In 2008 Follow That Dream Records gave "Elvis Country - I'm 10,000 Years Old" a collector's edition. The 7" digipak holds two compact discs and a booklet with background information, photos, etc. The album is devided into no less than nine chapters. We get "The Original Album", "Bonus Songs", "The Country Jam", "Alternate Masters", "First Takes", "The Undubbed June 7 Masters", "June Outtakes", "September Outtakes" and "Bonus Cuts - Undubbed Rough Mixes". The term "undubbed master" is an invention of FTD, because a master is the finalized product. Everything else is a master take or a master take in some stage of postproduction. The rough mixes are also master takes. During or shortly after the sessions Felton Jarvis created provisional mixes, to present the first results of the sessions to the decision makers.

The tracks of the original album were mastered by Vic Anesini. So FTD used the same material, that later appeared on the boxed set "The Complete Elvis Presley Masters". All the other tracks were mastered by Lene Reidel.

As usual I won't deal with the content of the original album and the bonus songs, that can be found on other RCA releases (in this case it's "I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago" and "Where Did They Go, Lord"). For a review of "Elvis Country - I'm 10,000 Years Old" tap HERE.

On June 4th Elvis and his crew ended the session with a few country songs. The first of them was "Faded Love". It sounds much more like country than the released version. The king finally quits the performance, because he doesn't know the lyrics and wants Lamar Fike to organize them. He finally says "While we're waiting, let's do The Fool".

That's what happens. The song is obviously known, because nobody makes major mistakes. The only real difference to the following take (which would be the master) is, that the first attempt sounds more tame.

The first take is pure fun. Elvis fools around with the lyrics and sings "...my heard will have forgot, that we ever mod" or "...that's all in the past, you can kiss my ass". Finally the king comments the failed finale by saying "There goes my fuckin' career". The second attempt sounds more coordinated, but still it's very obvious, that everyone has fun.

The first take of this country classic is loose as a goose and a joy to hear.

Elvis discusses the intro with the band and sings his idea to them. James Burton imitates what he just heared with his guitar. Take 3 sounds tamer than the released version (take 5), but certainly has its own charme. Unfortunately Elvis sings "...but she done you, like you done me" and therefore changes the meaning of the line.

At first Elvis approved take 3 for release, but in the end he revoked his decision and went for the first attempt. I also prefer the more natural, less polished performance.

The first try sounds somewhat uncoordinated. Elvis gets lost in the lyrics (which he comments with "damnit") and gives instructions to the band. At some point the king cancels the performance and says "I tell you what...".

We hear studio talk and rehearsals. By now the performance gives a more thought out impression, but still Elvis has troubles with the lyrics, the emphasizing of the words and to hit the notes.

While Elvis and the band tried out the song, Felton Jarvis checked the recording equipment and taped a part of the rehearsal. The first official take of "Snowbird" sounds comparatively reserved, but the song doesn't appear to be a challenge to anyone.

The king misses several notes and doesn't know how to phrase each and everything yet. The band does much better, but their performance lacks drive.

This is the released version minus the strings, horns and harmony voices.

Elvis recorded three takes of "Faded Love", two of them are complete performances. Take number 3 was presented before, so we now get to hear the first one, which was selected for release. As usual FTD wants us to hear a false start, followed by a complete performance. And so they switched the order of the takes and start with the second one. In contrast to the released version we get to hear the complete performance, of course the strings and horns are missing.

Because Elvis wasn't satisfied with the finale, he recorded the last part of the song separately. The undubbed master take is a splice of take 13 and workpart-take 1. However, FTD presents the 13th attempt as an "undubbed master". Take number 12 is canceled after Elvis' voice cracked on the word "tomorrow".

The master take is a splice of take 3 and workpart-take 1, which was a re-recording of the song's finale. Because Felton Jarvis overdubbed these takes separately, RCA got it wrong and released take 3 on the compilation "Welcome To My World". Therefore the 3rd take could be called an "alternate master". The recordings starts with studio talk and rehearsals. The ballad is played a tad slower, here and there Elvis sounds a bit hoarse. The first take is canceled after the king wants to continue the performance, while James Burton plays the finale. Elvis comments "One more verse, James". Take 3 is the version we know from the "Welcome To My World" album, minus the strings and harmony voices.

The studio recording was labeled as "remake", because the live recording from August 25, 1969 (dinner show) had been filed as the master. In fact, this performance stayed in the vaults until it was released on the boxed set "Collector's Gold" in the early 1990s. In the studio Elvis just recorded this very take.

The king taped just a single take of this one, too. It's somewhat puzzling, that FTD fades the recording instead of presenting the complete performance.

To warm up for the session Elvis and his band jamed a bit.

Before the official take starts, the finale is rehearsed. Take 3 sounds very different to the master, finally Elvis quits it by saying "I'm doin' this whole goddamn thing wrong". Because of the similarity of the intros the king jokingly sings "Running Scared" instead of "Tomorrow Never Comes". The following performance is a complete one, but something is still missing.

Elvis says "I don't have to be strictly country", which means, that he also wants the performance to include elements of popmusic. Obviously everybody knows the song, because the first attempt works astonishingly well.

Felton Jarvis taped a part of the band's warmup jam.

To present false starts followed by a complete performance, FTD has switched the order of the takes. The 4th attempt is canceld because the intro doesn't work, the next try is a complete disaster. Take 2 works as well as the first one, which was presented earlier.

After two words take 2 is history. The third attempt works well. It's not perfect yet, but Elvis and his crew are on the right track.

Felton Jarvis added horns to the performance, which Elvis didn't like. So the version on the album doesn't include these overdubs, but here FTD presents the version that was originally intended for release. The king appears to be short-tempered and explains, that he needs to return to Los Angeles soon. He also speaks unusually fast. At the time his behavior raised some questions, whereupon Priscilla told the group, that these things were side-effects of the medication her husband was taking. Obviously Elvis' chemical crutches became a problem as early as 1970. The coordination between the king and his musicians were regarded to be take 1 (which FTD doesn't state on the cover), then we get to hear take 2 including the overdubbed horns.

Elvis recorded just one take of "When I'm Over You", FTD presents the complete take without fading. At the end Felton Jarvis says "That's good", which I find a bit strange. The king missed several notes and more takes were obviously needed. However, Jarvis tried to save the performance with overdubs and Presley approved the release on the album "Love Letters From Elvis".

Take 11 was selected for postproduction, here we get to hear it in its complete, undubbed form. The master was released in late 1970 on the album "That's The Way It Is".

The 5th take of the re-make was overdubbed and released on "Love Letters From Elvis". Without the sweetening the vocal glitches of the king are obvious, he's far away from the greatness of his original recording.