A new box set will examine Elvis Presley‘s third act, collecting rare highlights from his L.A. recording sessions between 1970 and 1975. Sunset Boulevard, out Aug. 1, includes 89 rarities, more than half of which have never come out officially in the U.S., across five discs.
A preview of what the box set holds, “Burning Love (Take Two),” finds Presley’s band sounding groovy and funky, with lots of wah-wah on the guitar, as the King finds his footing with the vocal performance. He sang the more familiar hit version with more vim and vigor, but there’s a soulfulness to the early take in the way he hums “mmmm” between some of the verses that foreshadows the greatness to come. It’s slow smoldering kindling, hinting at the hunka hunka burning love yet to come.
In addition to the five-CD box set, Sunset Boulevard’s first two discs will come out as a double-LP “highlights” set. Recording engineer Matt Ross-Spang prepared new mixes of the songs, cut at RCA Studio C, excising the overdubs for a more direct sound.
The other three discs include recordings from rehearsals from 1970 and 1974 for Presley’s Las Vegas residency. Those rehearsals notably included Presley’s performances of the Johnny Mathis hit, “Twelfth of Never,” and the Italian hit “Softly as I Leave You,” which he never recorded in a studio.
The box set includes a book containing rare photos and liner notes by historian Colin Escott and an intro by Jerry Schilling, who was once one of Presley’s “Memphis Mafiosi” and accompanied the King to meet President Richard M. Nixon.
Sunset Boulevard track list:
Disc One – The Masters:
1. “Burning Love”
2. “Always on My Mind”
3. “Where Do I Go From Here”
4. “Separate Ways”
5. “For the Good Times”
6. “It’s a Matter of Time”
7. “Fool”
8. “T-R-O-U-B-L-E”
9. “And I Love You So”
10. “Susan When She Tried”
11. “Woman Without Love”
12. “Shake a Hand”
13. “Pieces of My Life”
14. “Fairytale”
15. “I Can Help”
16. “Bringin’ It Back”
17. “Green, Green Grass of Home”
Editor’s picks
Disc Two – Outtakes Highlights:
1. “Separate Ways – Take 25”
2. “For The Good Times – Take 3”
3. “Where Do I Go From Here – Take 2”
4. “Burning Love – Take 2”
5. “Fool – Take 1”
6. “Always on My Mind – Take 2”
7. “It’s A Matter of Time – Takes 1–3”
8. “It’s A Matter of Time – Take 4”
9. “Fairytale – Take 2”
10. “Green, Green Grass of Home – Takes 2 and 3”
11. “And I Love You So – Take 2”
12. “Susan When She Tried – Takes 1 and 2”
13. “T-R-O-U-B-L-E – Take 1”
14. “Tiger Man”
15. “Shake a Hand – Take 2”
16. “Bringin’ It Back – Takes 2 and 3”
17. “Pieces of My Life – Takes 2 and 3”
Disc Three – July 24, 1970, Rehearsal:
1. “That’s All Right”
2. “I Got a Woman”
3. “I Got a Woman”
4. “The Wonder of You”
5. “I’ve Lost You”
6. “The Next Step Is Love”
7. “Stranger in the Crowd”
8. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”
9. “Something”
10. “Don’t Cry Daddy”
11. “Don’t Cry Daddy”
12. “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”
13. “Polk Salad Annie”
14. “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
15. “I Can’t Stop Loving You”
16. “Just Pretend”
17. “Sweet Caroline”
18. “Love Me Tender”
19. “Words”
20. “Suspicious Minds”
21. “I Just Can’t Help Believin’”
22. “I Just Can’t Help Believin’”
Disc Four – July 24, 1970, Rehearsal (Continued):
1. “Tomorrow Never Comes”
2. “Mary in the Morning”
3. “Twenty Days and Twenty Nights”
4. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”
5. “Just Can’t Help Believin’”
6. “Heart of Rome”
7. “Heart of Rome”
8. “Memories”
9. “Johnny B. “Goode”
10. “Make the World Go Away”
11. “Stranger in My Own Home Town”
12. “I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water”
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August 16, 1974, Rehearsal:
13. “If You Love Me (Let Me Know)”
14. “If You Love Me (Let Me Know)”
15. “Promised Land”
16. “Promised Land”
17. “Down in the Alley”
18. “Down in the Alley”
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Disc Five – August 16, 1974, Rehearsal (Continued):
1. “It’s Midnight”
2. “It’s Midnight”
3. “Your Love’s Been a Long Time Coming”
4. “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues”
5. “Softly as I Leave You”
6. “Softly as I Leave You”
7. “I’m Leavin’”
8. “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”
9. “Proud Mary”
10. “If You Talk in Your Sleep”
11. “If You Love Me (Let Me Know)”
12. “If You Love Me (Let Me Know)”
13. “The Twelfth of Never”
14. “Faded Love”
15. “Just Pretend”
