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To be honest 1976 is not an easy Elvis live-in-concert year to review. There were no major set-list changes as had happened in earlier years, no dramatic "emotional roller-coaster" of 1974 and no high-flying "Huntsville" 1975 excitements. Apart from the exceptional blast of the final December 1976 Tour (inspired by the challenge of new-young-love Ginger) 1976 in retrospect seems a slow-grind continuing the inevitable downward spiral. By early 1976 Elvis’ set-list had become routine. I Got A Woman would always feature the JD Sumner double dive-bombing routine, the Introduction and solos would be drawn out with the inclusion of Bass and Drum solos, usually two piano solos plus Early Morning Rain and Love Letters. Hurt and America the Beautiful became the regular dramatic highlights with only the occasional surprise addition (Danny Boy!) making a real difference. A true sign-of-the times was that from the 1976 April Tour #17 through to his August Tour #21 Elvis basically wore his "Bicentennial Suit"at every single concert, surely a sign of a bored performer. And that blowsy-shirtsleeves-and-waistcoat look did Elvis no good at all as a cool-looking jumpsuit. However despite some of his worst concert ever in mid-1976, three months later there was a definite and positive change in the month leading up to Elvis' October 1976 Tour #22 and then in December Elvis would end the year with some of his best performances in a long, long time. Unfortunately for collectors the number of Elvis soundboards available in good quality increase at a similar rate that Elvis’ performances declined. His tours also got shorter and shorter. This means that if FTD are to release a soundboard from every Elvis tour we will always get more concerts from 1976 than any other year. This is a real shame as there are proportionately far fewer good quality soundboards from Elvis’ sensational early years of touring. FTD have now released seventeen concerts from 1976 - compared to only two from 1971. 'Elvis: The Bicentennial Show', FTD CD review by Geoffrey McDonnell - with additional comments from Piers Beagley. Delayed due to Christmas post to Australia, better late than never, I got this 5" pack on January 8th Elvis’s Birthday. The Package.
Audio Quality: DISC 2. Duluth was recorded on cassette but was probably chosen by Joan Deary for possible release as the audio mix of Elvis, the musicians and orchestra is fine. The sound-image is very similar to the FTD ‘A Minnesota Moment’ from the day after
The MUSIC DISC 1 - Tulsa July 4th 2.30pm show 1976 Kicking off with the excitement the ‘2001 theme’ he build up is impressive before ‘See, See Rider’ which immediately impresses me with Elvis full of energy, singing a powerful "going away baby" and holding the notes, it’s a great start! ‘I Got A Woman / Amen’ then typically drags out with two J.D Sumner dive-bomber endings - calling him "the lowest Bass-Singer in Oklahoma!" After Elvis says "you try that just after you have woken up" and already his initial energy seems to be fading. ‘Love Me’ is ok with a bit of extra effort during the ending. ‘If You Love Me (Let Me Know)’ is simply poor with feedback and loud, distorted James Burton guitar plus a weird ‘Raspberry’ sounding J.D. Sumner. Towards the end there is a mass of feedback and audio drop out. It doesn’t help that throughout Elvis already sounds just SO TIRED. ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ is again too heavy in guitar and shows Elvis’ weariness. ‘America’ - "Since it’s our Bicentennial" – again with overbearing guitar is sadly not as good as the great July 3rd version the day before, (as released on FTD’s 2005 ‘Rockin' Across Texas ) but still basically an ’ok’ version. The audience of course explode with appreciation – well it was July 4th – and Elvis notes, "Thank You. That makes us feel good". ‘All Shook Up / Teddy Bear / Don’t Be Cruel’ are all scarf-giving-out throw-away songs and forgettable. ‘Jailhouse Rock’ gets more effort from Elvis and at last the show sounds a little more energetic, thank goodness. ‘Fever’ is not bad (without any bass distortion at least!) and nice to hear the crowd truly clapping along with the groove. Then ‘An American Trilogy’ suffers from the usual "Disneyland" ’joke’ is dominated by the guitar and has Elvis playing with the phrasing, struggling a little and sounding as if he is tiring of this classic song. Even compared to 1975 it’s a rather poor version. ‘Trilogy’ performed recently in 1976 Lake Tahoe season has the ‘Disneyland’ treatment and by 3rd August performance Elvis was even abbreviating the version. The ‘Introductions’ have Elvis asking how long it was since he was last in Tulsa "Two years ago?" After The Stamps and a few routine ‘jokes’ ‘Early Morning Rain’ has a nice beat to it even though it is short. ‘What I’d Say’ only demonstrates how distorted James Burton’s guitar was in the mix (and is missing ‘J.B.Goode’ from this recording). Filling out the long intros Jerry Scheff plays his blues, plus we get drums, piano, and electric piano solos (which has Elvis calling David Briggs’ ending as ‘NUTS’) and then ends with a fair ‘Love Letters’. ‘Hurt’ – dominated by guitar - is a highlight for the crowd and so is performed twice "want to hear it again?" with Elvis pushing for an up higher 2nd ending. Afterwards Elvis unnecessarily notes, "I almost choked on the last line, I got too confidant". Then Elvis mentions his two hospital visits and how "It was minor things, nothing really serious" and that he’s glad to be back working again - which sounds like he is actually trying to convince himself! ‘Help Me’ is dedicated to Oral Roberts (was this because Roberts was a televangelist?) but again it is not his best version as his voice wavers a little too much. ‘Hound Dog’ is pure ‘throwaway’ whilst ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ (ruined with the annoying guitar) gives Elvis a chance to look at his fans with the house lights turned up and you can feel the wild reaction from the eager crowd. ‘How Great Thou Art’ is, as always, a concert highlight with Elvis focussed and with The Stamps producing a real powerful affect! The crowd explodes afterwards. Thanking the crowd, Elvis notes that "I’m not through yet, I’m only doing one show so I can play for as long as you want". However he’s ‘lying like a rug’ as he’d wrap it up after the next song. Before ‘Little Darlin’’ Elvis mentions that he is wearing a special Presidential seal on his belt which the crowd appreciates - but the song itself is one of Elvis’ poorer versions. He then quickly closes with a weak ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ which even then has a false start because he has ice in his mouth. This show was not too bad, except that between ‘ok’ performances Elvis often sounds incredibly tired! It was an afternoon show and presumably as he tells the crowd, he had just got out of bed. It’s worth noting though that he speaks clearly, without any 1976 sad slurring, and is focused on the show.
Madison 19th October in his ‘Blue Swirl’ suit, not from 16th October.
DISC 2 - Duluth 16th October 1976 Despite some of his worst concert ever in mid-1976, three months later there was a definite and positive change in the month leading up to Elvis' October 1976 Tour #22. No wonder FTD has released so many of these October shows. Straight away you can tell Elvis sounds stronger and more ready-to-rock. This concert was originally selected by RCA's Joan Deary for the 1980 Silver boxset release before being dropped for the 1975 show. It is interesting to look at what attracted her to this performance. The ‘2001 theme’ goes into opening vamp and ‘See See Rider’ which is a fine opening with a good, punch ending. ‘Love Me’ is ok and crowd-pleasing if dull while ‘If You Love Me (Let Me Know)’ is a more inspired performance of the song than at Tulsa. Elvis sings it well and even tells the band to "Pick it up a little". ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ is sung quite strongly and again is clearly better than the Tulsa version. Elvis was not so tired tonight and it features a power-ending. ‘Jailhouse Rock’ is also not bad, Elvis even sounds like he is enjoying it. Then, just as the previous night, ‘And I Love You So’ is tenderly sung and with a real warmth. It’s possible that it was a performance such as this that helped Joan Deary think about this show as a release. ‘Fever’ is ‘ok’ but it is ‘Steamroller Blues’ that turns in as a powerful highlight with great bass-line and superb piano riffs. Performed less than ten times in the last half of 1976, Elvis would only perform the song another 5 times in his life. The ‘Introductions’ has Elvis joking that J.D. is the "lowest person that he has ever met!" and that Ed Enoch is J.D’s niece! ‘Early Morning Rain’ which is nicely played if all too brief, before ‘What I’d Say’ and ‘J.B. Goode’ with Charlie Hodge duetting on vocal. After the extended solos ‘Love Letters’ is tenderly sung, if fairly routine. ‘Hurt’ "our latest record, I’d like to sing it for you" is again a key song of the night, but it’s not a great performance with the end-reprise where Elvis sounds like he’s being strangled. The audience sure don’t care and explode in applause. "That’s fantastic, thank you very much". ‘Hound Dog’ is complete throwaway, whereas ‘It’s Now Or Never’ is quite a decent version. ‘How Great Thou Art’ "A gospel song that we did in 1967" is another concert highlight with an amazingly strong voice and with Elvis repeating ‘How Great, How Great" before the finale. Interestingly there is also a line change to "How great You Are" mid song. After he has house lights turned up a laid-back ‘Blue Christmas’ is another treat tonight and performed without Elvis playing guitar. Then Elvis makes a short speech asking them to let him know if they want him back again and the closer ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ which is a rather weak version. The songs performed tonight that Joan Deary did not feature on her final 1975 box-set selection were You Gave Me A Mountain, Jailhouse Rock, And I Love You So, Fever, Steamroller Blues, Love Letters, Hurt, It’s Now Or Never and Blue Christmas - surprisingly it is quite an alternate track selection.
Bonus Songs ‘Hawaiian Wedding Song’ is fine with close harmonies from The Stamps and then we get another ‘Steamroller Blues’ which is a notch better than the Duluth version and a nice funky performance. Fine piano riffing again and great balance with James Burton’s ringing guitar. ‘America’ is however performed just ‘ok’ and NOT as good as the Tulsa version, and then ‘Love Me Tender / Blue Suede Shoes’ close out this disc with pretty good performances for 1976. On this disc the overall sound (no nasty distortion) is much better and since none of this concert has previously been available in any form (except for the opening acts on bootleg) it’s nice to hear another solid show. However the track listing holds no real surprises and even if well-performed also comes across as rather ‘dull’. It is not surprising that Deary changed her mind and put out the rather fine 1975 compilation instead.
Overall Verdict: If you can bear the guitar overload, Elvis’ Tulsa concert is the longer, more interesting concert with more songs but more uneven performances, in comparison the shorter October 1976 Duluth show only highlights the lengthy, boring intros and solos. Collectors however will still be glad to have these two shows from FTD and this double-set will satisfy many fans who for years have wanted to see these shows released. Despite Tulsa having a more ‘uneven’ Elvis performance it is the show I have played more often and even sympathetically rate both shows 8/10.
Review by Geoffrey McDonnell - with added comments by Piers Beagley. Click here to comment on this article
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