EAP Index World: Today (CD/LP

Title:

Today

Label:

FTD [FTD 048] [82876 63927 2]

Format:

2x CD

Number of tracks:

Running time:

128:00

Linked to:

FTD discography

Year:

2005

Recording date:

March 10-13, 1975

Release date:

July 2005

Singles:

---

Today was Elvis' 96th LP and 204th audiophonic work (including singles and EPs). It contained tracks recorded between March 10 and 13, 1975, in the last studio recording sessions, held at RCA Studio C in Hollywood.

Elvis' 40th year of life began with problems. The incredible "Aloha from Hawaii" was already two years old and the resounding success of the March 1974 season, which had generated the LP "Elvis Recorded Live On Stage in Memphis" was a memory that was also becoming increasingly distant. The shows in the second half of 1974, although of good quality, presented a singer tired of the routine and his personal problems, which often ended up generating episodes of angry outbursts on stage. In addition, he had less and less desire to go into the studio, and had not done so for over a year.

The release of "Promised Land", on the very day of Elvis' 40th birthday, set off alarm bells at RCA, which now, with no more studio leftovers to sell, urgently needed new material. The problem then was getting Elvis to record songs, which he now, after spending almost a month in the hospital after having to cancel his January 1975 season in Las Vegas, hated more than ever. He even tried to hide in his house in Malibu, but the record company had Studio C nearby, in Hollywood, and he was contractually obligated to do so.

Elvis arrived at Studio C around 9 p.m. on March 10, 1975, with an agreement that RCA gave him carte blanche on how, with whom and at what time he would record. The work went on until the early hours of the 13th, and Elvis always preferred to cut tracks between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. "T.R.O.U.B.L.E.", the album's only rock song, "Bringin' it Back" and "Pieces of My Life", for example, were all recorded after 3 a.m.

The results of the March 1975 sessions at RCA's Studio C in Hollywood would all be released on the Today LP on May 7 of that year. The album only reached #57 on the US charts and #48 in the UK. "T.R.O.U.B.L.E.", "Bringin' it Back" and "Pieces of My Life" charted much higher as singles. In the UK, "Green, Green Grass of Home" reached #30 on the charts, the highest charting of the entire album.

After years of being re-released, the album finally received a worthy double CD reissue by FTD, which brought to the public part of the recording sessions that were previously only heard on bootlegs.

The album features the following tracks:

CD1

ORIGINAL ALBUM

1. T.R.O.U.B.L.E
2. And I Love You So
3. Susan When She Tried
4. Woman Without Love
5. Shake a Hand
6. Pieces of My Life
7. Fairytale
8. I Can Help
9. Bringin' it Back
10. Green, Green Grass of Home

OUTTAKES

11. Tiger Man (Jam Session)

12. And I Love You So (Take 2)

13. Pieces of My Life (Take 1)

14. Fairytale (Takes 1* & 2)

15. Bringin' it Back (Take 1*)

16. Green, Green Grass of Home (Take 1)

17. Shake a Hand (Take 1*)

18. Susan When She Tried (Take 3*)

19. Pieces of My Life (Takes 2* & 3*)

20. And I Love You So (Take 3*)

*previously unreleased takes

CD2

ROUGH MIXES & OUTTAKES

1. Fairytale

2. Green, Green Grass of Home

3. I Can Help

4. And I Love You So

5. Susan When She Tried

6. T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

7. Woman Without Love

8. Shake a Hand

9. Bringin' it Back

10. Pieces of My Life

11. Green, Green Grass of Home (Takes 2 & 3)

12. Susan When She Tried (Takes 1 & 2)

13. And I Love You So (Take 1)

14. Bringin' it Back (Takes 2 & 3)

15. T.R.O.U.B.L.E. (Take 1)

16. Shake a Hand (Take 2)

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Title:

Today - The Original Session Mixes

Label:

FTD 314 [506020 975147]

Format:

2x LP

Number of tracks:

Running time:

72:00

Linked to:

FTD discography

Year:

2016
Recording date:

March 10-13, 1975

Release date:

November 2016

Singles:

---

Eleven years later, the label released a double LP containing the Rough Mixes of the sessions, outtakes and Masters, concentrating on the most notable ones.

The album features the following tracks:

LP 1

SIDE A

ROUGH MIXES

1. Susan When She Tried

2. Woman Without Love

3. Shake a Hand

4. Fairytale

5. Green, Green Grass of Home

SIDE B

ROUGH MIXES

6. Bringin' it Back

7. T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

8. Pieces of My Life

9. I Can Help

10. And I Love You So

LP 2

SIDE A

OUTTAKES

1. T.R.O.U.B.L.E. (Take 1)

2. Fairytale (Takes 1 & 2)

3. Susan When She Tried (Takes 1 & 2)

4. Shake a Hand (Take 1)

5. Tiger Man (Jam Session)

SIDE B

OUTTAKES

6. Green, Green Grass of Home (Take 1)

7. Bringin' it Back (Take 1)

8. I Can Help (Master)

9. Shake a Hand (Take 2)

10. Susan When She Tried (Take 3)

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RECORDING SESSIONS

Dates:
March 10-13, 1975

Studio:
RCA Studio C

Location:
Hollywood, California

MARCH 10-13, 1975
Musicians:

Voice: Elvis Presley
Acoustic guitar: Charlie Hodge
Electric guitar: James Burton

Rhythm guitar: John Wilkinson
Bass: Duke Bardwell

Drums: Ronnie Tutt

Piano: Glen Hardin, Tony Brown

Electric clavinet: David Briggs
Backing Vocals: Elvis Presley, Voice

Sound Engineer / Recording Engineer:

Felton Jarvis, Rick Ruggieri

MARCH 10/11, 1975
Fairytale EPA3 1594-03

Green Green Grass of Home EPA3 1595-05

I Can Help EPA3 1596-02

And I Love You So EPA531597-05

MARCH 11/12, 1975
Susan When She Tried EPA3 1598-06

T.R.O.U.B.L.E. EPA3 1599-04

Tiger Man (Jam) WPA5 2575-01

Woman Without Love EPA3 1600-01

Shake a Hand EPA3 1601-03

MARCH 12/13, 1975
Bringin' it Back EPA3 1602-04

Pieces of My Life EPA3 1603-04

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SONY LEGACY VERSION

Title:
Today - Legacy Edition

Label:

Sony Legacy / RCA Victor [88875 08494 2]

Format:

2x CD

Number of tracks:

Running time:

136:00

Linked to:

Official discography

Year:

2015
Recording date:

March 10 - June 10, 1975

Release date:

August 7, 2015

Singles:

---

RCA only released a double CD version in 2015, betting on a different idea from the 2005 FTD edition: Instead of making the same takes available, Sony preferred to add the undubbed Rough Mixes and live tracks from May and June 1975 (released on the 1980 "Elvis Aron Presley" box set) as bonuses.

The work includes the following tracks:

CD1

ORIGINAL ALBUM

1. T.R.O.U.B.L.E
2. And I Love You So
3. Susan When She Tried
4. Woman Without Love
5. Shake a Hand
6. Pieces of My Life
7. Fairytale
8. I Can Help
9. Bringin' it Back
10. Green, Green Grass of Home

ROUGH MIXES

11. Fairytale

12. Green, Green Grass of Home

13. I Can Help

14. And I Love You So

15. Susan When She Tried

16. T.R.O.U.B.L.E

17. Woman Without Love

18. Shake a Hand

19. Bringin' it Back

20. Pieces of My Life

CD2