"Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Mister Moon

"Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

#1295668

Post by Mister Moon »

Here's a contemporary review of the "Elvis Aron Presley" 8 LP / 4 cassette box set, including an interview with (and a nice picture of) RCA's Joan Deary :
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epf

Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by epf »

Thanks, Mr. Moon. Could it be that Joan laid out the foundations of The Complete Masters?



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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by midnightx »

It was a fairly unique type of release back in 1980. In some ways, Deary showed the industry that there was a market for archival material (some in less-than-stellar sound quality) for legacy artists.



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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by Rich_TCB »

Thanks for the article.

I still remember my Grandparents taking me to the Sam Goody music store, and they had this box set, and they bought it for me. And that thing wasn't cheap, either. It seemed like an eternity to get back home. I couldn't wait to show it to my Pop and play it on the stereo.


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r&b

Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

#1295699

Post by r&b »

Pink&Black wrote:Thanks. Didn't know 'only ' 250,000 were made.They were all numbered, so someone has nr. 250,000?! I was thrilled when I bought it second hand in the mid eighties, still love it,this was a wonderful release. :D
250,000 is really not that limited for a set like this. I may be wrong but, I cant imagine any big set being pressed into the millions. This was an industry changer. Joan had great insight. Elvis was also at the height of his popularity the first few years after his death. The release was a no-brainer.




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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by DEH »

I have the vinyl of this. good release for its time.




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Mister Moon

Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

#1295719

Post by Mister Moon »

After 15 years of FTD, with tons of unreleased product being made available to us in a systematic way, it may be hard to understand what this release meant in 1980. It was absolutely mind-blowing, in all respects.

By the way, my vinyl copy is number "E 08664".

A cool bit of information I just found regarding the numbering system :
beautiful package produced by rca´s joan deary to celebrate the 25th anniversary of elvis signing with rca victor. includes a 20 page photo and information booklet. as an additional challenge to the elvis collector, there are 11 different limited edition numbers found on this set - one letter prefix for each letter in the spelling of elvis aron presley. to complete the collection requires 11 different box sets, one each with the letters e-l-v-i-s-a-r-o-n-p-y.
http://www.elvisonrecords.com/rca_lp_and_cd_box_sets.html

Oh, and don't forget Elvis' signature engraved in each of the run-out grooves (sixteen signatures in total !). I bet the CD reissue didn't include that... :wink:




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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by mysterytrainrideson »

Thanks for the thread Mister Moon. I bought this set when it first came out and of course, it was mind-blowing stuff...it was the first time i had heard the "Hawaii 61" show, even though it was released on a boot before that.

I sold my vinyl box of it years ago and replaced it with the book-style CD instead.

Those were the years when the Elvis world was really exciting.


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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by dennyelvis »

Mister Moon wrote:After 15 years of FTD, with tons of unreleased product being made available to us in a systematic way, it may be hard to understand what this release meant in 1980. It was absolutely mind-blowing, in all respects.

By the way, my vinyl copy is number "E 08664".

A cool bit of information I just found regarding the numbering system :
beautiful package produced by rca´s joan deary to celebrate the 25th anniversary of elvis signing with rca victor. includes a 20 page photo and information booklet. as an additional challenge to the elvis collector, there are 11 different limited edition numbers found on this set - one letter prefix for each letter in the spelling of elvis aron presley. to complete the collection requires 11 different box sets, one each with the letters e-l-v-i-s-a-r-o-n-p-y.
http://www.elvisonrecords.com/rca_lp_and_cd_box_sets.html

Oh, and don't forget Elvis' signature engraved in each of the run-out grooves (sixteen signatures in total !). I bet the CD reissue didn't include that... :wink:
Oh so true, u have to remember back in the days of OFFICIAL only product, to hear an alternate take on a release we all got sooooo excited ! almost a shame now that we seem over loaded with them, now we mainly quibble over content and packaging, we dont seem as thrilled to get an unofficial show any more ?


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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

#1295745

Post by DEH »

dennyelvis wrote:
Mister Moon wrote:After 15 years of FTD, with tons of unreleased product being made available to us in a systematic way, it may be hard to understand what this release meant in 1980. It was absolutely mind-blowing, in all respects.

By the way, my vinyl copy is number "E 08664".

A cool bit of information I just found regarding the numbering system :
beautiful package produced by rca´s joan deary to celebrate the 25th anniversary of elvis signing with rca victor. includes a 20 page photo and information booklet. as an additional challenge to the elvis collector, there are 11 different limited edition numbers found on this set - one letter prefix for each letter in the spelling of elvis aron presley. to complete the collection requires 11 different box sets, one each with the letters e-l-v-i-s-a-r-o-n-p-y.
http://www.elvisonrecords.com/rca_lp_and_cd_box_sets.html

Oh, and don't forget Elvis' signature engraved in each of the run-out grooves (sixteen signatures in total !). I bet the CD reissue didn't include that... :wink:
Oh so true, u have to remember back in the days of OFFICIAL only product, to hear an alternate take on a release we all got sooooo excited ! almost a shame now that we seem over loaded with them, now we mainly quibble over content and packaging, we dont seem as thrilled to get an unofficial show any more ?
Agreed. its not a big deal anymore when u hear something new . I remember back as soon as the 90's when The Lost Performances was released. I could not believe what i was seeing. i played it over 10 times back to back. i don't think there is anything out there now that will replace that. Elvis fans have been spoiled rotten.




Topic author
Mister Moon

Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

#1295746

Post by Mister Moon »

mysterytrainrideson wrote:Thanks for the thread Mister Moon. I bought this set when it first came out and of course, it was mind-blowing stuff...it was the first time i had heard the "Hawaii 61" show, even though it was released on a boot before that.

I sold my vinyl box of it years ago and replaced it with the book-style CD instead.

Those were the years when the Elvis world was really exciting.
Yes, it was here that I heard for the first time the 1961 concert, too.

I never purchased the CD reissue, but years later, a friend of mine - who, like you, had owned, and sold, the vinyl release - purchased the CD version, and I asked him right away to burn me a copy of that concert. Anyway, that recording was the main reason why he purchased the box set again.

On a side note, when the "A Golden Celebration" box set came out, I invited this friend to listen to it. He was an absolute Sun freak, and he didn't know the set included an alternate of "That's All Right" - which, as I understand, was added to the box at the last minute. He listened to the two false starts, and then to the complete take, and he nearly died right there in my house.

Exciting times, indeed !




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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by mysterytrainrideson »

Mister Moon wrote:
mysterytrainrideson wrote:Thanks for the thread Mister Moon. I bought this set when it first came out and of course, it was mind-blowing stuff...it was the first time i had heard the "Hawaii 61" show, even though it was released on a boot before that.

I sold my vinyl box of it years ago and replaced it with the book-style CD instead.

Those were the years when the Elvis world was really exciting.
Yes, it was here that I heard for the first time the 1961 concert, too.

I never purchased the CD reissue, but years later, a friend of mine - who, like you, had owned, and sold, the vinyl release - purchased the CD version, and I asked him right away to burn me a copy of that concert. Anyway, that recording was the main reason why he purchased the box set again.

On a side note, when the "A Golden Celebration" box set came out, I invited this friend to listen to it. He was an absolute Sun freak, and he didn't know the set included an alternate of "That's All Right" - which, as I understand, was added to the box at the last minute. He listened to the two false starts, and then to the complete take, and he nearly died right there in my house.

Exciting times, indeed !
It's the same story with me on the "Golden" too, replaced it with CD box. If i remember rightly, they released the outtake of "That's All Right" on a 10" vinyl LP with the famous William Speer photo on the front in sepia - i think it was a promotion for the "Golden" box set.

I drooled all over the Werthiemer photos at the
time.
Oh, i nearly died when i heard the outtake of "That's All Right" too.


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Topic author
Mister Moon

Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

#1295758

Post by Mister Moon »

mysterytrainrideson wrote:If i remember rightly, they released the outtake of "That's All Right" on a 10" vinyl LP with the famous William Speer photo on the front in sepia - i think it was a promotion for the "Golden" box set.
I have that one, too... :wink:

It's filed away somewhere, but if I'm not mistaken, one side had the "Shake" / "Flip" medley from the first Dorsey show, the complete alternate of "That's All Right" (without false starts), and one of the home recordings - all included in the box-set.

Oddly, the other side had two Graceland tracks from 1976, which had no connection at all with the other side or the box-set.

The sepia Speer photo was in fact included in the USA issue of the box - but my (sealed) copy did not include it. So this was a nice replacement...
mysterytrainrideson wrote:Oh, i nearly died when i heard the outtake of "That's All Right" too.
Too cool for words !!!




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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by mysterytrainrideson »

Mister Moon wrote:
mysterytrainrideson wrote:If i remember rightly, they released the outtake of "That's All Right" on a 10" vinyl LP with the famous William Speer photo on the front in sepia - i think it was a promotion for the "Golden" box set.
I have that one, too... :wink:

It's filed away somewhere, but if I'm not mistaken, one side had the "Shake" / "Flip" medley from the first Dorsey show, the complete alternate of "That's All Right" (without false starts), and one of the home recordings - all included in the box-set.

Oddly, the other side had two Graceland tracks from 1976, which had no connection at all with the other side or the box-set.

The sepia Speer photo was in fact included in the USA issue of the box - but my (sealed) copy did not include it. So this was a nice replacement...
mysterytrainrideson wrote:Oh, i nearly died when i heard the outtake of "That's All Right" too.
Too cool for words !!!
The outtake of "Thats All Right" was so fascinating...it was fascinating to hear that Scotty still hadn't got the licks to one of the most famous guitar solo's in Rock'n'Roll history.


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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by Keith Richards, Jr. »

This is my favourite Elvis boxset ever. Love it.

Thanks for posting the article.


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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by Hans »

One of my finest purchases. It wasn't sold here in Holland - at least I did not know how to get my hands on this because I was not a fanclub member - but found one on vacation in Antwerpen, Belgium in 1986. Took me years to locate it and found 3 boxsets there. I was out of money, so had to go home to get money and needed a 4 hour trainride to pick it up in Antwerpen. I felt so happy to finally own it. Pure magic and some great memorys!



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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by lpa »

For us foreigners the box had even more "first-evers", the lost singles were all new to us and it was my first LP boxed set.
The people at the record store I first bought part of it from thought that it would never sell so after a while they opened them and sold the records separately (sad, I know) so I had to but them one by one and my first set didn't even have a box.
There's still plenty of them around some of them even sealed and it's been, what 35 years? so if 250.000 of them were made I say not even half of them were sold within a reasonable time frame.

I've seen sealed ones go for as little as $25.
But some will never sell because people don't even take the time to search on ebay and see how much they're going for.

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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by Mike C »

The rare one to find is the 8-track version of the set.


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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by dannyboy1 »

Because of where my life was at in 1980 and the high price I wasn't initially able to buy the Silver Box set brand new. But I remember it was like the Holy Grail at the time. Of course I picked up a vinyl set years later. My number is Y12083. Has a saw cut though on the bottom near the left hand corner, effectively making it worth next to nothing as a collectible.


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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by drjohncarpenter »

I already had Behind Closed Doors when Elvis Aron Presley was released. Although colorful and holding lots of interesting material, it also included some previously-issued music, and overall felt like a poor cousin to the already-legendary 1979 Audifon box set. Heck, even the live February 1970 version of "Kentucky Rain" on the RCA collection was not as good as the one on Behind Closed Doors.

But now, so many years later, it may be seen in a gentler light, and as perhaps one of Joan Deary's better contributions to the Presley discography.


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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by elvis-fan »

Definitely one of my favorite sets. I remember buying the cassette version at Sam The Record Man in Toronto and listening to it in it's entirety when I got it home... it was phenomenal!!! Still have my two vinyl sets and one cassette version... along, of course, with the later CD release.
Great article and info on the set!! Thanks Mister Moon!!!



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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

#1295824

Post by steve in SC »

I talked with Joan Deary on the phone on a regular basis back in the day. She didn't know me from Joe Smo but in the early '80's when I told her I was going to visit L.A. she invited me to come see her at her office. We sat and talked for an hour or so and she gave me a copy of one of the promo's for EAP so this set always has a spot in my heart. I remember being so excited about this release mostly from the conversations I had with Ms. Deary. She was a special lady and really was an Elvis fan. She told me at that time RCA had over 200 soundboards.



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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

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Post by Lennart »

Thanks for sharing the review Mister Moon!

I bought this set back in 1980.
I had heard a couple of the songs from the box on the radio and they blew me away.
Polk Salad Annie and the LS/GB medley were awesome and I knew I had to get this boxset.
I loved it and played it a lot and still do occasionally although it´s the CD set I play nowadays.

Lennart



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Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

#1295887

Post by luckyjackson1 »

Was about to buy a used copy of the set in the mid-90's but somehow never achieved to do so. It was just too expensive.
Was glad to get the CD version in 1998 though.


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Topic author
Mister Moon

Re: "Elvis Aron Presley" - 1980 review

#1295938

Post by Mister Moon »

Mike C wrote:The rare one to find is the 8-track version of the set.
Thanks for this information. I didn't know this set was also available as 8-track. I have googled it, and it can be located in places such as eBay or Amazon.

Here's another Deary-related clipping, this one from 1981. Another thing I didn't know is the recording of the May 1956 Vegas concert was purchased from a fan.

Also, don't miss the "Presley song that may never be released" :wink: :
810814.JPG


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