Elvis on Tour. Why was there never a soundtrack album ?

[Rocker77]

I know this has probably been discussed a 100 times but I have always wondered why RCA never released a Soundtrack album for EOT. TTWII got one as did most of his movies. I believe that was a missed opportunity. I really enjoy the box sets that came out later but never understood why the soundtrack never happened.

[jsmth540@aol.com]

I think it was because of the live Madison Square Garden album .

[Rocker77]

I think it was because of the live Madison Square Garden album .

I was thinking that too. Madison Square came out due that time frame. But always thought EOT should have had its own album. Some cool versions of songs there. I believe it would have sold good.

[rockinrebel]

I think the Standing Room Only album concept, as released by FTD, would have been the perfect vehicle to promote the film. Like the TTWII album it wouldn't have been a bonafide soundtrack, but would have included songs associated with the movie.

However, the decision to release the MSG album meant that a number of tracks would have been duplicated had RCA decided to release both projects.

It's a shame really, as songs like Burning Love and Always On My Mind deserved a coherent album showcase, and the Standing Room Only compilation is far superior to the inappropriately titled grab bag collection Elvis Now.

[chop983]

No room for a (part) live album between MSG & Aloha

[brian]

I know this has probably been discussed a 100 times but I have always wondered why RCA never released a Soundtrack album for EOT. TTWII got one as did most of his movies. I believe that was a missed opportunity. I really enjoy the box sets that came out later but never understood why the soundtrack never happened.

RCA was planning to release an album called Standing Room only. Which would've been either studio cuts from March 1972 mixed in with live songs or it would've just been a live album of April 1972 live recordings. Stories differ on what the album Standing Room only was going to be. However giving the huge popularity of Elvis's MSG shows RCA decided to rush release a live album of his show there. I would say that Elvis's first performances in New York and being the first person to sell out four straight shows at MSG was more marketable than Standing Room only. After all New York city was a bigger market than Greensboro or Hampton Roads so a live album dwarfs an album recorded from any of those cities on the April 1972 tour. On the other hand if Standing Room only was going to be a half live/half studio album a live album from MSG would've sold more than that. Being from New York the biggest market in the United States and containing some of Elvis's greatest hits that would've sold more than a half live/ studio album. I just think from a commercial standpoint RCA made the right decision. FYI I believe Standing Room only was the working title for the documentary Elvis on Tour before it was changed.

[pmp]

The simple answer is that there was no need for one. Yes, MSG came out in June or July 1972, but the film didn't come out until November - and so, theoretically, there was room for both. But then Aloha came along, and was due for release in Feb 1973. I think that completely put a spanner in the works for any kind of album related to EOT, whether an official soundtrack (which I don't think was ever on the cards) or a tie-in like TTWII.

Even without Aloha, an EOT album was redundant after MSG. There were only a handful of songs that didn't crop up on the MSG album, and, unlike TTWII, the majority were not new to Elvis. The only think RCA could have done would have been to pull together the songs that hadn't been on a 1969 or later live album. But that didn't leave a tantalising prospect:

I Got a Woman
You Gave Me a Mountain
Until It's Time For You To Go
Big Hunk o' Love
Lawdy Miss Clawdy
It's Over
How Great Thou Art
Burning Love

But there's no rhyme or reason to combining those songs other than "they haven't been on a live album before." Burning Love is a bit half-hearted anyway, and I Got a Woman wasn't fully recorded. That leaves just six songs. And they weren't "new" Elvis songs like those on TTWII album.

Basically, an EOT-related album just got squeezed out of the release schedule in the same way that Viva Las Vegas had eight years earlier.
There was no room for it.

The more pertinent question for me is: why did Aloha take place in January 1973? I'm not sure of the exact date the deal was done, but with MSG being a hit album in mid-1972, it must have been clear that releasing another one just eight months later was not to Presley's advantage, especially with EOT due to come out at the end of the year. The timing for Aloha makes little sense. The summer or autumn of 1973 would surely have been better from a business point of view - distancing itself from both the film and the MSG live album. Yes, we know Elvis was not in a good way during summer/autumn 1973, but that wouldn't have been known in summer 1972 when the deal was done. It makes no sense to me, and never has. A studio session in January 1973 and the live show in June or July would have been far more sensible.

[pmp]

I know this has probably been discussed a 100 times but I have always wondered why RCA never released a Soundtrack album for EOT. TTWII got one as did most of his movies. I believe that was a missed opportunity. I really enjoy the box sets that came out later but never understood why the soundtrack never happened.

RCA was planning to release an album called Standing Room only. Which would've been either studio cuts from March 1972 mixed in with live songs or it would've just been a live album of April 1972 live recordings. Stories differ on what the album Standing Room only was going to be. However giving the huge popularity of Elvis's MSG shows RCA decided to rush release a live album of his show there. I would say that Elvis's first performances in New York and being the first person to sell out four straight shows at MSG was more marketable than Standing Room only. After all New York city was a bigger market than Greensboro or Hampton Roads so a live album dwarfs an album recorded from any of those cities on the April 1972 tour. On the other hand if Standing Room only was going to be a half live/half studio album a live album from MSG would've sold more than that. Being from New York the biggest market in the United States and containing some of Elvis's greatest hits that would've sold more than a half live/ studio album. I just think from a commercial standpoint RCA made the right decision. FYI I believe Standing Room only was the working title for the documentary Elvis on Tour before it was changed.

The highlighted section isn't really true. The decision to release the album was made before anyone knew about the "huge popularity of Elvis's MSG shows." It wasn't like Elvis performed on the first night and RCA whipped up a recording setup overnight to capitalise on it.

As for Standing Room Only, I still believe that was going to be a live/studio hybrid using the Vegas 1972 recordings. If it wasn't, there was no point in recording in Vegas in the first place - and money wasn't spent just for the hell of it.

[brian]

The highlighted section isn't really true. The decision to release the album was made before anyone knew about the "huge popularity of Elvis's MSG shows." It wasn't like Elvis performed on the first night and RCA whipped up a recording setup overnight to capitalise on it.

That is written in a few books that I've read. They knew how popular the ticket sales were for the MSG shows before he performed there.

[pmp]

The highlighted section isn't really true. The decision to release the album was made before anyone knew about the "huge popularity of Elvis's MSG shows." It wasn't like Elvis performed on the first night and RCA whipped up a recording setup overnight to capitalise on it.

That is written in a few books that I've read. They knew how popular the ticket sales were for the MSG shows before he performed there.

It was always going to be a sell-out at that particular time. I'm sure there was no waiting on RCA or Parker's part to see if tickets sold before deciding to record there.

[Greystoke]

As Recorded at Madison Square Garden was rush released in regards to how quickly the album was available to buy, as opposed to RCA making a hasty decision to record the shows. Typically, live albums take months to be released, but this album was prepared and available to buy in little more than a week. Whilst there was clearly an anticipated high demand for tickets, given that block booking was prohibited in an attempt to deter ticket scalpers.

From Billboard.

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[Troubleman]

I believe that Aloha from Hawaii was planned for November 1972 but the filmakers of Elvis on Tour asked the Colonel to wait in order not to overshadow the release of the movie, which was also released in November 1972. But like many have said on this post, once the MSG album came out (which showcased a complete Elvis live concert for the first time), there was no room for another live album in 1972. I also think that RCA planned to release another live album for the Hawaii show (it did contain 8 new live songs) so the Elvis on Tour album would have been squeezed in between them.

I think that the Standing room only album would probably have been the same as TTWII; the 7 studio recordings in March plus 5 live songs from Vegas 72. Once that project was abandoned, those tracks were used as singles and album fillers (all except For the Good Times) which was only released after his death.

[minkahed]

So many mismanaged, mishandled projects that could have been superior to what did come out !!! Ugh…

[charroman]

What does surprise me is not so much that it didn't get released in 72 as they had an abundance of riches with the MSG LP but that they did not look at another in the "lost album" category after the "For The Asking" set came out in the early 90's. At that time there was a greater demand for retail releases and it could/should have made an appearance then especially as it would have featured tracks unfamiliar to the general public alongside well known and much loved tracks like "Always On My Mind". For a 90's version a proper soundtrack could have worked including the opener and the fifties TV soundtrack along with inter cut quotes from the film and the gospel section. I recall buying a vinyl of the soundtrack at the time which was great and claimed to be Hi Fi Stereo (presumably off laserdisc or VHS) so clearly there was a market

[Peter66]

One option back in 1972 would have been a Camden release instead of that Burning Love And Hits From His Movies album, concentrating on rhythm Tracks and thus creating a natural home for Burning Love.
Possible tracklist:
A
Johnny B. Good (Studio)
Opening Theme (Film version)
Proud Mary
Polk Salad Annie
Never Been To Spain
Burning Love (Studio)
B
I Got A Woman (they could have used a version from 1970 or See See Rider instead)
Lawdy Miss Clawdy
Reconsider Baby (MSG)
Hound Dog
A Big Hunk o‘Love


Peter

[elvisalisellers]

What does surprise me is not so much that it didn't get released in 72 as they had an abundance of riches with the MSG LP but that they did not look at another in the "lost album" category after the "For The Asking" set came out in the early 90's. At that time there was a greater demand for retail releases and it could/should have made an appearance then especially as it would have featured tracks unfamiliar to the general public alongside well known and much loved tracks like "Always On My Mind". For a 90's version a proper soundtrack could have worked including the opener and the fifties TV soundtrack along with inter cut quotes from the film and the gospel section. I recall buying a vinyl of the soundtrack at the time which was great and claimed to be Hi Fi Stereo (presumably off laserdisc or VHS) so clearly there was a market

Absolutely. It should have become a core part of the catalogue as what eventually happened with the Beatles' U.S. Capitol LP, Magical Mystery Tour.

Likewise, the country rock sessions of September 1967 and January 1968 ought to be an essential LP-like cornerstone in the Presley canon.

[rockinrebel]

What does surprise me is not so much that it didn't get released in 72 as they had an abundance of riches with the MSG LP but that they did not look at another in the "lost album" category after the "For The Asking" set came out in the early 90's. At that time there was a greater demand for retail releases and it could/should have made an appearance then especially as it would have featured tracks unfamiliar to the general public alongside well known and much loved tracks like "Always On My Mind". For a 90's version a proper soundtrack could have worked including the opener and the fifties TV soundtrack along with inter cut quotes from the film and the gospel section. I recall buying a vinyl of the soundtrack at the time which was great and claimed to be Hi Fi Stereo (presumably off laserdisc or VHS) so clearly there was a market

Absolutely. It should have become a core part of the catalogue as what eventually happened with the Beatles' U.S. Capitol LP, Magical Mystery Tour.

Likewise, the country rock sessions of September 1967 and January 1968 ought to be an essential LP-like cornerstone in the Presley canon.

It did happen in 1999, but as we were well into the CD era by then, the Tomorrow Is A Long Time CD also included the secular 1966 recordings, whilst Burning Love was essentially an expanded version of the Standing Room Only project, with a number of key 1971 studio performances added.

[elvisalisellers]

What does surprise me is not so much that it didn't get released in 72 as they had an abundance of riches with the MSG LP but that they did not look at another in the "lost album" category after the "For The Asking" set came out in the early 90's. At that time there was a greater demand for retail releases and it could/should have made an appearance then especially as it would have featured tracks unfamiliar to the general public alongside well known and much loved tracks like "Always On My Mind". For a 90's version a proper soundtrack could have worked including the opener and the fifties TV soundtrack along with inter cut quotes from the film and the gospel section. I recall buying a vinyl of the soundtrack at the time which was great and claimed to be Hi Fi Stereo (presumably off laserdisc or VHS) so clearly there was a market

Absolutely. It should have become a core part of the catalogue as what eventually happened with the Beatles' U.S. Capitol LP, Magical Mystery Tour.

Likewise, the country rock sessions of September 1967 and January 1968 ought to be an essential LP-like cornerstone in the Presley canon.

It did happen in 1999, but as we were well into the CD era by then, the Tomorrow Is A Long Time CD also included the secular 1966 recordings, whilst Burning Love was essentially an expanded version of the Standing Room Only project, with a number of key 1971 studio performances added.

I'm talking specifically about an LP-styled genre release from a distinct period not a compilation of inconsistent recordings recorded over a 2 year timespan.

Similarly, with Elvis on Tour, what I [and I believe "charroman"] were conveying, was that there should have been [long ago] a proper audio release that documented the actual film project and its associated elements.

[rockinrebel]

What does surprise me is not so much that it didn't get released in 72 as they had an abundance of riches with the MSG LP but that they did not look at another in the "lost album" category after the "For The Asking" set came out in the early 90's. At that time there was a greater demand for retail releases and it could/should have made an appearance then especially as it would have featured tracks unfamiliar to the general public alongside well known and much loved tracks like "Always On My Mind". For a 90's version a proper soundtrack could have worked including the opener and the fifties TV soundtrack along with inter cut quotes from the film and the gospel section. I recall buying a vinyl of the soundtrack at the time which was great and claimed to be Hi Fi Stereo (presumably off laserdisc or VHS) so clearly there was a market

Absolutely. It should have become a core part of the catalogue as what eventually happened with the Beatles' U.S. Capitol LP, Magical Mystery Tour.

Likewise, the country rock sessions of September 1967 and January 1968 ought to be an essential LP-like cornerstone in the Presley canon.

It did happen in 1999, but as we were well into the CD era by then, the Tomorrow Is A Long Time CD also included the secular 1966 recordings, whilst Burning Love was essentially an expanded version of the Standing Room Only project, with a number of key 1971 studio performances added.

I'm talking specifically about an LP-styled genre release from a distinct period not a compilation of inconsistent recordings recorded over a 2 year timespan.

Similarly, with "Elvis on Tour', what I [and I believe "charroman"] were conveying, was that there should have been [long ago] a proper audio release that documented the actual film project and its associated elements.

I understood the point, but what I was alluding to was that in the midst of the CD era, a 12 or 14 track disc wasn't likely. Let's not forget that 'For The Asking' appeared much earlier, before they had started expanding the original albums.

Of course the 'Burning Love' album had nothing to do with 'Elvis On Tour', but we can trace it's origins back to the 'Standing Room Only' project, and I think Ernst took this option as they were holding on to the On Tour recordings in the hope of some sort of joint project with Warners, which unfortunately never materialised.

I suppose the recent 'Live 1972' album is the closest we will get to it now...

[eligain]

I understand why an EOT soundtrack was not released but I think a soundtrack for it could have worked if they had just used the songs that weren’t on the MSG album and included the gospel segment and the mock recording session, the Ed Sullivan clip and included songs that only a snippet were used in the movie like the live “ Until It’s Time For You To Go”. The album could have opened like the movie with Elvis’ guitar player comments and then the “Johnny B Goode” rehearsal cut and then intertwined the Elvis interview comments through all the songs.

If “See See Rider”, “You Gave Me A Mountain” and “Big Hunk Of Love” were used in the soundtrack it may have caused him to have to change his Aloha set list but that wouldn’t have necessarily been a bad thing.

Some of us fans that were around when EOT finally made its TV debut in early 76 probably did like me and recorded the movie with a microphone from the TV speaker and then crafted their own crude soundtrack tape!

It’s always baffled me why it took so long for EOT to debut on Television (A little over 3 years)! TTWII took even longer with almost 5 years!

[Johnny2523]

It would have been alot better had Elvis hawaii shows from 72 been broadcasted, Elvis was a little heavier yes but his setlist were more interesting and the performances stronger and while heavier Elvis was more animated during those shows then the aloha broadcast where as the January '73 performance is rather weak except for certain songs.

[pmp]

It would have been alot better had Elvis hawaii shows from 72 been broadcasted, Elvis was a little heavier yes but his setlist were more interesting and the performances stronger and while heavier Elvis was more animated during those shows then the aloha broadcast where as the January '73 performance is rather weak except for certain songs.

But they wouldn't have had the same set list if they were going to be broadcast, as RCA had asked for 8 new songs.

[DarrylMac]

It would have been alot better had Elvis hawaii shows from 72 been broadcasted, Elvis was a little heavier yes but his setlist were more interesting and the performances stronger and while heavier Elvis was more animated during those shows then the aloha broadcast where as the January '73 performance is rather weak except for certain songs.

I disagree here. it wouldn't have mattered when they filmed the concert - Aloha From Hawaii was in no way a typical Elvis concert. There could be no false starts, no clowning around - the show was carefully timed, and he was under immense pressure. He also knew that, unlike on tour when the job was done once he'd left the stage, he had to go back out and record further songs after the live show.

I do think Aloha misses the fun and exuberance of a typical Elvis show, but at the same time, I can't think of it as "rather weak". He delivered tremendous vocal performances throughout on the big numbers, without fault. On the rehearsal, I'd agree with that assessment.

[rockinrebel]

It would have been alot better had Elvis hawaii shows from 72 been broadcasted, Elvis was a little heavier yes but his setlist were more interesting and the performances stronger and while heavier Elvis was more animated during those shows then the aloha broadcast where as the January '73 performance is rather weak except for certain songs.

I disagree here. it wouldn't have mattered when they filmed the concert - Aloha From Hawaii was in no way a typical Elvis concert. There could be no false starts, no clowning around - the show was carefully timed, and he was under immense pressure. He also knew that, unlike on tour when the job was done once he'd left the stage, he had to go back out and record further songs after the live show.

I do think Aloha misses the fun and exuberance of a typical Elvis show, but at the same time, I can't think of it as "rather weak". He delivered tremendous vocal performances throughout on the big numbers, without fault. On the rehearsal, I'd agree with that assessment.

Agree on all points. I've never understood why some people prefer the rehearsal show because it doesn't come close to the main event.

Aloha was certainly unique. If we look at the NBC TV Special and the two MGM documentaries, Elvis could be himself and let the respective directors use what they considered to be the best, or most appropriate, performances.

In comparison Aloha was a one shot deal, in terms of both performance quality and the timing of the show. The humour and spontaneity we associate with a typical Elvis performance just wasn't possible.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is why Elvis toned the movements down too, as this also meant less margin for error.

[jurasic1968]

And Elvis sang 8 ballads songs on autopilot. Nothing to be excited about these songs.