New Wax Wednesday

It’s a hunka hunka heap of great burning Elvis tracks a-coming on wax! Or, to be more specific, RCA/Legacy is set to release Elvis Presley’s Sunset Boulevard as a 2LP set on August 1, 2025, a collection that will feature a number of rarities that’s also intended to put a spotlight on Elvis’ oft-overlooked 1970s recorded output.

In effect, Sunset Boulevard gives us some clear, instructive perspective on Elvis’ 1970s recorded output. This 2LP release — which is also dubbed as being the “Highlights” set (I’ll tell you exactly why, in just a bit) — includes rare alternate studio versions of late-period Elvis gems like 1) “Separate Ways,” which is generally seen as being the most autobiographical song Elvis ever recorded; 2) “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” which channeled the King’s groundbreaking signature vocal style from his earlier years; and 3) “Burning Love,” the 40th and final Top Ten single of his career.

Check out “Burning Love – Take 2” (which will appear on LP2, Side C, Track 1) via the YouTube clip below — and dig that gnarly guitar riffage (mainly courtesy Elvis’ mainstay guitarist James Burton) that punctuates the balance of the track as you do so.

If any of you saw the quite fabulous Elvis biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann that came out in 2022, you may recall the absolutely riveting “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” sequence wherein then-greenhorn actor Austin Butler fully embodied the King’s moves and onstage prowess at an outdoor fair, as well as the Las Vegas rehearsals montage that showed Presley meant, well, business, especially when he had the band and his many background vocalists work up “That’s All Right.” (I happened to review the Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray release of Elvis over on our sister site Sound & Vision on November 4, 2022, and you’re welcome to read up on it here.)

In recent years, RCA/Legacy have done a pretty darn good job in repackaging music from the already quite deeply mined Elvis catalog on better/upgraded vinyl, such as August 2024’s Memphis 2LP set comprised of 24 tracks, 6 of them per side, on four sides respectively dubbed as Sun Single Masters, American ’69, Stax ’73, and Graceland ’76. My own favorite Elvis LP, incidentally, remains Elvis 56, initially issued in Europe in 1996 by RCA Victor, later reissued by RCA Victor in 2014 as a gatefold 180g LP and subsequently on red vinyl in 2017 — and then, most recently, again here in 2025 on blue 180g vinyl, courtesy Music on Vinyl/RCA Victor. (I also quite dig The Sun Sessions LP in mono too, of course!)

But now, let’s get back to the Blvd! While I await confirmation from the label about where the vinyl was pressed, who cut the wax, and what the source material was, I can confirm that the 2LP “Highlights” set features new and never-before-heard mixes done by four-time Grammy-winner Matt Ross-Spang (Iron & Wine, Old Crow Medicine Show) that essentially strip away all the tracks’ initial overdubs.

Opening with a dozen classics culled from throughout Elvis’ time spent recording in RCA Studio C, these new mixes are said to (per the official press release) “provide an intimate glimpse into the ways his riveting voice interacts with material from the era’s greatest songwriters.” Among these tracks are Elvis’ takes on Kris Kristofferson’s “For the Good Times” (a 1972 B-side first released in 1995), Billy Swan’s “I Can Help” (from 1975’s Today), and Don McLean’s “And I Love You So” (also from Today). Ross-Spang’s stripped-down mixes of other cuts like Paul Williams’ “Where Do I Go From Here” (originally from 1973’s Elvis), “equally bolster” (their words) the remaining 12 studio outtakes that comprise the second LP.

The SRP for the black vinyl edition of Sunset Boulevard is $37.99, and you can preorder it from Music Direct here, or via the MD link graphic that appears ahead of the tracklisting below. The 2LP color variant seen above is a Graceland Exclusive with an SRP of $38.98, and it can only be preordered here.

Some additional background now, via the press release (as punctuated here and there with my own commentary). Sunset Boulevard includes rare archival photographs and new liner notes from music historian Colin Escott, plus an introduction by longtime friend Jerry Schilling. The release of Sunset Boulevard will also be celebrated at Elvis Week 2025 in Memphis — a special edition of the annual festivities in honor of what would have been Presley’s 90th birthday year. Sony Music will host a Sunset Boulevard listening event at Graceland’s Guest House Theater on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, that is expected to feature a Q&A with special guests, and much more. For more information and to reserve tickets, visit ElvisWeek.com here.

Now, for all you Elvis completists out there, there will also be a companion 5CD Sunset Boulevard set that includes 10 more tracks inclusive on the first two CDs, plus an additional 3CDs that focus solely on sharing behind-the-scenes looks at Elvis’ aforementioned, history-making Las Vegas residency, featuring Los Angeles rehearsals from July 1970 and August 1974 with his iconic TCB Band. Throughout those sessions, only Elvis, the TCB Band, and the engineer in the control room were present for how the magic happened.

Notable among the 1974 recordings are two featured tracks that Elvis never cut studio versions of: 1) “Twelfth of Never,” which was originally a hit for Johnny Mathis in 1957, and 2) “Softly as I Leave You,” the latter of which finds Elvis narrating a prologue about the song’s purported origins that were inspired by his love of Charles Boyer’s narrated 1965 album on Valiant, Where Does Love Go. Elvis’ instinctive chemistry with the TCB Band is said to be “palpable” throughout both rehearsals, perhaps owing to his decision to record with his roadhounds for the first time during that era.

Based on what I’ve heard of the entire Sunset Boulevard box set so far, the King made the right decision in working with the TCB Band, so you may want to consider getting the 5CD box in addition to the 2LP set, which I’ve already earmarked as a “must-have.” Because I am an avowed completist, I’m including the full 5CD box set’s tracklisting after the 2LP set’s running order below. If you’re truly interested, the 5CD box sports an SRP of $79.95, and you can preorder it here. The Sunset Boulevard 2LP set, as noted earlier, can be ordered via the MD link graphic directly below. If you’re looking for trouble / You came to the right place. . .

ELVIS PRESLEY
SUNSET BOULEVARD
2LP (RCA/Legacy)

LP1, Side A
1. Always On My Mind
2. Burning Love
3. Separate Ways
4. It’s A Matter Of Time
5. For The Good Times
6. Fool

LP1, Side B
1. T-R-O-U-B-L-E
2. Bringin’ It Back
3. Susan When She Tried
4. Woman Without Love
5. I Can Help
6. Pieces Of My Life

LP2, Side C
1. Burning Love – Take 2
2. Separate Ways – Take 25
3. Where Do I Go From Here – Take 2
4. Always On My Mind – Take 2
5. Fool – Take 1
6. For The Good Times – Take 3

LP2, Side D
1. Tiger Man
2. Green, Green Grass of Home – Takes 2 and 3
3. Shake A Hand – Take 2
4. And I Love You So – Take 2
5. Fairytale – Alternate Take 2
6. T-R-O-U-B-L-E – Take 1

ELVIS PRESLEY
SUNSET BOULEVARD
5CD (RCA/Legacy)

Disc 1: The Masters

1. Burning Love
2. Always On My Mind
3. Where Do I Go From Here
4. Separate Ways
5. For The Good Times
6. It’s A Matter Of Time
7. Fool
8. T-R-O-U-B-L-E
9. And I Love You So
10. Susan When She Tried
11. Woman Without Love
12. Shake A Hand
13. Pieces Of My Life
14. Fairytale
15. I Can Help
16. Bringin’ It Back
17. Green, Green Grass Of Home

Disc 2: Outtakes Highlights

1. Separate Ways – Take 25
2. For The Good Times – Take 3
3. Where Do I Go From Here – Take 2
4. Burning Love – Take 2
5. Fool – Take 1
6. Always On My Mind – Take 2
7. It’s A Matter Of Time – Takes 13
8. It’s A Matter Of Time – Take 4
9. Fairytale – Take 2
10. Green, Green Grass Of Home – Takes 2 and 3
11. And I Love You So – Take 2
12. Susan When She Tried – Takes 1 and 2
13. T-R-O-U-B-L-E – Take 1
14. Tiger Man
15. Shake A Hand – Take 2
16. Bringin It Back – Takes 2 and 3
17. Pieces of My Life – Takes 2 and 3

Disc 3: July 24, 1970 Rehearsal

1. That’s All Right
2. I Got A Woman
3. I Got A Woman
4. The Wonder Of You
5. I’ve Lost You
6. The Next Step Is Love
7. Stranger In The Crowd
8. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
9. Something
10. Don't Cry Daddy
11. Don't Cry Daddy
12. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
13. Polk Salad Annie
14. Bridge Over Troubled Water
15. I Can’t Stop Loving You
16. Just Pretend
17. Sweet Caroline
18. Love Me Tender
19. Words
20. Suspicious Minds
21. I Just Can’t Help Believin’
22. I Just Can’t Help Believin’

Disc 4: July 24, 1970 Rehearsal – Continued

1. Tomorrow Never Comes
2. Mary In The Morning
3. Twenty Days And Twenty Nights
4. You've Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’
5. Just Can’t Help Believin’
6. Heart Of Rome
7. Heart Of Rome
8. Memories
9. Johnny B. Goode
10. Make The World Go Away
11. Stranger In My Own Home Town
12. I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water

August 16, 1974 Rehearsal

13. If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
14. If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
15. Promised Land
16. Promised Land
17. Down In The Alley
18. Down In The Alley

Disc 5: August 16, 1974 Rehearsal – Continued

1. It’s Midnight
2. It’s Midnight
3. Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming
4. Good Time Charlies Got The Blues
5. Softly As I Leave You
6. Softly As I Leave You
7. I’m Leavin’
8. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
9. Proud Mary
10. If You Talk In Your Sleep
11. If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
12. If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
13. The Twelfth Of Never
14. Faded Love
15. Just Pretend