Elvis 6363 Sunset

[Albert]

ELVIS 6363 SUNSET - A Combination of Studio Outtakes And Concert Rehearsals From 1972 & 1975

***DELETED TITLE***

Tracklist: (click on the track to hear a 20 second sample) Help

STUDIO OUTTAKES FROM MARCH 27-29, 1972
01. Always On My Mind - take 3
02. Burning Love - take 2
03. For The Good Times - take 3
04. Where Do I Go From Here - take 6
05. Fool - take 1
06. It's A Matter Of Time - take unknown

CONCERT REHEARSALS FROM MARCH 30 & 31, 1972
07. See See Rider
08. Until It's Time For You To Go
09. A Big Hunk O' Love
10. All Shook Up
11. Heartbreak Hotel
12. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel
13. Can't Help Falling In Love

STUDIO OUTTAKES FROM MARCH 10-13, 1975
14. Green, Green Grass Of Home - takes 2 & 3
15. Susan When She Tried - takes 1 & 2
16. And I Love You So - take 1
17. Bringing It Back - takes 2 & 3
18. T-R-O-U-B-L-E - take 1
19. Shake A Hand - take 2


Reviews:
Jungleroom76
Andy Urias

[Jungleroom76]

"a must-have"
Reviewed by Jungleroom76

Here's a review for "6363 Sunset" that I wrote for my website a couple of years ago...

The great people at the "Follow That Dream" (FTD) Collector's Label continue to release some FANTASTIC material, and the ninth release on the special collector's label, "6363 Sunset", continues that trend!!

Elvis fans, of course, will recognize the title of "6363 Sunset" as the address of the RCA recording studios in Hollywood, California. 6363 Sunset Boulevard was the site for 2 different recording sessions for Elvis in the 1970's. From March 27th through March 29th, 1972, Elvis recorded songs for an album being planned by RCA entitled "Standing Room Only." The album was eventually scrapped by RCA, and the songs recorded during this session, often referred to as the "Burning Love" sessions, wound up being released on singles, budget albums, and the 1973 "Fool" album. After Elvis completed these recording sessions, he spent the 30th and 31st of March rehearsing for his upcoming spring tour. Elvis returned to 6363 Sunset Boulevard on March 10th, 1975 and spent 4 days there recording the 10 songs that comprised Elvis' 1975 album "Today".

This new "FTD" release, "6363 Sunset", contains many alternate outtakes from the 1972 and 1975 recording sessions, as well as alternate rehearsal versions of several of Elvis' greatest concert songs! To give you a better review, we have decided to list each song on the album, followed by our comments.

ALWAYS ON MY MIND (take 3) - This outtake is similiar to the released version - VERY pretty!

BURNING LOVE (take 2) - An early run-through of Elvis' biggest hit single of the 1970's! This version is MUCH different with Elvis singing the song in a key that was obviously too high for him...his voice sounds very strained on this alternate take, though the band sounds GREAT!

FOR THE GOOD TIMES (take 3) - Another outtake which sounds beautiful, and quite close to the original!

WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE (take 6) - An underrated song from Elvis' "Fool" album...although this outtake is close to the studio master, it is nice to finally have an outtake of this hidden gem from the obsolete 1973 album!

FOOL (take 1) - The title track to Elvis' 1973 album, and a GREAT first take. Very close to the original, but with a longer ending!

IT'S A MATTER OF TIME (take unknown) - Another rare gem, this song was the flip side of Elvis' 1972 single "Burning Love". This outtake is PROBABLY an early take, as Elvis still mixes up the lyrics in a couple of places!

SEE SEE RIDER (rehearsal take 2) - One of the first songs you MUST listen to when you check this album out...a GREAT ROCKIN' rehearsal of Elvis' concert opener, and it's also VERY cool to hear the song with JUST the "TCB Band" and back-up singers -- NO ORCHESTRA! VERY COOL!

UNTIL IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO GO (rehearsal take unknown) - A pretty rehearsal of a song Elvis used mainly during his spring and summer tours of 1972!

A BIG HUNK O' LOVE (rehearsal take unknown) - Another rehearsal of a GREAT Elvis concert rocker, without the orchestra!

ALL SHOOK UP (rehearsal take unknown) - Another concert staple gets a complete run through!

HEARTBREAK HOTEL (rehearsal take unknown) - A very "bluesy" rehearsal of Elvis' 1956 hit single!

(LET ME BE YOUR)TEDDY BEAR/DON'T BE CRUEL (rehearsal take unknown) - Fairly new to Elvis' concert lineup, this medley would of course, become a staple of Elvis' concerts for the rest of his life. Not much different than his usual concert versions!

CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE (rehearsal take unknown) - Although Elvis sang this song hundreds of times during the 1970's, this rehearsal version sounds very pretty and Elvis really puts some effort into it, after a bit of fooling around at the beginning of the song!

GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME (takes 2-3) - Take 2 of this song from the "Today" album is incomplete, with Elvis stopping the song shortly after it starts. Take 3 is complete, and sounds quite similiar to the album version!

SUSAN WHEN SHE TRIED (takes 1-2) - Another song from the "Today" album, take 1 features Elvis goofing around with the names in the song. Take 2 is a complete take, with a much longer ending! Another underrated gem from the 1970's!

AND I LOVE YOU SO (take 1) - This outtake opens with Elvis saying "Come here Sheila, let me sing to you baby", referring to Elvis' then-girlfriend Sheila Ryan. Elvis then turns in a very credible version of the song, sounding very similiar to the album version!

BRINGIN' IT BACK (takes 2-3) - Take 2 of this GREAT song starts out with a missed piano note, followed by Elvis saying "Next piano player". Elvis jumps right into take 3, which is an EXCELLENT outtake of this song...one of the BEST from the "Today" album, and a FANTASTIC alternate cut from "6363 Sunset"!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E (take 1) - The first take of Elvis' hit single from 1975 features The King still trying to get a hang of the lyrics. He does a fairly good job, but messes them up near the end of the song! It is GREAT to FINALLY have an alternate take of this song, especially an early take so we can hear Elvis working the song out. The ending of this alternate take does not have the "say hey" vocals over the music, which is also very interesting to hear! This track is worth the price of admission alone!

SHAKE A HAND (take 2) - This final song on "6363 Sunset" sounds very similiar to the album version, although the ending is a little longer, and as the song fades out, you can hear Elvis goofing around with the lyrics! A GREAT ending to a FANTASTIC album!!

As with the past "FTD" releases, "6363 Sunset" comes in a digi-pack case with some photos from the period. In our opinion, this release deserves a much better front cover than a grainy photo of Elvis from the 1972 recording sessions. The photo inside the package, under the CD tray, is a nice photo of Elvis in his "Indian Feather" suit, while the back cover features a rare photo of Elvis in his 2-piece navy blue suit. The session information on this release, as with all of the "FTD" releases, is very minimal, and in the future, perhaps some more in-depth information on the sessions could be included. All in all -- the packaging for "6363 Sunset" is standard, with a less-than standard front cover.

The sound on "6363 Sunset" varies from track to track...most of the tracks are in excellent sound quality, especially the studio material. The sound suffers slightly on the rehearsal material, especially an annoying tape hiss on "Until It's Time For You To Go". But, considering the historical significance of the material presented on this release, the overall sound is quite good.

In conclusion..."6363 Sunset" is a MUST HAVE for Elvis fans!! The old adage says "You can't judge a book by it's cover", and that is exactly the case here. While the front cover art is somewhat lacking, what matters most is the material inside, and that material is OUTSTANDING!!!!

HOPE THIS IS HELPFUL TO EVERYONE!!
TCB!

Mike

[Albert]

"The music business had changed"
reviewed by Andy Urias

Outtakes of Elvis' recordings from the 70's can be boring and fascinating at the same time. 6363 Sunset, this recent FTD release is an example of that. First of all, let's look at the material Elvis was performing in the 70's. There was some quality material on his albums, but the majority of the songs were pretty weak. He saved some of those weak tunes because being one of the great vocalists ever; he was able to make them interesting and/or appealing.

If we spend too much time searching for reasons of why the songs were weak, then we'll run into the argument that Colonel Parker was quite possibly the worst manager the contemporary music business has ever seen. Yes, he was a mastermind at marketing and promotion, but that doesn't mean it was always in good taste and good for his artist's integrity. Wanting Elvis to have a piece of the publishing to the songs that he recorded was a good concept, but it also was a huge reason Elvis ended up recording lack-luster material. Of course, Elvis ended up recording songs that he didn't have a piece of the publishing for, but except for a few gems, none of them are that noteworthy. Another major problem was RCA. Contracting an artist to release 3 or 4 records a year was ridiculous in the 1970's. They tried to promote and market Elvis like he was a contemporary artist. If they really thought he still was, they were insane. Led Zeppelin was now a contemporary artist that released one record every couple of years at best.

The music business had changed, yet they treated his release schedule like he was still the teen-phenomenon that he was in the 50's. They wanted him to be what he had been instead of understanding what he was at that point and more importantly what he could have become. He had a horrible manager and a horrible A&R department at his record label. But the bottom line is that he didn't do much about it. He seemed to let fools destroy his legacy and he continued to self-destruct through an intense drug addiction.

What's always been fascinating about Elvis was his ability to arrange songs. He understood music and what the different genres represented. He was able to see and hear how a song could be interpreted and rearranged. These qualities are some of the characteristics that made him such an amazing artist. I have read time after time how he would influence the arrangement or structure of an unknown or well-known song during a recording session. This ability of his is what should be showcased on a "studio outtake" release. That would be interesting and educational.

Just hearing lackluster versions of average songs really isn't that fascinating. Hearing his input between takes and then hearing him working the song out is what would be impressive. Of course, he didn't necessarily commit to his recording sessions on a consistent basis in the 70's (understandably so), but I'm sure there are enough quality moments that I am referring to, to showcase on a release such as this.

I'm not going to pretend to have extensive knowledge of all his 70's material. Yes, for the most part, I have all of the songs in one form or another, but I don't own multiple bootlegs of outtakes from his 70's output. I can't distinguish little subtle variations in songs such as 'Susan When She Tried' or any of the others. Most importantly, I don't care. The material is weak and due to his deteriorating health, his voice wasn't as full in my opinion. Even by 1972, one can hear that his voice is weaker than it was in 1969 for example. That isn't to say that he wasn't capable of amazing vocal performances, it just seemed that at that point, he wasn't as consistent as he once was. Even when he sang ridiculous songs on some of his movie soundtracks, his voice was never questionable in my opinion. Even though I think his material that he was performing was week, I still enjoy hearing these outtakes because the songs are stripped from all the overdubs that accompanied much of his 70's work.

Hearing the songs in this form is nice and worth it. I may have criticisms of the material and of his voice at that point, he was still a fantastic singer. Elvis could have recorded amazing music in the 70's with his ability to recreate songs and his vocal execution. Great songwriters like Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, and many more could have written him songs. If those artists had commissioned to do so, they would have jumped at the opportunity. They've done it for many other artists over the years and would have found it an honor to do so for Elvis. Again, that is a job for a manager and A&R department. Elvis was basically without the two and he didn't have the ability to make decisions as at that point, he was too out of it to do so.

I like the idea of rehearsal material for his upcoming tour in 1972. However, BMG failed to deliver on 6363 Sunset. After 'See See Rider' and 'Until Its Time For You To Go', Ernst Jorgensen and crew throw on a bunch of 50's tunes as if this is a greatest hits compilation. Elvis' performance of his 50's songs in the 70's is a joke for the most part. Anyone can hear it in his voice and his delivery. A nice version of 'Polk Salad Annie', 'American Trilogy', 'Proud Mary', 'I'll Remember You', 'Never Been To Spain', etc. would have been nice. Now I'm not positive that he rehearsed those songs, but I'm sure he rehearsed a couple of them and most likely some other tunes that he never performed on stage. BMG just doesn't want to give the fans anything really interesting.

Overall, this CD is worth having, but BMG doesn't really deliver anything earth shattering. The CD is worth having because it is Elvis and it gives the listener an opportunity to hear one of the great vocalists of all time rehearsing and recording. But what it really shows me is an amazing artist deteriorating quickly (and this is considering that a just a few years prior he was at the top of his game). The CD documents a couple of chapters in a sad story. I'll conclude by saying this, BMG please start releasing live concerts on a consistent basis!

? Andy Urias, May 18 2001

[waymore44]

I think that I like the first take better overall than the master. It seems looser and although he screws up a little it's real and rocks more to me. I just miss the "hey's" at the end. It's definitely a better mix as well.

Waymore

[JerryNodak]

I give the studio tracks 5 stars. I wish there would have been more of those. The rehearsal tracks seem out of place. 3 stars. Overall: 4 stars.

[wild4elvis1962]

6868 Sunset Is A Must Have For The Elvis Fan.
I Own This One And I Must Say That It Is Awsome.
My Favorite Track Is '''see See Rider'''. This Is Not
A Live Recording Of The Song, But Rather A Studio
Version. Elvis Really Puts Himself Into The Song And
Turns On The Juice For This One.
If You Dont Own A Copy, I Suggest You Correct The Mistake.

[Pelvis]

I love the " ALways on my Mind " take 3 version on this CD..it is very emotional and beautifully sang by Elvis..One my all time favourite songs of him.

Buy this CD!

[elvisfan92]

its a must have for elvis fans

[rockin]

I really like that song Where Do I Go From Here

So any chance of getting more outtakes of this song is good to me lolol

[brf1964]

I especially like the takes of 'And I Love You So' & 'Bringing It Back'
One of the best FTD's and I highly recommend it.

[Sonny]

The full album