A single-disc distillation of Sony Legacy's massive box set celebrating the 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special, this 2019 compilation covers ground that has been covered many times before. Back in 1968, RCA put out a soundtrack album to the special, and once the show entered in the realm of legend, it was repackaged on its anniversary three times over. All of this is a roundabout way of saying that The Best of the '68 Comeback contains a bunch of easily available material, yet none of the previous compilations assembled these tracks in precisely the same way (nor did they contain a new version of "If I Can Dream" plucked from NBC's anniversary special, a version distinguished by the presence of Shawn Mendes, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, and Post Malone…not precisely a dream lineup for an Elvis fan).
If I Can Dream is a compilation album by Elvis Presley. It was released on October 30, 2015 by RCA Records and Legacy Recordings. The album features archival vocal recordings of Elvis accompanied by new orchestral arrangements by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It also features duets with Canadian singer Michael Bublé and Italian trio Il Volo. If I Can Dream was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, England, and it was produced by Nick Patrick and Don Reedman. The album debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, giving Elvis a record-equalling 12th UK number one. As of September 2016, the album had sold 1.6 million copies worldwide. A second album featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Wonder of You was released on October 21, 2016. The album features archival vocal recordings of Elvis accompanied by new orchestral arrangements by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded at the Abbey Road Studios.
The 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s groundbreaking 1968 NBC-TV “comeback” special will be commemorated with the release of a deluxe box set by RCA/Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, on Friday, November 30. The set arrives just days before the anniversary of the world premiere broadcast of the original special on December 3, 2018.
Elvis: Close Up is part of an ongoing series of Elvis Presley box sets BMG has created to keep collectors supplied with "new" material, in a manner of speaking. All 89 of the recordings are previously unreleased mixes and alternate takes, with each disc focusing on a different period of Elvis' career. The first disc contains stereo mixes of recordings from 1957, including "Jailhouse Rock" and "I Beg of You." These mixes, created from the binaural session tapes, will be worth the price for many stereophiles. The second disc has alternate takes of songs from four of Elvis' early-'60s movie soundtracks, with all of the recordings hailing from 1960 and 1961. Disc three is titled "The Magic of Nashville" and features Nashville recordings mainly from the early '60s…