Review by Andy Urias - Elvis In Norway
When it comes to material from 1974-1977, I never get my hopes up or have too high expectations. There is no question that Elvis had some brilliant moments vocally during his last few years on stage, but there were also a lot of very poor performances during this time as well. When FTD announced that they were releasing a live soundboard from 1975, I had mixed feelings. A show from 1969 or 1972 would have been great, or a show from 1977 could have been more fascinating. However, I figured that a live concert from Elvis is worth checking out regardless of my initial lack of enthusiasm or concerns over the strength of certain material and performances. What a great concert Dixieland Rocks turns out to be.
Although every bit of essential and desirable information about the CD is absent (it would be at least nice to have the band credits), the artwork is quite nice. Some of the mock-up cover-art that was floating around the Internet prior to the release of the actual CD artwork was very nice, but what was eventually used on this CD is still attractive.
The show is from the Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro on May 6 1975, and the few bonus tracks are from the same location, but recorded at the following night’s performance.
Compared to the last soundboard released by BMG - Tucson '76, Dixieland Rocks immediately is off to a better start with the inclusion of 'Also Sprach Zarathustra'. The sound is much better on this disc than the Tucson show as well (ignoring that fact that the bass seems to be way up in the mix). In addition to the sound, Elvis is in much better form. Aside from throwing away his ‘50s hits ('Love Me', 'All Shook Up' and '(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear’/’Don't Be Cruel'), Elvis seems pretty focused throughout this concert.
Although I'm not a huge fan of 'If You Love Me (Let Me Know)', the version on this CD is as strong as I've heard. 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me', 'The Wonder Of You', 'My Boy', 'I'll Remember You', 'T-R-O-U-B-L-E' and 'An American Trilogy' are also well performed. The highlight of the show is a powerful version of 'Polk Salad Annie' that has some great lead guitar and bass interplay. And for once, I can honestly say that the band intros segment is enjoyable. The segment of 'Johnny B. Goode' really rocks, even though Elvis isn't completely comfortable with the lyrics, and none of the solos are too excessive except for maybe the bass solo, which Elvis even jokingly notes by saying it was five minutes too long...
I don't have a big problem with the inclusion of the material from May 7. BMG had to finish off the concert as the last few numbers were missing or damaged, and fortunately they had a soundboard in the same sound quality from the next night and were able to insert the original song titles into their proper sequencing within this show. It may have made more sense for them to just insert the final two tracks of the CD ('Bridge Over Troubled Water' and 'Love Me Tender') into the actual show before the usual 'Can't Help Falling In Love' closer if adding tracks to this CD was so important. At the same time, there are a few bootlegs out in the market where additional bonus material is added to the CD after the end of a show. And since FTD is essentially BMG's bootleg label its not like they are completely out of line for doing this.
Although the last two tracks of the concert (’Can’t Help Falling In Love’ and the ‘Closing Vamp’) are listed as being from May 7, they aren’t - they are actually from the May 6 concert.
'Bridge Over Troubled Water' is well performed while 'Love Me Tender' has a careless execution, but shows some playful interaction between Elvis and the audience. Editing and tampering with the sequencing of recorded concerts is a delicate matter, but since a lot of Elvis' shows that are recorded on soundboards are slightly incomplete, it is understandable why BMG needs to add material. However, there is always the possibility that Ernst Jørgensen has done even more edits to the content of Dixieland Rocks, so hopefully a great song hasn't been cut from the original set list of the concert.
Verdict
FTD is off to a solid, but slow start in regards to releasing live shows. Tucson '76, One Night In Vegas and Dixieland Rocks are the first three concert CDs in hopefully a long list. Tucson '76 was essentially released to showcase a one time only performance of 'Danny Boy' and One Night In Vegas is a display of Elvis truly in his prime. Dixieland Rocks is an above average concert, if not a strong concert from 1975. This concert isn't a groundbreaking event or a highlight of his career. But it clearly shows that on this particular night, Elvis was enjoying himself and, more importantly, his voice was strong. To fully gauge the spectrum of Elvis' live career, it is an important addition to any catalogue.
