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Elvis: Stateline SAHARA 1974 - Lake Tahoe '74, FTD CD review by Geoffrey McDonnell - with additional comments from Piers Beagley. Released in April 2024 this FTD triple-pack features three previously unreleased shows recorded on soundboard running 60 minutes each.
All three shows start with ‘See See Rider’ as no '2001 theme' was recorded - and since the longer CD3 misses the final song when the tape runs out perhaps they were recorded on one side of C120 cassettes? FTD have already released three concerts in full from this Tahoe season, May 21 Midnight show, May 25 Dinner Show, May 26 Dinner Show and five of the best tracks from this set were previously released as ‘Bonus Songs’ on the 2010 FTD’s 'High Sierra'. Just two weeks before this Lake Tahoe season Elvis had been playing to audiences of over 18 thousand at the Los Angeles Forum, so it is understandable if Elvis sounds a little more on ‘cruise-control’ at these twice-a-night casino shows. But being less O-T-T is also a positive in that they sound more intimate. Audio Quality: The speed of the discs sound fine as does Elvis, the only criticism is that are mastered rather ‘bassy’ and loud, especially the 3rd disc. In general however the audio mix is fine with a good match of the whole band, backing vocals as well as the orchestra. They sound very similar to the FTD 'Lake Tahoe '74' release that were also remastered by Jan Eliasson.
Disc 1: May 19, 1974, Dinner Show - 58 minutes This was Elvis’ sixth show of the season and he is in good humour laughing with the audience,”Hey, hey, hey. Well.. What? I haven’t even got started yet. Honey, wait a minute I can’t do all of that stuff you want! Love you tender? Give you a scarf?” ‘I Got a Woman / Amen’ is fine if routine, Elvis rates JD’s dive-bombing bass as “a C+” and makes him do it a second time, which he rates as “outta sight”. (There are a few audio-drop outs on this release. One here @02:38 which could have been easily covered up) Elvis introduces himself as Wayne Newton and has a brother named ‘Fig’. ‘Love Me’ is ‘ok’ and like a lot of the songs on this triple-pack very similar to the other Tahoe shows already released. ‘Trying to Get to You’ is introduced as “One of my first records and my voice was much higher so I have to be careful so I don’t hurt myself”. Mid-way through Elvis starts laughing which then continues through a quite well sung version. There’s a neat “Lord God have mercy above” @01:37. On all these shows Elvis rushes through his golden-oldies - All Shook Up, Love Me Tender, Hound Dog - which may please his casino audience but are all too familiar on soundboard. However before 'Hound Dog' an easy-going ‘Steamroller Blues’ at last adds something worthy to the show. Elvis sings along to the solo, really digging in and it’s the first attention-grabbing song of the night. Elvis then goofs around at the start of ‘Fever’ - “She said give this old lady a chance” – “after the show, hon” - and so then has to restart the song. It’s a jokey version “he’s just a monkey in the morning” but the crowd lap it up and it gets a huge applause. ‘Polk Salad Annie’ (with another audio drop out @00:18) is fairly routine, Elvis wasn’t going to work up too much of a sweat at this Dinner Show. Afterwards Elvis wishes a woman ‘Happy Birthday’ and jokingly asks “where’s Granny?”... “Ok Granny, hang in there!” Elvis then asks J.D. to sing “one of my favourite songs” ‘Why Me Lord’ which is very sincere and with plenty of harmonies matching Elvis’ vocal in the mix. These ‘straight’ versions giving full respect to the song are very enjoyable. Elvis also likes it enough to reprise the ending. ‘Suspicious Minds’ is fair for 1974. By now Elvis had sung this classic hundreds of times in concert and it is notable that his next June 74 tour would be the last time he regularly included it in this set-list. ‘The Introductions’ are very short and routine. The only notable points being Elvis stating that Ronnie Tutt broke two drums during ‘Why Me Lord’ and (instead of ‘Al Tronti’) teasing that Joe Guercio was conducting the “Al Capone orchestra”, “you didn’t know Al Capone had an orchestra did you?”. On a negative note Elvis also suggested that “on the Rhythm guitar is Asthmatic John Wilkinson” which seems in rather bad taste. ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ is performed straight after the intros and is rather routine with Elvis noting before an impressive power-ending that, “I dread it”. Elvis talks about “A new song that we have coming this week. One side is ‘If you talk in your sleep don’t mention my name and if you walk in your sleep forget where you came’. The other side is called ‘Help Me’". The single had in fact been released two weeks previously. It’s a gentle version and the audio-mix with the orchestra plus Elvis and Sherrill Nielsen duetting really sounds very fine and it is a treat. Next Elvis says he had a request for ‘Spanish Eyes’. Sung only a handful of times in this whole Tahoe season, Elvis would then perform this beautiful song just one more time onstage in his whole career (as on 'It's Midnight' FTD). This important track was previously on FTD’s ‘High Sierra’ release. 'Spanish Eyes' is a request "We made a promise to somebody that we'd do this. Just bear with us for a second. . “what key is it in?” It’s not rushed and the concert highlight. (Dig that meandering trumpet!) And possibly Elvis’ best ever performance of the song. Possibly as it was a Sunday Elvis dismisses the suggestion of ‘An American Trilogy’ instead asking for ‘How Great Thou Art’ which is, as always, yet another concert highlight. ‘An American Trilogy’ intro starts but is again quickly dismissed instead for ‘Let Me Be There’ which is enthusiastically performed through to the deep J.D. ending. No reprise tonight. ’Big Boss Man’ with nice J. Burton guitar is good and upbeat and keeps up the pace of the last section of the show. Elvis is obviously enjoying this recent new addition to his set-list. Elvis then asks people to be "careful going home and hopes that they enjoyed the show tonight". ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ is ok with once again J.D. sliding down the scale to the ending. This sixth show of the season is rather enjoyable but only for the final half of Elvis’ performance, including the treats of 'Spanish Eyes' and ‘How Great Thou Art’, that featured after the rather lacklustre beginning. The only thing I did not enjoy was Elvis laughing with band members about a John Wilkinson Asthma attack which is at least in poor taste. Small wonder that by the following night Elvis notes that John “doesn’t trust him”. It is not nice to joke about anyone’s Asthma attacks.
Disc 2 - May 20, 1974, Midnight Show: - 58 minutes The usual “Well, well, wells” and “Thank you very much, glad you liked the show” lead into an enthusiastic ‘I Got a Woman / Amen’ again with two J.D. dive-bomber endings. Elvis says he can do it much better and indeed J.D. does causing Elvis to exclaim “smart ass - fantastic J.D.” Elvis says “We will sing a lot of songs, walk around, drink a lot of water and we might sing a song or two!” ‘Love Me’ is routine while ‘Trying To Get To You’ “one of my songs from about 15 years ago” is really well sung tonight with a super effort from Elvis “streaking all the way”. The crowd-pleasing oldies are the usual rushed and bland versions. ‘You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me’ was a regular this season but it’s shorter and not as good as Elvis’ 1973 versions. Once again – as on CD1 - Elvis does a false start to ‘Fever’ but this time for no reason purely saying that he forgot what he was singing. Again it includes his usual joking routine but is no doubt a real crowd-pleaser. ‘Polk Salad Annie’ has more of a midnight feel with strong Ronnie Tutt drumming throughout and is a decent version. Elvis throws in some karate moves and there’s an extended wah-wah guitar ending. 2024 is the 50 th anniversary of the embarrassing Col Parker LP ‘Having Fun With Elvis On Stage’ and some of the comments in it came from this show. In fact it is one of those cute ELVIS moments when he says, “What’ve you got? You want the scarf, the towel and a kiss?” - “Here’s the towel, here’s the scarf and here’s the kiss! Lord, have Mercy! .... That’s show business honey. … I’m coming unglued… I would like to be relieved for a few minutes!” Then another moving and sincere version of ‘Why Me Lord’ follows. It gets a reprise with Elvis asking to “put a light on the girls”. (ie the Sweets & Kathy Westmoreland) ‘Suspicious Minds’ is Ok for ’74 but tonight with the violins extra high in the mix. The ‘Introductions’ are routine, Elvis teases John Wilkinson again “You don’t trust me John I was just checking your moustache out.” Glen Hardin gets introduced as Glen Campbell. ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ is again routine until the added power-ending. ‘Help Me’ “A new song coming out” is again very nicely sung. Interestingly Elvis saved ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ for only his Midnight shows this season and it is a really good version with a lovely mix of orchestra and backing-vocals. It also sounds more intimate being Lake Tahoe. ‘Let Me Be There’ is smooth as usual and features plenty of J.D. Sumner. ‘The Wonder of You’ was another Midnight show inclusion. Sadly these ’74 versions are rather rushed and here the violins overpower James Burton’s guitar. ‘Big Boss Man’ is again a good version and would been a “new” treat for the audience. ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ has a false start as it seems the band were caught out but is an end-of-show treat with a good ending. Elvis says “It’s been a pleasure working for you” before the ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ finale While nothing too special this was a good show and you can appreciate the different string section audio-mix.
Disc 3 - May 25, 1974 Midnight Show: - 59.5 minutes A fast and furious ‘See See Rider’ does start off with some peak audio distortion and too much bass but the sound soon improves. It’s a good start and overall the audio mix is fine. Elvis as usual jokes, “Good Evening, well, well, well .. If that’s all I got to do I’ve got it made!” The audience is up for some fun and Elvis is ready to keep them in high spirits. Elvis puts in some energy on ‘I Got a Woman / Amen’ and as usual Elvis requires two very ridiculously long low-bass dive-bomber notes from J.D. Sumner. Elvis introduces himself as Wayne Newton and says he will “give out some scarves and kiss people - if they will let us!”. ‘Love Me’ is as always routine, then ‘Trying To Get To You’ “one of my first records” which is well sung and with the “streaking all the way” tease. Again the oldies All Shook Up / Love Me Tender, later ‘Hound Dog’ even ‘Johnny B. Goode’ are all purely crowd-pleasers. Sadly ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’ still lacks Elvis earlier emotional feel and runs under 2 minutes. It is disappointing compared to earlier live versions. Elvis as always this season teases with a jokey ‘Fever’ singing “Captain Smith poked his harness”, “Fever till you’re silly”, “Fahrenheit or Gatorade” but the crowd lap it up. ‘Polk Salad Annie’ is quite fine for a ’74 version. Elvis does his on-stage karate work-out and there is an extended sweaty ending to keep the Saturday night crowd happy. Afterwards Elvis notes, “That a little extra show-off for you.” ‘Why Me Lord’ is a highlight, a straight version with lovely harmonising and matching Elvis vocal. Truly fantastic. A rarity this season ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ follows with a fine audio-mix and is also a very good version. ‘Suspicious Minds’ is fine for ‘74, if only routine. Tonight on ‘The Introductions’ Elvis teases the band about their outfits. Elvis notes that Joe Guercio is conducting the Al Tronti Orchestra - but then asks, “Where is Al Tronti? No really, is he out playing Keno?” ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ is ‘ok’ with Elvis adding a lovely ending and obviously enjoying the performance. But then comes the concert highlight of a beautiful performance of ‘I’m Leavin’’a superb version, conveying the desperation and the sadness of the lyrics very well and recorded with a great sound-mix. This is probably the very first time Elvis sang this song on-stage in 1974 before bringing it back as a regular song for his Vegas summer season. (Also previously released on ‘High Sierra’) ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ that follows is also a fine and powerful ’74 version - “I will ease your mind, Lord, Lord, Lord, your mind” he sings. The crowd is obviously impressed. The new song from earlier in the year ‘Let Me Be There’ also is good and enthusiastic. ‘The Wonder of You’, never performed in 1973, is however the rather understated ’74 lightweight version. The relatively new ‘Big Boss Man’ luckily kicks-up the pace and rocks the concert out. ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ is also quite nice but we only get three-quarters of it before tape runs out. Unfortunately there was is no closing song 'Can’t Help Falling In Love' recorded. A Saturday Night Midnight Show this was an energetic and fine show - if perhaps a little routine up to ‘Why Me Lord?’. However with the additions of ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ and ‘I’m Leavin’’ it was a rather superior finale. No surprise that this was the best of the three concerts in this set. Overall Verdict: FTDs 2010 ‘High Sierra’ featured the 21 May Dinner Show plus 5 of the best tracks from this particular set as bonus songs. The FTD ‘Lake Tahoe’ also gave us another two performances from the same week, so it is hard to justify this 3cd set as essential. However as collectors it is a treat to get three never before released complete shows and despite the first show sounding a bit sloppy in places the final CD3 May 25 Midnight Saturday show is a really fine performance with Elvis putting out a little extra for his fans. If anything it is CD2 May 20 Midnight Show that offers nothing that isn’t very similar to the other performances. Review by Geoffrey McDonnell - with added comments by Piers Beagley. Click here to comment on this article
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