Sony ups the stakes with 8-CD THAT’S THE WAY IT IS set

May 24, 2014September 29, 2020 / TY

Sony will release in August an eight, count them, eight CD set for That’s The Way It Is, according to Elvis Australia. While the site notes that the release is “100% confirmed,” full details are not yet available.

If you will excuse me for just a moment here…

WOW! YES!! FINALLY!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!! GO SONY!!!!!!

…Okay, I am back.

According to Elvis Australia’s source, the CDs will include “unreleased concerts.”

Of the six known 1970 concerts that RCA recorded for That’s The Way It Is, only two have not yet been officially released in relatively complete form: the August 11 Dinner Show and the August 12 Dinner Show.

There is even a possibility that the set will also contain two DVDs – likely duplicating the contents of Warner Home Video’s 2007 reissue of That’s The Way It Is.

This all comes on the heels of Warner’s recent announcement that it will release That’s The Way It Is on Blu-ray August 12.

Elvis on stage in Las Vegas (August 12, 1970, Dinner Show)

For me, the That’s The Way It Is event, starting with the June session in Nashville and concluding with the August 1970 Vegas concerts, represents the pinnacle of Elvis Presley’s career. He was never quite as incredible again as he was in the summer of 1970. It may go against what others may do, but when I think of Elvis, I think first of Summer 1970.

Since we have no other details on the CDs as of yet, I am going to indulge myself and speculate.

My hope is that the original album, singles, and related Nashville studio outtakes are saved for a 2-CD Legacy Edition apparently due out at the same time. That way, there would actually be a reason to buy both the 8-CD set and the 2-CD set. [This approach would, of course, open Sony up to complaints, but let’s be honest and realize some people will complain no matter what they do.]

Were it up to me, based on what is known to exist, I would create a release something like this, with all material newly mixed and mastered by Vic Anesini:

CD 1: August 12 Midnight Show

CD 2: July 15 Rehearsal

CD 3: August 10 Opening Show

CD 4: August 11 Dinner Show

CD 5: August 11 Midnight Show

CD 6: July 29 Rehearsal

CD 7: August 12 Dinner Show

CD 8: August 13 Dinner Show

Of course, if additional concerts from the timeframe are hidden in the vault somewhere, those would take precedence over previously released performances above. I would also fill up each CD that had additional space with highlights from the remaining rehearsals.

Amazing that even at eight CDs, I am still having to edit back what I would really want to release on a That’s The Way It Is multi-CD set.

It appears that Sony has come to the table in a big way in terms of a definitive That’s The Way It Is audio release. Will Warner Brothers raise the stakes even higher and go all-in by 2020 with a similarly comprehensive video release? Only time will tell.

ELVIS RECORDED LIVE ON STAGE IN MEMPHIS Legacy Edition out today, with bonus Richmond concert

March 18, 2014September 29, 2020 / TY

Before we begin, a reminder that there are less than 13 hours left to lock in your predictions bracket for Elvis Mania 2014. The person with the highest score will receive a Sony Legacy Edition CD of an Elvis title, courtesy of The Mystery Train Blog. See yesterday’s post for more details. [Update: Predictions are now locked.]

* * *

Forty years ago today, on March 18, 1974, Elvis Presley rocked the Richmond Coliseum in Virginia. A live recording of the concert features on the second CD of a new Legacy Edition of Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis, in stores today from Sony.

The first CD features a complete version of the March 20 Memphis concert at the Mid-South Coliseum that RCA first released in an edited form in 1974. Elvis earned his third and final Grammy Award for his performance of “How Great Thou Art” in Memphis on that original 1974 album.

The Follow That Dream collectors label for Elvis fans restored the missing tracks from the Memphis concert and removed unnecessary audience overdubs in a 2004 Classic Albums CD release of the title, including a new mix. The same label also issued the expanded show in vinyl format as a 2-record set last year. This new 2014 Legacy Edition features yet another new mix of the Memphis concert.

The Richmond concert made its debut in 2011’s Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis on the FTD label. This new release features the same mix of the Richmond show as on the 2011 collectors CD.

The Elvis Presley Show crisscrossed back and forth from Virginia to Tennessee on that leg of his tour. Tickets for a March 12 appearance at the Richmond Coliseum sold out so quickly that Elvis’s management re-routed the tour to accommodate a second show there on March 18. Elvis performed four shows in Memphis on March 16 and 17, hit Richmond, Virginia, again on March 18, and then returned to Tennessee for concerts in Murfreesboro and Memphis on March 19 and 20, respectively.

RCA professionally recorded the March 20 Memphis concert for the album project. It is a 16-track recording (audio elements recorded on separate channels) that can be tweaked for optimum sound quality. The Memphis show is presented in stereo.

Though the background story remains mysterious, the March 18 Richmond concert was supposedly captured as a 16-track recording, too. If so, it remains missing from the Sony vaults – lost, stolen, or erased.

While Elvis’s sound engineers often made informal reference tapes of his shows from the soundboard mixing console, the Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis liner notes in 2011 only speculated about why RCA apparently recorded the Richmond concert in multitrack. The 2014 Legacy Edition refers to the Richmond show as a “test run concert” for the subsequent Memphis recording.

Five selections from an August 16, 1974, rehearsal at RCA Hollywood for an upcoming Las Vegas engagement round out the second CD of the release. Captured on a personal cassette recorder, the rehearsals are in comparatively poor sound quality. The five tracks were among twenty from the rehearsal included as part of the 2009 FTD release From Sunset To Las Vegas.

In addition to participating retail stores, the 2014 Legacy Edition of Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis is also available from Amazon and other online outlets.

ELVIS RECORDED LIVE ON STAGE IN MEMPHIS (2014 Legacy Edition)

Tracks

Disc One

Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis, March 20, 1974
01. Also Sprach Zarathustra/
02. See See Rider
03. I Got A Woman/Amen
04. Love Me
05. Tryin’ To Get To You
06. All Shook Up
07. Steamroller Blues
08. Teddy Bear/Don’t Be Cruel
09. Love Me Tender
10. Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On/Your Mama Don’t Dance/Flip, Flop & Fly/Jailhouse Rock/Hound Dog
11. Fever
12. Polk Salad Annie
13. Why Me Lord
14. How Great Thou Art
15. Suspicious Minds
16. Introductions By Elvis
17. Blueberry Hill/I Can’t Stop Loving You
18. Help Me
19. An American Trilogy
20. Let Me Be There
21. My Baby Left Me
22. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
23. Funny How Time Slips Away
24. Can’t Help Falling In Love/
25. Closing Vamp

Disc Two

Recorded Live At The Coliseum, Richmond, March 18, 1974
01. Also Sprach Zarathustra/
02. See See Rider
03. I Got A Woman/Amen [edited with Memphis, March 20, 1974]
04. Love Me
05. Tryin’ To Get To You
06. All Shook Up
07. Steamroller Blues
08. Teddy Bear/Don’t Be Cruel
09. Love Me Tender
10. Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On/Your Mama Don’t Dance/Flip, Flop & Fly/Jailhouse Rock/Hound Dog
11. Fever
12. Polk Salad Annie
13. Why Me Lord
14. Suspicious Minds
15. Introductions By Elvis
16. I Can’t Stop Loving You
17. Help Me
18. An American Trilogy
19. Let Me Be There
20. Funny How Time Slips Away
21. Can’t Help Falling In Love/
22. Closing Vamp

The August 1974 RCA Rehearsals
23. Down In The Alley
24. Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues
25. Softly, As I Leave You
26. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
27. The Twelfth Of Never

Elvis Mania 2014 Tournament: Create your bracket predictions

March 17, 2014September 3, 2020 / TY

[March 18, 2014, Update: Predictions are now locked.]

I spend much time on The Mystery Train Blog giving my opinion of all things Elvis. Now, readers have a chance to stake out their own positions.

Introducing the Elvis Mania 2014 tournament. Sixty-four selections will compete for the title of Best Elvis Song, with readers of The Mystery Train Blog choosing winners in each round. Voting begins tomorrow evening (March 18), so now is your chance to fill out a bracket and lock in your predictions using the link below.

Go to the Elvis Mania 2014 Tournament page on challonge.com

At the end of the tournament, the person with the highest score will receive a Sony Legacy Edition CD of an Elvis title, courtesy of The Mystery Train Blog. The tie-breakers will be number of correct picks and order in which predictions were locked. Though I have created a predictions bracket for fun, the CD will simply go to second place should I happen to achieve the highest score.

Good luck!

Who will win Elvis Mania 2014?

ELVIS RECORDED LIVE ON STAGE IN MEMPHIS Legacy Edition to include Richmond, Virginia concert (Conductor’s Reflections #15)

January 15, 2014October 16, 2020 / TY / 4 Comments

ELVIS RECORDED LIVE ON STAGE IN MEMPHIS (2014 Legacy Edition)

One of my favorite CD releases on the Follow That Dream collectors label for Elvis Presley fans is 2011’s Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis, which captures a March 18, 1974, concert that Elvis performed at the Richmond Coliseum in Virginia.

The confusing album title reflects that Elvis closed out his tour two days after the Richmond concert with a show in Memphis at the Mid-South Coliseum, portions of which became the 1974 album Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis. Elvis earned his third and final Grammy Award for his stellar performance of “How Great Thou Art” in Memphis on the original 1974 album.

The link between the two shows continues, for Sony announced last week that it will reissue the Richmond concert on the second disc of a Legacy Edition of Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis. While the FTD collectors label has very limited distribution, this new 2-CD release on the main Sony label hits mainstream retail stores on March 18, the 40th anniversary of the Richmond concert. Amazon and other outlets are accepting pre-orders now.

The Elvis Presley Show crisscrossed back and forth from Virginia to Tennessee on that leg of his tour. Tickets for his March 12 appearance at the Richmond Coliseum sold out so quickly that the tour was re-routed to accommodate a second show there on March 18. Elvis performed four shows in Memphis on March 16 and 17, hit Richmond, Virginia, again on March 18, and then returned to Tennessee for concerts in Murfreesboro and Memphis on March 19 and 20, respectively.

Elvis Presley’s March 1974 tour schedule (partial)

For space considerations on the original LP, RCA edited several songs out of the March 20 Memphis concert for the 1-record release in July 1974. The album also featured overdubbed audience reactions that detracted from the sound quality. FTD restored the missing tracks and removed the unnecessary overdubs in a 2004 Classic Albums CD release of the concert, including a new mix. The same label also issued the expanded show in vinyl format as a 2-record set last year.

It turned out that RCA chose well in 1974 which performances to use on the original record, though. The performance quality of many of the excised songs was underwhelming, with the exception of a fine rendition of “Steamroller Blues,” first released on Platinum: A Life In Music over two decades later. The energetic Memphis version was superior to his live recording of the song in Hawaii that served as a single in 1973.

This new Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis Legacy Edition will also include the previously omitted songs, but whether a new or an existing mix will be featured is unclear.

In fact, Sony’s press release for this album is riddled with errors, an issue far too common these days in the marketing of Elvis music releases, so it is difficult to trust any of its statements. For that reason, I am not even including Sony’s alleged track listing at this point. Suffice it for now to say that Disc 1 will contain the Memphis show, while Disc 2 will contain the Richmond show and some low-fidelity bonus tracks recorded on a personal cassette player of Elvis rehearsing a few months later for yet another Las Vegas stint.

The Richmond concert audio source on both the 2011 and 2014 releases is a tape copy of a mono mix-down of the 16-track recording, with artificial reverb applied. In other words, no further changes can be made to the Richmond mix or reverb since the 16-track original is unavailable. The Richmond concert is not likely to sound very different from Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis on this reissue, if at all.

However, the 2014 Sony press release refers to the Richmond show as a “test run concert” for the subsequent Memphis recording. Some have theorized that the test copy is in mono due to Elvis’s preference for that format over stereo, though his previous live albums had been stereo releases. Perhaps the accompanying Legacy Edition booklet will reveal new information.

Elvis at the Richmond Coliseum, March 18, 1974 (FTD)

In the years leading up to 1974, many of Elvis’s concerts were superior to this particular show in Richmond. However, as with the Memphis show, the fun concert features Elvis in a fantastic mood interacting with fans. Music highlights in Richmond include “Steamroller Blues,” “Polk Salad Annie,” and “Suspicious Minds.”

Over the course of 21 years, Elvis performed 15 concerts in Richmond. The 14th of these shows was captured on Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis and, from what I have read, this was Elvis’s last great concert in Richmond. He performed in Richmond one final time in 1976, but, by that point, his rising prescription drug addiction and abuse had diminished the power of his shows. Therefore, I consider the March 18, 1974, appearance to be Elvis’s true “last hurrah” in Richmond.

Legacy Questions

I am looking forward to the reissues of both the Richmond and Memphis concerts. Despite my personal enthusiasm as an Elvis fan, I find myself wondering whether these two concerts are appropriate choices for mainstream release in 2014.

I fear that the repetitive nature of these shows compared to other recent Sony releases will use up some of the goodwill shown by music critics in reviews of Elvis At Stax, Prince From Another Planet, and certain other titles released in the last few years.

Will mainstream critics and listeners understand Elvis’s sense of humor? For instance, will some misinterpret his joke in Richmond about it being a pleasure to be back in Hampton Roads as an out-of-it singer not knowing which town he was playing?

By following up 2012’s As Recorded At Madison Square Garden reissue with 2013’s Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite reissue and now 2014’s Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis reissue, is Sony simply committing the same release blunders in the 2010s that RCA made in the 1970s? Has locking into an “anniversary” theme for release choices doomed them to repeat history’s mistakes going forward?

Keep in mind that the 40th anniversary of Having Fun With Elvis On Stage is later this year as well.

New and upcoming Elvis releases focus on slices of a diverse career

May 16, 2013September 9, 2020 / TY / 2 Comments

Get those sound systems (and wallets) ready, folks, new Elvis releases are on the way.

Stay Away, Joe (concept cover art)

May 2013

Follow That Dream Records, Sony’s collectors label for Elvis fans, is releasing this month:

From Elvis In Memphis (2-CD): One of Elvis’ best albums finally receives the FTD Classic Album treatment. This should make an excellent companion to the recent Back In Memphis release. Surely an “imaginary album” will be in the works at some point to feature the rest of the recordings from the 1969 American Sound Studio sessions.
Stay Away, Joe (CD): Speaking of imaginary albums, here is one that compiles October 1967 and January 1968 sessions. In addition to the Stay Away, Joe soundtrack, it includes “Too Much Monkey Business” and “US Male.” The January session features Jerry Reed on guitar, which is why I consider this a follow-up of sorts to the fantastic Elvis Sings Guitar Man.
On Stage-February 1970 (2-LP): This vinyl release includes the original On Stage-February 1970 album, recorded live in 1969 and 1970, as well as additional material Elvis recorded during his early 1970 Las Vegas engagement.
Summer of ’61 (Book & CD): In conjunction with Flaming Star publications, this book primarily focuses on the making of the movie Follow That Dream. A brief CD containing previously released Elvis tracks and two demos for “What A Wonderful Life” is also included.

June 2013

FTD has scheduled the following for release in June:

Sold Out! (2-CD): The ambiguous title of this one could refer to almost any Elvis concert from 1956 and beyond. [May 19, 2013, Update: The concerts on this release will be March 1, 1974, Tulsa, Oklahoma and June 21, 1974, Cleveland, Ohio.] This one is from the creative team behind Forty-Eight Hours To Memphis: Recorded Live On Stage In Richmond, Virginia – March 18, 1974 and 3000 South Paradise Road, so a quality presentation is expected.
Hot August Night (CD): This one features the August 25, 1969, Midnight Show in Las Vegas. The 1969 shows are all must-haves. Portions of this one contributed to the From Memphis To Vegas/From Vegas To Memphis (Elvis In Person) release in 1969. Many tracks are previously unreleased, however.
Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis (2-LP): This vinyl release features the complete March 20, 1974, Memphis concert, from which selections made up the original 1974 version of this album. I have to admit, I enjoy the truncated version of this show more than the full version. Other than “Steamroller Blues,” the songs edited out of the 1974 1-LP release featured some disappointing performances by Elvis.
Best of British: The HMV Years (Book): This is a reprint of the popular book exploring Elvis’ 1956-1958 releases on the HMV label in Great Britain, which sold out upon release in February. Though not noted in the press release, presumably the two CDs of previously released Elvis material from the original printing are also included.

The only physical store in the US authorized to sell FTD releases is Good Rockin’ Tonight, a Graceland gift shop in Memphis. However, FTD products may be obtained online from a variety of other Elvis stores, including Graceland’s ShopElvis.com.

August 2013

Sony has scheduled Elvis At Stax: Deluxe Edition, a 3-CD boxed set, as a main label, wide release in August. The set will include all of the masters Elvis recorded in Memphis at Stax Recording Studio in July and December of 1973. It will also include alternate takes of many of the songs. Here is the track listing:

DISC 1: The R&B and Country Sessions – The Outtakes

1. I Got A Feelin’ In My Body – take 1
2. Find Out What’s Happening – take 8/7
3. Promised Land – take 4
4. For Ol’ Times Sake – take 4
5. I’ve Got A Thing About You, Baby – take 14
6. It’s Midnight – take 7
7. If You Talk In Your Sleep – take 5
8. Loving Arms – take 2
9. You Asked Me To – take 3A
10. Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues – take 8
11. Talk About The Good Times – take 3
12. There’s A Honky Tonk Angel – take 1
13. She Wears My Ring – take 8
14. Three Corn Patches – take 14
15. I Got A Feelin’ In My Body – take 4
16. If You Don’t Come Back – take 3
17. Promised Land – take 5

DISC 2

Part 1 – The Pop Sessions – The Outtakes

1. Mr. Songman – take 2
2. Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming – take 4
3. Spanish Eyes – take 2
4. Take Good Care Of Her – takes 1,2,3
5. It’s Diff’rent Now (unfinished recording)
6. Thinking About You – take 4
7. My Boy – take 1
8. Girl Of Mine – take 9
9. Love Song Of The Year – take 1
10. If That Isn’t Love – take 1

Part 2 – The July 1973 Masters

11. Raised On Rock
12. For Ol’ Time Sake
13. I’ve Got A Thing About You, Baby
14. Take Good Care Of Her
15. If You Don’t Come Back
16. Three Corn Patches
17. Girl Of Mine
18. Just A Little Bit
19. Find Out What’s Happening
20. Sweet Angeline

DISC 3: The December 1973 Masters

1. Promised Land
2. It’s Midnight
3. If You Talk In Your Sleep
4. Help Me
5. My Boy
6. Thinking About You
7. Mr. Songman
8. I Got A Feelin’ In My Body
9. Loving Arms
10. Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues
11. You Asked Me To
12. There’s A Honky Tonk Angel
13. Talk About The Good Times
14. She Wears My Ring
15. Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming
16. Love Song Of The Year
17. Spanish Eyes
18. If That Isn’t Love

I have mixed feelings on this release. I think it is wonderful for the main label to focus on an overlooked period in the recording career of Elvis Presley. For those fans who do not already have the corresponding FTD Classic Album 2-CD sets (Raised On Rock, Good Times, and Promised Land), this is an excellent, budget-conscious alternative to hear highlights of this material.

However, the first thing I noticed is that Sony really blew the sequencing of these tracks. Why, oh, why would the compiler of this collection choose to kick things off with the dreadful “I Got A Feelin’ In My Body”? Especially when “Promised Land” is sitting there, practically begging to begin this set in the right manner?

Short of starting from scratch, one simple alternative that I can suggest would be the following:

Swap Disc 1 with Disc 3
Swap Disc 2 – Part 1 with Disc 2 – Part 2

Just making the simple changes above would result in a much better listening experience from start to finish. Again, it is great to see a release focusing on 1973, but it should not just be grudgingly thrown together. While Sony’s Elvis team may disagree, some of us love this material. Treat it right.

Sony is also releasing in August a 1-CD version and a 2-LP version collecting some of the above Stax material.

Never say goodbye to Aloha From Hawaii

April 5, 2013March 23, 2021 / TY / 10 Comments

NBC aired the Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii special on April 4, 1973

Welcome to a rare “full-color edition” of The Mystery Train Blog. Yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of the United States television broadcast of Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii on NBC. The special had been taped in January 1973 during a “live via satellite” broadcast to certain parts of the world. With all of the hype surrounding the first live satellite broadcast by an entertainer, many Americans to this day wrongly believe they saw 38-year-old Elvis perform the show live. Little did they know that he was watching the TV special, too.

The NBC version of Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii aired from 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM on April 4, 1973. It became the most-watched show of the week. Among the viewers was indeed Elvis himself, who tuned-in from his home in Los Angeles. This edition of the show included the one-hour January 14 concert as well as four post-concert insert songs that Elvis recorded after the audience emptied from the venue.

Among Elvis fans today, the show receives mixed reviews. Some see it as the pinnacle of his career and success, while others see it as one of the first indicators of his decline. My Mom is one of those who adores Aloha From Hawaii. An Elvis fan since 1956, Aloha From Hawaii represents her ideal version of Elvis. I have a hard time getting her to watch anything else Elvis-related with me, unless we look at this one first.

As a second-generation fan, I wasn’t even born when Aloha first aired. In fact, I’m now the same age (almost to the day) Elvis was when he performed this show. While I prefer the ’68 ELVIS special and 1970’s That’s The Way It Is, I definitely enjoy Aloha From Hawaii. Though it was not his best show ever, in many ways it represented his final triumph in the eyes of the world.

Elvis Aloha From Hawaii, 2004 Deluxe Edition

Though the show had appeared on home media several times before, Elvis Presley Enterprises and BMG released an ultimate version in 2004 as the 2-DVD set Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii – Deluxe Edition. Here are the contents:

DVD 1
1. January 9, 1973: Elvis Arrives and Greets Fans (17:30)
2. January 12, 1973: Rehearsal Concert (56:39)
3. January 14, 1973: Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii Concert (1:04:18)

DVD 2
1. January 14, 1973: Post-Concert Insert Songs Session (27:00)
2. April 4, 1973 (broadcast): Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii NBC TV Special Version (01:16:39)

Contents of Elvis Aloha From Hawaii, 2004 Deluxe Edition

2004 was a milestone year for Elvis fans. On the same day as the above, EPE and BMG also released the 3-DVD ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – Deluxe Edition set. I could barely contain my excitement when both sets arrived at my house nearly a decade ago now.

Executive Produced by Gary Hovey and the late Todd Morgan, both of these deluxe sets turned out to be among the most important Elvis releases ever. For obsessive Elvis fans like me, these DVDs represent essential viewing. I return to them often.

Though DVD 2 also holds interest, when it comes to Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii – Deluxe Edition, I tend to watch DVD 1 most often. The 2004 re-edits of the rehearsal and satellite shows represent the best releases of this material to date.

Last night, however, I plopped in DVD 2 in order to watch the April 4, 1973, version of Aloha From Hawaii. Before “Burning Love” could even finish, to my horror, the image on my screen began pixelating. It finally froze. An examination of the disc revealed scratches. I skipped ahead to the next song, but the problem kept occurring. I ended up watching about twenty minutes of the show in fits and starts.

I think I am very careful with my discs, so I’m not sure how these phantom scratches sometimes occur. I guess I have to chalk it up to equipment oddities. Either that or my dog plays my CDs and DVDs when I’m not around.

In any event, the reason I was horrified was not due to having to halt my 40th anniversary viewing of Aloha From Hawaii, but because I knew Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii – Deluxe Edition was now hard-to-find.

In fact, only a few months ago I had searched for it as a potential Christmas gift for someone. At that time, it was only available from third-party sellers at three times the original price. I love Elvis, but I refuse to pay exorbitant prices to such speculators. A quick check last night revealed the pricing to be the same.

Naturally, I did what any self-respecting fan would do in such a situation. I took to twitter to whine.

By this time, it was around midnight. I do not always get along with the twitter late at night, so I managed to tweet the following message to myself: My 2004 Aloha From Hawaii Deluxe Edition is giving out. If only @ElvisPresley would re-release this essential 2-DVD set.

Tweeting to myself

I wish I could blame tweeting to myself on having a few too many, but I never drink. I don’t need to imbibe in order to do stupid things, it seems.

Fortunately, my message somehow managed to get through to @ElvisPresley, the official Elvis Presley Enterprises twitter account. Apparently the people over there at EPE actually know how to work twitter, for they sent me a link via direct (private) message to where the Deluxe Edition was still available on ShopElvis.com.

Now, why didn’t I think of that? I spend more money than I will ever admit on ShopElvis.com, but missed checking for the Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii – Deluxe Edition in this most obvious of places last night. Sure enough, it was there, in stock, and at a fair price.

Replacement copy of Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii – Deluxe Edition? Ordered.
Backup copy of ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special – Deluxe Edition? Ordered. [This one is also now “hard-to-find” and is at crazy prices from third-party sellers.]

There is an Aloha From Hawaii for everyone. If you are not quite as obsessive as me when it comes to wanting to view all possible footage, 2006’s Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii – Special Edition DVD features only the 2004 edit of the January 14 main show. It is less expensive than the 2-DVD version and will certainly satisfy more casual fans.

Last month, Sony released the Legacy Edition of the Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite soundtrack album as a 2-CD set. Note that this is only the music, no video.

I’ve not picked this one up as of yet, but be sure to read this fantastic review of the Legacy Edition of Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite over on The Second Disc.

Here are the contents of the Legacy Edition:

CD 1
January 14, 1973: Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite (original album, 1973 vintage mix, remastered by Vic Anesini)

CD 2
1. January 12, 1973: Rehearsal Concert (2013 mix and mastering by Steve Rosenthal and Rob Santos)
2. January 14, 1973: Post-Concert Insert Songs

Elvis Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite, 2013 Legacy Edition

The Mystery Train Blog

Exploring the music & films of Elvis Presley

Sony

Sony ups the stakes with 8-CD THAT’S THE WAY IT IS set