In 2007 Follow That Dream Records released a collector's edition of the king's second "Gold" album. It includes the tracks of the original release, "Your Cheatin' Heart" and "Ain't That Loving You Baby" (both had stayed in the vaults until the mid-sixties) as well as the single master of "Doncha' Think It's Time". Another bonus is the content of the interview-ep "Elvis Sales". The set is filled up with outtakes from February and June 1958. All the recordings have been carefully restored by Kevan Budd, who had also remastered the tracks of the critically acclaimed album "Elvis At Sun". FTD's collector's edition comes in the usual format of two compact discs and a booklet, housed in a 7" digipak. Because FTD sticks to physical formats, the compilation is not available on the streaming platforms.

In this review I will only deal with the tracks, that are not available on the regular RCA releases of the time. For a review of the original album, just tap HERE.

Here we have the undubbed master take, which means, that guitar, percussion and piano are missing.

While the album "Elvis For Everyone!" featured the 10th take, the previous attempt was labeled as "alternate master".

These takes were used by Steve Sholes to create the masters. The album master starts with take 40 (until second 44 "...doncha' think it's time"), followed by take 39 (from second 44 to 59, until "...any other guy"), then it switches back to take 40 (from second 59 to :21 minutes, until "...walkin' right by my side") and ends with the finale of take 39. The single master starts with take 47 (to 1:15 minutes, until "...doncha' think it's time"), switches to take 40 (from 1:16 to 1:41 minutes, until "...make me feel so fine") and the end of take 48.

The first take sounds much tamer than the released version. The goal is simply to archive a complete performance. Take 2 starts with laughter and the announcement by the sound engineer. Elvis sounds more secure and also can be heared during the piano part. Scotty Moore also has found his licks by now. With the 3rd take everybody knows what to do, now it's time to rock. Take 4 is even better, this would have been my choice for the master. Elvis had a different oppinion and preferred take number 3 with the piano solo of take 4 spliced in.

At the time Elvis recorded eleven takes without selecting any of them for release. In 1964 RCA Victor put the 4th take on a single, of course approved by the king. After Elvis' demise the label also released a "fast master" on the album "Reconsider Baby". It was compiled of the takes 1, 8, 9, 10 and 11. The drummer kicks off the first take, but then the sound engineer makes his announcement and the performance is started again. It's not perfect, but a complete walkthrough. During the second take Elvis messes up the timing and has to laugh. The next attempt lasts just a few seconds, because the king has to laugh again. Take number four is the performance, we know from the RCA single and the "Gold" album. From now on the group tries a faster tempo, but fails on the intro. Take six lasts half a minute, before Elvis gets out of step and has to laugh. The 7th attempt is canceled by the sound engineer during the guitar solo by simply turning off the equipment. Take number 8 appears to work well, but suddenly Elvis' voice cracks and he has to laugh. Now the arrangement is changed again and the piano can be heared earlier in the song. But once again the singer gets out of step and cancels the take by saying "I got lost". The next try is burried by the engineer, who once again simply switches off the equipment. Take 11 is almost complete, but then Elvis' voice cracks again and he has to laugh. After that, the king simply stopped to work on "Ain't That Loving You Baby" and the tapes were filed away.

First we hear a part of the demo record, which was the template for Elvis and his band. Their first walkthrough sounds very tame and reserved. After a minute or so the king simply stops to sing. Take number two is nothing but the intro, the next attempt is canceled after the first few lines. The fourth attempt is a complete performance. It's not as rocking as the master and the harmony singers are arranged differently. Take 5 is also complete, this time the group tries to involve Ray Walker, the bass singer of The Jordanaires, a bit more. But it doesn't sound good. Now Elvis has to cough, the producer announces the take. After 1.5 minutes the engineer switches off the equipment. The 7th attempt is a complete performance again and already sounds very good. From now on it's all about the details. Take number 8 suffers the same fate as the 6th one, the engineer simply turns off the equipment. On the 9th attempt to record "I Need Your Love Tonight" the percussionist tries out a drum roll. Take 10 is another complete performance, now Ray Walker's bass voice is put a little bit more in the back. Because this is a mono recording, it means, that Ray had to move away from his microphone until the level was right. The next walkthrough is also announced as take 10, so RCA later labeled the previous one as "10a" and this one as "10b". But it's nothing but a false start anyway. The same applies to the following two attempts. Now Elvis and his band are back on track, the takes 13 to 15 are complete performances. The 16th try is canceled, because Elvis gets out of tune and has to laugh. The following attempt is also canceled, because the king hasn't regained his seriousness yet. Finally take number 18 is not just complete, but also regarded to be good enough for release.

After a few bars of the intro, the recording equipment is switched off. On the second take the guitarist makes a mistake and Elvis has to laugh. The third try works well. The performance sounds quite stiff, but at least it's a complete one. The king asks the engineer for a bit of echo, but then the intro doesn't work out. Take number 5 is a complete performance and sounds much more relaxed than take 3. The next attempt is canceld by the producer, the 7th try fails at the first few bars. With take number 8 we hear another complete performance. Now someone shouts "Here we go!", whereupon Elvis asks "Where?". The 9th take isn't just a complete one, but also the one, which would finally be selected for release.

The intro sounds a bit clumsy, but otherwise the fast song works astonishingly well. After 1.5 minutes or so Scotty Moore makes a mistake, whereupon Elvis intones "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling". The second walkthrough features a bit more guitar work, but after fourty seconds the engineer turns off the equipment. Because Elvis regards the sound a tad too sparse, take 3 also includes a larger guitar part. After 1.5 minutes the king has to laugh and cancels the take. When he says, that he likes the song a dirty laugh can be heared. Once again Elvis has to laugh, after that he has trouble to find into the song. With take number eight the group finally archives a complete performance of "I Got Stung". The next walkthrough isn't as successful, it ends after 30 seconds or so. Now Elvis and his crew have gotten the hang of it. Take 10 is a complete performance, as well as the following ones. On the 11th try the king sings with more zest, take 12 is enhanced with moanings. Number 13 isn't a lucky one, Elvis just sings "Holy smoke...shit". As the next one also fails, he claims "My brain is gettin' weaker". Take 14 is another complete performance, but on the 15th one the king gets out of step. Attempt number 16 features a new arrangement, because now a piano has been added. The next take is nothing more than studio talk and rehearsals of the first line. Take number 18 seems to work well, but right at the end Elvis gets lost in the lyrics. "Ready on the right, ready on the left, ready on the firing line!" says the king. The following take 20 also sounds very good, but now Elvis' voice cracks. The 21st try is canceld by the producer, because the band didn't play right. Take number 22 is a complete performance, the following attempt ends after a minute or so, because Elvis has to laugh. The 24th take is a satisfactory one and would be selected for release.