Even though "Elvis' Christmas Album" is one of the true classics of the Presley catalogue, it took Follow That Dream Records eleven years to include it in the series of "classic albums". As usual the disc is housed in a 5" digi-pak and accompanied by a booklet with background information, pictures of merchandising and promotion material and much more. It all looks very nice and also sounds very good, because Sebastian Jeansson has remastered all the tracks.

As usual Follow That Dream Records doesn't want to distribute their products in a modern way and sticks to the almost extincted cd format.

The reason for releasing this special edition so late is the lack of outtakes. Back in the 1950s RCA Victor cleaned up the vaults and simply threw most of the tapes away that didn't contain master recordings. At the time nobody could imagine that half a century ahead there would be a market for stuff like this. Thankfully the binaural (at the time the companies were experimenting with multi channel sound but hadn't agreed on "stereo" yet) tapes of "Peace In The Valley" and "It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)" have survived and we also get "My Wish Came True", "Treat Me Nice" and "Don't" as a bonus. These songs have nothing to do with Christmas, but they were recorded at the same session.

As usual I will only deal with the tracks, that are not included in the original RCA Victor release. For a review of "Elvis' Christmas Album" tap HERE.

On September 6, 1957 Elvis put quite a lot of effort in "My Wish Came True" and recorded no less than 28 takes of the ballad by Ivory Joe Hunter. But still he wasn't happy with the results and tried again on January 23rd and February 1st 1958. Once again no satisfactory master take could be archived, finally the king selected take 28 from the September sessions as the master. It was released on the flipside of "A Big Hunk O' Love" in June 1959 and peaked at number 12 on the "Hot 100". RCA Victor also released the track on the album "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong - Elvis' Gold Records Volume 2" (1959) and on the boxed set "The Other Sides - Worldwide Gold Award Hits Volume 2" (1971). I don't like this song too well, but for a b-side of a single it's ok.

"Treat Me Nice" was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. On May 3, 1957 Elvis recorded 13 takes. The master was spliced of takes 10 and 13. Nevertheless Elvis wasn't satisfied and recorded another 15 takes on September 5th. This time it worked better and he choose number 15 as the master. It was released on the flipside of "Jailhouse Rock" which would become one of the ten best selling singles of the decade. RCA Victor also included the track on the ep "A Touch Of Gold - Volume 2" (1959) and the boxed set "Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits - Volume 1" (1970). The macho song is written and performed very well and fits the image of the rock'n'roll king perfectly.

This is another one by Leiber and Stoller, but this time a ballad. Textually it's somewhat disturbing, but back in 1957 it was meant to be a serious love song. Elvis recorded it within seven takes on September 6, 1957. In early 1958 "Don't" became the a-side of a single and made it all the way to the number one of the "Hot 100". RCA Victor also released it on the ep "A Touch Of Gold" (1959), the album "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong - Elvis' Gold Records Volume 2" (1959) and "Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits - Volume 1" (1970). To me this is one of the very few ballads, that the king performed well in the 1950s.

The first take has a slower tempo and Elvis sings quite cautious. He still doesn't know how to emphasize certain parts, at one point he misses a note. The harmonies between the king and The Jordanaires also don't work well yet. After the intro Elvis has to laugh and jokes "Next song!". Take 3 works better, even though The Jordanaires don't harmonize the way they should. The fourth attempt sounds quite good, but the next two takes are nothing but false starts. First there is a distrotion, then Elvis misses his cue to start. Try number 7 works fine and already sounds close to the master. After a short while the singer stopps take 8 and claims "I had to belch up that egg I ate". Take 9 is simply perfect and would later be approved for release.

It Is No Secret (What God Can Do) (takes 1-13)
We hear some talking, in the background Bill Black rehearses his bass-part. The first take is nothing but the intro, the second one is stopped in the middle of the song. Take number 3 finally is a complete performance. Still a bit shaky, neither Elvis nor The Jordanaires hit every note. Between the takes the arrangement was changed, now The Joardanaires are singing on the intro as well. On the fourth take the king produces a p-popp and stopps the recording. Take number 5 is a complete performance, but still Elvis has to work on his timing. Obviously the singer's concentration is fading, because the following takes are nothing but false starts. The intro doesn't work and when it finally does Elvis has to laugh. The twelfth take is a complete one, but the singer sounds mincing at times. Strangely though none of all these troubles appear on take 13, suddenly it all works well.