Review: One Night In Vegas FTD CD
Elvis : One Night In Vegas FTD CD
|
This is Elvis at his very best. It is not easy to find suitable words for this concert. It simply is Elvis at his very best! And that says about everything!
The disc starts with snippets of the warm-up music, before Ronnie Tutt starts to roll the drums. This leads into Elvis first version of 'That's All Right' as an opening number. You can tell that Elvis is a bit nervous, but not more than he should be (IMO Elvis sung several songs best when he was nervous).
Without any break Elvis jumps into 'Mystery Train/Tiger Man'. This version is a bit reserved, but I think that could have something to do with feedback problems. Several times during this song, you can hear the feedback creeping up on him (just like the cameras...)
Next is 'I Can't Stop Loving You' then, thankfully 'Love Me Tender' begins without the 'false start' Elvis would soon start to make a habit of. Pretty concentrated version and this time with a normal duration (On several occasions in this period 'Love Me Tender' would last and last and last...)
'The Next Step Is Love', I find this version to be a disappointment. 'Words', however is a magnificent version, performed a bit slower this day than it would be later. Even here there are some feedback problem, but not much. And then finally, a new version of 'Just Can't Help Believing'. In my opinion this is one of Elvis' best live songs of all times. Imagine, this song is actually removed from the revised version of That's The Way It Is! The version here is not as mesmerizing as the master take, but not far from it. A shame about the sound errors in the beginning, though! Even 'Something' suffers from a bad wired guitar (?), but it is good all the same.
I have never heard a better version of 'Sweet Caroline' than this one! Brilliant!
'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling' is masterly performed (as always). So is 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me'. Not my favorite song, however. 'Polk Salad Annie' is a mixture of the 'dead serious' February versions and the more relaxed version that would come later in August. The first live version of 'I've Lost You' is not a winner! Elvis apologizes afterwards, and even throws in some funny southern talking to 'repair'. 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' is among the best versions I have ever heard. It is quite interesting to listen to Elvis' versions of this song, as he phrase and times it differently almost on every occasion.
Nice to finally have an alternate version of 'Patch It Up' too. Elvis wouldn't sing this song very often. A very demanding song, both for the entertainer and the audience, indeed!
Elvis closes the show in a hurry after 'Patch It Up', and with 'Can't Help Falling In Love' he ends one of the better life concert ever released by BMG. All considered it is not as good as the August 12 (MS) show released on TTWII (30th), but it is definitely among the very best!
This release is a winner in almost every meaning of the word. Get it soon!
One Night In Vegas - Elvis Presley FTD CD
That's All Right
Mystery Train/Tiger Man
I Can't Stop Loving You*
Love Me Tender
The Next Step Is Love*
Words
I Just Can't Help Believin'
Something
Sweet Caroline
You've Lost That Loving Feeling
You Don't Have To Say You Love Me*
Polk Salad Annie
I've Lost You
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Patch It Up
Can't Help Falling In Love
Bonus songs :
Words, Cattle Call / Yodel, Twenty Days And Twenty Nights, You Don't Have To Say You Love Me.
(*= previously released)
Opening Night, August 10, 1970 - By Ann Moses
The film cameras were in place, the star-studded audience at their tables, the electric tension was super-super-charged as the lights dimmed suddenly in the Showroom Internationale, then plunged the room into darkness. The huge orchestra began its introduction and everyone fell silent. The drapes swung back towards the wings and the air came alive with ecstatic gasps of anticipation. Then ... where there had only been emptiness - there he was! Elvis! Striding proudly toward his now-famous place centre-stage, Elvis grabbed his guitar, reached for the mike and charged into 'That's All Right'. It was happening again ... Elvis was back for his third Las Vegas season and immediately you could sense that he was more at ease than ever before. He was grinning broadly as he played hard through the instrumental breaks of the song. In the end, he finished dramatically by swinging the guitar over his head and out from him, taking up a triumphant stance!
From there, without guitar, he went into 'Mystery Train' and 'Tiger Man', in which he moves terrifically behind the flicker lights. Although Elvis admitted the cameras, which were filming all the while for his MGM movie, made him nervous, for me nothing could detract from Elvis' overwhelming presence. But then, I was sitting one seat from the stage and there was just no way to take my eyes off him, had I wanted to, which I didn't.
Early in the show Elvis explained to the audience that he usually learns ten to twenty new songs for each engagement, but this time he had to learn fifty to give the film executives a wide choice.
'So, if we goof some of these songs up', he apologized jokingly, 'don't think that we're not trying ... we just don't know what the hell. we're doing!'
But, in truth, he knew very well what he was doing! There were fewer of his old hits this time, but the sacrifice was worth it since he does such a superb job on so many contemporary tunes. Among these were 'I Just Can't Help Believin', 'Words', 'Sweet Caroline', You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' and 'Polk Salad Annie'.
Like in other performances of the past, Elvis' dancing, swaying and gyrations were as ever exciting and he's added some new classic, karate-type movements that ended many songs.
At the end of another bump-and-grind number he quipped, 'I feel like an old stripper!'
Elvis' sensitive voice is at its best on some of the new songs in his act, like the Beatles', Something', 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me', his new single 'I've Lost You' and 'The Next Step Is Love'. The climax of the entire show was Elvis' unbelievable beautiful version of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'. His voice conveyed such feelings that many women were brought to tears and it was obvious that the entire assemblage was moved!
Once again, Elvis was ably backed vocally by the Sweet Inspirations arid the Imperials and musically by James Burton and John Wilkinson on guitar, Ronnie Tutt on drums, Jerry Scheff on bass, ex-Cricket Glen Hardin on piano, and Elvis' close friend, Charlie Hodge, on guitar. Orchestration was by the Joe Guercio Orchestra.
The International Casino bulged with crowds of curious spectators, as the MGM cameras filmed the celebrities arriving and recorded their impressions of Elvis. Shrieks were heard throughout the Casino as Cary Grant, who rarely makes public appearances, arrived. The crowd pushed forward to get a good look at Sammy Davis Jr., Bill Medley, Bobby Hatfield, Kenny Rogers, Nancy Sinatra, Herb Alpert, Jack Benny, Zsa Zsa Gabor, the Osmond Brothers, Dale Robertson, George Hamilton and Elvis' wife Priscilla - dressed in a shocking pink satin evening gown with mink sleeves - as they made their way into the Showroom.
The International Hotel was a blaze of colourful banners proclaiming: 'The Elvis Summer Festival' and all the hotel employees wore Elvis' straw hats and scarves.
This is the Colonel's way of building excitement and although it was a bit like a circus, it's been proven over and over again that the Colonel's methods work and only Elvis' remarkable magnetism could keep the audience from feeling let down once they got inside the huge 2,000-plus seat Showroom.
Elvis' costume was similar to the one he wore last time beginning with a basic one-piece white jumpsuit and white boots. 'This jumpsuit can be a problem', he smiled. 'Everytime I raise my arms, my feet come off the floor!'
The suit had a four to five inch standing collar and the front was left open to expose his bare chest, behind rope-laced binding. Again he had a long hip- belt, which swayed with every motion, this time made of woven rope,.. which had been adorned with colourful beads. The total effect greatly enhanced the torrid movement which Presley puts into every number. Throughout his hour-long show, Elvis once again displayed his remarkable rapport with the audience. kissing the girls ring-side during 'Love Me Tender', and making jokes as he had a drink of water. Women close by eagerly handed Elvis their table napkin to wipe the perspiration from his face and one went so far as to raise her skirt for him to use!
At one break in the show, Elvis sauntered to the middle of the stage and began a mock tap dance. laughing as he said: 'Sorry, Sammy (Davis, Jr.), that's the best I can do!' At another point in the show he had bent down for glass from a nearby table and after he took a long drink, he bounded up and in superfast words he gagged: 'Hi! I'm Glen Campbell! Hi, folks!' in an extra-heavy Southern drawl.
Elvis' ad libs are always fun and each time they seem to break his tension and he becomes even more relaxed.
When the orchestra broke into the beginning of 'Can't Help Falling In Love', you could hear the sighs resound throughout the Showroom. Everyone knew this was Elvis' last song. As the final strains were heard and Elvis bent to one knee with head bent down and arms outstretched in a grateful bow, the audience automatically jumped to its feet and began shouting: 'More .. more . . more . '.
But the gold curtain fell and there was no more. You could hear again and again cries from the crowd of: 'Please .. just one more'. But had there been one more they would have hungered for one more after that!
And so it is with the King . . . no matter how much he sings, he always leaves you wanting more.
One Night In Vegas FTD CD - Review by Andy Urias
This must have been one exciting evening in Las Vegas on August 10, 1970. Elvis Presley, one of the most sensational performers of all time, starting his summer Vegas run for 1970.
His 1969 return to live performing was a milestone in his career and he delivered the goods. By the time he returned the Las Vegas stage in February 1970, he not only was still at the top of his game, but his set-list had evolved to arguably a more impressive level. His show now consisted of newly recorded contemporary ballads and upbeat adult-contemporary rock songs in addition to some of his classic songs from the 50s. It was this sort of versatile set-list that he took to Vegas 6 months later and one that he basically stuck with for the remainder of his career. So when he started his third run in Las Vegas during the summer of 1970, it seems that he had found a formula that he was comfortable with and one that the fans enthusiastically supported.
One thing that was very different from his shows 6 months before was that this time his performances would be filmed by a MGM film crew for an upcoming documentary of his Vegas return (strangely enough, his true return occurred one year earlier, so the upcoming documentary was really more of a representation of what his live performances currently were and the film also was more of a marketing tool than anything else). Elvis knew that there was a lot riding on the success of these shows as they would be permanently preserved and archived for eternity. Without a doubt, Elvis came through. As Elvis enters the stage on 'One Night In Vegas', he explodes right into 'That's All Right Mama' which immediately segues into a blazing version of 'Mystery Train/Tiger Man'. These versions are pretty standard for 1970, filled with explosive energy.
Next he cranks into a real strong version of ‘I Can't Stop Loving You'. At this point, it has to be apparent to everyone including Elvis that this is going to be a smoking show. After walking through 'Love Me Tender', Elvis finally attempts to tackle one of his recently recorded songs, 'The Next Step Is Love'. It is hard to find the right words for this song. His performance of it is adequate, but it is lacking something. Most likely, it is lacking substance, as the song is really quite weak'. ...Made some faces at some people in the park and didn't bother to explain..'. and '...Fun fun look at us run..'. Pretty ridiculous lyrics for a ballad. His studio version is a lot better as the studio production saves it a little.
Next up is 'Words' and this is an excellent version of this song, but not too different than any other versions from this period as he usually performed it brilliantly. The first real challenge of the evening comes next with 'I Just Can't Help Believing'. It starts off a little shaky, but comes together quite quickly. It is a very strong ballad and Elvis performs a wonderful version of it, however, the master version has a slight edge over this one.
'Something' is performed very nicely. There have been a few different versions of this song performed over the years, but in my opinion, no one including The Beatles themselves ever performed this song anywhere near the level Elvis did. It is almost as if this is the way it is supposed to sound and be performed. Next Elvis jumps in 'Sweet Caroline'. Once again, another stunning performance occurs during this concert. This is definitely one of his greatest performances of this song. The newer material continues with Elvis' incredible rendition of the classic 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling'. It would be hard to imagine Elvis ever performing this song poorly in 1970. Elvis then jumps into his 7th ballad in a row with his newly recorded 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me'. This isn't the most stunning version of this song, but at the same time, it probably wasn't the easiest song to perform live. First of all, I do believe the studio production of the song enhanced it and the fact that Elvis seems to be rushing through this particular version a little bit doesn't help matters.
Suddenly the concert takes a different turn. The love songs and ballads have come to an end and Elvis segues into his romping version of 'Polk Salad Annie'. The kind of sound Elvis produced on stage in 1970 with versions of songs like 'Polk Salad Annie' is pretty unique. So many different elements and styles of music were intertwined which created a unique musical extravaganza.
Up to this point, it is hard to imagine a better performance for opening nights concert that is being filmed. The crowd is into it, Elvis is on, and the band is playing tight. Now a strange edit occurs on this FTD release which in a way stops the momentum. Ernst Jorgensen edits out the band intros. Not that the band intros are that interesting, but it is the principle of it. Even worse, it has been noted that Elvis may have very well performed 'Don't Be Cruel' and 'Heartbreak Hotel' immediately after the band intros. There is no excuse to remove these songs. When one looks at the set-list of 'One Night In Vegas' it is obvious that something is missing. It is hard to imagine Elvis not performing some of his big 50's hits. Aside from a lame 'Love Me Tender' and a couple of his Sun tunes, nothing from the 50's are performed. BMG is pushing it if they think they can sell the idea that some of those 50s songs were not performed. Personally, I am not a fan of Elvis' performances of his 50's songs in the 70's, but there was no reason to edit them out of a so-called 'complete' concert. Unless there was an actual problem with the recording, the songs and band intro segment should have been left in.
With that said, the concert then moves on with a decent version of 'I've Lost You'. He then moves on to a stunning version of 'Bridge Over Trouble Water'. This is the sort of song, like many of his other ballads from 1970, you could guarantee he would perform with passion and almost flawless execution.
The show is coming to an end and Elvis finishes with a bang.
Next he performs a powerful version of 'Patch It Up'. This may have been his hardest rocking song of the 70's. This was definitely a way to get the crowd on its feet and right after the conclusion of the song, he rolled into his consistent show closing number, 'I Can't Help Falling In Love'.
It is an average version like it usually was. It is a shame that he usually threw away the last song. However, it seems that 'Can't Help Falling In Love' was more about the ending of an event, the conclusion of an hour with one of the greatest live performers ever, rather than one last breathtaking number anyway.
This is an outstanding show. Something the fans and the music world came to expect out of Elvis at this stage of his career. It is absolutely ridiculous that BMG waited until the year 2000 to finally release a concert in its entirety from 1970 considering it represents truly how amazing Elvis was in concert.
Of course, there is still some more to discuss. There are a few additional songs added to the end of the concert that are from some rehearsals. Some fans may find this as a wonderful bonus. Personally, I think it was a waste of space. Yes, I'm happy to have a few more unreleased rehearsal performances, but they shouldn't have been included on this release, especially if they are what replaced the missing songs from the concert. If BMG wanted to add rehearsal material, they should have added some stage rehearsals, as they would have been more of a representation of a true sound-check rehearsal, which most artists perform before a big concert. The bottom line is that the CD didn't need rehearsals, it needed to be a complete show.
Aside from the inclusion of unnecessary rehearsals and the omitted songs and band intros, this is one fantastic CD. Every Elvis fan and every person out there who wants the live Elvis experience should own a copy of 'One Night In Vegas '. The artwork isn't too bad, but as with all FTD releases, the entire release could have been enhanced with some additional information within the packaging about the music. I will conclude by saying that BMG/FTD still has the ability to release a handful of incredible shows such as this from 1969-1970. Let's hope that this is just the beginning. Elvis deserves to be recognised in this way.
One Night In Vegas - Elvis Presley FTD CD
That's All Right
Mystery Train/Tiger Man
I Can't Stop Loving You*
Love Me Tender
The Next Step Is Love*
Words
I Just Can't Help Believin'
Something
Sweet Caroline
You've Lost That Loving Feeling
You Don't Have To Say You Love Me*
Polk Salad Annie
I've Lost You
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Patch It Up
Can't Help Falling In Love
Bonus songs :
Words, Cattle Call / Yodel, Twenty Days And Twenty Nights, You Don't Have To Say You Love Me.
(*= previously released)
Follow That Dream CD and Book Reviews
Elvis Presley CD's > Follow That Dream > Elvis Stereo Concerts
© Copyright 2024 by www.elvis.com.au & www.elvispresley.com.au
https://www.elvis.com.au/presley/reviews/review-one-night-in-vegas.shtml
No part of any article on this site may be re-printed for public display without permission.
Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD
Never before have we seen an Elvis Presley concert from the 1950's with sound. Until Now! The DVD Contains recently discovered unreleased film of Elvis performing 6 songs, including Heartbreak Hotel and Don't Be Cruel, live in Tupelo Mississippi 1956. Included we see a live performance of the elusive Long Tall Sally seen here for the first time ever. + Plus Bonus DVD Audio.
This is an excellent release no fan should be without it.
The 'parade' footage is good to see as it puts you in the right context with color and b&w footage. The interviews of Elvis' Parents are well worth hearing too. The afternoon show footage is wonderful and electrifying : Here is Elvis in his prime rocking and rolling in front of 11.000 people. Highly recommended.
Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD Video with Sound.
