Elvis Presley Recording Sessions

May 20 / 21 1971

(+ 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)

RCA Studio B - Nashville, Tennessee

Producer: Felton Jarvis

Engineer: Al Pachucki

(6.00pm - 9.00pm / 9.00pm - 12.00am / 1.00am - 4.00am)

Musicians:		Backup Vocals:
Guitar:	James Burton	The Imperials: Jimmie Murray; Terry Blackwood; Greg Gordon; Joe
Guitar:	Chip Young	Moscheo; Armond Morales
Guitar:	Charlie Hodge	Mary Holladay; Ginger Holladay; Millie Kirkham
Guitar:	Joe Esposito
Drums:	Kenneth Buttrey
Piano:	David Briggs
Bass:	Norbert Putnam
Organ:	Charlie McCoy

I'm Leavin'				APA4 1285	May 20 / 21 1971 (Thur / Fri)
Take 1	Complete	5:06	(preceded by rehearsal)	Elvis Now (FTD)°° (4:02)+The Joan Deary Tapes Vol. 1°° (4:45) +Elvis Back In Nashville 3°°
Take 2	LFS	2:26	(followed by rehearsal)	Elvis Now (FTD)°°
Take 3	Complete	3:37		Elvis Now (FTD)°°+I Sing All Kinds (FTD)°° (extra dialogue at end)
Take NA	(M)	3:54	Undubbed master	Elvis Back In Nashville 1°° (no backing vocals)

Overdub	(M)	4:06	Brass & string overdubs on May 25 Unedited master	Let It Roll°° (unedited - listed as Take 8)+Unedited Masters - Nashville 1971 (Venus)°° (count-in)
Faded	M	3:50	Master faded	Elvis Now (FTD)°°~Single°~Greatest Hits (Readers Digest 7 LP Box Set)° +Complete Elvis Presley Masters 22 (Sony)°°~Loves Lost (Franklin Mint Comp. Masters Coll'n 12)°°~Elvis 75 - Good Rockin' Tonight 4 (Legacy)°° ~Complete Single Collection 7°°~70s Box 1°°+The Mono Masters CD4 (Venus)°+Elvis Aron Presley 3°° (different mixes)+Elvis Aron Presley (cassette - 4:33)°°

We Can Make The Morning				APA4 1286	May 20 / 21 1971 (Thur / Fri)
Take NA	(M)	4:06	Undubbed master	Elvis Back In Nashville 1°° (no backing vocals)+Elvis Back In Nashville 3°° (with backing vocals)+The Joan Deary Tapes Vol. 1°° (with backing vocals - not faded)

Overdub	(M)		Brass & string overdubs on May 25
Overdub	(M)	4:11	Additional brass & string overdubs on June 21 Unedited master	Unedited Masters - Nashville 1971 (Venus)°°
Faded	M	3:54	Master faded	Complete Elvis Presley Masters 22 (Sony)°°~Songs Of The Seventies (Franklin Mint Comp. Masters Collection 3)°°~Comp. Single Collection 7°° ~Elvis Now (FTD)°°~(20 Bit)°°~70's Box 1°°+The Mono Masters CD4 (Venus)°

It's Only Love				APA4 1287	May 20 / 21 1971 (Thur / Fri)
Take 1	FS	1:06	(preceded by rehearsal)	Elvis Now (FTD)°°
Take 2	LFS	1:39	(followed by rehearsal)	Elvis Now (FTD)°°
Take 3	FS	1:06	(announced again as Take 2)	Elvis Now (FTD)°°
Take 4	Reh'sal	1:47	"Farther Along"	Elvis Now (FTD)°°
Take 5	Reh'sal	1:03	"I Shall Be Released" (WPA5 2573)	Elvis Now (FTD)°° (extra dialogue)~Comp. Elvis Presley Masters 28 (Sony)°°~70s Box 4 °°+Elvis Back In Nashville 3°°
Take 6	FS	0:47		Elvis Now (FTD)°°
Take 7	Complete	2:54	(announced again as Take 6) "It's only sex"	Elvis Now (FTD)°°+I Sing All Kinds (FTD)°° (with dialogue edited in from before Take 8)
Take 8	Reh'sal	1:02		Elvis Now (FTD)°°+Elvis Back In Nashville 3°°
Take 9	Complete	4:34	(preceded by rehearsal) "Farther Along"	Elvis Now (FTD)°°+Essential Elvis Volume 4°° (edited)+Elvis Back In Nashville 3°° (edited - 3:52)
Take 10	(M)	2:50	Unedited undubbed master	Elvis Back In Nashville 1°° (no backing vocals)
Edit	(M)	2:20	Edited undubbed master	Pure Diamonds Volume 1°~Rough Cut Diamonds° (see note)

Overdub	(M)		Backup vocal overdubs on May 21
Overdub	(M)		Brass & string overdubs on May 25
Overdub	(M)	3:00	Additional brass & string overdubs on June 21 Unedited master	Unedited Masters - Nashville 1971 (Venus)°°
Faded	M	2:35	Master faded	Complete Elvis Presley Masters 22 (Sony)°°~The Nashville Sessions (Franklin Mint Complete Masters Collection 27)°°~Elvis 75 CD3°°~Elvis Now (FTD)°°~Complete Single Collection 7°°~70s Box 1°°+Elvis Aron Presley 3°°+The Mono Masters CD4 (Venus)° (different mixes)+The Sound Of Your Cry°° (5:39 - extended)~Elvis Aron Presley (cassette)°° (5:39 - extended)

Tape reel #2 from this session is missing, and this is the reel that would have included the last takes of 'I'm Leavin' and the outtakes of 'We Can Make The Morning'.

An excerpt of 'Listen To The Bell' can be heard edited in before 'It's Only Love' on Essential Elvis Volume 4 - This is from before Take 4 of 'A Thing Called Love' (May 19).

Remixed versions of 'I'm Leavin' and 'It's Only Love' can be found on the Elvis Aron Presley box-set.

Extended versions of 'I'm Leavin' and 'It's Only Love' were featured on the cassette only release of the Elvis Aron Presley box-set. 'It's Only Love', from the cassette release was also released as a 12" Single in 1980, and was also featured on the UK LP The Sound Of Your Cry.

The unedited master of 'I'm Leavin' on the Madison bootleg Let It Roll is listed as Take 8. Do Madison know something?

The undubbed masters of 'I'm Leavin' and 'It's Only Love' on the 4xCD box-set Elvis Back In Nashville is presented without backing vocals, although they can be heard faintly, bleeding through Elvis' microphone.

'It's Only Love' on the bootlegs Pure Diamonds Volume 1 and Rough Cut Diamonds is probably just the left channel only (centred) of a stereo acetate of the fully overdubbed master. By eliminating the right channel on the same track on the 70s Box I was able to get the exact same results. This is possible because backing vocals (and occasionally strings) tend to be panned 100% right on the original mixes from these sessions, so you can often eliminate them by cutting out the right channel, with no discernable bleed.

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.

All outtakes and undubbed masters used on the Sony 4xCD set Elvis Back In Nashville have been completely remixed and remastered from scratch.

Thanks to Luuk Bonthond regarding extended versions of songs on the cassette version of Elvis Aron Presley.



Recording Information 16-Track Tape Log	Recording Information May 20 1971



Music Sheet I'm Leavin'	Music Sheet We Can Make The Morning	Music Sheet It's Only Love



	Music Sheet I Shall Be Released