New 5CD collection chronicles Elvis Presley’s Los Angeles Sessions and rehearsals at RCA’s studios.
RCA Records and Legacy Recordings, the catalogue division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release Sunset Boulevard on 1 August – a definitive 5CD collection chronicling Elvis Presley’s recording sessions and rehearsals at RCA’s legendary Los Angeles studios.
Spanning 89 rarities – over half of which have never been released in the United States – Sunset Boulevard delivers illuminating perspective onto Elvis’ 1970s recording output.
This includes rare alternate studio versions of late-period gems like Separate Ways – widely seen as the most autobiographical song Elvis ever recorded – T-R-O-U-B-L-E, which channeled the groundbreaking signature vocal style from his earlier years, and Burning Love, the 40th and final Top Ten single of his career.
Listen to Burning Love – Take 2, below:
For The Good Times
The collection’s first two discs (which will also be released on their own, as a special 2 LP ‘highlights’ set) feature new and never-heard mixes from four-time Grammy winner Matt Ross-Spang – stripping all overdubs and delivering fresh insights in the process.
Opening with 17 classics from throughout Elvis’ time in RCA Studio C, these mixes provide an intimate glimpse into the ways his riveting voice interacts with material from the era’s greatest songwriters: Kris Kristofferson’s For The Good Times (a 1972 B-side first released in 1995), Paul Williams’ Where Do I Go From Here (from 1973’s Elvis), Billy Swan’s I Can Help (from 1975’s Today) and Don McLean’s And I Love You So (also from Today) among them.
Ross-Spang’s stripped-down mixes equally bolster the seventeen studio outtakes that comprise the set’s second piece.
Taking Care of Business
Throughout the final three discs of Sunset Boulevard, listeners get a behind-the-scenes look at Elvis’ history-making Las Vegas residency — featuring Los Angeles rehearsals from July 1970 and August 1974 with his iconic TCB Band. Throughout the sessions, Elvis pours himself into every line – with no one listening but his band and the engineer in the control room – as his lifelong love of performing is on full display.
Notable among the 1974 recordings are two featured tracks that Elvis never made studio versions of – Twelfth of Never, originally a hit for Johnny Mathis in 1957, and Softly As I Leave You – which finds him narrating a prologue about the song’s purported origins (inspired by his love of Charles Boyer’s narrated album Where Does Love Go). Elvis’ instinctive chemistry with The TCB Band is palpable throughout both rehearsals, perhaps owing to his decision to record with a road band for the first time during this era.
Sunset Boulevard is available in 5CD and digital formats, including rare archival photographs and new liner notes from music historian Colin Escott, plus an introduction by longtime friend Jerry Schilling. Also available will be a 2LP ‘highlights’ edition, comprising the newly-mixed studio recordings and outtakes – which will also be available in a Graceland Exclusive Color Variant.
Sunset Boulevard Tracklisting
Disc 1 – The Masters
Burning Love
Always On My Mind
Where Do I Go From Here
Separate Ways
For The Good Times
It’s A Matter Of Time
Fool
T-R-O-U-B-L-E
And I Love You So
Susan When She Tried
Woman Without Love
Shake A Hand
Pieces Of My Life
Fairytale
I Can Help
Bringin’ It Back
Green, Green Grass Of Home
Disc 2 – Outtakes Highlights
Separate Ways – Take 25
For The Good Times – Take 3
Where Do I Go From Here – Take 2
Burning Love – Take 2
Fool – Take 1
Always On My Mind – Take 2
It’s A Matter Of Time – Takes 1–3
It’s A Matter Of Time – Take 4
Fairytale – Take 2
Green, Green Grass Of Home – Takes 2 and 3
And I Love You So – Take 2
Susan When She Tried – Takes 1 and 2
T-R-O-U-B-L-E – Take 1
Tiger Man
Shake A Hand – Take 2
Bringin’ It Back – Takes 2 and 3
Pieces Of My Life – Takes 2 and 3
Disc 3 – 24 July 1970 rehearsal
That’s All Right
I Got A Woman
I Got A Woman
The Wonder Of You
I’ve Lost You
The Next Step Is Love
Stranger In The Crowd
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’
Something
Don’t Cry Daddy
Don’t Cry Daddy
You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me
Polk Salad Annie
Bridge Over Troubled Water
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Just Pretend
Sweet Caroline
Love Me Tender
Words
Suspicious Minds
I Just Can’t Help Believin’
I Just Can’t Help Believin’
Disc 4 – July 24, 1970 rehearsal (continued)
Tomorrow Never Comes
Mary In The Morning
Twenty Days And Twenty Nights
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’
Just Can’t Help Believin’
Heart Of Rome
Heart Of Rome
Memories
Johnny B. Goode
Make The World Go Away
Stranger In My Own Home Town
I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water
16 August 1974 rehearsal
If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
Promised Land
Promised Land
Down In The Alley
Down In The Alley
Disc 5 – 16 August 1974 rehearsal (continued)
It’s Midnight
It’s Midnight
Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming
Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues
Softly As I Leave You
Softly As I Leave You
I’m Leavin’
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Proud Mary
If You Talk In Your Sleep
If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
The Twelfth Of Never
Faded Love
Just Pretend
For more information click here
Read More: Elvis Presley – The ’68 Comeback Special
Dan Biggane
Dan Biggane is a writer for Vintage Rock and Classic Pop magazines. A former entertainment editor at the Bath Chronicle newspaper, he’s interviewed numerous big names from the world of rock’n’roll, including Dion, Jerry Allison, and Slim Jim Phantom. He has also contributed a number of cover features for Vintage Rock including Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Billy Fury and Bo Diddley.
