Elvis Presley 1956-2016 The Album Collection (60 CD Deluxe Box Set)

[Rocker]

Aside from Having Fun With Elvis On Stage, any material missing?

Elvis in concert, the soundtrack to the CBS special. It was released just after his death but could be considered a regular album (I believe he was even given executive production credit on that one)

[Lonely Summer]

Aside from Having Fun With Elvis On Stage, any material missing?

What? They left out 40 minutes of "well, well, well"? 

[Rocker]

I hope this link works. It's the video of the unboxing of the release as posted on facebook:


https://video-ams3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xap1/v/t43.1792-2/12705056_143902922664683_871873355_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjE1MDAsInJsYSI6MTQ5MywidmVuY29kZV90YWciOiJzdmVfaGQifQ%3D%3D&rl=1500&vabr=717&oh=9bec3d7eb59f8b845a5f6362c6864694&oe=56CF59C9

[Rocker]

I hope this link works. It's the video of the unboxing of the release as posted on facebook:


https://video-ams3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xap1/v/t43.1792-2/12705056_143902922664683_871873355_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjE1MDAsInJsYSI6MTQ5MywidmVuY29kZV90YWciOiJzdmVfaGQifQ%3D%3D&rl=1500&vabr=717&oh=9bec3d7eb59f8b845a5f6362c6864694&oe=56CF59C9

The user JimmyCool of the FECC-messageboard uploaded the video so that you can also view it without having a facebook-account:

http://www63.zippyshare.com/v/JJqnOioW/file.html

[Rocker]

This comes from Mojo magazine, April 2016 and was posted on the For Elvis CD Collectors-Forum:

[Rocker]

Again just copied from the FECC forum:

New details about the 60 CD Box - Courtesy of Robert Klein who worked on this release and got an advance copy! -

''Here is my 1st Impression. Well Done. All the "records" that had/have Bonus Photos are INCLUDED within the jackets and the jackets are cardboard sleeves. There is a separate sheet of stickers that you can peel off to affix to the Cd's that have bonus photos like "Spinout" or "Harum Scarum" or the Aloha "SATURN" sticker. The book looks Fabulous, (still checking for accuracy). 300 pages. The book shows Grammy nominations and Wins, which is great too see. (He was nominated more than his 3 wins). Some LPs are NOT included like Separate Ways and Hits From His Movies which is explained in the book under "Producers Notes". There are 3 "From The Vaults" CDs representing the 50s 60s and 70s with ALL material Previously released. Session info is included as well as Elvis' lifetime single discography with RIAA status as well as a section on EPs though I did notice the Aloha EP was missing, looking to see if that is explained or not. PLEASE REMEMBER THESE ARE 1st impressions as I still have to DIG IN DEEPER. ENJOY''

[Rocker]

And also:

Elvis Presley – I’m Leaving: Elvis Folk-Country 1-LP Black Vinyl (RSD Exclusive)

The very best of Elvis Folk-Country 1966-1973. This LP includes masters from Elvis’ sessions at RCA Victor’s Studio B in Nashville in May 1971, a period in which several folk writers’ material surfaced spontaneously amid gospel and holiday recordings, plus others with similar provenance: from Dylan’s “Tomorrow Is A Long Time” in 1966, to then-contemporary pop-folk such as “Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues” in 1973, this is Elvis in an introspective mood, masterfully creating definitive versions of iconic compositions that resonated with him for his friends in the studio – and for us.

http://www.wearesonylegacy.com/news/record-store-day-2016

[Rocker]

Another video of the box:



The Flip Side : Elvis Presley: The RCA Album Collection 60 CD + Book Deluxe Box Set


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MmF7ghYCtU

[Rocker]

And also:

Elvis Presley – I’m Leaving: Elvis Folk-Country 1-LP Black Vinyl (RSD Exclusive)

The very best of Elvis Folk-Country 1966-1973. This LP includes masters from Elvis’ sessions at RCA Victor’s Studio B in Nashville in May 1971, a period in which several folk writers’ material surfaced spontaneously amid gospel and holiday recordings, plus others with similar provenance: from Dylan’s “Tomorrow Is A Long Time” in 1966, to then-contemporary pop-folk such as “Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues” in 1973, this is Elvis in an introspective mood, masterfully creating definitive versions of iconic compositions that resonated with him for his friends in the studio – and for us.

http://www.wearesonylegacy.com/news/record-store-day-2016

From the Record Store Day's website:



The very best of Elvis Folk-Country 1966-1973. This special Record Store Day release includes masters from Elvis’ sessions at RCA Victor’s Studio B in Nashville in May 1971, a period in which several folk writers’ material surfaced spontaneously amid gospel and holiday recordings, plus others with similar provenance: from Dylan¹s “Tomorrow Is A Long Time” in 1966, to then-contemporary pop-folk such as “Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues” in 1973, this is Elvis in an introspective mood, masterfully creating definitive versions of iconic compositions that resonated with him for his friends in the studio – and for us. Limited to 5,000 copies.

Side 1
1. I’m Leavin’ (3:52)
2. Early Mornin’ Rain (3:00)
3. Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues (3:10)
4. Until It’s Time For You To Go (4:02)
5. Help Me Make It Through The Night (2:51)
6. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (edited version) (2:45)
Side 2
1. You Asked Me To (2:52)
2. Gentle On My Mind (3:26)
3. Tomorrow Is A Long Time 5:24
4. I’m Movin’ On (2:56)
5. (That’s What You Get) For Lovin’ Me (2:11)
6. Loving Arms – TAKE 2 (2:52)

[Rocker]

Well, it should be out by tomorrow. If ordered online, you might hold it already in your hands.


Review: Elvis Presley, “The Album Collection”

http://theseconddisc.com/2016/03/18/review-elvis-presley-album-collection/

[Rocker]

'Elvis Presley - The Album Collection': How the 60-Disc Box Set Was Assembled



March 23 marks the 60th anniversary of the self-titled debut RCA album from Elvis Presley. To commemorate that occasion, Legacy Recordings has released the most comprehensive Presley collection yet.

Titled Elvis Presley - The Album Collection, the 60-disc set spans the entire run of his 21 years with the label. Legacy senior vice president, A&R John Jackson talked to Billboard concerning the thought process of assembling the set.


“The way we decided to approach this package -- because we have done similar things for other artists, such as Johnny Cash and Ronnie Milsap -- was to recreate the original albums. Now, the definition of what an original album is on Elvis becomes tricky because there’s been so many collections and compilations of things that were released during his lifetime, and of course, a gazillion since then. What we decided to do was hone it down to what would be considered a new album with some new material on it that was released during his lifetime -- the first place that a song appeared on a long playing record while he was alive,” Jackson said, also allowing that the set contains three discs of rarities. “There’s also a few discs of stray material that either were never on LPs or was discovered after he passed away. In essence, it’s the complete masters collection that we did about 10 years ago, but arranged in the order that the fans would have first experienced the music.”


Jackson says that the chronological timeline of the set shows how different the business was six decades ago. For example, “Heartbreak Hotel,” his first hit for the label, was not on the first album -- or the second. (In fact, it wasn’t until the release of Elvis’s Golden Records in 1958 that his first hit was included on an album.) The song that became his final chart-topper on the Hot 100, 1969’s “Suspicious Minds” has a similar story. The first actual album it was included on was 1984’s Elvis’s Golden Records, Volume 5, though the studio version is included on the set as a bonus cut from 1969’s From Elvis In Memphis. And, then, there was the Sun material -- which wasn’t covered comprehensively until late in Presley’s career. RCA acquired the Sun masters when they bought his contract in November 1955, but took their time releasing the music, says Jackson.

“One of my favorite examples is ‘That’s All Right,’ which people have accepted as book one, page one, of Elvis’s career. But, unless you were living in Memphis or the south, you wouldn’t have heard that song until it came out on LP in 1959 after he had gone into the Army. It came out on For LP Fans Only, and was considered somewhat of a leftover from the Sun period. It’s an interesting way to look at his career, not really as academic like we do now. The Sun recordings was scattered on a lot of collections that came later. It wasn’t until 1976 that it was collected on one record,” he noted.


One of the highlights of the set, according to Jackson, is the 1970s work Presley recorded -- in particular, his 1973 sessions at Stax Studios. “I think the '70s stuff, which is something we’ve been trying to get people to reassess. The tracks he did at Stax -- when you hear them on the original albums -- were so important. The music that was on Raised on Rock or Promised Land like “It’s Midnight” or “You Asked Me To.” At that point, he was trying to do songs that spoke to him and not just ones that were pitched to him by his publisher. During that time, he was getting into some deep stuff, though the albums were so unfortunately packaged.”

In the book that accompanies the package, it is mentioned that the label failed to really distinguish between many of his '70s albums. “There were 22 or 23 albums during his lifetime that showed him simply in a white jumpsuit against a black background. People wondered how to tell the difference. There were studio album and live albums, and all of them looked like the same record, though they were different. It’s an interesting to look back on how it was positioned at the time,” Jackson confessed.


Each of Presley’s soundtracks are in the package as well. Though fans, critics, and Presley himself chafed at some of the inane material such as “Do The Clam” (from Girl Happy) and “Barefoot Ballad” (from Kissin’ Cousins), there is some historical significance to the tracks, says Jackson. “Even the silly stuff had some of the most amazing musicians, like the Wrecking Crew. On some of the worst songs he recorded, they sounded great. That’s where he met James Burton.”

In addition to the music, much attention was paid to the packaging of every Presley album in the collection. “We went through every single record -- down to the original pressing -- and recreated everything from the inserts. There’s a sheet of all the original stickers that came on the albums that you can put on if you want, there’s pictures inside the inserts. It gives people an idea of what you would have bought when the record first came out.” On the 1967 Clambake soundtrack release, for example, included is a wedding picture of Elvis and Priscilla, who were married in May of that year. Jackson said the most unique offering in this vein was on Presley’s 1959 release A Date With Elvis.


“We included the calendar on the back -- with the date of March 24, 1960 circled when he was supposed to come back from the Army. Little things like that are something I feel that people will find fascinating.”

Though Elvis Presley - The Albums Collection will never be equaled in scope, Jackson says Legacy is already planning some releases for 2017, the 40th anniversary of Presley’s death. “We’ve got some interesting ideas,” he admits. “The 40th anniversary of some of the last recordings he made is coming up, so we’re toying with the idea of how to best present those. It’s my argument that he never lost it -- that he was never anything less than amazing. He was the greatest singer of all time, as far as I’m concerned, and was always trying to do his thing. Despite all the troubles he had in the '70s, including fights with the label, how they were promoting him and how they made him feel, he was still cutting great stuff. That’s a lot of what we’re talking about now.”




Source: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7263868/elvis-presley-the-album-collection-box-set-legacy

[Rocker]

The boxset is out now!


The best discs in Elvis Presley's new RCA Albums Collection

http://www.axs.com/the-best-discs-in-elvis-presley-s-new-rca-albums-collection-79181

[Douchepool]

That collection brings into stark contrast just how poorly most of his 70s albums were sequenced. There should have been a great single album of the 1971 folk pop stuff...yet the stuff was spread haphazardly over two different albums and a bunch of singles. Major missed opportunity on RCA's part.

[Lonely Summer]

That collection brings into stark contrast just how poorly most of his 70s albums were sequenced. There should have been a great single album of the 1971 folk pop stuff...yet the stuff was spread haphazardly over two different albums and a bunch of singles. Major missed opportunity on RCA's part.

You can say that again! They just cranked them out, each with similar live shots on the cover, with little to distinguish one from another. I will never understand why he didn't stand up to Parker and RCA and demand better quality control.

[Ian]

I think that ultimately Elvis was far too passive a personality, though he had occasional moments where he stood up for himself.  Like a lot of other artists he took too little interest in business

[Rocker]

That collection brings into stark contrast just how poorly most of his 70s albums were sequenced. There should have been a great single album of the 1971 folk pop stuff...yet the stuff was spread haphazardly over two different albums and a bunch of singles. Major missed opportunity on RCA's part.

You can say that again! They just cranked them out, each with similar live shots on the cover, with little to distinguish one from another. I will never understand why he didn't stand up to Parker and RCA and demand better quality control.

Well, RCA didn't have much of a say as Elvis had all the control of his music and also the final say about album sequences. Since he then hired Felton Jarvis (NB he worked as producer for Elvis, not for RCA), he more and more didn't seem to care about those things very much. After all, that was a reason why he gave Felton the job. As Ian said, Elvis wasn't about business. He hired the Colonel so that he didn't have to do anything on that side. Elvis also wasn't someone who thought in "albums" but in the song itself. So, singles is one thing and albums another. I agree that there would've been very much potential for his 70s output. I also agree on the artwork mention. It all seems to have started with "Elvis Now" which was nothing you could really call an album (although there are some very nice recordings on it) and the not-released/finished(?) '72 album - with the resulting desaster of releasing Burning Love on a budget LP - to go down imo. Apart from his drug addiction etc. of course.


Here's a review by allmusic.com:


Back in 2010, Legacy released The Complete Elvis Presley Masters, a 30-disc box that rounded up all existing Elvis masters along with many relevant rarities; in other words, it was as complete as it could get. Six years later, Legacy covered similar ground with The Album Collection, a 60-CD box offering replications of every album Presley released during his lifetime, supplemented with three bonus discs called "From the Vaults" containing miscellaneous non-LP cuts, some released during his lifetime, some not. Bonus tracks taken from singles, sessions, and EPs are also scattered throughout, so this winds up having nearly every cut Elvis released during his lifetime (there are some alternate single versions and other strays missing, but nothing major). The trick is, Elvis Presley's discography isn't necessarily easy to navigate album by album. His earliest long players often recycled singles -- standard procedure for most pop music in the '50s but RCA relied on the practice even more once Elvis entered the Army in 1958 -- and most of the '60s was devoted to soundtracks to his movies. Even after he refocused his energies on albums in 1968, RCA issued a live album nearly every year and their budget branch, Camden, littered the market with compilations of leftovers. All of these are here, presented in handsome cardboard sleeves and accompanied by a hardcover book filled with release details, because it's not only the easiest way to get all of Elvis at once, but this is how the music was presented during his lifetime. Posthumous reissues usually cover this same music according to session order, offering collections that are often more coherent than the original albums, but listening to all the LPs does provide some revelations, particularly in regard to how Presley was presented at the time. RCA moved swiftly to push Elvis into the pop market and the product was often careless, assembled without much regard for coherence or taste (the epitome of this may be Singer Presents Elvis' "Flaming Star," a title that doesn't bother to hide its place on assembly line). That said, there's a period charm in immersing yourself in Elvis this way. You'll realize that, even at his mature peak in the late '60s and early '70s, the label cranked out nonsense like I Got Lucky -- a record with a jumpsuited Presley on the cover comprised of nothing but uncollected soundtrack tunes. Despite all of this, his music endures such crass packaging. Certainly Elvis hit some bumps along the way -- the snazzy silver screen charm of the initial soundtracks tarnishes by the mid-'60s, the early '70s live albums often play to Vegas' middle of the road -- but in each phase, Presley could achieve transcendence. By the end of this lengthy set, it's hard not to marvel at the length of his career and how well his music endures; it feels like a bedrock of the American century.


http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-album-collection-mw0002909967

[Lonely Summer]

That collection brings into stark contrast just how poorly most of his 70s albums were sequenced. There should have been a great single album of the 1971 folk pop stuff...yet the stuff was spread haphazardly over two different albums and a bunch of singles. Major missed opportunity on RCA's part.

You can say that again! They just cranked them out, each with similar live shots on the cover, with little to distinguish one from another. I will never understand why he didn't stand up to Parker and RCA and demand better quality control.

Well, RCA didn't have much of a say as Elvis had all the control of his music and also the final say about album sequences. Since he then hired Felton Jarvis (NB he worked as producer for Elvis, not for RCA), he more and more didn't seem to care about those things very much. After all, that was a reason why he gave Felton the job. As Ian said, Elvis wasn't about business. He hired the Colonel so that he didn't have to do anything on that side. Elvis also wasn't someone who thought in "albums" but in the song itself. So, singles is one thing and albums another. I agree that there would've been very much potential for his 70s output. I also agree on the artwork mention. It all seems to have started with "Elvis Now" which was nothing you could really call an album (although there are some very nice recordings on it) and the not-released/finished(?) '72 album - with the resulting desaster of releasing Burning Love on a budget LP - to go down imo. Apart from his drug addiction etc. of course.


Here's a review by allmusic.com:


Back in 2010, Legacy released The Complete Elvis Presley Masters, a 30-disc box that rounded up all existing Elvis masters along with many relevant rarities; in other words, it was as complete as it could get. Six years later, Legacy covered similar ground with The Album Collection, a 60-CD box offering replications of every album Presley released during his lifetime, supplemented with three bonus discs called "From the Vaults" containing miscellaneous non-LP cuts, some released during his lifetime, some not. Bonus tracks taken from singles, sessions, and EPs are also scattered throughout, so this winds up having nearly every cut Elvis released during his lifetime (there are some alternate single versions and other strays missing, but nothing major). The trick is, Elvis Presley's discography isn't necessarily easy to navigate album by album. His earliest long players often recycled singles -- standard procedure for most pop music in the '50s but RCA relied on the practice even more once Elvis entered the Army in 1958 -- and most of the '60s was devoted to soundtracks to his movies. Even after he refocused his energies on albums in 1968, RCA issued a live album nearly every year and their budget branch, Camden, littered the market with compilations of leftovers. All of these are here, presented in handsome cardboard sleeves and accompanied by a hardcover book filled with release details, because it's not only the easiest way to get all of Elvis at once, but this is how the music was presented during his lifetime. Posthumous reissues usually cover this same music according to session order, offering collections that are often more coherent than the original albums, but listening to all the LPs does provide some revelations, particularly in regard to how Presley was presented at the time. RCA moved swiftly to push Elvis into the pop market and the product was often careless, assembled without much regard for coherence or taste (the epitome of this may be Singer Presents Elvis' "Flaming Star," a title that doesn't bother to hide its place on assembly line). That said, there's a period charm in immersing yourself in Elvis this way. You'll realize that, even at his mature peak in the late '60s and early '70s, the label cranked out nonsense like I Got Lucky -- a record with a jumpsuited Presley on the cover comprised of nothing but uncollected soundtrack tunes. Despite all of this, his music endures such crass packaging. Certainly Elvis hit some bumps along the way -- the snazzy silver screen charm of the initial soundtracks tarnishes by the mid-'60s, the early '70s live albums often play to Vegas' middle of the road -- but in each phase, Presley could achieve transcendence. By the end of this lengthy set, it's hard not to marvel at the length of his career and how well his music endures; it feels like a bedrock of the American century.


http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-album-collection-mw0002909967

My local used record store had some of Elvis' studio albums in their "live Elvis" section; the store owner respects Elvis as a talent, but he is not super knowledgeable about him. But it is nice to see people coming around to some of the music that got overlooked when it was first released.

[Rocker]

Review by Shane Brown - author of 'Elvis Presley: A Listener's Guide'

http://www.elvisinfonet.com/cd_review_Elvis-Presley-The-Album-Collection.html

[Rocker]

From the L. A. Times:

Every album Elvis ever made, and then some, the stars of new 60-CD box set. That's all right, indeed

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-elvis-presley-20160406-story.html