Produced by Roger Semon / Mastered by Vic Anesini.

The original master of 'Rags To Riches' was take 4 with a vocal repair "cuss me" (changed to "kiss me"), spliced with the line "tell me you're mine ever more" from take 3, along with a piano intro overdub. On this set however, there is a different splice from take 3 ("...that I'm living for, hold me and kiss me, and tell me you're mine ever more") without the take 4 vocal repair, and it now this master that is being used on all later releases since FTD's Love Letters From Elvis classic album.

The live version of 'My Way' (CD2, track 25) used here is not the same live version of the song used on the original November 1977 single, which was recorded on June 21 1977. The version used here is from April 25 1977.

Review by Gordon Minto - Elvis: The Man And His Music

Now, Hits Of The ‘70’s isn’t your usual run-of-the-mill Follow That Dream release - and I don’t mean that disparagingly - and may seem an odd choice for an FTD release, particularly as it contains no “new” or unreleased material. However, before the howls of protest reverberate across the Elvis world, via the medium of the twatter-sphere or the bloody boring blogs, let’s stay calm, dear!

Readers will be familiar with the album’s origins as Trevor Cajiao included it in a feature published in issue 97 of Elvis: The Man And His Music (September 2012). Oddly enough, though, while I never really rated the original album (at the time it seemed formless and pointless, simply thrown together as a lame attempt to cash in on Elvis’ 40 Greatest), this revised and extended version has exceeded my expectations considerably and I must confess to enjoying it greatly - a sentiment echoed by several pals.

Paradoxically, much as I relish outtakes, it is refreshing to listen to a strong collection of master tracks. Of course, that’s a personal view and I’m aware that some will lambast the album.So what do you get that makes it worth considering? Well, for starters, unlike the original vinyl album, all the tracks are in stereo and the B-sides have been included, along with the other single releases from the same time period.

For good measure, ‘My Way’ has been included, but sadly it’s not actually the single version from June 21 1977 (Elvis In Concert) but rather the one from April 25 1977, as included on Platinum: A Life In Music (1997) and Hitstory (2005). Ooops!

However, the whole thing presents as a very strong collection and, in my view, has as much, if not more, validity as a release than some of those godawful and rancid live recordings from the ‘70s that simply do not compare at all with his best live work and add not one iota to his musical memory.

And please don’t give me that horse-shit about being a different performance: how many versions do you / we need of a lame song, performed sloppily?