The reason why Follow That Dream Records waited 14 years before they gave "Roustabout" a collector's edition is simple: Lack of material. The original magnetic tapes seem to be lost, just a reel with outtakes of the title song are available. And so FTD filled the disc with the tracks of the original album, serveral remixes and movie versions as well as the original title song "I'm A Roustabout". As usual the disc is housed in a 7" digipack and accompanied by a booklet with photos, background information and much more. The mastering was done by Sebastian Jeansson, who remixed the tracks with Vic Anesini. Because Follow That Dream Records sticks to physical formats, the album cannot be found on the streaming platforms.

In this review I will only deal with the tracks, that are not available on the original album. For a review of the "Roustabout" longplayer just tap HERE.

Here we have the original title song, which was rejected by Hall Wallis. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott and recorded by Elvis on March 3, 1964 within ten takes. For several decades the recording was believed to be lost, some even doubted that the king had recorded "I'm A Roustabout" at all. When Mr. Scott was made aware of the fact, he remembered his vinyl acetate and gave it to Sony Music Entertainment. The company released the track for the first time in 2003 on a compilation album named "2nd To None". 

The producer announces the take, then the official recording is started. We hear the track in a new audio mix and without any fading.

Paramount used a part of the 21st attempt for the movie master of "Little Egypt". At the end of the take Elvis fools around a bit. When this collector's edition of "Roustabout" was released, the fans already knew the track from FTD's compilation album "Out In Hollywood".

The remix emphasizes the banjo a bit more. We also hear the announcement of the take.

This also precedes the record master of "Hard Knocks". To give the track a more rockin' sound, Vic Anesini put the drums a bit to the fore.

Paramount ordered Elvis to record another vocal track to the music of the 4th take. Here and there he doesn't sound as smooth as on the record master.

Someone says "my fault" and Elvis answers "You are entitled to one". The laconic reaction is "My first one in 18 years". The dialogue is followed by the master take of "It's A Wonderful World".

Because Paramount wanted to use the music of "It's A Wonderful World" in the background of a scene, the band recorded the song without Elvis.

After the announcement by the producer we hear the record version of "Big Love Big Heartache". The remix offers more details and brings the piano a bit to the fore.

Once again we hear the take announcement as a bonus.

Elvis sings to a playback track. The band needed two takes, the king's vocals are taken from the 9th attempt.

For some reason Paramount selected Elvis' 12th walkthrough. The music track is the same.

The producer announces the take, then we hear the well known version of "Carny Town". The remix emphasizes on the drums and The Jordanaires' harmony vocals. Besides that the recording isn't faded. At the end Elvis sings in a bluesy way.

The harmony voices have been brought to the fore, which produces a fuller sound. Therefore I like this remix better than the original mix.

To create a more rockin' sound, Vic Anesini emphasized on the drums and the saxophone.

The first try works astonishingly well, but after 30 seconds Elvis looses track and cancels the take. The second walkthrough runs a bit longer, this time the king gets to the second verse. Take 3 is killed after Elvis stumbles upon the lyrics. He has to laugh about himself, which is quite rare for this session. In general he acted very business-like. The 4th and 5th attempts are lasting just a few seconds each. Finally the group manages a complete performance. It's far from perfect, but at least the whole song is played. At the end Elvis fools around with the lyrics and sings "I'll be a ravin' maniac" instead of "I'll be a rovin' roustabout". This take was first released in the early 1990s on a boxed set named "Collector's Gold". Compared to this old release the audio quality was improved a lot.

Take number 7 lasts just a few seconds. The next attempt is a complete performance again. Elvis still doesn't get the timing right, at the end he repeats his "maniac" joke. The fans knew this track from the boxed set "Today, Tomorrow And Forever", which was released in 2002.

By now the king has figured out how to perform the song. Paramount used this take for the credits of the movie.

Elvis stumbles upon the line "...and a fast goodbye" and cancels the take. At the next attempt he also looses track and has to laugh. Take number 12 is a complete performance.

Another complete performance.

Elvis misses his cue and has to laugh. The next attempt fails, because the king still has to laugh. Take 16 is a complete performance, once again Elvis repeats the "ravin' maniac" joke.

The collector's edition of "Roustabout" ends with the well known master of the title song.