Discs 3 and 4 feature the outtakes. The first of them is dedicated to the secular tracks, the other one is filled with outtakes of gospels and Xmas songs. To return to the introduction of this review, tap on the cover.

Take 8 is just a rehearsal. Elvis imitates an opera singer, starts his performance of "It's Only Love" in mid-song and doesn't know the lyrics. James Burton practices the main riff and the king tries to get the "...and I just can't get enough"-part right. The 9th attempt is a complete performance, albeit a flawed one. It was first released in 1996 on BMG's "A Hundred Years From Now - Essential Elvis Volume 4". The previous take is known from the classic album edition of "Elvis Now", issued by FTD in 2010.

Elvis can be heared laughing. The recording is delayed and the king suspects, that the musicians would even postpone Christ's resurrection because of a smoking break. When take 5 finally begins, Elvis doesn't hit the correct note and turns the line "I am not a wise man" into "I am not on key...pitch". The next attempt works better, but the timing still is a problem.

Because some tapes cannot be found, just the master take and the master of "We Can Make The Morning" are available. While the first disc of the set presented the track without the harmony singers, we now get the song as it was recorded back in 1971.

The king and his crew coordinate themselves and rehearse certain parts of the song. The first official attempt to record "I'm Leavin'" is anything but perfect. At times Elvis is not in sync with The Imperials and here and there the band doesn't really know how to play it. But it's a complex song and it's quite an archivement to produce a complete performance at the first try. The track is known from FTD's classic album edition of "Elvis Now".

On May 18th Elvis and his band performed a short version of the Chuck Berry Classic. Unfortunately Felton Jarvis caught just the last part of the jam on tape. The king jokingly includes an elvis ending (it's really called that way) and sings "Leon" to the melody of "The First Noel". For the not so bright listeners he explains, that "Leon" is "Noel" backwards. This sequence was released for the first time in 2007 on FTD's compilation album "I Sing All Kinds".

The first take is basically just the creation of the intro. It's followed by the 11th attempt to record the song and everyone knows what to do. At least almost everyone, because Elvis has trouble to get the timing right, he gets lost in the lyrics and even can be heared sniffing. Both takes are known from FTD's classic album edition of "Elvis".

This track was first released in 1995 on the boxed set "Walk A Mile In My Shoes - The Essential 70s Masters". On May 17, 1971 the king and his crew fooled around with The Beatles' "Lady Madonna". At the time the song was well known and the group turned it into some kind of country rock. It's a pity, that they didn't bother to get the lyrics and record it, because it sounds really good.

The band and the harmony singers know their parts, but Elvis messes up the timing several times and even misses his cue. At times his voice cracks, which is almost irrelevant due to his bad performance.

On May 18th Elvis intoned his mega seller "Are You Lonesome Tonight". Being a part of the king's live band, James Burton instantly joins in. But the whole thing doesn't last longer than 15 seconds or so. That might be the reason, the snippet stayed in the vaults until 2022.

The first two attempts to record "I Will Be True" were previously released in 2007 (I Sing All Kinds - The Nashville 1971 Sessions) and 2010 (classic album edition of "Elvis"). After two and a half minutes Elvis looses track and can be heared saying "sonofabitch". The second try works out well, but is faded at the end.

Elvis already was in mid-song when Felton Jarvis turned on the recording equipment. After the performance is over, Jarvis ensures his boss how great his rendition was and suggests another try. But instead of take 2 we get to hear the following one. Elvis cancels it after he couldn't remember the word "love" and sang "thing" instead. Both tracks are known from FTD's "I Sing All Kinds" album.

The king has trouble to find into the song, he also comments "It's not fast enough, fellas". Take 3 finally is a complete performance, albeit far from being a perfect one. In 1996 BMG released take 3 on their compilation album "The Great Country Songs", later FTD issued all three takes on their classic album edition of "Elvis Now".

The musicians and singers rehearse their parts, then the official recording is started. Because it's a first walkthrough, the performance is not all that great. Afterwards the harmony singers practice certain parts of the tune. Elvis himself doesn't appear to be too interested in rehearsing and intones "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" instead. Follow That Dream Records released the take on their classic album edition of "Elvis".

Here Elvis was trying out some things, like singing in a higher key, etc. It's great to hear him altering his performance and checking out if he could make it more interesting. BMG released the track in 2002 on their boxed set "Today, Tomorrow And Forever".

The first take was released on the classic album edition of "Elvis Now", the 11th attempt is known from the compilation "I Sing All Kinds - The Nashville 1971 Sessions". Take 1 sounds rather chaotic and is canceled by Elvis, because he can hear an echo of his singing on his headphones. He also asks for a kleenex. Of course take 11 works much better. It's interesting that the performance was changed so late in the session. Suddenly Jerry Carrigan uses brushes and therefore his drumming sounds vastly different to the official release.

Lost in thought Elvis sings a few lines of the Bob Dylan song, some musicians add a few subtle chords. It's just a short moment, but it sounds absolutely great. It's a pity, that the king didn't record "I Shall Be Released". The sequence is known from BMG's boxed set "Walk A Mile In My Shoes - The Essential 70s Masters".

Here we have another spontaneous rendition of a Dylan song. Elvis and his crew played around with it twice, this rendition here was caught on tape on May 17th and runs for 11 (!) minutes. It first appeared on FTD's classic album edition of "Elvis".

When Felton Jarvis started the recording equipment, the king and his crew already were in the middle of their rehearsal. The song is played very fast, the musicians yell in Hee-Haw-style and simply have fun. It's anything but a serious walkthrough, but it's entertaining for sure! The first official take sounds a bit rough, but is not too far away from the master. The tracks were first released by FTD on their compilation "I Sing All Kinds".

An indignant sounding Elvis wants to start the recording as fast as possible. Unfortunately he gets tangled up in the words and sings nothing but rubbish. Finally he realizes the problem and excuses himself by saying "Wrong words...I was singing Love Me Tender". The pianist is on his toes and plays a few bars of the tune. The second try works very well, the classic hymn is performed with a touch of blues. I like this take very much and prefer it to the master. However, Felton Jarvis thought differently and can be heared telling the guitarist to play less of that "funky stuff". Take 2 first appeared in 1995 on the boxed set "Walk A Mile In My Shoes - The Essential 70s Masters". The first take was released in 2011 by FTD on their classic album edition of "He Touched Me".