Finally a FTD release we were really looking forward to again. Did it meet the expectations?
Design
The design is simple yet tasteful. At last the contrast is good and even for elderly people with glasses the text is readable. Some nice candids of our man decorate the whole.
Content
Starting with a song like “In the Ghetto”, one can’t go wrong. Any version of this song (by Elvis) is at least great. “You’ll Think of Me” is next and a good follow-up to the opening. Oh, how we wish Elvis did many more sessions like those in early 1969. On the outtake of “Do You Know Who Am I”, we know it exactly. The man that can touch you with his voice, trying to deliver the song as beautiful as can be. What a cold shower gives the next track. Just over four years later we get a completely uninspired Elvis, who is audibly forced to get in the studio to record anything. Both “If You Don’t Come Back” and “Three Corn Patches” sound so uninspired that it hurts. How can such a talented man lower himself that much? “Find Out What’s Happening” is slightly better, but we were glad the CD moved on to the December 1973 sessions…
The three tracks from this session “It’s Midnight”, “Thinking About You” and “You Asked Me To” are pretty close to what we knew already and give a pleasant listen, especially the second one has always been among our favorites.
A positive side of the poor July 1973 recordings is that even the Jungle Room stuff, which was never highly regarded by us, sounds more than acceptable. “She Thinks I Still Care” and “Bitter They Are” even got the “repeat”-treatment on first listen.
The remaining of the CD spoils a lot. Those home recordings are fun to have – but not on this CD. They spoil the listening pleasure of the whole. Although the poem remains funny, the torturing of the guitar now and then nearly forced us to call Amnesty International.
Conclusion
It is clearly a CD of “left overs” that still could have been very nice, but somehow it gives us a disappointed feeling. Probably we are too spoilt by now.
Tracklisting