The first disc is filled with the master takes of the tracks Elvis recorded at SUN Records in 1954 and 1955. As a bonus it also includes the four songs, which the future rock'n'roll king cut on his own expense at the Memphis Recording Service, a subsidiary of the label. Of course not each and every song is a classic and most of the ballads reveal the young singer's lack of vocal experience and technique. But he was damn good at the uptempo and midtempo stuff and performed some of the songs in unique, groundbreaking style. Tracks like "That's All Right", "Good Rockin' Tonight" or "Mystery Train" revolutionized the popular music.

As written before, all these songs were recorded in mono. So the instruments and voices were caught on a single music track and therefore nothing can be remixed. However, all performances were remastered by Sebastian Jeansson. I am pretty sure, these are the same versions FTD used on their "Boy From Tupelo" set. Because these versions sound as good as they can, it's quite understandable that Sony didn't saw any need to master the recordings again.

The song was written and first recorded in 1946 by Arthur Crudup. Elvis, Scotty and Bill played "That's All Right" faster and did without the blues elements. They focused on the rhythm and the voice of the lead vocalist. The group taped the track on July 5, 1954 at SUN Records in Memphis/Tennessee. Sam Phillips, the owner of the studio, acted as producer and engineer. Elvis and Scotty played guitar, Bill Black was on bass. The first two attempts to record "That's All Right" were canceled, takes number 3 and 4 are complete performances. The 4th take was released.

On July 7, 1954 the group returned to SUN Records to produce a b-side. They selected "Blue Moon Of Kentucky", a song by Bill Monroe, who recorded it in 1946. In general they used the same procedure. The song was played faster and performed in the newly developed Presley style.

The song was written by Mack David for the Disney production "Cinderella", but finally wasn't used. It was first recorded in 1949 by Tony Martin, later "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine" was covered by Tony's namesake Dean and Patti Page. Because Sam Phillips regarded the song to be too short for a single, his assistant Marion Keisker wrote an additional verse ("It don't matter if it's sleed or snow...."), which Elvis included in his performance. He did so on September 10, 1954 and needed three takes.

The singer asks a girl out for dancing, but the subtext clarifies, that dancing isn't the only thing he wants to do with the lady. "Good Rockin' Tonight" was written by Roy Brown, who also recorded it in 1947. Elvis followed him on September 10, 1954 at SUN Records in Memphis/Tennessee.

Originally the song was named "Milkcow Blues" and was written and recorded by Kokomo Arnold in 1939. Elvis, Scotty and Bill played the song faster and used the by now established style of the Hillbilly Cat. To make it short: I don't like the tune at all.

Even though the narrator offers a quite negative oppinion of his  ex-girlfriend, the melody is happy. The song by Jack Sallee is a tad on the leightweight side, but the tune stays with you.

The song was written by Arthur Gunther, who released it in 1954. Elvis followed him sometime between January 30, 1955 and February 4, 1955. He recorded two takes of "Baby Let's Play House", the first one was selected as master. In contrast to Gunther the king started his performance with the chorus and changed the line "...you may give religion, baby" to "...you may have a pink Cadillac". He alluded to his choice of transportation, which today is regarded to be an icon of the 1950's. Back then the paraphrase "to play house" meant to play familylife by children. But the teenagers used the phrase to describe a well-defined part of the family life: The production process of children. So it's quite obvious what the singer means, when he invites his lady to "play house". For me, this bold song is nothing but great. 

Sam Kesler brought "You're Right, I'm Left, She's Gone" to Sam Phillips, who thought the track might be the perfect vehicle for his new star. Elvis, Scotty and Bill first tried to record the song in 1954, but the result wasn't all that satisfactory. In April 1955 the group made a second attempt, this time accompanied by the drummer Jimmie Lott. They were successful and the 6th take was considered to be worth a release. Unfortunately Sam Phillips messed up the title when he created the labels for the single and turned "You're Right, I'm Left, She's Gone" into "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone". Instead of correcting the name on further releases it was left that way.

The song was written by Stan Kesler and Charlie Feathers, who also recorded it for SUN, but the track remained unreleased at the time. "I Forgot To Remember To Forget" was a part of Elvis' stage repertoire and he had sung it several times on the radio show "The Louisiana Hayride". He finally recorded it on July 21, 1955 and added the drummer Johnny Bernero to his group.

"Mystery Train" was first recorded in 1953 by Hank "Little Junior" Parker, who had also written the song together with Sam Phillips. The lyrics are simple, the loved one departs by train and the singer hopes, she will return and stay with him. The fascinating thing is the sound. It's almost unbelievable, that the music was produced just with two guitars and a bass. Elvis' voice also sounds great, including his howling and laughing at the end of the song. The recording was made on July 21, 1955 at SUN Records in Memphis/Tennessee.

In 1949 composer and singer Leon Payne scored a top5-hit on the "Country & Western Charts" with his song and Elvis also couldn't resist to record it on July 5, 1954 at SUN Records in Memphis/Tennessee. Because Sam Phillips, producer of the session and owner of the label, preferred up tempo songs the tapes were left in the vaults. Steve Sholes used the 3rd and 5th take to create a master.

In the song his girlfriend regards herself something better, so the singer decides to leave her. In the 1970s Elvis would have presented such a story in form of a mourning country ballad, but here he doesn't even appear to be sad. Elvis' version was recorded on September 10, 1954 at SUN Records.

"Trying To Get To You" was written by Rose Marie McCoy and Charles Singleton and released in 1954 by The Eagles. In January or February 1955 Elvis tryed to record his own version at SUN Records, but Sam Phillips wasn't convinced by the results. On July 21st the Hillbilly Cat tried again and the master was selected for the a-side of a single. When RCA Victor bought the contract the plan was burried.

 The ballad was penned by Jimmy Wakely, Elvis recorded it in September 1954 at SUN Records in Memphis/Tennessee. He sings very emotional and the echo effect creates a great atmosphere, but somehow the song doesn't work for me. Maybe it's Elvis voice, maybe the lack of technique. I don't know.

In 1933 Richard Rogers and Lorenz Heart wrote a song called "Prayer (Oh Lord, Make Me A Moviestar)" for a movie named "Hollywood Party". When it was decided not to use it, the duo turned it into "It's Just That Kind Of Play" and tried to get it into the film "Manhattan Melodrama". It was rejected, but another re-write (this time named "The Bad In Every Man") finally made it into the movie. Now it was released, but unfortunately not successful by any means. And so Lorenz Heart wrote a fourth version by the name of "Blue Moon". It was recorded by Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra and later covered by many other artists. One of them was Elvis Presley, who taped his version on August 15 and 19, 1954 at SUN Records. Take 9 was selected as the master. In general I'm not a fan of the king's early ballads, because he lacked the voice, the depth and the technique to perform them in a believable way. However, "Blue Moon" is one of the big exceptions, because he manages to convince me of his sadness and loneliness and the sparse arrangement is nothing but great.

On July 5, 1954 Elvis recorded eight takes of Habor Lights at SUN Records. Sam Phillips selected the 3rd attempt for release, but in the end he left the song in the vaults. RCA also saw no potential in the track and kept it where it was. "Habor Lights" was written by J. Kennedy and H. Williams, it was first recorded on January 29, 1937 by The Roy Fox Orchestra and their vocalist Barrie Gray.

During the recording process Elvis, Scotty and Bill experimented with the song. One of their ideas was to play it slow.

Elvis had recorded eight takes of "When It Rains It Really Pours" at SUN Records in Memphis/Tennessee in November 1955 and selected the fifth attempt for release. Because the singer moved to RCA Victor a few weeks later the track stayed in the vaults. In February 1957 Elvis recorded another eight takes of "When It Rains It Really Pours", this time at Radio Recorders in Hollywood/California. Once again the recording was filed away. The original version is by SUN Records' Billy "The Kid" Emerson, who recorded it in 1954 as "When It Rains, It Pours". To make a long story short: It's a great track!

The song is from the musical "Nights", which premiered in 1939. Elvis recorded "Tomorrow Night" on September 10, 1954 at SUN Records in Memphis/Tennessee. It stayed in the vaults until it was overdubed in 1965 and released on the album "Elvis For Everyone!". Of course this set features the undoctored recording.

The song was written in 1933 by Borney Bergantine, albeit with different lyrics. In 1948 Betty Peterson Blasco wrote new words to the melody and John and Sondra Steele scored a top2 hit with it. Elvis recorded it on July 18, 1953 for a self-paid record. He told the secretary of the Memphis Recording Service, that it was a birthday gift for his mother, but in fact he wanted to become a professional singer and hoped to get the attention of Sam Phillips, the owner of the company as well as SUN Records.

This was the b-side of the acetate recording. "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" was written by Fred Fisher, William Raskin and Billy Hill. It was recorded for the first time in 1937 by Shep Fields & His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra, three years later it was covered by The Ink Spots.

Because the plan didn't work out, Elvis returned to the Memphis Recording Service on January 4, 1954 and cut another two songs. The first one was a ballad by Hy Heath called "I'll Never Stand In Your Way".

The b-side was another slow ballad, this time one penned by Fred Rose.

On June 4, 1970 the band warms up and plays around with Junior Parker's "Mystery Train". This sequence is known from FTD's "The Nashville Marathon", released in 2002.

After "Mystery Train" the band played another jam, this time a medley of "Mystery Train" and "Tiger Man". But because Ernst Jorgensen wanted to start every disc with a jam, the second one is featured on compact disc number 3. So we jump to "Twenty Days And Twenty Nights". The 9th and final take was selected for post-production. The undoctored version was first released in 2008 on FTD's classic album edition of "That's The Way It Is".

Take number seven was chosen as master take. This set offers the complete take without overdubbs (the released version was shortened), which had stayed in the vaults since 1970.

Basically this is a jam, which was edited for release. Here we get the complete recording, which is known from the boxed set "Walk A Mile In My Shoes - The Essential 70s Masters" (1995).

The complete master take (it was Elvis' 11th attempt to record the song) was previously unreleased, so we get to hear something new.

After "The Sound Of Your Cry" the king and his crew tried to tape "Faded Love", but they moved on because the lyrics were not available. This sequence is offered to us on the 4th disc of this set. The selection of master takes continues with "The Fool", which Elvis recorded in just two takes. Once again "From Elvis In Nashville" is the first Sony release to feature the complete, undubbed master take.

This jam is known from the boxed set "Walk A Mile In My Shoes - The Essential 70s Masters" (1995) and the classic album edition of "Elvis Country - I'm 10,000 Years Old" (2008).

Even though this one sounds like a jam, Elvis recorded two takes of the classic and had the second one enhanced with a country fiddle and a banjo. "From Elvis In Nashville" features the undubbed recording, which wasn't available from Sony before. 

Elvis ended the session with three takes of "Cindy, Cindy".  The pure master take was released for the first time in 2008 on the classic album edition of "Love Letters From Elvis".

The first song the king recorded on June 5, 1970 was "Bridge Over Troubled Water", the recent hit of Simon & Garfunkel. Elvis taped eight takes, on June 9th further instruments were added, on June 22nd Felton Jarvis recorded harmony vocals. The following day the king decided to re-record his part and also added harmony vocals for the 3rd verse. On June 30th and October 1st additional instruments and voices were added. The remix offers the music of the master take, as taped on June 5, 1970. But instead of Elvis' original vocals it uses the re-recording from June 23rd. The result sounds absolutely stunning!

According to RCA's numbering we should get to hear the medley of "Got My Mojo Working" and "Keep Your Hands Off Of It". Back in 1970 it was labeled "ZPA1601" while "How The Web Was Woven" was labeld "ZPA1602". However, "From Elvis In Nashville" continues with take 3 of the last mentioned song. It first was released on the compact disc, FTD included in their book "Taking Care Of Business In A Flash" (2016). Now we get a remix, which also features some additional studio talk.

This one is a jam, but Felton Jarvis realized its potential and quickly started the recording equipment. Before the medley could be released, several elements had to be removed and instruments and harmony vocals had to be added. Here we get the jam as it was recorded in the studio. It was released for the first time in 2008 on the classic album edition of "Love Letters From Elvis".

Elvis needed five takes to record this song, the final attempt was shortened and enhanced for release. This set offers the complete and undubbed master take, which had stayed in the vaults ever since 1970.

The same applies to this track, it's another premiere. Here Elvis tried nine times.

The undubbed master take of "I'll Never Know" was also unreleased. By the way: It was the king's 7th attempt.

The unedited and undubbed take 5 had also been in the vaults for half a century before it finally was released on this boxed set.

On June 6th Elvis and his band also started the session with a jam, but Ernst Jorgensen decided to put it on the 4th disc of this set. The first regular song of the day was the country ballad "It Ain't No Big Thing". Take number 9 became the master, the undoctored version was released here for the first time.

The same applies here. Even though "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" appears to be more difficult to sing than "It Ain't No Big Thing", Elvis needed just a third of the attempts to get it right.

The country ballad was also recorded within three takes and the unedited master take was also released here for the very first time.

Elvis needed 11 attempts to record "This Is Our Dance". The master take was first released in 2008 on the classic album edition of "Love Letters From Elvis".

At this point the king's concentration seemed to suffer, because he had to try 20 times to get a proper performance "Life" on tape. "From Elvis In Nashville" was the first Sony release to feature the unedited master take.

To end the session as quickly as possible, "Heart Of Rome" became a rush job. Elvis recorded three takes and a separate workpart-take of the song's finale. This remix was made of take 3 plus the work-part take.