Hi Kev and other collectionists.
Yes, that valuation is again completely bullshit, but that is not new here. Definitely a budget record, you can grab everywhere for a few Dollar, Euro or GBP, not a rare record and the mentioned 40 Euro are totally overpriced for such a record.
Only some eggheads will pay such a price for that record.
was very disappointed with it, as I thought it a cheap way to get the early stuff (Not realising it was this "Stereo")... sometimes you get an album you are very pleased to find - moderately rare - and has the music you're after on it...
... and when it lets' you down, you try to convince yourself it's not that bad. But sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and call it for the turkey it is.
It might still have some curiosity value for those seeking an unusual sonic experience, or Elvis completists, but I think it's one of those that is quite rare for a very good reason:
People very quickly discovered it's shortcomings, word got around, and it melted into the ether.
Thanks for that great advice Magic Marmalade. All of these recordings would have been made in Mono so any Stereo issues will be faked in a way that you eloquently describe.
I got a Mono early 1960's version of Elvis Gold Records Vol 2 just this week in preference to an Orange label "Electronically processed Stereo" 1970's issue that was available from the same dealer.
The first true Elvis Stereo recordings did not start until the Elvis is Back sessions in 1960 after he had left the US Army.
Just begun getting into my Elvis albums for recording, and this sounds... Weird.
I was looking forward to this one for the early singles it has, but obviously they were originally mono recordings, and this has clearly been processed for the stereo "effect".
...And not very well either!
It seems this process must have been a new phenomenon when they set about this album, as it's very echo-y, and a rather unsophisticated method has been employed, of simply replicating the sound on either side, and then burying it in floaty echo to try and hide the joins.
They have, in doing so, achieved something technically remarkable - albeit unintentionally - which I can't quite understand, in that they have made a dual-mono album, rather than stereo album of any description. You can hear the music coming out of both speakers independently of each other!
No unity of sound that either a central mono sound would give, or the collaboration of left and right channels that stereo would create across the room (still unified though)... so it's like listening to two of the same track at the same time, one left, and one right.
Not sure if I've explained this properly, but it baffles the hell out me how this could be done, without the two channels merging in the middle.
On one track the backing vocals are front and centre, and immediate, while Elvis' voice is in the middle distance behind them... very odd.
If you ever listened to music from a pub or club from outside the building, then that's what this sounds like; Thin, Echo-y, bizarre sounding.
Avoid it would be my recommendation... very disappointed with it.