ElvisNews.com: A Legendary Performer Volume 12

A Legendary Performer Volume 12

By ElvisNews.com / Kees, Dec 27, 2007

We've reached volume 12 in this series, did we reach the bottom of the barrel too?

Design

Volume 12 in this series continues the plain white design of the previous rip-off editions. Only the Madison volumes in this series come with a booklet.

Content

Like the previous rip-off editions in this series this volume copied out-takes, live performances and alternate takes from existing releases. For some that is a reason not to buy these releases. To others who don't own the original releases, this series offers a lot of great material since this edition brings a great collection of Elvis' better work; at least for my liking.

"Aloha Oe", "Double Trouble", "One Track Heart" and "Singing Tree" don't rank high on my play list but the nineteen other tracks do. From the opening track "A Mess Of Blues" through "I've Got A Thing About You" to "Twenty Days And Twenty Nights" and "You Asked Me To" which closes this CD I really enjoyed this compilation of out-takes. A lot of my favorite tracks with a different sound due to the use of alternate takes.

Conclusion

These releases offend part of the Elvis community because they are rip-off releases cashing in on other people's work. Even producers of bootlegs complain that these con-producers steal their work for a quick buck. In my opinion the latter is dangerous for us as Elvis fans, since the result may be that there won't be that many new releases with new and interesting material. On the other hand I'm a fan of the man's music and this silver disc contains a great selection ... choices choices choices ... Sometimes I'm thankful for being an editor on this site, that way I can buy a nice compilation like this volume and warn you guys not to do so because it is ruining the import world :-).

Track listing

A Mess Of Blues (alt. take) / After Loving You (alt. take 2) / Aloha Oe (take 1) / Danny Boy (remix) / Double Trouble (take 1) / Gently (take 2) / Going Home (take 2) / I Need Somebody To Lean On (take 8) / I Want To Be Free (alt taje) / If That Isn't Love (spliced take) / It's Midnight (unknown take) / I've Got A Thing About You Baby (rake 14) / Make Me Know It (take 18) / My Way (master take) / Night Life (take 3) / One Track Heart (master take) / Pledging My Love (take 3) / Singing Tree (take 4) / Such An Easy Question (take 1, 2) / That Someone You'll Never Forget (alt. take) / Without Love (take 1) / You Asked Me To (take 2)

same day personal loan

guaranteed payday loans

one hour cash advance

Give Your Opinion

Next item:
A New Command Performance

Previous item:
High Sierra Fever

Elvis Presley on: eBay

, iTunes, Amazon, Sheetmusic

Reactions

Greg Nolan (profile/ contact) wrote on Feb 4, 2008report abuse

You have to be kidding: you can toss Madison in with Wolf Call? That's ridiculous. The Madison "Legendary" series, as I recall, was running low on rare tracks and volume 8 was probably the least well received. But overall, the "wrappers" (that is, the packaging and deluxe booklet) were so over-the-top well done that most consider their volumes on a level even RCA and FTD have not reached. Meanwhile, "Wolf Call" picked up the series by blantantly repackaing outtakes already made available by RCA and FTD, and then didn't bother with a booklet. There's no comparison.

mature_elvis_fan75 (profile/ contact) wrote on Jan 25, 2008report abuse

But madison are doing the same thing arent they? just with a better wrapper,madison puts out great cd'sbut there not perfect by any means!

Greg Nolan (profile/ contact) wrote on Jan 24, 2008report abuse

Mofo, RCA indeed released official versions of Legendary Performer Volumes 3 and 4, for the record - on vinyl in the '70s and '80s! But the Madison label's Volume 5 resumed the title for the CD age and they continued up to about Vol. 8 and with high quality. Just try to find Volume 5 and you're see how popular it was! But The Wolf Calls are blatant rip-offs - best geared to collectors who smoke $20 bills rolled up as cigars! I can burn my own FTD outtake comps, thank you very much, Wolfie!

Mofoca22 (profile/ contact) wrote on Jan 3, 2008report abuse

man the only legendary performer cds i have is voulume 1 and 2 and thats the way its gonna stay the rest are all frauds and songs on them dont even warrant a right to be called a legendary performance elvis hated singing most of them songs for crying out loud

mature_elvis_fan75 (profile/ contact) wrote on Dec 28, 2007report abuse

I think madisons are for most part not needed,they get by because for the most part they put out great stuff, let it roll was another one from madison that was weak on content!

Greg Nolan (profile/ contact) wrote on Dec 28, 2007report abuse

The difference between the Madison label's continuation of this series and that of "Wolf Call" is like night and day. We won't see these "Wolf Calls" in the IMPORT TOP 40 any time soon.

mature_elvis_fan75 (profile/ contact) wrote on Dec 28, 2007report abuse

Theres enough people that keep cd's like this coming,ive not been intersted in any of them includind the ones madison did,all are easy ways to make a buck without trying,yes great artwork andl iner notes but that only goes so far!

Lex (profile/ contact) wrote on Dec 28, 2007report abuse

And especially a short sighted label like this, only there for the quick buck won't give review copies away. Good for them, otherwise I might review them, and that would be way, way less positive. I'd rather compile my own CDs with my favs than spending one single cent on sh*t like this.

ELV75 (profile/ contact) wrote on Dec 28, 2007report abuse

Hi Greg, like most fans we have pay for most of the items we review. As a CD collector I don't mind to much buying titles like this - as you say a fun compilation - but money-wise I skip a lot of releases as you can probably tell by all the products you see coming by on our and other sites which we don't review. When we get a free review copy we still give our honest opinion, some producers thought we would do what you described ... they were wrong :-) In the end we remain fans, fans with an opinion (like you).

Ciscoking (profile/ contact) wrote on Dec 28, 2007report abuse

It`s C-R-A-P,..no more no less..the onyl aim is to fill the pockets of some bootleggers with quick bucks. It´s a shame that they steal whatever gets in their hands, Vol.13 is already on ebay... The very same goes for these cheap audience recordings taken directly from CDR`s floating around, they even steal the titles..

Greg Nolan (profile/ contact) wrote on Dec 27, 2007report abuse

Kees, it's generally assumed that reviewers of books, movies, CD's have access to free review copies - if not always in the Elvis import world. One might assume you have paid for the copy (it's not my business) but the problem with these releases is that they are indeed pricey re-hashes of already released material. If you did get a free review copy (long a tradition for newspaper and magazine reviewers and presumably websites), it might account for your more casual and positive read on the latest "Wolf Call."

There's no doubt (especially with this one) that the front and back covers are at least evocative of the original series -and the acclaimed Madison follow-ups.

But at import prices, all but the most wealthy collectors will be able to (or want) to collect songs they *already* own on FTD or other imports merely because they have been assembled in a random order. We can do that with our own CD-R collections -and a lot of us could make up our own covers as well.

These "Wolf Call" comps are probably fun to hear merely because of the randomness of the songs (but nary a booklet, a serious demerit) , but with all the import choices out there, most will safely save their "Elvis money" on getting either the next FTD's or any FTD's they have missed and likewise with imports.