TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS: The Elvis Forum

We got so many sections now I wasn't sure where this fitted best !

I just got round [don't ask] to having a closer look at The Complete Elvis Presley Masters.

I see they kick things off with Harbour Lights !

Now, it was my understanding that it was Scotty Moore who remembered that I Love You Because was the very first song they did !

Ernst's book has I Love You Because listed first, but Keith's site has Harbour Lights !

Has some more info come out since Ernst's book was published in 1998 ?

What does your man TUNZI say on this Colin?.

In Sessions III our Joe has it as Harbour Lights............ even if he can't spell it right !

I realise I'm a bit late with all this, but I wanted to pass on a few random thoughts as I work my way through the set !

The set supposedly has all his 'master recordings' covered.

A studio 'master' is pretty easily identified, but the live stuff isn't so clear-cut, is it ?

As far as I can make out, a live cut is deemed a 'master' [& is therefore included chronologically in the first 27 discs] if it saw an official record release during his lifetime !

Like the songs from the sit-down & stand-up shows from the '68 TV Special are only present if they appeared on the album at the time [or were on something else, like Tiger Man was on the Singer album].

They seem to have included all his studio masters irrespective of when they saw a release [like When It Rains, It Really Pours from Sun, which didn't get a release until 1983.]

A lot of stuff which falls outside that criteria is covered in the last three discs [28-30].

I cant help but feel slightly let down by the set as a whole, i guess the intial price put many of us off, plus as we get the Legacy releases in great sound and packageing i kinda feel i dont need the box anymore.
Do u all believe this is a good a set as a whole package as the BEATLES STEREO BOX SET released slightly before the King ?

The Beatles' stereo set to me sounded just like the old stereo LP's I have in my collection for ages.
The Elvis set I have transferred to MP3 and several sound better than the LPs and occasionally there is the slightly longer ending or better audible instrument(s).

Somehow I missed getting the Beatles set [cough].

But I like the idea of having all our boy's masters, in optimum audio quality, all together in one set !

Make your own.

Make my own optimum-quality set ?

1] I don't have the master tapes.

2] I don't have the equipment [or know-how] to re-master things.

3] I wouldn't have the nicely-illustrated giant 240-page book that came with the set.

4] Or the neat fold-away case to keep them all in.

Bravo Colin, sometimes it just has to be the real deal .......... , but will they ever get played ?

Well, I'm working my way through right now !

Both sets, The Beatles & The Elvis sounded great and better than anything I had previously. But if what you have sounds good enough to you, no need to pay these crazy prices for the same stuff again.

Excuses, excuses.

But then will you ever listen to them again? Is there a discernible difference? Would you recognise it if listening through your speakers or is it only identifiable when listening through headphones? Is it really worth it?

I don't use headphones, but they sound good to me.

I will use this set if I want to listen to his songs, yes.

Was the set worth it ?

That's a tricky one !

Let's say money isn't a problem for me just now........................

Can you buy me a set then please?

Seriously though, whether money is or isn't a problem for me, I still wouldn't have bought this set. What we already have is plenty good enough. You say it sounds good, but how much better is it than what we already have? Out of curiosity, what is it that you can hear that you didn't before.

Theres no doubting if money was no object we would all just have to own a copy [if we ever played it or not] simply because its the best collection of his for years, and they have had a few trys at getting it right, saying that can we confidently say that this will be the ultimate set to own, will they redo the masters again in 5/10 years time, could it be any better ? or have we got the best set possible ?

I could have bought this if I'd wanted to, I chose not to. I already have these recordings, some of them several times over, and they sound good enough to me. I can't see how these would sound that much better, certainly not enough for me to spend a few hundred pounds on them.

If they'd stuck a few unreleased things on there, then I'd have bought the set, but then again, if they did that, it would have been the complete masters plus.

The order and tracks used on this set are a little dodgy.

I have used the set to make my own and not included Harbor Lights Lights or any tracks from Legendary Performer vol 1 and 2..

The reason is that these two albums were not approved or sanctioned by Elvis/Colonel for release. Remember how angry was when Joan released them behind his back.

So I have limited my take on this set only to those Elvis thought worthy for release.

DOMINIC ... what a killer!.

It was the way those two were released, rather than objections to the music they contained, that upset the Elvis management.

Yes, given the fact that it is supposed to be 'the definitive collection: all 711 master recordings as released during Elvis’ lifetime....', then you are spot on Alan, this song should not have lead disc one but instead should have been on one of the 'rarity' discs.

But Harbour Lights was released during his lifetime !

The two that shouldn't really have been there are When It Rains, It Really Pours [released 1983] & the 'slow' version of I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone aka My Baby's Gone [released 1987], but it made sense [to me] to have all the Sun 'masters' together on disc one............

When you get to the disc with TTWII songs on it,why is SOMETHING on there when it was unissued during his life time (70 version).

They have laid down some rules & proceeded to break them as they went along !