YIPPIE, again a new Christmas cd

OR...they could just re-market and re-promote a past collection. The general consumer will not know the difference from the previous compilation. Some idiots will of course purchase any new title that comes out, no matter if they have all the same songs on mulitiple compilations already. But the majority of fans will not repurchase. So why should BMG spend the money to produce a new title? Bizarre...

I have the Japanese 24-bit CD "Elvis' Christmas Album" (and it's a great release!); however, it still doesn't excuse stupidity! And, BMG has the audacity to advertise that all the songs on the "new" "Elvis Christmas" are newly remastered in DSD. Those in charge are pathetic!

Mystery Train

I think the press release said the tracks will be mastered in DSD technology for optimum sound quality, it did not say they were newly mastered. It's actually been a common practice for Sony BMG to use existing DSD masters ever since they started using the technology (the whole point of a reference digital master is to reuse it). I think "Christmas Peace" was one of the first releases ever done in DSD technology, although hardly anybody probably noticed it when it first came out.

It's all well and good to master in DSD technology and to re-release those masters on future releases. What I'm talking about is a major flaw on one "re-mastered" track. After this is pointed out (as it was many, many times after "Christmas Peace" was released) to repeat that flaw means, at least in my opinion, that someone is either asleep or just flat out don't care. Should that surprise us? Do we have any right to expect quality where Elvis' releases are concerned?

Oh yeah, I know I can find the unclipped version of "Silent Night" on the Japanese 24-bit release of "Elvis' Christmas Album" and a hand full of budget releases like "Blue Christmas," etc. But, folk please get it right one time or turn it over to someone who gives a rat's a--!

Mystery Train

MysteryTrain: So you're saying that "Silent Night" is missing the piano intro yet again??

I have the Japanese 24-bit CD "Elvis' Christmas Album" (and it's a great release!); however, it still doesn't excuse stupidity! And, BMG has the audacity to advertise that all the songs on the "new" "Elvis Christmas" are newly remastered in DSD. Those in charge are pathetic!

Mystery Train

I think the press release said the tracks will be mastered in DSD technology for optimum sound quality, it did not say they were newly mastered. It's actually been a common practice for Sony BMG to use existing DSD masters ever since they started using the technology (the whole point of a reference digital master is to reuse it). I think "Christmas Peace" was one of the first releases ever done in DSD technology, although hardly anybody probably noticed it when it first came out.

This is right - there is absolutely no point in remastering a DSD track each time you use it!

I suspect that the master copy of Silent Night has been mutilated so that the intro is no longer available in the states. The complete version is on the very first digital release of Elvis Christmas Album PCD1-5486 made in Japan for USA release.

So it can be repaired very easily.

But don't blame SonyBMG - blame the real culprit - Ernst - as executive producer of every release, with his knowledge he knows better. Why isn't he arranging to fixing the error instead of compounding it release after release?

When he's not working on FTD there are not that many SongBMG releases not to take more care and interest.

And don't give me that pathetic excuse that Ernst is too busy! He could arrange for the repair in seconds!

Since it's with a new title, and song order and trashes the Elvis album heritage, I didn't expect much from this release anyway. This gives me one more reason not to get it.


Thenexte wrote:

I think "Christmas Peace" was one of the first releases ever done in DSD technology, although hardly anybody probably noticed it when it first came out

.

I don't know if you were here on FECC at the time, 'nexte, but I recall quite a bit of discussion at the time about this release, including the sound. I was opposed to the repackaging of the Christmas material then, as now.

BMG is trying to get every euro out of the xmas songs while it still can. The fact is that the '57 xmas record has been Elvis's most successful recording. In 2008 the '57 xmas album will go out of copyright in Europe. After that the market is going to be flooded with Elvis xmas cd's.

The fact is that the '57 xmas record has been Elvis's most successful recording.

More successful than Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel, It's Now Or Never?

The fact is that the '57 xmas record has been Elvis's most successful recording.

More successful than Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel, It's Now Or Never?

Well, yes, actually !

The original 1957 Christmas album has a 3x Platinum RIAA award.

The 1970 re-issue has a 9x Platinum RIAA award.

That represents North American sales of 12 million+ !

No single has equalled that !

I agree with you KIWIALAN. Believe it or not, I still hold out the dim hope that the flaw on "Silent Night" has been repaired for the "Elvis Christmas" release, but, if not, I agree with you it is the responsibility of Ernst. It was Ernst who stood up at the "Insider's Conference" and announced that a "new" Christmas CD would be released this year. Surely, he cared enough to fix such an obvious flaw. We'll see.

Mystery Train

It's very disappointing if the Silent Night intro is missing but then BMG has an excuse to release another christmas compilation next year.

A bit off topic:

How is the sound on the 25-track White Christmas disc from 2000 ?

The fact is that the '57 xmas record has been Elvis's most successful recording.

More successful than Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel, It's Now Or Never?

Well, yes, actually !

The original 1957 Christmas album has a 3x Platinum RIAA award.

The 1970 re-issue has a 9x Platinum RIAA award.

That represents North American sales of 12 million+ !

No single has equalled that !

According to Ernst on Christmas Peace each xmas track on the '57 album has sold over 15 million in US alone and Blue Christmas is approaching 22 million.

BMG is trying to get every euro out of the xmas songs while it still can. The fact is that the '57 xmas record has been Elvis's most successful recording. In 2008 the '57 xmas album will go out of copyright in Europe. After that the market is going to be flooded with Elvis xmas cd's.

I think this issue is much overstated and very much of a gray area, I do not recall seeing any non-BMG releases in 2006 that would duplicate the RCA masters of Elvis' first two studio albums, even though the copyright on those has expired by now. We've seen our fair share of SUN and Hayride compilations, but nobody's touched Elvis' RCA period yet.

We've seen our fair share of SUN and Hayride compilations, but nobody's touched Elvis' RCA period yet.

That's true !

Wonder if that's all to come !

BMG is trying to get every euro out of the xmas songs while it still can. The fact is that the '57 xmas record has been Elvis's most successful recording. In 2008 the '57 xmas album will go out of copyright in Europe. After that the market is going to be flooded with Elvis xmas cd's.

I think this issue is much overstated and very much of a gray area, I do not recall seeing any non-BMG releases in 2006 that would duplicate the RCA masters of Elvis' first two studio albums, even though the copyright on those has expired by now. We've seen our fair share of SUN and Hayride compilations, but nobody's touched Elvis' RCA period yet.

You got it wrong. The copyright expires in 50 years from the year the recording was made. In other words at the moment all recordings made before 1 January 1956 are expired. Elvis made his first recording for RCA in 1956. The recordings made in 1956 are not free of copyright but they will be starting 1 January 2007.

BMG is trying to get every euro out of the xmas songs while it still can. The fact is that the '57 xmas record has been Elvis's most successful recording. In 2008 the '57 xmas album will go out of copyright in Europe. After that the market is going to be flooded with Elvis xmas cd's.

I think this issue is much overstated and very much of a gray area, I do not recall seeing any non-BMG releases in 2006 that would duplicate the RCA masters of Elvis' first two studio albums, even though the copyright on those has expired by now. We've seen our fair share of SUN and Hayride compilations, but nobody's touched Elvis' RCA period yet.

You got it wrong. The copyright expires in 50 years from the year the recording was made. In other words at the moment all recordings made before 1 January 1956 are expired. Elvis made his first recording for RCA in 1956. The recordings made in 1956 are not free of copyright but they will be starting 1 January 2007.

Any chemist can detail the exact formula for Coca-Cola. You could copy it exactly and sell it in markets not covered by patents. But what good will it do you - can you match Cokes price, distribution network, advertising volume, etc and finally wouldn't consumers want the real thing ( ).

The same applies to Elvis' RCA products. What's the point of of issuing CD's which contain songs merely lifted from the existing catalogue. Sure the sound may be tweaked to appear different but it's still the same cat under the fur!

Do your own tweaking - it's fun, it's cheap and gives great satisfaction

The fact is that the '57 xmas record has been Elvis's most successful recording.

More successful than Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel, It's Now Or Never?

Well, yes, actually !

The original 1957 Christmas album has a 3x Platinum RIAA award.

The 1970 re-issue has a 9x Platinum RIAA award.

That represents North American sales of 12 million+ !

No single has equalled that !

According to Ernst on Christmas Peace each xmas track on the '57 album has sold over 15 million in US alone and Blue Christmas is approaching 22 million.

The fact is that the '57 xmas record has been Elvis's most successful recording.

More successful than Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel, It's Now Or Never?

Well, yes, actually !

The original 1957 Christmas album has a 3x Platinum RIAA award.

The 1970 re-issue has a 9x Platinum RIAA award.

That represents North American sales of 12 million+ !

No single has equalled that !

According to Ernst on Christmas Peace each xmas track on the '57 album has sold over 15 million in US alone and Blue Christmas is approaching 22 million.

These stats are spurious. While technically true they do not reflect reality.

Are you saying that Take my Hand, Precious Lord is one of Elvis greatest hits because it "sold" 15 million. Better than Hound Dog?

Oh my boy I would rather believe in the Easter Bunny

These stats are spurious. While technically true they do not reflect reality.

Are you saying that Take my Hand, Precious Lord is one of Elvis greatest hits because it "sold" 15 million. Better than Hound Dog?

Oh my boy I would rather believe in the Easter Bunny

First of all as I said in my post Ernst said that each christmas track on the album has sold over 15 million. He wasn't talking about the gospel tunes like Take My Hand, Precious Lord.

All I'm saying is that the xmas album is -as far as we know- according to statics Elvis most successful recording. That's a fact. Whether they are better than other recordings is not the issue.

Last edited by Marko on Sat Sep 30, 2006 9:27 am, edited 2 times in total.

BMG is trying to get every euro out of the xmas songs while it still can. The fact is that the '57 xmas record has been Elvis's most successful recording. In 2008 the '57 xmas album will go out of copyright in Europe. After that the market is going to be flooded with Elvis xmas cd's.

I think this issue is much overstated and very much of a gray area, I do not recall seeing any non-BMG releases in 2006 that would duplicate the RCA masters of Elvis' first two studio albums, even though the copyright on those has expired by now. We've seen our fair share of SUN and Hayride compilations, but nobody's touched Elvis' RCA period yet.

You got it wrong. The copyright expires in 50 years from the year the recording was made. In other words at the moment all recordings made before 1 January 1956 are expired. Elvis made his first recording for RCA in 1956. The recordings made in 1956 are not free of copyright but they will be starting 1 January 2007.

Any chemist can detail the exact formula for Coca-Cola. You could copy it exactly and sell it in markets not covered by patents. But what good will it do you - can you match Cokes price, distribution network, advertising volume, etc and finally wouldn't consumers want the real thing ( ).

The same applies to Elvis' RCA products. What's the point of of issuing CD's which contain songs merely lifted from the existing catalogue. Sure the sound may be tweaked to appear different but it's still the same cat under the fur!

Do your own tweaking - it's fun, it's cheap and gives great satisfaction

Parden?

Maybe you shouldn't post after drinking beer, eh?

Any chemist can detail the exact formula for Coca-Cola. You could copy it exactly and sell it in markets not covered by patents. But what good will it do you - can you match Cokes price, distribution network, advertising volume, etc and finally wouldn't consumers want the real thing ( )

Your coke analogy doesn't hold water.

The casual buyer in Woolworth's will see an Elvis CD they like and buy it.

They won't say 'no, I want the real thing' and put it back on the rack, will they ?

But it will detract from the sales of the 'real' releases !

I'll not forget the first time I met my partner - she was browsing through Elvis CD's and picking out all the bootlegs! I thought she must have all the official RCA releases. Later she told me she was choosing them because of the great CD covers! So the public wouldn't really care if it was BMG or another label.

Even us fans making a CD for the car wouldn't clip songs. If the intro is clipped on Silent Night you have the right to sue BMG/Sony for your time and effort buying the CD.

I am hoping this will be the best source for Elvis's Christmas songs - if it is, then it's worth buying. We'll see.

These stats are spurious.
While technically true they do not reflect reality.

Are you saying that Take my Hand, Precious Lord is one of Elvis greatest hits because it "sold" 15 million.
Better than Hound Dog?

No.

Sales figures are a reality, in a lesser way the charts are too.

The singles charts record Elvis' greatest hits.

Obviously, Hound Dog was one of his greatest chart hits.

TMHPL wasn't a 'hit'.

It simply sold huge quantities if you tot up the sales of all the albums it appeared on.

Like Blue Christmas has sold more than any other Elvis song [22 Million & rising].

It is on the massive-selling Christmas Album and has also featured on an EP & single.

These stats are spurious.
While technically true they do not reflect reality.

Are you saying that Take my Hand, Precious Lord is one of Elvis greatest hits because it "sold" 15 million.
Better than Hound Dog?

No.

Sales figures are a reality, in a lesser way the charts are too.

The singles charts record Elvis' greatest hits.

Obviously, Hound Dog was one of his greatest chart hits.

TMHPL wasn't a 'hit'.

It simply sold huge quantities if you tot up the sales of all the albums it appeared on.

Like Blue Christmas has sold more than any other Elvis song [22 Million & rising].

It is on the massive-selling Christmas Album and has also featured on an EP & single.

Also, those sales figures of Blue Christmas are from US alone. It must've sold outside US at least 10 or maybe even 20 million more.

Actually, we would probably get very high figures for songs like Hound Dog and It's Now Or Never if they would count together all the singles and album sales. It has been reported that Elvis' biggest selling single was It's Now Or Never which sold over 20 million worldwide. Apprently this is just for the single records sales. For example the 30 #1 Hits album sold over 10 million with INON on it. INON has been released on god knows how many compilations over the years.

However, the biggest selling album of Elvis's career is still the '57 Christmas Album. BMG claims it has sold over 15 million.

Actually, we would probably get very high figures for songs like Hound Dog and It's Now Or Never if they would count together all the singles and album sales.

I suggested along time ago that when Ernst updates his The Complete Recording Sessions book, he should add a whole chapter on sales statistics.

He could give the US & world sales for each single, EP & album [what is secret about this info anyway ?] and he wouldn't need the detailed documentation the RIAA requires !

In other words, it could be a true list.

Then he could give us the ultimate Elvis best-selling song list on which each song is listed according to its total sales [singles, EP's and albums added together].

I guess Blue Christmas would be an obvious contender for the top spot, but some of the lower placings would be interesting to see !

We could have great fun spotting the highest-placed song never-on-a-single, highest film song, and all that sort of thing !

Or am I the only one who finds this sort of info interesting ?