Most Elvis fans are collectors, so publications about collecting almost everything have been written over the years. Music collectors may own the two Japanese books (2015, 2021) and one hardcover trilogy titled 'The World Of FTD' (2017) on the catalog of the Follow That Dream collector's label.
And now we have the two-volume 'FTD World' with an update of the previous FTD-discographies up to December 2025.
Is it the up-to-date overview collectors were waiting for?
Design
The authors split the Follow That Dream discography over two 152-page paperback volumes. The reason for publishing two soft-cover books, as opposed to one hardback volume, was simple economics: printing and shipping costs. The authors still decided to use quality paper, which really adds to the reading experience.
Both volumes have the same modern and easy to read design. Working as a team, Atsushi Nakamura provided content from his previous publications and was responsible for the layout while David Ward translated part of the Japanese content to English and wrote the new pages for all the post 2021 releases by the label.
For most titles we get the front and back cover art, or the front-cover of the booklet (that came with the 'Classic Albums'). There are no images of the insides; that's a pity. I would have preferred to see the complete cover-art of all releases. There is one exception, we get a look inside the first volume of 'Celluloid Sell-Out!' with preview pages and rejected cover art.
As an author of physical references in a digital world, I'm also missing the promotional graphics that were created for various releases such as 'Forty Eight Hours To Memphis'. That would have completed the history of the label, and that type of marketing material kind-off belongs to a discography.
But I can understand the design-choice to keep the number of pages "low" in regard to the aforementioned costs. On the pro-side, there are a few neatly colorized photographs in the book, such as one of Elvis and Ann-Margret at the Old Vegas Amusement Park during the filming of 'Viva Las Vegas'.
Content
The books are divided in various sections. The first volume contains the Studio Outtakes, Live, Rehearsals and Private Recordings, as well as the 'Classic Album' releases while the Soundtracks, Books, Sessions, and vinyl are grouped together in the second volume. Each section has a short introduction, setting the scene and providing the necessary context.
All sections are organized chronologically, according to when the music was recorded, not when it was first released. This makes a lot of sense, in particular, with the live section. It also means that the Soundtrack albums, Classic Albums re-issues and vinyl mostly appear in the order they were released in Elvis' lifetime.
As the FTD-label re-issued the same content various times, it would have been good if some more cross-references had been added for all releases that cover the same session, (original) album or song; this is something readers will have to do themselves.
The book offers all the factual information you need as a collector, such as the title, release date, cover art, tracklisting and a summary of the content, including corrections where necessary, detailing the actual versions of the music on the CD, which sometimes differ from the tracklisting. All the re-pressings the authors are aware of, including the differences are included too. So we get a complete overview of the catalog.
Contrary to the KJ Consulting book, this set does not contain reviews of the releases, but David Ward stated in an interview with Piers Beagley for the Elvis Information Network that the authors "have inserted our own thoughts on many of the releases throughout the book. Hopefully, there are some stories in there about Elvis that many fans won't know." The decision not to add reviews was a good one, as the information provided for each title is enough for a collector's reference such as this.
Leafing through the book brought back many memories of all the new material the FTD-team brought us fans, right from the first CDs I bought when the label first started: the unreleased Dressing Room Rehearsal for the 1968 'Elvis' TV Special, to unreleased Out-takes on 'Out In Hollywood', the home-recordings on 'In A Private Moment'. But also, the 'Jungle Room Sessions', the first soundboard on 'Tucson '76' (or should I write "Tuscon" as the label did on the first release of this CD?) to Felton Jarvis' 'Guitar Man' reworks on 'Too Much Monkey Business'. Even when the FTD-label never seemed to have a release-strategy, the first releases in 1999 and 2000 were a good indication that the label would give the fans "all kinds" of Elvis releases.
In the back the authors added a concert data section which offers a great overview of the tours and Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe residencies the label has covered, and which ones they haven't. Perhaps it is good when Ernst Jörgensen and Roger Semon take a look at this section for future releases.
Looking back at everything fans have gotten from the collectors label the past 26 years, we can only be grateful, even if fans sometimes rightfully complain. The corrections made by the authors illustrate this.
And we can conclude that, besides offering the fans alternate material, the label also succeeded in another "business goal": killing the bootleg market at their own game. That market is basically reduced to Audience Recordings - something the FTD-label did only once or twice - or vinyl compilations and re-issues.
In the aforementioned interview David Ward stated that he thinks the that the collectors label will continue until 2035, the 100th anniversary of Elvis' birth: "It would make a lot of sense to end the label then. I'm nearly 60 and I think my generation is now the largest group of Elvis fans, the offspring of the original fans, if you like. By 2035, we'll be retiring and starting to wind down our collecting activities, maybe even downsizing our collections. There are younger fans, as you know, but probably not enough to sustain a project like FTD. Besides, there's the elephant in the room, how much material do they actually have left?"
If the FTD-label manages to keep up the average of circa ten new titles per year, that totals about 100 titles up to 2035. There will be enough material for a third volume, something to look forward to as a collector.
Conclusion
For Elvis fans, these books are a no-brainer for both experienced and new fans, as it offers pretty much everything you need to find your way through 26 years of Follow That Dream releases. These volumes don't have the detailed background information of the 'Elvis UK' discographies - that was not the goal - but these books belong right up there as they are as complete as they can be, even 'The Making of G.I. Blues' from December 2025 is included.
Running an Elvis Presley news and reviews website has the advantage that you have an "excuse" to buy everything you "need" to be as complete as possible. Browsing through the pages of these two volumes I conclude that I'm complete for the CD and book releases, and I realized once more the regret of not keeping up with the vinyl from day one ...
So "thank you" Atsushi and David, you woke up the collector in me, wanting to fill the gaps in the vinyl section of my Follow That Dream collection. Like the 'Elvis Day By Day' yearbooks, these two books should come with a warning: they will cost you money!
You can read the complete interview with David Ward on the >>> Elvis Information Network.
You can order the books from the author's >>> Elvis 'FTD World' to order.
Here is the announcement by author David Ward's Elvis In Japan channel.
You can watch an unboxing by Sean Tarrant for his Sincerely Elvis channel.