A year after the regular collector's edition of "G.I. Blues" Follow That Dream Records released "Cafe' Europa - G.I. Blues Volume 2". The set includes two compact discs and a booklet, housed in a 7" digipak. The cover is designed like an alternate version of the original RCA album sleeve. The second volume of "G.I. Blues" includes the unedited master takes, outtakes as well as bonus tracks. The mastering was done by Sebastian Jeansson, Vic Anesini mixed the tracks. The compilation is available on compact disc only, because FTD refuses to release their products on the streaming platforms.

To read a review of the original album tap HERE.

The take is announced, the musicians rehearse and Elvis clears his throat. The song doesn't challenge anybody, it was finished off with the second take.

Elvis invested some time on this beautiful ballad. We hear studio talk, laughter and rehearsals of the musicians. Of course the performance is the same like on the album.

In contrast to the previous songs "G.I. Blues" wasn't a continuous performance. Because Elvis didn't like the finale, he recorded an insert-take to replace the original part of the song. Bevor the recording is started, the king complains about the requirements of the union. He is fed up with pale theoreticians telling him how to do his work. After the 7th take Elvis tries to record the finale three times. The first attempt doesn't work at all, the second one is ok and the third just like the king wants it to be.

We hear studio talk and some try outs by the musicians. Take number 10 breaks down after 1.5 minutes because Elvis has to laugh. He promises to make it by the next take and it soon turns out that he is right. Take 11 is perfect and accepted for release.

The recording starts with studio talk, Elvis says "dankeschoen" (which means "thank you"). Take 17 collapses after a short while, but The Jordanaires continue with the line "ha, ha, ha, don't make me laugh", which of course has a touch of irony in this context. The 18th attempt fails after a few bars, the king asks "was? was? was?" (the German "was" means "what"). Take number 19 would be the groundwork for the master. Because Elvis wasn't satisfied with the finale, he produced three insert-takes.

Elvis and his crew just needed a single take to re-record "Blue Suede Shoes". The performance is very tame, almost a bit toothless.

We hear the count-in and the well known master take. After almost two years in Germany the foreign language doesn't cause any problems.

Because Elvis wasn't satisfied with the first version, he recorded "Shoppin' Around" a second time. After take 6 is announced by the producer we hear the king and his musicians discuss about the arrangement. Then the 7th take follows, which is -of course- the master.

Once again his first recording didn't meet the taste of the king and so he recorded the tune once more. The take is announced and perfectly executed.

While the take is announced Elvis sings "Ave Maria" in operatic voice. During the 9th walkthrough the king gets lost in the words and comments "Hell, let's go again before the train runs out of juce". That's what the crew does and that's what finally ended up on the album.

Elvis says something like "Ammm" which appears to sound German to the attendants. The well known master take follows. Because the king isn't pleased with the tempo of the finale, he produces two insert-takes to replace the part.

We hear the count-in and the master take. Because Elvis messes up the timing at one point, a repair is needed.

This is a part of the bug fix. The band starts shortly before the king made the mistake. On the second take the "doo-doo-doo-doo" part doesn't work and Elvis comments "I got hung up on a doo". The third attempt fails on the first few words, but take number 4 works well and the children's song can be repaired.

Take 6 is nothing but the intro, because Elvis doesn't start to sing. The next takes also doesn't last too long, the ninth attempt at least reaches the middle of the song. With the 10th take the king and his crew finally manage a complete performance. The arrangement is different to the master, besides that Elvis plays the rhythm guitar himself.

Elvis cancels take number 10 before the bridge because his chair squeaked. Facetiously he asks for some oil. The 11th attempt doesn't last long, but number 12 works well and is already close to the master. Here and there the timing and the accentuations are not perfect yet, but these are just minor glitches.

After the matrix number, which starts with "eo" was announced, Elvis sings "eo" to the melody of "IO". A few year later he would record the song himself, albeit with English lyrics and under the name of "Ask Me". The 6th take of "G.I. Blues" already sounds very good.

The musicians rehearse their parts, someone is talking. The recording is announced and the engineer asks everyone to be quiet. In general the performance of "Tonight Is So Right For Love" works well, but everything sounds a little hectic.

The king and his crew still perform the song with a food on the gas, but the vocal performance sounds more relaxed.

Because Ernst Jorgensen (the producer of this set) wanted to present a false start followed by a complete performance, he switched the order of the takes. The 6th attempt is nothing but the intro, the previous walkthrough number 5 is a complete performance. By the way: This is the fast version of the children's song.

After some fooling around the 14th walkthrough of "What's She Really Like" begins. It ends not too long afterwards, because Elvis has to laugh. The next attempt fails at the bridge and the king comments, that it's all nothing but a waste of tape. Take number 16 is almost complete, at the end Elvis gets out of step and cancels the recording attempt. The arrangement is different to the master. The rhythm is emphasized more, so the performance lacks flow.

Take 11 is nothing but the percussion-intro, take 13 at least adds some piano. The producer advises not to care if the intro doesn't work too well. I guess he thought about producing an insert-take with the intro afterwards. On the 14th attempt Elvis sings with too much zest, but at least it's a complete performance. In total the arrangement lacks softness and flow. I guess that's the reason why the king tried again later.

Nevertheless the album continues with more versions of "Pocketful Of Rainbows". We hear Elvis shuffling papers, than the official recording starts. But it's not running for too long, because Elvis cancels it after a few lines due to his dislike of the intro. The next take works well, at the end the king repeats the word "rainbows" over and over again for the fade-out. As a joke he sings the final "rainbows" in high voice.

Take 17 is also a complete one and doesn't differ much to take 16. At the end Elvis says, that he wants to record one final take and leave it that way. Before the recording is faded he once again tries to speak German.

Even though Elvis had claimed to leave the song after another take, he doesn't stop to busy himself with "Pocketful Of Rainbows". "NO - Take 18" is announced, which the king answers with "no take 18". In mid-song Elvis' voice cracks on the word "night". It causes some fun and the king admits "That was verrueckt" (translated "Das war crazy"). On the 19th take everything works well, at least until the second time the "night"-part turns up and Elvis' voice cracks again. He asks "Was?". Take 20 finally is a complete performance again.

The musicians coordinate themselves and the take is started. But Elvis is distracted and misses his cue. The next take also doesn't get old because the king's voice cracks on the second word. The producer responds with "OK, playback!". Now even the intro fails, on the next attempt Elvis voice does the same. Take number 25 is a complete performance, during the fade-out the king replaces the word "rainbows" with "snowjob". 

Take 26 is canceled after Elvis' voice fails on the word "mister". On the next take the same happens, this time even on the first word of the song. Elvis responds by singing "I tried so hard, so hard to please" (from "Doin' The Best I Can"). The producer notes, that they will probably set a record with so many takes. The king answers, that he taped 60 takes one time and the song never came out (of course it was not true). Finally everyone agrees to do one last take, which turns out to be a complete performance.

Because "Big Boots" is a lullaby, the movie and the album contained the slow version. But there also was a highspeed and a medium version of the song. The latter one can be heared here. In contrast to "Pocketful Of Rainbows" this one doesn't cause any trouble.

The first take is nothing but coordination between Elvis and the band as well as a piano based intro. Take 2 is a complete performance and has much more flow than the earlier attempt on this album. The first break doesn't work too well and the king has to restrain his laughter.

Elvis calls out "hut! hut!" and the take is under way. But not for long, it breaks down after just a few seconds. Take number 4 is even shorter, it's nothing but the intro. Finally take 5 works well and already sounds close to the master.

The take is announced, Elvis clears his throat. The new arrangement is slower and sounds more romantic. The producer kills the take, because of a mistake by the musicians. The king and the band coordinate themselves, than we get to hear take 3. In general the performance is close to the master, albeit theres a major timing mistake at the end.

After some studio talk we hear an absurd fast version of "Frankfort Special". Elvis soon gets out of step, one of the musicians comments "Ach! Ach!". On the 10th take the king misses his cue, the next attempt lasts exactly one line. Take 12 also doesn't get old, because Elvis has to laugh. He comments, that it will never work out. FTD uses this discernment to switch to the normal paced version. Take 1 is nothing but the first line, the second try is chaotic. The coordination of the band leaves a lot to be desired and The Jordanaires are out of sync. On the third take Elvis sings certain parts in a higher key, but he soon realizes that it doesn't work and cancels the walkthrough. Attempt number 4 comes to an early end because the king has troubles with the melody. Take 5 works much better and gives a much more coordinated impression.

The second take is just the guitar-intro. Take 3 ends at the bridge, where Elvis gets out of step and comments (regarding the higher tempo) "That kind of shocked me". Once again the guitarist fails on the intro, but this time the producer doesn't regard it a separate take. But the second try doesn't get old, too, because Elvis has to laugh. Take number 5 is a complete performance, even though the king has problems with the timing and the emphasis of certain words.

Even though Elvis still sings somewhat reticent, the 6th take works better than the previous one.

In allusion to the union the king claims, it's time for a break of ten minutes. Take 7 is canceled after just a few seconds, because the tempo is too high. The next attempt is a complete performance, but the finale still is sung too soft.

Elvis clears his throat again, but the take soon collapses. Take 12 is a good performance, but not as good as the previous one, which the king later would select for release.

The king sings a line of "Loving You" and comments "That was back in the old days". Take 14 fails on the intro, the next attempt is a complete performance, but the finale doesnt work at all.

On take 16 Elvis gets lost in the lyrics and cancels the attempt. The next try is not just a complete performance, but also as good as the master take.

Someone (maybe Ray Walker?) says "Just hum it..fake it..ad-lib it". The first take is just the first line, the second one is canceled before the bridge. Now sombody imitates a cat, which causes laughter. Elvis can't get over the joke and has to laugh again after singing "They call your daddy Big Boots". Take 5 is canceled by the producer, because the song is played in the wrong key. Attempt number 6 falters shortly before the end of the song. This time it's decided to produce an insert-take and just fix the finale.

We get to hear the instrumental piece, that causes the king's performance in the movie. The "Vienna Woods Rock'n'Roll" is based on Johann Strauss' "G'schichten Aus Dem Wienderwald" and was supposed to add some Teutonic flair to the movie.

In the movie this instrumental is played from a record on an old gramophone as musical background of a puppet show. Of course the phonograph breaks and offers Elvis another opportunity to sing (with the music appearing out of nowhere). For the record Paramount created a label called "Gramafunken". This was a fantasy name based on the word "gramophone" and the German company name "Telefunken". Back in 1960 the brand was known worldwide for consumer electronics and military electronics.

Another instrumental, this time just used in the background.

The album closes with the 14th take of "Shoppin' Around", which only existed on an acetate record. For "Cafe' Europa - G.I. Blues Volume 2" the recording from the old vinyl disc was digitized and remastered. Here the song is played much faster than on the released version. It's not a bad performance, but not as good as the one that finally made it on the record.