In 2013 Follow That Dream Records released a collector's edition of "From Elvis In Memphis". As usual it was a set of two compact discs housed in a 7" digi-pak and accompanied by a booklet with background information, pictures, etc. Unfortunately it's also usual for FTD to stick to cds and vinyl. Therefore the special edition of "From Elvis In Memphis" is not available on the streaming platforms.

The content is split in the sections "Original Album", "First Takes", "January Outtakes", "February Outtakes" and "Undubbed Masters". The last category is somewhat strange, because a master is the final product. So an "undubbed master" is nothing but a master take. In this case even that is wrong, because we get to hear the tracks in several stages of the post-production. This means some elements have already been added and therefore the track is not undubbed. However, the mastering of the old magnetic tapes has been done by Sebastian Jeansson, who also joined Vic Anesini for the mixing of the outtakes.

I will only describe the tracks, that are not available on the original RCA Victor release. For a review of "From Elvis In Memphis" tap HERE.

Compared to the master Elvis sounds much calmer here, but still his voice cracks on "eye" and he laughs a little embarrassed. Jokingly he asks if he should continue from here and sings a bit of "A Little Less Conversation". On the tenth attempt the king still sounds hoarse and misses a few notes. The band also sounds insecure, in total the take gives the impression of a rehearsal. At the end Elvis says "hold it" and cancels the take.

Once again the king sounds hoarse and misses some notes. His timing is also off and in mid-song he even stops to sing because he lost track. Finally he comments the attempt with "Oh shit!".

Here Elvis' voice sounds much better, but he doesn't sound as moved as on the master take. Obviously the goal still is to get through the song and not to work out an emotional presentation. During the final part he includes an "oh shit" and his "battle cry" makes clear, that he likes the song a lot.

A false start causes some laughter, the second attempt breaks down after 1.5 minutes. Before the team begins with take number 2, Elvis sings a line of "Only The Lonely". The performance works well and doesn't give the impression of being an effort for anybody.

The first take breaks down because Elvis has to laugh after a few words. The next attempt is a false start, but the producer doesn't regard it a separate take. Finally the king and his crew manage to perform a complete version of "I'm Movin' On", but everything still sounds very rough.

The band rehearses the intro, then the recording starts officially. But Chips Moman doesn't like what he hears and asks the band to start again. Take 1 sounds much more subdued than the master, because everybody has to get used to the song. My favorite part is the long, somewhat improvised outro. At the end Mr. Moman says "Let's do one more, real quick".

This early take also sounds much tamer than the released version. At the end Elvis jokes around with the lyrics.

Elvis emphasizes the words very different to the master. It's obvious, that he has no idea how to sell the song yet. Vocally there is also a lot of room for improvement, because the king's voice cracks quite a few times.

The first take is nothing but a false start. The musicians coordinate themselves, then the second attempt is on its way. Elvis has some trouble with his timing and once again he can't control his voice properly.

The instrumentation is very sparse and Elvis sounds much more subdued than on the master. As a result "In The Ghetto" sounds much more intimate, like an unplugged-performance in a small theatre. But the performance is not perfect, because at one point Elvis gets out of step and acknowledges his mistake with a heartfelt curse. Take 2 is stopped by Chips Moman, because he doesn't like the piano arrangement. After he has instructed the pianist, Elvis and the band deliver a complete performance. It already sounds quite similar to the master, albeit without the overdubs. The fourth attempt is another complete one and it's obvious that it's heading into the right direction.

Elvis stops the seventh take after just three words. The next attempt doesn't live much longer, because to the king the piano is played too hard. With take 9 we already hear the groundwork of the master. Without the overdubs it sounds quite sparse and at one point Elvis has to laugh. That was one of the reasons why he had to re-record a part of his vocals.

Elvis voice cracks during the intro and he has to laugh. On the next take he doesn't continue to sing after the intro. Even though he finally joins the band, it's nothing more than a little rehearsal. The 14th attempt is complete again, but obviously there's still a lot of work to do.

The slower tempo and the missing overdubs turn the ballad into a somewhat demure affair. Elvis sings it well, but doesn't sound as emotional as on the master.

By now the tempo is the same as on the master take and Elvis, too, has found his interpretation. At the end we can hear the king say "yeah!" and Chips Moman comments "We're right on it now".

Elvis sings a line of "The Caissons Go Rolling Along". The 20th attempt of "In The Ghetto" sounds very much like the master take and easily could have been accepted for release.

The intro sounds vastly different to the released version, besides that the song is played at a faster tempo and Elvis sings in a more lightweight style. In total this version of "True Love Travels On A Gravel Road" sounds like radio-pop.

The musicians try out the new intro, then other parts of the song are rehearsed. Now the tempo is much too slow, which is criticized by Chips Moman. Elvis turns it into a joke and sings much too fast. Take 7 is a serious attempt again, even though the tempo still is very slow. The king obviously has trouble with the timing. At the end he fools around and answers the producer in a comic voice a' la Duffy Duck.

Take number 2 is nothing but a false start, Elvis doesn't even sing. The next try is a complete performance, even though the king is far away from his testosterone-mood of the master. Therefore this take features a nice, improvised and bluesy ending.

The producer mistakenly announces take 7. As a joke Elvis sings "Amen". His performance is quite powerful and reminiscent of the master take. Once again the musicians improvise a lot. It's a pity that Elvis never recorded a blues album.

The intro collapses after a few bars, so Elvis and his group have to start again. Chips Moman doesn't regard this a separate take and simply leaves the tape rolling. While the master sounds rough and emotional from A to Z, this take needs some time to get going. In total this attempt sounds too tame, besides that Elvis has to laugh in-between.

The intro doesn't sound as relaxed as it should and Elvis still has his troubles with the song. Because the problems are all too obvious the take is cancelled. Take 21 is nothing but two false starts, but the next attempt is a complete performance. However, the final product would take another seven takes, some vocal repairs and several overdubs.

Elvis is goofing around, then he starts the third take of "Any Day Now". His voice sounds very hoarse and he misses several notes. He also still has problems to emphasize the words. At the bridge ("I know I shouldn't want to keep you...") he finally gives up. Take 4 is complete, shortly before the end we can hear the king swear.

The master take was number 15, but not even twenty seconds of Elvis' performance were used. What FTD delivers here is the music track with the king's re-recorded vocals from January 21, 1969.

Once again the description is wrong, because we get the version including the vocal repairs (recorded on January 22nd) and the overdubed steel guitar.

Because Chips Moman wasn't too impressed with Elvis' performance, he deleted it and had him record his part all over again. And this is what we get to hear: The original performance of the band and the king's re-recorded vocals.

Before the count-in Elvis sings "and his momma cries". Once again we don't get to hear the undubbed master take, but the version with the king's re-recorded vocals.

The fifth take of this category finally is an unedited master take. In this case it's take 11, which later was shortened and enhanced with further instruments and voices.

Chips Moman announces take 6, but in fact it's take 7. It's again a real undubbed master take, in post-production horns and backup voices were added.

Here the producer didn't change all that much, the performance only was faded eight seconds before it actually ended. Here we get to hear the complete recording.

We hear the 29th take, which was selected as master take. But it's not undubbed, because we hear the version including the vocal repairs, that Elvis recorded on February 22, 1969.

This is a real undubbed master take. As a bonus we also hear the false start, which wasn't regarded a separate take by Chips Moman. It's not all that long, because Elvis stops after the second word.

Take 6 was selected as master take, but on February 22nd Elvis re-recorded the part from 1:27 to 2:27. We hear the version including the newly recorded minute.