Gravel Road Music just released their new CD, Good To Be Back, this is the complete press release:
ELVIS - GOOD TO BE BACK
The historical amazing and complete soundboard recording of December 13, 1975 Midnight Show , for the younger fans a discovery and for the longtime fans it will be impressive and surprising. The sound is a thrill the package an 28 page booklet which covers everything, The photo's, the facts and specially written liner notes.
The lucky ones who decide quick will have one of the limited Concert tour Photo folio books, in full color 20cm x20cm on heavy glossy stock paper , In the tradition of the 70’s Elvis folio books with some new and amazing photos of the Early '75 tour. These won't be reprinted and are intended to become collectables.
This was the very first soundboard ever released on cd, and now totally remastered and complete!
A long time very hard to get cd, NOW in totally new sound !
01. C C Rider 02. I Got A Woman - Amen 03. Love Me 04. Tryin To Get To You 05. And I Love You So 06. All Shook Up 07. (let me BeYour)Teddy Bear - Dont Be Cruel 08. You Gave Me A Mountain (with false start) 09. Help Me Make It Through The Night 10. Polk Salad Annie 11. Band Introductions 12. Johnny B. Goode (by James Burton) 13. Drum Solo (by Ronnie Tutt) 14. Bass Solo (by Jerry Scheff) 15. Piano Solo (by Glen D. Hardin) 16. School Day 17. School Day Reprise 18. Just Pretend 19. How Great Thou Art (with reprise) 20. Burning Love 21. Hound Dog 22. Welcome To My World (partly) 23. Softly As I Leave You (with Sherril Nielsen) 24. America,The Beautiful 25. Its Now Or Never 26. ‘O Sole Mio (sung in Italian by Elvis) 27. Little Darlin' 28. Little Sister 29. Cant Help Falling In Love 30. Closing Vamp.
Approximate running time: 76:08 All tracks are 24bit restored and remastered using Oxford / ProTools for a fresh sound and high-fidelity.
The show is great... one of the best Vegas shows ever..!
It is quite a historic recording as it was the source of the first official and unofficial soundboard releases. The official part being the release of "America The Beautiful" and "Softly, As I Leave You" on singles in 1977 and 1978, with the later unofficial release being the "Just Pretend" CD. I think the recording itself lives up to the hype, it is a great show and if the sound of the previous release has been improved upon we have an added bonus. Anybody that does not have a copy of the "Just Pretend" CD should seek out this one. I'm sure there will be the usual suspects who disagree with our enthusiasm for the show and we will get to hear from them very soon!
For a change,i have to agree with Tony. It's a great show and probably a great release. FTD will release this show in better sound,but not in this lavishly illustrated package. If you want to have the ultimate version of this show,then you will have to buy both the G.R. and the upcoming FTD version. The first one for the package,the second one for the better sound.
Unfortunately the FTD SB don`t sound any better than the botlegged ones. the other way round would be a correct observation. it isn`t Ernst`s cup pf tea..he rather goes for multi tracks..
This show on FTD? When? Any recent announcements? Or just speculating?
I doubt that FTD will release this show, being that they already released "Dinner at 8:00," which is of course, the dinner show from the same evening.
About 2 years ago Ernst bought the master tape of this show and is planning to release it sometime later. Exactly when,it's not known. This info came from the great Ger Rijff about 1 year ago. Given that he's a close friend of Ernst,take it as a fact. If you don't believe me,send me a p.m. and i can give you his e-mail address. Ask him. I'm not a big fan of the clumsy FTD digipaks,but they will release this show from the master tape. This will result better sound than on the bootlegs that all came from the same early generation copy.
First Ernst will do the shows from the 77 box..;-)
Maybe he will,but soon after (or maybe before) he will do this show, probably together with an unreleased show from that season. That will be a nice 2 CD-set,like 'Nevada Nights'. However,i don't want to look like a bad boy here. I have nothing against the Gravel Road label. Even though this is a 100% reissue label and they release nothing new,i think their releases are absolutely ok for those who don't have the old boots. (At the same time completely useless for those who already have them,but that's another story). It's up to you that you either wait for the better sounding FTD that will probably include an unreleased show,too, or buy this good looking but inferior sounding one.
I have the original, but will sell it as soon as this one lands in my mailbox. I appreciate the updated liner notes and booklets that come with these updated releases. To me, that's the way all Elvis packages should be. However, my purpose for adding to this discussion is to ask "Loose" a question. You made mention that "about 2 years ago Ernst bought the master tape of this show and is planning to release it sometime later," and that this info came from "the great Ger Rijff" - whom I have a lot of respect for - however, if this is true then where did Joan Deary get her tape to release "Softly" and "America" ? I was under the impression this was in one of the first batches of soundboards that Bruce turned over to RCA (which enabled FTD to release the Dinner show) before realizing what he had and thus began the selling of soundboards to certain parties... That also explains why certain soundboards have never been found (ahem... Indianapolis).
I'm sure that FTD has the soundboard recording of this show. That doesn't mean that they'll release a better sounding CD. We've all seen how FTD can botch the sound, even on professionally recorded stereo tracks. These days, it seems that unless Vic Anesini is in charge of the mastering, we may or may not get a good product. Hangloose mentions Nevada Nights as a superior sounding FTD release. I found the DAE release of that particular show to be superior. Maybe it's simply a matter of taste, who knows? My point here is that FTD doesn't always do a better job than the bootleggers. Sad, but true. The Dinner At 8:00 show was recorded on a reel to reel tape, therefore the master is of higher quality than the usual soundboard casette. If by chance, the Midnight show was recorded on a reel to reel tape, then maybe FTD will churn out a better product. I for one won't take my chances on FTD doing anything. I have the original release of this show, and I'm buying this new release because the product looks promising and has a cool collection of photos to go with it.
Orion wrote: "I have the original, but will sell it as soon as this one lands in my mailbox." - And you will sell this one,too,as soon as the better sounding FTD with unreleased materil pops up:) "I appreciate the updated liner notes and booklets that come with these updated releases." - This label exactly know that a lot of fans appreciate it,this is why they can re-sell the same material again and again,without any sound improvement. You know,most fans buy CD's mainly for the cover and booklet. To answer your question,RCA already had a copy of this show around the time of Elvis' death,but that wasn't the master tape. That was an early generation hissy copy. Ernst bought the MASTER TAPE about 2 years ago and it will result better sound. He will probably release this show as a 2 CD-set,and on CD2 there will be an unreleased show,probably one of the dec. 6.th soundboards as they have both on soundboard.
Lefty,i've never wrote that 'Nevada Nights' was better sounding than the bootleg. The sound on that was about the same. I just mentioned that FTD title because the re-release of this dec. '75 show will be similar to N.N. There will be the well-known show on CD1 and a more or less unreleased one on CD2. Probably one of the dec. 6th shows. This way more fans will buy that release,because it contains unreleased material. You're right about that Lene Reidel often screws up the sound,but let's hope this time she won't. The master tape will sound better in itself,even if she doesn't do anything with it. When you have the master tape,the better sound can be guaranteed. You don't have to do various technical mumbo-jumbos.
Please make us a list of the next 6 FTD ;-)...or is it just speculation..lol.. You seem to know more than we do..one you told us..CD 1: 13.12.75 MS CD 2: 6.12.75 either DS or MS...next..?
Even Ernst himself doesn't know the next 6 FTD titles:) However,the dec. 13 M/S will definitely come out on FTD. This is no speculation. He bought the master tape of this show because he wants to release it. The only question is when.
It's quite likely that FTD will release this show. They have the tape,it's a good concert in good sound and they have only a very few soundboards from this season. So when they revisit this engagement sooner or later,it's likely that they will choose this show. This GOOD TO BE BACK release looks beautiful,but personally i will wait for the FTD to save some money. My dealer asked €25 (+ postage) for this single CD. Well,for €22 i can buy a double FTD so i don't think it's a good value for money. Especially if we consider that it's a straight copy of Just Pretend. They just copied the audio from the old bootleg.
I have the "Just Pretend" CD in my player right now and the display shows are running time of 73.35, this new one lists a time of 76.08. Either something from another show has been added or material trimmed from the original CD has been left in. Whichever is the case, it means that it is not just a straight copy of the "Just Pretend" CD.
This will be almost a straight copy of J.P.,except that they will add a small missing part that wasn't on Just Pretend,but was on 'Unsurpassed Masters - Vol. 4.' (in 1993) and on 'Unauthorised - All Shook Up' (in 1996). So really nothing new here,which is not surprising. What's new you would expect from a reissue label? This release is for newbies and cover-collectors only.
It's like Tony C is saying..and btw you don't have any proof that this is a straight copy from the old boot,i ordered this new release myself.The press release is saying the show is complete so..just wait and see...and hear.
Complete show? Laughable. The 2001 Theme,the opening theme and most part of the closing theme are missing. This concert might be 95% complete,but definitely not 100% complete. At least 2 or 3 minutes are missing. No big deal,but let's remain faithful to the facts please.
I have proof,Jesse,but it was deleted so i won't mention it again. But believe me,i KNOW that they don't have the master tapes and they just copy the old bootlegs. Take it as a fact.
I'm not looking for the last word here. I just want to say that I appreciate reading the comments from my fellow collectors around the world. It's so cool to share this interest with others, and I appreciate every opinion on this matter. I wish that I could meet you all in person. I think we'd have a great time! So glad that Elvis product continues to reach us, and overall, that it continues to improve with time. Take Care, everybody!
Too many capitals in my text? There definitely weren't, I guess there was another reason why my message was deleted. What i was trying to say,that good labels like Boxcar, Audionics etc. buy new soundboards from the profit they earn with their releases. Bad labels,like Gravel Road etc. keep the profit and never release something new. With a minimal investment they earn maximum profit. They take the audio from old bootlegs,reissue them with nice design and that's it. If all labels were like Gravel Road,then we would never get any new Elvis-material.
As far as I know this "bad label" has the original tapes and works on them to achieve best sound. Also the layout is far superior to the original releases ..so a modern upgrade of old releases is most welcome....Vegas Rhythm is a milestone AND..don`t forget the newbies....the old goodies are sold out since a long time... or do you ather want a crappy SR From New York To chicago..? Calm down bit..and face reality..
