I can't agree on some points because the 1970 Nashville sessions never sounded better than on this release. Finally we get to hear the band as well. Fantastic. TCB
Honestly, I think it's the mastering that John has the largest problem with, moreso than the mix itself. When we get into sonic specifics in a future video, that may shed some light on things. 😁
Another great one, guys! I now know all of 7 Elvis fans who actually pay attention to the mixes/mastering. Thank you. I look forward to discussing with y'all.
Fascinating. I love these boxes and have just finished some in depth listening to them(which made me skip catching up on your videos to see this one). I like to think I listen to music quite closely but I must admit I didn't notice the stuff John is talking about. I'm going upstairs to listen to Funny How Time Slips Away as we speak! Can't tell you how much I love these videos. Keep up the good works guys
Thanks so much, Graham! So glad you're enjoying them! We've had quite a few folks asking what we're hearing with some of these, so John and I have said that we want to (in season 2, which starts in June) want to do videos in my mixing studio so we can do A/B comparisons and show others what we're hearing more directly... and maybe even form a new crop of Elvis audiophiles in a fashion almost like what Sebastian did with us (and others) with his elvisrecordings.com site back in the day!
@@EAPSociety This is the frustrating thing for me about how Elvis has been released over the years. I don't collect Elvis vinyl but I've got Elvis Country because I love it. I bought the CD when that came out. Next I got the 2 disc ftd thinking this was pretty much the definitive release and that would do me nicely. Then they release From Elvis In Nashville which I couldn't resist. Then I watch this video and you guys recommend the legacy version! So I'm sitting on 4 different formats of this release and still haven't got the best one! Aaaaaaargghhhh!!!
@@graham3550 It's definitely frustrating, I hear you - even moreso for me than most, since I used to edit Elvis sessions back together from the scrap pieces they used to give us in box sets, lol! The FTD is good, and even with our thoughts on "From Elvis In Nashville" and "Back In Nashville," I do still say they're good listens, just not "the definitive" ones - those haven't been released yet (at least of the undubbed masters). The 60-CD Album collection is honestly the best the original album masters (with overdubs) will likely sound, so that is the way to go for now... but if you want to wait for the absolute best.. I'd say wait for the sessions release. Pick up the 60-CD set if you can find it for a deal, but the sessions releases' masters sometimes even beat the 60-CD set (see "Fun In Acapulco" and imo "Elvis Is Back!", so if you want a "one release to rule them all," then the sessions sets are/will be the final word. Still frustrating, but it's at least an answer that's been consistent so far, and should be into the future.
@@EAPSociety That's brilliant. I appreciate you taking the time to reply and sharing your considerable knowledge. I will keep an eye out for that set at a reasonable price.
@graham3550 You're very welcome! We're always happy to help when we can - that's part of why we started the channel, too. 😁 As for finding a deal on the set, your best bets are either Amazon or ebay + a whole lotta patience, but depending on your location, there may be more local options to keep an eye on (not much in the way of used CD stores or exchanges where I am).
I have to say that I really enjoyed this release as to me the main focus was Elvis' raw voice. When I heard Funny How Time Slips Away as a teaser I thought it was amazing and I occasionally find it a bit jarring going back to the original version. His voice was raw and even slightly shaky, I'm talking microseconds in some parts, which made it sound even better to me. The majority of the album was just as revelatory when judged against it's objectives. One of my favourite releases and regularly played.
Hey Friends...nothing beats the "ELVIS 2022" Soundtrack on CD/Vinyl ...Ooops it's the wrong RU-vid-Channel, sorry 😬, i'm only kiddin'... Well, the 2 Box-Sets 1970/71 from SONY are A MUST HAVE in every household imo The SOUND & Remastering is outstanding...Friends, your Ambition, Deep Interest, Love, Heart and Soul for the Man and his Music Legacy is PHENOMENAL! Thanx a lot John and Jamie 👏TOP NOTCH👍
LOL! John and I actually like the movie soundtrack, funny enough, but that's hilarious! There are some interesting insights into the sound on these that we may talk about in the future, but I agree that they're great releases! You're very welcome, Harald, and thank you so much!
Hi boys ! I always thought that Nashville 70 it was more relaxed session almost a rehearsal with the band, and Nashville 71 was more focused and more serious and confirm it with this CDs . I also think that for the new fans is to discover how Elvis evolved as a artist from the rocker of the 50's to this time ! . Thank You and TCB !👍👑
Hi, Luis! You're very welcome! I'd say it's a mix, really; the material is more focused and compartmentalized, but Elvis himself seems less so in 71 than 70. So it just kinda depends on how the material hits the listener. But we love both, so it's all good! And I agree - new fans having a chance like this to hear Elvis's artistic evolution is wonderful!
Thanks, Marco! I like them, too; but I do get where he's coming from, and in a future video we'll break down the specifics more on that. It's definitely an interesting discussion that needs to be had in more depth!
I like the original mixes and these new ones both for different reasons, and I have both these sets. The beauty is, we can have both! I certainly like "the thump" better on the rockers.
@@FrankieLovesElvis - Rowe was hit and miss actually. On some of the up-tempo numbers on The Memphis Record, the balance of the rhythm section was improved and the wide separation was fixed, and on other numbers it was a mess. Make Me Know it, the Elvis Is Back opener on the CD Rowe did, the opening piano is loaded with distortion and sounds like a 13 year old mixed it. He was hit and miss throughout his work
The mixing is truly subjective, I love some tracks and others not as much on both sets. The reason I love these boxes is because their price points were fair to diehard fans, casual fans and music lovers. A beautifully mixed song doesn't get heard if the fan can not afford to listen to it (yep thats shots fired at the FTD label). TCB guys ⚡️
I agree, more people need to be able to hear these at a decent price point, which is why it's great that these exist. I do understand why the FTD label is more expensive to a point (limited run, etc), but there have definitely been some times where it goes a bit far. Hopefully, over time, we'll see more releases that everyone can afford to enjoy. :)
Wow, Jamie…how perceptive you are! As I was watching and listening to you guys, I kept thinking about how I would respond to these sets you have reviewed and concerned about how you would take my criticism of Elvis. Just after the half-way mark, you hit the nail on the head when you said that there is a segment of the fan base whose interest drops significantly after 1968 or 1969. Hello, that’s me!! Except that I give Elvis till 1970, and then the studio recordings become quite disappointing for me. Three reasons: Elvis’ change in vocal tone (similar to the 1964/1965 era); the looseness and lack of restraint in the presentation of the material (thank God for 1969 and Chips Moman!); and the dearth of good material for our hero to sing. Growing up listening to music in the 1970’s (and to Elvis since 1973), I may not have turned out a huge Elvis fan if it had not been for the Camden albums, the greatest hits compilations, and a couple of the live albums released throughout the decade. This last week, I have been listening to these two sets in my car on Spotify. I will share my thoughts. Full disclosure: I have to reiterate that I am not a fan of Elvis’ studio recordings after 1970; to be more precise, after the last great album, That’s The Way it Is, things seem to start unraveling for me. And except for a couple of cuts off the much-hyped Elvis Country album (a respected LP by fans and critics alike), the record for me is one big yawn fest. Dreadful song selection and a waste of what remained of Elvis’ lingering vocal greatness from just a year earlier. Having said this, I prefer Elvis in Nashville to the other set (no surprise). I did enjoy more than half of the songs on here. Elvis sounds great and the songs from TTWIT carry this set for me. Not much to say about Back in Nashville, other than I like about 5 or 6 songs and that is it. Had the Christmas album been recorded three years earlier, I would probably have loved it. In total, I like two of the gospel tracks, two of the Christmas songs and a couple of the others, with Early Mornin’ Rain, probably my favorite. Lastly, I will say that I prefer to listen to most of these songs with their overdubs (both sets). I would recommend these two sets to Elvis completists, who like alternate takes, studio banter, and whose ears are a bit more forgiving than mine. To the new or casual Elvis fan, I would suggest getting That’s The Way It Is, and call it a day. I will add that I did like the contents and the packaging, including the books you showed. Very nice. All in all, a great video. You guys really get in-depth and it’s definitely interesting to get your perspectives on the material. I always learn a lot and I am always entertained, to a high degree. Thanks gents!
Thanks, Tony - and thanks for sharing your thoughts! Honestly, you'd be surprised what hits people when it comes to Elvis. I had people come up to me after a show (back when I was doing the Elvis performances) that asked - I kid you not - where they could find "Stop Where You Are" because they loved it and had never heard it before. Wild stuff, right? That's one reason that I have such a broad idea of what should be out there for starting Elvis fans to discover; each person comes to Elvis from a totally different place, so Elvis's wide range means something will hit them. And if you like this amount of depth, John and I will actually be covering some of the mixing/mastering choices in these sets even more in a coming video that just wasn't possible here without it going like 4 hours, lol - so lots of fun to come!
Hi, Brandon! Exactly. it's great that everyone got a taste of this material and not just all of us uber-nerds. Plus, it's a nice listen while we wait for the sessions. :)
Thank you very much Jamie and John love the way during your discussion you get right down to the nuts and bolts of whatever release you’re discussing . I just wondered your thoughts on the releases A Hundred Years From Now and The Nashville Marathon there are some great outtakes on those two releases . I guess it depends on the material but take an Album such as Love Letters or Elvis Country the bare stripped tracks without overdubs sound amazing and improves those albums but on an Album like Promised Land I miss the overdubs I sometimes think and I might be in the minority here that Felton Jarvis made some great choices quite often with the overdubbing and was a very smart producer and a real asset to Elvis . In fact an album he produced for The late and great Jerry Reed in 1970 called Cookin is one of Jerrys finest great discussion guys and I really appreciate your thoughts on those two must have releases cheers Carl .
Hi, Carl! Oh, we love "A Hundred Years From Now" and "The Nashville Marathon!" We even talked about them a bit in last week's video, but it was quick. Both were mixed by Lene, so it's not the sweet spot in sound that Sebastian brings, but they're still great listens for the material. On overdubs.. I actually like the songs in both undubbed and overdubbed form; maybe it's just because I'm familiar with them, lol, but I still enjoy them. I think the 1976 material could have been mixed better, but perhaps that's easier said than done. Also: YES! That Jerry Reed album is great! And you're very welcome, these are fun!
Thank you very much for your fantastic reply Glad you love Nashville Marathon and a Hundred Years From Now and speaking of overdubs or sound effects during recording you guys know about the technical effects I love Way Down without the echo I think it is a much superior track and love it much more cheers Carl .
Hey John I think your thoughts on these are hilarious! I’m very disappointed with myself tho because I think I have an ear for good sound but the whole mixes thing alludes me. I just don’t notice or maybe I don’t care. Now it seems like no one likes spangs work. They don’t like the on tour set samples. And I think they sound great. I have a good setup equipment wise I think. Oh well. You two are awesome.
I think it depends on how you listen and direct A/B comparisons. I (Jamie) like the mixes on their own decently in the car and while doing things, but when you A/B them with original mixes, the originals breathe a lot more. I can enjoy both, but I absolutely get what John is saying about the sound being an exhausting listen by comparison. As for the "On Tour" samples we have so far, comparing to the material available in stereo on bootleg is... interesting. We'll definitely do a comparison at some point.
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Removing the background vocals on some of the tracks on the '71 set was a very poor and curious decision - made even worse by the evident mic bleed. And not presenting a compartmentalised 'lost' folk album on the set was something of a missed opportunity, too. I also agree with John regarding the mix on the '70 set, which I also think is lacking some high end sparkle. The covers look a bit cheap and uninspired, too, to be honest. Hopefully, a future sessions set will go some way to presenting these recordings in a more considered and befitting mix.
Hi, David! Yeah, that *is* really an odd choice on some of those, which hopefully won't be the case once the full sessions comes out (shouldn't be, Sebastian is very careful about that stuff). We'll definitely be diving deeper on these sets to talk more about the sound and exactly why it's ok in certain scenarios, but decidedly lacking in others.
This episode is absolutely fantastic and I have some thoughts.... From Elvis in Nashville is a curious release; I do sympathize with John here but I want to present a different way of looking at it - he doesn't like the release because the mixing is hamfisted on some of the more emotional/softer songs. This is absolutely the case. Everything is mixed as uniformly as possible with a "live" approach. The bass and drums are always center, guitar right and piano left. That can get boring, but it can also provide focus on the performances themselves. You don't have any guesswork to do, you're clued in on who's where from the start! I do think it succeeds in presenting the songs with absolutely no production. Any more radical instrument placement would've made it stand out less from the original albums. And the man who (for all intents and purposes) produced the sessions, the big man E, is no longer with us...so why even go there? The mixing here absolutely does not. Sometimes the line between mixing and producing can get blurred when someone gets too hands-on! My only gripe would be that the bassy sound makes the bass guitar and drums much less defined than the originals. The term "bass cloud" is applicable. So maybe the efforts of the rhythm section can actually be appreciated more in the original mixes!! Most improved track would be Patch It Up - the mixing absolutely works there. The horn section performance on the single master just stinks, plain and simple. Back in Nashville is very different. I held off on buying it for a while because the removal of some of the background vocals annoyed me. It's like they went full circle after 40 years and suddenly we're in "Our Memories of Elvis" mode again. Not good. But the mixes do seem less goosed than FEIN. Overall it's an enjoyable set even if I don't love about half of the material. I still really wish the We Can Make the Morning session survived; I bet those were entertaining outtakes. The set made me appreciate the He Touched Me album a lot more than I used to, I will say!
Thank you so much!! And thank you for sharing your detailed thoughts, too! Later in the season, we'll do a special audio-focused video on how these could have been handled in a similar approach, but better executed. I'll likely always enjoy what Matt is trying to do on these more than John, but in doing A/B comparisons to the masters, I've come ro see more what John is getting at, and to see if there were things that could have been done to give the effect I feel Matt was going for without compromising the dynamics as much. That'll take a while to get my thoughts together on it, but should be an enlightening episode all-around, even for folks that enjoyed both of these releases (like I did)! 😁
@@EAPSociety I definitely agree that complete sessions sets for Nashville 1970 need to happen - I only have the Elvis Country FTD and didn't buy the other two because the EC outtakes mixes have that heavy reverb I just don't like. So this set has been my first real foray into these sessions. Well I did have the Nashville Marathon FTD but I lost it to CD rot/bronzing, whatever it is! I haven't looked at it in years.
Oh, yeah - and our idea for how to present those sessions will blow everybody's mind, I know that for sure! Now we just need to license them, lol - I can see what you mean on the EC outtakes, even though the reverb doesn't bother me as much, I do still prefer a more dry sound, as well. And sorry to hear about your "Nashville Marathon" CD!
@@EAPSociety It's also interesting to compare these to Elvis at Stax. If that set had been done now, I see it as following the model of these. It's a good set, but providing different mixes of the masters is better value than just putting the original mixes on there. I would rather listen to them in recorded order still, though. Promised Land is a good album, but the other two I don't much like the order of.
Oh, you're absolutely right that Stax would have been done like this if it had come out more recently. I have an interesting way that they could do these in SACD, but that's a hope for another time down the road a ways. 😁
What will happen with 1972? E only recorded 7 songs in the studio in March. How can Sony/Legacy release these undubbed? Maybe throw in some rehearsals.
It would have been nice to have them as part of the "Elvis On Tour" set, honestly - but yeah, that's one that we may not see on Legacy, only an FTD sessions release.
@@jonburrows9816 Exactly. They could also mix those with some Feb '72 Vegas tracks, much like the "Burning Love" CD release, but that's about it. It's very likely (given that some of the session tape was erased, if notes are correct) that the whole session could even fit on one CD. So it will certainly be interesting to see what happens with that material as time goes on.
@@jonburrows9816 They have, yes - the fact that they're so scattered would be the only logical path left that I can think of for tying everything together for the studio material, if they were even going to do it. Much like the Feb 1970 material did (and some last parts still do, iirc), that does need a "home," too.
