home
Recording Sessions
Essential lists
Essential Magazines
Elvis Movies
Elvis The Story
Video footage
Elvis website links
May 9 1957
(+ means you need both    ~ means same material    °° means stereo or binaural    ° means mono)
(SFS = Short False Start | FS = False Start | LFS or BD (Breakdown) = Long False Start | PB (Playback) or Complete = Complete Take)

MGM Sound Stage - Hollywood, California
Soundtrack Session for MGM's Jailhouse Rock
MGM Producer : Jeffrey Alexander
Engineer : Fred Mulculpin
(1.00pm - 4.15pm)

Musicians:   Backup Vocals:
Guitar: Elvis Presley The Jordanaires: Gordon Stoker; Neal Matthews; Hoyt Hawkins; Hugh
Guitar: Scotty Moore Jarrett
Bass Guitar: Bill Black  
Drums: D.J. Fontana  
Piano: Dudley Brooks (2022)  
Piano: Elvis Presley (2023)

Don't Leave Me Now (#2 movie version)
H2WB 6783
2022 May 9 1957 (Thur: 1:30pm - 3:25pm)
Take 1 FS      
Take 2 Complete 2:00    
Take 3 Complete 1:53    
Take 4 FS      
Take 5 Complete 1:53    
Take 6 Complete 1:52    
Take 7 FS      
Take 8 FS      
Take 9 FS      
Take 10 FS      
Take 11 FS      
Take 12 M 2:02 "Everett Demonstration No. 2, Take 1"
MGM movie version #2 master
& RCA record version master
(2:16 wih count-in)
Jailhouse Rock Vol. 2 CD2 (FTD)°~Jailhouse Rock Vol. 1 CD1 (FTD)°
(track 4)
~The Complete Elvis Presley Masters 3 (Sony)°~Rockin' Rebel
(Franklin Mint Comp. Masters Collection 31)°~Jailhouse Rock (1997)°
~The Complete '50s Movie Masters And Session Recordings 1 (MRS)°
~Loving You (24 Bit)°~50s Box 3°+Jailhouse Rock Volume 1 CD1 (FTD
- movie master)° (track 20 - count-in)~The Complete '50s Movie Masters
& Session Recordings 5 (MRS)°~Essential Elvis Vol 1° (count-in - edited)
+The Making Of Jailhouse Rock 3 (FTD)° (count-in)~Soundtrack°

Don't Leave Me Now (#1 movie version)
HRA1 8685
2023 May 9 1957 (Thur: 3:55pm - 4:15pm)
Take 1 FS      
Take 2 M 1:56 "Everett Demonstration No. 1, Take 1"
MGM movie version #1 master
(2:13 with count-in)

Jailhouse Rock Volume 1 CD1 (FTD)° (track 19 - count-in)~The Complete
'50s Movie Masters And Session Recordings 5 (MRS)°~The Making Of
Jailhouse Rock 3 (FTD)° (count-in)~Soundtrack° (1:40)

Don't Leave Me Now (movie set version)
  (May 27 1957)
Take NA   0:15 (recorded on movie set) Jailhouse Rock Vol. 1 CD1 (FTD)° (track 18)~The Complete '50s Movie
Masters & Session Recordings 1 (MRS)°~Soundtrack°

Notes

The session tapes for 'Don't Leave Me Now' (2022 and 2023) are still missing, all that remains are the mono masters on a master tape reel.

It appears that all session tapes recorded by MGM at their Sound Stage, were discarded once the masters were chosen, and the only session tapes existing today are the tapes recorded by Thorne Nogar at Radio Recorders.

The 15 second solo tryout of 'Don't Leave Me Now', sung just before the #1 version in the movie, featuring Elvis singing the first line ("Don't leave me now, now that I need you...") and just playing guitar, was recorded on the movie set on May 27 1957.

The master of 'Don't Leave Me Now' from this date was released by mistake on the Japanese 24 bit paper sleeve edition of Loving You, where it should have been the master from February 23 used on that release.

All timings in the 'Musical Breakdown' below are taken from the DVD release 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 David English for extensive research on these sessions.

Notes from a review of Jailhouse Rock Volume 1 (FTD) by Piers Beagley (Elvis Information Network)

Don't Leave Me Now
An interesting song as RCA decided to go with the "movie version" rather than the expected "hit record" version. There is also a variety of arrangements that make it one of Elvis' most interesting fifties soundtrack songs.
Elvis had tried recording 'Don't Leave Me Now' three months before during the Loving You album sessions. Then they had tried 29 takes before deciding on an unsatisfactory master. Now Elvis would reintroduce the song for Jailhouse Rock. Once again Elvis would try over twenty takes to get a satisfactory 'hit record' version and twelve to complete the 'movie version.
With a total of over sixty takes in total! this has to be the Elvis song that he worked at the most in his whole career.

(CD1, track 4) the original - The final record release starts with that cool piano intro and it is interesting that RCA decided to release this 'MGM movie version' rather than the movie's 'hit record' version which Elvis had worked on so hard. This is at a slightly faster tempo than the 'hit record' version and has that big Jordanaires ending.

(track 20) movie "recording studio" version 2 (Take 12) - This is the original EP record release but this time the MGM master. This version features the movie tape count-in and the audio is more compressed compared to the RCA version. Otherwise, of course, it's the same.

(track 18) movie set version - A very short glimpse of Elvis playing the song on the movie set, alone and accompanying himself on guitar. Sadly only twelve seconds long before it fades.

(track 19) movie "recording studio" version 1 (Take 2) - Very different with only a rolling piano and bass accompaniment. This early film version has Elvis filling in for his own backing vocals "like a book on a shelf."

© Copyright the Elvis Information Network


Session Logs
Recording Information
April / May 1957
Jailhouse Rock
Master Tape
Jailhouse Rock
Jailhouse Rock - Master Tape
MGM Session Log
May 9 1957
MGM Session Log - May 9 1957 (Thanks to David English)

Movie Scene Sheets
Jailhouse Rock
Scene Sheets - Reel 1 (Thanks to David English)
Jailhouse Rock
Movie Song Index
Jailhouse Rock - Movie Song Index
Daily Music Report
May 9 1957
Daily Music Report - May 9 1957 (Thanks to David English)

 
Musical Breakdown
Jailhouse Rock
Musical Breakdown
 


Music Sheets
 
Music Sheet
Don't Leave Me Now
Don't Leave Me Nowe
 


back