Classic 1975 Elvis Presley Album Set For 40th Anniversary Legacy Release

Sony has announced that they will be re-releasing Elvis Presley’s 1975 album, Elvis Today, as part of a special 40th anniversary, Legacy Edition package.

The special release of the album is not the first time that Elvis Today has been re-issued in recent years. The Elvis Presley collector’s label FTD (Follow That Dream Records) re-released the album with bonus tracks back in 2005.

Elvis Today was the last time that Presley officially recorded in a professional recording studio. Though Elvis did release two more albums prior to his tragic 1977 death (1976’s From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee and 1977’s Moody Blue), those albums were mostly recorded in the singer’s den (nicknamed “the jungle room”) at Graceland, his Memphis home. Presley’s final album, Moody Blue, also included songs that were recorded live in concert.

Elvis Today was recorded between March 10 and March 12, 1975, at RCA’s Studio C in Hollywood, California. This was the same studio that Presley had recorded his smash-hit “Burning Love” three years prior. The Today sessions were also the first time that Presley had recorded new material in a studio in two years, and the result was one of the most diverse albums of his career.

By 1975, Presley was mostly recording adult contemporary and country, but he did record a new rock song for inclusion on Elvis Today. That song, “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” made the Top 40 pop charts in the United States.

The second biggest single on Elvis Today was undoubtedly “Green, Green Grass Of Home,” a song made famous eight years earlier by Presley’s good friend, Tom Jones. For Elvis, the song made the Top 30 in the United Kingdom and received occasional airplay in the U.S.

Elvis Today was released in May, 1975. It peaked at No. 57 on the U.S. charts. Doing better across the Atlantic, Elvis Today charted at No. 11 in Norway and No. 48 in the United Kingdom.

To go along with the album’s release, Elvis embarked on a live tour in late May and early June of 1975. The new Sony Legacy release will feature tracks from that live tour. If you are a long-time Presley fan or serious collector, you may have heard these particular songs before. They were first released on the 1980 silver box-set, Elvis Aron Presley.

This mid-1975 tour came at a time in his career when Elvis was either up or down when it came to his stage performances, but this particular tour is typically held in high esteem by Presley collectors and fans. Elvis seemed rejuvenated at the time, with one newspaper review from Huntsville, Alabama, noting he had shed 30 pounds for the tour and looked as though he was “in his finest hour.”

The official track listing for the 2015 Sony Legacy special edition release of Elvis Today is below. The set will be released on August 7, 2015.

Disc 1 (Original Album)
“T-R-O-U-B-L-E”
“And I Love You So”
“Susan When She Tried”
“Woman Without Love”
“Shake a Hand”
“Pieces of My Life”
“Fairytale”
“I Can Help”
“Bringing It Back”
“Green, Green Grass of Home”

Disc 1 (Undubbed Masters – Original Session Mixes)
“Fairytale”
“Green, Green Grass of Home”
“I Can Help”
“And I Love You So”
“Susan When She Tried”
“T-R-O-U-B-L-E”
“Woman Without Love”
“Shake a Hand”
“Bringing It Back”
“Pieces of My Life”

Disc 2 (Live On Tour: May-June 1975)
“Also Sprach Zarathustra (Live in Murfreesboro, May 6)”
“See See Rider (Live in Murfreesboro, May 6)”
“I Got a Woman / Amen (Live in Murfreesboro, May 6)”
“Love Me (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“If You Love Me (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“Love Me Tender (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“All Shook Up (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“Teddy Bear / Don’t Be Cruel (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“Hound Dog (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“The Wonder of You (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“Burning Love (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“Introductions / Johnny B. Goode (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“Introductions / School Days (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“T-R-O-U-B-L-E (Live in Houston, June 5)”
“Why Me Lord? (Live in Jackson, June 9)”
“How Great Thou Art (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“Let Me Be There (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“An American Trilogy (Live in Dallas, June 6)”
“Funny How Time Slips Away (Live in Shreveport, June 7)”
“Little Darlin’ (Live in Shreveport, June 7)”
“Mystery Train / Tiger Man (Live in Shreveport, June 7)”
“Can’t Help Falling In Love (Live in Shreveport, June 7)”

[Image via Genius.com]