 |
 |
EIN's Nigel Patterson & Piers Beagley provide a combined review of this new release ‘Las Vegas International Presents ELVIS - The First Engagements 1969-1970’ is MRS' surprisingly quick follow-up to their very successful 'Elvis Summer Festival 1970 The Rehearsals' and continues in the same format.
The Package This set of course precedes the August 1970 rehearsals which were the focus of MRS' last production and, if anything, Elvis looked even more stunning during these performances. The book design by Kev Reape is impressive with the first half covering Elvis in summer 1969 and the second section showing Elvis moving into his more professional 1970 white-jumpsuit era. Both the front and back covers capture Elvis "at full blast" putting his whole soul into his performances. Once again Elvis The Man and His Music’s Gordon Minto provides the short introductory notes and explains just how important these two seasons were to Elvis' legacy in letting him escape from his floundering movie career.
It is a shame that this could not be a larger format as there is a lot more that could be told but with Elvis looking at the peak of fitness it is visual elements - along with the concerts themselves - that drive interest in the release. It is hard to believe that photographers did not use more color film while shooting Elvis on stage but around half the pages are in color with Elvis looking stunning in every shot. While it is obvious from the recordings just how hard Elvis was working on stage, the images prove time and again how much energy Elvis was putting into each performance. No wonder audiences were stunned and the applause so loud. The book also includes some candid photos of Elvis with his fans which helps capture the ambience of the times with Elvis looking happy in every photo no matter what the situation.
Highlights include the photos that demonstrate the intensity that Elvis put in to every show (ie pages 13 and 23) as well as the obvious change is his on-stage designs between the 1969 and 1970 shows just six months later. Page 20 captures Elvis intensely discussing the show with his backing singers, page 18 features the coolest shot of Elvis playing guitar on stage. Featured memorabilia such as Elvis’ 1969 Las Vegas International Hotel contract and sound engineer Bill Porter’s Tentative Rehearsal Schedule (Twelve rehearsals – oh why weren’t they recorded!) also help tell the story.
Two particular images truly impress, Elvis in deep concentration on Page28, and the final “Thank you very much” on page 38. There can be no question how important these first two seasons were for Elvis’ legacy. The fact that none of these three stunning Elvis performances have been previously released on any RCA mainstream album has provided a window for MRS to create an impressive mainstream release that can only help bolster Elvis' incredible legacy. The Music RCA did attend both seasons, firstly to record multi-tracks for the classic live album Elvis In Person and then to record more new live material for Elvis’s 1970 album On Stage. So it has to be a major disappointment for all keen fans that no one at RCA thought it was a good idea to record Elvis’ 1969 opening night, nor the opening and closing nights of his next season. What were they thinking! With the RCA multi-track recordings in mind MRS have used the new “DES” technology in order to try and recreate the sound of a stereo concert mix. Keen collectors will probably have bought these recordings several times previously. Elvis’ early August 1969 concert, for example, has been released on the Fort Baxter bootleg ‘Opening Night 1969’ (1993), Gravel Road bootleg ‘The Return Of A Prodigy’ (2009) and also the FTD ‘The Return To Vegas’ (2014). There was even a semi-legitimate release in Australia called “Elvis Live Unlicensed” and I bought them all. The key to this new MRS package of course is that here the concerts are presented in re-created “Stereo” for the first time. The three concerts are stunners and so any mainstream Elvis fan who stumbles upon these releases via Amazon or suchlike are going to be suitably impressed.
Page 20, Elvis discussing the show with his backing singers
.
MRS "Stereo" Audio: The real key to my enjoyment was listening to all the concerts on good quality headphones rather than loudspeakers, as on headphones the new spatial / stereo audio really makes a difference. On tracks like ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ you can hear Elvis centre, James Burton’s guitar along with Larry Muhoberac’s piano left, with the drums and bass right along with backing vocalists - with the audience applauding around you - and it sounds like a genuine stereo recording. Separating out the instruments from the mix also means that MRS can give more bass presence to Jerry Scheff’s playing, a cool separation of the drums and it also means that Elvis’ vocal can be brought forward in the mix. On the August 1969 mono mix there are times, such as in ‘Love Me Tender’, where Elvis’ vocal is almost drowned in the backing-vocals and overall sound but on the MRS version his vocal is clear and more to the front. The separation on the mix also reveals some fabulous interactions within the band and gives listeners a better idea of what the performances from Elvis’ band really involved. How can ‘Polk Salad’ not sound better with the “The Sweets” clapping on the right, James Burton’s cutting guitar on the left, Bob Lanning’s pounding drums on the right, the sax blasting out mid-left, Elvis rocking hard in the centre plus the audience cheering all around you? Heightening individual musicians does of course reveal some previously hidden negatives! For instance I can now hear more of the annoying violin player in the orchestra on ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ whereas previously it was so enjoyable without Cissy Houston’s soprano wail. Other newly revealed oddities are the at times off-key trumpet player and the loud tambourine player on 1970 Opening Show (i.e. ‘True Love Travels On A Gravel Road’). However none of these actually put me off these new “stereo’ version. I believe these “Stereo” mixes deserve being checked out by any Elvis collector while the mainstream Amazon buyer will only think of them as three great Elvis performances that they haven’t heard before.
Page 18, the coolest shot of Elvis playing guitar on stage.
CD1 – August 1969 (exact date unknown). On Opening Night itself we know that Elvis was excessively nervous and not relaxed enough with his audience to indulge in any on-stage banter. While a soundboard of this opening concert would be an astounding discovery the reality of hearing Elvis perform at his (possible) August 3rd International Hotel concert is only one-step away and demonstrates just how exciting Elvis’ performances were in the very first week of this all-important season. The original Fort Baxter ‘Opening Night’ was one of the first Elvis bootlegs to open my ears to what sensational unreleased Elvis material lay in the vaults. To hear a complete 1969 concert with Elvis running at full-power was a revelation. There is a real sense of tension and nervousness in Elvis’ performance that just isn’t apparent in the later shows that we know. Here he is singing ‘Suspicious Minds’, ‘In The Ghetto’ (basically every song!) live in-concert for possibly only the sixth time. Even “the oldies” have a genuine edge and interest to them that would wear off all too soon. So while it has been released multiple times since 1993 fans have never heard this “Stereo” version before and it is a treat. I always considered this ‘All Shook Up’ as possibly Elvis’ best live version and now in “Stereo” it sounds even better than previous releases with Elvis’ vocal more up front and richer, Jerry Scheff’s pumping bass-line and James Burton on the left. It rocks. The separation on the mix reveals some fabulous interaction within the band and on ‘Yesterday/Hey Jude’, for example, at the end when Elvis really cranks up the fine rocked-up finale here you are “in the audience” with the excitement surrounding you. It sounds great. Another thing to appreciate about this performance is about the stunning early version of ‘Suspicious Minds’. Elvis only slows it down after a storming 4 1/2 minutes and takes it through to the full 7 1/2 minutes. If this recording is from August 3rd then it is from four days before Felton Jarvis went into the Las Vegas United Recording Studio to re-master the famous fade & return finale. For audiophiles one real annoyance however has to be on ‘Mystery Train’ where the loud train-horn completely sucks the left/right separation out of an otherwise fine “stereo” mix, creating a very weird audio experience, albeit for only the shortest time. However listening to all these three concerts the genuine improvement is that they do sound more natural in “stereo”- as they would if you were sitting in the audience. With the powerful 1969 ending of ‘What I’d Say’ - “I gotta go” – and a lovely slow tempo ‘Can't Help Falling In Love’ - you can hear an exhausted Elvis clearly panting in the centre while Larry Muhoberac plays the delightful piano intro left channel – it is a great “stereo” finale.
CD2 / CD3: The Las Vegas Jan 26 / Feb 23 1970 Opening & Closing shows Luckily for fans both the Opening and Closing performances were also recorded from the soundboard onto reel-to-reel tapes. Both of these concerts have been around on various bootleg releases since 1995 including the bootleg ‘ReBooked At The International’ (2011), while FTD eventually released ‘The On Stage Season’ two years later. Back in 2011 EIN noted that "it’s only a shame that FTD didn’t come up with the idea first, as every fan should have the opportunity to purchase this gem" and now they are available not only to Elvis collectors but also the mainstream / Amazon market. While the Opening Show tape unfortunately had peak audio-distortion on Elvis’ voice the Closing Show was near perfect and outside of RCA’s multitracks this is the best quality audio performance we have from this season. The key highlights of these two concerts are… With the new “Stereo” mix placing you within the audience I think most Elvis collectors have got to be pretty impressed. The 26th January 1970 Opening Show starts with Bob Lanning pounding out on the right channel, one of the backing singers “whoops” with excitement on the right channel, before James Burton plugs in and starts riffing on the left channel, the orchestra start playing, the audience explodes all round you as you feel Elvis walking on (screams left and right) and suddenly Elvis is there, “Well, bless my soul…”. On this “stereo” version you can feel the impact of the second season Opening Night. Previous mono versions just don’t have the same excitement, at least not on headphones. As the Opening Show was originally recorded with peak distortion on Elvis’ vocal I think it is a mistake that MRS do not explain this on their sleeve notes, as there are several points that it becomes annoying. MRS could also have pointed new purchasers to the better quality Closing Night recording. The Opening Show features some real treats including Elvis announcing, “That's All Right - my first record, Ladies and Gentlemen" a dynamite full-on rocking version. As such an important song it is strange that this appears to be a "one off" for this season and it's a blistering performance. Fans who previously own this concert via various bootlegs will know that Elvis' microphone is pretty overdriven on the original recording. This unfortunately spoils his first live version of 'Proud Mary' taken at a slower tempo than usual. Here the quieter songs work better in “Stereo”. The debut of 'Don't Cry Daddy' a delicate version with excellent orchestral arrangement sounds beautiful. Similarly the orchestral swirl of the debut 'Let It Be Me' is a real treat. It suites Elvis' voice so well and the arrangement, with some delicate James Burton guitar, is just gorgeous. 'Walk A Mile In My Shoes' is also new and tellingly linked to 'In The Ghetto' stating the clear message "people on reservations and out in the ghetto" another fine version. As mentioned previously while the new mix does bring out the tambourine player (which was always present on the mono version) 'True Love Travels On A Gravel Road' in “stereo” is still a sublime version sounding just as if you were in the Showroom. Yes, it still suffers from some mic overload but this is the best version yet released. Elvis puts his soul into the lyrics "love is a stranger and hearts are in danger" getting into the emotion of the song. And as James Burton kicks off left channel on 'Polk Salad Annie' with Bob Lanning pounding on the right channel, Jerry Scheff’s bass centre, "Let's go down to Louisiana, baby. Oh Lord, have mercy, man” – how can this not be better than the mono version. It's a little slower than future versions and has a James Brown horn arrangement with some cool James Burton guitar licks. Playing loud on speakers this sounds very fine – especially the full-on power ending with Bob Lanning going crazy on the drums. It's a wild "rehearsal" for the Feb 18th Midnight Show recording that would become the classic Album Master. With the debut of 'Kentucky Rain' and the show-stopping 6 minutes of 'Suspicious Minds' it was a stunning Opening show. Afterwards you can hear the standing ovation as Elvis gasps for breath, laughing with the joy of it all.
Elvis backstage Candids & Bill Porter's 1970 Rehearsal Schedule
CD 3 – Closing Night 23rd February 1970 It’s a slightly expanded set-list from Opening Night with ‘I Got A Woman’, ‘Hound Dog’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘See See Rider’, ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy’, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, ‘One Night’ and ‘It’s Now Or Never’ as added bonus treats this night. Once again ‘Don’t Cry Daddy’, ‘Kentucky Rain’, ‘Sweet Caroline’ and the sublime ‘Let It Be Me’ all sound brilliant. And on this concert the bongo player for some reason was mixed higher in the original mix. In “stereo” these little anomalies become even more interesting. 'Love Me Tender' – only added mid-season - is cute since one of the fans who come up to get a kiss is Priscilla with the crowd well-aware of who she is. Elvis jokes "I recognise that girl!" 'See See Rider' rocks out with Elvis really enjoying the call and response from the Sweets. Oddly this would be his last version, until coming back as his introduction song two years later. The extended 'Polk Salad Annie' is brilliant with Elvis added karate action, stereo soul-clapping from The Sweets and some fine "chick-a-boom" interaction which slowly builds to a totally explosive ending. The unique extended "hey, hey I feel alright" funky Polk continuation by The Sweets, as Elvis takes some time to relax is a treat tonight and sounds great in this mix. Another unique moment is when Elvis decides to play the piano, "this is something I very seldom do. Hang Loose." We get an impromptu 'Blueberry Hill' instrumental before Elvis sings a very fine 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy' including the mid-song piano break. Elvis jokes, "I used to be known as Fats Domino, but I lost weight!" With a passionate take of 'One Night' (Elvis’ third live version on stage) Elvis then tries his very first post-60s live version of ‘It's Now Or Never’ – probably not rehearsed, this is a fabulous, passionate first version with Elvis guiding the band noting "Too soft" and other instructions. What a Closing Night treat, even though the fans at the time wouldn’t have been aware of its uniqueness. After a stunning 'Suspicious Minds' Elvis thanks various staff who have helped with the season and then thanks the audience and interestingly plugs his first US 1970 tour at the Texas Astrodome. Once again a beautiful 'Can't Help Falling In Love' wraps up this all-time great show. Bonus Tracks – 4 RCA Multitracks. What the General Public make of ‘Don’t Cry Daddy’ with Elvis coughing and complaining of the audio buzz, "We’ll let the bees do a chorus!" I don’t know, especially as we have had two great live versions of this song already. Also having got used to the “Fake” fairly narrow stereo mix of the earlier concerts (guitar left, drums right, piano left etc) to suddenly hear a wide-spectrum stereo multi-track different mix (drums centre, piano right etc) unfortunately emphasised the lesser earlier mixes for me. Personally I would have preferred that these had been left off. Of course I can obviously skip them. Having said that, ‘Walk A Mile In My Shoes’ February 19 Dinner Show is one my favourite Elvis live versions and great to hear again.
Overall Verdict: Three exceptional live Elvis performances that should have always been available to every Elvis fan combined with 40 pages of Elvis looking absolutely glorious and very focused, this is another stunning MRS package. Of the two 1970 concerts the Closing Night performance is the one you’ll be playing again and again but hearing Elvis’ raw excitement at his earliest recorded 1969 concert is a fabulous comparison. From the “punk” power of Elvis’ live 1969 reinvention to the delightful selection of new material and his professionalism of his second Las Vegas season Closing Night this is a very neat set. The new “Stereo” MRS mix adds even more excitement placing the listener neatly in the audience of the showroom. I have of course bought all these concerts multiple times before and, while some purists may have their complaints, these versions are without doubt the best I have ever listened to. A great idea by MRS, my old cds are now filed away!
Click to coment on this review Please note that the low-res personal scans used in this review do not show the true quality of the images. Visit the official Memphis Recording Service site
Elvis Studio Sessions '56 The Complete Recordings Elvis Live in the 50s The Complete Concert Recordings
EIN Website content © Copyright the Elvis Information Network.
Elvis Presley, Elvis and Graceland are trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises. The Elvis Information Network has been running since 1986 and is an EPE officially recognised Elvis fan club.
|
|
