Elvis (Fool) is a 2-disc set in the classic album series. Originally released in 1973, the track listing was changed substantially before its commercial release. Here for the first time, ALL the proposed recordings are in included for the first time. In addition, it features great unreleased outtakes. The 7” inch digi-pack format features a 12-page booklet with great photographs and wonderful unseen memorabilia.
DISC 1
THE ORIGINAL ALBUM
1) Fool 2:44
2) Where Do I Go From Here 2:41
3) Love Me, Love The Life I Lead 3:05
4) It’s Still Here 2:05
5) It’s Impossible 2:55
6) (That’s What You Get) For Lovin’ Me 2:16
7) Padre 2:30
8) I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen 2:27
9) I Will Be True 2:32
10) Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (edited version) 2:4
BONUS SONGS
11) Steamroller Blues (single mix) 3:05
12) For The Good Times 3:10
13) Until It’s Time For You To Go – remake take 10 3:38
ORIGINAL ALTERNATE MIXES
14) Love Me, Love The Life I Lead 3:07
15) Padre 2:30
16) Fool 2:49
17) Where Do I Go From Here (edit) 1:45
FIRST LP VERSION LEFTOVERS
18) Reconsider Baby 2:45
19) Blue Hawaii 2:38
20) Early Mornin’ Rain 3:03
21) Hawaiian Wedding Song 2:01
22) Ku-U-I-Po 2:14
23) No More 2:38
24) Fool (single master) 2:49
DISC 2
THE OUTTAKES
1) (That’s What You Get) For Lovin’ Me – take 1 3:07
2) Until It’s Time For You To Go – takes 1 & 2 5:47
3) Love Me, Love The Life I Lead – takes 1, 2, 4 5:13
4) Padre - takes 1 & 2 3:32
5) (That’s What You Get) For Lovin’ Me – takes 3,7, 8 4:58
6) It’s Still Here – takes 1, 2, 3 4:47
7) I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen – take 1 (undubbed master) 2:24
8) I Will Be True – takes 1 & 2 4:24
9) It’s Still Here – takes 4 & 5 5:39
10) Until It’s Time For You To Go – take 6 4:56
11) Padre – take 11 2:30
12) Love Me, Love The Life I Lead – takes 5 & 6 3:49
13) My Way – takes 1 & 2 3:34
14) My Way – take 3 (master) 4:32
15) (That’s What You Get) For Lovin’ Me – takes 9 & 10 4:09
16) Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right – long version unedited 11:20
Love Me, Love The Life I Lead – takes 5 & 6 3:49 ! That's enough for me, just love that song !
I'm dumbfounded by the haphazard collection of songs on this CD - everything from "For the Good Times" to the after-hours cuts from the Aloha special. Yes, I realize these were on the initial draft of the LP (as was "Reconsider"), but it just makes the collection of songs seem thrown together. Also, if you're going to include them, where are the outtakes of these ? It's not all bad as we get a couple of outtakes of "My Way" from '71 (which have never been known to exist). However, I don't know why Ernst missed the boat and didn't include the duet versions of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." As I said, the tracklisting of this one leaves me scratching my head. I wonder who'll get the blame - ahem - credit for compiling this one ?
I think it looks great. Can't wait for it. Didn't t realise there was a duet version of First time ever I saw your face?
The original album was just thrown together. Why should the FTD version be any different. That's in keeping with the original album. I don't have a problem with it. Blame? None. Credit? Ernst and crew. Great job. Really looking forward to this release.
I agree with you Jerrynodak, Disc One is even a very pleasant compilation finally, much better than the original line up. What could you do with it anyway? I think FTD did the best they could with the available material. My guess is also that they must have found some papers where there were many possible track listings and so they decided to throw them altogether now on cd and a new and balanced order. Looking foward to it.
I wonder what Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right will sound like ?!?
I'm glad that some of you are happy with the contents of this one, but as I said a single cut of "For the Good Times" seems misplaced - it was better suited on the faux "Standing Room Only" collection. I also wonder what the difference could be on the "Steamroller Blues (single mix)" verses the version on the "Aloha" CD... or what sense does a "Where Do I Go From Here" version with an edit that leaves the song at 1:45 which is a minute less than the master ? FTD is getting my $$ for this one, but I am disappointed in the contents. Although I do agree with Jerry in that the original was thrown together, I was just hoping that FTD might work a little magic like they did with "Now" or ROR in which FTD caused me to enjoy the release much better than I ever had with better mastering and some really enjoyable outtakes. Maybe this one will surprise me as well - I'll let you know when it crosses the pond to the US and lands in my CD changer.
It was a mess then, and its a mess now. One of the worst album releases in his career and a turning point in my opinion. Riding high from Aloha, when a brilliant studio LP would have been a boost, this thrown together album came out and started a downward trend in his record career from which he never really recovered, chart wise. A few good songs does not an album make. But then, Elvis didnt seem to care so no big deal right?
What is the single version of fool??
I'm not sure what they could have done with this release other than to add the songs that were very nearly on the album plus out-takes. They do seem to have stretched the material very thinly to fill two discs, but if they had made this a single disc edition, people would be calling it a rip-off.
The previous posting suggested that the studio version of "America" should have been included on this release. This is presumably the recording that was cut three years after this album was released, was erased during the sessions and no longer exists. As for the missing soundtrack releases, the out-takes for the ones mentioned are also missing, presumed wiped. It is pointless to ask when material such as this will be released, sadly the answer is probably never. I use the word probably because more tapes may be found, miracles have happened in the past.
Hi Jay, as far as I can remember does the single version of Fool contain some additional brass or string overdubs. Like this it was released on the "Elvis Aron Presley" boxed set ("The Singles"), but I am not 100% sure if this was the real mix on single, I don't have that one :-)
The version of "Fool" with the overdubbed strings was not the single version, it was first released on the silver box set in 1980, probably by mistake. These overdubs were rejected and were not part of the final mix. This string version is probably track sixteen on the first disc here, in the section for original mixes. To my ears, the single of "Fool" always sounded the same as the LP, so the difference in the mix could be marginal.
Reading the comments here (and elsewhere) it seems to me that there are a lot of people who are as addicted to complaining as others are to smoking. They want this or that cd or dvd released - today! If, finally, such a cd is released they carry on complaining. The cd is as bad as the album was! Why aren't the songs in a different order? They shouldn't have included the second and fifth song! They should have included such and such songs! They should have included songs that are rumoured to exist! Ernst is to blame! Colonel Parker is to blame!
So they have included the complete dont twink twice jam,so why was this song used on the Elvis now Ftd? The aloha tracks are a waste, so is the madison sqare garden one and whats that a track from goodtimes and Elvis now? Ernie needs to release the ttwii shows, the on tour shows, and opening and closing night 70 shows and call it quits. The classic series killed off the compliation releases and i hate the classic series for that very reason. People do you really think this is a quiaty product? but asl ong as you buy,ftd doesnt care,your voice will only be heard when you stop buying such thrown together releases. Did i mention the repeated material that you already have?
Sorry for the tyops my computer burps alot
Seems to me FTD couldn't do better here. Back in 1973, when it came out, there was a dispute between Felton Jarvis's line up and Joan Deary's line up. Joan Deary was in New York at RCA's office and she proposed her own line up. But Felton finally won over her probably because he was closer to Elvis . Personnaly, I always tought Joan's line up was stronger. Today,we don't have to choose, FTD put both line ups in there. You've got to remember that Now and Fool were presented with left overs for a good part. Sure, there are some strong numbers but these albums were very annoying albums, as I remembered. After the success of Aloha, the album was disappointing. And Elvis was caught in the Vegas stunts, and tours. He came back strong with the Stax sessions that year, especially the second one. And for 1971, the best is yet to come with He Touched Me and The Wonderful World Of Christmas. I still feel that the actual FTD version, combining Jarvis and Deary's concept makes the best of what can be done. I'll say it again, Disc one offers a very balanced and nice sets of songs. As for the longer and complete Don't Think Twice, really guys, this time we shouldn't complain. FTD only answered a long overdue request by fans over the past decades. Lets enjoy it or wait for the next release.
tornado : that's what I call a very good posting and comment ! Whatever will be released in the future : there will always be pro's and contra's. So, to each his own, with respect for someone's opinion. Always El.
I'm really looking forward to this release. As already said several times, ftd have done the best with what they got. I think ftd always do a top job and I for one love the classic series. Keep them coming! Thinking bout it there can't b that many more to release? Yet to come we have: elvis (2nd album), king creole, gi blues, kissin cousins, roustabout, speedway, elvis in Memphis, back in memphis, he touched me, Madison square garden, aloha, promised land, boulevard, moody blue, in concert. And maybe for everyone, welcome to my world or any other mixed bag album ftd can get inventive with. Have I missed any?
I'm really looking forward to this release. As already said several times, ftd have done the best with what they got. I think ftd always do a top job and I for one love the classic series. Keep them coming! Thinking bout it there can't b that many more to release? Yet to come we have: elvis (2nd album), king creole, gi blues, kissin cousins, roustabout, speedway, elvis in Memphis, back in memphis, he touched me, Madison square garden, aloha, promised land, boulevard, moody blue, in concert. And maybe for everyone, welcome to my world or any other mixed bag album ftd can get inventive with. Have I missed any?
I'm goinig to buy this one for sure.
Jay - just to comment on your post concerning future FTD releases. We have been told that there is little or nothing in Ernst's possession to make a release of : Elvis (2nd album), King Creole - hence the recent FTD bok & CD, as well as the soundtracks to Kissin Cousins, Roustabout, or Speedway. So as far as classic releases that does leave us: GI Blues, Elvis in Memphis, Back in Memphis, He Touched Me, The Wonderful World of Christmas, Madison Square Garden, Aloha From Hawaii, Promised Land, From E.P. Blvd., Moody Blue, and Elvis in Concert as well as a faux release of the 66-67 sessions that led up to the '68 special. Of course you never know what Ernst might pull out his hat - who would have thought that Jailhouse Rock would be a two volume release or that "Wild in the Country" or "Easy Come Easy Go" would get full-releases. With the remaining soundboards, there's enough for FTD to supply us with new releases for another 5-6 years if they continue releasing products on their current release schedule.
Could be Orion, but I guess that King Creole will also see the light as an "normal" FTD release because there are some takes missing that where on essential 3 cd. As for Elvis (2nd album) maybe they will put some live recordings on it from the Ed Sullivan show. I think that every original album will be released on FTD, they will make it complete. Even if there are not much outtakes (just bad luck) from Kissin Cousins, Roustabout, or Speedway, I hope they release it anyway just to make it all complete. If there is totally nothing, fill the disc with movieversions or interviews.
The reason that the five songs recorded after "Aloha From Hawaii" are included on this release is because they were originally being considered for this LP, as was "Reconsider Baby" recorded at the Madison Square Garden. Untimately only one of these recordings would see release during Elvis' lifetime. "Steamroller Blues" is included because it was the B-side of the "Fool" single. I think it is logical to include them on this release.
A previous poster asked why songs from "Good Times" and "Elvis Now" are on this release. No songs from "Good Times" are included, although the song "For The Good Times" is. As the studio version remained unreleased, I see no reason why not to include it here as it is from the correct era. Presumably the song from "Elvis Now" mentioned is "Until It's Time For You To Go", but this LP included the original version. This release contains the later remake which was rejected in favour of the earlier recording.
To those that say that FTD have made a mess of this release, I would be interested to hear their opinions on how it could have been bettered. The original LP was one of the weakest LPs released and I am not sure what could have been done better than the running order stated on the FTD release. Some might say that the album does not deserve the "Classic Album" treatment, there is weight in that arguement, but those people can simply pass on this release.
This release isnt worth $30 plus,giving reasons for including this and that doesnt matter,who care what the oriignal concept was? stop trying to rewrite history,it always seems to = repeated material. Will go for the boston show,but this isnt worth the price.
Tony - There's just a few tweaks that I'd make to make this release a bit better. The first thing would be add Elvis's duet with Temple Riser on "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." This would be the first truly unreleased song by Elvis since the acetate of I'm A Roustabout" was released. The second addition would be the unreleased duet of Elvis and Ginger Holladay on the same song. These two songs would replace "For the Good Times" and the live version of "Reconsider Baby" from MSG. Then, I'd still include the Aloha cuts, but I'd also include the outtakes of these as well. Then I'd leave off the single mixes of "Fool" and "Steamroller Blues." To me this makes much more sense - it also may mean we'll never get the two duet versions of "First Time." I don't know what release they could end up on if not this one. I wonder if there's some contractural reason why these haven't seen the light of day... ? Don't misunderstand me, I have this one ordered, but just wish I could wrap my head around why some songs are included and others are left off...
Orion, my friend, just the sort of suggestions I had hoped for. People are very quick to say that FTD could do better, but rarely do people suggest how. Including the two duet versions of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" would have been a good idea as we are running out of albums from that era to place them. I don't know why they have never been officially released, perhaps it is because of the lack of source material. I believe that the female vocals were erased from the master tape and that the bootlegs were taken from rough mix acetates made at the sessions. That should not be a stumbling block, acetates have been used before. I agree that the single mixes included on the FTD will probably prove to be surplus to requirements, the levels in the mix were probably changed only very slightly to make the songs sound better on radio.
Tony - I believe you are correct in that the vocals of either Ginger or Temple were removed from the released master take of "First Time." I have a version of the Temple duet on vinyl (Behind Closed Doors), and quite enjoy it, but CDs have spoiled me when it comes to the crackle and pop free sound of the music. I have never heard the Ginger duet on any release be it legit or import. Anyway, I agree with you in that there isn't really any other release where these duets would make sense other than "Elvis - Now", and they weren't on there.
As far as the single mixes, I just finished listening to the single mix of "Fool" the the silver boxed set, and the added orchestration does little more than push Elvis's vocal further down in the mix. I guess it's added to make this release more complete, but if we're going for complete then we should have the two duets and the outtakes of the Aloha tracks. Also, I'm hopeful the booklet explains why we have one take of "For the Good Times." The only thing I can guess is that this title was found on some notes from Joan Deary as to what the album could/should contain.
I don't know if you've ever noticed, but the three solo piano tracks have always sounded distant and muddy to me. I have never figured out why as he ran through each (excpet Kathleen) a few times. Surely, the engineer could moved the microphones to get a better pick up on the vocals if necessary uless he was afraid to ruin the moment. As far as the piano, the level should have been close to being set from the tracks already recorded at the session. Who knows ? I just hope they sould a bit cleaner on this release. They evene lacked something on the FTD release "I Sing All Kinds." Has anyone else noticed this ?
I think the quality of the recording on the three piano only songs is the result of sloppy engineering. Because the recording engineers had the facility to remix and overdub the multitrack tapes, they probably thought that any problems could be fixed later. This is why Elvis' early sixties studio sessions sound the best of all of his recordings, using three-track tape meant that everything had to be correctly balanced at the time of recording. The engineers had to work harder to achieve a good finished product. "For The Good Times" could have been a contender for the original LP track listing, as could "My Way". I guess they were not included because live versions had been released fairly recently.
Tony and Orion; maybe FTD will release a real, original "duet"-album including the two duets of "The first time". That could be another reason for them not to include these two duets on a FTD so far.
Orion, I'm pretty sure that the duet version of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" on Behind Close Doors is in fact the Ginger Holladay duet and not the Temple Riser one. That's available on Rough Cut Diamonds among others.
Rob - I'me hopeful these duets eventually see the light of day, but I can't imagine what release could be forthcoming that their inclusion would make more sense than this one or the previous release of "Elvis - Now". Thank you whetherman for setting me straight on which duet partner is on each import. Also, as far as the clarity of recording of the 60's vs. the 70's, in the 60's Elvis used a stationary hinging studion microphone. In the 70's he used a handheld mic like on stage. This accounted for the sound differences as Elvis would pull back from the mic when reaching for a note like on stage. I am sure he gave the engineers a fit when trying to keep his recording levels consistant.
Apparently not many people noticed that Ernst completely forgot to give us an undubbed version of We Can Make The Morning (my favorite Elvis song). We fans know that possible Elvis recorded only one take, but we also know that the undubbed version exists, it was released on the bootleg Pure Diamond volume 1 (although low sound quality, it's amazing how Elvis sounds in it). The big question here is: why, for god's sake, has FTD simply left it aside, making us have to look for bootlegs if we want this song.
I hope you guys can publish an article regarding this issue, and that may Ernst give us some information. Otherwise we'll have to wait until Gravel Road can help us. I was really looking forward for a complete collection of the "You Know It Don't Have To Be Strictly Country", covering all the 70's acetates and/or undubbed versions not released by FTD. But it sadly seems that Gravel Road has given up this project...
When i bought this album in 1987. i Liked this album very well. In my opinion it has a better tracklist then the first deleted one. I'll think that the hawaii songs would not fit to the other songs. I mean that these sound very different. The piano songs are really awesome. An The love i lead is one of the best of this album. It's not a bad album. It's just better than the Elvis Now album. I excpect a lot of the alternates. But the original altenate mixes? Ok on the silver box we get some rare versions like Fool ( overdubbed) . But Padré ( i like that song very much - yes i'm crazy hahahaha) in an original alternate mix. What does this mean??. released or not. Ernst does a new mix? And three masters from fool. The album ,single version and the other one? But a nice compilation.
The original alternative mixes are not new mixes done by Ernst, they are the original rough mixes done after the session. We had a similar batch of these recordings on the FTD "Elvis Today" release. Presumably "Fool" is the rejected version with overdubbed strings that slipped out on the silver box set in 1980.
Disc 1 is a total disaster. There's nothing unreleased on it. The person who did this probably smoke too much cannabis.
Disc one contains the original alternate mixes, which are previously unreleased. The statement regarding the producers taking drugs requires no comment, it is not worthy of one.
Sorry, I won't buy this FTD for only one song (last one) that I already possess 10 yrs (on boots) Why didn't FTD add bonus songs of that period (Matter of time, AmTrilogy, BLove etc) ? Hope they release soon From EP Blvd & Prom Land !!! And is it true that they also will release soon the outtakes of Speedway on FTD ?
Tony C: Disc 1 contains nothing new,other than the slightly different mixes of 4 songs but these are still the same well-known takes we know very well. They are not unreleased takes. They are the well-known masters. The mix will be slightly different but the difference will be marginal. Following your pathetic logic,anytime Ferrante,Anesini or Jean-Marc creates new mixes for well-known masters,we can call them unreleased from then on? No way. They are still the same well-known masters. The complete disc 1 is a waste of time and money. Shame on them.
