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Producer Anthony Stuchbury is back with his stereo version of Elvis’ two 1959 albums ‘For LP Fans Only’ & ‘A Date With Elvis’ released as a single cd, again on the French RDM label. It was released last month, June 2024. “Mono II Stereo” remixing needs a producer who understands what Elvis’ sessions were all about and producer Anthony Stuchbury is not only a super-collector of original vinyl but also a man who really knows his Elvis recordings. His work here is truly impressive. ‘For LP Fans Only’ & ‘A Date With Elvis’ As David Parker's detailed sleeve notes point out, there was a media blitz when Elvis entered the army in March 1958 and the momentum continued with One Night / I Got Stung being a double A-Side smash in June 1958. To keep up the momentum the follow-up to the ‘King Creole’ LP should have been an album of new studio material but with so little recorded at Elvis’ June '58 sessions the vaults were almost bare. So instead RCA / Col Parker compiled a rather meager 10-track album of previously released 45rpm material as ‘For LP Fans Only’. While it did contain some classic single sides it sounded nothing like Elvis’ new material. ‘Poor Boy’ sounded particularly anachronistic and the LP only ran 12 minutes each side. Despite this it reached #19 in the US album charts. This was probably due to the pure momentum that Elvis’ publicity had created and afterwards perhaps fans realised that they had been short-changed since the next two albums – including ‘Gold Records Volume 2’ – wouldn’t even make the US top thirty. The second July 1959 compilation ‘A Date With Elvis’ surely should have been a more ballad orientated album but once again contained more SUN masters. Hilariously ‘I Want To Be Free’ was chosen for “A Date With Elvis” rather than ‘Playing For Keeps’ which would have been perfect. Neatly combining these two collections into one ‘Mono > Stereo’ release gives fans a chance to revisit what Col Parker and RCA hoped would keep fans interest alive while Elvis was in the army. And in STEREO they certainly sound more interesting. Old “fuddly-duddlies” often complain that Elvis never agreed to these blasphemous “Stereo” mixes. However the same old codgers are happy to listen to ‘Suspicious Minds’ in stereo although that was also never released in stereo during Elvis’ lifetime. “Mono” was a construct of the studio’s audio engineer. None of these songs were recorded with one microphone and Elvis and the Blue Moon Boys were in the studio performing in “stereo”. And there is plenty of creativity and musical innovation happening on nearly all these twenty tracks which far easier to appreciate if you are listening in stereo. In perfect timing for the 70th anniversary it just happens that ‘That’s All Right’ kicks off the collection! Once again super-fan Anthony Stuchbury has worked hard to keep the overall sound faithful to the original mono releases. Elvis Presley RDM collectors will be most interested in the “new” stereo tracks however fans that previously purchased Memphis Mansion’s ‘From Elvis At Sun’ will be interested to discover that Anthony Stuchbury has once again remastered all of those tracks for this release with “2024” versions. As the technology improves so does the ‘Mono > Stereo’ remasters. For instance the sound and “musician placement” (i.e. Scotty Moore left channel) is now consistent throughout the SUN remasters. In Stuchbury’s original ‘From Elvis At Sun’ stereo masters he tried hard to create a wide stereo placement. Often with Scotty Moore panned hard left channel and Bill Black far right, Elvis middle. This at times inevitably reduced the overall power from the centre of the audio image. To be honest this never bothered me as it made it easier to examine each musician’s playing while they created classic rock’n’roll masters. You want ‘mono’, then play ‘mono’! But in these new 2024 SUN stereo remasters Stuchbury has mixed the musicians closer together to create more audio-power towards the centre. So they are an update from his first “stereo” SUN album.
The Music It is hard to believe that Elvis’ classic ‘That’s All Right’ would make its album debut on ‘For LP fans Only’. One of the most important recordings in rock’n’roll history that would only appear in its rightful place on 1976 release ‘The Sun Sessions’, although also featuring two years earlier on 1974’s ‘A Legendary Performer Vol.1’ Parker and RCA surely missed a golden opportunity by not making one side of this album the five classic SUN single A-sides. However ‘That’s All Right’ is the key kick-off track with the stunning ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy’ with driving Scotty Moore guitar left and DJ Fontana keeping the tempo right channel. The brilliant ‘Mystery Train’ follows but it’s a jump-back to the basic original 3-piece SUN sound. ‘Playing For Keeps’ now with the Jordanaires, continues this odd mash-up of different sounding Elvis eras with ‘Poor Boy’ (now featuring an accordion) a terrible choice for the end of side one. ‘Poor Boy’ is in stereo which neatly demonstrates the hillbilly-country sound of the ‘Love Me Tender’ sessions. The accordion and banjo on the left channel, with double-bass right channel, it is a lovely stereo touch but does sound rather out of place on this compilation. The banjo is raised in this mix – Tony Stuchbury’s version is not the same as the FTD stereo release. 'My Baby Left Me', one of my all-time favourites, was a sensational rocker to kick off side B. The stereo image is superb with the middle-break proving just how much energy Scotty Moore and Bill Black contributed to Elvis’ early rockers. ‘I Was The One’ is lovely in stereo (as it was in on RDM’s earlier 'Rock'n'Roll No.1’) and is followed by the full stereo blast of ‘Shake Rattle And Roll’ with ‘I’m Left You’re Right She’s Gone’ again jumping back to the older SUN sound of 1955 and with ‘You’re A Heartbreaker’ as the final track. Surely RCA would done much better if they had released an ‘Elvis Rock’n’Roll’ compilation? With the five SUN single A-sides on side one, and with ‘Mystery Train’, ‘My Baby Left Me’, ‘Shake Rattle And Roll’, ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy’ and ‘Baby, I Don’t Care’ as side-B. It would have been a better sounding album, a better selling album and would have been remembered as an Elvis classic compilation. ‘A Date With Elvis’ ‘Young And Beautiful’ “new” in stereo sounds exquisite with Dudley Brooks’ wonderful piano placed on the right channel. ‘Baby, I Don’t Care’ really rocks in stereo, again piano right, Elvis playing bass on the left channel while DJ Fontana also powers it along, left channel. Turn it up! ‘Milkcow Blues Boogie’ / ‘Baby Let’s Play House’ take us back to the SUN sound. ‘Good Rocking Tonight’ – you’d want that on a date with The King! - was a great choice to start side B and it is sensational in stereo with the power of basic trio audibly causing sweat to drip from the walls of that small studio. ‘Is It So Strange’ is another perfect “date with Elvis” song and is divine in stereo – “If you tell a lie, you know that I’ll forgive you” - just wonderful. ‘We Gonna Move’ – is a little out of place on this collection but nice to hear in stereo, the Jordanaires on the right channel and this time luckily with no accordion! ‘I Want To Be Free’ – “There’s no joy in my heart, only sorrow” wow, it looks like the date-with-Elvis didn’t go so well! ‘I Forgot To Remember To Forget’ wraps it up with Elvis’ acoustic guitar driving the song along synced to Johnny Bernero’s simple drum beat – and well worth noting Scotty Moore’s great solo on the left channel. Looking back, these two 1959 albums were a strange compilation with their short running time and odd track selection giving them that real “filler” feel. Knowing that “Gold Records Vol.2” was planned for a big-selling 1959 Christmas album perhaps this is no surprise.
Overall verdict: This is a neat collection in that it gives fans a chance to revisit Col Parker & RCA’s attempt to keep Elvis’ music in the charts while he was away in the army. To be honest I’ve never listened to these tracks in this order before. The albums certainly feel like RCA being stuck in a holding pattern but even knowing that ‘Gold Records Vol2’ would soon follow they certainly could have been better compiled. The new ‘Jailhouse Rock’ selections featured here are a lovely taster for a future stereo release. Anthony Stuchbury again works his “stereo” magic on the “new” material keeping up the interest in these on-going RDM releases while we hang on for his next “Elvis' Gold Records” collection with a look at Elvis’ June 58 sessions. I can’t wait! EIN Note: Unfortunately for Australian & Kiwi fans (& possibly other non-EU), overseas shipping from RDM is twice the price of buying the actual CD. A cheaper option is to get a friend to order it in Europe and then post the CD (without the plastic case) as a regular letter postage. This saved me 20Euros! 'Info and ORDER here at RDM' - and check out the 'Sound Samples'. Review by Piers Beagley. Click here to comment on this review
See EIN review of 'Young Man With The Big Beat'. See EIN review of 'Elvis Is Back!' Legacy Edition review: See EIN review of 'On Stage' 40th Anniversary LEGACY in-depth review: See EIN review of From Elvis In Memphis (40th Anniversary Legacy Edition) EIN Website content © Copyright the Elvis Information Network.
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