[August 5, 2014 Update: A July 21 email request for more details from George Feltenstein at Warner Brothers thus far remains unanswered. However, early reviews of the Blu-ray (here and here) have provided the following:

• The theatrical version of the film does not appear on the Blu-ray disc. It only appears on the DVD, which is the same version as previous releases.
• The outtakes on the Blu-ray are about the same poor quality as they were on the 2007 DVD. No significant improvements in video or audio.
• The live version of “Get Back” does not appear in the Blu-ray outtakes. Only the “Little Sister” portions of the medley appear – as on the 2007 DVD release.

Unfortunately, it seems that’s the way it is.

Thank you to LSP-4445 amd rgray_69 at the For Elvis CD Collectors forum for providing the review links.]

July 20, 2014 Original Post

In a recent Graceland.com podcast, Warner Brothers Senior Vice-President of Catalog Marketing George Feltenstein provided more details on the 12 outtakes included as special features on the That’s The Way It Is: Special Edition Blu-ray due out on August 12. The film follows Elvis in the summer of 1970.

As suspected, the content mirrors that of the 2007 2-DVD set, except with a new twist. On DVD, the outtakes were presented in abysmal quality, but on Blu-ray, they will be pristine. In the June 20 podcast, Feltenstein explained:

“The Blu-ray has high-definition, incredible new presentation, [and an] all-new master, but we also have, with really impressive quality, additional songs that were not included in the Special Edition. They were on a prior DVD but with, really, not very impressive quality because that’s the best that we had at the time, and it really was disappointing to fans. So, we were unable to locate the actual master tapes that had the outtakes that we intended to use in 2007, and, finally, now, that tape was located, and that is now on the Blu-ray. So people will be able to see the – I think there are about ten – additional performances, and they’re going to look and sound much better than they did on the 2007 DVD – which was really a heartbreaker for us because we always want to give the consumers the best thing we can, and now we can do that, and it’s very, very exciting. We are always looking for new ways to make Elvis fans happy.”

The outtakes are:

1.) “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” (Rehearsal-July 14)

2.) Eating Sequence (July 14)

3.) “Cattle Call,” “Baby Let’s Play House,” and “Don’t” (Rehearsal-July 29)

4.) “Farther Along” (Rehearsal-August 4)

5.) “Oh Happy Day” (Rehearsal-August 7)

6.) “I Just Can’t Help Believin'” (Live-August 11 Dinner Show)

7.) “Walk A Mile In My Shoes” (Live-August 11 Midnight Show)

8.) “I’ve Lost You” (Live-August 12 Dinner Show)

9.) “Sweet Caroline” (Live-August 12 Midnight Show)

10.) “Little Sister”/[“Get Back”*] (Live-August 12 Midnight Show)

11.) “Stranger In The Crowd” (Live-August 13 Dinner Show)

12.) After Show Party (August 10 Opening Show)

*The “Get Back” portions of this live medley were edited out of the 2007 DVD release. It is unclear as of yet whether they have been restored for the 2014 Blu-ray release.

According to a Warner Brothers press release, here are the product details:

Disc 1 (Blu-ray Disc)
2001 Special Edition
Special Features:
“Patch It Up: The Restoration of ‘Elvis: That’s The Way It Is’”
12 Outtakes – song/nonmusical sequences
1970 Original Theatrical Version

Disc 2 (DVD)
1970 Original Theatrical Version
Special Features:
12 Outtakes – song/nonmusical sequences

A limited-engagement theatrical run of Elvis: That’s The Way It Is begins on August 16 in Memphis and expands to much of the US the following day.

A week prior to the Blu-ray, Sony will release 10-disc and 2-disc expanded versions of the Elvis: That’s The Way It Is album on August 5.