Elvis Presley's 'Sunset Boulevard' Rarities Released In New 89-Track Box Set

08-02-2025

(SFM) RCA Records and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, have released Sunset Boulevard today - a definitive 5-CD collection chronicling Elvis Presley's recording sessions and rehearsals at RCA's legendary Los Angeles studios. Spanning 89 rarities - over half of which have never been released in the United States - Sunset Boulevard delivers illuminating perspective onto Elvis' 1970s recording output.

This includes rare alternate studio versions of late-period gems like "Separate Ways" - widely seen as the most autobiographical song Elvis ever recorded - "T-R-O-U-B-L-E," which channeled the groundbreaking signature vocal style from his earlier years, and "Burning Love," the 40th and final Top Ten single of his career.

Another powerful highlight of the Sunset Boulevard collection is "Always on My Mind," which stands as one of Elvis Presley's most emotionally resonant recordings from his 1970s sessions. Though widely popularized by Willie Nelson a decade later - and originally penned by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher, and Mark James - Presley's version captures the song's raw vulnerability with striking depth.

On Sunset Boulevard, the collection's first two discs (also released as a standalone 2 LP 'highlights' set with a curated selection of standouts and outtakes) feature new and never-heard mixes from four-time GRAMMY winner Matt Ross-Spang - stripping all overdubs and delivering fresh insights in the process. Opening with seventeen classics from throughout Elvis' time in RCA Studio C, these mixes provide an intimate glimpse into the ways his riveting voice interacts with material from the era's greatest songwriters: Kris Kristofferson's "For The Good Times" (a 1972 b-side first released in 1995), Paul Williams' "Where Do I Go From Here" (from 1973's Elvis), Billy Swan's "I Can Help" (from 1975's Today) and Don McLean's "And I Love You So" (also from Today) among them. Ross-Spang's stripped-down mixes equally bolster the seventeen studio outtakes that comprise the set's second piece.

Sunset Boulevard is available in 5-CD and digital formats, including rare archival photographs and new liner notes from music historian Colin Escott, plus an introduction by longtime friend Jerry Schilling. The 2-LP 'highlights' edition is also offered in a Graceland Exclusive Color Variant.

The final three discs of Sunset Boulevard offer a behind-the-scenes look at Elvis' history-making Las Vegas residency - featuring Los Angeles rehearsals from July 1970 and August 1974 with his iconic TCB Band. Throughout the sessions, Elvis pours himself into every line - with no one listening but his band and the engineer in the control room - as his lifelong love of performing is on full display. Elvis' effortless chemistry with The TCB Band is palpable throughout both rehearsals, perhaps owing to his decision to record with a road band for the first time during this era.

Order 5-disc CD set at Amazon or the 2LP vinyl here(ad)