Review - "On A Jet To The Promised Land"

[Joern]

Review „On A Jet To The Promised Land“ (VENUS VP-EP 2011-02)

The latest release from VENUS is somehow a big surprise. Coming from out of nowhere and announced on April 1, one could easily get the impression that it could only be a April Fool’s joke. But the surprise is getting bigger, as it is definitely no hoax. In fact the CD deserves a detailled observation, because of some very interesting things that the CD offers.

The CD starts with the first take (2.32 min) of ‚Promised Land‘, which was unreleased by now. Probably the take wasn’t released because of Elvis small lyric alterations at the end of the take where Elvis changed the line from “and the poor boy is on the line” into „and the mother **** is on the line“. The take itself was a good sung first try. The mood throughout the December recordings were said to be exceptional good and it shows while Elvis laughs out loud in the middle of the take and sings the last verse with assumed voice. The soundquality – especially the bass-part – brings out the impression to sit next to the musicians and Elvis!

The next track is take 1 (3.22 min) of „There’s A Honky Tonk Angel“. First at all, one can hear how Elvis tries to remember the lyrics, while reciting the first song line. Shortly before the recording starts Elvis cusses audibly – “Son of a b*tch! I get mad at it!”. Then the song starts. Take 1 was released in 1998 on the fifth CD of the ‚Essential Elvis‘ series. Firstof all, here you get the song unedited, where BMG decided to cut out that “Son of a b*tch”-part . That would be no big deal as it was done often in the past. Much more interesting is the fact, that you can hear the “harmony vocals” and the “organ” very clearly. Both were removed on the original release of ‘Promised Land’. On ‘Essential Elvis – Rhythm and Country’ they weren’t audible at all. That makes another unreleased take!

The third track (1.41 min) on the CD is take 2 of “There’s A Honky Tonk Angel”. It offers more or less studio banter and a false start of the song. Felton Jarvis abandoned the take, which got commented by Elvis with some explicit language – “Fu*k! I liked that one. It was the first time I got that son of a b*tch right. Oh well, sh*t!” The take is also unreleased.

Track 4 (3:35 min) is the the third take of “There’s A Honky Tonk Angel”, which was also unreleased by now. Before the recording starts he instructs Putnam and Briggs to “Straighten out now, Norbert! You too, David!”.The version is nearly complete sung. Until the last verse it is done seriously when Elvis made a mistake and trashes the ending in a hilarious way. Elvis bursts out in a loud laughter and comments cheerfully “We’re going to the next piece! I get carried away… and they carry me away if I keep it! … Shut up and keep it rollin’!” Listen carefully to Tutts reaction on Elvis last words. The sound is almost incredible.

Track 4 ends with the announcement for take 1 (3.37 min) of „My Boy“, which was released on of the lastest FTD-releases “Good Times”. The same applies for the sixth track on the CD which offers take 2 (3.54 min) of “My Boy” which also was released on the FTD-CD “Good Times”. Listen carefully and compare the soundquality of both of them for yourself. The song itself can’t hardly be called Elvis best work in the 70s, but no one can deny after listening to the outtakes that he recorded it with power, convincement und passion – and that’s something that you can’t say about all the tracks recorded by Elvis.

Track 7 is the first take (3.35 min) of “Love Song Of The Year”, which is the first outtake ever released from this song. The song is practically sung complete, despite the last two seconds. Per Eric “Pete” Hallin from “Voice” played the piano part on this one. The soundquality is nothing but breathtaking. It’s so crytal clear and sounds so detailled that it makes you almost cry. The master take isn’t a personal favorite of mine, but this outtake is an absolute highlight!

Track 8 is take 4 (3.25 min) of „Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming“. The track isn’t edited as it was on the former mentioned CD “Essential 5 – Rhythm and Country”. There BMG used a strange sounding reverb, which doesn’t add anything to the song. On “On A Jet” it sounds dry and much clearer. Also you can hear Elvis mumbling the line “… a litte less conversation, a little more action…”. There’s no part where Elvis sings “Find Out What’s Happening” before starting take 4. Also there’s no cut audible, which let me think that BMG added the “Find Out What’s Happening”-part to produce a special effect.

The last track on the CD is take 3 (5.05 min) of „Thinking About You“. In the beginning you can hear a few instructions from Felton Jarvis, who pointed out that some of the microphones are the girls ones. After that the recording starts. The take was used on FTD’s CD “Made In Memphis”, but there it included a not listed false start of take 2. So here you’ll get the unedited take 3.

„On A Jet To The Promised Land“ seems to be something like a special product release from VENUS. The package is a modest cardsleeve (s.app.), which doesn’t fit the content in no way imo. One should be careful whith applying superlatives, but what you get to hear from your sound system if you crank up the volume is nothing but spectacular. By now I thought that the soundquality on the fifth CD from the “Essential” series belongs to the best sounding releases of Elvis, but if you compare it to the soundquality from this VENUS release it gets send to the second place. The release presented in this form is – imo – already the understatement of the year 2011. The 31 minutes of this release are simply outstanding. You get almost twenty minutes of unreleased material in superb sounding quality.

On can be curious about how a possible FTD-release of „Promised Land“ will sound in comparison. It could be quite a challenge for the FTD team. This release offers something very special for little money to those who are interested. On top VENUS announces the fifth CD of their “Welcome To The Jungle”-serie. The – surely – last part is simply subtitled “Hurt”.

Make certain to crank up the volume on this CD and enjoy! Highly recommended.

[luckyjackson1]

Thank you very much for the fantastic review, Jörn.
Great work as usual - can hardly wait to get my copy!!!

[Ciscoking]

Great review..man..that was fast...Fri, April 1 it was announced...Sun, April 3 we get a complete review...
Anyway..I think 30 minutes of RT is too little...reminds me of the days of It HAppened at The World`s Fair...I bet there will be a Vol. 2 soon..

[Rusty Wells 2]

Incredible, what a fantastic cd. The first outtake ever from Love song of the year...
Can't understand why FTD wait so long, release the classic album Promised land!
I'm getting this beauty for sure. Breathtaking cover also.

[paulsweeney]

Thanks for the review - detailed and fast!

[JeroenNL]

I stand corrected.... I really thought this was an April Fools Day ..... Looking forward to it now!!

[KingElvis]

I stand corrected.... I really thought this was an April Fools Day ..... Looking forward to it now!!

ditto.

Im sure VENUS had some fun when they broke this news on april 1.......they could
let us know the day before......or after.

Great review Joern........as always.
Thanks.

[keninlincs]

Thanks for the review Joern

[James27]

Great to wake up in the morning and read another fine Elvis cd review!

[tuttifrutti]

Sure I'll have this one too as the rest of the Venus releases.I'm just glad titels keep coming from our man.
Its been awhile sense he past away so.,you never know when the barrel is empty?

[londonflash]

Joern, your reviews are always a pleasure to read.

[rollinson1]

I wonder what the reactions would be if Ernst & Sony decided that from now on all cds will be only 30 mins long.Not the reaction this cd and company have got Im sure.

[Christopher Brown]

But don't forget, this is is only $20.

[thenexte]

I wonder what the reactions would be if Ernst & Sony decided that from now on all cds will be only 30 mins long.Not the reaction this cd and company have got Im sure.

Venus sure knows how to milk their customers...

[Ciscoking]

I wonder what the reactions would be if Ernst & Sony decided that from now on all cds will be only 30 mins long.Not the reaction this cd and company have got Im sure.

Venus sure knows how to milk their customers...

Good one.. ..but true...

[elvisjock]

If they released one CD with 12 completely unreleased tracks (no previously released material, remixes or count-ins) and charged $150 - $200, would you buy it? I would.

[londonflash]

If they released one CD with 12 completely unreleased tracks (no previously released material, remixes or count-ins) and charged $150 - $200, would you buy it? I would.

For that price, highly unlikely.

Especially if it contained outtakes of Love Song Of The Year.

[midnightx]

Incredible, what a fantastic cd. The first outtake ever from Love song of the year...
Can't understand why FTD wait so long, release the classic album Promised land!
I'm getting this beauty for sure. Breathtaking cover also.

It isn’t as if the delay hasn’t provided some nice alternative releases. For example, we have received some wonderful classic album series issued in the meantime such as Jailhouse Rock Vol. 2 and How Great Thou Art along with fully loaded editions of Fool and Now. Promised Land is coming.

[drjohncarpenter]

It isn’t as if the delay hasn’t provided some nice alternative releases. For example, we have received some wonderful classic album series issued in the meantime such as Jailhouse Rock Vol. 2 and How Great Thou Art along with fully loaded editions of Fool and Now. Promised Land is coming.

But ...

What are your thoughts on the first-ever release of an outtake of "Love Song Of The Year”?

[midnightx]

It isn’t as if the delay hasn’t provided some nice alternative releases. For example, we have received some wonderful classic album series issued in the meantime such as Jailhouse Rock Vol. 2 and How Great Thou Art along with fully loaded editions of Fool and Now. Promised Land is coming.

But ...

What are your thoughts on the first-ever release of an outtake of "Love Song Of The Year”?

It is a true find, a wonderful piece of treasure. I can only hope I have the patience and strength to wait for FTD to issue it.

[Good Time Charlie]

Joking aside I'm pretty sure this isn't the first time a "Love Song of the Year" outtake has been released.

[Joern]

It isn’t as if the delay hasn’t provided some nice alternative releases. For example, we have received some wonderful classic album series issued in the meantime such as Jailhouse Rock Vol. 2 and How Great Thou Art along with fully loaded editions of Fool and Now. Promised Land is coming.

But ...

What are your thoughts on the first-ever release of an outtake of "Love Song Of The Year”?

It is a true find, a wonderful piece of treasure. I can only hope I have the patience and strength to wait for FTD to issue it.

The love and devotion for "My Boy" and "Love Song Of The Year" from the two of you is legendary.

[Joern]

Joking aside I'm pretty sure this isn't the first time a "Love Song of the Year" outtake has been released.

According to Kief Flinns site it is.

[midnightx]

Isn't wonderful that Elvis recorded Love Song Of The Year?

[Joern]

Isn't wonderful that Elvis recorded Love Song Of The Year?

I wrote that "the master take isn’t a personal favorite of mine (to put it politely)", but to get a completely new outtake in stunning soundquality is something I really like.