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‘The Harum Scarum Sessions' FTD Box-set Review The Harum Scarum Sessions To be honest I’d much prefer some movie-themed alternate-musical-influence (Acapulco, Harum Scarum) over boringly subpar sixties-pop-material (Kissin’ Cousins, Clambake). It was during this period in his life that Elvis had considered becoming a monk and started visiting the spiritual 'Self-Realization Fellowship'. If you had seen the pre-production script of 'Harum Scarum' you would have probably done the same! For a lot of fans the 2003 Harum Scarum 'Classic Soundtrack Album' which included 25 tracks and ran 66 minutes is probably enough. However for fans of Elvis’ middle-eastern period this FTD release, of 3CDs featuring 170 minutes (not counting the lousy-sounding original album) and around 60 previously unreleased outtakes, is a ‘Golden Coin’ and not a ‘Mirage’. However of the 60 unreleased takes, unfortunately half of them are from the one song, ‘Shake That Tambourine’!
“The difference between Elvis getting a million and Elizabeth Taylor getting a million per movie is that Elvis’ never take longer than five weeks to shoot. So the good folks at the studios make a nice profit on us.” It is noteworthy that Elvis does not look happy in any of the photos with Col Parker. I suspect he was dreaming of a happier life as a monk and getting away from the old carny!
Here’s a great sample of a good review from Fort Lauderdale News
And perhaps a more honest review from the Oakland Tribune..
The booklet also features the usual Sessions Data, movie trivia, foreign film posters, worldwide premieres plus chart listings and 45 and 33rpm sleeve covers. Who knew that ‘Shake That Tambourine’ / ‘Animal Instinct’ was a 45rpm in Peru!
A fascinating insight is also provided by a list of songs suggested for the soundtrack but that were rejected. These include the superior 'Please Don't Stop Loving Me' and amazingly, 'Let Yourself Go'! Again it is a very nicely compiled booklet. There are several RCA tape box covers which this time reveal that RCA Engineer Bill Vandevort unusually noted the master ‘Take’ and also the ‘2nd choice’. Some of these would end up being spliced masters while others were released using the final take. The album was recorded in February 1965 but not released until eight months later in November 1965. This was the fast-paced sixties and in those eight months The Beatles had both filmed and released their second movie ‘Help!' plus their chart-topping soundtrack album ‘Help!’ would be the Billboard #1 album on the day that ‘Harum Scarum’ was released. The Beatles' 1965 movie 'Help!' was filmed in overseas locations including the Bahamas, the Austrian ski-fields and locations in London. Col Parker was creatively ruining Elvis’ career.
The MGM Audio Mix On the songs like ‘Go East - Young Man’ this sounds terrible as during the intro, before Elvis and the Jordanaires start singing, there is no audio at all apart from the musicians on the left channel. ‘Wisdom of The Ages’ is similarly poor. ‘So Close, Yet So Far’ has only the oboe and Jordanaires on the right channel which makes it an interesting version if you listen to that channel alone! The ‘Harum Scarum’ sessions unusually took place at Nashville’s RCA Studio B (rather than the regular L.A. Radio Recorders) so the audio mix and quality should have been top-notch. It only proves how the movie studios degraded Elvis’ studio recordings. Being in Nashville the musicians were not the usual LA gang and this time, along with Scotty Moore, they included Grady Martin on guitar, Henry Strezelcki on bass, Floyd Cramer piano and with Kenneth Buttery adding percussion to D.J. Fontana.
Audio Quality: As noted the original vinyl version of ‘Harum Scarum’ sounded appalling, compressed, flat-sounding and with very narrow stereo spectrum. 1992’s ‘Double Features’ remastered by Dick Baxter from the original sessions tapes was a stunning improvement, albeit with a little too much echo, and proved that the original session tapes sounded fine. 2003’s FTD 'Harum Scarum' included the awful sounding original LP masters although the session outtakes sounded just fine. 2010’s “The Complete Masters” version from Vic Anesini / Sebastian Jeansson were upgraded but from the MGM LP Master tape and so sounded better than the 1965 original album but actually worse than 1992’s Dick Baxter version which were taken from the Studio B session tapes. 2025 – We’ve waited sixty years but finally the album been lovingly remastered by Sebastian Jeansson / Vic Anesini from the original sessions tapes and they sound great with a lovely clarity and delicious rich sound. (Shame about the error with 'Shake That Tambourine')
The Remixed Album Masters In fact the original FTD Classic Album was the first real disappointment in their "movie series" since they used the terrible album masters when they had already been released in far better quality audio on the ‘Double Features’ set. It also meant the album masters sounded terrible compared to the session outtakes that followed. Here they sound just fine and much improved on Vic Anesini’s “Complete masters” versions. As fans have noticed ‘Shake That Tambourine’ is definitely not the original release since @1.14 Elvis sings “bells on their fingers, bells on their toes” instead of “rings on their fingers...”. The “new” edit is incorrect and the mistake comes from Take 41.
Looking closer at the outtakes .. A typical soundtrack session in the 60’s would have Elvis and the band starting with a few rough attempts while the melody, lyrics and arrangement were finalised and then a few more takes to get to the master. This usually meant around ten takes in total and about 15 minutes of enjoyable eavesdropping as they worked it all out. Nevertheless if Elvis started having real trouble with a lesser soundtrack song and it starts heading past fifteen takes it becomes frustrating for Elvis and annoying as an observer. Girl Happy’s ‘Spring Fever’ and ‘Do Not Disturb’ or Spinout’s ‘Adam And Evil’ are all examples of wasted energy on inconsequential material. Luckily for us the vast majority of ‘Harum Scarum’ material was finished fairly quickly. Even the sixteen takes of ‘Golden Coins’ were completed in under 17 minutes. Not so with 'Shake That Tambourine' and it is truly annoying – for us and the musicians - that they chose this song to start the session. It is astounding that Elvis and the band worked this song through to a remarkable 41 takes! In fact on the first night of the session it was the only song recorded at all and lasting over 40 minutes on tape it is an exasperating start to the “complete” sessions. CD:1 lasts 50 minutes so in fact ALL of the 'Shake That Tambourine' attempts would fit on the first disc. However FTD have obviously decided that for our sanity they would split the one song across two cds. By doing this they also split the lengthy ‘Golden Coins’ session across two different cds as well. 'Shake That Tambourine' By a laid-back Take 8 (C2008) Elvis was finding his place and the song was taking shape, even though it falls apart half-way through. What becomes annoying is that (similar to Girl Happy’s ‘Spring Fever’) there is very little progress or difference between all the following thirty-two takes! And in the end the master would be a spliced edit so it was a disappointing start to the session. It was frustrating for Elvis and it is frustrating as a listener. Perhaps the eight outtakes on the original “Classic Album” were enough. Having said that, Elvis is surprisingly enthusiastic and there is an air of them all having fun. On (previously released) Takes 10/11 Elvis laughs, "I can't feel it - I'm having to read it!" Halfway through he sings, "What tambourine?" and the ending is just delicious as it falls apart, “shake that whatever-it-is” and everyone laughs. It sure isn't the Master but it's fabulous fun. A gem. Take 12 has Elvis singing “swishing and a-fishing” while Take 13 includes Elvis delightfully miss-pronouncing 'Tiny feet' as 'teenie feet' and laughing deliciously at himself, "I can't believe I said that! Teenie, Queenie!" Elvis would do exactly the same mistake on the following take. How interesting to note that the poor man was yet to record 'Queenie Wahine's Papaya'. At one point looking at the lyric sheet Elvis notes, “I’m not saying this song is long, but it looks like the Declaration of Independence!” By complete Take 19 the song was close to perfect although Elvis still sounds a little unsure with the lyric. He does however click his fingers and hum along in appreciation. Surely only one more attempt was needed! A good new addition to our collection, previously unreleased, complete Take 25 has a great energy and fine drumming from Kenneth Buttery. It only falls apart at the final playoff. Grady Martin also adds some lovely sharp guitar. Take 27 would be used for the spliced Master. With a fine start it’s a pretty good version until Elvis stops singing towards the end. CD2: 76 minutes (the session continues) Take 28 is a neat start to the second disc as Elvis asks, “Want to make another one?” Perhaps he thought that a spliced master could have been created with what they already had. “Let’s keep that beat up” he suggests, sounding surprisingly positive, until he then notes, “Any excuse I can find to stop, man.” He was right, and he should have. The following five attempts all fail for similar reasons with Elvis stumbling over the lyrics. Previously unreleased complete Take 33 is however another great addition. It’s close to perfect and still with a good energy until Elvis misses the final chorus and laughs, “Hell fire, hell fire. Shut up Esposito!” We can presume Joe Esposito had started laughing at Elvis’ lyric fluff. Elvis however kicks in with a lovely “I said I’ll shake it, I’ll shake it..” blues ending. It’s a surprise FTD has never released this before. Elvis also states “Thank you, very, very much” in the same way as he would at his 70’s live concerts! This is a gem. Right before the final take 41 Elvis understandably sings the first line of Nat King Cole’s ‘Pretend’.. “Pretend you’re happy when you’re blue!” Take 41 would be used for the end of the spliced album Master. Elvis does however make the slip up @1.14, “Bells on her fingers, Bells on her toes” which is no doubt where FTD’s “edited master” went wrong. The “edited Master” that follows is the same incorrect “bells on their fingers, bells on their toes” version as on CD1.
'So Close, Yet So Far (From Paradise)' Take 1 shows Elvis slightly rushing the lyrics but otherwise it’s a delightfully restrained slow-tempo version. The verse “just a step away – are we – from paradise” is a treat. A gem. With the tempo sped-up, Takes 3 and 4 were used for the spliced master. On complete take 3 (C2044) towards the end Elvis stumbles on the lyrics and even slips off key - which is so unusual – @0238 on “come away to paradise my love.” “That was an awfully damn good one!” a MGM producer notes. The following take, with it’s wonderful power-ending, was used for the last half of the edit. 'My Desert Serenade' Previously unreleased Take 1 (C2046) is a delightful, rough run-through with a different drum intro. Elvis stumbles on the lyrics “let me take you.. oh shit… in my arms” but the band amusingly continues until Elvis says “Hold It.” Elvis starts Take 2 by singing one line of the Bobby Darin song "More". If only he had recorded that instead! Elvis sounds so unsure of the melody that complete Take 3 sounds like a vocal-overdub. Previously unreleased Take 6 (C 2051) is fascinating having a different percussion arrangement at the 02:15 mid-section. Elvis stumbles so although it is complete this could no way be a master. By Take 7 the rhythm is more of a horse-gallop, Elvis is still unsure of the melody, and at the end Elvis jokes, "My dessert horse, the one I rode in on". Take 10 is noted by MGM as “That’s the best one so far” while by the master Take 12 (C2057) at last Elvis sounds more assured on holding the melody. 'Wisdom Of the Ages'
The Beatles first introduced sitar and middle-eastern influences on their ‘Rubber Soul’ LP recorded in October 1965, months after Elvis' Harum Scarum sessions, in fact you could argue that their classic ‘Norwegian Wood’ wasn’t that far removed from 'Wisdom Of the Ages.' About The Beatles reviewers noted “the sitar part was a sign of the whole band's hunger for new musical colours." Can I suggest the same for Harum Scarum! :-) Elvis suggests "Maybe a little faster" for Take 3 (C2060) but he still sounds unsure with the lyrics and on Take 4 Elvis then fluffs the final note. Interestingly by Take 4 the final band playoff had been lengthened to good effect. Take 5 with the lovely percussion build-up, neat playoff and a spot-on Elvis power-ending would be the master. ‘Kismet’ Previously unreleased Takes 3 / 4 stop for no particular reason. The next attempt Take 5 would be the album release. 'Hey Little Girl' Take 2 with a real “twist” feel and some great drums-bursts ends with Elvis laughing, “Da-Da-de-da-da.” On Take 3 you can easily hear Elvis' feet dancing to the rhythm while at the start he suggests, "Pick it up just a little bit." It is just amazing that Elvis sounds so enthusiastic for such a lightweight song. No matter the material he sure did try his best! The song would have been fine for a 1962 creation, but for 1965? Mixing oddities: At 01:10 (as we similarly noted at the ‘Girl Happy’ session) The Jordanaires’ right-channel mic is suddenly faded down, which cuts out the right channel musician’s bleed and studio ambiance, and so leaves an annoyingly empty channel. However at 01:57 Grady Martin’s guitar - which had previously been mixed to left channel - is suddenly moved to the right channel for his solo! Take 5 with Grady Martin’s lead-guitar now sensibly moved to the right channel would be the master. With five tracks finished and already after 3am Elvis called it a night. Elvis would return the following day and start with sixteen attempts at 'Golden Coins'. It would have made chronological sense to make this the start of CD3. 'Golden Coins' Elvis’ vocal is beautifully clear and it’s almost as if he’s whispering in your ear. After a delightful previously unreleased Take 6 (C2078) Elvis notes “we need one more” yet Take 8 is almost identical except with a cymbal hit added to each line in the middle verse. Disc 3: 68 mins (sessions continues) 'Golden Coins' previously unreleased outtakes 9 > 16 start the third cd. Elvis slightly stumbles on the lyrics on complete Take 10 (C2082) while the following Take 11 would be used for the last section of the spliced Master. Takes 9, 12, 13, 14 and 15 are all short false starts and go nowhere, while Take 16 is perfect expect for the finale – hence the need for the splice. Grady Martin’s lovely echoey lead guitar (right channel) becomes far more prominent in the final attempts.
'Animal Instinct' Henry Strzelecki’s deep-bass melody and teasing oboe / flute is a great arrangement. Previously unreleased Take 2 (C-2090) stops when Elvis loses his place, while complete Take 5 includes Elvis drifting off melody and Kenneth Buttrey throwing in some truly wild drumming. The next attempt Take 6 (C2094) was the master. 'Harem Holiday' Elvis is reticent on Take 1 – can you blame him? – and he still sounds reticent on Take 2 which they decided would be "OK" for the master cut - or more likely it Elvis’ final attempt. The band, with great boogie piano from Floyd Cramer, are certainly on fine form but there is no doubt that it needed a better vocal. It is a high possibility that at this point Elvis walked out of the session as the musicians noted Elvis’ disappointment in the song choices. If Elvis wanted to be “Valentino” this wasn’t the music the "Great Lover" would have been singing! Elvis vocal overdub would be recorded ten days later. The lyrics were also updated, in order to add more punch, to "Gonna' travel, Gonna' travel wild and free" when the earlier takes were "Time for travelling, Time for travelling wild and free."
Elvis in RCA Studio B with MGM Producer Fred Karger
Since Elvis had 'left the building' this meant that the musicians would have to record backing tracks for the required final two songs. Luckily only two songs were unrecorded and as the MGM producer explains to the Jordanaires, “Remember that Elvis will be on top.” Due to the terrible MGM mixes there is silence on the right channel unless The Jordanaires are singing. Here we get the previously unreleased backing tracks for ‘Go East – Young Man’ and ‘Mirage.’ On ‘Go East – Young Man’ you can hear someone singing a very quiet Elvis guide vocal - check the right channel. I wonder who that was. Red West had done those duties around the same time but it doesn’t sound like him. Elvis’ overdub follows, which actually sounds more involved than his other soundtrack overdubs. As noted in the booklet the overdub itself was a combined splice of two of Elvis overdubs. ‘Mirage’ backing track has a similar very distant guide vocal, again the musicians are all left channel with Jordanaires right. CD.3 ends with the Original 1965 Album Masters which only prove how bad they sounded. Released multiple times before, why anyone would want to listen to these in 2025 I have no idea.
Overall Verdict: I guess that it still applies that Harum Scarum is a soundtrack that Elvis fans either love or loathe! Fans of Eastern-Promise will no doubt find plenty to enjoy from eavesdropping on these recording sessions. Most collectors will also be extremely happy to finally have great quality audio of the whole session. While I personally enjoy 'Harum Scarum' more than ‘Girl Happy’, compared to those recent “complete” sessions it is a little disappointing that there was so little change in the Harum Scarum arrangements as the recordings progressed. Having said that, it is always fascinating to again hear Elvis’ frustrations when we know that even worse soundtrack material would follow. The booklet is however excellent and this period in 1965 captures a particular time when Elvis’ creativity would sadly be left behind by the inventiveness of the up-coming new musicians. The album would chart at #8, probably due to Elvis’ past accomplishments and on-going fan base. However Elvis would not achieve another US Top Ten album until the ‘68 Special’ three years later.
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