less than 19 takes until he declared himself satisfied. In this take he sings absolutely wonderfully with expression and genuine emotion. Though the backing vocals are not 100% perfect, this almost matches the master in my heart. Just this track is worth the price of admission to me - I know I'm crazy, please don't post to tell me
8 ) Thinking about You is next. Brief rehearsals, two false starts and a full 4 minute extended version. I love the song and performance. Delicious alternate guitar by James Burton and inventive drums by Ronnie : I call this happiness.
9) A great song is You Asked me To. After a brief rehearsal and A LOT of studio chatter (technical problems ? Elvis has the answer: "sh*t !"), we are treated to a very nice first take. After 3 and a half minutes of jam-like recording, Elvis halts the group by inventing new lyrics : instead of "Let the world call me a fool" he sings "Fade this sonof@b.. right now... !"
Track 10 starts with Elvis rehearsing the tune of Solitaire, imitating some gear changes, before mumbling "I'm gonna kill Neil Sedaka when I see him". An almost disturbingly intimate take of Solitaire follows. Elvis voice is still appealing to me. Strong where full force is used, but frail and broken in the softer moments. Maybe this quality of strain in Elvis vocals at this stage is what adds to the poignancy of these performances for those who can take it. The sound quality is the best we've heard yet from the JR sessions (along with Danny Boy take 9 on Leg. Perf 8 .)
Track 11 presents take 3 (FS) and 4 of the slow arrangement of She Thinks I Still Care. So slow it is actually, that I almost felt like falling asleep during the repeat of the title phrase at the end of the song... A beautiful song and performance in spite of this.
12) By take 6 of Moody Blue the band and Elvis were really cooking. Unfortunately Elvis looses ground amid song. He quickly catches up with the lyrics and swings the song to complete it with a very long extended ending (4 minute performance). Very good sound. Truly nice mix of the basic arrangement before overdubs. Another highlight to me.
13) Bitter They are, Harder They fall follows. Take 1, but already almost perfect.
14) Love Coming Down take 4. Great sound + great performance = emotion. What more can we ask for ?
15) I've never liked the double vocal parts of For The Heart. Doubling the lead vocals really doesn't fit a rockabilly-type song in my opinion. That's why I've always favoured the undubbed version released on Our Memories of Elvis. But this one take (5) is nicely mixed aw well, with Elvis voice keeping the edge throughout the song. While the lead guitar might have been brought more forward in the mix, this remains a great mix of a truly great performance. Another highlight !
16-20) We come to the Thompson home recordings and this has been improved soundwise compared to Elvis by the Presleys and previous releases. Unfortunately the 5 songs included don't tell the full story as the songs with Linda have been left out following FTD policy when it comes to other solo vocalists than Elvis himself. On the other hand, it's a nice balancing touch that the disc finishes with Elvis' laughter after he tells his infamous Ode to a robin "poem" !
Another very nice point is they have included a brief text by Sam Thompson describing his relationship with Elvis and the full story of that recording. I didn't know that the original cassette of this intimate moment had been destroyed by a fire at his home in 1993. As Sam concludes, "the copy from the original tape, made in 1978 by David Briggs, is all that survives."
Overall I enjoyed this kind of a "mishmash" release much more than I expected. If you are like me and like Elvis as recorded in Memphis best, don't deprive yourself of the joy of discovering these fine studio outtakes of one of the greatest vocalists ever. The sound is really good, though the '69 tracks and the July '73 tracks (tracks 1-6) sound a touch dry. These must come from pretty old (DAT ?) mixes. On the other hand, the December '73 are very good and the Graceland recordings excellent. As for the Thompson recordings, whether you'll prefer a rougher sound as heard on bootlegs or this more cleaned up version is gonna be a matter of taste.
VERY Impressed by your review!! just cannot wait now to get this FTD CD!
Nice packaging, otherwise. 
Don't your audiophile concerns (many not shared by other audiophiles) ever take a backseat to top-shelf packaging and terrific outtakes? Sheesh! 