The definitive release of these sessions can be found on Follow That Dream's limited edition The Making Of G.I. Blues book & 5xCD set, where everything has been restored, remixed and remastered from scratch, and all masters and outtakes are presented in the best possible sound.
The instrumentals 'Whistling Blues' and
'Wooden Heart' (gramafunken version) were
recorded on one channel of the 3-Track tape (mono)
for soundtrack purposes only, although 'Whistling Blues' was eventually not used in the movie
One verse was omitted on the 1997 G.I. Blues edit of 'Pocketful of Rainbows' - Take 2,
it was also spliced with the talking from Take
27, which wasn't listed.
Two lines were omitted from 'Big Boots' (fast
tempo) on the 1997 G.I. Blues release.
The end is the same as the original take but they
edited out two "once wore little boots like
you" just before the end.
Originally, 'Hound Dog' was supposed to
be re-recorded for the movie, but this idea was
dropped in favour of 'Blue Suede Shoes' instead.
Another song that was intended for the movie was
'I Got A Woman'.
A remixed version of 'Wooden Heart' can
be found on Elvis 30 #1 Hits (E1).
The verse of 'What's She Really Like' heard
in the movie was recorded on the movie set.
Most of these sessions are available on the UK
based Memphis Recording Service official release G.I. Blues - The Cafe Europa Sessions. Due to
public domain copyright issues, this set does
not contain tracks officially released by RCA
in the last 50 years, although take 4 of 'Big
Boots' (slow tempo) was released on RCA's Elvis
Sings For Children & Grownups Too and The
EP Collection Volume 1, Take 7 of 'Big Boots'
(fast tempo) was released on Sony's 30 disc Complete Elvis Presley Masters collection and
the Franklin Mint package, and Take 17 of 'Pocketful
Of Rainbows' was released on Collectors Gold.
Take 7 of 'What's She Really Like' is listed
as being on the UK based Memphis Recording Service official release G.I. Blues - The Cafe Europa Sessions but it isn't!
The tracks listed as being on the Elvis One release Elvis Presley In G.I. Blues - Part 1 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 48) appear to be lifted from the Blu-Ray release of G.I. Blues, where the "Score" can be found on a separate track of the Blu-Ray disc, , some of it without talking etc, which can be heard in the soundtrack of the movie.
In March of 2007, Sony decided to go through all of Elvis' masters. They retransferred everything and remastered all tracks including repairing as many clicks, pops, bad edits and dropouts as they could. They have used these newly mastered recordings on their new releases since 2007 including budget soundtracks, Legacy releases, the 30 disc Complete Elvis Presley Masters collection and the Franklin Mint package.
Thanks to Ray Reeves for the 'Big Boots'
comparisons.
