An appeal to Ernst

Ernst -
I ask that you PLEASE reconsider the release of the College Park "Trying To Get To You" as a bonus on the upcoming FTD Dragonheart. This is NOT a good version of the song by any stretch of the imagination! Surely you must be in possession of a better version from the October 74 tour? Again, please reconsider!

Pete,
While I do agree with your request, I think we all know that you're singing in the wind. Unfortunately, Ernst has a little bit of a "I know what's best for Elvis fan's and since I have the key to the vault, I make all the decisions" complex. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for everything that he has done for us, but he does kinda come off rather arrogant and smug at times.

Tom

I agree that the decision to include the college park tracks is strange

why not picking the bonus from the same day of "allright ok you win" ?

blue christmas isn't so bad ( and definitively not the poorest song of the college park gig )
but trying to get to you is so so ( to say at least )

is it a documentary purpose on elvis "strung out" ?

funny is that ersnt stated that they got a lot of soundboards from that year

sometime I am very confused with this release policy ( remember the bonus songs supposed to be on new year's eve )

hope the sound will be great because FTD is not a winner about
soundboard quality sounding ( too bad they did'nt hire the baxter records staff )

You hitted spot on Tom!

I agree with the comments with regards to the College Park show generally, but we are only talking about two bonus songs here on a CD which offers yet another previously un-issued concert, and this is a collectors release after all, so it's unlikely to upset anyone. It is likely that they have stronger soundboard recordings from this period in the vaults, but maybe these are being considered for release in their entirety on future FTD albums.

I hear what you're saying Rebel, but why should they put out a trash job version of this great song that Elvis almost always gave great performances of, if they can dig up a stronger one from this tour? The South Bend shows (or the first one at any rate) are supposed to be strong shows from a rather troublesome tour. To stick a vastly inferior, pharmaceutically affected performance on there with a strong show takes away from the overall enjoyment. To me this is akin to those horrid shots on the inside and back cover of the Spring Tours FTD. The point of that set seemed to be to show that Elvis was still capable of (mostly) good performances at a time when you'd expect otherwise. Those photos nearly undid whatever favorable impression one got from the music.
Ernst: RECONSIDER BABY!

I think we have to realize that FTD doesn´t have to offer us only the best!

The label gives us a glimpse at the man himself, being it in the studio or live on stage.

Giving us these two bonus song from a sub-par show, together with a complete show from the same tour gives the fans some insight in how his mood, voice and singing could be very different in a short period of time, as the South Bend concert is probably fairly strong.

Overall I think that these two songs are not going to shock the hardcore elvis-fan (mabey that the version of See See Rider from that same College Park concert could have accomplished that )

Let´s be glad for what we get, and not pretend we can do Ernst job better every time he releases a cd

Kind regards,
Stefan

who do you think you are requesting Ernst on this board not to release some bonus tracks! Rediculous! Stop this nonsense.

If you don't like the new FTD then don't buy it. Maybe some other fans DO like these bonus tracks (such as I)!

ERNST, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! I''ve enjoyed every FTD so far. At last we don't have to buy all those way to expensive bootlegs with shitty soundquality!

you got to take the bad with the good i guess.
whats the worst 74 show vegas sept 2,74 or the college park one?

August 31st Dinner Show from 1974 is the WORST show I ever heard!

I am a little shocked that he does not provide a forum of some kind to poll what the people want. I mean this a fairly small market when compared to living artist. It would seem he would be a little bit more concerned about getting an idea about what the market demand is.

Tony

Where's the FTD website?!

I figured that a live version of Promised Land would have been added as a bonus song. Perhaps Ernst is waiting to ad it on a future release or not at all since a live version was placed on the Live in Las Vegas Box Set?

I am a little shocked that he does not provide a forum of some kind to poll what the people want. I mean this a fairly small market when compared to living artist. It would seem he would be a little bit more concerned about getting an idea about what the market demand is.

Tony

You're in it.

who do you think you are requesting Ernst on this board not to release some bonus tracks! Rediculous! Stop this nonsense.

If you don't like the new FTD then don't buy it. Maybe some other fans DO like these bonus tracks (such as I)!

ERNST, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! I''ve enjoyed every FTD so far. At last we don't have to buy all those way to expensive bootlegs with shitty soundquality!

Blackdiamond -
If you've been involved with this board for any length of time then you should know that I'm both a supporter and defender of Ernst. I think he's doing a great job by & large! But Ernst is not above a little constructive criticism. And as for "who I think I am", I'm a fan who expects a reasonably high quality product when I'm shelling out $30.00 bucks a pop for an FTD! I don't personally consider a sloppy, off-key, pharmacuetically affected, blown ending version of a great song a "bonus." I don't think it's unreasonable to ask of Ernst that he "raise the bar" a bit in the case of this particular bonus song!

Hi Pete,

Ok that's true but does Ernst listen to the fans? I mean can he (or will he) change certain things only because of the fact that the fans speak out what they really want?

See my other post: i mean if Ernst really listens to things the fans want then why not as much as live concerts when possible without altering with sound but release them as fresh as possible

First of all I buy most FTD releases if and when my budget allows it. So I keep supporting this label through my purchases. And I have liked most of them so far. But there have been decisions made in the past concerning the release of certain shows/tracks that could be dubbed 'doubtful'. The "flat" sound and abscence of piano on Live in Las Vegas disc 1 (1969 show), FTD' s "Tucson 76" ("Danny Boy" was better used as a bonus track on a superior release), the "sausage sizzlin'" sound on "New Years Eve", for example.

I'm not one to bomb FTD in the ground with destructive criticism, but healthy criticism is undeniably important to raise the bar or keep up the good standard.

Some don't even care to understand the difference between the two. That's their problem, it won't stop me and I hope not anyone else to express our opinions, favorable or not-so-favorable for FTD/Ernst.

As far as Ernst is concerned, he and Roger has given us so much, for which I am as thankful as can be while being aware of my status as just another consumer on the vine. I don't always agree with him though. He might appear arrogant to some, but knowing certain figures in the music industry, I can assure you he's very modest compared to them.
I think in his position we would also assume a certain 'attitude', perhaps without realizing it. He IS the man in charge of the job for the moment, like it or not. As long as he's productive, and fits into BMG's policy, he will keep that job.

Most fans are not hardcore soundboard or studio sessions collectors however, so any FTD release is probably welcomed enthusiastic by most of them. This doesn't necessarily mean there's no room for improvement, this doesn't mean a subpar product can't be made by FTD.

The real problem however is that despite loud and clear demand for a fully operational FTD website, which includes polls, a contact e-mail adress and a MB, so that fans can clearly signal to the FTD producers their wishes and ideas and ask what they want to know, it still isn't there. It would be a good idea then to answer some of the most interesting and frequent questions into a 1-2 or 3-monthly statement by Ernst & co. Direct input = maximizing sales.

Ernst has done this before, remember, on this website, he answered questions from the visitors, but had to quit it by BMG. So I think finally getting the FTD website up, would be a good step forward. In the meantime, I will enjoy FTD product and tolerate the one-way street between me and FTD.

Last edited by James27 on Fri Jun 13, 2003 12:23 am, edited 2 times in total.

Hi Blackdiamond -
Ernst does indeed listen to the fans! We've been clamoring for an On Tour live show for some time now, and Ernst is releasing the San Antonio show on the upcoming Close-up box. Many fans wanted 1977 live material, Ernst responded with Spring Tours - a gutsy release on his part. Many fans were unhappy that the soundtrack double features series was deleted. Ernst has come up with the FTD soundtracks, which include outtakes as an added incentive for the collectors. So yes, he does listen!
But Ernst has a wide spectrum of fans to try to please. We Elvis fans are insatiable, and we all have our favorite Elvis periods. Ernst also has to try to achieve this within the realities of working for a major record label.
Now Ernst may see my "reconsider" post and think "Dube's got a point, that is a shitty version of "Trying To Get To You", maybe I should dig a little deeper and try to come up with something better." What Ernst doesn't like are the boneheads who get on here and say "Jorgensen, you long-haired Danish pastry, you don't know what the f*#k you're doing, you're clueless, you should be fired, bitch-slapped, tarred & feathered, and sent packin' back to Denmark!" But can you blame him? And there are actually some who have that attitude, and have posted words to that effect. But to reiterate: Ernst does listen!

I have to say something -

Pete is 100% correct.

I heard the version of "Trying To Get To You". It is the absolute worst version I've ever heard.

I have absolutely no idea why Ernst would want anybody to hear this - he said himself he had 200 songs to pick from 1974.

I would love to hear the reasoning why this was picked.

Rich

I agree the show from which 2 out of 3 bonustracks were taken, is one of the worst Elvis shows available on cd. He is obviously drugged, and although it might be an strangely entertaining listen (in some parts), at the end you overall just feel bad for Elvis. You can find the complete show on A Profile box vol. 2 cd's 2-3, if I'm not mistaken.

"Trying To Get To You" is indeed a terrible rendition.

Assuming the FTD attribution of Saturday, 28 September 1974 is correct, perhaps Ernst chose the bonus track to clearly delineate the difference in Elvis' presentation from day-to-day. The October 1 gig was on the Tuesday afterwards and is supposed to be quite decent.

To be quite honest rather than the 'poor' version of 'Trying to get to You' from College Park why not use the version of Hound Dog(from the same show ) that has the original 'High Class Lyrics?! Also (so far) I havn't been able to find any other show that tour that also has 'Trying to get to You' performed, but then it was MUCH better performed previously in 1974 earlier in the year!

I know that some of you are strongly against the release of the 2 bonus songs, but they could have released the whole college park show, and had no bonus at all. Not everyone has bootlegs so not everyone has heard these versions. I was lucky enough to get a CD-r of the profile box so I can understand why a lot of you are against the release of this. FTD should not have to do research to see what was released on bootleg. If they did that most Elvis fans would not be able to hear such unique recordings.

Just like the rest of you did, I'm just expressing my opinion on this

I think 95% fans are absolutelty 'delighted' with 26 or even 27 of the forthcoming 28 track July FTD release, but cannot understand why? a sub standard performance of a great song like 'Trying to get to You' was included? and if it was to show Elvis's poorer side that tour why that song or performance.Thats the only complaint that it could have been 28 great tracks instead of just 27! Certainly it's a great thing the Whole College Park show wasn't chosen!!!