Back in 2003 Follow That Dream Records released a collector's edition of the "Harum Scarum" album, which also featured a few outtakes. In June 2025 the label finally issued the complete sessions - freshly mastered and mixed! The latter things are a real plus since the original masters sound dull, compressed and lifeless. On top the king's voice is too much in the fore. Sebastian Jeansson and Vic Anesini solved all these problems, gave the instruments and voices room to breathe and brought everything into balance. So RCA and their successors needed "just" sixty years to do it right. Wow! However, for the masochists the boxed set also offers the original MGM mixes. Of course we also get to hear all available outtakes, thankfully mixed and mastered by Jeansson/Anesini and therefore sounding just great. As expected Sony's collector's label didn't bother to put "The HARUM SCARUM Sessions" on the streaming platforms and stuck to the almost deserted compact disc format.

The physical box includes three of the plastic parts, housed in a digi-pak that is designed like an old tape box. Of course there's also a booklet with lots of background information, photos and much more. The liner notes are well written and there's much to discover, even for long-time admirers of the king.

Before diving into the content of "The HARUM SCARUM Sessions", I'd like to bring your attention to the reviews of the original RCA album as well as FTD's collector's edition. I'd also like to point out, that the master of "Shake That Tamourine" on this boxed set isn't the original master. It becomes apparent at 1:14 when Elvis sings "bells on their fingers, bells on their toes" instead of "rings on their fingers". This mistake was made during take 41, which is not part of the original master.

For the reviews of the tracks and sessions tap here:

Masters    February 24, 1965    February 25, 1965    February 26, 1965    March 9, 1965 (vocal overdubs)