Yesterdays...February, 1970.
Following his successful return to live performing at the International Hotel, Las Vegas in the summer of 1969, Elvis was booked for a second stint at the hotel, and opened on January 26, 1970. RCA had recorded a live album during the 1969 season, which had proved to be popular with the fans, and plans were underway for RCA to record various selections during the February shows with a view to releasing a follow up to the 1969 recordings released on the “Elvis In Person” album. During the 1969 shows Elvis performed a mixture of old favourites, new recordings, and songs made famous by other artists, and the same formula was used for the second season in 1970.
However, whilst the “In Person” album had showcased a number of Elvis’ earlier hits, RCA opted to concentrate on the new material Elvis had started to perform for the 1970 collection, and when the resulting album “On Stage” February, 1970 was released, it featured 10 tracks that Elvis hadn’t recorded before, and was basically a strong collection of contemporary covers. Elvis’ record producer Felton Jarvis had overdubbed the tracks at RCA’s Nashville studios during March and April of 1970, and the tracks were linked together with dialogue fills recorded at various shows to give the impression that the album was actually recorded during one concert. “Runaway” and “Yesterday” which were both recorded in August 1969, but not issued on the “In Person” album, were also included on the album.
The album was finally issued on CD in the early 1990’s, and was the given a further re-issue in 1999 with added bonus tracks and re-mastered sound. However, when the tapes were re-mastered for the 1999 release, Felton Jarvis’ original dialogue fills had been lost, and new dialogue from the same Las Vegas season was used to link the tracks together. It would also seem that some of the tracks had been re-mastered without their original overdubs, and this along with the new re-mix made the album quite different from the programme which was originally released in 1970. The purpose of this release is to present the original 1970 album. complete with overdubs and original dialogue fills, with relevant bonus material that has been made available on other releases over the years.
I'm 10,000 Years Old - Elvis Country
Recorded between June and September 1970, and originally released in January of 1971, "I'm 10,000 Years Old - Elvis Country" maintained the high standard of Presley album releases following his 1968 NBC TV "Comeback Special". As the title would suggest the album was a collection of country songs. Some were performed in the traditional style, whilst on other performances Elvis added extra elements into the mix, just as he had back in the '50's at Sun Studios in Memphis.
The album was also Elvis' first and only concept album. The subtitle "I'm 10,000 Years Old" referred to the song "I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago" which could be heard at the conclusion of each track on the album, and over the start of the next one. The original cover artwork also had a back to the roots theme, and featured a photograph of Elvis at two years old, taken in Tupelo, Mississippi. A copy of the photo was also included as a "bonus photo" with the original LP album.
When Ernst Jorgensen complied the 1995 box set "Walk A Mile In My Shoes - The Essential '70's Masters", the "clean" masters from these sessions were officially released for the first time, and these are the performances included on this release. We have also added several alternate performances that have been issued on other projects in recent years, and three live recordings of songs originally included on the album.
