With These Reissues, More Is Really Less

“Ultimate” . . . “historic” . . . “legendary” are some of the words that RCA Records is applying to “Sunrise,” the latest in its endless series of Elvis Presley reissues.

“Greedy” is more like it.

The music in “Sunrise”--a collection of the landmark recordings Presley made with Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis before he switched to RCA and exploded on the pop scene in 1956 with “Heartbreak Hotel”--is historic and legendary, but the two-disc set is certainly not the ultimate bargain.

The album is simply a way to force consumers to pay twice as much for these tracks as they would have before “Sunrise.” It’s the latest example of a budding trend to stretch classic, single-disc albums into two-disc “deluxe” sets by adding various outtakes or demo tracks. Curtis Mayfield’s “Superfly” is another album that has been expanded unwisely from one disc to two.

The practice wouldn’t be so disturbing if the labels allowed us the choice of still buying the single-disc version, but the introduction of the two-disc package is accompanied by the deletion of the single-disc collection from the marketplace.

Here’s what you get in both the Presley and Mayfield albums--and why they’re no bargain:

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Elvis Presley’s “Sunrise” (RCA). The original “Sun Sessions” album was released as a single, 39-minute vinyl LP. It consisted of all the singles Presley recorded in 1954-55 for Sun Records--tunes, including “That’s All Right” and “Baby, Let’s Play House,” that brought country and blues influences together in a way that largely defined rock ‘n’ roll as we know it.

It only reached No. 76 on the national pop charts, but it has been widely hailed as one of the half-dozen most important albums ever made.

To take advantage of the additional time available on the CD format, RCA added 33 minutes of music from the Sun period to the CD version of “Sun Sessions” in 1987. This new material included two Sun songs that had never been released and alternative versions of some of the original tracks. Since the album remained a single disc, “The Sun Sessions CD” was a welcome move.

In adding 20 more minutes and expanding to two discs in “Sunrise,” however, RCA gives us, among other things, eight previously unreleased tracks, including six selections from Presley’s 1955 appearances on the “Louisiana Hayride” radio show. While interesting, none of the new material is in any way essential.

A more consumer-friendly plan: Keep the “Sun Sessions CD” as a single package, and put the additional material as added features on a future Elvis rarities reissue.

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Curtis Mayfield’s “Superfly” (Curtom/Rhino). Apart from his work with the Impressions, “Superfly” is Mayfield’s most celebrated album, and it’s likely to be in renewed demand in light of the R&B-soul; star’s induction this month into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The original album, which ran about 40 minutes, was the soundtrack to the 1972 film, which told the story of a Harlem cocaine dealer’s attempt to make a final score. Mayfield’s music reflected the attraction and tragedy of the pursuit, and you can hear echoes of such tracks as “Freddie’s Dead” and “Pusherman” today in the works of such rap figures as Public Enemy and Ice Cube.

To get “Superfly” today, however, you have to buy the 85-minute “Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition” that was released last year. The album contains some inviting extras, including alternate versions of songs from the film and some anti-drug radio spots, but nowhere near enough to justify a second disc. (It is, however, priced more fairly than the Presley package, at a suggested $19.98, as opposed to $29.98.)

A more consumer-friendly idea: Keep “Superfly” as a single disc, even if it means sacrificing all the added features. *

Robert Hilburn, The Times’ pop music critic, may be reached by e-mail at [email protected]