When it comes to Elvis Presley, plenty of musical dreams have been realized thanks to the Follow That Dream label.  The mail-order/online Presley specialist label has recently announced its latest batch of Elvis rarities, including one long-awaited box set, an expanded soundtrack recording, a live concert and a new book-and-CD combo.

The centerpiece of FTD’s upcoming releases is, no doubt, A Boy From Tupelo: The Complete 1953-1955 Recordings.  This deluxe box will include, for the first time in one collection, every known Elvis Presley Sun Records master and outtake.  In addition, The Boy From Tupelo also contains two privately-pressed sides, and vintage radio and concert performances from the period.  All told, the 3-CD package features 10 previously-unreleased cuts, and is due to ship directly from FTD on or around August 29, 2012.

The 3 discs are joined by a 512-page (!) book in 12” x 12” format, and the book includes more than 500 photos, approximately 200 of which have never before been published.  This hefty tome promises to detail these formative days of Elvis' career via facts, anecdotes, memorabilia, photos, and a succinct narrative.  The book contains Steve Sholes’ original notes on the Sun tapes.  Both the book and CD holder are packaged in one slipcase.  The box covers the period between July 4, 1954 (less than one day before Elvis’ first professional recording session) and December 1955, when the future King left Sun Records for the greener pastures of RCA Victor.  This set can, in fact, be thought of as a “prequel” to Legacy Recordings’ comprehensive Young Man with a Big Beat box from 2011, which collected Presley’s complete 1956 masters.

FTD asserts that “all audio has been remastered and restored as best we could, but Disc 3 has pretty rough audio.”  Of course, Presley’s Sun material has been covered numerous times in the past, but this collection is the first time each and every known Sun master and outtake has been compiled in one set.  Hit the jump for more details now including the full track listing, plus the scoop on three more upcoming FTD titles!

Packages compiling Elvis Presley’s Sun years have been commonplace since the mid-1970s.  In 1975, just one year before the singer’s untimely death, the British division of RCA Victor curated The Sun Collection, and one year later, RCA U.S. was inspired to do just the same.   Under the revised title The Sun Sessions, the 16-track compilation of Elvis’ earliest recorded performances hit the U.S. market, reminding listeners of the primal power of “That’s All Right,” “Mystery Train,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Good Rockin’ Tonight” and the rest.  (As a result of RCA having acquired the singer’s Sun masters, the last six tracks on this LP never actually appeared on the Sun label!)

In time, The Sun Sessions was replaced by other, more comprehensive and “complete” looks at Presley’s brief but historically important tenure at Sun Records. The original 1976 compilation was released on CD as part of BMG Japan’s Elvis Paper Sleeve Collection in 2000 (BVCM-37101) with the original cover art. The 1987 RCA CD (RCA 6414) similarly entitled The Sun Sessions (with unique cover art) bolstered the track line-up to 28 songs, including outtakes and alternate Takes. This edition was itself based on a 2-LP set from 1987, The Complete Sun Sessions, though it lacked four tracks from those LPs. The 1999 double-disc Sunrise (RCA/BMG 67675), produced by longtime Elvis curators Ernst Mikael Jorgenson and Roger Semon and mastered by Dennis Ferrante, then brought the Sun total to a whopping 38 songs including six previously unreleased live performances. Elvis at Sun (RCA/BMG 61205) arrived in 2004 from RCA and mastering engineer Kevan Budd.  All 19 cuts on Elvis at Sun appeared on Disc 1 of Sunrise, this time in recording order rather than release order.  A Boy From Tupelo adds ten more previously-unreleased performances to create what should be the definitive Elvis at Sun anthology.

Jump ahead a few years from the Sun days, and Presley is already a bona fide movie star and an Army veteran.  Follow That Dream’s latest soundtrack expansion tackles the 1960 Paramount Picture G.I. Blues, which found Elvis starring opposite Juliet Prowse.  The original 11-track Grammy-nominated soundtrack LP kicks off Disc 1 of this 2-CD set and is bolstered by one alternate song, six bonus songs and twelve “first Takes.”  Disc 2 offers a packed 24 tracks from the recording sessions.  The whole shebang is packaged in a 7-inch digipak with booklet.

G.I. Blues also features prominently in another upcoming FTD project, the book-and-CD package From Memphis to Hollywood.  A Flaming Star production written by David English, the book traces Elvis’ journey from the early days in Memphis to the Hollywood production of Hal Wallis’ G.I. Blues. As with English’s previous Welcome Home Elvis set, the book features an album: the newly found original mono LP master of the G.I. Blues soundtrack album. FTD promises that “the book is filled to the brim with great, rare and informative photos and documents.”

The label flashes forward to the King’s final decade, the seventies.  First up, FTD offers a 2-LP, 180-gram vinyl-only edition of the 1970 album Elvis: That’s the Way It Is.  A tie-in to the documentary of the same name, the new edition offers 21 tracks vs. the 10 on the original LP.  You’ll hear Presley’s renditions of such classic songs as “I Just Can’t Help Believing,” “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” and “Sweet Caroline.”  That’s the Way It Is has been remastered from the original U.S. tapes.  The limited edition vinyl has been cut at Abbey Road Studios.

Finally, another live album arrives with From Hawaii to Las Vegas.  The new 5-inch digipak release is drawn from a cassette recording of Elvis' January 25 dress rehearsal for his January/February 1973 season at The Las Vegas Hilton.  According to Follow That Dream, “The rough audio quality is more than compensated by the fascinating insight into how Elvis worked in order to create his shows. With little talk, and a lot of music, we are invited to a first row presentation of what he had in mind, and yet he decided to change the repertoire the next day. Among the many songs is ‘Separate Ways,’ rehearsed with and without the orchestra - a song that Elvis chose to never perform in public.”  This rare look into Elvis’ process was recorded live in Las Vegas on January 25, 1973 and features 20 tracks on one CD.

All titles except A Boy From Tupelo are due to arrive from Follow That Dream on or around July 11, 2012.  A Boy From Tupelo is slated to ship on or around August 29, 2012.  We direct you to For Elvis CD Collectors Forum or The Mystery Train Blog for further annotation on the track listing.  You’ll find pre-order links below!

Elvis Presley, A Boy From Tupelo: The Complete 1953-1955 Recordings (Follow That Dream EPCD 221, 2012)

CD 1:

MEMPHIS RECORDING SERVICE ACETATES

1. My Happiness
2. That's When Your Heartaches Begin
3. I'll Never Stand in Your Way
4. It Wouldn't Be the Same (Without You)

SUN MASTERS

1. Harbor Lights
2. I Love You Because
3. That's All Right (45 rpm master)
4. Blue Moon of Kentucky (45 rpm master)
5. Blue Moon
6. Tomorrow Night
7. I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')
8. I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine
9. Just Because
10. Good Rockin' Tonight
11. Milkcow Blues Boogie
12. You're a Heartbreaker
13. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (slow version)
14. Baby Let's Play House
15. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone
16. I Forgot to Remember to Forget
17. Mystery Train
18. Tryin' to Get to You
19. When It Rains It Pours

RCA MASTERS

1. That's All Right
2. Blue Moon of Kentucky
3. I Love You Because
4. Tomorrow Night

CD 2: SUN STUDIO SESSIONS

1. Harbor Lights (Takes 1-2, level adjustments)
2. Harbor Lights (Take 3/M)
3. Harbor Lights (Take 4)
4. Harbor Lights (Takes 5-6)
5. Harbor Lights (Take 7)
6. Harbor Lights (Take 8)
7. I Love You Because (Take 1)
8. I Love You Because (Take 2)
9. I Love You Because (Take 3)
10. I Love You Because (Take 4)
11. I Love You Because (Take 5)
12. That's All Right (Takes 1-2)
13. That's All Right (Take 3)
14. Dialogue
15. Blue Moon of Kentucky (slow tempo outTake)
16. Blue Moon (Takes 1-3)
17. Blue Moon (Take 4)
18. Blue Moon (Take 5)
19. Blue Moon (Takes 6-7)
20. Blue Moon (Take 8)
21. Blue Moon (Take 9/M)
22. Dialogue fragment (before "Tomorrow Night")
23. I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin') (incomplete Take)
24. Good Rockin' Tonight (fragment from vocal slapback tape)
25. I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine (Takes 1-2)
26. I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine (Take 3/M)
27. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (slow version, Take 1)
28. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (slow version, Take 2)
29. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (slow version, Take 3)
30. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (slow version, Take 4)
31. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (slow version, Take 5/M)
32. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (slow version, Take 6)
33. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (slow version, Take 7)
34. How Do You Think I Feel (guitar slapback tape, rehearsal + Take 1)
35. How Do You Think I Feel (guitar slapback tape, rehearsals)
36. When It Rains It Pours (vocal slapback tape, Take 1)
37. When It Rains It Pours (vocal slapback tape, Take 2 - rehearsa1)
38. When It Rains It Pours (vocal slapback tape, Takes 3-4)
39. When It Rains It Pours (vocal slapback tape, Take 5/M)
40. When It Rains It Pours (vocal slapback tape, Take 6-7)
41. When It Rains It Pours (vocal slapback tape, Take 8)

CD 3: LIVE AND RADIO PERFORMANCES

1. That's All Right
2. Blue Moon of Kentucky
3. Shake, Rattle and Roll
4. Fool, Fool, Fool
5. Hearts of Stone
6. That's All Right
7. Tweedlee Dee
8. Shake, Rattle and Roll
9. KSIJ Radio commercial with DJ Tom Perryman
10. Money Honey
11. Blue Moon of Kentucky
12. I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine
13. That's All Right
14. Tweedlee Dee
15. Money Honey
16. Hearts of Stone
17. Shake, Rattle and Roll
18. Little Mama
19. You're a Heartbreaker
20. Good Rockin' Tonight
21. Baby Let's Play House
22. Blue Moon of Kentucky
23. I Got a Woman
24. That's All Right
25. Tweedlee Dee
26. Interview with Mae Boren Axton
27. That's All Right
28. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone
29. Baby Let's Play House
30. Maybellene
31. That's All Right
32. Interview with Bob Neal

Elvis Presley, From Hawaii to Las Vegas (Follow That Dream EPCD220, 2012)

1. Something
2. You Gave Me A Mountain
3. Steamroller Blues
4. My Way
5. Love Me
6. It's Over
7. Blue Suede Shoes
8. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
9. Welcome To My World
10. I'll Remember You
11. Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
12. An American Trilogy
13. A Big Hunk O' Love
14. I'm Leavin' It All Up To You
15. Faded Love
16. I Can't Stop Loving You
17. Separate Ways –with band
18. Separate Ways – with band and orchestra
19. Bridge Over Troubled Water
20. Can't Help Falling In Love - incomplete

Recorded on stage January 25, 1973 at the Las Vegas Hilton

Elvis Presley, From Memphis to Hollywood (Book and CD) (Follow That Dream EPAM3427, 2012)

1. Tonight is So Right for Love
2. What’s She Really Like
3. Frankfort Special
4. Wooden Heart
5. G.I. Blues
6. Pocketful of Rainbows
7. Shoppin’ Around
8. Big Boots
9. Didja Ever
10. Blue Suede Shoes
11. Doin’ the Best I Can

All tracks originally released as G.I. Blues mono soundtrack (RCA LPM-2256, 1960)

Elvis Presley, G.I. Blues: Volume 1 (Follow That Dream EPCD219, 2012)

CD 1:

The Original Album (RCA Victor LSP-2256, 1960)

1. Tonight's All Right For Love
2. What's She Really Like
3. Frankfort Special
4. Wooden Heart
5. G.I. Blues
6. Pocketful Of Rainbows
7. Shoppin' Around
8. Big Boots
9. Didja' Ever
10. Blue Suede Shoes
11. Doin' The Best I Can

Alternate Song

1. Tonight's All Right For Love

Bonus Songs

1. Shoppin' Around (version #1)
2. Frankfort Special (fast version)
3. Big Boots (fast version)
4. Pocketful Of Rainbows (version #1, Take 12)
5. Big Boots (medium tempo version)
6. Tonight Is So Right For Love (Barcarolle from "The Tales Of Hoffman", instrumental)

First Takes

1. Tonight Is So Right For Love (Takes 1-2)
2. What's She Really Like (Takes 1-5)
3. Frankfort Special (fast version Takes 1-2)
4. Wooden Heart (Take 1)
5. G.I. Blues (Take 1)
6. Pocketful Of Rainbows (version #1, Takes 1-2)
7. Shoppin' Around (version #1, Take 1)
8. Big Boots (fast version, Takes 1-2)
9. Big Boots (slow version, Take 1)
10. Didja' Ever (Take 1)
11. Tonight's All Right For Love (Take 1)
12. Doin' The Best I Can (Takes 1-3)

CD 2:

April 27-28 Sessions

1. Pocketful Of Rainbows (version #1, Take 3)
2. Shoppin' Around (instrumental Take 4)
3. Shoppin' Around (version #1, Takes 2-4)
4. Shoppin' Around (version #1, Take 5)
5. Doin' The Best I Can (Takes 4-7)
6. Doin' The Best I Can (Takes 8-9)
7. G.I. Blues (Takes 2-4)
8. G.I. Blues (Take 5)
9. Tonight Is So Right For Love (Take 3)
10. Tonight Is So Right For Love (Take 4)
11. Tonight Is So Right For Love (Takes 5-7)
12. Frankfort Special (fast version, Takes 3-7)
13. Frankfort Special (fast version, Take 8)
14. Big Boots (fast version, Take 3)
15. Big Boots (fast version, Take 4)
16. Big Boots (slow version, Takes 2-3)
17. What's She Really Like (Takes 6-7)
18. What's She Really Like (Takes 8-11)
19. What's She Really Like (Takes 12-13)
20. Pocketful Of Rainbows (version #1, Takes 4-7)
21. Pocketful Of Rainbows (version #1, Take 8)
22. Pocketful Of Rainbows (version #1, Take 9)
23. Pocketful Of Rainbows (version #1, Take 10)
24. Wooden Heart (Takes 2-4M)

Elvis Presley, That’s the Way It Is (Follow That Dream EPLP 21, 2012)

Side 1

1. I Just Can't Help Believin' (MGM rehearsal)
2. Twenty Days And Twenty Nights (take 8)
3. Patch It Up (Live)
4. Mary In The Morning (take 4)
5. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me (takes 1, 2)

Side 2

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling (Stage Rehearsal)
2. I've Lost You (Live)
3. Stranger In The Crowd (Master Take 9, Rough Mix)
4. The Next Step Is Love (Live)
5. Bridge Over Troubled Water (Live)

Side 3

1. Just Pretend (Takes 1, 2)
2. How The Web Was Woven (Master)
3. Patch It Up (Alternate Master take 9)
4. Sweet Caroline (Live)
5. Make The World Go Away (Live)
6. The Wonder Of You (Live)

Side 4

1. Little Sister/Get Back (Live)
2. Something (Live)
3. Patch It Up (Take 1)
4. The Next Step Is Love (Takes 9, 10)
5. I've Lost You (Takes 4-6)

Based on original album presentation on RCA Victor LSP-4445, 1970