Tape reel #2 from this session is missing, and
if anything was recorded on this tape, maybe it
suggests that Elvis went back to 'My Way',
or that nothing was recorded, but they had just
marked the tape box before they realized that
Elvis wasn't going to record any more that night.
The master matrix number for the remake of 'I'll Be Home On
Christmas Day' is incorrectly listed
as APA4 1296 in RCA's session logs - It should
be APA4 1297.
When the session tapes were rediscovered in the
1990's the confusion was explained - The original
master reel had 'My Way' listed as APA4 1296 and the remake of 'I'll Be Home On Christmas Day' listed as
APA4 1297 and it was found that RCA's engineer
had changed the number on the session log after
the event, indicating that Elvis and/or Felton
Jarvis decided that 'My Way' wasn't worthy
of release.
On the Today, Tomorrow And Forever box-set it wrongly
lists Take 9 of 'I'll Be Home On Christmas Day'
from the May 16 session
as being released on there, when it is actually
Take 9 from this date, as correctly listed in
Sessions III.
On May 16 Elvis sang an extra verse on the first
few takes of 'I'll Be Home On Christmas Day',
and then that verse was omitted from Take 4 onwards,
because Felton Jarvis said the song was too long.
The master was then cut (Take 8) without that
verse being included.
On June 10 Elvis re-recorded 'I'll Be Home On Christmas Day' again in a different tempo,
but started off using the same (unused) verse.
After Take 9 someone decided, again for whatever
reason, to leave out that verse, and the (alternate)
master was cut without this verse. The extra verse
is as follows:-
It's been so long since I've seen little
John, Michelle, Christine and Karen;
(I almost) Forgot all the presents that I bought,
a purse for little sister to carry.
(If) I could set aside my pride, I'd just be on
my way,
I'd be on that (catch that) train tomorrow, I'll
be home on Christmas Day.
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 Michael Schemies for pointing out the
mistake regarding 'I'll Be Home On Christmas
Day' on Today, Tomorrow And Forever.
