Young Ernst talks about "On Tour" tapes in EMM

[Rockin_John]

I wonder how many pages this post will be by next September?

[drjohncarpenter]

https://elv75.blogspot.com/2021/06/june-10-ftd-announced-elvis-on-tour.html

Was the announcement from David an exclusive to this blog?

If not, what is the source of the quote?

I see nothing that indicates one or the other.

[drjohncarpenter]

As long as I am not forced to buy one, two or three books to get unreleased Shows by Sony, I would be very happy.
Otherwise I will skip it. I do not start - after being a fan since 45 years - collecting photos or books.

So we are going to have to buy one or two large format books just to get the audio.

Sometimes FTD's policy makes bootlegging inevitable.

Such absurdity. No one is "forced" to buy any official Elvis Presley product. Period.

The fact of the matter is that most FTD book projects will not get a green light without audio elements being a part of the package. I've mentioned this many times here, but it seems to go in one ear and out the other.

David English’ books go deeper than being just books with a bunch of photos.

Bingo.

The value of the information gathered with the photos is far beyond those of any other Presley photo journals on the market. A great deal of misinformation comes from those other products, who place almost no emphasis on getting the facts right.

Also, the images in the FTD books come from research and very often from the original negative or print, another important difference.

[Johnny2523]

https://elv75.blogspot.com/2021/06/june-10-ftd-announced-elvis-on-tour.html

Was the announcement from David an exclusive to this blog?

If not, what is the source of the quote?

I see nothing that indicates one or the other.

FECC was the source of the quote
https://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1837758#p1837758

[drjohncarpenter]

There is no excuse for any bootlegging of Elvis material in the 21st century. FTD was created to take on the bootleggers, but that wasnt enough for many fans, who wanted both. I have no time for anyone who has praised or worked with bootleggers over the last ten or fifteen years. Every soundboard or alternate take (of copyrighted material) released on bootleg before Sony is theoretically taking sales away from FTD.

I am the first to state that FTD is often sloppy, lazy, and even slapping the face of those who have supported it, but supporting those who have got hold of copyrighted tapes illegally is also a slap in the face for FTD. It is perfectly clear that the bootlegs of EOT material are going to affect subsequent sales of legal releases of the same material.

This you?

I grew up with "Aloha" and "MSG" and "In Person" ...

[snip]

I haven't bought (or, indeed, played) many bootleg concerts for some time, but I have always liked Holding Back The Years. We used to stock Elvis "imports" under the counter in a record shop I used to work in and this one got played many times over the years as background music in the shop - and I of course bought a copy too! The sound is remarkably good.

You can't blame the companies that exploit the 50 year rule, Doc.

Sure I can. A robber baron is a robber baron, regardless of any lapse in copyright law.

[pmp]

There is no excuse for any bootlegging of Elvis material in the 21st century. FTD was created to take on the bootleggers, but that wasnt enough for many fans, who wanted both. I have no time for anyone who has praised or worked with bootleggers over the last ten or fifteen years. Every soundboard or alternate take (of copyrighted material) released on bootleg before Sony is theoretically taking sales away from FTD.

I am the first to state that FTD is often sloppy, lazy, and even slapping the face of those who have supported it, but supporting those who have got hold of copyrighted tapes illegally is also a slap in the face for FTD. It is perfectly clear that the bootlegs of EOT material are going to affect subsequent sales of legal releases of the same material.

This you?

I grew up with "Aloha" and "MSG" and "In Person" ...

[snip]

I haven't bought (or, indeed, played) many bootleg concerts for some time, but I have always liked Holding Back The Years. We used to stock Elvis "imports" under the counter in a record shop I used to work in and this one got played many times over the years as background music in the shop - and I of course bought a copy too! The sound is remarkably good.

I am rather confused, Doc.
Are you:
(a) Unable to comprehend my post on this thread;
(b) Not aware of when the 21st Century started
(c) Unaware of when certain bootlegs were released
or
(d) All of the above?

FTD started in 1999.
Holding Back the Years came out in 1995.
I was working in the record shop after I left school, covering the period 1992-1997. (I know. I don't look that old. You don't have to say it.)

My post is absolutely explicit that I am talking about the 21st century, and after FTD came into being. I even state it in the opening two sentences, just to help you along.

If your comprehension really is that bad, perhaps we know why you didn't write a book after all. And you really are getting desperate if you have to go back thirteen years to 2008 in order to make a failed attempt to call me out. How much of your day did you waste on that wild goose chase.

Not a good day at the office for you, was it?

[Buddy]

As long as I am not forced to buy one, two or three books to get unreleased Shows by Sony, I would be very happy.
Otherwise I will skip it. I do not start - after being a fan since 45 years - collecting photos or books.

So we are going to have to buy one or two large format books just to get the audio.

Sometimes FTD's policy makes bootlegging inevitable.

Such absurdity. No one is "forced" to buy any official Elvis Presley product. Period.

The fact of the matter is that most FTD book projects will not get a green light without audio elements being a part of the package. I've mentioned this many times here, but it seems to go in one ear and out the other.

David English’ books go deeper than being just books with a bunch of photos.

Bingo.

The value of the information gathered with the photos is far beyond those of any other Presley photo journals on the market. A great deal of misinformation comes from those other products, who place almost no emphasis on getting the facts right.

Also, the images in the FTD books come from research and very often from the original negative or print, another important difference.

IF you quote a message of me, please mark the complete sentence.
As long as I am not forced to buy one, two or three books ...I have added "TO GET UNRELEASED SHOWS"

it is more than a fact that FTD TRIES to force the fans.
IF a fan wants to hear and own the complete 1970.TTWII rehearsals HE/SHE H A S to buy the very expensive book/CD set. There is no way to buy/get/collect them without paying for the expensive books.
Of course everyone is able to skip a book/CD release but then he will never get the unreleased audio stuff.
AND THAT IS A SHAME ....

FTD has done that already many times...

[joekro1977]

Such absurdity. No one is "forced" to buy any official Elvis Presley product. Period.

The fact of the matter is that most FTD book projects will not get a green light without audio elements being a part of the package. I've mentioned this many times here, but it seems to go in one ear and out the other.

Don't act the fool Doc, it's not a good look.

The Book projects pre-2019 or so were almost all supplemented with audio material that was either substandard or otherwise already readily available elsewhere. The audio was included as a "nice bonus" for a person purchasing the book. In almost all cases had the audio been released on it's own it would not have sold well at all. Hawaii 61, MSG Opening Show, Change of Habit, etc. are all good examples of this.

Now the new mold has been cast. The purchase of the book(s) is a necessary (and expensive) evil to acquire highly desired and exclusive audio material.

The game has changed - don't act like you don't recognize this.

[rockinrebel]

As long as I am not forced to buy one, two or three books to get unreleased Shows by Sony, I would be very happy.
Otherwise I will skip it. I do not start - after being a fan since 45 years - collecting photos or books.

So we are going to have to buy one or two large format books just to get the audio.

Sometimes FTD's policy makes bootlegging inevitable.

Such absurdity. No one is "forced" to buy any official Elvis Presley product. Period.

The fact of the matter is that most FTD book projects will not get a green light without audio elements being a part of the package. I've mentioned this many times here, but it seems to go in one ear and out the other.

David English’ books go deeper than being just books with a bunch of photos.

Bingo.

The value of the information gathered with the photos is far beyond those of any other Presley photo journals on the market. A great deal of misinformation comes from those other products, who place almost no emphasis on getting the facts right.

Also, the images in the FTD books come from research and very often from the original negative or print, another important difference.

Regardless of the quality of the books, this is still a cynical marketing ploy from FTD.

FTD are aware that fans who wouldn't normally want to buy a CD / book package might be swayed because of the audio content. Particularly as three of the four multitrack concert recordings have been gathering dust in the vaults for the past 50 years.

As joekro1977 has said, the vast majority of the audio that was issued with FTD CD / book packages prior to 2019 was previously released, but now the game has changed.

Of course no one is being forced to buy anything, but it goes without saying that a book packaged with
a significant amount of previously unissued audio is going to generate more demand amongst collectors.

The CD's used to be a nice bonus for anyone that bought the books, but now the previously unissued material is being used to sell the books.

[Z0S0]

ok this is now the THIRD current ongoing "On Tour " thread on here - not to mention probably 500 more from the past 15years !

despite lots of things being pointed out people seem to either not listen or refuse to believe or just cant grasp the truth - almost like there is a conspiracy or something !

Lets get some facts out there :

There is an On tour DELUXE project being worked on right now - thats official ! The four shows from the original mastertapes are very much in the possession of the people who need them!

They havnt been released BEFORE NOW because they we're always holding out hope unreleased
(ie: a revamped movie) On Tour footage would be put out and the audio could be put out together, just as in the same manner as the searcher (for example)

The most likely time for this to have happened was after the release of TTWII S.E but it didnt create the sales or critical acclaim to warrant the $1.5 million it cost to put together
(back then!!)


The lack of sales from a movie that the suits (if not the world at large) show a younger, leaner, healthier looking elvis made them assume and probably quite rightly the "on tour " elvis who lets face it in certain scenes is very much "ETA " elvis would sell even less !

Thats the reason it was shelved there & then forever - after TTWII S.E was THE time for it if ever and they rejected it - that ship has now sailed !
as ive already explained in great detail the costs NOW 20yrs later would be astronomical !

If we cant even get the original movie with the original music (JBG) why & how on earth do you imagine we would get the full hampton show on a blu ray /4K etc !!!!

There will be a book because after 50 years its a big deal and it deserves the appropriate FTD DELUXE treatment -
The shows will sound fantastic because they are the first generation 16 track tapes
and they can be MIXED in 100 different ways !

- as good as the amigas and all the previous boots have been - they are not from the first generation masters - they are not even copies of those and in the case of RICHMOND i would guess thats at least a 5th Generation copy !
they are FIXED dubs - ie: they cannot & have not been MIXED , hence the lack of bass etc etc

FTDS RICHMOND will not sound like " red hot in richmond " - an unmixed high generation copy!


as well as the shows they have all the mock sessions/rehearsals and again the mastertapes and they can, do & will sound fantastic (except buffalo) check out the "on tour rehearsals" FTD - dennis ferrante made those recordings sparkle and i HOPE he gets to mix the new project!

I would say be realistic about exactly what this project will contain though !
do we need a bunch of substandard "for the good times" ? do we need that "gospel medley" yet again ??

Its coming next year, itll be a great project, there WONT be new footage ! it wont cost 400 euros etc etc

[pmp]

ok this is now the THIRD current ongoing "On Tour " thread on here - not to mention probably 500 more from the past 15years !

despite lots of things being pointed out people seem to either not listen or refuse to believe or just cant grasp the truth - almost like there is a conspiracy or something !

Lets get some facts out there :

There is an On tour DELUXE project being worked on right now - thats official ! The four shows from the original mastertapes are very much in the possession of the people who need them!

I think you are reading too much into the comments by David. He says the audio elements of the release are to be finalised. So, while we are assuming they are the concerts, we do not know that they are. It could still be rehearsal material or the mock session.

They havnt been released BEFORE NOW because they we're always holding out hope unreleased
(ie: a revamped movie) On Tour footage would be put out and the audio could be put out together, just as in the same manner as the searcher (for example)

The most likely time for this to have happened was after the release of TTWII S.E but it didnt create the sales or critical acclaim to warrant the $1.5 million it cost to put together
(back then!!)


The lack of sales from a movie that the suits (if not the world at large) show a younger, leaner, healthier looking elvis made them assume and probably quite rightly the "on tour " elvis who lets face it in certain scenes is very much "ETA " elvis would sell even less !

Thats the reason it was shelved there & then forever - after TTWII S.E was THE time for it if ever and they rejected it - that ship has now sailed !
as ive already explained in great detail the costs NOW 20yrs later would be astronomical !

If we cant even get the original movie with the original music (JBG) why & how on earth do you imagine we would get the full hampton show on a blu ray /4K etc !!!!

There will be a book because after 50 years its a big deal and it deserves the appropriate FTD DELUXE treatment -
The shows will sound fantastic because they are the first generation 16 track tapes
and they can be MIXED in 100 different ways !

If the 50th anniversary was that big of a deal, this would be a boxed set at retail level, as has been seen with the TV show of 1968, the live shows of 1969, the live shows of 1970, and Nashville 1970. And yet it's tucked away on FTD. While the book might be masterful, the reason for pairing unreleased audio to books is to suck as much money out of fans as possible. And I don't mean to denigrate anything that David produces, but the truth is that many would not buy the book if it didn't have the audio with it. And it's not a cheap book. It's a cynical ploy, and that's very sad both for fans and for David's work which doesn't deserve to be linked to such an exercise.

- as good as the amigas and all the previous boots have been - they are not from the first generation masters - they are not even copies of those and in the case of RICHMOND i would guess thats at least a 5th Generation copy !
they are FIXED dubs - ie: they cannot & have not been MIXED , hence the lack of bass etc etc

FTDS RICHMOND will not sound like " red hot in richmond " - an unmixed high generation copy!

as well as the shows they have all the mock sessions/rehearsals and again the mastertapes and they can, do & will sound fantastic (except buffalo) check out the "on tour rehearsals" FTD - dennis ferrante made those recordings sparkle and i HOPE he gets to mix the new project

That could be unlikely. He passed away in 2015.

[emjel]

I wonder how many fans buy Eric’s books and those big expensive triple sets. How many are likely to buy the forthcoming On Tour set later this year.

[Robert]

in the case of RICHMOND i would guess thats at least a 5th Generation copy !
.....
FTDS RICHMOND will not sound like " red hot in richmond " - an unmixed high generation copy!

You may have missed the Richmond releases throughout the years..

The Rock Label came out with a sound upgrade in 2013
But both Black Diamond & Victrola re-released Richmond in 2018, offering far superior sound to the original Red hot in Richmond boot.

Check out the 2018 sound, Richmond has the best audio available out of the 4 shows recorded.

Personally I mainly look for forward to Greensboro, including Jerry Scheff since all import releases are without the bass track..
And Hampton Roads multi track sound a la the Lost Performances, that will be incredible.

[samses]

By the way, I find it strange that my FECC friends seem confident that Ernst has all the "On Tour" tapes and will release them next year. I still believe that there are issues we don't know about. Twenty years after they were recorded, Ernst confessed that they didn't have all the tapes, and like I said he's hinted at this in recent times too - either that he doesn't have them, or that he can't release them. Hopefully I'm wrong. I guess we'll find out eventually.

I've heard someplace that MGM owns the tapes, and not Sony. Could that be true?

The shows were recorded on multi-track by both RCA and MGM. MGM probably own their tapes.

[Z0S0]

I think you are reading too much into the comments by David. He says the audio elements of the release are to be finalised. So, while we are assuming they are the concerts, we do not know that they are. It could still be rehearsal material or the mock session.

im not reading into COMMENTS - im carefully making statements from private conversations and im fully aware the AUDIO contents have not been finalised, im not privy to the whats or whys but my understanding is that this set may very well NOT include every snippet of audio like TTWii set did but in my own view that doesnt necessarily matter because theres a lot of repetition that quite superfluous anyway !

If the 50th anniversary was that big of a deal, this would be a boxed set at retail level, as has been seen with the TV show of 1968, the live shows of 1969, the live shows of 1970, and Nashville 1970. And yet it's tucked away on FTD. While the book might be masterful, the reason for pairing unreleased audio to books is to suck as much money out of fans as possible. And I don't mean to denigrate anything that David produces, but the truth is that many would not buy the book if it didn't have the audio with it. And it's not a cheap book. It's a cynical ploy, and that's very sad both for fans and for David's work which doesn't deserve to be linked to such an exercise.

I didnt mean it was a big deal out in the real world and i think you know that, we dont have to
be condescending or pedantic.

The Beatles ABBEY ROAD 50th set was probably a far bigger deal to the average music fan but i dont think that was much of a big deal out in the world either ! maybe im taking your tone wrong, its hard to read thru text or maybe youve spent too much time sparring with the doc?

i mean its a big deal in OUR world - the FTD world, the FECC world et al, we have all waited for the ON TOUR tapes forever, and i actually suspect if it wasnt for the 50 year copyright issue they would probably still be leaving them just a little while longer !

you know aswell as i do a £150 on tour box set in the dvd section of sainsburys is not gonna do a thing ! where would you even go for a box like that " at retail" now : andys records/our price/woolworths/HMV ???

NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING ELVIS will ever be a BIG deal to the world at large anymore,
it doesnt matter what it is - if an actual pristine SUN master tape (or acetate) of "tiger Man" was found at a garage sale, who would really care?? about from DJC !!!

if it turned out there was pro news footage of opening night 1969 in pristine quality, who would care outside of us ??? Or even just a pristine soundboard of that show ? it would sell 5000 copies on FTD !

frankly im surprised the 69 live set WAS retail and not ftd only , the 68 comeback obviously has a USP to it and its a very easy set to throw together & throw on the shelfs - that material has all been mixed & mastered many times over!

The pied piper footage - i believe you know a lot more about that than i would even imagine, but again who would care now ?

as for the whole book/cd combo package - this may surprise you but i agree with you !
i DO think "on Tour " is interesting enough though (you only have to look at all the posts on here) that it warrants investigation and personally the more film/recording logs & tape legends etc etc i can see the better ! Theres a lot to learn about that project so in that case i think its warranted!

personally i dont buy elvis books anymore, david does a superb job but i only own the TTWii set and the TCB book of his - which i think is a staggering piece of work actually, the research & depth in that is very very commendable - photos aside !

i sold ALL of the ftd books i did buy, "live in texas" etc etc even "writing for the king" and that was a masterpiece, ive never bought 1 of ERIKS books - those i think are OTT cash grabs !

I stopped buying EVERY ftd about 12 years ago, i am VERY selective about what i buy now, so yeah i agree with you that we shouldnt be held to ransom so to speak to buy a book(s) when we ONLY want the audio - there SHOULD be a choice !! And i agree its not the most fan friendly approach, infact its amazing how the shadow of the good ol colonel still looms large over the Elvis world.

if i was running ftd i would put out multiple versions, i think Ftd should have an approach more like paul McCartney (as 1 example) does

https://shop.paulmccartney.com/collections/bundles

BUT we dont know what EJ & RS are allowed to do - the bigwigs that give the green light probably dictate a certain RRP that can only be justified with a book (or 2) thrown in ???
i dont know - who knows why a lot of things have happened with FTD ??

its overall been an AMAZING 20years but there have been mistakes, cash grabs , awful shows that never should have seen the light of day, the stupid pitch issues are a joke, anyone who can strum an E chord on a guitar can spot that right away, let alone a professional music engineer!

But overall we are blessed to have such a label where every single release is totally optional , its not like its a subscription service where you HAVE to buy every single release.
if people dont want the ON TOUR box or the upcoming 73 "soundbooth" shows just dont order them , i didnt think the TTWII rehearsal set would be much of a success at all quite honestly -
and look what happened there !

That could be unlikely. He passed away in 2015.

I had no idea, thats a shame he had a great ear and did some of the best FTD mixing IMO !

[Z0S0]

in the case of RICHMOND i would guess thats at least a 5th Generation copy !
.....
FTDS RICHMOND will not sound like " red hot in richmond " - an unmixed high generation copy!

You may have missed the Richmond releases throughout the years..

no i keep up with every release, 1970 and 1972 are my favourite live eras, i remember listening to "between takes" on hissy cassettes tapes in the early 90s ! Ive had them all at 1 point or another; "sweet carolina" "cadillac elvis " etc etc

i used "red hot in richmond" as an example because that was a particularly high gen copy and my point being, that still stands is that the FTD master will absolutely bury it !

Im not sure if the more recent releases we're lower gen copys, they may well have been or they well have been simply polished with audacity ? who knows !
but the point still stands - they are not the 16 track master tapes mixed in a professional studio!

when we get them, There shouldnt be any inconsistency in the sound quality of the 4 shows - Hampton shouldnt sound better than richmond or vice versa etc !

I expect them to sound very similar to the MSG set

[Rockin_John]

I don't know who Kevin Higgins is or his source, but he just posted this on facebook:

Update
Confirmed THE FTD project will be only audio only at the moment despite previous comments contents of the set to be confirmed as soon as we know more we will let you know

[emjel]

I don't know who Kevin Higgins is or his source, but he just posted this on facebook:

Update
Confirmed THE FTD project will be only audio only at the moment despite previous comments contents of the set to be confirmed as soon as we know more we will let you know

He’s the guy who is trying to convince Warner’s there is a big enough market for a revamped Elvis On Tour with his petition which so far has 3,740 signatures.

[chop983]

There is no excuse for any bootlegging of Elvis material in the 21st century. FTD was created to take on the bootleggers, but that wasnt enough for many fans, who wanted both. I have no time for anyone who has praised or worked with bootleggers over the last ten or fifteen years. Every soundboard or alternate take (of copyrighted material) released on bootleg before Sony is theoretically taking sales away from FTD.

I am the first to state that FTD is often sloppy, lazy, and even slapping the face of those who have supported it, but supporting those who have got hold of copyrighted tapes illegally is also a slap in the face for FTD. It is perfectly clear that the bootlegs of EOT material are going to affect subsequent sales of legal releases of the same material.

This you?

I grew up with "Aloha" and "MSG" and "In Person" ...

[snip]

I haven't bought (or, indeed, played) many bootleg concerts for some time, but I have always liked Holding Back The Years. We used to stock Elvis "imports" under the counter in a record shop I used to work in and this one got played many times over the years as background music in the shop - and I of course bought a copy too! The sound is remarkably good.

I am rather confused, Doc.
Are you:
(a) Unable to comprehend my post on this thread;
(b) Not aware of when the 21st Century started
(c) Unaware of when certain bootlegs were released
or
(d) All of the above?

FTD started in 1999.
Holding Back the Years came out in 1995.
I was working in the record shop after I left school, covering the period 1992-1997. (I know. I don't look that old. You don't have to say it.)

My post is absolutely explicit that I am talking about the 21st century, and after FTD came into being. I even state it in the opening two sentences, just to help you along.

If your comprehension really is that bad, perhaps we know why you didn't write a book after all. And you really are getting desperate if you have to go back thirteen years to 2008 in order to make a failed attempt to call me out. How much of your day did you waste on that wild goose chase.

Not a good day at the office for you, was it?

Ho!y cow, 2008.

[pmp]

I think you are reading too much into the comments by David. He says the audio elements of the release are to be finalised. So, while we are assuming they are the concerts, we do not know that they are. It could still be rehearsal material or the mock session.

im not reading into COMMENTS - im carefully making statements from private conversations and im fully aware the AUDIO contents have not been finalised, im not privy to the whats or whys but my understanding is that this set may very well NOT include every snippet of audio like TTWii set did but in my own view that doesnt necessarily matter because theres a lot of repetition that quite superfluous anyway !

If the 50th anniversary was that big of a deal, this would be a boxed set at retail level, as has been seen with the TV show of 1968, the live shows of 1969, the live shows of 1970, and Nashville 1970. And yet it's tucked away on FTD. While the book might be masterful, the reason for pairing unreleased audio to books is to suck as much money out of fans as possible. And I don't mean to denigrate anything that David produces, but the truth is that many would not buy the book if it didn't have the audio with it. And it's not a cheap book. It's a cynical ploy, and that's very sad both for fans and for David's work which doesn't deserve to be linked to such an exercise.

I didnt mean it was a big deal out in the real world and i think you know that, we dont have to
be condescending or pedantic.

The Beatles ABBEY ROAD 50th set was probably a far bigger deal to the average music fan but i dont think that was much of a big deal out in the world either ! maybe im taking your tone wrong, its hard to read thru text or maybe youve spent too much time sparring with the doc?

i mean its a big deal in OUR world - the FTD world, the FECC world et al, we have all waited for the ON TOUR tapes forever, and i actually suspect if it wasnt for the 50 year copyright issue they would probably still be leaving them just a little while longer !

you know aswell as i do a £150 on tour box set in the dvd section of sainsburys is not gonna do a thing ! where would you even go for a box like that " at retail" now : andys records/our price/woolworths/HMV ???

NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING ELVIS will ever be a BIG deal to the world at large anymore,
it doesnt matter what it is - if an actual pristine SUN master tape (or acetate) of "tiger Man" was found at a garage sale, who would really care?? about from DJC !!!

if it turned out there was pro news footage of opening night 1969 in pristine quality, who would care outside of us ??? Or even just a pristine soundboard of that show ? it would sell 5000 copies on FTD !

frankly im surprised the 69 live set WAS retail and not ftd only , the 68 comeback obviously has a USP to it and its a very easy set to throw together & throw on the shelfs - that material has all been mixed & mastered many times over!

The pied piper footage - i believe you know a lot more about that than i would even imagine, but again who would care now ?

as for the whole book/cd combo package - this may surprise you but i agree with you !
i DO think "on Tour " is interesting enough though (you only have to look at all the posts on here) that it warrants investigation and personally the more film/recording logs & tape legends etc etc i can see the better ! Theres a lot to learn about that project so in that case i think its warranted!

personally i dont buy elvis books anymore, david does a superb job but i only own the TTWii set and the TCB book of his - which i think is a staggering piece of work actually, the research & depth in that is very very commendable - photos aside !

i sold ALL of the ftd books i did buy, "live in texas" etc etc even "writing for the king" and that was a masterpiece, ive never bought 1 of ERIKS books - those i think are OTT cash grabs !

I stopped buying EVERY ftd about 12 years ago, i am VERY selective about what i buy now, so yeah i agree with you that we shouldnt be held to ransom so to speak to buy a book(s) when we ONLY want the audio - there SHOULD be a choice !! And i agree its not the most fan friendly approach, infact its amazing how the shadow of the good ol colonel still looms large over the Elvis world.

if i was running ftd i would put out multiple versions, i think Ftd should have an approach more like paul McCartney (as 1 example) does

https://shop.paulmccartney.com/collections/bundles

BUT we dont know what EJ & RS are allowed to do - the bigwigs that give the green light probably dictate a certain RRP that can only be justified with a book (or 2) thrown in ???
i dont know - who knows why a lot of things have happened with FTD ??

its overall been an AMAZING 20years but there have been mistakes, cash grabs , awful shows that never should have seen the light of day, the stupid pitch issues are a joke, anyone who can strum an E chord on a guitar can spot that right away, let alone a professional music engineer!

But overall we are blessed to have such a label where every single release is totally optional , its not like its a subscription service where you HAVE to buy every single release.
if people dont want the ON TOUR box or the upcoming 73 "soundbooth" shows just dont order them , i didnt think the TTWII rehearsal set would be much of a success at all quite honestly -
and look what happened there !

That could be unlikely. He passed away in 2015.

I had no idea, thats a shame he had a great ear and did some of the best FTD mixing IMO !

You said the 50th anniversary was a big deal within the Elvis world. I wasn't comparing it to the Beatles or anything else but to OTHER Elvis 50th anniversaries of the past few years. And I pointed out that the 50th anniversary of the TV show, the return to Vegas in 1969, TTWII in 1970, and Nashville 1970 were big enough anniversaries for Sony to dedicate significant retail-level boxed sets to them. That EOT's 50th birthday set is now likely to be on FTD suggests that now even Sony don't see it as representing anything ilke the worth of the TV show, 1969 Vegas shows, Nashville 1970, and TTWII 50th anniversaries.

[pmp]

By the way, I find it strange that my FECC friends seem confident that Ernst has all the "On Tour" tapes and will release them next year. I still believe that there are issues we don't know about. Twenty years after they were recorded, Ernst confessed that they didn't have all the tapes, and like I said he's hinted at this in recent times too - either that he doesn't have them, or that he can't release them. Hopefully I'm wrong. I guess we'll find out eventually.

I've heard someplace that MGM owns the tapes, and not Sony. Could that be true?

The shows were recorded on multi-track by both RCA and MGM. MGM probably own their tapes.

I don't agree. If MGM/WB owned the tapes, then there would have been an acknowledgement in the Close Up box, thanking them for their co-operation. There wasn't.

[Z0S0]

You said the 50th anniversary was a big deal within the Elvis world. I wasn't comparing it to the Beatles or anything else but to OTHER Elvis 50th anniversaries of the past few years. And I pointed out that the 50th anniversary of the TV show, the return to Vegas in 1969, TTWII in 1970, and Nashville 1970 were big enough anniversaries for Sony to dedicate significant retail-level boxed sets to them. That EOT's 50th birthday set is now likely to be on FTD suggests that now even Sony don't see it as representing anything like the worth of the TV show, 1969 Vegas shows, Nashville 1970, and TTWII 50th anniversaries.

Im not about to start getting into a verbal tennis match with you over every single post i make, you have DJC for that, stay in that fight!

yes i did say ON TOUR is a big deal - TO US - because for most of us IT IS, its the last thing left in the vaults that many fans have been yearning for, for a very long time !

and yes I compared it to the beatles because if a deluxe ABBEY ROAD is only mildly successful, how great would an ON TOUR Box be ???

im not even really sure what argument youre trying to have with me here - and i cant give you answers to questions when i dont really get your point ! Only that you think ON TOUR should be a retail release, i dont, FTD dont & clearly sony/RCA/BMG or whoever really makes these decision's dont !
but neither was the TTWII rehearsal set so why would this be different ???
Yeah the shows we're retail but that was almost a decade ago ! the markets changed!

you are sharp enough to know that a very expensive ON TOUR Box wont do a thing at retail

ERNST will be the first person (and its in print) to tell you that there has always been a lack of confidence in the ON TOUR material - ESPECIALLY the footage and that was cemented after the lukewarm reception to TTWii S.E !!!

as has been stated on here many times - yeah on tour is great to us, but no your right, its not the big comeback after 8 years of not performing, its not the big TV special that literally saved & resurrected his career ! its a few standard for the time though VERY GOOD shows in backwater southern america !

with both madison square garden shows out which are the absolute peak of his on the road 70's act - do we even need any of it ???

as i already stated im surprised the VEGAS 69 Box AND NASHVILLE 70 set was retail but how successful were they ?? did it set the world on fire ??

like i said, i dont really know what your argument is??? that it should be retail -to lacklustre sales??? and it should be optional to have a book or not?? I already agreed with you there!!

[Z0S0]

By the way, I find it strange that my FECC friends seem confident that Ernst has all the "On Tour" tapes and will release them next year. I still believe that there are issues we don't know about. Twenty years after they were recorded, Ernst confessed that they didn't have all the tapes, and like I said he's hinted at this in recent times too - either that he doesn't have them, or that he can't release them. Hopefully I'm wrong. I guess we'll find out eventually.

I've heard someplace that MGM owns the tapes, and not Sony. Could that be true?

The shows were recorded on multi-track by both RCA and MGM. MGM probably own their tapes.

I don't agree. If MGM/WB owned the tapes, then there would have been an acknowledgement in the Close Up box, thanking them for their co-operation. There wasn't.

Sorry Keith but shanes right and youre wrong, Ernst stated 19years ago actually that they have ALL the on tour tapes, rehearsals included and i quote " its quite substantial" !!
ill scan the printed words if you like !

MGM we're not recording the shows, nor did they own the reels of tapes from those shows and nor did they or do they have any say over any of that AUDIO material being issued !

The rehearsals for a start were recorded in an RCA studio by Al Pachucki /Felton just like many many sessions before and the four shows the same - and the two MSG shows exactly the same - just like many before & others after - though in new york Dick Baxter took feltons seat because felton was off having his kidney transplant

The On TOUR AUDIO has been released officially before now - as shane pointed out !
the reason it ALL hasnt been out is because they waited & waited for a movie tie in !
not to mention the fact, the ON TOUR material really is the last " BIG DEAL" left in the vaults

HOWEVER,
MGM clearly did make their own recordings for TTWII rehearsals with their own engineers because most of them we're held on the MGM stage in culver city as we know !
not the case for ON TOUR !!!

[emjel]

You said the 50th anniversary was a big deal within the Elvis world. I wasn't comparing it to the Beatles or anything else but to OTHER Elvis 50th anniversaries of the past few years. And I pointed out that the 50th anniversary of the TV show, the return to Vegas in 1969, TTWII in 1970, and Nashville 1970 were big enough anniversaries for Sony to dedicate significant retail-level boxed sets to them. That EOT's 50th birthday set is now likely to be on FTD suggests that now even Sony don't see it as representing anything like the worth of the TV show, 1969 Vegas shows, Nashville 1970, and TTWII 50th anniversaries.

Im not about to start getting into a verbal tennis match with you over every single post i make, you have DJC for that, stay in that fight!

yes i did say ON TOUR is a big deal - TO US - because for most of us IT IS, its the last thing left in the vaults that many fans have been yearning for, for a very long time !

and yes I compared it to the beatles because if a deluxe ABBEY ROAD is only mildly successful, how great would an ON TOUR Box be ???

I agree with nearly everything you write, but I wouldn’t agree that the Abbey Road set was only mildly successful. The deluxe set is still selling, albeit drip feed but the re-issue dbl set from 2019 has been on the Billboard 200 chart for every week since that re-release in September 2019 and has sales including streams and downloads approaching 1 million copies in the US. It is currently #110. Streaming of the re-issue is approx 129,000 and the outtakes section is around 32,000. Estimated US sales for this year alone are 66,000 and the album is still on various album charts around the world., including Holland, Spain, Belgium, Ireland and Scotland. Yes, those numbers are not huge, but then compare that with From Elvis in Nashville where streaming for the whole set is just over 8,100 and physical is near 8,600. The ‘69 Vegas set sold less. Now I have no idea if Sony are content with those kind of numbers….to a certain extent they must think they are okay but probably not inspiring enough to commit to anything in the deluxe bracket for the ’71 stuff or On Tour for the mainstream market, so I agree that an On Tour set via FTD is probably the only via route, although Sony are apparently doing a one disc cd /dbl vinyl for mainstream. I bet they wish they could get the Abbey Road numbers though.

[Kingtiger0321]

I don’t understand the “lukewarm” reception theory for TTWII. Warner dropped the ball, Big Time! First they aired it for free on TCM before release! Then they announced 4 songs would be cut from the home video release and even though it was promised, no bonus material would be released either! If that wasn’t enough the VHS, already a dying format at this point was released on time, while the DVD was pushed back. This was just piss poor Marketing, but because the fans didn’t shut up and kiss their asses by buying whatever they threw at us, it “sold poorly”. Funny, not poorly enough to have several theatre showings or re-issues though. This was Warner’s screw up, but that apparently is the fans fault. It should be known, RCA / BMG got this one right during this time!