ELVIS CD NEWS May 2000 (Compiled by Haruo Hirose)

	ELVIS PAPER SLEEVE COLLECTION from BMG Family Club of Japan (Mail Orders Only) April 12 Release Special Box Set of 20 "Paper Sleeve" CDs released in January 2000.

From Paul Dowling of World Wide Elvis - Michael Omansky just e mailed me the latest news on upcoming U.S. and International CD releases that are so far planned this year. Please go over the ENTIRE SCHEDULE as some things have been changed in the last few months: - There are NO plans for anymore ESSENTIAL ELVIS CD's! This could be changed but, as of now, the series has ended!! - The website GET MUSIC (a BMG site) is videotaping an interview with Michael today about the marketing of Elvis music. This will be up on the main page of their website in about 3 weeks or so. - Turner Classic Movie Channel is doing a major Elvis push this summer in the U.S. They will be airing multiple movies every Sunday night in August. There is a big joint promotion between them, RCA, EPE, Musicland, and Gibson Guitar in August, which will extend from on air into retail (over 1,000 Musicland/Sam Goody stores) with a consumer contest overlay. - Michael will appear on QVC in the U.S. twice on Thursday June 15th between 1 A.M. and 2 A.M. EST and then 19 hours later between 10 P.M. and 11 P.M. EST. Both shows will be dedicated solely to Elvis products with the 3 CD THAT'S THE WAY IT IS box set the main focus although they will also be selling the 30 CD set "The Collection" on both shows. Consumers will be able to pre-order TTWII for the first time at a discount on this show. TTWII set will be available in two different formats in the U.S. only!!! 1) 3 CD (regular version) 07863-67938-2 $49.98 list 2) 3 CD ("Keeper box" version) 07863-67980-2 $49.98 list SEPT or OCT 2000 release, GOSPEL BOX SET. This is tentatively planned as a 3 CD box set with gospel material including some UNRELEASED things! Michael said that it's possible that it might be a country set although they are leaning more towards gospel.

ＲＣＡ(USA)のオマンスキーによると、来年以降の「エッセンシャル・シリーズ」の発売はもう無いようです。シリーズの終了が宣言されました。 　今夏、８月には、ターナー・クラシック・ムービー（ケーブル局）が毎週日曜夜にエルヴィス映画を放送します。 　また、ＲＣＡは ＥＰＥ、 Musicland/Sam Goody、 Gibson Guitarとタイアップして、エルヴィス・キャンペーンを繰り広げます。 　ＴＶショッピング、ＱＶＣ では、６月１５日にエルヴィス特集が組まれま。 　ＣＤ,"That's The Way It Is - New Edition"は アメリカでは２種類 (レギュラー版と保存ボックス版?) 発売されるようです。 　９月に発売予定だったカントリー・アルバムは、３枚組のゴスペル・アルバムに変更されるかも知れません。

SOUNDBOARDS ON FTD There has been some disappointment about the fact that the next FTD will not be a soundboard, but Jorgensen and Semon are in dialogue with the Musicians'Union about payment for the musicians. The perspectives of reaching a reasonable agreement are now quite optimistic. Still, it's a very costly project, with total payments to musicians being ca. $ 40,000, but with the current sales of FTD releases it can be done. One issue that complicates an agreement is the fact that it's not exactly documented who played on what show. We all know the regulars that were playing in the Presley show, but the problem lies with the orchestra. But it seems that the Estate has much or all of this information, and Joe Guercio has now indicated that he may have this info as well, and Jorgensen and Semon are now looking into this matter. Ernst is not sure that the first soundboard release will be the much discussed Lake Tahoe May 1973 show. He feels that Elvis' singing is not thatgood on that recording, and adds that there are other options that are more interesting, for example a 2 CD set documenting the (musically very strong) August 1974 Las Vegas season, containing one complete show plus highlights, rarities and one-liners from all the other shows. Arjan Deelen Elvis Unlimited (May 25, 2000)

「アンリミッテッド」のアージャンによると、 サウンドボード録音の発売には、 色々と問題があるようで、 ミュージシャンの組合に ４万ドルも支払わなければ ならないそうです。 噂されているレイク・タホーのショーはエルヴィスの調子がいまひとつで、 ７４年８月のベガス録音のほうが、 ジョーゲンセンは興味があるようです。

Release date is postponed to June 20??
"Good Rockin Tonight: The Evolution of Elvis Presley (1 & 2)" (2-CD Mini Box)
A New "Louisiana Hayride" CD from Music Mill, USA.
Release Date; May 30, 2000
(Music Mill Entertainment, 68890-72627-2)
Also available on 2 separate cassettes, Vol.1 & Vol.2

Music Mill

TRACK LISTING (Volume 1) That's All Right, Mama - 10/16/54 Blue Moon of Kentucky - 10/16/54 Hearts of Stone - 1/15/55 That's All Right, Mama - 1/15/55 Tweedle Dee - 1/22/55 Money Honey - 1/22/55 Blue Moon of Kentucky - 1/22/55 I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine - 1/22/55 That's All Right Mama - 1/22/55 (Volume 2) Good Rockin' Tonight - 4/19/55 I Got A Woman - 4/19/55 Tweedle Dee - 4/30/55 I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone - 7/16/55 Baby Let's Play House - 8/20/55 Maybellene - 8/20/55 That's All Right Mama - 8/20/55 I Was The One - 12/15/56 Love Me Tender - 12/15/56 Hound Dog - 12/15/56 Elvis Has Left the Building - 12/15/56

Good Rockin' Tonight - The Evolution of Elvis Presley In the mid-1950's, Elvis Presley and his buddies Scotty Moore and Bill Black were performing in juke joints, honky tonks, high school dances and hardware store openings. If there was a buck to be made, you could count on Elvis, Scotty and Bill showing up to play. Elvis and the boys soon caught the attention of the Louisiana Hayride. This live radio show, which began airing in 1948, rivaled the Grand Ole Opry for appeal in its day. From Elvis' first appearance on October 16, 1954 in front of a crowd of several hundred people to his final special appearance before over 10,000 people on December 16, 1956, you get to hear what the audience heard...The evolution of Elvis Presley from a kid who wanted to be a country-western singer to the King of Rock and Roll. Interspersed among the songs is narration by Frank Page, one of the original announcers for the Louisiana Hayride and the man who first introduced Elvis on their stage. His recollections provide wonderful insight to Elvis' performances on this renown radio show. In addition, announcer Horace Logan is caught on tape saying for the very first time "Elvis has left the building" in an effort to calm the crowd following Elvis' final performance on the Hayride stage. These historical recordings have never before been offered for sale and we are proud to be able to offer them to you. (Music Mill Entertainment)

The label, Joey Kent , July 4, 2000 This set is one of 3 legitimate Elvis La. Hayride recordings It should be noted this set is one of only 3 legitimate Elvis Hayride releases (RCA 1983 "The Beginning Years", BGR 1996 "La. Hayride Archives, Vol.1 Elvis Presley, & this one). All others are unauthorized European editions that list a number of non-Hayride performances recopied from CDs without permission. As someone wrote, this is not the first time "Elvis has left the building" appears on an Elvis Hayride CD. The first time was the Branson Gold release in 1996 and it has subsequently been on the unauthorized edition he listed and others. This set contains ONLY Hayride recordings including several previously unreleased alternate takes. I am the writer of the narrative and owner of the masters. All recordings came from my original tapes and acetates, sonically enhanced where necessary for optimum sound quality. This is the only true and accurate accounting of Elvis Presley's tenure on the Louisiana Hayride, all previous editions, legitimate and non, included. I have spent years researching and cross checking my facts with dozens of people who worked on the Hayride, performed there, were in the audience, or interviewed people who were. This is as close as I can get to the "real" story. I try to put the listener there as it happens. I hope you agree. Enjoy!

"THE LOVE SONGS", A New CD from BMG Special Products in USA.
BMG Special Products (Distrubuted by Green Hill Productions, Nashville, TN)
(79275-55197-2) (DRC12673) Release Date; Mar.15, 2000

TRACK LISTING Are You Lonesome Tonight Can't Help Falling In Love It's Now Or Never (Original Undubbed Master) Crying In The Chapel Don't Love Me Always On My Mind Fame And Fortune It Hurts Me I Want You, I Need You, I Love You Love Letters Love Me Tender

On-line Shopping at
Green Hill Productions
Sensia Music Department

"Love, Elvis" by The Beegie Adair Trio
(Distrubuted by Green Hill Productions, Nashville, TN)
(79275-55174-2) Release Date; March??, 2000

The love songs recorded and made popular by Elvis Presley are some of the most well known of his catalog. With her signature style and graceful arrangements, Beegie Adair brings elegance and class to this collection of 12 love songs made popular by the King of Rock 'n Roll. Beegie Adair's renditions of these timeless love songs are a fitting and romantic tribute worthy of a King. TRACK LISTING Love Me Tender Are You Lonesome Tonight Crying In The Chapel It's Now Or Never Love Me Can't Help Falling In Love and more.

This picture was taken from this flier(from Taylor Scott) BMG(USA) issued to CD shops.

USA Release Date: May 16, 2000

"I'M 10,000 YEARS OLD" (ELVIS COUNTRY) (07863-67929-2)	"PROMISED LAND" (07863-67930-2)
TRACK LISTING Snowbird Tomorrow Never Comes Little Cabin on the Hill Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On Funny How Time Slips Away I Really Don't Want to Know There Goes My Everything It's Your Baby, You Rock It The Fool Faded Love I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water Make the World Go Away Bonus Tracks: It Ain't No Big Thing A Hundred Years from Now If I Were You Got My Mojo Working/Keep Your Hands Off It Where Did They Go, Lord I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago	TRACK LISTING Promised Land There's a Honky Tonk Angel Help Me Mr. Songman Love Song of the Year It's Midnight Your Love's Been a Long Time Coming If You Talk in Your Sleep Thinking About You You Asked Me To Bonus Tracks: Loving Arms I Got a Feelin' in My Body If That Isn't Love She Wears My Ring My Boy Spanish Eyes Talk About the Good Times Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues
"MOODY BLUE" (07863-67931-2)	"FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS" (07863-67932-2)
TRACK LISTING Unchained Melody If You Love Me (Let Me Know) Little Darlin' He'll Have to Go Way Down Pledging My Love Moody Blue She Thinks I Still Care It's Easy for You Bonus Tracks: Hurt Never Again Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain Danny Boy The Last Farewell For the Heart Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall Solitaire Love Coming Down I'll Never Fall in Love Again	TRACK LISTING Wearin' That Loved On Look Only the Strong Survive I'll Hold You in My Heart Long Black Limousine It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin' I'm Movin' On Power of My Love Gentle on My Mind After Loving You True Love Travels on a Gravel Road Any Day Now In the Ghetto Bonus Tracks: The Fair Is Moving On Suspicious Minds You'll Think of Me Don't Cry, Daddy Kentucky Rain Mama Liked the Roses

From ICE Magazine, Issue 157, April 2000 RCA HAS MAY 16 PEGGED for four more upgrades from its vast Elvis Presley catalog. 0n that date, newly revamped CDs will be released of From Elvis in Memphis, Elvis Country ( I'm 10,000 Years Old), Promised Land and Moody Blue. Each disc features new mastering from the first-generation master tapes, newly expanded booklets with fresh liner notes by Grammy winner Colin Escott, and additional bonus tracks (although nothing previously unreleased this time around). As usual, the reissues were produced for RCA by Ernst Mikael Jorgensen and Roger Semon. From Elvis in Memphis, first released in June 1969, ranks as one of the half dozen most critically acclaimed Elvis albums ever released. Still on a high from his 1968 comeback TV special, Presley went into a Memphis recording studio with producer Chips Moman and recorded a body of material that impressed even his harshest critics, and produced a number of hit singles, including "Suspicious Mind," "Kentucky Rain" and "In the Ghetto." Back in the '80s, RCA went into the vault and produced a 23-track CD drawn from the Memphis sessions called The Memphis Record, in which the material was newly mixed for the digital age. But that still leaves a missing gap for those consumers wanting a good-sounding CD of the From Elvis in Memphis album in its original mix. The new RCA issued delivers that, plus adds six bonus tracks: "Suspicious Minds," "The Fair's Moving 0n," "Don't Cry Daddy," "You'll Think of Me," "Kentucky Rain" and "Mama Liked the Roses." "From Elvis in Memphis was a fabulous album in 1969," Jorgensen tells ICE. "When you add to it six million-selling singles recorded at the same sessions, it becomes a very meaningful package. "This is the origlnal album, in the original sequence, wlth the orlginal mixes. There are all types of consumers still out there who bought the original vinyl and still haven't replaced it." As for The Memphis Record, Jorgensen says that hindsight hasn't treated it well. "You don't want to go in and try to duplicate Chips Morman's mixes," he opines. "It was a brave attempt tha failed on a number of levels. I'm not totally against tampering with audio, but in that case,it was wrong. They left out the horns on 'Suspicious Minds,' and so forth." Elvis Country was originally released in January 1971 and featured 12 tracks with a series of musical interludes running between the selections. RCA's new CD carries six bonus tracks, including the title track in its entirety; "It Ain't No Big Thing," "A Hundred Years from Now," "If I Were You," "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago," "Where Did They Go Lord" and "Got My Mojo Working/Keep Your Hands 0ff of It." "This record and From Elvis in Memphis are the two albums in Elvls's latter days that got very good reviews, in Rolling Stone and elsewhere," Jorgensen points out. "This is the original album, with that funny little piece going in and out, linking the songs." Again, this is the album in its original mix, so the interludes are intact; on the tracks found on RCA's Presley box set of '70s material, the lnterludes were mixed out. But wait a minute...the RCA CD of Elvis Country on file at ICE, dating from 1991, was also produced by Jorgensen and Semon. Is this a case of Ernst and Roger upgrading a previous CD production by Ernst and Roger? What's a consumer to do? "This one's taken from a better tape," Jorgensen explains. "When you talk about 1991, we had just started. and we didn't have access to everything we wanted in those days. If you work in the vaults long enough, you eventually find first-generation tapes, as opposed to the second and third-generation tapes which you used at the time. I don't think we really got things going the way we wanted until we did Elvis's '50s box set, in 1992. Before that, lt was a matter of compromising here and there; after the success of the '50s box, we could pretty much do it our way." Elvis's Promised Land album from 1975 was recorded at the legendary Stax Studios in Memphis. A healthy elght bonus tracks have been added to the new CD: "lf You Talk in Your Sleep" and "MyBoy" (both Top 20 singles), plus "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues," "Loving Arms," "Talk About the Good Times," "Spanish Eyes," "If That Isn't Love" and "She Wears My Ring." "With Promised Land," Jorgensen says, we took the 10 tracks from the album and added eight more which were recorded at the same sessions, but released on an album called Good Times at the time. So what you're getting, on one CD, is the entire output of that December 1973 recording session at Stax: it gathers all 18 masters from those sessions on one disc. Which tells you, of course, that we're not going to do an upgraded version of the Good Times album [chuckling]." And every fan is aware that 1977's Moody Blue was Elvis's current LP on the charts when he died on August 16 of that year. For the new CD release, the nine-track album has been supplemented with the entire contents of 1976's From Elvis Presley Boulevard,Memphis,Tennessee, resulting in a two-fer disc, essentially､ with a total of 19 selections in all. Jorgensen says that､ despite all their bells and whisles. these new upgrades were not produced with the collector in mind. "I don't mind collectors buying these," he says, "but they're not aimed at them. The intention here is to have for the general public, classic and well-known Elvis records avalable on CD [in exemplary form]. "It's basically a restoration of the catalog to get it into retail and get shelf space and attention again. That's the name of the game. Nobody wants a 10-track CD at full price anymore. And you take the opportunity to make some nice records while you can."

LASERLIGHT will release 5 Christmas CD's of Elvis.

	Elvis Presley The Jordanaires Christmas Together (2 CD) Release Date, Aug.1, 2000
	A Christmas Collection Elvis Presley Bing Crosby (2 CD) Release Date, Aug.1, 2000
	It's Christmas Time (2 CD) F. Sinatra - L. Armstrong - E. Presley - B. Crosby Release Date, Sept.1, 2000
	Christmas Through The Years (3 CD) B. Crosby - F. Sinatra - E. Presley
	Christmas With (3 CD) J. Denver - J. Cash - E. Presley

You'll find so many old RCA recordings are re-released thru
"Delta Entertainment (LASERLIGHT)".

In Japan, CD/Videos from Delta music are sold thru "Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd." 日本で発売されるとしたら「日本コロンビア株式会社」からです。

In 1996, "LASERLIGHT" released 3 Elvis' Interview CD's.(below)

Eye of the Hurricane	On the Road Interviews	Elvis Presley Interviews

"Like Elvis Used to Do" by Billy Swan
Release Date; Apr.11, 2000

Track Listing; Suspicious Minds Mystery Train Wooden Heart Blue Moon of Kentucky Viva Las Vegas Too Much Milk Cow Blue Boogie Heartbreak Hotel Jailhouse Rock/King Creole Love Me Tender Sun Medley: Baby, Let's Play House / I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone / You're A Heartbreaker / Baby Let's Play House Burnin' Love Memphis Rocks That's All Right (Mama)

Swan Songs Country-rocker tips hat to Elvis By Ed Will (Denver Post Staff Writer) May 3 - Rock/country veteran Billy Swan's new CD, "Like Elvis Used to Do," offers up 12 songs made famous by Elvis Presley and a medley of three others, but the title is a misnomer. Each song features a new arrangement by Swan, who also marks each one with his own fresh vocal take. For example, he does "Viva Las Vegas" a cappella, gives "Wooden Heart" an over-the-edge Jerry Lee Lewis sound, and uses reggae to tint "That's All Right (Mama)." He recorded the songs at the fabled Sun Studio in Memphis, where Presley made many early recordings, but did the arrangements at home in California. "I was just sitting here at the music room in my house and started doing different arrangements with them," Swan says. "Some came real fast. Some seemed to work and some didn't seem to work. I wanted to do something in my head a cappella. Originally, I thought about "Jail House Rock,' but it ended up being "Viva Las Vegas." He added that because "Jail House Rock" and "King Creole" pretty much have the the same chords and musical pattern behind them, he combined them into one cut. "It seemed to work really well," Swan says. Another highlight is "Love Me Tender," on which he is joined by his daughter, singer Planet Swan. "For 'Love Me Tender,' ... I was thinking of Willie Nelson's phrasing," Swan says. "You know, how he'll pause. Trying to sing harmony live with Willie Nelson is almost impossible: "Love me tender. (long pause) Love me sweet. (long pause) Never let mego.' How do you follow that? That was the thinking to give it ( "Love Me Tender'') a different flavor." Swan said he based his performance on the thought that he didn't want to sound like he was imitating Elvis. Listening to the CD is proof that he pulled it off successfully. There is an exception: the Sun medley of "Baby Let's Play House," "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" and "You're a Heartbreaker," where Swan wanted that Elvis-ness "because it musically revisits that time (the '50s at Sun)." Swan also includes one song never recorded by Elvis, "Memphis Rocks," which Swan wrote as a salute to the city where as a teenager he started his musical career. And the album's title comes from "Memphis Rocks'': Or, you can cruise Bellevue And gets some barbecue Like Elvis used to do ... Swan is a native of Cape Girardeau, Mo., which like Memphis sits on the banks of the Mississippi River. He wrote his first song, "Lover Please," at age 16. Four years later the tune became a Top 10 hit here and overseas for soul singer Clyde McPhatter. "After it became a hit, I thought, "Wow, the music business is going to be easy.' But it was a long time before it happened again. Three years later, I was living in a vacant building in Nashville," he says. He eventually clicked in Nashville as a songwriter, producer and musician. He toured for several years with Kris Kristofferson. Swan released a self-penned song "I Can Help" in 1974. It became a monster hit, topping the U.S. country and pop charts. It also made the Top 10 in England. Swan went on to place several records on the country charts through the early 1980s. "Like Elvis Used to Do" is his first original album to be released in several years. He traces its beginning, however, to 1975, when he included a slow version of the Elvis hit "Don't Be Cruel" on the "I Can Help" album. It was one of the first noteworthy releases of the Elvis song with an arrangement different from the King's. "I got a lot of positive reaction from that, and I thought, wouldn't it be neat to do a whole album of Elvis songs that are kind of arranged like that?" Swan says. The next step came in the mid1980s when Swan returned to Memphis to work as a musical coach on the film "Great Balls of Fire," a biography of rocker Jerry Lee Lewis. While working on the movie, he became friends of the then-owners of Sun Studio. They loved his Elvis idea, and plans were made to record the music at Sun. He spent late 1997 and early '98 in the studio, laying down some 24 cuts from which the final 14 songs were selected. "We couldn't really get a label interested, so we just released it and sold it out of the studio. It was released in Europe by someone, but nothing really happened there. Then, the people at Audium (Entertainment) became intertested. And it is out now. It hit the stores April 11. "I am so happy," Swan says. "We've got a review coming out in People magazine, a good review, in a week or two and one in Entertainment Weekly. Just a lot of positive things have been happening with it as far as what people have written about it." The first single off the CD, "Wooden Heart," is getting some airplay, Swan says, adding that 150 ABC radio stations are holding a contest that includes playing six or seven cuts off the CD daily for two weeks. Meanwhile, Swan is at work finishing another album, "Sunatra." "It is Sinatra but with a "U' like in Sun Studio. We've gone in and done a bunch of(Frank Sinatra's) songs Memphis style. There are some country, some Stax, some blues, some rockabilly." Swan said he's pleased with "Sunatra," but whether Audium releases it depends on the success "Like Elvis Used to Do.''

The Official Elvis Page from BMG-Funhouse(Japan) E-mail to lmt@rrm.co.jp (Love Me Tender)

Go to: Previous CD News(Jan.-Apr.,2000)
Go to: Previous CD News(July-Dec.,1999)
Go to: Previous CD News(Jan.-June,1999)
Go to: THE ELVIS PRESLEY COLLECTION CD's(TIME-LIFE Series)
Go to: ARTIST OF THE CENTURY (ELVIS CD's from BMG in 1999)
Go to: Previous CD News(1998)
Go to: Previous CD News(1997)
Go to: Previous Elvis News & CD News(1996)