Anthony Stuchbury Interview

The RDM label are about to release 'King Creole' on CD and as their first ELVIS vinyl, yet EIN thought that producer Anthony Stuchbury had finished with his fifties releases... we called him up to see if he was looking for trouble ....

EIN: I think the first relevant question has to be that in our previous interview about your Essential 50’s Masters box-set you said that your fifties Mono > Stereo work was done and “put to bed”. ‘Tony: What happened?’!

(See Essential 50’s Masters interview)

Anthony Stuchbury: I did, and it was, but things transpired against me with that statement. It was mainly public requests and demand, Elvis fans asked for this.

EIN: Your ‘Essential 50’s Masters’ Stereo box-set sold out which I’m sure would have been of interest to SONY /RCA?  Did you get any feedback from Ernst Jorgensen?

AS: In a word, no, but you’re no doubt aware from his interview with ‘Rolling Stone’ late last year that it’s something he wants to do himself. I hope he can, and I hope he does, it would be a thrill to hear it, of that I have no doubt.

EIN: There can be little doubt that your ‘King Creole’ in stereo tracks were the highlight of the box-set for a huge number of fans, myself included. Was it because the box-set sold-out that you wanted to put out a separate King Creole set?

AS: I was actually planning to do ‘King Creole’ before the ‘50’s box set, but I put it on hold being aware that David English was working with FTD on their ‘Making Of’ set. I even told David that, I didn’t want to be a distraction to their project in any way. He thanked me for that.

EIN: This is your first VINYL release with RDM? What was the reason for King Creole being their first Elvis release in vinyl? And why a ten-inch?

AS: This is actually my second VINYL release with RDM, the first being a Johnny Hallyday 10” release. That was my grounding and test to see if I was happy with what they could produce. It was a nice product and an excellent pressing, so here we are now with their FIRST Elvis vinyl release. There was no need for my ‘Mono II Stereo’ King Creole soundtrack release to be a twelve inch vinyl. Everything fits on a ten-inch, plus it makes it less expensive and a nice collectible. My personal point is to make my work affordable, so what’s not to like?

EIN: RCA’s original album at only 20 minutes was a rather short 12” album. Yet it made #2 on the US Billboard charts (#1 in Uk’s Record Mirror) even though the EP had been released the month before. What I find odd is that the true cinema revenue from King Creole is hard to find. I can’t see it being anything but a huge success yet it is sometimes mentioned as being Elvis’ first movie failure in terms of expected profit. Having spent so long on the soundtrack, do you have any theories?

AS: I have no idea regarding the movie revenue, but was it possible that the media, et al, at the time were more concerned with Elvis being drafted perhaps?
I also seem to remember reading somewhere that The Colonel was happy with the two ep's released of the King Creole material, which didn't include 'Steadfast, Loyal & True', and that he had to be cajoled into creating a full soundtrack album. Can you imagine never having the full King Creole soundtrack in your collection?

I wanted to create something different , something that would make it worthwhile, and not just a rehash of what came before, and I'm very happy with the end result.

After letting a friend hear the end result of the vinyl master his opinion was that 'this stereo mix really opens up the tracks, with the brass and Jordanaires sounding much clearer. The original mono mix doesn't really do justice to what was achieved in the studio'. I'd have to agree with that as a lot of the musicianship is buried in the mono mix, but it's all there for the taking, I feel that I've enhanced their work by creating this new stereo mix allowing you to focus on it better.

EIN: Have you actually heard your King Creole stereo masters being played on vinyl, I can imagine that being a pretty exciting experience?

AS: Not yet, but I have received, heard and approved the final vinyl master which will be cut to disc. That itself was a pretty exciting experience. The way the tracks now sound, and the way they’re sequenced to match the movie make for an aurally delightful moment or two of joy.

EIN: The announcement of your King Creole vinyl release came out a couple of weeks before the CD was confirmed. Were you not sure about doing a CD version?

AS: We were always going to do a CD version with extra tracks, and announce them together, but an E.U. dealer prematurely posted the vinyl up for pre-order on their website and the news leaked out ahead of schedule. Hey, that’s the way it is, but I can’t say it’s hurting sales, in fact quite the opposite.

EIN: While it was great to have King Creole in stereo on your Essential Masters box-set I will be more than happy to enjoy this soundtrack as a separate release. The vinyl and CD have a different cover and design. I particularly like the vinyl inner-sleeve. What made you decide to use the two alternate designs?   

AS: That was David Parker's design decision, and I agreed with it. The vinyl inner would have had zero impact at the size of a CD sleeve, hence the freedom to do things differently for the CD version.

EIN: Your ‘Turtles, Berries and Gumbo - King Creole – Crawfish’ unreleased acetate version was recently on the FTD deluxe box-set.  Is this the same version used on your new RDM release?

AS: No. It isn’t. On this release I’ve reconstructed the opening of the movie from four different audio sources, none of which are from the acetate. It was a long and laborious job, but in the end well worth it.

EIN: Let’s talk about these new “movie versions”. For instance the King Creole movie version has extra overdubbed finger-clicks, percussion and loud-guitar-string. Also crowd noise and laughter.  Is this what you’re including? How does it actually differ from the track taken off DVD?

AS: There is no crowd noise or laughter, but you have the loud guitar string and ‘tommy gun’ drum roll mastered and matched into the track, thus making it a new stereo version.

EIN: What about Lover Doll and New Orleans, I only remember there being extra finger-snaps?

AS: Lover Doll has the double acoustic guitar intro and is minus the Jordanaires backing vocals, just as in the movie. New Orleans has the two added ‘WHERE’ ‘s from the Jordanaires that are not heard on the record version master, mastered and matched into the track.

EIN: Wow, I will have to go back and check the movie soundtrack again! Regarding the non “movie versions” will they be the same as the Essential Masters versions or have you done some more tweaking?

AS: There are only three tracks on the vinyl release that are exactly as on the ‘PRESLEY’ The Essential ‘50’s Masters set. They are ‘Trouble’, ‘Hard Headed Woman’ and ‘As Long As I Have You’.

EIN:  In our last interview I mentioned the terrible mix of the original ‘Girls! Girls! Girls!’  and since then you brought out the superb ‘From Florida To Hawaii’ where the stereo mix resembled the great sound that RCA should have put out in the first place.  Were you happy with what you achieved?

AS: If I said I or RDM weren’t happy I’d be lying, it was SOLD OUT within a week of release, eventually leading to it be repressed due to continued demand ! That’s the first time that has ever happened with anything I’ve worked on. I’m very proud of that, I even had to purchase some stock from RDM for myself.

EIN: The Harum Scarum sessions has just come out on FTD. Was there no opportunity for you to also fix those up for official release?

AS: No, at the time they were working on it there wasn’t any enthusiasm for it.

EIN: Some ‘fuddly-duddlies’ still persevere with the out-dated idea that Elvis’ “original masters” are all that should be released.  Yet Elvis’ original recordings have been re-mastered and sonically improved with every remaster. With this new Harum Scarum set FTD even admit that the original stereo masters were so bad that they are only including them “for purists” i.e. the ‘fuddly-duddlies’.  If they sounded so bad to begin with why don’t these fans accept that remastering in 2025 may actually improve upon the RCA originals?

AS: You’d have to ask the fuddly-duddlies, as I agree with you.

EIN: Are you working on any more releases that you can tell us about? Would RDM not like to put out a “stereo” Jailhouse Rock vinyl?

AS: Memphis Mansion in Denmark have released my ‘Mono II Stereo’ Jailhouse Rock album, so it would be pointless to let RDM do the same. At this point in time there are a couple of other vinyl releases that have been submitted and are in the pipeline with Memphis Mansion. Other vinyl releases via RDM are a possibility, but nothing has so far been discussed, agreed, or contracts signed.

EIN: To be honest I can’t believe that ‘Paradise Hawaiian Style’ could sound better or more enjoyable no matter what we did to Elvis’ original recordings?  What’s your thoughts?

AS: My thoughts are yes it can, and yes it does. It’s all done and is just sitting here with me. I can’t release it because it’s not public domain, but I’m considering sharing it on YouTube before the end of 2025 if official sources aren’t interested in it.

EIN: And I forgot to ask, do you have a release date for both the King Creole sets?

AS: Originally it was going to be July 2025 with hopefully the vinyl and CD released together - but just this week RDM have decided it will have to be delayed until September 2025. It will be worth the wait!

Interview by Piers Beagley.
-Copyright EIN June 2025
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Copyright the Elvis Information Network.

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