Re: Elvis vinyl related discussion

[Alexander72]

It’s a nice collection with different “Roustabout” albums as released through the years. Personally I don’t need a different cover and/or pressing with the same tracks. I don’t care about label variations on albums from those years.
colonel snow

Dear Colonel, you have made that point clear over on FECC quite a few times. I have noticed. Really
Let's start fresh over here.
I will post whatever I feel out of my collection for those interested and please do post the pictures of rare acetates and stuff out of your database.
Both deserve an audience.
And if something is not of your interest, leave it for others to enjoy.
Thank you.

[colonel snow]

I agree with your point; uploading makes a living forum. For me you can post as much you want to do.
I only gave my opinion about collecting too much versions of the same album(s).


colonel snow

[Alexander72]

I agree with your point; uploading makes a living forum. For me you can post as much you want to do.
I only gave my opinion about collecting too much of the same album(s).


colonel snow

You have made that clear by now.
Let's get back to business.

[Alexander72]

One of the most interesting American labels to collect is perhaps the Tan label from 1975-76. This label was used by RCA for only one year. After its introduction in July 1975, the Tan label was replaced by the black label "Dog Near Top" in the summer of 1976.

Most records from the Elvis catalog were released in limited numbers on the Tan label, and the soundtracks on this label are particularly rare. This is especially true for the soundtracks from the 1965-1968 period, which enjoyed little interest and were pressed in very limited numbers on Tan (titles like Spinout and Clambake were never released on this label at all).

I've now reached the point where I can count on one hand the titles I'm still looking for for a complete series. The Tan reissues of Raised On Rock and Pure Gold, in particular, are extremely difficult to find and therefore extremely valuable but also LSP1254 (debut album), Elvis Is Back! and NBC TV-Special are tough finds and still missing.

Here's a selection of the hardest-to-find Tan labels from my collection, with The Wonderful World Of Christmas as the standout. This version was only available during the 1975 Christmas season. For the following year (1976), the record was replaced by a budget LP with a new matrix number (ANL1-1936). The version of Aloha From Hawaii is also very special: it's the Record Club Edition in stereo (not quadrophonic) with matrix number R213736. Happy hunting!

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[Alexander72]

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[Alexander72]

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[JohanD]

Those are some great pressings Alexander, very nice to see!
Have some of the 'tan' versions, but i don't think any are rare. How do they come out soundwise?

At the previous forum there was nice topic about the British albums that where "cut" by Bob Jones/Boppin' Bob.
His work must be of the very best in the Elvis catalogue.
Last week i had (finaly) luck to find his 1981 "Loving you" version. But this version is not included on Discogs. On both sides the "Elec­tron­i­cally Re­processed Stereo" (wich is on other LY releases by him) is missing completely. Ofcourse they are all in glorious mono.
As for sound, if there is one analogue pressing of LY that MUST be in the collection, it's this one, it's awesome!

[Bilbobaggins]

Those are some great pressings Alexander, very nice to see!
Have some of the 'tan' versions, but i don't think any are rare. How do they come out soundwise?

At the previous forum there was nice topic about the British albums that where "cut" by Bob Jones/Boppin' Bob.
His work must be of the very best in the Elvis catalogue.
Last week i had (finaly) luck to find his 1981 "Loving you" version. But this version is not included on Discogs. On both sides the "Elec­tron­i­cally Re­processed Stereo" (wich is on other LY releases by him) is missing completely. Ofcourse they are all in glorious mono.
As for sound, if there is one analogue pressing of LY that MUST be in the collection, it's this one, it's awesome!

Very nice Johan. This is one I am still on the lookout for. Maybe at the coming record fair in den Bosch... who knows. I have, among others, the Bob Jones cut of King Creole, and that sounds marvelous too. But I think we discussed that one already on the old FECC.

[Bilbobaggins]

LSP4579Tan.jpg

R213736Tan.jpg

And again you show us a nice part of your collection, thank you! I don't have many "tans" in my collection. Two I am sure of are the Worldwide Gold Award Hits volumes 1 and 2 sets. Even today these are nice sets, in glorious mono.

I would't mind having 1 minute of free shopping in your collection!

Keep 'em coming...

[Alexander72]

Those are some great pressings Alexander, very nice to see!
Have some of the 'tan' versions, but i don't think any are rare. How do they come out soundwise?

At the previous forum there was nice topic about the British albums that where "cut" by Bob Jones/Boppin' Bob.
His work must be of the very best in the Elvis catalogue.
Last week i had (finaly) luck to find his 1981 "Loving you" version. But this version is not included on Discogs. On both sides the "Elec­tron­i­cally Re­processed Stereo" (wich is on other LY releases by him) is missing completely. Ofcourse they are all in glorious mono.
As for sound, if there is one analogue pressing of LY that MUST be in the collection, it's this one, it's awesome!

Yeah, that Boppin' Bob Jones thread was awesome, all sparked by LesterB. Has he been located over here yet? I must have his email somewhere so I will notify him. The Loving You INTS 5109 you just showed is hands down the best sounding Loving You on vinyl I probably ever heard. Clearness and channel separation are second to none. I am a sucker for these 1981 releases.

Almost all the 1981 Green Label RCA International releases sounded great, because of the mastering by Boppin' Bob Jones and Big Pete (Norman?), although I found the INTS release of NBC TV Special sound rather disappointing. Too bad all that research from FECC is gone. During the time we discussed the Green INTS label releases over there I was in the process of acquiring all these to have a complete series. A few months ago I finally succeeded.

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[Alexander72]

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Only How Great Thou Art is missing. I remember buying it but could not locate it when photographing the series.

LSP4579Tan.jpg

R213736Tan.jpg

And again you show us a nice part of your collection, thank you! I don't have many "tans" in my collection. Two I am sure of are the Worldwide Gold Award Hits volumes 1 and 2 sets. Even today these are nice sets, in glorious mono.

I wouldn't mind having 1 minute of free shopping in your collection!

Keep 'em coming...

I know my wife would not mind

[colonel snow]

I agree with your point; uploading makes a living forum. For me you can post as much you want to do.
I only gave my opinion about collecting too much of the same album(s).


colonel snow

You have made that clear by now.
Let's get back to business.

For this “business” I’ve decided to reduce my contributions about vinyl on this forum. It prevents all kind of discussion about the vinyl-subject.
From now on I only participate in topics interesting for me. That's my "business" now.

colonel snow

[JohanD]

Those are some great pressings Alexander, very nice to see!
Have some of the 'tan' versions, but i don't think any are rare. How do they come out soundwise?

At the previous forum there was nice topic about the British albums that where "cut" by Bob Jones/Boppin' Bob.
His work must be of the very best in the Elvis catalogue.
Last week i had (finaly) luck to find his 1981 "Loving you" version. But this version is not included on Discogs. On both sides the "Elec­tron­i­cally Re­processed Stereo" (wich is on other LY releases by him) is missing completely. Ofcourse they are all in glorious mono.
As for sound, if there is one analogue pressing of LY that MUST be in the collection, it's this one, it's awesome!

Very nice Johan. This is one I am still on the lookout for. Maybe at the coming record fair in den Bosch... who knows. I have, among others, the Bob Jones cut of King Creole, and that sounds marvelous too. But I think we discussed that one already on the old FECC.

Oh, but the King Creole version by Bob is one of the great ones too, one to hold on for sure!

[JohanD]

20250615_142534.jpg

20250615_142957.jpg

Only How Great Thou Art is missing. I remember buying it but could not locate it when photographing the series.

LSP4579Tan.jpg

R213736Tan.jpg

And again you show us a nice part of your collection, thank you! I don't have many "tans" in my collection. Two I am sure of are the Worldwide Gold Award Hits volumes 1 and 2 sets. Even today these are nice sets, in glorious mono.

I wouldn't mind having 1 minute of free shopping in your collection!

Keep 'em coming...

I know my wife would not mind

Those are awesome Alexander!
About those you show here, i have 15 of them...but also others like "Images", some (newly compilated)Camdens from that time (80's) and other compilations by Bob.(Pretty sure you have them too) He was a true master of cutting and mastering, in a time where the technology wasn't what it is today.
Just one question for now, how is the soundquality on the International's Harem Holdiday?

[JohnnyByeBye]

Hi guys,how are you? I got a hint from the great collector Alexander (as opposed to Alexander The Great) that there is a forum with an active Elvis vinyl thread and I just had to join in It's great to see you all here again

I hope that all of you have been doing great since the collapse of FECC and have meanwhile maybe done some interesting purchases.

There was some mention here about the BBJ (Bobbin Bob Jones) -mastered vinyl Loving You, released by RCA International in the UK on the green label. If you are looking for the best sounding vinyl of this lp, this is it. Compared to any other pressing (new or old,mono or the hideous electronically reprocessef stereo ones) this really is the best. Plus, it usually is very affordable,around the 10 EUR price range. Warmly recommended +++ And like Alexander mentioned I guess this gem was brought to our attention originally by LesterB, a dedicated hi-fi Elvis vinyl man from the British isles.

And the same goes for King Creole that was released on the same RCA Internal green label. Wonderful,balanced,chrystal clear master,the kind which reveals new instruments you never realized to exist on the tracks.

However Johan also asked about the sound of Harem Holiday (which I also have), but I have to say that because it using the original Tom Parker -influenced ("they only need to hear my boy,and not some unknown musicians!) awful mix, I cannot make myself to listen it Since the album was released as Double Features cd in the nineties, that has been my go-to version ever since. At least the band is audible and that's the way Johnny likes it. Also Tyrone!

[Bilbobaggins]

Hi JohnnyByeBye, good to see you here! Let's keep this thread very alive.

I have started (re) buying vinyl again about three years ago. Since then I play my vinyl records almost daily. Vinyl is meant to be played imo. I enjoy them so much more than CD (and I do have a lot of those). Nothing compares to the rituals that go with playing vinyl while holding that big LP-sleeve in you hand. Lately my focus is on finding nice original UK (especially mono) pressings. I enjoy "the hell out of" them! And indeed, the BBJ mastered records are also a joy! Got a lot o' livin' and collecting to do!

[JohanD]

Hi guys,how are you? I got a hint from the great collector Alexander (as opposed to Alexander The Great) that there is a forum with an active Elvis vinyl thread and I just had to join in It's great to see you all here again

I hope that all of you have been doing great since the collapse of FECC and have meanwhile maybe done some interesting purchases.

There was some mention here about the BBJ (Bobbin Bob Jones) -mastered vinyl Loving You, released by RCA International in the UK on the green label. If you are looking for the best sounding vinyl of this lp, this is it. Compared to any other pressing (new or old,mono or the hideous electronically reprocessef stereo ones) this really is the best. Plus, it usually is very affordable,around the 10 EUR price range. Warmly recommended +++ And like Alexander mentioned I guess this gem was brought to our attention originally by LesterB, a dedicated hi-fi Elvis vinyl man from the British isles.

And the same goes for King Creole that was released on the same RCA Internal green label. Wonderful,balanced,chrystal clear master,the kind which reveals new instruments you never realized to exist on the tracks.

However Johan also asked about the sound of Harem Holiday (which I also have), but I have to say that because it using the original Tom Parker -influenced ("they only need to hear my boy,and not some unknown musicians!) awful mix, I cannot make myself to listen it Since the album was released as Double Features cd in the nineties, that has been my go-to version ever since. At least the band is audible and that's the way Johnny likes it. Also Tyrone!

Thanks Johnny for reviewing the Harem Holiday version you've got.
There are three International green label versions, guess Bob Jones did not cut them (or it's not mentioned on Discogs), there is one by Pete Norman too, is that your copy?
I like the Double features version too, even the new mix on the sessions set by FTD is better then the original album, but the best the masters sound (to me) is on the 'Avventura In Oriente' set by Victrola from 2018, these really got punch. Shame that version it's not on vinyl...

[JohanD]

The 'Greatest hits vol1' version from 1981 and the British upgrade "The sound of your cry" from the same year.
US, France and the British version.
They do sound marvelous (the British one cut by Bob Jones even excellent) and the tracklisting is great too on them.
The combination of studiomasters and alternative (live) tracks is very well done.
But the title "Greatest hits vol 1" is pretty strange (and shortsighted) for such a powerfull album.
Specially since there never was a second volume two.
The the idea by the British label better and has more thought in the concept
Great artwork too!

[Bilbobaggins]

Somehow it seems to me that the British (RCA UK) always gave more thought to what they released and how it looked than RCA US did.

[JohnnyByeBye]

Johan, I need to check if there is any indication on the dead wax of who mastered my green label HH. I'm not home right now but will back to you on that later.

As I'm sure you know,the problem with the original mix is that Elvis's vocal is way too loud. The master tapes are only 3 track (Elvis voc on one and then the rest of the band in 2 tracks (stereo). So in the orginal mix they just raised the Elvis voc track too high,as instructed by Parker. The voc was just too loud for me to be enjoyable. The arrangements and musicians on HH were good (the songs sometimes not), so I would have liked to hear them as well!

Luckily they corrected he mix for DF cd. I don't have any FTD versions but probably the mix in them is more balanced as well (?)