Review : 3000 South Paradise Road FTD Special Edition 2 CD Set

It is clear how much Elvis valued and wanted to perform What Now My Love this day, August 12, 1972 with his comment about getting serious before starting the song, and he performs in near flawlessly. And of particular interest are Elvis' comments after My Way, where he says 'that's a very good song ... I wouldn't want to associate it with my own personal life ... now the end is near and all that jazz... it's a nice song, it's okay for Sinatra but ... I haven't even ate it up and spit it out yet, still chewing on it ... no it's a good song ...' And indeed as indicated above, What Now My Love and My Way : two great performances, and totally unique.

Review : 3000 South Paradise Road FTD 2 CD Special Edition

3000 South Paradise Road is the address of the Las Vegas Hilton.

See See Rider is a song Elvis Presley made his own, not just from it's long-term use as his opening number but in the quality of his performance, I have never heard anyone else come close. And here we have a great performance, needing only RCA's presence professionally recording the show to make it equal with pretty much what has been released. [This song is oddly the last one I listened too, yet of course the first to write about, so I know what is coming in terms of sound and performance quality, and in that regard this song is a good indication for  what is to follow in the overall album. I actually went straight for What Now My Love]

Proud Mary : Although the performance of this song is excellent, on this particular song the loudness does overload the recording tape, not in the normal sense with audible distortion, but it is simply hard on the ears, if you have good hearing this will be hard to listen too. And perhaps the sound engineer was working on this as at the 1 minute 20 mark the sound does drop slightly and briefly there is an improvement, however then we do hear audible distortion in the remainder of this song. Thankfully this is only one of a couple of songs like this.

Until It's Time For You To Go : With this softer song 'all our [sound] troubles seem far away ...' and we find a brilliant performance of a song that to me always has been better as a live performance. Nice, and not rushed!

You Don't Have To Say You Love Me : Even though we have a 'big sound' song there is very little in the way of any distortion and a lot in the way of a quality performance from EP.

You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling : Another good performance although marred by a little distortion when the volume is ramped up by Elvis and the band making this a bit of a disappointment for me as it is a good performance. But like Proud Mary the tape just gets overloaded.

Polk Salad Annie is another song Elvis made is own via live performances, interestingly his 1970 On Stage version very much musically note for note a carbon copy of Tony Joe White's original, swamp rock. So I can't help but always compare every performance of this tune to the On Stage version, and nothing can compare to that! - This version performed the same as later versions post February 1970 and as such is a good performance with good quality sound. Now after some banter with the audience ... Elvis declares ...

'Like to get serious for just one moment please'

And then into What Now My Love, an equal top highlight with both My Way and Elvis' comments after My Way. This performance of What Now My Love begins with Elvis carefully approaching and phrasing the words - clearly determined to nail this song - 1972 was the first year he performed it live and the recording from the previous evening has been previously released on the FTD release, Elvis Summer Festival, and he did not get it right on this occasion. [Nor was the sound quality near as good as what we have here!]

Up next is another gem, Fever, a delight, with Ronnie Tutt's subtle drum work really making this performance one of the stand-outs on this CD, and again all in very good sound quality.

Next we have nine performances of 50s classics : Love Me is Elvis standard performance, I really can't find much in this. Blue Suede Shoes is a pleasant performance ending at just over one minute. One Night - is a gem!! I was instantly reminded of the similar recording of this song from 1970 - great song - great sound [last mention of] - and it would have been a highlight for those in attendance on this August 1972 night and now for all that pay the admission to hear this CD. All Shook Up, - Another through away. [It is a shame Elvis did not simply concentrate on singing only what he wanted to and not what the audience supposedly wanted, Just compare this performance to that of What Now My Love. If he had he would without doubt been a lot happier and I am sure had the time to 'chew more on life' [See Elvis' comments after My Way].

Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel - Like Blue Suede Shoes, pleasant, competent but for the fans! Heartbreak Hotel - Each to their own but i wish Elvis never performed this in the 70s, a waste of time, impossible even for Elvis to even come close to the original. Hound Dog features some nice banter with the audience before Elvis starts the song which is in itself the standard fare for 1972 starting slow before the dramatic pick up in tempo as we are familiar with from the Madison Square Garden show, although this is better as it is not rushed. [In fact much of this concert is both for some of it's performances and again it is not rushed, although there is not much that can beat Elvis' performance of Reconsider Baby from the Madison Square Garden afternoon show.

Love Me Tender : Well you know how Elvis performs this one live, giving his all for the ladies.

Suspicious Minds : Great performance with Elvis fooling around with Charlie Hodge, interesting or mucking the song up depending on your point of view. The drums/ and sound does test the limits of the soundboard tape, no noticeable distortion but as mentioned with Proud Mary, hard on the ears.

After Suspicious Minds Elvis introduces Telly Savalas in the audience.

After the introductions Elvis begins a wonderful performance of My Way, As already mentioned at the begriming of this article Elvis says 'that's a very good song ... I wouldn't want to associate it with my own personal life ... now the end is near and all that jazz... it's a nice song, it's okay for Sinatra but ... I haven't even ate it up and spit it out yet, still chewing on it ... no it's a good song ...' And we have a fine performance.

The opening to An American Trilogy brings cheers as the audience recognize the music and the performance from Elvis is as good as it gets, just suffering from a little tape overload toward the end of the song.

And Elvis closes with Can't Help Falling In Love. [But you already knew that!]

Accompanying the concert CD there is a second CD with rehearsals from the day of the opening concert, August 4, and true to the description given by FTD the sound is substandard, however it is a rare glimpse into Elvis rehearsing at the time and you do not pay any more for the second CD being here, nor for that matter it being presented with booklet in the 7" packaging instead of the standard, basic 5" digi-pack.

So in a word, do I recommend this release : YES!

Sound Quality

Sound quality is a subjective thing, very much each too their own too. For this review I have actually thought of other  soundboards which is the natural comparison, but also Aloha From Hawaii for example as to me this easily had the very best recording sound ever produced for and Elvis Presley concert. In terms of soundboards one in particular that was on my mind was FTDs Chicago Stadium, a 2 CD set with two concerts from October 14 and 15 1976. Now as soundboards go the general 'rule' is the later the year the better recording, although this is certainly not black and white, but these two concerts, MOST particularly the October 15 show on disc 2 have virtually perfect sound [For sure with disc 2], although Elvis' performance is not as polished as 1969-1973, however in his own way Elvis still produces the goods as he has matured and so have the song choices.

Buy Back In Memphis 2 CD set in the Classic Album series
Buy 3000 South Paradise Road in the 2 disc 7" Classic Album format

Review : Elvis : Back In Memphis : FTD Special Edition 2 CD Classic Album
Review of Back In Memphis #2
A Man From Elvis Presley Boulevard : Review : From Elvis Presley Boulevard

Back In Memphis and 3000 South Paradise Road FTD CDs.

Disc 1 is a soundboard recording.

The Show

Recorded live at The Las Vegas Hilton August 12, 1972. Midnight show.

1. See See Rider 3:00
2. Proud Mary 2:42
3. Until It's Time For You To Go 2:31
4. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me 2:00
5. You've Lost That Loving Feeling 4:34
6. Polk Salad Annie 4:00
7. What Now My Love 3:19
8. Fever 3:13
9. Love Me 2:14
10. Blue Suede Shoes 1:07
11. One Night 1:31
12. All Shook Up 1:01
13. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 1:47
14. Heartbreak Hotel 1:44
15. Hound Dog 2:28
16. Love Me Tender 3:01
17. Suspicious Minds 4:38
18. Introductions 1:44
19. My Way 4:14
20. An American Trilogy 4:48
21. Can't Help Falling In Love 2:10

The Rehearsal

Recorded live on a cassette recorder at the Las Vegas Hilton August 4, 1972 rehearsal.

1. 1) You Don't Have To Say You Love Me 2:08
2. Until It's Time For You To Go 4:19
3. You've Lost That Loving Feeling 4:28
4. Burning Love 4:13
5. What Now My Love (version 1) 3:25
6. What Now My Love (version 2) 4:37
7. My Babe 3:37
8. For The Good Times 3:20
9. True Love Travels On A Gravel Road 3:46
10. Fever 4:54
11. Blueberry Hill 1:46
12. Little Sister : incomplete 2:34
13. I'll Remember You 4:00
14. An American Trilogy 4:40
15. Something 3:57
16. Faded Love 3:58
17. You Gave Me A Mountain 3:36
18. I'm Leavin' 3:33
19. My Way (version 1) 5:38
20. My Way (version 2) 4:42

Buy 3000 South Paradise Road in the 2 disc 7" Classic Album format
Buy Back In Memphis 2 CD set in the Classic Album series

South Paradise Road : FTD 2 CD Special Edition [7" Classic Album Presentation]