Greatest Live Hits Of The ‘50’s

Nice release for those who cannot afford or refuse to spend on the big elaborate sets to get a few new tracks.

Whether you like MRS or not the track listing is enough to make this a superb and worthwhile release.

I will buy this. The BFT was just too much money. Too many outtakes. I am not into the Elvis books so this should do just fine.

Tawdry moneygrabbers. Ernst and Sony do all the hard work locating and mastering unreleased live recordings and these 'thieves' come along and and steal them.

The release is sold out,so how are fans suppose to buy it? Ftd could let fans know they will release a cd set since they dont want to make more of the over the top release. So why should people care about ftd and there work? Everyone doesnt want or can afford releases like boy from tupelo.

Mature: I think you confuse Greatest Live Hits.... released by MRS with A Boy From Tupelo by FTD. Always El.

This sounds like a great release and it is a shame that FTD didn't release a singluar CD like this one as an alternative for the very expensive "Boy From Tupelo" box set. There are a lot of "thieves" in the Elvis world of music and there probably aren't too many of us on this site that don't own at least one "bootleg" LP or CD.

Solid point by Deano. Anyone who has boot a bootleg in their life has in a way, bought from a thief who stole the material. So whats the beef about this release? Seems to me, its the same thing, just the timing of this release which makes it look very bad. Crying for FTD? They made their money out of the box set and IMO have reissued material on previous releases at high prices (which people keep buying) so I shed no tears for them. Like others, I intend to buy this because I didnt want to spend a fortune on a huge box which quite frankly I no longer have room for, or a book, which I didnt want. I have enough SUN outtakes so this suits me just fine.

Solid point by SteveV too ! Mr.Cool, I can understand and respect your point of view, but how do you deal with the fact that songwriters (lyrics and /or music ) who provided songs for Elvis had to ( in many cases) waive parts of their rights to the publishing company (compagnies) taking care of Elvis' financial welfare. If they did not agree their songs didn't stand a ghost of a chance to be recorderd by our man ! Do you find this way of handling correct ? Just asking and wondering .Always El.

Benny,i said that wrong,i was trying to say that since boy from tupelo is osld out not one can buy it and it was a bad choice for ftd to not release something like this release from mrs. I also dont have room for big books and its not something i collect,music is what i want not books about music.

Its not just Sony who are getting ripped off , other labels such as Bear Family and Ace put in all the hard work locating the best possible master pay the appropiate dues only to have some cheap budget label steal their work. This release in particular leaves a nasty stench being announced almost simaltaneously as the long awaited, excellant book by Ernst. Least they could off waited 6 months or so.

Mature : OK, no harm done, I see what you meant and understand your point if view and I think you are right . Capt. : "If songwriters DIDN'T WANT Elvis to record their songs(???), they had a choise". Come on..... No doubt EVERY songwriter WANTED Elvis to record their songs ! Yes they had a choise : give in and waive parts of their rights or not give in, resulting in no recording of their songs by Elvis and thus losing a lot of money. Agreed, 25% ( just an example) instead of 50% would always have been better than nothing at all. To give one example:Dolly Parton stood ferm and refused to give in with her song "I'll Always Love You" . How right she was has been proved ( "proven" is also correct, I too had a choice) later with the mega-hit of Whitney Houston and Dolly savoured the benefit of her determination. I do consider the way record and publishing companies handled in those days as a form of robbery with respect to songwriters. What the companies did to songwriters then is now done to companies by other people. So from my side, no compassion, be it RCA, Sony, EMI, etc..... , you name it. Two more things : 1) If MRS is being condammed then ALL bootleg labels should be condammed too. I'm a HUGE FTD and RCA (Sony) buyer and have true admiration for Ernst and his team, let this be very, very clear, but that doesn't stop me to to buy other releases from other labels. 2) " You lost me completely" ??? How can I have lost you completely, considering the fact there was no previous reaction from your side in connection with this topic? Always El.

MrCool, agreed ! They, indeed, could have waited a couple or mor months, you have a point there. Respecting your opinion ! Always El.

Isn't it a moot point? The "Boy From Tupelo" is sold out and FTD/Sony can't make any more money off of it. So what does it hurt if MRS supplies the Elvis fans' needs? The way to get back at MRS is to release a single disc similar to this one and sell it for $15 - $20. Not allowing every Elvis fan to own an unreleased recording of a "new" song is distatesful my Ernst/FTD.

Deano, I agree 100% with you. The BFT was limited in production & very expensive. I would not have the unreleased material If not for MRS.

Capt. , I did agree they had a choise, didn't I ? The fact that Elvis never was registered with ASCAP is completely unimportant. For instance : although Elvis did not write a single letter of the lyrics, he got co-songwriting with Vera Watson (seems it was Watson's husband Ken Darby who wrote most of the lyrics though) for the song Love Me Tender and was paid royalties through his publishing company Elvis Presley Music, firm which was set up after Elvis signing a deal with Hill and Range . Hill and Range's policy was very simple : if, as a songwriter, you wanted Elvis to record your song, you had to give way 50 % (!!!)of your songwriter-credits. Don't get me wrong : I'm not blaming Elvis for anything, it was the way things were in those days with probably ALL companies, and it even went on during the mid-seventies, I'm speaking of personal experience. Almost 40 years ago I started a (modest) recording career. The first recordings were done for a small record company, being a publishing company at the same time. I wrote my own songs, music AND lyrics. I had a choise indeed, I had to choose between : 1)conceding 50% of my rights to the publishing company and another 25% which went to the owner of the record company who credited himself as composer OR author, so the man got 75% ! and 2) : no recording session, no record, nothing at all. That WAS the reality then. Luckily today this type of 'business' is no longer applicable as far as I know, but don't expect some pity from my side for the record companies in general. As far as I'm concerned this matter is closed now.Always El.

Capt. ,you're right about the difference between publishing and songwriting rights, but in Elvis' case , being not registered as an ASCAP-member (at least not before 1981 like you wrote) I ask myself why he was given co-songwriting credit, when there was nothing in it for him financially? What could have been the reason ? You're right too about singers sharing publishing, this is still the case to this date. In fact, I had no problem with sharing publishing, the record company paid for the musicians, the recording-sessions,studio-time, pressing, sleeves, etc... so I found it normal they wanted their expences compensated, but I found it one bridge too far the boss wrote down his name as composer or author, taking another 50% of what was left. Today this is not happening anymore as I hear from young(er) composers and/or authors. As for my recordings, thanks for your interest. The last recordings date from +/- 1985 and are no longer available for several years (I'm not that young anymore, consider me as one of the older generation who was a teenager when R 'n' R was born, being glad I had the luck to enjoy our man's ( and all R 'n' R pioneers') music almost from the very beginning, except for his Sun-period of course. Here in Europe in the first half of the 50s we even didn't know Sun Records at all). Always El.

Benny, How's the sound quality of the unreleased tracks on the MRS cd? I trust your judgement.

Hi there Oldscudder . Yesterday I sent you a message, so check your inbox . Tomorrow, at the latest, I'll give you my opinion about the MRS release Today I'll have ( finally) the time to listen to it. Best regards ! Always El.

Hello Oldscudder, my apologies for being one day late. At the very last moment something came in the way so I had to listen to this MRS release this evening. First of all we're talking about live recordings more than 55 years old, in most, if not all, cases recorded with no professional recording equipment, so one can hardly expect HiFi. In spite of that I wouldn't have missed this release for all the money in the world, way of speaking (lol). A lot of songs have really decent sound quality. My advice : buy it without hesitating ! The sound quality of the recently discovered I Forgot To Remember To Forget alone is worth the purchase. Can't be compared with the youtube version. Here on MRS we have a very good audible Bill Black's standup bass . A real gem. Other highlights (imo) : tracks 3 and 14. In fact, all the previously unreleased songs are worth the purchase. It's all there : the raw Elvis, the audience screaming,sometimes almost in frenzy, the true atmosphere during the real birth of R 'n' R . I think this is a great release for a very fair price. It's a digi-pack, so no jewel case, but not only with a great picture on the cover but an even greater picture inside ! The pictures have been colorized but was done very well. Hope this can give you an idea about this release and it's content. Take care and best regards. Always El.

Benny Thanks. I will be buying this. Could be the last Elvis cd i buy. I don't see anything in the future. Unless of course something new & worthy is discovered.

Ftd is one poorly ran label,why not release the tracks that people want,no instead they do a limited release. This is a good deal, giving you what ftd refuses to give you,quality at a good price.

mature_elvis_fan75..concerning this release you are absolutely right. FTD really showed nothing but greed and arrogance led them to take one unrleased track, "Little Mama" and really put it to Elvis fans. This MRS disc will be added to my collection and I will not feel guilty for buying this "bootleg" release.

Mature and Deano1, like I wrote in one of my postings, I'm a huge defender of FTD, no one can deny they released a lot of great stuff in the past ( agreed that not everything was bullseye) but this time I have to agree, FTD could have released a seperate CD and thus please the fans who could not get hold of or afford A Boy From Tupelo. Wrong strategy imo.Always El.

Normally we are the dumb fans that have to pay for Ernst's mistakes. This time he fooled himself. First: A larger first issue would have made the product cheaper, thus reaching more fans and selling more for lower price. More happy fans. Lower price. Wider spreading of his years-lonng work. Second: As he doesn't communicate with the fans anymore he missed the chance to announce a possible later re-release of the important songs. So, this time he's a victim of his own mismanagement.

Oldscudder, I just surfed to Amazon.Com (USA) . Couldn't believe my eyes, this MRS release can be pre-ordered for $20.99 + shipping . Now I undcerstand why you guys somrtimes complain about expensive prices ! This is really way overpriced ! I bought it here in Europe (Belgium) at an Elvis shop for 8,95 Euro net = +/- $ 12.30 !!! Wish I could do something to lower the price for USA fans . Still, in spite of this , imo, too high price, worthwhile buying. Always El.

Benny - thats actually a good price here in the USA. We know dealers that want 39.00!

It's a nice package, but this time no sleeve notes whatsoever, like the MRS Alternative GI Blues Album. However the track listing on the back does helpfully tell you where the songs are from, unlike the Boy From Tupelo set, where you actually have to delve into the book to see what comes from where (The LP style back only lists titles) I agree the cover is very nice & the colourisation of all the shots is done very well. The picture under the CD also has the flash bouncing back off the mike stand, like the Cover & CD shot, & as a photographer myself I'm just slightly suspicious with two occurrences that it might have been added later!! Either way it's a small point & is done well! Price on UK Amazon is £8.32, not bad for another brand new track! Ethics aside, it's a no-brainer!

Benny, Problem with Amazon is they don't always get the product. I have a source for around $18.00.

Steve, 39.00 ? Jeez, I consider this pure theft ! Oldscudder, don't hesitate, buy it for this price ! Best regards. Always El.

Well, as there it is posted somewhere on you tube, we should one buy it...It's only music. Even though it's Elvis. Don't take it as lack of respect. That's just what it is. You might argue about lthe istening quality. That is decent point. But, hey...at 8 USD I'll take my wife out for coffee over here, and at 20 USD we even get some pastery along with it...;-) So, I rather miss some quality and listen to the new song online every now and then...Once you've heard it, what else are you gonna do? Anyway, I just don't buy any music anymore. Don't even download it. Can't even blame it to my age...at 48 ;-)

Benny, Got the cd today. Very happy with it. Only complaint too much $.

Oldscudder, really glad you're happy with the CD ! Can really understand you're not that happy about the price you had to pay for, but consider this release as a (very important) part of music's history ! Enjoy ! Have a nice weekend . Always El.