Four decades after the original RCA release, Follow That Dream Records issued a special edition of "Easy Come, Easy Go". Of course there was no music streaming back in 2007, but even today Sony Music Entertainment's own collector's label hasn't managed to distribute their products in a modern way. The special edition includes one compact disc, housed in a 7" digi-pak and accompanied by a well designed and informative booklet. The audio was mastered by Lene Reidel, Vic Anesini and Sebastian Jeansson. Unfortunately the clean sound emphasizes on the limitations of the original recordings. The songs were taped at the vast soundstage of the movie studio, which made everything sound tinny and hissy.

In this review I am dealing with the material not released on the original extended player. If you want to know the details of RCA Victor's "Easy Come, Easy Go" and read about the songs, just tap HERE.

On September 29, 1966 Elvis recorded "She's A Machine" at the Paramount Scoring Stage in Hollywood/California for the movie "Easy Come, Easy Go". Take 13 was supposed to be used in the film, take 15 was planned to be released on the soundtrack. Because the king didn't like the song at all, it was decided to file it away. However, two years later Elvis changed his mind and approved the use of "She's A Machine" on the budget album "SINGER Presents Elvis Singing "Flaming Star" And Others".

The take is announced, the musicians can be heard rehearsing. But they are not in sync, so the attempt is canceled and Elvis comments "OK, one more chance at it". Take number 2 is stopped by the producer after the king had sung the fist line. He's caught off guard and askes "What happened?". It is explained, that there was a problem with the brass section. The third take finally is a complete performance, but neither the arrangement nor Elvis' vocals are fully developed. So there's still some work to do.

The first take is played at a much slower tempo, which causes the song to drag. The arrangement of the choir would also be changed. Elvis himself sounds quite insecure, too.

On the fifth take Elvis doesn't even start to sing, because there is a distortion on his headphones. The next attempt also doesn't live too long, because the king gets lost at the intro. The producer doesn't regard this mistake a separate take, so it's still take 6 and everybody starts all over again. But once again they don't get far, because Elvis misses the words. Take 7 is a complete performance, but the king needs several starts. The arrangement is different to the released version, but in general it works quite well.

By the tenth take everybody knows what to do. There are just a few minor details to be ironed out.

Elvis isn't satisfyed with the way he sang the first line and says "Hold on, one more". But now the band fails on the intro and the king improvises a little blues. Take 5 is also a false start, which causes Elvis to laugh. The eleventh take is a complete one, but Mr. Presley has a lump in the throat and the band doesn't get it right, too.

To the king the intro is too slow, so there's a little rehearsal. The second take works quite well, at the end the musicians fool around a bit and play the song in a jazzy style.

This version has a touch of blues, which I like very much.

At first Elvis fails on the intro, the second attempt also doesn't last long. Take 19 is a complete performance and works quite well.

The king makes a mistake on the first line and comments the process with "shit". Take 6 is a complete performance. It's played a tad slower, at one point Elvis stumbles upon the timing. Therefore he changes the lyrics at the end and sings "...or you're blown your cool".

After a minute or so Elvis looses his step and sings "She may be tall, she may be wide, she may be ducky". He gives the impression of being somewhat fretful. Take 14 is a complete performance, but here and there the king doesn't know how to emphasize the words. No matter if he likes the song or not, he has to do it all over again.

This was supposed to be the movie version, but in the end the song wasn't used and went stright to the vaults. The track was first released on BMG's "Elvis Double Features: Easy Come, Easy Go / Speedway" compilation in the 1990's.

Because the producer of the session announced two consecutive takes as "take 2", this one was later re-labeled "take 2b".

This song wasn't recorded live by Elvis and the band. The musicians produced a music track and the king added his voice later.

Elvis was supposed to sing a cover of Ray Charles' "Leave My Woman Alone" and a music track was recorded. Because it was decided not to use the song, Elvis never added his vocals.