'Indescribably Blue' has better ambience
on the first CD version of Gold Records Volume
4 than on the BMG remaster. A very good source
of this master is the reel-to-reel Golden Records
Vol.3 & 4 (ST 713-P-DP). Another good source
is the 2007 Sony remaster used on the 30 disc Complete Elvis Presley Masters collection, FTD's Elvis Sings Guitar Man and the Franklin Mint package
The undubbed 'If Every Day Was Like Christmas'
as released on Memories of Christmas actually
has the vocals of master Take 2, although they
can't be synchronized with the master. On average,
this undubbed version runs a little more than
0.5% too slow and has a different piano intro
that is played an octave lower. The piano intro
of bootlegged Take 1 and the FTD release of How
Great Thou Art is however the same as on the
RCA/BMG master so it seems something happened
during remixing of the version on Memories
of Christmas.
To solve the sequence of the the bootlegged 'I'll
Remember You' fragments, the track on The
Complete Spinout Sessions was pitch-adjusted
(101.254% stretch) to match BMG's remaster which
was considered reference. With the obvious possibility
of misidentification of takes 1 and 3, guessed
sequence then becomes:
Take 1
00:00-02:12 Unreleased
02:12-03:06 (see tape note 9.)
03:06-03:52 (BMG master same time 03:06-03:52,
or RCA master 01:44-02:30)
03:52-04:04 Unreleased
Take 3
00:00-02:12 (tape note3, = BMG master same time
00:00-02:12)
02:12-03:06 (see tape note 7.)
03:53-04:04 (see tape note 4.)
BMG master
00:00-02:12 Take 3
02:12-03:06 Take 1 (this part also on bootlegged
tape)
03:06-03:52 Take 1 (this part not on bootlegged
tape)
03:52-04:04 Take 3
'I'll Remember You' tape notes referring
to bootlegged track running 10:14
1. 00:00-00:03 - Announcement of Take 1.
(Followed by possible cut)
2. 00:03-00:06 - The end of an interrupted
reply by Elvis. It would take a stereo source
to determine whether the tape was cut here or
if the microphone was turned off during the announcement
as it often would.
3. 00:06-02:18 - Guessed Take 3 running
from start and then cut after "...promise
always".
(00:06-01:50 of this take used on original edited
master "...till then" 0:00-1:42)
(00:06-02:18 of this take used for extended BMG
master 00:00-02:12)
4. 02:18-02:29 - Ending of guessed Take
3. (background vocals: "you"...last
note)
(this part used for original edited master 2:31-2:42)
(this part used for extended BMG master 3:53-4:04)
5. 02:30-06:54 - Complete Take 2. No part
cut or used for master.
6. 06:54-06:58 - Announcement of Take 3,
interrupted-tape cut.
7. 06:58-08:39 - The rest of assumed Take
3, after "promise always" (note 3 above),
not used for spliced master.
("o-o you remember too"...background
vocals: "I'll remember"-cut)
Fragment described in note 4 above fits perfectly
after this cut.
8. 08:40-08:50 - Silence. Tape cut.
9. 08:51-10:14 - Pick-up after tape cut
of assumed Take 1 then tape cut "I will remember
too(low)...till then"
08:51-09:20 - "I will remember too(low)...promise
always" not used for RCA/BMG master
09:20-10:14 - "o-o you'll remember too...till
then" used for extended BMG master only 02:12-03:06
Notes above courtesy of 'Master
& Session' web site.
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.
