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Stranger In My Own Home-Town (take 1)

On February 17, 1969 the king and his crew started the session with a blues song. It was recorded in a single take, the unedited version is known from FTD's compilation "Memphis Sessions".

It's My Way / This Time / I Can't Stop Loving You (jam)

After "Stranger In My Own Home-Town" Elvis began to work on "True Love Travels On A Gravel Road" and recorded a false start as well as two complete performances. But then he once again got spontaneous and improvised a medley of "It's My Way", "This Time" and "I Can't Stop Loving You". The first songs are just intoned for a very short time, but "I Can't Stop Loving You" turns out to be a more or less complete rendition. It's loose as a goose and everyone is having fun. In the 1990s BMG surprised the fans with this gem by releasing it on the boxed set "From Memphis To Nashville - The Essential 60s Masters".

True Love Travels On A Gravel Road (takes 2, 4, 5-7 & 11)

Sony obviously doesn't want to puzzle the fans, so they decided to place "True Love Travels On A Gravel Road" after the jam, which originally took place in-between the recording process. The session starts with take number two, which was recorded previously. Elvis still has not idea how to phrase the words and also misses several notes. At the end he makes fun of himself by howling the melody. The 4th attempt, taped after the jam, works better but still leaves a lot of space for improvement. Between the takes the group obviously has worked on the arrangement, one of the changes relates to the intro. The take is killed off after Elvis stumbled upon the line "Love is a stranger, when hearts are in danger on smooth streets paved with gold". The glitch is followed by a rehearsal and a short false start. The following take is cancelled by Chips Moman, because the tempo is too slow. Elvis makes fun of the situation by singing the song much too fast and in hysteric voice. Take number 7 is a complete performance. Elvis is trying out several things, he still isn't sure how to phrase the lyrics. The session ends with some coordination and joking as well as take 11, which was used as the substructure of the master. None of these tracks are new, they previously appeared on "Today, Tomorrow And Forever" (take 2), "Suspicious Minds - The Memphis 1969 Anthology" (take 4), "From Elvis At American Sound Studio" (take 5), "Memphis Sessions" (takes 6/7) and the collector's edition of "From Elvis In Memphis" (take 11).

And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind (takes 1, 3, 5 ,6 & 6 with vocal overdub)

The next tracks are not unknown, too. The have been released on FTD's collector's edition of "Back In Memphis" and the compilation "Memphis Sessions". Take number 1 is nothing but a false start, the 3rd try is a complete performance. Elvis has trouble with the timing and  his voice cracks during the "Child, touch my soul"-part. Take 5 is interrupted by Chips Moman. The king, who is focused on his performance, acts hearably shocked when he suddenly hears the voice of his producer. The next take is also killed off by Mr. Moman, but he remarks, that he likes the rhythm. Finally take number 6 turns out to be a complete performance. Because the song was recorded as a favor to Neil Diamond, who had postponed his sessions at the studio for Elvis, the group doesn't want to spend too much time on the tune and calls it a day. On February 22nd the king re-recorded his vocals. The reworked take 6 is preceded by a false start. Elvis sings "Listen easy", but continues with "you can hear Chips calling" instead of "you can hear God calling".

Power Of My Love (takes 1-3, 6 & 7)

The group began the next day with "Power Of My Love". The tracks featured on this set were previously released on the collector's edition of "From Elvis In Memphis" (takes 1, 2 & 7). the boxed set "Platinum - A Life In Music" (take 3) and the compilation "Memphis Sessions" (take 6). Take 1 begins with a false start and Chips Moman calling for "One more!". So the next try is regarded to be the same take. It turns out to be a complete performance, afterwards the producer suggests "Let's do one more, real quick". Once again the group fails to play the intro, but now Chips considers the glitch to be a separate take. The third one isn't just another complete rendition, but also a very good one. At the end Elvis and the group jam a bit, which I like very much. Take number 6 also sounds good enough for release, but everyone is keen to improve the performance a bit further. The king intones "Walk Away" before he throws himself into another recording of "Power Of My Love". Surprisingly he manages to sound a tad more relaxed and his short laughter after the line "I know, baby, you can lick it" just adds to the coolness of his performance.

After Loving You (takes 2-4)

Sony cut the beginning of a rehearsal in front of take 2, so we can hear Elvis suggesting "I'm gonna play the piano". The performance itself is a complete one, albeit Elvis stumbles upon the line "your precious love..." and fools around at the end. Take number 3 starts with a false start and the king making monkey-sounds. However, afterwards he delivers another complete rendition of "After Loving You". It even might have been the master, if he hadn't laughed. With the 4th attempt a releasable version is caught on tape.

Do You Know Who I Am (takes 1, 3-5 & 7)

The session, as well as the fourth compact disc of the physical release, ends with "Do You Know Who I Am". The tracks are known from "Memphis Sessions" (take 1), "From Elvis At American Sound Studio" (takes 3 and 5), "Made In Memphis" (take 4) and the collector's edition of "Back In Memphis". The first try is a complete performance, but a very bad one. The timing is off and Elvis misses several notes. We hear some coordination and take number 3. Elvis sings a bit better, but he still doesn't really know what to do with the song. Now we get to hear a couple of false starts. The tempo and the timing cause some problems. When the king finally finds into the song, he manages to produce another complete performance. At the end he tries to sing bass. The 5th take is preceded by some more false starts. Slowly, but surely Elvis gets used to the song. But the chord change at the line "Do you think there's a chance..." doesn't work. Once again the king sings bass at the end of the song, but this time he spoofs his effort by singing very high, too. Take number 7 was considered good enough to be the master take, but because Elvis once again fails to sing the line "Do you think there's a chance..." he would re-record his vocals on February 22nd. We get to hear the version including the vocal repair plus the bass-finale, which was cut from the original release.

 

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