Yesterday was a real treat for this Elvis fan as not only did the postman deliver my FTD ‘Fun In Acapulco’ Deluxe set but also CMT’s ‘Ghetto Power: Spliced Takes’ and, with perfect timing for Record Store Day, the two new VINYL releases from the MRS label.
I love VINYL. I bought my first Elvis 45rpm aged six. There is still something special about the tactile feel of real music pressed into something physical , the wonderful ability for spinning plastic to pump out a HUGE sound from the tiny diamond stylus, the printed sleeves and readable print. No wonder Millennials are so fascinated and retail shops have seen a major return to quality vinyl for sale.
Unfortunately with the convenience of streaming or CDs that last 80 minutes, nowadays I tend to only purchase vinyl that offers something new and interesting.
(ie the Elvis SUN 78rpm replicas being pure vinyl aural delight to me)
The last time I bought an Elvis fifties movie soundtrack on vinyl was in fact a second-hand 'Loving You EPA 1515 Vol.1' which featured the track ‘True Love’ noting “Not from Loving You” which I thought quite amusing.
I can still recall the crackle & pop of the vintage spinning 45rpm.
I still own my copy of Elvis‘ original ‘Love Me Tender’ with my main interest being the flip-side ‘Anyway You Want Me’ which truly bristled with over-equalised top-end and piles of compression.
The 1956 45rpm noted “New Orthophonic High Fidelity” yet sounded like hissy over-compressed low-fi!
Released to coincide with Record Store Day 2019 MRS’ ‘The Complete ‘50s Movie Masters & Alternate Recordings’ features one side of vinyl dedicated to each one of Elvis' four 1950s movies.
This was a neat idea, one side for each movie with a couple of extra bonus tracks, nice audio mastering plus a stylish 24-page massive inside booklet.
We get ‘Love Me Tender’ on one side with 7 tracks, ‘Loving You’ fitting nicely onto Side B, ‘Jailhouse Rock’ as a sensational Side C and to my surprise all of ‘King Creole’ fitting neatly into the final side and with a cool Bonus Track not on the original RCA vinyl.
With the 24-page album-size gatefold booklet it truly is a stunning presentation.
The MRS presentation even dwarfs the FTD 7' Classic Album releases.
AUDIO QUALITY: My first impression is what a SENSATIONAL sound it has for vinyl. The use of MRS’ Studio Ds remasters – lovely warm sound with some added compression – really works for vinyl.
I played my partner (no great Elvis fan but true audiophile!) the first track ‘Love Me Tender’ and she was blown away by the volume I could crank it up to (without any rumble) and the overall quality of the sound. Lovely warm bass yet really clear top end. Sure beats that crackly old 45rpm of mine.
Perhaps the real attraction (apart from Elvis singing!) is the fabulous 24 page photo-spread.
Being “album size” this photo-book - with 6 pages dedicated to each 1950’s movie – features some truly amazing photos of Elvis in a stunning format. Compared to a regular CD, or even FTD’s “Classic Album” 45rpm size, these pages truly impress.
Below are a few pages just to give fans an idea of the remarkable size and design.
Side 1 – Love Me Tender .
I cannot remember this ever being out on an LP before – after all it was only four tracks. Here MRS add two alternate takes, ‘Let Me’ and ‘We're Gonna Move’, plus the cute ‘Love Me Tender - End Title version’ which takes the side to over 15 minutes. While purists may not like the idea of the tracks being STEREO they sure sound fine to me.
Compared to a regular CD release the format is a stunning size.
Side 2 – Loving You
One of my favourite soundtracks and here with four extra tracks including great sounding Movie Masters we get over 20 minutes of soundtrack songs on one side. Pretty impressive when the original RCA album movie side ran less than 15 minutes
Side 3 – Jailhouse Rock.
The original six tracks complemented with five bonus tracks. Great to have an additional ‘(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care’ (great remastering from MRS on this track) and a STEREO ‘Jailhouse Rock’. For me the all-too-short 14 seconds of ‘Don't Leave Me Now Movie Set Version’ works on a lengthy CD compile but is only frustrating here and could have been left off. The ‘Young and Beautiful’ End Title version as the final track more than makes up for this and it is such a perfect end for the album. Note that the sleeve says ‘Baby I Don't Care Movie Edit’ is Stereo when it is in fact Binaural.
Again comparing the format to the regular 'King Creole' CD release.
Side 4 – King Creole
What a cracker original album and I am surprised that it all fits on one side of vinyl and yet still sounds quite fine cranked up loud with no background rumble.
25 minutes of New Orleans joy and the nice bonus here being the final treat of the ‘Crawfish Movie Master’.
The total running time of the four sides is 83 minutes and what fun they are – perfect for Record Store Day
a stylish touch is that each LP label features a cool image from each 1950s movie.
Overall Verdict: While I expected good things for both of these MRS 2019 Record Store Day releases I was truly stunned by the overall presentation as well as the quality of the audio. Of course having Elvis sing such great fifties classics sure helps! Listening to the whole set makes one realise how low the quality of Elvis’ movie songs dropped once he came back from the army. RCA should have paid Leiber / Stoller to keep supervising Elvis’ movie soundtracks. Supplying a 24-page massive photo-album as an insert raises the bar for other vinyl releases and makes this a true collectable.
Vinyl fans will have to search their Elvis Dealers for copies as MRS state that they are already out-of-stock!
Coment on this review
Please note that these images are only personal photos and so cannot show the true quality of the images.
Review by Piers Beagley.
-Copyright EIN April 2019
EIN Website content © Copyright the Elvis Information Network.
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THE COMPLETE ‘50s MOVIE MASTERS & ALTERNATE RECORDINGS
SIDE A - LOVE ME TENDER (1956)
01. Love Me Tender (STEREO)
02. Let Me (STEREO)
03. Poor Boy (STEREO)
04. We're Gonna Move (STEREO)
05. Let Me (Take 3) (STEREO)
06. We're Gonna Move (Take 4) (STEREO)
07. Love Me Tender (Movie End Title)
SIDE B - LOVING YOU (1957)
01. Mean Woman Blues
02. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear
03. Loving You
04. Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do
05. Lonesome Cowboy
06. Hot Dog
07. Party
08. Loving You (Fast Movie Version)
09. Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do (Movie Master)
10. Party (Movie Master)
11. Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do (Movie Finale) |
SIDE C - JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957)
01. Jailhouse Rock
02. Young & Beautiful
03. I Want to Be Free
04. Don't Leave Me Now
05. (You’re So Square) Baby I Don't Care
06. Treat Me Nice
07. Jailhouse Rock (Movie Version) (STEREO)
08. Don't Leave Me Now (Movie Set Version)
09. Treat Me Nice (Movie No Overdub Version) (STEREO)
10. (You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care (Movie Edit)
11. Young & Beautiful (Movie End Title)
SIDE D - KING CREOLE (1958)
01. King Creole
02. As Long as I Have You
03. Hard Headed Woman
04. Trouble
05. Dixieland Rock
06. Don't Ask Me Why
07. Lover Doll
08. Crawfish (Unedited Master)
09. Young Dreams
10. Steadfast, Loyal and True
11. New Orleans
12. Crawfish (Movie Master Edit) |
'The Complete ‘50s Movie Masters And Session Recordings' In-Depth CD/ Book Review: This MRS 'The Complete ‘50s Movie Masters And Session Recordings' 5CD/Book combo pays tribute to Elvis Presley’s complete music recordings made for his movies during the 1950s.
The 5CDs contain the complete works of the master and session studio recordings made for each of Elvis’ movies during the 1950s, and all tracks have been remastered.
The 200-page book focuses on each of the recording sessions held for the four motion pictures made between August 1956 and March 1958.
The comprehensive text is complemented by rare and previously unseen photographs and documentation.
So what surprises will collectors discover in this new set, what is in this new collection that FTD have missed and how good will the audio sound.
Go here as EIN's Nigel Patterson & Piers Beagley provide an in-depth review of this new MRS release
(Book Reviews, Source;ElvisInformationNetwork) |
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‘ELVIS: Studio Sessions 1956' In-Depth Review: MRS newest release, a massive 3CD/172 page book compilation "Elvis Studio Sessions ‘56 The Complete Recordings". The 172-page book, with text by Gordon Minto, focuses on each of Elvis’ studio recording sessions during his first year of national stardom - from the first one in January, held in Nashville, then later in New York, before finishing his final session of the year in Hollywood in September. The full and comprehensive text is complemented by rare and previously unseen photographs and pieces of documentation.
The 3CDs contain the complete archival master and session studio recordings of Elvis Presley from 1956, along with bonus interviews. All 90 tracks have been remastered and restored. Also for the first time on CD is the complete ‘The Truth About Me’ from an original US 45rpm flexi-disc. Also included are all the out-takes from this interview.
Once again MRS release a first putting all of Elvis' key 1956 Studio Session masters onto one disc, with the addition of two other fully-packed cds of 1956 material and a stunning 172 page book. But what does this set offer over other previous releases
Go here as EIN's Nigel Patterson and Piers Beagley check out this new volume from MRS to find what is on offer. Includes stunning example photos & a detailed audio investigation.
(Book Review: Source;ElvisInformationNetwork) |
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