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.

One might say, that this first take is the opposite of the master. Neither does Elvis sing with as much pathos, nor is the track overloaded with choires, orchestras or anything else. It was first released in 1997 on the boxed set "Platinum - A Life In Music".

The producer announces take five of "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day", but Elvis jokingly intones "The Lord's Prayer". He's yelping like Sherrill Nielsen on speed, much to the amusement of the musicians. BMG issued this scene in the 1990s on the album "A Hundred Years From Now - Essential Elvis Volume 4".

The first take of "He Touched Me" was unreleased at the time, the second one was known from the "Platinum" box. The musicians and singers coordinate themselves, then the official recording begins. However, after 90 seconds or so Elvis goofs up and the take is canceled. The second one works just fine. The performance is a bit reluctant, but nice to hear.

After some fooling around with "Give The World A Smile" the king and his crew throw themselves in a rockin' version of "I've Got Confidence". It sounds quite raw and perfectly fits the "garage rock feeling" of the song. Therefore I like it better than the released performance. This first try saw the light of the day when FTD issued its "I Sing All Kinds - The Nashville 1971 Sessions" album.

Once again "Back In Nashville" offers something new. After a few bars Elvis' headphones cause a feedback and the take is canceled. It's just a short sequence, but nice to hear. The second take is a complete performance, which was first released on FTD's classic album edition of "He Touched Me".

The first two takes are known from an album called "Easter Special", which was issued by FTD in 2001. Take 4 had been released two years earlier on "The Elvis Presley Collection Volume 13: Album Treasures 1970-1976". The first take is canceled after a few bars, Elvis remarks "the drummer was right" and adds "I like the bass-thing". Take number two doesn't last much longer. Finally the 4th try is a complete performance. The drummer plays different to the master and the electric guitar also differs. It's great to hear this track, because it sounds somewhat like a spontaneous jam.

Before the official recording begins, Elvis sings "he goes my everything" (a mix of "There Goes My Everything" and its spiritual incarnation "He Is My Everything"). Apart from a few details, the third take of "A Thing Called Love" works very well. It was previously released on FTD's classic album edition of "He Touched Me".

Elvis and The Imperials fool around with "Listen To The Bells". The king also intones "Oh Happy Day". Take one is nothing but a messed-up piano intro. On the second take the band doesn't find into the song, when they finally do, Elvis wrecks it. Ironically the king once more sings "Oh Happy Day". Take number 9 is not just a complete performance, but also very close to the master. All these takes are known from the FTD edition of "He Touched Me".

The musicians rehearse certain parts of the song, the singers also practice their part. For a first walkthrough "He Is My Everything" works out well, but one has to consider that it's nothing of a remake of "There Goes My Everything", which the group had taped the previous year. The take was first released on the album "Easter Special".

The same release also included this track. Elvis cancels the first attempt, because he can hear an echo of his voice on his headphones. "Like another guy singin' with me" he explains. The second take works fine, the simple song doesn't appear to challenge anyone.

Elvis sings "weeeeeel", but continues with "...you'd better run" instead of "...you rock my soul". The next attempt to record the song falters after a few seconds. Jokingly a member of The Imperials blames the band by saying "You are the rhythm section, you are supposed to get it right. We're the singers". What follows, is a complete performance. It's not perfect, but already quite close to the master. The complete 3rd take was first released in 1997 on the boxed set "Platinum - A Life In Music". The false start was issued by FTD on the classic album edition of "He Touched Me".

Felton Jarvis doesn't announce the take, whereupon Charlie Hodge realizes that the producer is doing his nails. Amused Elvis says "Do that shit on your own time, Felton. Get a manicure tomorrow, hell". The performance of "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day" is complete, but flawed. It also includes the verse, in which the composer's children are mentioned. The track first appeared on the album "I Sing All Kinds".

The musicians coordinate themselves, Elvis intones "Merry Christmas Baby". Jokingly David Briggs joins in and plays the blues on a glockenspiel. The first take is nothing but a series of rehearsals. With the 6th take we get to hear a complete performance. It's more laid-back than the master, which I like very much. The performance isn't perfect yet, so the king and his crew would have to record some additional takes. The complete performance was released in 1994 on the album "If Every Day Was Like Christmas", the first take followed in 2011 on FTD's classic album edition of "Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas".

The same album also included this track. Elvis sounds less emotional here, I guess at this point he simply tried to get through the song. At times he gets lost in the lyrics and doesn't sing the correct words.

The band works out the intro, then the recording starts. Elvis misses his cue, so the intro lasts a tad longer than planned. In the middle of the song the king messes up the timing, so another take is unavoidable. Still I like this rendition very much. It's sung somewhat reticently and sounds more intimate and atmospheric than the master. Elvis also sings differently in places. The take was first released on FTD's "I Sing All Kinds - The Nashville 1971 Sessions".

Elvis wants Charlie to sing with him. After a few bars the first attempt is canceled and the king clarifies, that he wants to hear Mr. Hodge on his headphones, but not on the recording. A strange idea, which is also not presented in a polite way. After the technicians have adjusted the set up, the recording begins. The song doesn't seem to challenge anybody. When Felton Jarvis says "Let's do one more, reak quick" Elvis simply replies "Oh fuck!". It obviously wasn't his finest day. Back in 1992 BMG issued the track (of course without the somewhat awkward prelude and the negative epilogue) on the cassette-single "Silver Bells".

Ironically Elvis suggests to cut down the song from eight verses to six. He wants to leave out the verse with the names of the composer's children. It's a good decision, the tune works much better that way. The take was first released in 1997 on the boxed set "Platinum - A Life In Music".

The king rehearses the line "in the meadow we can build a snowman" and remarks "Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't". Refering to his Memphis Mafia he adds "Reverent Joe Esposito will speak a few words of inspiration". Take 7 of "Winter Wonderland" appears to work just fine, but then Elvis gets lost in the lyrics and calls it quits. He comments "I'm gettin' tired of this damn song". FTD released the take on their classic album edition of "Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas".

This track is known from the same album. Elvis messes up the timing and comes in too early with the word "sing". It was clear, that this take was unusable. Because the first walkthrough left nothing to be desired, the king approved it for postproduction and release.

The takes 1, 4 and 5 are nothing but false starts and jokes. Take 10 is a complete performance. It features more instruments than Elvis' original recording and also sounds more like blues. In contrast to the king I like this remake better than the master. The false starts have been released by FTD on their classic album edition of "Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas", the complete performance had stayed in the vaults until 2022.