Got two more FTD Classic Album CDs in the mail today!

I received two more FTD Classic Albums in the mail today and I must admit it's pretty exciting, almost like Christmas continues Elvis-style! This is a good combination of titles I believe, Something for Everybody and Pot Luck with Elvis. Both are obviously early 60s titles and full of songs you don't hear everyday on the radio, even Elvis Radio.

For those that have these titles (they have been out a long time!) what are your thoughts on them? This brings my FTD count to 26 titles in my collection, not bad at all...

I love both of them. The only complaint I have is how could Little Sister, His Latest Flame, Good Luck Charm and Anything That's Part Of You be included in Something For Everybody, as they were recorded AFTER its release? They would be more appropriate on Pot Luck. But I guess it is a matter of fitting the material on 4 CDs. Their historically correct placement would require that Pot Luck had 3 discs.

thistrain, if you don't mind typing them all on here, what are the other 24 FTD titles you have?

thistrain, if you don't mind typing them all on here, what are the other 24 FTD titles you have?

Elvis Presley
Elvis is Back!
His Hand in Mine
How Great Thou Art
Back in Memphis
In Person
On Stage
That's the Way It Is
Elvis Country
Love Letters
The Wonderful World of Christmas
Elvis Now
He Touched Me
Elvis
Raised on Rock
Good Times
Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis
Promised Land
Today
From EP Blvd
Our Memories of Elvis
The Wonder of You
New Year's Eve
A Boy from Tupelo box set

You've stayed away from all the movie soundtracks, most of the book/cd releases, and soundboards. You seem like a very wise person!
Just curious -

1. Why did you get New Years Eve? As you know, the sound quality isn't top-notch on that one.

2. Have you considered any of the movie soundtracks? Maybe the ones from the 50's?

3. What other FTD's do you plan to get that you haven't gotten around to, yet? Elvis sings Guitar Man or maybe Memphis, Tennessee ?

I love both of them. The only complaint I have is how could Little Sister, His Latest Flame, Good Luck Charm and Anything That's Part Of You be included in Something For Everybody, as they were recorded AFTER its release? They would be more appropriate on Pot Luck. But I guess it is a matter of fitting the material on 4 CDs. Their historically correct placement would require that Pot Luck had 3 discs.

Both singles were released before Pot Luck. Little Sister/His Latest Flame in August 1961, and Good Luck Charm/Anything That's Part of You in February 1962 (recorded 1961). Something For Everybody was released in June 1961. Pot Luck With Elvis was released in June 1962.

I can understand the rationale for including both singles as bonus masters on Something For Everybody over Pot Luck With Elvis.

You've stayed away from all the movie soundtracks, most of the book/cd releases, and soundboards. You seem like a very wise person!
Just curious -

1. Why did you get New Years Eve? As you know, the sound quality isn't top-notch on that one.

2. Have you considered any of the movie soundtracks? Maybe the ones from the 50's?

3. What other FTD's do you plan to get that you haven't gotten around to, yet? Elvis sings Guitar Man or maybe Memphis, Tennessee ?

Good questions! Here's my thought process on buying FTDs:
I really love the Classic Album series, what with the 2CD, 7" packaging and all the outtakes/early versions of songs. To me it's the ultimate presentation of each album. Plus a lot of them are either out of print or hard to find on single CD, like Elvis, Raised on Rock, Today, etc.

1. I bought New Year's Eve on New Year's Eve 2010 at the Good Rockin' Tonight shop at Graceland. My mother has the 2LP vinyl bootleg of it and I always enjoyed the show, even though it's an audience recording and not the greatest quality. It's probably the longest show he ever gave and is cool because he didn't do too many NY Eve shows.

2. I'd like to get some of the movie soundtracks, like Loving You, Blue Hawaii, and G.I. Blues someday. Those are all very good soundtracks. However I don't want to start collecting them all because I know I'll never listen to a bunch of them more than once, like Harum Scarum or Double Trouble for instance. The 2CD soundtrack compilation is good enough for me (60's box set vol. 2) plus I have a bunch of the 2-fers that came out in the 90s (the film reel packaging with booklet and 8x10 photos.)

3. I wouldn't mind getting some of the fictional album titles like Standing Room Only, Guitar Man, Memphis TN, etc. Very cool concept albums. I'd like to get all the Las Vegas '69/70 soundboards I don't have like All Shook Up, At the International, etc. No real interest in collecting all the 74 and beyond shows, I have a ton of them on CDR and that's good enough for me. I probably have 75-100 shows on CDR alone from various torrent websites.

Bottom line is all the FTD releases are great to have but at $30 a title I have to be somewhat picky!

I love both of them. The only complaint I have is how could Little Sister, His Latest Flame, Good Luck Charm and Anything That's Part Of You be included in Something For Everybody, as they were recorded AFTER its release? They would be more appropriate on Pot Luck. But I guess it is a matter of fitting the material on 4 CDs. Their historically correct placement would require that Pot Luck had 3 discs.

Both singles were released before Pot Luck. Little Sister/His Latest Flame in August 1961, and Good Luck Charm/Anything That's Part of You in February 1962 (recorded 1961). Something For Everybody was released in June 1961. Pot Luck With Elvis was released in June 1962.

I can understand the rationale for including both singles as bonus masters on Something For Everybody over Pot Luck With Elvis.

Something For Everybody was released June 17th. Little Sister/His Latest Flame was recorded June 25th. Good Luck Charm/ Anything That's Part Of You was recorded October 15th. So it would have been IMPOSSIBLE for them to be among the Something For Everybody release originally. Of course one can include any previously recorded track on a future album, but one cannot retroactively include a track on an album already released, without a time machine, or unless you repress the album and RErelease it! And furthermore the other songs recorded on those two dates WERE included on Pot Luck or later releases. And it was customary to release a single before the album it would appear on anyway.

THe ONLY explanation that these two singles are on Something For Everybody instead of Pot Luck is space constraints. Their inclusion on Something For Everybody, would be like putting December Stax recordings on Raised On Rock, which was release two months prior. Two months, one week or even one hour prior cannot include songs from a future recording date.

Close only counts going forward, time does not travel backward. Wednesday is not the day furthest from the weekend like most people say MONDAY is the day furthest from the weekend. It is not a bridge that you can travel both ways on. Even if Elvis' next studio album were not released for another 10 years, these singles would belong on it rather than on an album already released before these songs were recorded. Now if these song were already RECORDED but not yet RELEASED at the time Something For Everybody was released, then I could see the logic.

Heck even Ernst himself agrees with me when it comes to the Oct 15th session as evidenced on page 190 of "A Life In Music" But how he proposes any part of the June 25th session be included on an album released on June 17th is beyond me. The decision was a practical one, not an aesthetic one.

And on the Legacy Edition of Elvis Is Back, Surrender SHOULD be on the Something For Everybody disc!!!

And on the Legacy Edition of Elvis Is Back, Surrender SHOULD be on the Something For Everybody disc!!!

Interesting details, I didn't realize that about those songs.

This brings to mind the recent FTD of Back in Memphis with the bonus songs Suspicious Minds. I know it's from the same Jan/Feb 69 American Sound sessions but is it proper to include it as a bonus track on Back in Memphis or should it have been on From Elvis In Memphis instead?

You are off to a good start with your FTD collecting. Hang in there.

What difference does it make on which release Suspicious Minds is included? You're right, it came from the same sessions. It matters not to me which release it is featured on.

You'll Never Walk Alone and We Call On Him do not belong on How Great Thou Art as they were recorded 7 MONTHS after the album was released. They belong on He Touched Me.

I Want You, I Need You, I Love You does not belong on FTD Elvis Presley for the same reason, but rather on a possible FTD release of Elvis. There are more examples, but these make my point.

I've only got the classic album releases now, soundtracks included - I sold my soundboards/concerts as I rarely played them and the compilations ones as they become superceded by the classic albums. I do have the 'A Boy from Tupelo' set though. It was an Xmas present...

Again, any song that was RECORDED (not released) after any particular album was released does not belong on that album, it belongs on the next appropriate album that was released AFTER that song was recorded. My logic is sound, all aesthetics aside.

I feel that my logic, too, is sound -

You'll Never Walk Alone and We Call On Him do not belong on How Great Thou Art as they were recorded 7 MONTHS after the album was released. They belong on He Touched Me.

They were recorded in the same era as the How Great Thou Art album sessions. To include them as "bonus" tracks following the album songs is a nice addition and is appropriate. For the most part the same musicians and backup singers were used.
To have those two songs on the He Touched Me album would be totally out of place.

We can agree to disagree.

Last edited by Blue River on Fri Jan 18, 2013 5:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

"Based on your logic, skatterbrane, the songs "Harbor Lights" and "A Cane And A High Starched Collar" (originally released January 1976) could've rightfully been included as bonus songs on the FTD From Elvis Presley Boulevard (original album release April/May 1976)."

No, that is NOT my logic. SInce Harbor LIghts was RECORDED in 1954, it rightfully belongs on the most appropriate album released AFTER it was recorded, or a compilation (which ALL Sun recordings HAVE to be on, since there were no Elvis Sun LPs) You cannot put a song on an album when the song was recorded AFTER an album was already released.

If FTD does a For LP Fans Only or a A Date With Elvis release, Harbor Lights could be appropriate there, as would Let Me and I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine or any newly discovered recording that was recorded BEFORE the original release date of either LP.

Since the FTD thing is a big "what if?" question, it is impossible for RCA to have put His Latest Flame on Something For Everybody, but it would be entirely possible for them to have put Surrender on it.

His Latest Flame, Little Sister sessions included three other songs ALL originally released on Pot Luck. Good Luck Charm, Anything That's Part of You sessions include one song included on Pot Luck and two released on Elvis For Everyone. RCA could have put them on Pot Luck or Elvis For Everyone. In fact the two Elvis For Everyone selections were actually considered for Pot Luck, and they take their rightful place on the FTD. How these sessions were split up on the FTD releases has to do with space and time constraints, not logic.

Anything recorded BEFORE Elvis For Everyone could be included, but certainly Guitar Man could NOT be included (for example) On the Legacy Edition, they were smart enough to put I Want You, I Need You, I Love You, on Elvis instead of Elvis Presley.

All I am saying is RCA could not have retroactively put songs on an album that was already released.

The Peace In The Valley EP is included on His Hand In Mine, not the same era, but entirely possible. It would be IMPOSSIBLE to put Crying In The Chapel on the Peace In The Valley however! Crying In The Chapels COULD be on How Great Thou Art, as it was. (even though its rightful place would be His Hand In Mine).

Again, any song that was RECORDED (not released) after any particular album was released does not belong on that album, it belongs on the next appropriate album that was released AFTER that song was recorded. My logic is sound, all aesthetics aside.

Now the Tomorrow Is A Long Time makes sence because it is an album that was never released by RCA. It is imaginary. Same with Standing Room Only or Burning Love CDs, these have at least some informed conjecture backing them up, but it would not be appropriate to see a Stax selection on them, would it?

It is like a Science Fiction movie, I can pretend, but it STILL has to make sense. His Latest Flame could only have been put on Something For Everybody IF time travel is possible OR if they delayed the release of the album by 8 days or more.

They can put Penny Lane or Strawberry Fields on Sgt Pepper, but they CANNOT put Hello, Goodbye or I Am The Walrus on Sgt Pepper!

Last edited by skatterbrane on Fri Jan 18, 2013 5:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

Again, any song that was RECORDED (not released) after any particular album was released does not belong on that album, it belongs on the next appropriate album that was released AFTER that song was recorded. My logic is sound, all aesthetics aside.

I feel that my logic, too, is sound -

You'll Never Walk Alone and We Call On Him do not belong on How Great Thou Art as they were recorded 7 MONTHS after the album was released. They belong on He Touched Me.

They were recorded in the same era as the How Great Thou Art album sessions. To include them as "bonus" tracks following the album songs is a nice addition and is appropriate. THAT'S WHY THEY'RE CALLED "BONUS" SONGS.
For the most part the same musicians and backup singers were used.
To have those two songs on the He Touched Me album would be totally out of place.

We can agree to disagree.

If they put You'll Never Walk Alone on He Touched Me, it would VASTLY improve that mediocre album. To have I've Got A Feelin' In My Body and Help Me makes no sense, but they COULD have included Miracle Of The Rosary. Only Believe and Put Your Hand In The Hand make perfect sense.

Putting "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "We Call on Him" on the He Touched Me album would be a mistake as they would blow the rest of the album out of the water. They are far superior to anything on that album.

Yes, we can agree to disagree. All I have to do is remake most of the CDs I have ever bought to arrange them in a way that does not offend my sensibilities. They can do their willy-nilly thinking with compilations, but original/classic albums should only have the appropriate material recorded before the original LP's release as bonus songs, and never interspersed, but only as an addendum. FTD is good at that, but not so the regular releases.

Yes, we can agree to disagree. All I have to do is remake most of the CDs I have ever bought to arrange them in a way that does not offend my sensibilities.

You are off to a good start with your FTD collecting.

Yes. And it's refreshing to read such an enthusiastic post here on FECC.

Thistrain, I know exactly what you're saying about the Classic Album series. Let me just say that the soundtracks are great releases, too. I have them all. Things like "Follow That Dream", "Harum Scarum" and "Girls Girls Girls" belong in every FTD collection. The packaging is outstanding and the music puts a smile on your face.

Keith Richards, Jr.

for some reason i actually been liking and listening to take 3 of House of sand. i just enjoy it for some reason

You are off to a good start with your FTD collecting.

Yes. And it's refreshing to read such an enthusiastic post here on FECC.

Thistrain, I know exactly what you're saying about the Classic Album series. Let me just say that the soundtracks are great releases, too. I have them all. Things like "Follow That Dream", "Harum Scarum" and "Girls Girls Girls" belong in every FTD collection. The packaging is outstanding and the music puts a smile on your face.

Keith Richards, Jr.

Thanks for the recommendations! I plan on picking up a few soundtracks at some point, especially Blue Hawaii and GI Blues. There's just so many of them!

This brings to mind the recent FTD of Back in Memphis with the bonus songs Suspicious Minds. I know it's from the same Jan/Feb 69 American Sound sessions but is it proper to include it as a bonus track on Back in Memphis or should it have been on From Elvis In Memphis instead?

It is now in it's rightful place on Back In Memphis. All the overdubbing for "Suspicious Minds" had not yet been completed when the From Elvis In Memphis album was released.

The main reason "Suspicious Minds" wasn't originally included on Back In Memphis is because the live version was on In Person (From Memphis To Vegas - From Vegas To Memphis).

As you know, Elvis' two major hit singles of '69 were "In The Ghetto/Any Day Now" released earlier in the year (1969) and included on From Elvis In Memphis and "Suspicious Minds/You'll Think of Me" released later in the year with both sides now appropriately included on FTD's Back In Memphis.