Elvis Back In Nashville (4 cd Box Set)

[eric c]

One of the many reasons why i'm a fan.... goosebumps all over....

still the stand out song for me from these sessions.
one of his best recordings from any period in my opinion.
he said it best...it was worth working on.

[Asheville75]

I am looking forward to this release, and the piano songs are so special for me. Just Elvis palying the piano and singing. Just beautiful.
Listening to the CD "Some call it Folk" just know, what a fine compilation.

[jimbo27]

Listened to take 1 of I‘m leavin yesterday … just beautiful!
Yes, and This is why I am a fan for 35 years!

[eric c]

I am looking forward to this release, and the piano songs are so special for me. Just Elvis palying the piano and singing. Just beautiful.
Listening to the CD "Some call it Folk" just know, what a fine compilation.

those piano solo's were magic.
i wish they had been included on the now lp...as is.

[eric c]

Listened to take 1 of I‘m leavin yesterday … just beautiful!
Yes, and This is why I am a fan for 35 years!

AMEN!

[Rockin_John]

I am looking forward to this release, and the piano songs are so special for me. Just Elvis palying the piano and singing. Just beautiful.
Listening to the CD "Some call it Folk" just know, what a fine compilation.

I'd like the complete piano session in correct order. Maybe not the right release for this, but I'd still like that.

Do we know why Elvis decided to sit down at the piano? Was all the other musicians there?

[dougkapp]

I compared the sound of I'm Leaving take 1, with the sound of the version available on FTD Elvis Now. The difference is huge !!!

I found the results of these two boxes from the Nashville sessions that it makes me think that the Memphis 69 recordings also deserved treatment in this way. No need for another 5-CD box set. Just the remixed masters with the best takes.

[rockinrebel]

I compared the sound of I'm Leaving take 1, with the sound of the version available on FTD Elvis Now. The difference is huge !!!

I found the results of these two boxes from the Nashville sessions that it makes me think that the Memphis 69 recordings also deserved treatment in this way. No need for another 5-CD box set. Just the remixed masters with the best takes.

Maybe that will happen at some point. Let's not forget that the 5CD set was an FTD release, and Elvis' later recordings appear to generate more interest commercially.

I've also read comments by people saying that the Stax and Jungle Room sessions have already been covered by Legacy, but on the previous releases of this material, the masters were not remixed. This started with the From Elvis In Nashville set.

So, there's a possibility that Legacy could issue The Memphis Masters 1969 - 76 with fresh new mixes by Matt Ross-Spang. I would certainly welcome such a release.

[drjohncarpenter]

I went quickly through Elvis' singles, and found the following were all included in the immediately following Vegas season and/or tour(s) after their release (and in one case before its release):

In The Ghetto
Clean Up Your Own Backyard (was a movie song he was never going to do in person as with the gospel / Christmas singles)
Suspicious MInds
Don't Cry Daddy
Kentucky Rain
The Wonder Of You (sung often, but little in 1970)
I've Lost You
You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
I Really Don't Want To Know (not till June 1977)
Where Did They Go, Lord? (not done)
Life (thankfully not done)
I'm Leavin'
It's Only Love (strange he didn't, but he didn't)
Until It's Time For You To Go
An American Trilogy
Burning Love
Separate Ways (no, but highlighted in his fall film)
Steamroller Blues
Raised On Rock (done only once, not a good song for Elvis)
I've Got A Thing About You Baby (a missed, happy song and opportunity)
Help Me (heavily promoted)
It's Midnight (Elvis' preference to the supposed A side, Promised Land -- but still done often)
My Boy (before and after release)
T-R-O-U-B-L-E (for THREE tours -- I enjoyed seeing it performed 19 times)
Bringing It Back (as background just once in Vegas)
Hurt (just about every show after its release)
And now we get to the point where Elvis was just too lazy:
Moody Blue (sung once)
Way Down (never)

About 16 of Elvis' 24 singles in the '70s were performed heavily, two likely never to be done (gospel / Christmas), and several should never have been singles. Doing a favour for someone?

I think he promoted many, many of his singles -- at almost every opportunity he had after the releases noted above.

What your quick research does is completely support my view, although that was not your goal.

Unfortunately, you also seem to not understand what promotion of a new single means.


It means the single A-side is released and pushed to radio and retail by the record company, and the artist actively performs it in that period in a live (or lip-sync) setting on radio, TV or stage. The goal is to promote sales and chart reach.

It doesn't matter if the single A-side "was a movie song." Have you forgotten about "Jailhouse Rock"? Or "Return To Sender"? They were new single A-sides and "movie songs." Parsing certain A-sides in the 1970s to excuse Elvis' lack of promotion is specious.

It must be noted several on your list were performed well outside of new release and promotion, or not even A-sides. Some were not performed at all, it's inexplicable why they were included. They are marked in red.



So what do we have from Elvis and promotion of his new single A-sides in the comeback period?

There were 30, if you choose to start with "In The Ghetto" in April 1969.

Exactly 11 make the list.

Suspicious Minds
Kentucky Rain
I've Lost You
You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
I'm Leavin'
Until It's Time For You To Go
An American Trilogy (live)
Burning Love
Steamroller Blues (live)
My Boy
T-R-O-U-B-L-E


Is this "many, many" of his new single A-sides? No, it's barely a third of them.

Again, thanks for proving my point.

[drjohncarpenter]

After this set all that’s left from studio work in the 70’s are the March 1972 and March 1975 sessions at Studio C in Los Angeles.

Neither session has enough to fill a 4cd set. The two sessions total 17 masters and the “Tiger Man” jam.

Will the two sessions be combined into one 4cd set? Could be called “L.A. Country”, or not.

A better title would be RCA HOLLYWOOD REVISITED.

Both sessions were done at that Los Angeles studio.

[elvis-fan]

I found the results of these two boxes from the Nashville sessions that it makes me think that the Memphis 69 recordings also deserved treatment in this way. No need for another 5-CD box set. Just the remixed masters with the best takes.

Weren't all the Memphis '69 masters remixed without overdubs on the 3 American sessions FTD's from 2012-13 and again on the American Sound 1969 5 disc set from 2019?

[drjohncarpenter]

Yes I know and thats my point, his mindset never moved on from the 50's -
he should have been sat down by people that did, you only have to look at The Beatles legacy and how they are revered and held in such high regard whilst elvis is the fat drugged up guy in the jumpsuit mumbling My Way !

"from Elvis in memphis" should be held in the same regard as " Abbey Road " and i mean that 100% as a huge fan of both bands and both albums - but its not and its simply because of all the crap that came before and all crap that came after

Led zeppelin are Rock royalty, a part of that is their superb musicianship, some of it is the MYTH (drugs and groupies etc etc) but a HUGE part of it, the only part that matters in 2021 is down to the actual catalogue - and that is as solid as concrete and the main reason - aside from superb material - is that they really cared -

jimmy page DEMANDED (from atlantic records) 100% artistic & creative control over every single aspect of their records (this was unprecedented at that time) down to lyrics and even their band name being on the cover -
which it wasnt on the 4th album - current sales = 23 times platinum a 37 million sales!

jimmy page knew all this in 1968 - theres no reason Elvis shouldnt have, he just didnt care enough !

That's an unfair presumption.

Jimmy Page was influenced by the Elvis explosion in the 1950s, and he also watched how the singer torched his career during his Hollywood slide in the 1960s. All of this would be motivation to never let management or corporate dictate his career.

Elvis came to prominence under a completely different mindset, with a clear delineation of roles: artist - management - record company. Despite what happened after the British Invasion in the 1960s, this learning curve starting from when he was a teen-ager was difficult to correct as an adult.

So saying "he just didn't care enough" is hyperbole. It was a lot more complicated than that. And a shame.

[frus75]

To be fair, the real, overdubbed masters have never been remixed in these series, only the undubbed masters. I’d love to hear them remix the actual completed masters.

[dougkapp]

I found the results of these two boxes from the Nashville sessions that it makes me think that the Memphis 69 recordings also deserved treatment in this way. No need for another 5-CD box set. Just the remixed masters with the best takes.

Weren't all the Memphis '69 masters remixed without overdubs on the 3 American sessions FTD's from 2012-13 and again on the American Sound 1969 5 disc set from 2019?

The masters were not remixed and the remix, did by Ross-Spang is very superior.

[Rich_TCB]

Just a FYI that the box set is available for pre-order from Popmarket.

https://www.popmarket.com/back-in-nashville/194398838922

This is where I purchased "From Elvis In Nasvhille" last year.

They package their box sets better than Amazon, so I will get it from Popmarket again.

[eric c]

one of my absolute favorite tracks from these sessions in '71 and one of the best from the Now line-up.
during his journey thru the wilderness period(soundtracks)...Elvis developed an interest in folk music.
and they would find their way into various sessions.
this brilliant cut....from the march session that was cut short due to Elvis' eye trouble...makes me wish that folk album he had in mind had come to be.
i love his vocals.
everything just comes together nicely on this'n here.
i also love the version 2yrs later...during the after aloha session...recorded for the american tv broadcast.
he would add it here and there to his concert set list at different times.
but its this version....from these sessions in '71....i drink from...again...and again....and again.

[Christopher Brown]

To JS - Well, you highlight IN THE GHETTO in red -- when exactly was Elvis going to perform this -- not until he began live performing in August 1969, which he did. DON'T CRY DADDY wasn't released until November '69, and at Elvis' first opportunity, he sang it regularly in Vegas in February '70 and on tour at the Astrodome. HELP ME was released May '74, sung regularly in Lake Tahoe in May and then heavily promoted on his June tour (I was there). Although you mentioned singles, and then redefined it as "A" side promotion, Elvis often said his new single was IF YOU TALK IN YOUR SLEEP, but here's the other side. IT'S MIDNIGHT was the back side of another new single, and he favoured that side over PROMISED LAND (which he did often later) -- you can argue "A" sides like you said, so exclude it, but I would argue singles which is what you said before. Plus you missed HURT in your total / list???

So either exclude IN THE GHETTO from total singles or say it was promoted in Vegas. DON'T CRY DADDY has to be added, as does HELP ME (as he generally mentioned the "A" side), and I would argue IT'S MIDNIGHT (the flip of a new single) So that's 3 or 4 more to the 11, or 14 or 15 -- and more than HALF of the singles he released, or about half if you include the seasonal / gospel songs.

[L Ray]

Yes I know and thats my point, his mindset never moved on from the 50's -
he should have been sat down by people that did, you only have to look at The Beatles legacy and how they are revered and held in such high regard whilst elvis is the fat drugged up guy in the jumpsuit mumbling My Way !

"from Elvis in memphis" should be held in the same regard as " Abbey Road " and i mean that 100% as a huge fan of both bands and both albums - but its not and its simply because of all the crap that came before and all crap that came after

Led zeppelin are Rock royalty, a part of that is their superb musicianship, some of it is the MYTH (drugs and groupies etc etc) but a HUGE part of it, the only part that matters in 2021 is down to the actual catalogue - and that is as solid as concrete and the main reason - aside from superb material - is that they really cared -

jimmy page DEMANDED (from atlantic records) 100% artistic & creative control over every single aspect of their records (this was unprecedented at that time) down to lyrics and even their band name being on the cover -
which it wasnt on the 4th album - current sales = 23 times platinum a 37 million sales!

jimmy page knew all this in 1968 - theres no reason Elvis shouldnt have, he just didnt care enough !

That's an unfair presumption.

Jimmy Page was influenced by the Elvis explosion in the 1950s, and he also watched how the singer torched his career during his Hollywood slide in the 1960s. All of this would be motivation to never let management or corporate dictate his career.

Elvis came to prominence under a completely different mindset, with a clear delineation of roles: artist - management - record company. Despite what happened after the British Invasion in the 1960s, this learning curve starting from when he was a teen-ager was difficult to correct as an adult.

So saying "he just didn't care enough" is hyperbole. It was a lot more complicated than that. And a shame.

Doc you have never been more articulate with the summing up of the complications of a musical career than with the above statement. It isn’t fair to compare Elvis with those that came after him. He did pretty good though didn’t he? He he hadn’t we would not all be here.

[drjohncarpenter]

That's an unfair presumption.

Jimmy Page was influenced by the Elvis explosion in the 1950s, and he also watched how the singer torched his career during his Hollywood slide in the 1960s. All of this would be motivation to never let management or corporate dictate his career.

Elvis came to prominence under a completely different mindset, with a clear delineation of roles: artist - management - record company. Despite what happened after the British Invasion in the 1960s, this learning curve starting from when he was a teen-ager was difficult to correct as an adult.

So saying "he just didn't care enough" is hyperbole. It was a lot more complicated than that. And a shame.

Doc you have never been more articulate with the summing up of the complications of a musical career than with the above statement. It isn’t fair to compare Elvis with those that came after him. He did pretty good though didn’t he? He he hadn’t we would not all be here.

Hey, I do what I can.

[Z0S0]

Yes I know and thats my point, his mindset never moved on from the 50's -
he should have been sat down by people that did, you only have to look at The Beatles legacy and how they are revered and held in such high regard whilst elvis is the fat drugged up guy in the jumpsuit mumbling My Way !

"from Elvis in memphis" should be held in the same regard as " Abbey Road " and i mean that 100% as a huge fan of both bands and both albums - but its not and its simply because of all the crap that came before and all crap that came after

Led zeppelin are Rock royalty, a part of that is their superb musicianship, some of it is the MYTH (drugs and groupies etc etc) but a HUGE part of it, the only part that matters in 2021 is down to the actual catalogue - and that is as solid as concrete and the main reason - aside from superb material - is that they really cared -

jimmy page DEMANDED (from atlantic records) 100% artistic & creative control over every single aspect of their records (this was unprecedented at that time) down to lyrics and even their band name being on the cover -
which it wasnt on the 4th album - current sales = 23 times platinum a 37 million sales!

jimmy page knew all this in 1968 - theres no reason Elvis shouldnt have, he just didnt care enough !

That's an unfair presumption.

Jimmy Page was influenced by the Elvis explosion in the 1950s, and he also watched how the singer torched his career during his Hollywood slide in the 1960s. All of this would be motivation to never let management or corporate dictate his career.

Elvis came to prominence under a completely different mindset, with a clear delineation of roles: artist - management - record company. Despite what happened after the British Invasion in the 1960s, this learning curve starting from when he was a teen-ager was difficult to correct as an adult.

So saying "he just didn't care enough" is hyperbole. It was a lot more complicated than that. And a shame.

ok Dc, i knew you'd jump in here at some point - you think every statement i make is hyperbole lol but its my birthday so im not about to start arguing !

You make a valid point, i dont necessarily disagree with everything your saying, i especially like the first paragraph

I AM aware of the difference between 1956 sun records (the music business in general) and 1968 London and everything that has transpired in between and i will say though, jimmy page was extremely switched on and that was great foresight, it was unprecedented and unheard off when he threw that at ahmet ertegun -
The beatles and the stones both had less control and got in plenty of pickles (alan klein anyone)
DESPITE watching the movie years Elvis !

My point was Elvis needed more outside influences from people in the business that DID know the score though. But i know that just wasnt how he rolled !

and im also aware that Elvis had that 50s singles mindset & it never left him - he would have made his comeback with scotty & DJ and the jordanires if fate hadnt intervened and you only have to look at that first 1970 winter TOUR - he sped thru those gigs like IT WAS STILL 1957.

I also do not dispute the influence Elvis had on EVERYONE, be it jimmy page and robert plant (i saw robert plant live in cambridge in 2011 <and 2014> and he introduced " Tall Cool One " by saying " This is about the king, i met him once and he was very very cool indeed - it was said with a warm of admiration and a big smile on his face - you would have loved it !)
Or... lennon, jagger etc etc !

However, is it unfair ?? i still think Elvis simply didnt care enough, you can make excuses for him but he had no interest in sequencing his albums or any kind of cover design, damn he didnt have the passion to NAIL a song, one take would quite often do ! Elvis never should have cut crap like " padre " - publishing deals or not
and lets keep in mind at this very period he was capable of performing awesome gigs - a year later he slayed new york - THATS My Elvis up on that stage !

it was money over craft everytime after American Sound and its very telling chips got the best out of elvis for years and yet elvis went running straight back to felton & RCA the very next year !

You can obviously have your opinion, i can and do have mine and we can agree to disagree, i DO think elvis was lazy in a lot of respects (off the stage that is) and should have had much more investment in his career - hes not the only one at fault, its everyone around him !

Binder and Chips we're probably the only two people who ever dealt with elvis in an authentic honest way striving to get the best of out him and produce the best - and look how that went !

let me finish by saying, hindsight is wonderful and kind of unfair - its very easy for all of us to sit here ripping his career apart ! we didnt live it ! so i fully accept that !

But i will say this, anytime i put him down or criticise it is not simply to put him down
because
i think he was wonderful, but he set the bar himself - he could be absolutely magnificent on and off a stage and thats NOT hyperbole - at his best absolutely no one could touch him - BUT thats why i struggle with the lows because he was capable of so much more - im not holding him up to impossible standards - only what he had in him .

ALOHA really sums elvis up: in 1 show he pulls out defining performances of a few of those songs because hes invested , minutes later hes making a total mockery of his classics, You know how i feel about the aftershow - hes exhausted, hes had enough yet hes obligated so he delivers the goods and bloody well nicely too -
he needed to bring THAT to nashville etc - " you feel me Doc " as the kids would say?

( i apologise if the word count is excessive for you - ive explained that, i just cant make my point in 50 words - i DO try not to waffle ~ you should sit in starbucks with me ha ha )

best wishes

[elvis-fan]

I found the results of these two boxes from the Nashville sessions that it makes me think that the Memphis 69 recordings also deserved treatment in this way. No need for another 5-CD box set. Just the remixed masters with the best takes.

Weren't all the Memphis '69 masters remixed without overdubs on the 3 American sessions FTD's from 2012-13 and again on the American Sound 1969 5 disc set from 2019?

The masters were not remixed and the remix, did by Ross-Spang is very superior.

I think the master takes were remixed because the overdubs were removed on those FTD releases... for example Suspicious Minds take 8 (which is the master):

[YDKM]

I just watched the un boxing and Matt Ross came across very well but seemed nervous under the interviewer! The art work etc looked very nice.....and now we wait for 3 months!

[seaward]

That's not a bad track list, but I don't think it's always necessary to find a place for every song from the sessions. This was the problem with a lot of Elvis' albums. RCA released everything, and inevitably the overall quality suffered.

I agree.
You can use only 10 or 11 tracks and make a stronger tracklist that way.
Unfortunately, in the case of the 1971 nashville sessions, there were not enough good recordings for a strong secular LP.
IMHO

Maybe not but a coherent one could have developed instead of Love Letters or Now. George’s “Exodus” album comes to mind. That’s the Lp that could have been the follow up after Elvis Country. Furthermore, the shelved single release Got My Mojo Workin’ would have been a great hit to promote and accompany the anticipated folk album in 71.

[drjohncarpenter]

I agree.
You can use only 10 or 11 tracks and make a stronger tracklist that way.
Unfortunately, in the case of the 1971 nashville sessions, there were not enough good recordings for a strong secular LP.
IMHO

Maybe not but a coherent one could have developed instead of Love Letters or Now. George’s “Exodus” album comes to mind. That’s the Lp that could have been the follow up after Elvis Country. Furthermore, the shelved single release Got My Mojo Workin’ would have been a great hit to promote and accompany the anticipated folk album in 71.

That sounds interesting ...


Mr. Mojo Risin' In 1971? Another Mystery!
https://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=108474

[eric c]

another excellent track off the brilliant he touched me album.
he was a perfectionist.
a true artist and craftsman.
and nobody knew their way around a gospel tune better.

the nov release of this '71 box set can't get here fast enough.