Some final thoughts on an Elvis weekend [The Film Frontier blog]

/ TY

Yesterday marked the 32nd anniversary of Elvis passing away. I was out most of the day, but I did make a point of observing it by listening to FTD’s All Shook Up (August 26, 1969, Midnight Show, Las Vegas) and watching Sit-down Show #2 (June 27, 1968, 8 PM, Burbank) from ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special-Deluxe Edition DVD.

One of my favorite little segments from that sit-down show gave me an idea for a future post. After the first couple songs of the show, Elvis mentions on a whim that they should have had audience members fill out cards to ask him questions.

Though I can only imagine what some of those questions would have been (“Elvis, will you kiss me?” “Elvis, will you please buy me a Lincoln?” “Elvis, what’s your secret with women?”), I think this would have been a great concept.

Elvis’ buddy, Charlie Hodge, unfortunately dismisses it. He quickly moves Elvis on by saying, “I’ve got a question . . . what’re you going to sing next?” and then prods him into starting “That’s All Right.”

To my knowledge, Elvis never executed his answering fan questions concept during his shows over the next nine years. I have heard of shows with a “request box” where people could ask that he perform certain songs, but that’s not quite the same thing. I wish he had tried this a couple of times (and maybe he did, who knows, there were well over a thousand shows).

So, if you could ask Elvis one question, what would it be? I’ll have to think about that one for awhile. So, for now, I’ll just say, “To Be Continued. . . .”

Read some great news over on Elvis Today that the Elvis Collectors label, Follow That Dream Records, is not dead! With no new releases announced lately, I was beginning to share Thomas’ concern that the end was near for FTD after ten years.

Turns out that there are three more albums in the Classic Albums series currently in the works. Meanwhile, the next release will contain rehearsals from August 1974. As someone who does not buy bootleg material, I’m glad FTD is getting around to releasing official versions of material like this. I’m also glad that I won’t have to wait until the Twelfth of Never to buy more FTD releases.

An iPod Elvis music marathon [The Film Frontier blog]

/ TY

Today at work, I was at my desk the entire day messing around with a number of small projects. Not being constantly pulled into meetings for a change afforded me the luxury of listening to my iPod most of the day.

With Sunday marking the 32nd anniversary of his death, I decided that today’s music selections would be nothing but Elvis. I’ve loaded about 500 Elvis songs on my iPod so far, so I put them on shuffle, sat back, and enjoyed. Oh, and I did some work, too. Really. . . .

The shuffled list, just a random sampling of songs, turned out to be a wonderful listening experience. In a span of just a few hours, I heard a wide variety of music from nearly every phase of the man’s career.

Now that I’m home, I went back and pulled the list of most recently played songs off my iPod. Below is my iPod Elvis music marathon.

  1. “Speedway” (1967)
  2. “Blue Moon of Kentucky” (1954)
  3. “If I Were You” (1970)
  4. “Suspicious Minds” (Single Version-1969)
  5. “Little Darlin'” (Live-1977)
  6. “US Male” (1968)
  7. “I Can Help” (1975)
  8. “Blueberry Hill” (1957)
  9. “Woman Without Love” (1975)
  10. “I Need Your Love Tonight” (1958)
  11. “Ain’t That Loving You, Baby” (1958)
  12. “Paralyzed” (1956)
  13. “Indescribably Blue” (1966)
  14. “Baby, Let’s Play House” (1955)
  15. “Suspicious Minds” (Live-1969) [Elvis In Person (2008 FTD Edition, Disc 2)]
  16. “Don’t Be Cruel” (Radio Edit Remix-2008)
  17. “Rip It Up” (1956)
  18. “Long Tall Sally” (1956)
  19. “Moody Blue” (1976)
  20. “That’s All Right” (1954)
  21. “Blue Suede Shoes” (Live-1968) [Burbank ’68]
  22. “Susan When She Tried” (1975)
  23. “Blue Suede Shoes” (Live-1968) [Memories, Disc 2]
  24. “Don’t Cry Daddy” (Single Version-1969)
  25. “Baby, I Don’t Care” (1957)
  26. “The Fair Is Moving On” (Single Version-1969)
  27. “Just Call Me Lonesome” (1967)
  28. “Help Me Make It Through The Night” (Rehearsal-1972) [Elvis On Tour: The Rehearsals]
  29. “Pocketful Of Rainbows” (1960)
  30. “From A Jack To A King” (1969)
  31. “How Great Thou Art” (1966)
  32. “I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine” (1954)
  33. “Witchcraft” (1963)
  34. “Pledging My Love” (1976)
  35. “Hi-Heel Sneakers” (1967)
  36. “My Wish Came True” (1957)
  37. “Put The Blame On Me” (1961)
  38. “Love Me Tender” (Live-1968) [ELVIS-TV Special]
  39. “Suspicious Minds” (Live-1970) [That’s The Way It Is (2000 Special Edition)]
  40. “After Loving You” (Alternate-1969) [Suspicious Minds]
  41. “Love Me” (Live-1970) [That’s The Way It Is (2000 Special Edition)]
  42. “Shake, Rattle & Roll” (1956)
  43. “There Goes My Everything” (Alternate-1970) [Great Country Songs]
  44. “Clean Up Your Own Backyard” (Alternate-1968) [Double Features]
  45. “She Thinks I Still Care” (Alternate-1976) [Walk A Mile In My Shoes]
  46. “Starting Today” (1961)
  47. “Hawaiian Wedding Song” (Remake-1973) [Mahalo From Elvis]
  48. “Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues” (Alternate-1973) [Rhythm & Country]
  49. “Suspicion” (1962)
  50. “The Wonder Of You” (Live-1970)
  51. “Sentimental Me” (1961)
  52. “Where Did They Go” (1970)
  53. “Lawdy, Miss Clawdy” (1956)
  54. “Bossa Nova Baby” (1963)
  55. “It’s Easy For You” (1976)
  56. “Charro” (1968)
  57. “Patch It Up” (Alternate-1970) [A Hundred Years From Now]
  58. “Love Letters” (1966)
  59. “Pledging My Love” (Alternate-1976) [A Life In Music]
  60. “It’s A Sin” (1961)
  61. “Funny How Time Slips Away” (Live-1969) [Today, Tomorrow & Forever]
  62. “Power Of My Love” (Alternate-1969) [A Life In Music]
  63. “All Shook Up” (1957)
  64. “I’m Counting On You” (1956)
  65. “Stuck On You” (1960)
  66. “Too Much” (Remix-2008)
  67. “You Gave Me A Mountain” (Live-1972) [Walk A Mile In My Shoes]
  68. “For The Good Times” (1972)
  69. “Working On The Building” (1960)
  70. “That’s All Right” (Remix-2008)
  71. “Give Me The Right” (1961)
  72. “Santa Lucia” (1963)
  73. “An American Trilogy” (Live-1973) [The Alternate Aloha]
  74. “Power Of My Love” (1969)
  75. “Wearin’ That Loved On Look” (1969)
  76. “There’s Always Me” (1961)
  77. “Heartbreak Hotel” (Live-1968) [Memories, Disc 2]
  78. “Sand Castles” (1965)
  79. “Never Been To Spain” (Live-1972) [An Afternoon In The Garden]
  80. “I Feel So Bad” (1961)
  81. “Patch It Up” (Live-1970) [One Night In Vegas]

You’d think 80 Elvis songs would be enough, right? Not exactly. During my commute and even while I’ve been sitting here back home on the computer, I’ve been playing FTD’s Nevada Nights 2-CD set. It features a couple of fantastic concerts from August 1974. It’s too bad they weren’t recorded in a more formal way than just the rather dry soundboards.

So that’s another 40 or so Elvis songs I’ve listened to today, in addition to the above. Today was a great day, mostly because of the soundtrack.

Elvis, wherever you are, thank you.

REVIEW: From Elvis In Memphis CD Set (2009 Legacy Edition)

/ TY

From Elvis In Memphis CD set (Sony Legacy, 2009)

Elvis takes it home

“Take it home, son, take it home,” Elvis proclaims near the end of his 1968 Comeback Special. Just a few weeks after the special aired, Elvis did just that. He had not formally recorded in his adopted hometown of Memphis since his last session for Sun in 1955.

By January 1969, the musical landscape had changed, the entire world had changed, and even Elvis had changed. The 20-year-old kid who last recorded in Memphis as he was on the verge of becoming an unrivaled superstar was now a 34-year-old husband and father looking to continue pounding his way out of a creative slump.

Was the success of the ’68 Special a fluke, or was Elvis truly back on the track? His January and February 1969 sessions at the American Sound Studio in Memphis would help answer that question.

Outside of the hit singles, I first heard most of these songs when my brother gave me The Memphis Record double LP set as a Christmas gift back in 1988. It collects 23 of the best tracks from the sessions, including all of the songs from the original From Elvis In Memphis album.

As an Elvis fan, The Memphis Record changed my life. As I said, I was already familiar with “Suspicious Minds,” “In The Ghetto,” and the other hits, but I remember being blown away right off the bat by “Stranger In My Own Home Town,” “Power Of My Love,” “Any Day Now,” and “After Loving You,” to name just a few.

How had I not heard these songs before? Why wasn’t the radio playing these constantly? Unlike most of the kids my age back then and their favorite music fads, I knew at that moment I was going to be an Elvis fan for the rest of my life.

As I typed those words, I have just realized that I am now 34-years-old, like Elvis during these Memphis sessions. Since I first played The Memphis Record back in 1988, the musical landscape has changed, the entire world has changed, and I have changed. I hear the words to some of these songs differently than I did as a 13-year-old. Yet, here I am, still listening to Elvis. Despite all the change, Elvis is still here.

In the early 1990s, I switched over to the CD format and eventually picked up The Memphis Record on CD and complimented it with Back In Memphis to get some of the remaining songs from the session—which I found I didn’t like as much. Even the Back In Memphis songs I was familiar with sounded “muffled” to me.

In 1993, RCA treated the Elvis world to From Nashville To Memphis: The Complete 60s Masters I, a five-disc set that included all of his non-movie and non-gospel studio master recordings from the 1960s, including the complete 1969 Memphis sessions. While this was probably the most authentic sound to date at the time (I only found out later that the mixes on The Memphis Record were slightly altered to sound more contemporary), I remember being just a touch disappointed by the 1969 Memphis sound again for some of the tracks.

For the thirtieth anniversary of the Memphis sessions, RCA released Suspicious Minds: The 1969 Memphis Anthology in 1999. The sound was improved over 1994, but still muffled and lacking to me at times. I figured that it was the best we were ever going to have, though, and I was content with it.

When I first heard about the Legacy Edition of From Elvis In Memphis, now upgraded to include Back In Memphis and all of the other songs from the sessions, I was not planning to buy it. As much as I loved them, I had bought these songs countless times over. Then, a new press release announced that From Elvis In Memphis—Legacy Edition was going to include the original mono versions of all of the singles.

There, Sony/RCA had hooked me. At first, I planned only to purchase the ten individual mono singles online as legal downloads. However, I realized that just for three or four dollars more, I could buy the entire set of 36 songs by just purchasing the CD in a store (buying Elvis music in an actual store: “it’s been a long time, baby”). I probably wouldn’t need all of those other songs, but at least the packaging looked nice.

I played the mono singles first on Disc 2, and once I heard the quality of their sound, I could hardly wait to go back to Disc 1 and play From Elvis In Memphis proper. I don’t know what Sony/RCA did differently this time, but they finally got rid of that sort of muffled sound some of the Memphis tracks had before. Crystal clear. I’m loving this release! What a great surprise!

Yet, I’m sure this won’t be the last time I buy these songs. Sony’s Follow That Dream Elvis collectors label will undoubtedly release both From Elvis In Memphis and Back In Memphis as part of their Classic Album series in the coming years. The whole world will probably have changed by then, but I’ll still be listening to Elvis.

Songs: 10 (out of 10)

Audio & Mix Quality: 10

Liner Notes: 5

Cover Art: 10

Packaging: 10

Overall Experience: 10

Elvis conquers Vegas: 40 years since the return of the King [The Film Frontier blog]

/ TY

Forty years ago tonight, only eleven days after astronaut Neil Armstrong took his famous “one small step” on the moon, Elvis Presley took his own giant leap.

On that July 31st night in 1969, the singer stepped onto the stage of the International Hotel in Las Vegas and began proving once and for all that he was the greatest and most dynamic performer the world will ever know.

His “comeback” after years of making movies had actually started the year before, with his highly rated and critically acclaimed ELVIS TV special. He rode the tide of that success into his first Memphis recording sessions in nearly 15 years, resulting in smash hits “Suspicious Minds,” “In The Ghetto,” and “Don’t Cry, Daddy.”

Elvis was on top again, and his Vegas engagement was another crown jewel. With two shows a night, seven days a week, for four weeks, the concerts represented his first live appearances in nearly nine years, outside of four studio audience shows for his TV special.

RCA started recording the Vegas shows on August 21, capturing eleven complete concerts in all that summer. Some of the best tracks were selected for an album, Elvis In Person. More recently, several of the shows have been released in full:

  • August 21 Midnight Show on 2007’s Elvis: Viva Las Vegas (Limited Edition) Disc 2
  • August 22 Dinner Show on 2008’s Elvis In Person (FTD Edition) Disc 2
  • August 23 MS on 2003’s Elvis At The International
  • August 24 DS on 2001’s Live In Las Vegas Disc 1
  • August 26 MS on 2005’s All Shook Up

These recordings are some of Elvis’ best available concerts. To commemorate the fortieth anniversary of this engagement, author Ken Sharp (Writing for the King) next month is releasing ELVIS: Vegas ’69, a 200-page hardcover book examining the concert series in text and photos.

I forgot all the words

/ TY

I wrote this guest post in 2009 for Elvis Today.

First up, I want to thank Thomas for offering me this guest blog spot on Elvis Today. I’m a frequent visitor, but it’ll certainly be strange to see my thoughts above the comments line this time.

When I was trying to think of ideas for my post here, I ran across a rather critical review of the 1970 concert recently released as The Wonder Of You by FTD.

Referring to the song “Stranger In The Crowd,” the reviewer writes:

“The rest of the lyrics are a jumble of right and wrong renditions. A lazy performer who again could not be bothered to learn the words to his own songs?”

So, I started wondering, does Elvis forgetting the words to a song in concert ruin the performance? The odds are you’ve heard more than a couple of Elvis concerts, so you already know that he forgot the words to songs all the time. I don’t think it was due to a lack of caring on his part, though.

In Elvis: That’s The Way It Is, we see him stressing about forgetting the words to “I Just Can’t Help Believing.” He rehearses it over and over, yet continues to worry about it so much that literally seconds before hitting the stage for the opening night show, he asks that the lyric sheet be placed on a nearby stool. The performance of the song shown in the movie is actually from the next day, but he’s still reading the words.

The documentary, of course, also captures other rehearsals and “Stranger In The Crowd” in The Wonder Of You is from that same engagement. Did the presence of the camera crew distract Elvis too much during the rehearsals? It’s possible, for he hams it up quite a bit. He does get down to business at times, too, though.

Perhaps the real issue is that Elvis never took himself as seriously as a lot of fans seem to today.

I find a fun show like The Wonder Of You, messed up lyrics and all, to be much better than, say, Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite, where he is serious most of the time and sings most of the lyrics correctly. He had some help during the technically flawless Aloha, though. Watch carefully during “Burning Love” and you’ll see someone holding up cue cards with the words to the song printed out for Elvis to read.

During the rehearsal show a couple days before, as heard on The Alternate Aloha, Elvis flubbed the words to “Burning Love,” among others. He covered it well, though, as I suspect most of those present had no idea until he shyly admitted, “I forgot all the words,” after the song.

Supposedly, Elvis had to be pressured into recording “Burning Love” the previous year, so could that be why he didn’t learn the words? Perhaps, but Elvis was also known to forget the words to songs he liked.

During the second sit-down show for the ’68 Comeback Special, released on Tiger Man, Elvis introduces “Santa Claus Is Back In Town” as his favorite Christmas song of those he had recorded (not “Blue Christmas” as an edit back in 1968 on the original album made everyone believe for years).

He then proceeds to mess up most of the words to his favorite Christmas tune. His bluesy rendition, wrong words and all, was one of the best songs of that show.

Indeed, Elvis’ performance transcended the lyrics. The words no longer mattered. No one else could have pulled that off.

If you insist on perfect songs, then stick to the studio versions. Otherwise, just relax and have fun.

That’s what being an Elvis fan is all about.

By the way, this post was originally going to be a lot better than this. Unfortunately, I forgot all the words that I planned to write. I hope you liked it anyway.

/TY, The Film Frontier

Elvis vs. Star Trek: There is no comparison (or maybe there is. . . .) [The Film Frontier blog]

/ TY

There is a middle ground between genius and insanity. . . .
That’s the signpost up ahead!
You’ve just crossed over into . . . The Film Frontier.

A blogger pal of mine, Thomas over at Elvis Today, is looking to widen his knowledge of Star Trek. He has collected a few DVDs in the past, but this year’s new film has given him the bug again.

I am always looking for content, and this sparked an idea. What better way to acclimate an Elvis expert like Thomas to Star Trek than to relate them to each other? I am not sure how this is going to work out, but I am going to give it a shot.

I suppose Star Trek experts that are looking to expand their knowledge of Elvis could use these same comparisons in reverse. We here at The Film Frontier want to go green, so that makes this a dual-use post.

You have to be very careful when reading a post like this, or you might strip your gears!

  • Star Trek: The Original Series–The Complete Seasons 1-3 is to Star Trek as ELVIS: The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll-The Complete 50s Masters is to Elvis.
  • Inside Star Trek: The Real Story by Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman is to Star Trek as Last Train To Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick is to Elvis.
  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture is to Star Trek as Paradise, Hawaiian Style is to Elvis.
  • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is to Star Trek as Elvis: That’s The Way It Is is to Elvis.
  • Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is to Star Trek as “Are You Laughing Tonight?” is to Elvis.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation Seasons 1 & 2 and Star Trek: Insurrection are to Star Trek as “C-O-N-F-I-D-ENCE” and “A Dog’s Life” are to Elvis.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation Seasons 3-7 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are to Star Trek as ELVIS: Command Performances-The Essential 60s Masters II is to Elvis.
  • Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise are to Star Trek as lousy imitators are to Elvis.
  • Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda is to Star Trek as Elvis Day By Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music by Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen is to Elvis.
  • Star Trek: Remastered is to Star Trek as Elvis vs. JXL: A Little Less Conversation is to Elvis.
  • The 2009 Star Trek film is to Star Trek as ELVIS (’68 Comeback Special) is to Elvis.With apologies to the great Rod Serling for stealing and mangling his words at the top.

REVIEW: The Wonder of You CD (FTD)

/ TY

The Wonder of You CD (Follow That Dream Records, 2009)

Strangers No More

When MGM filmed the first few days of Elvis’ August 1970 engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, his third such series of appearances in a year, RCA tagged along and recorded six of the same concerts. RCA released just a few songs from these shows during Elvis’ lifetime, as part of the That’s The Way It Is album. In fact, it wasn’t until 2000’s That’s The Way It Is: Special Edition CD set that a nearly complete show became available.

The Wonder of You marks the fourth almost complete concert officially released from the August 1970 engagement. It contains several songs not featured in the other That’s The Way It Is concerts. Sit back and enjoy Elvis’ August 13 Dinner Show, the sixth and final show that RCA recorded for That’s The Way It Is.

Overview

This is a terrific concert, probably the second best of the That’s The Way It Is shows, behind only the August 12 Midnight Show. Highlights include “Don’t Cry Daddy”/”In the Ghetto,” “The Wonder of You,” “Stranger in the Crowd,” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The sound is about as pristine as can be for a nearly forty-year-old recording.

About half of these performances have been previously released on other official albums. I’ll mention which mixes I think are better in my song-by-song analysis below. I have fun doing these kinds of comparisons, but I would like to point out that, when taken as a whole, this concert sounds great! Don’t read too much into my nitpicks. I’m also aware of the recent bootleg releases of this show, but I’m not going to get into comparing professionally-mixed, official releases to bootlegs.

* * *

“That’s All Right” (previously unreleased)

  • You can feel the excitement build as things kick off with a jungle-like rhythm. Soon, Elvis takes the stage and delivers a solid version of his first record, “That’s All Right.” The horns are mixed a little loud in the left channel at times, but not enough to detract from this classic. “That’s All Right” was the best opening song for Elvis. It worked much better than “Blue Suede Shoes,” “All Shook Up,” “See See Rider,” or various others.

“I Got A Woman” (previously released on That’s The Way It Is: Special Edition CD)

  • Elvis quickly slides into Ray Charles’ “I Got A Woman.” Elvis’ 1969 and 1970 versions of this song are usually fantastic, and this one is no exception. I prefer the mix on That’s The Way It Is: Special Edition, however, where the horns are less pronounced and are in both channels, rather than overpowering the left channel as they continue to do here.

“Hound Dog” (previously unreleased)

  • Elvis references the red snakeskin highlights of his jumpsuit prior to this song, leading to a brief ad-lib in a typical for this season break-neck-pace version of “Hound Dog.” After the song, Elvis goes into his Gatorade routine, and then jokes that he owns part of that company. A star these days would probably work some kind of endorsement deal to mention a product as much as Elvis did Gatorade.

“Love Me Tender” (previously unreleased)

  • Have you ever wondered how Elvis usually got away with kissing so many women in the audience without angering their husbands and boyfriends? “Only if the guy smiles, man, do I kiss her,” explains Elvis as he takes time out from kissing to occasionally sing “Love Me Tender.” The band sounds great and carries along quite well during the kissing interludes. Finally having this concert in a relatively complete form means that we can place his “That’s the most fun part of the whole show” line in context. First heard on the live compilation disc of That’s The Way It Is: Special Edition after “Make The World Go Away,” the comment actually follows the “Love Me Tender” kissing session here.

“Don’t Cry Daddy”/”In the Ghetto” (previously released on That’s The Way It Is: Special Edition CD)

  • I remember this medley blowing me away on the Elvis: The Lost Performances video back in 1992. To see Elvis singing two of my favorite songs for the first time, and together no less. For whatever reason, this CD splits the medley into two tracks, but it is actually a continuous performance. Mac Davis wrote both songs, and Elvis recorded them in his legendary 1969 American Sound Studio sessions in Memphis. Incidentally, these are complete versions, with only minimal fooling around by Elvis. This new mix is better than the previously released version. You can even hear Elvis yell, “Sing it, Charlie!” to Charlie Hodge early on in “Don’t Cry Daddy.”

“I Just Can’t Help Believing” (previously released on Writing For The King)

  • I have to be in the right mood to enjoy this sleepy song, but this is a fine performance. Elvis misses a word or two about halfway through and starts laughing a bit. I love that kind of stuff. If you are one of those people who insist on hearing the correct lyrics to every single song when listening to a live concert, then this isn’t the disc for you. Actually, I would say Elvis isn’t the artist for you, either. He played with or forgot lyrics all the time. Yet, somehow still made the songs sound so good. He really knew how to sell a performance. This mix feels very thin compared to the superior one on Writing For The King. I was hoping this whole disc would sound like this song did on Writing For The King.

“Stranger in the Crowd” (previously released on That’s The Way It Is: Special Edition CD)

  • Elvis jokes that this song, which he had recorded just two months earlier, wouldn’t be released until 1982. Every time I hear that line, it makes me a little sad, though, since Elvis would be gone five years by then. This is a great live rendition of “Stranger in the Crowd,” powered by Ronnie Tutt on drums. The studio version was one of the best numbers on the original That’s The Way It Is album, and it most certainly should have been a single. With a little more work on the arrangement (starting with getting rid of the Imperials’ “la la la la la la la” background vocals near the end), this live version also would have made a nice mainstay to his concert repertoire. Too bad it seems to have been abandoned after this. The mix of this same live version on That’s The Way It Is: Special Edition has a fuller sound, packing more punch than the one here.

“Make The World Go Away” (previously released on That’s The Way It Is: Special Edition CD)

  • Elvis jokes that this song was “written before Roy Acuff was born, which is about 1800.” Just for fun, I decided to fact-check Elvis. Country music legend Acuff was born in 1903. Hank Cochran wrote “Make The World Go Away” in 1963, just seven years before this live recording. Sorry, E. This is a beautiful live rendition that I prefer to the studio cut recorded that June for Elvis Country. This also made its debut on the Elvis: The Lost Performances video, leading me back then to truly appreciate this song for the first time. If for nothing else than the toning down of a buzzing sound present through much of the song, the audio and mix quality here beats the previously released one.

“Sweet Caroline” (previously unreleased)

  • Elvis cuts this Neil Diamond tune off nearly thirty seconds in when he forgets the words. He starts the song over and gets it right this time in a lively version. Every time I hear this song, I have to fight the urge to throw my arm back and forth like Elvis does when the horns go “dah-dah-daah.” I don’t always win that fight. Come on, you know you do it, too.

“You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” (previously unreleased)

  • Elvis sounds distracted in this disappointing version of “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.” His extended performance of this same song from the night before (captured on Disc 2 of That’s The Way It Is: Special Edition) is the best rendition ever (yes, even topping the Righteous Brothers).

“Polk Salad Annie” (previously released on Elvis Aron Presley)

  • Elvis delivers a great version of Tony Joe White’s “Polk Salad Annie.” Who else but Elvis could pull off going from country to pop to soul to swamp rock in a matter of minutes? This performance was first released on the 1980 boxed set Elvis Aron Presley, the first release of any song from this show. Who would have thought it would take another 29 years before we were treated to the entire concert? Audio quality and mixing on this new release is much improved over the 1980 version.

Introductions (previously unreleased)

  • In a fun moment, Elvis first introduces guitarist James Burton as “Chuck Berry.” After introducing (most of) the rest of his crew, Elvis introduces television legend and audience member Art Carney (best known as Ed Norton on Jackie Gleason’s The Honeymooners). Carney gets a huge hand, probably the biggest reaction to a celebrity introduction I’ve ever heard at an Elvis show. Elvis goes on to talk briefly about his own appearances on Jackie Gleason’s Stage Show, and mentions his later appearances on the Milton Berle Show and the Ed Sullivan Show. Someone then reminds Elvis that he forgot to introduce background vocalist Millie Kirkham, and he apologetically does so.

“The Wonder of You” (previously released on The Way It Was)

  • One of the many highlights of the Elvis: The Lost Performances video was this performance of “The Wonder of You.” This version is almost as good as the single version recorded earlier the same year. The mix on this new FTD release of the song is an improvement over the previous release. I had to play them both a few times to come to that conclusion, though. While somewhat softer, the sound has better separation here, so it is easier to pick out distinctive instruments.

“Heartbreak Hotel” (previously unreleased)

  • After the big ending on the previous song, Elvis starts this one off sounding a little weak. This is a typical 1970 version of “Heartbreak Hotel.”

“Blue Suede Shoes” (previously unreleased)

  • A quick version, likely only done to please the crowd, lacking the power of his 1969 versions.

“One Night” (previously released on The Way It Was)

  • Elvis still sounds weak, or is it the mix playing tricks on us? Play the same song on The Way It Was and it sounds much better.

“All Shook Up” (previously released on The Way It Was)

  • “All Shook Up” had not yet become a complete throwaway in 1970, and this is a decent version. Which mix is better this time? Too close to call. This isn’t one I can play a dozen times in a row to figure out.

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” (previously unreleased)

  • A beautiful performance, possibly his best live version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” though due more to the orchestra this time around than Elvis. Considering that they blow it on some other songs during the That’s The Way It Is concerts, I have to give the horns some credit on this performance. They really carry this one and help to make it so powerful. This track was a nice surprise.

“Suspicious Minds” (previously unreleased)

  • I always look forward to hearing new live versions of “Suspicious Minds.” This is a decent version, but not particularly memorable. As with the other That’s The Way It Is concert versions of this song, the trumpets sound awful at times, blowing out on many of the high notes. After hearing their superb work on “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” though, I guess I can forgive them. Tutt gives the drums a real workout at the end.

“Can’t Help Falling In Love” (previously unreleased)

  • Elvis sounds tired again after “Suspicious Minds,” but puts some effort into his “Can’t Help Falling In Love” closer. A fantastic show comes to an end.

* * *

I’m not going to say much about the cover and other album artwork, except to point out that cover art has never been FTD’s selling point. They can get away with it because the Elvis content within their releases pretty much sells itself. I’m also not going to bother complaining about the lack of a booklet or liner notes. I’m just glad to finally have this concert.

The Final Verdict

I was only two when Elvis passed away, so I never had the chance to see him live in concert. Experiencing relatively complete shows like this one, when Elvis was in top form, means a lot to me. This is FTD’s best concert release to date, and I’ll be enjoying this show for years to come.

Songs: 10 (out of 10)

Audio & Mix Quality: 9

Liner Notes: N/A

Cover Art: 5

Packaging: 5

Overall Experience: 10