WHERE NO ONE STANDS ALONE (ReelTrax 47-9600-2) (Released 2008)
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Gospel outtakes from '66 and '67
1: Where No One Stands Alone (3, 4)
2: So High (1)
3: Somebody Bigger Than You And I (1, 2)
4: We Call On Him (4, 5, 8)
5: How Great Thou Art (1, 2, 3 + Count-in 4)
6: Somebody Bigger Than You And I (11 - 16)
7: If The Lord Wasn't Walking By My Side (1, 2 + count-in 3)
8: Somebody Bigger Than You And I [WorkPart] (1 - 6)
9: Without Him (1 - 14)
10: Where Could I Go But To The Lord (1 + count-in 2)
11: In The Garden (1)
12: Stand By Me (1- 7)
13: Oh How I Love Jesus (private recording)
14: How Great Thou Art (Memphis, June 10 1975)
15: Where No One Stands Alone (Montgomery, Feb 16 1977)
16: Statement by Elvis' producer Felton Jarvis - December 16, 1980
Content: 4 Sound: 5- Artwork: 5+ |
...in the shadow of volume 1
(Review by Oven Egeland)
ReelTrax released a great bootleg some months ago called You'll Never Walk Alone. It contained unreleased false starts of the title track and previously released full takes of the same song. All in great sound quality and in stereo! In addition the CD contained outtakes from the How Great Thou Art sessions in 1966. Though in mono, the sound was very good also on these tracks.
This follow up CD, "Where No one Stands Alone" is not in the same league. First of all, there is nothing unreleased on it. It gets harder and harder to find unreleased material, so one shouldn't be too surprised. However, what is more disappointing is the sound quality. It varies from VERY good to strangely "not so good". Several tracks found on this CD are available in better sound elsewhere.
'Where No One Stands Alone' (take 3, 4) has great sound. Punchy and clean. 'So High' (take 1) comes in stereo. No wonder, it has been lifted from the official release So High from FTD. The sound quality on 'Somebody Bigger Than You And I' (all takes) are not the best, but these takes have had sub-par also on other releases. RCA must have used a different set-up for the recording of this song? However especially take 11 to take 16 suffers from severe noise reduction artifacts! Takes 1 to 10 found on ReelTrax' first release sounds better!!
'We Call On Him' (4, 5, 8) again comes in stereo. Obviously taken from an official source as all three takes have been out on BMG/FTD releases. The sound is good!
Take 1 and 2 of 'How Great Thou Art' is ok. Take 2 have been out officially (and in stereo) for many years. I prefer the official version. Take 1 (only a short false start) has only been available on other bootlegs previously.
If The Lord Wasn't Walking By My Side (take 1, 2) are adequate in sound quality. Take 1 (full take) are already available on the official Today, Tomorrow And Forever (in stereo). Take 2 is a false start.
'Without Him' (takes 1 - 14) has a strange sound picture. It is better than on How Great Thou Art Vol. 2, but far from perfect! However, the poorest sounding track is takes 1 to 7 of 'Stand By Me'. We have had several outtakes of this song in great sound both in mono and stereo. The sound on this CD is very poor compared to what is available elsewhere!
'Oh How I Love Jesus' on the other hand is better than we have had before (In A Private Moment).
'How Great Thou Art' from Memphis, June 10 1975 is a great version. This has been to taken from DAE's super bootleg called Let Me Take You Home. Taken from another great bootleg (Coming On Strong) is the live version of the title track 'Where No One Stands Alone'. However, this time it has a large amount of echo added to it. Too much after my taste. Also, fake audience reactions have been added. NO, please no!
All in all this is a CD that will have very little interest after FTD has released an upgraded version of "How Great Thou Art". The sound quality is good, but taken into consideration that several of the tracks are already available in better sound and in equally good sound on earlier releases; I find it hard to recommend.
ReelTrax' first release was a winner, mostly because of outtakes and good sound on the title track. This second volume fails to repeat the success.
©
, Norway, June 2008 |
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