Elvis Presley Recording Sessions

June 23 1968

(+ means you need both ~ means same material °° means stereo or binaural ° means mono)
(SFS = Short False Start | FS = False Start | LFS or BD (Breakdown) = Long False Start | PB (Playback) or Complete = Complete Take)

Western Recorders Studio 1 - Hollywood, California

Soundtrack Session for NBC TV Special 'Elvis'

Producer : Steve Binder

Arrangers : William Goldenberg / Jack Elliot

Engineer: Bones Howe

Musicians:		Backup Vocals:
Guitar:	Tommy Tedesco	The Blossoms: Darlene Love; Jean King; Fanita James
Guitar:	Michael Deasy	Julie Rinker; B.J. Baker; Frank Howren; Bill Lee; Gene Merlino;
Guitar:	Alvin Casey	Thurl Ravenscroft; Bill Brown; Joe Eich; Elaine Black; Dean Parker;
Bass / Keyboards:	Larry Knechtal	Jack Gruberman; Sally Stevens; Jackie Ward; Ronald Hicklin; Tom Bahler;
Bass:	Charles Berghofer	Mitch Gordon
Drums:	Hal Blaine
Piano:	Don Randi	Orchestra:
Percussion:	John Cyr	Conductor: Billy Goldenberg
Percussion:	Elliot Franks	Violin: Leonard Atkins; Leonard Malarsky; Sidney Sharp; Thelma Beach;
Bongo's:	Frank DeVito	_Marvin Limonick; Joseph Stepansky; Alexander Murray; Ambrose Russo
Harmonica:	Tommy Morgan	Cello: Eleanor Saltkin; Paul Bergstrom; Christine Walevska; Emmett
Keyboard:	Bob Alberti	_Sargeant; Richard Noel; Frank Rosolino; Ernest Tack
Keyboard:	Tommy Wolfe	Trombone: Francis Howard
		Trumpet: Oliver Mitchell; John Audino; Manny Stevens; Anthony Terran
		Saxophone: Anthony Ortega; Peter Christlies; John Kelso; Gene Cipriano
		French Horn: Dick Perrisi; William Hinshaw

Electronic Karate (Instrumental)					June 23 1968
Take 1	FT		"Boys"
Take 2	FT		"Boys"
Take 3	FT		"Boys"
Take 4	FT		"Boys"
Take 5	FT		"Boys"
Take 6	FT		"Boys"
Take 7	FT		"Boys" "Print"
Take 8	FS		"Boys"
Take 9	FS		"Boys"
Take 10	FT		"Boys"
Take 11	FT		"Girls" "NG"
Take 12	FS		"Girls"
Take 13	FT		"Girls" "NG"
Take 14	FS		"Girls"
Take 15	FS		"Girls"
Take 16	FS		"Girls"
Take 17	(M)	1:43	"Girls" (Used for Road Medley) (Filmed Playback on June 27)	Memories°°~NBC TV Special ('91 CD)°°

The Scratch (Instrumental)					June 23 1968
Take 1	FS
Take 2	FS
Take 3	(M)	0:20	(Used as ending for TV version only of 'Guitar Man Opening') (Filmed Playback on June 30)	The '68 Comeback (Deluxe DVD)°~The '68 Comeback (2000 DVD)°

Road Medley (Composite)
Spliced	M	15:31	Composite of:-	Memories°° (Full Length)~Comp. Elvis Presley Masters 16 (Sony)°° (Edit) ~Singer Presents Elvis (Venus)°° (Edit - Not Faded)(Edit)~The Complete '68 Comeback Special (Franklin Mint Comp. MastersCollection 7)°° (Edit) ~Comp. '68 Comeback Special CD1°° (Edit)~NBC TV Special ('91 CD)°° (Edit)~(24 Bit)° (Edit)
		1:51	Nothingville /
		1:59	Guitar Man (1) (Guitar Man's Evil Section 1-10) (Not on Original Master)
		1:22	Let Yourself Go (1) (Guitar Man's Evil Section 2-07) (Not on Original Master)
			Flicker Routine / (Not on Original Master)
			Let Yourself Go (2) / (Not on Original Master)
			Alley Pickup (Guitar Man's Evil Section 3-07) (Not on Original Master)
		0:28	Guitar Man (2) (Escape Section 1 Remake-07) (Not on Original Master)
		0:13	Calliope Carnival (Escape Section 2-02) (Overdubbed Announcer on Original Master)
		1:04	Big Boss Man (Escape Section 3-03)
		1:41	It Hurts Me (Escape Section 4-07) (Not on Original Master)
		1:43	Electronic Karate (Not on Original Master)
		0:47	It Hurts Me (After Karate Section 1-11) (Not on Original Master)
		1:53	Guitar Man (3) / Little Egypt (After Karate Section 2-10)
		2:36	Trouble / Guitar Man (4) (After Karate Section 3-03)

If I Can Dream				WPA1 8029	June 23 1968
Take 1	FT/Comp	3:08		Platinum 3°°~If I Can Dream (2007 Single)°°
Take 2	FS
Take 3	FS	0:30		Let Yourself Go (FTD)°°
Take 4	FT/Comp	3:26		Let Yourself Go (FTD)°° (Count-in)~Collection Volume 4 (CD)°° ~He Walks Beside Me°°
Take 5	M	3:28	(Record Version) (Used for Lip Synch on June 29 - 6pm & 8pm)	Complete Elvis Presley Masters 16 (Sony)°°~The Comp. '68 Comeback Special (Franklin Mint Complete Masters Collection 7)°°~Elvis 75 - Good Rockin' Tonight 3 (Legacy)°°~Elvis 75 CD2°°~The Comp. '68 Comeback Special CD1°°~I Believe - The Gospel Masters 4°°~Comp. Single Coll. 6°° ~Memories°°+The Comp. '68 Comeback Special CD1°~NBC TV Special (24 Bit)° ("Thank you goodnight" from June 30 Vocal Overdub & overdubbed applause)+Singer Presents Elvis (Venus)°° (Count-in)

If I Can Dream (Dubdown)						June 23 1968
Dubdown	(M)	3:05	(Dubdown to Track) (Used for Filmed Vocal Overdub on June 30)	Complete Dressing Room Session°~The '68 Comeback (LP)° (acetate)

Memories (Track)				June 23 1968
Take 1	FT
Take 2	FS		"Hold Intro"
Take 3	FS
Take 4	(M)	3:09	(Vocal Overdub on June 24) (Filmed Vocal Overdub on June 27 - 6pm & 8pm)

Memories (Short Track)			June 23 1968
Take 1	FS
Take 2	(M)	(Used for Filmed Playback - June 30)

Let Yourself Go (Closing Instrumental)					June 23 1968
Take 1	FT
Take 2	FT
Take 3	FT
Take 4	FT
Take 5	M	1:02	"Hold" (End used for spliced master)	Burbank '68 (FTD)°~The '68 Comeback (LP)° (acetate)

A Little Less Conversation (Track)						June 23 1968
Take NA	(M)		(Vocal Overdub on June 24)

The Road Medley on the Venus release "Singer Presents Elvis" is the original master of the Road Medley (without It Hurts Me and Let Yourself Go etc...) but has the full unfaded ending.

Take 1 of If I Can Dream on 'Platinum' has left and right channels reversed.

It's likely that the vocals on the acetate of A Little Less Conversation, released on 'Memories' and 'The Complete '68 Comeback Special', were overdubbed in the evening of June 24. A Little Less Conversation is thought to be the eventually unused "Reprise" version. The 'A Life in Music' information about the March 7 'Live a Little, Love a Little' soundtrack backing track (take 16) being used with replaced, overdubbed vocals is incorrect. The track and background vocals of the TV Special A Little Less Conversation are unique and in a different, lower, key. Neither is it close to the March 7 outtake or LP version. Although an acetate of the instrumental and background vocal tracks of the original 'Live a Little, Love a Little' version was produced, and released on the bootleg LP 'The '68 Comeback', it apparently wasn't overdubbed at any stage during the production of the TV Special. It was maybe used as a lead track to guide the percussion when recording a new version. The drum work of the June version is simplified, but fairly synchronized with the March version.

In March of 2007, Sony decided to go through all of Elvis' masters. They retransferred everything and remastered all tracks including repairing as many clicks, pops, bad edits and dropouts as they could. They have used these newly mastered recordings on their new releases since 2007 including budget soundtracks, 'Legacy' releases, the 30 disc 'Complete Elvis Presley Masters' collection and the Franklin Mint package.