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February 25 / 26 1965
(+ 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)

RCA Studio B - Nashville, Tennessee
Soundtrack Session for MGM's Harum Scarum
MGM Producers : Fred Karger / Gene Nelson
Engineer : Bill Vandevort
(10.15pm - 3.30am)

Musicians:   Backup Vocals:
Guitar:
Scotty Moore The Jordanaires: Gordon Stoker; Neal Matthews; Hoyt Hawkins; Ray
Guitar: Thomas 'Grady' Martin Walker
Guitar: Charlie McCoy  
Bass: Henry Strzelecki  
Drums: D.J. Fontana  
Drums: Kenneth Buttrey  
Piano: Floyd Cramer  
Tambourine: Hoyt Hawkins (?)  
Conga Drums: Gene Nelson (?)  
Flute: Rufus Long  
Oboe: Ralph Strobel  

So Close, Yet So Far (From Paradise)
SPA3 6754
  February 25 / 26 1965 (Thur / Fri)
Take 1 Complete
3:26 (C-2042) (preceded by talking) Harum Scarum (FTD)°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
Take 2 SFS 0:12 (C-2043) A Legendary Performer Volume 6°
Take 3 Complete 3:06 (C-2044) (used for spliced master) A Legendary Performer Volume 6°~Come What May° (listed as Take 4)
~Avventura In Oriente°+Tape°°
Take 4 Complete 3:16 (C-2045) (used for spliced master) Collectors Gold 1°° (listed as Take 1 - echo added)~Come What May°
(listed as Take 5)~Avventura In Oriente°+Tape°°
         
Spliced M 3:04 Spliced from takes 3 & 4
(C-2044 & C-2045)
Comp. Elvis Presley Masters 11 (Sony)°°~Around The World (Franklin
Mint Complete Masters Collection 20)°°~Harum Scarum (FTD)°°~Double
Features - Harem Holiday / Girl Happy°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
+Avventura In Oriente°

So Close, Yet So Far (From Paradise) (movie version - transfer)
2410  
Take 1 (M)
3:04 Mono transfer of spliced master
Acetate°

So Close, Yet So Far (From Paradise) (movie version)
   
N/A (M)
3:00
Avventura In Oriente°~Soundtrack°

My Desert Serenade
SPA3 6761
  February 25 / 26 1965 (Thur / Fri)
Take 1 BD
1:10 (C-2046) Tape°~Avventura In Oriente°~Come What May° (listed as Take 6)
Take 2 SFS 0:18 (C-2047) "More" Harum Scarum (FTD)°°~Avventura In Oriente°~Come What May°
(listed as Take 7)
Take 3 Complete 1:55 (C-2048) Harum Scarum (FTD)°°~Avventura In Oriente°~Come What May°
(listed as Take 8)
Take 4 SFS   (C-2049)  
Take 5 SFS   (C-2050)  
Take 6 Complete   (C-2051)  
Take 7 Complete 1:58 (C-2052) "da da da - funny" Harum Scarum (FTD)°°~Today, Tomorrow & Forever 2°°~Avventura In
Oriente°°
Take 8 Complete 0:16+ (C-2053) Harum Scarum (FTD)°°~Today, Tomorrow & Forever 2°° (dialogue only
- edited in before Take 7)~Avventura In Oriente° (dialogue only)
Take 9 SFS   (C-2054)  
Take 10 Complete 1:56 (C-2055) Come What May° (listed as Take 5)~Avventura In Oriente°
Take 11 SFS   (C-2056)  
Take 12 M 1:49 (C-2057) Comp. Elvis Presley Masters 11 (Sony)°°~Around The World (Franklin
Mint Complete Masters Collection 20)°°~Harum Scarum (FTD)°°~Double
Features - Harem Holiday / Girl Happy°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
+Avventura In Oriente°

My Desert Serenade (movie version - transfer)
2401  
Take 1 (M)
1:49 Mono transfer of C-2057
Acetate°

My Desert Serenade (movie version)
   
N/A (M)
2:06
Avventura In Oriente°~Soundtrack°

Wisdom Of The Ages
SPA3 6760
  February 25 / 26 1965 (Thur / Fri)
Take 1 FS
0:11 (C-2058) Tape°~A Legendary Performer Volume 5°~Avventura In Oriente°
Take 2 Complete 1:58 (C-2059) Tape°~A Legendary Performer Vol. 5°~Avventura In Oriente° (count-in)
~Come What May° (listed as Take 9)
Take 3 Complete 2:04 (C-2060) Harum Scarum (FTD)°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
Take 4 Complete 1:59 (C-2061) Hard Knocks (Venus)°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
Take 5 M 1:53 (C-2062) (2:12 with count-in) Comp. Elvis Presley Masters 11 (Sony)°°~Around The World (Franklin
Mint Complete Masters Collection 20)°°~Harum Scarum (FTD)°°~Double
Features - Harem Holiday / Girl Happy°° (master only)~Avventura In
Oriente°°+Avventura In Oriente°+Hard Knocks (Venus)°° (count-in)

Wisdom Of The Ages (movie version - transfer)
2409  
Take 1 (M)
1:53 Mono transfer of C-2062 (rejected)
Acetate°

Wisdom Of The Ages (movie version - transfer)
2412  
Take 1 (M)
1:53 Mono transfer of C-2062
Acetate°

Kismet
SPA3 6758
  February 25 / 26 1965 (Thur / Fri)
Take 1 FS 0:26 (C-2063) Harum Scarum (FTD)°°+Hard Knocks (Venus)°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
(count-in)~Tape°~A Legendary Performer Volume 8°
Take 2 Complete 2:15 (C-2064) Harum Scarum (FTD)°°~Hard Knocks (Venus)°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
(count-in)~Tape°~A Legendary Performer Vol. 8°~Come What May° (listed
as Take 4)
Take 3 SFS 0:21 (C-2065) Hard Knocks (Venus)°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
Take 4 BD 0:31 (C-2066) Hard Knocks (Venus)°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
Take 5 M 2:08 (C-2067) (2:19 with count-in) Comp. Elvis Presley Masters 11 (Sony)°°~Around The World (Franklin
Mint Complete Masters Collection 20)°°~Harum Scarum (FTD)°°~Double
Features - Harem Holiday / Girl Happy°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
+Avventura In Oriente° (master only)+Hard Knocks (Venus)°°~Avventura
In Oriente°° (count-in)

Kismet (movie version - transfer)
2405  
Take 1 (M)
2:20 Mono transfer of C-2067
Acetate°

Kismet (movie version)
   
N/A (M)
2:15
Avventura In Oriente°~Soundtrack°

Hey Little Girl
SPA3 6759
  February 25 / 26 1965 (Thur / Fri)
Take 1 FS
0:29 (C-2068) Out In Hollywood (FTD)°°+Harum Scarum (FTD)°° (count-in) (clipped)
~Hard Knocks (Venus)°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
Take 2 Complete 2:29 (C-2069) "different arrangement" Out In Hollywood (FTD)°°+Harum Scarum (FTD)°° (extra dialogue)
(clipped)~Hard Knocks (Venus)°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
Take 3 Complete 2:40 (C-2070) Harum Scarum (FTD)°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
Take 4 SFS 0:23 (C-2071) Tape°° (count-in)~Come What May° (listed as Take 1)
Take 5 M 2:13 (C-2072) (2:19 with count-in) Comp. Elvis Presley Masters 11 (Sony)°°~Girls! Girls! & More Girls!
(Franklin Mint Comp.Masters Collection 17)°°~Harum Scarum (FTD)°°
~Double Features - Harem Holiday / Girl Happy°°~Avventura In Oriente°°
+Avventura In Oriente°~Come What May° (listed as Take 2)+Tape°°
(count-in)

Hey Little Girl (movie version - transfer)
2407  
Take 1 (M)
2:13 Mono transfer of C-2072
Acetate°

Hey Little Girl (movie version - intro)
  2112 (March 12 1965)
Take 1     Bongo intro to C-2072  
Take 2 (M) 0:21    

Hey Little Girl (movie version)
     
Edit (M) 2:20 Composite of C-2072 & 2112-02 Avventura In Oriente°~Soundtrack°

Notes

Take 4 of 'So Close, Yet So Far (From Paradise)' with echo added, can be found on Collectors Gold but it is incorrectly listed as being Take 1. Sessions III and the FTD extended soundtrack of Harum Scarum both also wrongly list Take 1 as being on Collectors Gold.

'So Close, Yet So Far (From Paradise)' is spliced as follows:-
0:00-1:33 = Take 3
1:33-3:02 = Take 4

MGM transfers to acetate for movie purposes are numbered as follows:-
2401 - My Desert Serenade
2402 - Go East - Young Man
2403 - Animal Instinct
2404 - Mirage
2405 - Kismet
2406 - Shake That Tambourine
2407 - Hey Little Girl
2408 - Golden Coins
2409 - Wisdom Of The Ages (rejected version)
2410 - So Close, Yet So Far (From Paradise)

2411 - Harem Holiday
2412 - Wisdom Of The Ages
2413 - Harem Holiday

2414 - ?
2415 - ?
2416 - ?
2417 - ?
2418 - Sabre Dance / Hey Little Girl

2419 - ?
2420 - Harem Holiday

The songs 'Baby, If You'll Give Me All Your Love', 'Let Yourself Go' and' Please Don't Stop Loving Me' were originally submitted to be used for the movie, but were eventually dropped. They were, however, used in later movies (Double Trouble, Speedway and Frankie And Johnny).

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.

Session Logs
Acetate
My Desert Serenade
Derert Serenade - Acetate
Recording Information
Harum Scarum
Harum Scarum
 


Music Sheets
Music Sheet
So Close, Yet So Far (From Paradise)
So Close, Yet So Far (From Paradise)
Music Sheet
My Desert Serenade
My Desert Serenade (Thanks to Christopher Brown)
Music Sheet
Wisdom Of The Ages
Wisdom Of The Ages (Thanks to Piotr Stefaniszyn)

Music Sheet
Kismet
Kismet (Thanks to Christopher Brown)
Music Sheet
Hey Little Girl
Hey Little Girl
 

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