Review by Piers Beagley - Elvis Information Network
I Found My Thrill presents Elvis fans with their first ever look at his January 1974 Las Vegas season.
Elvis’ final 1973 season ended with the emotional roller-coaster released by FTD on Closing Night where he dared say on stage "To hell with the Hilton Hotel, and screw the showroom too." His previous contract with The Hilton had ended and Elvis had fired the Colonel as his manager. This could have been a new start but instead Elvis and the Colonel patched things up and a new Hilton contract was signed. With Parker playing them off against rumoured offers from the MGM Grand, Elvis’ new contract was for shorter two week seasons, twice a year and Elvis would receive $300,000 for each season, plus perks.
After the hard work of 1973, Elvis had spent a deserved break of five months from performances relaxing, playing music and working hard at his Karate skills, as well as spending time with the ever-reliable Linda Thompson. However, it was on this tour that Elvis met his new major love-interest, Sheila Ryan.
So here Elvis was, in January 1974, back on the Hilton stage and at the start of what we all know would be an extraordinary year. There would be no studio recordings at all but an incredible 156 concerts instead. There would be Elvis’ attempted reinvention of the opening show on August 19 1974, the roller-coaster of the Desert Storm closing show, along with the desperation of the September College Park concerts. There would also be the excellent RCA recorded Memphis live concert.
The only real glimpse hard-core fans have had into this Elvis January season has been the sub-standard audience recordings, fascinating if only for historical purposes. This season was well received and it was here that Elvis added the new songs 'Help Me', 'Spanish Eyes' and 'Let Me Be There' to his set-list. Not only that but 'You've Lost That Lovin’ Feelin' was back after a two- year hiatus, and Elvis even started working on that old 'Polk Salad Annie' again, having left it off the set-list for the whole of 1973! This January season was also the first time that Duke Bardwell was playing in the band.
For Elvis aficionados this new FTD is an important release, since it features an Elvis Las Vegas season that has never been properly explored before.
Starting from Elvis’ theme through to the final showroom announcements I Found My Thrill presents us with the complete concert, along with four very exciting bonus tracks. Elvis is in a really happy mood, performs some fabulously rare songs and sounds refreshed and re-energised. With the best versions of ‘My Baby Left Me’ and ‘Tryin' To Get To You’ ever released, along with the fantastic ‘I Found My Thrill’ medley, this is a first-rate release.
Only a couple of soundboard recordings exist at all from this season and we know that a lot of work had to be done to upgrade the audio quality of the original cassette. Bearing this in mind, I was pretty impressed with the audio quality. Comparing it to other releases, it is a much warmer/richer mix than FTD’s It’s Midnight which does sound far more “cassette like” and there is a much better balance between the orchestra and band here which really benefits songs like ‘Spanish Eyes’. It isn’t a reel-to-reel tape however, so doesn’t have that full-bass feel of Closing Night. Compared to the much-praised Madison release One Night Only! again the orchestra and band mix is better here, (i.e. on ‘Lovin’ Feelin’, ‘Trilogy’ etc.), although the peak-distortion (and particularly with J.D. Sumner’s microphone) is much more of a problem.
So far it has been a great year for FTD releases and I Found My Thrill sits very nicely next to the excellent FTD Southern Nights which had a great track selection and also some spots of poor audio. Not only that, but the ‘I Found My Thrill’ medley shows for the first time how FTD can cleverly present us with those spread out one-liners that Elvis used to throw into his shows at random.
The cover with Art Direction credited to Ernst and Roger is a stylish design with photos including a nice one of Elvis with Sheila Ryan, help set the mood of the season.
As Elvis fans we know all these songs but it is fascinating to note how much Elvis did alter his set-lists. There were some dramatic changes between the end of 1973 (Closing Night), the start of 1974 and again in August 1974 (It’s Midnight).
The Concert
After the compulsory build-up of ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’, the band kicks in with ‘C.C. Rider’ with Elvis sounding energetic and happy to be back on stage. This was only his second concert of this hard, full-on touring year. He punches out, "Oh see, C C Rider" and you know he’s full of energy and hasn’t just got out of bed!
Elvis sounds a little hyped up when he says, "This suit’s driving me crazy, man. Mirrors everywhere!" and you can tell that this is not going to be a lazy laid-back show. Even though Elvis is buzzing he says, "It’s hard to get started folks" but disproves this by immediately slamming into ‘I Got A Woman’ /‘Amen’. Here you can begin to notice the peak distortion on the original cassette at the end of ‘Amen’ when the loudness overloads the tape but it isn’t over-annoying. (I found Summer Festival far worse.)
Elvis says, "Welcome to the show, we hope you enjoy it. Hope the mirrors don’t drive you crazy! So, ahh, anyway.." and energetically he’s singing a good ‘Love Me’ including the nice touch of "Don’t get jealous" to a girl in the crowd!
With no introduction (funny as this was a brand new song) Elvis launches into ‘Let Me Be There’. This is the first officially released version of ‘Let Me Be There’ and only the second time Elvis sang it in concert. Obviously enjoying it, Elvis takes it at a slower tempo than later versions and it has some excellent guitar work from James Burton. In these very early versions Elvis does a cute growl before going into the chorus (instead of singing "’I said a....’ let me be there") - listen out @ 0:34 and 01:40. From now on ‘Let Me Be There’ would become a staple of Elvis’ concerts.
‘You've Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ is back and it’s an excellent version with Elvis singing from his soul. Elvis hadn’t performed this since 1972 and would only sing it a couple more times in his career. For a soundboard recording the mix is extremely good with the orchestra and band, The Sweet Inspirations and Elvis all just perfectly placed. You can see why Ernst chose this concert for release. Very nice and a surprise that it still has such a great feel in 1974.
Next is the total rarity of Elvis performing ‘Sweet Caroline’ in 1974 and again Elvis approaches this with renewed interest. It’s a great version with Ronnie Tutt banging the hell out of the drums, and Elvis taking it at a fast tempo. There’s a funny moment @ 2.05 when Elvis heads to the verse while the band continues to play the chorus Elvis knows he’s messed it up and acknowledges it laughing as he sings, "Oh God!, I said warm, touching warm." At the end he throws in some karate moves and gives a lovely, "WHOO" saying, "I forgot completely what I was doing with that song!" This is only the third time Elvis has sung this since 1971 - and he would only perform it four more times after 1974.
The ‘Long Tall Sally Medley’ that Elvis started singing in 1973 is also done with more enthusiasm than he showed at the end of 1973. Comedian Marty Allen is in the audience so Elvis includes, "I saw Marty Allen with bald-headed Sally".
A fine ‘Fever’ follows and Elvis enjoys the groove singing, "She said, Daddy oh don’t you dare. He gives me blemishes..".
It is great to have ‘Polk Salad Annie’ back and Elvis feels the same saying, "Oh Lord" during the bass intro! Enthusiastic you can feel Elvis throwing some karate moves and working up a sweat. It’s a good mix with a good prominence from Glen Hardin’s piano.
At this point in the show Elvis introduces his new vocal band and has them sing ‘Killing Me Softly’ while he recovers from his karate work-out. Elvis says, "They’ve been with me about five months and they are really fantastic singers, and I found them in Nashville working in an upholstery shop. I call them Voice". FTD has cleverly edited out their solo song ‘Killing Me Softly’ at this point for which I have no complaints at all.
Having announced Sherrill Nielsen, Elvis says, "Sherill, you want to do a song with me?" to introduce their duet of ‘Spanish Eyes’. This is a beautiful version, a lovely balanced mix, a great improvement on the It’s Midnight version and another great addition.
A fast tempo ‘Suspicious Minds’ is a great version with Elvis sounding enthusiastic for 1974 and obviously enjoying it. The soliloquy is excellent with Elvis singing, "Oh, let our love survive, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, dry the tears from your eyes". A great mix, nice piano work, and some obvious karate action make this a surprising highlight.
The ‘Introductions’ is straight forward, however there is a real treat here when Elvis announces comedian Marty Allen and for him sings, "Hey, did you happen to see the most beautiful girl in the world". In just one line Elvis’ voice and soul makes it sound very sincere and you know that the song would have made a great addition to his legacy. Elvis tells the audience, "I tell you what, I'm gonna' learn the song and do it all for you sometime. 'Cos Charlie Rich needs the money!!"- What a real shame that he never did.
A powerful ‘I Can't Stop Loving You’ follows before another highlight, Elvis singing ‘Help Me’ live for only the second time.
‘Help Me’ is introduced with Elvis saying, "This is a song we’re going to put out real soon as a single". The song is taken at a slightly faster tempo than usual and you can hear the arrangement for the string-section here that was almost absent from the Live In Memphis release. This early version is interesting for having a much lighter feel than when Elvis performed it later on when more and more it began to sound like a genuine plea for help.
‘An American Trilogy’ - This is a song that always benefited from the hugeness and magnificence of performing it in a large arena, i.e. Hampton, Memphis, Hawaii. But here Elvis is also truly impassioned and puts his souls into the song, perhaps because it was only his second concert of the year.
At the finale, the Vegas audience explodes with appreciation which Elvis humbly acknowledges.
Elvis spontaneously decides to do his new song 'Let Me Be There' for a second time that night saying, "I’d like to do a song we did earlier in the show right here. Because we all like to sing it, and we hope you like it too". Unfortunately there is more J.D. Sumner microphone overload on the tape here, but that’s more than made up for by hearing Elvis’ genuine happiness at this point in 1974.
With an extremely quick "Thank you. You’re a good audience" Elvis heads on home with ‘Can't Help Falling In Love’.
This time we also get the outro and the final announcement of "Buy your Elvis Presley souvenirs in the Hotel Lobby Booth, this benefits the Home of the Good Shepherd in Las Vegas." It is a nice final touch and it would have been a great night to be at the Hilton because Wilson Pickett and Chubby Checker were also performing in the Casino lounge!
But perhaps the best is left for last with the four fabulous “Bonus Tracks”
‘My Baby Left Me’ from the January 28 midnight show is great! Elvis is having fun and in, "The voice I did it in fifteen years ago" he starts trying a high imitation of himself. This has a very cool, funky-blues swagger to it, with some excellent chickin'-pickin' guitar work and isn’t rushed like the Memphis Live version. Although well-known because it was featured on his Live In Memphis ‘74 LP, Elvis would in fact perform this song less than ten times in his whole seventies’ career. Play loud and play it again.
‘Tryin' To Get To You’ from the same midnight show is another real treat. Elvis agrees noting, "This is one of my favourite songs I recorded 2,500 years ago" Done in a very slow sensual groove with boogie-piano, you haven't heard it like this before. Very, very Fats Domino. While this would become a staple of his concerts this is a very early (second?) attempt. Almost a rehearsal, Elvis spontaneously hands out instructions to the band, "Go to the bridge again!". Listen out @ 1:15 to The Sweet Inspirations cheering Elvis on. Maybe the best, or certainly the most interesting, live version ever!
‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ - Elvis, who had just started dating Sheila Ryan says "This is for Sheila". While this is not in as good quality as the others (cassette hiss) it is a great inclusion, as it is a very sincere and lovely version. It also includes the extra "The first time ever I lay with you" verse. Taken at a gentler tempo than the single, Elvis always put more soul into this song when performed live and this is no exception. A song that Elvis rarely performed in 1974, this is only the second live version ever released officially.
'I Found My Thrill' Medley - ‘Blueberry Hill’/’I Can't Stop Loving You’. The cover notes that this audience-recorded medley has been "assembled to show the good humoured nature of Elvis’ concerts" and it is fantastic. Starting with Elvis teasing the crowd with "Well, well well," he sings thirty seconds of, ‘When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again’ (February 9) before he goes into some great one-liners. These include ''Does your chewing Gum lose its flavour on the bed-post overnight'' and ''Blue Monday and my head is bad'' is in there too! Ernst Jørgensen and audio restorer Jean-Marc Juilland have done a brilliant job compiling this clever medley, throwing in an amazing mix of Elvis fun. Including a few ‘Blueberry Hill’s - "My scarf turns blue" and "My nose turned blue" lines, combining it with the "On Mockingbird Hill" version and "On Gooney-Bird Hill" too. Yes, of course it isn’t real, but it combines all those crazy lines that have been spread over several different audience-recordings and in fine quality too. Best of all, it does show how FTD can present all these hidden rarities to collectors in the future. It’s five and a half minutes of sheer Elvis fun. More Please!
Verdict
Did Elvis really sing "Does your chewing Gum lose its flavour on the bed-post overnight?" Yes he did, and this concert which explores this unknown early 1974 Vegas season is a superb find and a great release from FTD. The set-list is a fascinating selection for 1974 and Elvis is inspired and energetic, especially for a Vegas dinner show. Best of all the bonus tracks are truly sensational! FTD is spoiling us this year. Don’t miss out on this one.
