Classic Elvis Bootlegs - reviews

[drghanem]

THE '68 COMEBACK
In the mid 1970's, Paul Dowling of Maryland released one of the most legendary Elvis Presley bootlegs. The title was The '68 Comeback and it contained previously unreleased recordings from the June 1968 NBC-recordings that resulted in an Elvis Presley TV-special which aired on December 3 the same year. Paul's friend out in California, Sam Theaker, had bought some acetates containing these unreleased recordings from the said NBC-sessions at a local record fair or garage sale. The material was then sent to Paul who a while later put together this groundbreaking and beautiful bootleg during late 1975 or early 1976. The initial pressing-run was for 1000 records and when this first batch was sold out Paul needed more records pressed to meet the steadily incoming orders.

The pressing-plant was located in Nashville, TN and they didn't want to press another batch which was most probably down to legal issues. RCA Records owned the copyrights to Elvis' music so it's fair to assume that this was the reason. This problem was solved by Sam who contacted some pressing-plants out in California and struck a deal with one of them. Several different pressings of this classic bootleg exists, some good and some bad. I own to date five different versions and the original is the absolute best in terms of sound and printing-quality. Paul and Sam collaborated on another 20+ Elvis bootlegs which are all considered as classics today. Paul is still one of the greatest Elvis Presley record dealers but unfortunately Sam passed away a few years ago. You can read all about the history of Elvis Presley bootlegs in the fantastic 2012-publication Bootleg Elvis by Gubeli et al or in Jailhouse Rock (1983) by Cotten & DeWitt.



BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Released in mid-1979, this overwhelmingly fantastic 4 LP-set entitled Behind Closed Doors is considered as the ultimate Elvis bootleg by Presley's fan-base. Producers Paul Dowling and Sam Theaker was on a mission to provide the music-world with authentic and unreleased recordings by The King himselvis. By 1979, the Diamond Duo of Dowling and Theaker had already released a dozen classic Presley-albums that received the highest praise not only from the die-hard fans but also from top-influential rock-journalists like Robert Hilburn at Los Angeles Times. Their albums were distributed worldwide and achieved both national and international fame.

The duo's extensive work included acquiring the material and paying boatloads of money for it, producing the albums and arranging a worldwide distribution-service. As a result of this, all of their releases achieved both national and international fame.
Elvis, who sadly passed away in the summer of 1977, was still under contract with RCA Records and they continued to release albums that did little to showcase Elvis' enormous musical legacy. Undoubtedly, the work of Messrs Dowling and Theaker influenced RCA Records to finally put out an 8 LP-set in 1980 entitled Elvis Aron Presley to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Elvis' contract.
Behind Closed Doors paved the way for a brighter future, not only for Elvis' fans but for everyone interested in rock music. For that, I'll take a bow to Dowling and Theaker and say: Thank you, thank you very much!



THE ROCKIN' REBEL I - III
This breathtakingly wonderful Bootleg-series was initiated in early 1978 when producers Paul Dowling and Sam Theaker had enough material for a release devoted to Elvis in the 1950's. All in all three volumes were released between '78 and '79 on the Golden Archives-label. These albums are all considered as classics among us Elvis fans, and rightly so. Learn about the background of these albums in Sam Theaker's exciting memoirs from 2009. It includes the great story of how Sam visited Bob Hite, the drummer of Canned Heat (of Going Up the Country-fame) and bought some unreleased Elvis-recordings from him. Thanx a million for the great releases, Paul and Sam!

[BobDylan]

I just got the first pressing of The 68 Comeback in the mail yesterday, the one with Comeback misspelled as "Comback."

And one minor correction: Elvis died in the summer of 1977, not 1979.

Please keep your reviews coming! This was really enjoyable to read.

I have about 140 vinyl bootlegs and it's always interesting to see what other people think and their impressions.

And I completely agree- Sam's unpublished memoir is a fascinating read and a must for every fan of Elvis bootlegs. The information and stories in Jailhouse Rock and Bootleg Elvis are well worth reading as well.

Do you have Paul's unpublished introduction to Sam's book? If not, let me know and I can send it to you.