New FTD: Guitar Man – The 67/68 Sessions

[RKSNASHVILLE]

I received an email today from shop Graceland that mine has shipped.



RKS

[Mavers]

It looks great!

[John]

It seems some are still waiting for this release. In the meantime what are the thoughts of those who have received it, and have hopefully unwrapped and played it?

I was looking forward to the release of these sessions for a long time. I have to say, the sound is amazing, considering these recordings were made well over 50 years ago. Yes I know these are digitised, but the recordings were well made in the first place. There is a great deal of humour, particularly in the exchanges between Elvis and Jerry Reed. There are some very funny comments made by both of them.

There is a lot of bad language still left in, so why the hell have we been treated like children, and some of the other comments have been removed? This is censorship of the highest order. If Ernst and co believe they are protecting the Elvis legacy, they are doing nothing of the kind. This is a release for fans only, not available to the general public (and so what if it was?), and yet here we are in 2024 when one hears every obscenity going, on TV, in movies, on the radio, in live and recorded music, on the internet, and out on the street, where Ernst takes it upon himself to act the way he has. Does he really think he is protecting Elvis' image? He has spoiled some of these recording by removing comments. He has taken the humour out of them.

It's pointless saying that we have the bootlegs anyway if we really want to hear it in full, but, not everyone has the bootlegs, and even if they do, the quality is questionable, and you really don't want to be hopping from bootleg to FTD to hear the songs in full.

The thing is, we know that these recordings have been censored because we have the bootlegs. What we don't know is how many other recordings have been butchered because we haven't heard those tapes in full, so in that respect it doesn't matter.

There's a lot of inconsistency with these releases, and it's not appreciated.

Ernst, please stop it. We know Elvis used to swear, and I've got news for you, we are not shocked.

[pphillips_ukuk]

I have never heard any bootlegs so wasn't aware of any edits, in that respect they have done a good job with them lol. I love the set, love the quality of the recordings, the clear and stunning sound on these out-takes and the finished masters. These are some real lost classics in his back catalogue so it is wonderful that we have this release. I will enjoy these disks a lot going forward. Worth the money for me and a good edition to my growing sessions collection.

The need to edit however is baffling. As said above there is plenty of swearing left in and lots across a variety of other FTD's released previous. I can get on board with the song been removed or clipped now. I have heard it on YouTube, it's not any great loss and the removal probably stops any potential misrepresentation of words and drama so maybe, kind of I can understand that. The rest however is mind boggling. If what I am reading is correct and a few s**ts and 'kick d**ks' style comments are taken out this is stupid and pointless. A collectors label is aimed at the hardcore fanbase, I can't imagine any of us don't know or care that Elvis swore while working. Very, very odd.

In conclusion this is still a great set, the removals don't detract anything for me (mind as mentioned I can't miss these comments as I have never heard them). The music shines, his performances are good, upbeat, fun performances and the music produced is magical. The need to 'protect' the legacy of a man millions just saw die young due to a drug addiction in a major blockbuster movie is so shortsighted and strange that I have no more words for it. Great set, would recommended highly, especially if you enjoy the sessions but as someone who tends to defend FTD and Ernst I am at a loss as to why they felt the need to create issues for themselves by removing a few swear words.

[John]

I have never heard any bootlegs so wasn't aware of any edits, in that respect they have done a good job with them lol. I love the set, love the quality of the recordings, the clear and stunning sound on these out-takes and the finished masters. These are some real lost classics in his back catalogue so it is wonderful that we have this release. I will enjoy these disks a lot going forward. Worth the money for me and a good edition to my growing sessions collection.

The need to edit however is baffling. As said above there is plenty of swearing left in and lots across a variety of other FTD's released previous. I can get on board with the song been removed or clipped now. I have heard it on YouTube, it's not any great loss and the removal probably stops any potential misrepresentation of words and drama so maybe, kind of I can understand that. The rest however is mind boggling. If what I am reading is correct and a few s**ts and 'kick d**ks' style comments are taken out this is stupid and pointless. A collectors label is aimed at the hardcore fanbase, I can't imagine any of us don't know or care that Elvis swore while working. Very, very odd.

In conclusion this is still a great set, the removals don't detract anything for me (mind as mentioned I can't miss these comments as I have never heard them). The music shines, his performances are good, upbeat, fun performances and the music produced is magical. The need to 'protect' the legacy of a man millions just saw die young due to a drug addiction in a major blockbuster movie is so shortsighted and strange that I have no more words for it. Great set, would recommended highly, especially if you enjoy the sessions but as someone who tends to defend FTD and Ernst I am at a loss as to why they felt the need to create issues for themselves by removing a few swear words.

Good post pphillips_ukuk.

I have no issue with them editing or even leaving out "The Prisoner's Song". It's the other unnecessary edits. If and when I get the time, I'll do a comparison.

[javilu]

I have never heard any bootlegs so wasn't aware of any edits, in that respect they have done a good job with them lol. I love the set, love the quality of the recordings, the clear and stunning sound on these out-takes and the finished masters. These are some real lost classics in his back catalogue so it is wonderful that we have this release. I will enjoy these disks a lot going forward. Worth the money for me and a good edition to my growing sessions collection.

The need to edit however is baffling. As said above there is plenty of swearing left in and lots across a variety of other FTD's released previous. I can get on board with the song been removed or clipped now. I have heard it on YouTube, it's not any great loss and the removal probably stops any potential misrepresentation of words and drama so maybe, kind of I can understand that. The rest however is mind boggling. If what I am reading is correct and a few s**ts and 'kick d**ks' style comments are taken out this is stupid and pointless. A collectors label is aimed at the hardcore fanbase, I can't imagine any of us don't know or care that Elvis swore while working. Very, very odd.

In conclusion this is still a great set, the removals don't detract anything for me (mind as mentioned I can't miss these comments as I have never heard them). The music shines, his performances are good, upbeat, fun performances and the music produced is magical. The need to 'protect' the legacy of a man millions just saw die young due to a drug addiction in a major blockbuster movie is so shortsighted and strange that I have no more words for it. Great set, would recommended highly, especially if you enjoy the sessions but as someone who tends to defend FTD and Ernst I am at a loss as to why they felt the need to create issues for themselves by removing a few swear words.

Good post pphillips_ukuk.

I have no issue with them editing or even leaving out "The Prisoner's Song". It's the other unnecessary edits. If and when I get the time, I'll do a comparison.

We need a list of all the fucks and shits removed.

[John]

I have never heard any bootlegs so wasn't aware of any edits, in that respect they have done a good job with them lol. I love the set, love the quality of the recordings, the clear and stunning sound on these out-takes and the finished masters. These are some real lost classics in his back catalogue so it is wonderful that we have this release. I will enjoy these disks a lot going forward. Worth the money for me and a good edition to my growing sessions collection.

The need to edit however is baffling. As said above there is plenty of swearing left in and lots across a variety of other FTD's released previous. I can get on board with the song been removed or clipped now. I have heard it on YouTube, it's not any great loss and the removal probably stops any potential misrepresentation of words and drama so maybe, kind of I can understand that. The rest however is mind boggling. If what I am reading is correct and a few s**ts and 'kick d**ks' style comments are taken out this is stupid and pointless. A collectors label is aimed at the hardcore fanbase, I can't imagine any of us don't know or care that Elvis swore while working. Very, very odd.

In conclusion this is still a great set, the removals don't detract anything for me (mind as mentioned I can't miss these comments as I have never heard them). The music shines, his performances are good, upbeat, fun performances and the music produced is magical. The need to 'protect' the legacy of a man millions just saw die young due to a drug addiction in a major blockbuster movie is so shortsighted and strange that I have no more words for it. Great set, would recommended highly, especially if you enjoy the sessions but as someone who tends to defend FTD and Ernst I am at a loss as to why they felt the need to create issues for themselves by removing a few swear words.

Good post pphillips_ukuk.

I have no issue with them editing or even leaving out "The Prisoner's Song". It's the other unnecessary edits. If and when I get the time, I'll do a comparison.

We need a list of all the fucks and shits removed.

There's a couple on fecc that need removal.

[Mister Moon]

As I mentioned elsewhere, I have been waiting for this release for years. It represents another milestone in the artistic resurrection of Elvis, after so many wasted years of crap movies and soundtracks. Furthermore, the fact that much of this music was made in close collaboration with Jerry Reed is extremely cool. Reed was a top class artist and I'm sure there was mutual inspiration going on.

However, the fact that these sessions are incorrectly presented to us is a huge letdown. I thought about purchasing the set anyway, but that would mean getting along with the mistaken presentation, so I will not get it.

Such a shame.

[foreverelvis]

As I mentioned elsewhere, I have been waiting for this release for years. It represents another milestone in the artistic resurrection of Elvis, after so many wasted years of crap movies and soundtracks. Furthermore, the fact that much of this music was made in close collaboration with Jerry Reed is extremely cool. Reed was a top class artist and I'm sure there was mutual inspiration going on.

However, the fact that these sessions are incorrectly presented to us is a huge letdown. I thought about purchasing the set anyway, but that would mean getting along with the mistaken presentation, so I will not get it.

Such a shame.

For you.

[Nolan Truth]

I’ve listened to discs 1, 4, 5 and 2 thus far, and in that order.
I found disc 2 hard going being honest, I’ll finish off with disc 3 tomorrow.
As for the vocal ‘*cuts*’ due to swearing on the early takes of Going Home, I still think the missing words could be remastered and patched in from boots with time and effort.
The set sounds fabulous, I like it.

[John]

As I mentioned elsewhere, I have been waiting for this release for years. It represents another milestone in the artistic resurrection of Elvis, after so many wasted years of crap movies and soundtracks. Furthermore, the fact that much of this music was made in close collaboration with Jerry Reed is extremely cool. Reed was a top class artist and I'm sure there was mutual inspiration going on.

However, the fact that these sessions are incorrectly presented to us is a huge letdown. I thought about purchasing the set anyway, but that would mean getting along with the mistaken presentation, so I will not get it.

Such a shame.

Oh, you should get it. There is still a huge amount of enjoyment to be obtained from it. This has to be the best sessions set, I think.

[RKSNASHVILLE]

I’ve listened to discs 1, 4, 5 and 2 thus far, and in that order.

Just curious - why listening in that particular order? Why saving disc 3 for last?



RKS

[Nolan Truth]

I’ve listened to discs 1, 4, 5 and 2 thus far, and in that order.

Just curious - why listening in that particular order? Why saving disc 3 for last?



RKS

I just looked at the songs on the discs and picked what I fancied.
Disc 1 is very coherent and makes a fabulous album all on it’s own.

[Colin B]

...Disc 1 is very coherent and makes a fabulous album all on it’s own.

Then again, CD 3 has all 7 takes of the rockin' High Heel Sneakers ...

[Nolan Truth]

...Disc 1 is very coherent and makes a fabulous album all on it’s own.

Then again, CD 3 has all 7 takes of the rockin' High Heel Sneakers ...

I’m on disc 3 right now, ‘slap on your Hi Heel Sneakers’ it’s a gas.