After having recorded "In The Ghetto" Elvis worked on his lead- and harmony parts of "Gentle On My Mind". He closed the session on January 20th with the taping of "Rubberneckin'", a song which later was used in the movie "Change Of Habit". The recording starts with laughs, a little bit of talk and a short rehearsal. Elvis recorded two takes of the funny, rhythmical song. The first one was released on "Suspicious Minds - The Memphis 1969 Anothology", take 2 was issued on FTD's own "From Elvis At American Sound Studio".

Originally Chips Moman had designated January 21st for re-recording lead vocals and adding his client's voice to previously produced music tracks. But Elvis spontaneously starts to sing The Beatles' hit "Hey Jude" and the pianist followes him along. The producer jumps on the chance and does a proper count-in. However, the result is quite chaotic. The king doesn't know the lyrics and simply sings the parts he remembers. At times he doesn't even do that, on other occasions he fools around. Take number 3 is not much more than a false start, during the 5th attempt Elvis is repeating several lines a tad too often and Chips kills the take after a minute or so. Number 6 is another false start, but the 7th take can be regarded to be a complete performance. Nevertheless Elvis partly stops singing and simply hums along. He's also missing a lot of notes. Afterwards Chips Moman and Felton Jarvis edited the chaos and even overdubbed instruments and voices. I am pretty sure, that they thought Elvis would re-record his part later, but it wasn't to be. Three years later he even approved a release on the album "Elvis Now", despite having much better performances on hand. The takes of "Hey Jude" we get to hear on this set were previously released on "Memphis Sessions" (takes 1 & 5) and "From Elvis At American Sound Studio" (takes 3, 5, 6 & 7).

After "Hey Jude" Elvis did the work he was supposed to do, but before he went home he wanted to record "From A Jack To A King", one of his father's favorite songs. This time we get to hear the complete session, but once again none of the recordings are new. The first three takes were issued on "Memphis Sessions", the others followed on the collector's edition of "Back In Memphis". On the first take Elvis fails to sing the word "from", whereupon somebody jokingly calls out for a "Playback". Take number two doesn't get any further, because the king spoofs the title of the tune and sings "From A Jack To A Gin". The third attempt is a complete performance, but it's loose as a goose and sounds more like a jam. Elvis fools around, fluffs the lyrics and messes up several notes. Take number four is two short false starts. The 5th attempt is another complete performance. At the end the king says "shit" (in his "Duffy Duck Voice"), but nevertheless decides to leave it as it is and go home.

The next day was scheduled for recording new songs, the first of them being the ballad "Without Love". Once again the complete session was previously released, take 1 is known from BMG's "Suspicious Minds - The Memphis 1969 Anthology", take 2 and 5 were issued on the collector's edition of "Back In Memphis" and the 3rd and 4th attempt were featured on "Memphis Sessions". In general the song doesn't challenge anyone, the first take would even be labeled as "alternate master". After the the first try Chips Moman calls out "Playback", to which Elvis amusedly replies "What?!" Take number 2 is a short false start, the next attempt is killed off after half a minute because the pianist plays too slow. The 4th take is another complete performance, albeit a tad reluctant. During the next try Elvis sings with a little more energy and delivers a perfect rendition.

This is a one take wonder. After two false starts Elvis and the band deliver a great performance, which was released on "From Elvis In Memphis" without any edits or overdubbs.

Strangely though Chips Moman regards the preparation and coordination to be the first take. The second take is a serious attempt to record "I'll Be There", but now the organ solo isn't good and so the producer kills it off. The 3rd try is a complete performance and would become the master take. After two more false starts there is another complete rendition, but it's not as good as take number 3. Obviously nobody wanted to work too hard on "I'll Be There" and so it was decided to go with that one. By the way, all recordings have been available previously on "From Elvis At American Sound Studio".

Once again we get to hear the complete session and once again each and every take is known. This time they were spread over several releases, namely the collector's edtion of "Back In Memphis" (takes 1-5), the sampler "Memphis Sessions" (take 6) and the boxed sets "From Memphis To Nashville - The Essential 60's Masters" (take 7) as well as "Platinum - A Life In Music" (take 8). The first try sounds a bit edgy, when Elvis finally stumbles upon the word "see" he quickly changes the lyrics and sings "...will I still see see fuck you rider". The second take is canceled by Chips Moman, because the tempo isn't right. Take number three also doesn't last for a minute. Elvis still has problems with the tempo of the song, the attempt to record it is killed off after he doesn't get the line "...will I still see suspicion in your eyes" right. During the next take the king fails at the same spot and is audibly annoyed. He rehearses the part before the next official take is started. It certainly pays off, because after two false starts a complete performance is archived. Elvis still doesn't know how to phrase certain parts of the song, but at least he didn't crash it. Take number seven is anything but perfect, but it's another complete rendition and an improvement. Jokingly the king sings "I'm saving the last take for me", using the melody of "Save The Last Dance For Me". He obviously feels challenged and throws in everything he has. The result is the master take of his forthcoming number one hit.