Released in 1974 while Elvis was still alive, this compilation included for the first time outtakes and alternate versions of songs every fan knew by heart. It also included the master takes of some of his biggest hits.
This album was produced by Joan Deary who, at the time, was supposed to become Elvis's next producer after Felton Jarvis. Jarvis had been Elvis's own producer since 1966 but by 1974 nobody could get Elvis in the studio, not even Jarvis although RCA Records relied on him. They thought Jarvis was incompetent and they wanted to get rid of him, the record sales were becoming really bad since mid-1973 so RCA put Joan Deary in charge of Elvis's back catalogue. She did a tremendous job with LEGENDARY PERFORMER, the fans and the critics were happy and the mass audience could get another view of Elvis.
Elvis would do only three more recording sessions before his death (one in 1975, two in 1976), not showing at a fourth one on January 1977. Jarvis tried everything he could to keep his job, promising new songs and new records to RCA while Elvis did evrything he could to stop them. He was so bored at that time, full of medication, waiting for death.
This album (the first of the four volumes) did very well in the charts, selling more copies than Elvis's new records. But it did some good for his career too because just before his death his record sales began to rise again. His new albums sold more copies while the back catalogue did very well too.
It's truly a great album and I'm not sure Deary would have made a better job than Jarvis but at least she was the first person at RCA Records to take care of Elvis's musical legacy.