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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 twenty-two concerts from 1976 - compared to only two from 1971.
Elvis: Pine Bluff to Madison '76 - FTD review by Geoffrey Mc Donnell / Piers Beagley Elvis’ Pine Bluff performance on September 8 1976 was the final date of Elvis’ US Tour 21 which had already taken in 16 concerts over two weeks and had started on August 27 in San Antonio, Texas. FTD have already released three soundboards from this tour, September 5 1976 in Jackson and both Saturday Afternoon and Evening shows, September 6, from Huntsville, AL. Being the Bicentennial year Elvis will by now have performed his piece-de-resistance ‘America (the Beautiful)’ over eighty times in concert. And as this is the final date we know that Elvis will also be in good humour and play a longer than normal show for his loving fans. What we don’t want to hear would be Elvis on-stage telling his musicians “we should rehearse more before we tour” and also fluff the start of ‘America’ twice before asking what the lyrics are. Sadly Elvis does both! A real positive is that the Pine Bluff concert is in great quality sound and has the exciting vibe of being the Closing Night concert and a lovely drawn-out show, however the disappointment is that the soundboard tape runs out before the final five songs of Elvis’ performance. There is no doubt that had this concert been recorded in full FTD would have prioritised it’s release over their previous “Tour 21" releases.
Considering the abysmal ‘state’ Elvis was in just over a week previously at the ‘Houston’ 28th August show, the final concerts from this tour (including the already released Huntsville shows) demonstrate a real transformation. Sound mastering from the soundboard Cassette tapes is by Jan Eliasson and is the similar fine quality we had on the Huntsville and Jackson '76 recordings. The purity of the bass and clarity of the high frequencies means that it was recorded on high-quality cassettes and someone was careful about the record levels. The nice and clear rhythm section helps give an added punch to the sound and performance. The sound is very impressive, the mix of musicians and orchestra is excellent. However by 1976 Elvis’ set-list and shows had become all-too-routine with lengthy and boring “Introductions” plus the ‘I Got a Woman / Amen’ warm-up often running to over 7 minutes, so collectors have to be aware that discovering essential, inspirational, new performances over 45 years later is never really going to happen.
The MUSIC DISC 1: Pine Bluff, 8 September 1976 Closing Show - Attendance 7,500. 72 minutes. The incomplete Pine Bluff show kicks off with the last 4 minutes of a lengthy ‘Amen’ where Elvis gets J.D. to sing the Bass-voice ending TWICE. In the middle section Elvis stops to joke with an audience fan and demonstrates that he is up for an enjoyable final concert. Elvis introduces himself as ‘Wayne Newton’ before a cool ‘Love Me’ with Elvis in good voice, not rushing as he interacts and gives scarves to the fans. Lots of J.D Bass can be heard throughout the recording. ‘Fairytale’ follows and is a fair version “sing the song, baby” with Elvis putting out in the second half Elvis, “one more time” he tells the band. Sadly the required fifties crowd pleasers are all ‘throwaway’ but then from 74’ onwards when weren’t they? ‘And I Love You So’ is sweet and features Kathy Westmoreland’s vocal, yet seems rather melancholy by 1976. ‘Jailhouse Rock’ tonight is an above average ‘76’ version with Elvis throwing in some extra spirit, not bad! Perhaps he knew his five week break was beckoning. A rare 1976 treat ‘One Night’follows, usually only sung once or twice each tour, and is slow and cruisey “my loves too strong to hide, you know it is!” and while missing the fire of early shows, it was a fine addition tonight. ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ is even better, well sung and with Elvis obviously feeling involved and singing strongly and with care. Very good for 76. ‘Fever’ is again a so-so crowd-pleaser before Elvis grabs time to interacts with fans for a couple of minutes giving away scarves and kisses before “Because it’s our Bi-Centennial year” starting ‘America’. Elvis then says to the band and audience, “The next time we go out on tour, let’s have a couple of days rehearsal.” Surely anyone would find that statement from the star-of-the-show pretty pathetic for the final concert of the tour! The song then stops when Elvis gets shown a pair of wooden shoes “Wooden shoes, what the..” and sings a brief line of ‘Wooden Heart’ -“ah, no, forget it” - before getting back to singing ‘America’. Then he does another false start, “Oh Beautiful for spacious.. .. wait a minute, wait a minute, I can’t get it - what’s the second line?” Third time lucky, Elvis eventually sings 'America' and sounds convincing by the end, reprising the second part along with Kathy Westmorelands’s piercing vocal ending. But, yes, more pre-tour rehearsals would be a good idea Elvis! There’s more fan interaction before ‘Polk Salad Annie’ which sadly is incomplete and fades after 2 ½ minutes. It’s a pity because the band is ‘Cooking’! Nice to also hear Elvis shout out the Monty Python joke “Albatross!” as the song kicks off. The Introductions start half-way through the Stamps introductions. Elvis calls Sherrill Neilson ‘Mr Humble’! The short ‘Early Morning Rain’ has the ad lib of "I’m a long way from home.... 200 miles” but it’s a very short version. James Burton’s ‘What’d I Say’ is brief as is ‘J.B. Goode’ with both featuring rather too much Charlie Hodge vocal. Ronnie Tutt plays his solo before Jerry Scheff plays two solos, “Jerry will you play that other thing.. Gatorade” Along with Tony Brown’s and David Briggs piano solo it lasts over 8 minutes which is way too long as a rest-break. ‘Love Letters’ “from his first recording session” is sung nice and sincerely and at a ok tempo. ‘School Days’ with Joe Guercio orchestra wraps up the Interruptions, I mean Introductions. By 1976 this had become more than a very lengthy 15 minute break from the main course. ‘Hurt’ “We have a new record out” is good and then get a complete reprise which is even better with Elvis pushing the ending up higher. You feel the show getting back on track. ‘Hound Dog’ however is the usual total throwaway. ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ starts with Elvis getting the house-lights turned up and joking, ‘Ask and you shall receive’... and is pretty well sung too even if the fans are distracting him. There is some fabulous guitar picking from James Burton. This song would usually be the penultimate number but there was plenty more to go this Wednesday night. The last time Elvis had featured ‘Why Me Lord’ as a regular in his set-list was back in August 1975 so tonight it was a “final show” treat. It was such a surprise that Elvis even has to ask The Stamps if their piano player was there. It is actually a super-fun version as Elvis ad-libs after J.D’s serious lines trying to crack him up. With his mock high voice! This is a version that nicely captures the fun of the final night, however if you want a ‘serious’ version you need to go back to 1974. Elvis then says he would like to do his “very first record” ‘That’s All Right’. Elvis teases Charlie Hodge about his slow-set-up, “Charlie you’re as slow as Christmas”. After a false start it’s not his best ’76 version or as full, even if you can hear the laughter in Elvis voice. Then Elvis pleases the crowd noting, “This is the last night of our tour, so we’re making it a bit longer for you”. He then jokes that the band just wants to grab the cheque and to get out of here! One of those ‘MAGIC MOMENTS’ is when a screaming girl truly corners Elvis, screaming ‘Please, please please”. It’s very funny and Elvis has to note that he is now deaf! Elvis then asks Kathy to come out and do a song and she sings ‘My Heavenly Father’ pretty well. I however doubt that this was what the audience was looking forward to with the longer show! But Elvis laps it up, “Boy, oh boy, oh boy” he comments, “How do you follow that?” At last a spirited ‘Mystery Train/Tiger Man’ kicks up the excitement but sadly just before the tape runs out. What was missed was Sherrill Nielsen singing ‘Danny Boy’ and ‘Walk With Me’ before Elvis finishes with a fine, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ and a good version of ‘How Great Thou Art’ before the ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ finale. It was a full performance that lasted over 90 minutes and although Elvis did not look the best he gave a great tour Closing Show. This might have been because, after becoming annoyed by noisy fans outside his hotel room, he had in fact slept back at Graceland before this Pine Bluff show. This was easily the better of his two closing tour shows at Pine Bluff and financially such a boost for the new building that they eagerly wanted Elvis back again in 1977. The night before however Elvis had met up with Imperials member Joe Moscheo who recalled that “Elvis was fat and sick and didn’t even want to be in Pine Bluff’. Perhaps getting back to Graceland had helped him recover.
Disc 2: Madison, 19 October 1976 - Attendance 10,220. 65 minutes Thankfully Elvis looked far better, slimmer in a much better health by his following October 1976 tour. Here we get the near-complete Madison October 19th show, the sixth show of ‘Tour 22’. Note that we already have the five highlights of ‘Hawaiian Wedding Song’, ’Steamroller Blues’, ’America’, ’Love Me Tender’ & ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ released at the end of 2017 as ‘Bonus Madison songs' on FTD’s 'The Bicentennial Show' release. (see EIN detailed review here) Quite frankly with most of the Madison show highlights already released by FTD there seems little reason to release the rest of the show unless we can learn something more from the performance. Sadly it is a very routine show and there is nothing different that we haven’t heard from the previously FTD released shows from the first week of this tour. Chicago October 14 & 15, Duluth October 16, Minneapolis Oct 17 plus Sioux Falls Oct 18. The Madison show is also not complete as ‘Love Letters’ features only the meaningless last few seconds - hardly worth listing on the track list! The audio is back to regular “Cassette” sound, a little thin and nothing like the fine quality of Pine Bluff. While the previous ‘The Bicentennial Show’ FTD Madison bonus tracks were also Mastered by Jan Eliasson here the sound is pushed louder to perhaps match more of the Pine Bluff feeling. ‘Steamroller Blues’, with the louder new version above, shows the difference.
Elvis Madison, WI, 19 October 1976 – a brief over-view. At least we get the nice build-up of the 2001 Theme and extended Opening Vamp before Elvis kicks off with a fine ‘See See Rider’. The slight feedback has Elvis changing the lyrics to “if I find me a sound-man” but it’s quite a good opening this Tuesday night in Madison. Elvis’ voice is very up front and the band a little in the background but you can hear J.D and the audience, drums ‘ok’. Elvis says “You sound like a good audience” as he did on all his concerts the first week of this tour. ‘I Got A Woman / Amen’ is routine with J.D performing a very ordinary dive-bomber ending and, unusually, with no repeat either. Elvis then thanks everyone for coming out to see the show and gets a big crowd response, “Good grief, they are up there on the ceiling!” ‘Love Me’ is the routine scarf-giving version, while ‘If You Love Me (Let Me Know)’ showcases James Burton on guitar with cool Sweets / Stamps harmonies and is a bright version. First highlight (previously released) and a mid-1976 rarity ‘Hawaiian Wedding Song’ - the only version from this tour - is fine, more delicate than usual with close harmonies from The Stamps and includes a nice ending duet with Kathy Westmoreland. ‘Jailhouse Rock’ whilst a typical 76’ version again seems to have a bit of fire in it tonight but the other fifties crowd-pleasers are pure throwaways. ‘And I Love You So’ is thoughtful and like all these October 76 shows is a tender and touching version. ‘Fever’ that follows is routine. ‘Steamroller Blues’, another previously released highlight, is fine with a cooking band and with Elvis putting some real effort into this cool blues. ‘America’, again previously released, is fine if hardly his best. No reprise tonight but at least he doesn’t fluff the lyrics. The Introductions are very routine. The tape drops out and it misses the start of ‘Early Morning Rain’ which lasts less than 1 minute. ‘What’d I Say’ is spoilt by WAY too much Charlie Hodge. While all the solos are fine, they are pure filler. ‘Love Letters’ is very disappointing as we only hear the last few seconds. It would have been better being missed out. ‘Love Me Tender’ is an oddity being sung after the intros with Elvis announcing it as a special “Because we haven’t been here before”. Previously released it is an ‘ok’ version with less kissing-the-girls than usually. ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ – surprisingly not sung since the previous July, is obviously a treat tonight but is rather bland. (again previously released by FTD). ‘Hurt’ does not get the usual reprise and is a disappointingly average version this night. ‘Blue Christmas’ is a new treat, not previously released (probably because we start getting some audio static break-up on the tape). This time Elvis sings it without playing guitar and it is rather well sung – even if it was October! ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ is an ok, if rather routine version and tonight is the regular penultimate song. Elvis then says “If you want us back here, just ask for us” before a throwaway version of ‘Can’t Help Falling Love’. The soundboard includes the post Closing Vamp super-souvenirs announcements. Elvis would return to Madison rather notably on June 24 1977. As stated this Madison concert is very similar to the other first week shows and with the highlights previously released there really is nothing new to investigate. Having a soundboard from the 2nd week of the tour would have been far more interesting as there were several excellent shows nearer the end of this tour.
Overall Verdict: Finding something worthy to discover in previously unreleased Elvis performances from 1976 has to be a tough call. Nearly every concert was the same format and they only got worse mid-year before the final power-blast of his late December shows. Here the real pleasure is in listening to the closing night Pine Bluff show. Elvis is aware it is the final night is ready to put in something extra and sings well for a 76 show. The audio is fabulous quality so it such a pity that the last section of the show, including How Great Thou Art which finished up a great show wasn’t recorded. With the barrel nearly empty, beggars can’t be choosers but here the second disc is truly superfluous and I doubt that I will play it again. If Elvis live in 1976 isn’t your Elvis-bag then these concerts cannot be flagged as essential, however any collector should enjoy the positive experience of the Pine Bluff performance. Review by Geoffrey McDonnell / Piers Beagley. Click here to comment on this article
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