Review by Geoffrey McDonnell
This new FTD “soundboard” mainly features a previously unheard show from Lakeland, Florida April 27 1975, plus bonus songs from the early part of the same tour. The idea of this release is a good one, because it not only gives us most of a completely unheard show but also a good selection of interesting bonus songs to fill up the disc to seventy -one minutes.
The packaging - in large size 7” Classic Album format - and twelve-page booklet are very well done, featuring actual photos from the shows themselves taken by Keith Alverson. As Ernst Jørgensen noted, Keith Alverson managed to take some of the best concert photos of Elvis from this period.
Newspaper reviews included in the booklet note that Elvis was pale and lacklustre with his Lakeland show performances, but that he got better each show.
Soundboards from the start of this tour all have the same inherent problem, a heavy bias towards the piano! In this FTD there is also a strong J.D. Sumner vocal presence too - which actually is far more pleasant listening than too much Charlie Hodge and as Elvis mentions, he read an article in the paper all about J.D. (from Lakeland) it seems appropriate.
However, the different sound mix can be of interest as we have several quality soundboards already from Elvis’ May 1975 concerts with a full-mix and similar set-list. This, at least, offers something different. It is, for instance, a less rocking compilation compared to Southern Nights and with a gentler mix. It is mastered by Jan Eliasson from the original, somewhat sub-standard, soundboard tapes.
Some of the tracks sound almost a capella with only piano and backing-vocalists as accompaniment, along with some bass. There is very little drums or orchestra in the mix.
It is a little disappointing that soundboards from this tour start with ‘Love Me’ and ‘If You Love Me (Let Me Know)’ and miss out on 'C.C. Rider' and 'I Got A Woman’/‘Amen'.
The CD starts with Elvis announcing “Good evening, my name is Wayne Newton” and it is obvious that he is in good humour. You can hear laughter in his voice during ‘Love Me’ - and the first two songs are both routine and passable, although the mix does help showing that Elvis’ voice hasn’t truly warmed up yet.
Next, ‘Love Me Tender’ is a version without the joke false start - typical in the June ‘75 tour - followed by ’(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear‘/’Don’t Be Cruel’ which are again the “usual” throwaway versions.
At this point the concert picks up a notch as now it sounds like Elvis is singing the songs he is interested in, rather than the usual crowd-pleasers.
“A new song we had out about a year ago” Elvis says before ‘Help Me’. This is a reasonable version, made all that more interesting with the different mix. When Elvis sings, “Let me see, Lord let me see, Just where I fit into your master-plan” it sounds all that more emotional being almost a capella with only piano and The Stamps for accompaniment.
Elvis’ little comments between songs show him in good self-deprecating humour and having fun with fans. Noticeable at this show is his good, solid performance of songs, and it is only a ‘joke’ version of ‘Why Me Lord’ where he makes fun with J.D., that is not taken seriously.
‘Burning Love’ is ok but here the lack of drums doesn’t help - although Elvis pushes the songs with a longer outro - and then they don’t seem to know when to end the song. It sounds weird!
The 'Introductions' again make a special mention of J.D. Sumner coming from Lakeland and it’s a nice genuine moment. Also worthy here is Jerry Scheff’s bluesy bass solo - rather nice, thanks!
After the introductions and band solos ‘My Boy’ is a nice version here and for once not overblown and featuring genuine tender sadness in this well performed ballad. The lack of orchestra in the mix here is also a plus.
‘T-R-O-U-B-L-E’ “A new record, been out four or five days” is a good version, as Elvis gets to work out on his new single. Beforehand Elvis jokes, “Give me some water Charlie before we get on this horse!” and knowing the lyrical challenge, “Let me stumble through this song first!”
Always a piano-driven tune, the high piano bias of the mix seems to fit the song lyrics better. You can clearly hear Elvis’ enjoyment, "Mercy, look what just walked through that door”, but once again Elvis pushes along the “hey, hey” finale and they don’t know how or when to end the song!
‘I’ll Remember You’ is also a decent version, and again benefits from the lighter mix. There are points again where Elvis is almost singing alone to the piano. It sounds more like an intimate club performance rather than a big arena show. Delightful.
A fun ‘Let Me Be There’ follows before ‘Why Me Lord’ - "Since this is J.D’s hometown..” - which is a pure laugh and probably the best recording of J.D’s amazing deep bass voice!
Afterwards ‘Hound Dog’ is the usual throwaway version, however ‘An American Trilogy’ that follows is certainly THE concert highlight.
The mix for ‘An American Trilogy’ is piano-focused and very different, with less orchestra, and with the flute solo is hardly audible. Elvis for once forgets to say “Sing it fellas” but what a solid / decent version with no goofing around (I always dread Elvis is going to ruin another version by substituting "Dixieland" with ''Disneyland" - yuck!) - probably the best version of this tour, apart from Atlanta May 2 1975.
The crowd seem to give Elvis a standing ovation afterwards and it is amazing to hear! Apparently this song was also THE highlight from the afternoon show the same day too. Elvis is notably moved by the reaction, “It makes it all worthwhile,” he tells the crowd.
Wisely, after such a high moment, Elvis closes with ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ and it’s a final goodnight.
Overall this is a well sung show in better than I expected sound (from previous online reactions I had read) and a very enjoyable “brand new show” to listen to.
After this we are treated to eight bonus songs to complete this look at Elvis in April 1975
Some of these bonus tracks have come out before on a Jacksonville bootleg of April 25 1975 (A Damn Fine Show) but compared to the previous tracks ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’, ‘Big Boss Man’, ‘It’s Midnight’ and ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ all sound slightly more thin in sound. The mix is again piano-biased and now there is also a background buzz in the mix. Unfortunately, they are mainly only average performances. Elvis’ voice at the start of ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’ is particularly weak, which is a shame as he never performed this song again after 1975. This is nothing like the power of his earlier ‘70s performances, and the audio mix doesn’t help.
‘It Midnight’, however, does benefit from having less orchestra in the mix, sounding more intimate than usual. Having performed this song regularly since August 1974, Elvis would surprisingly only perform this song a handful times more in his career.
‘Big Boss Man’ is more interesting for being the piano-based mix and Elvis does at least sound enthusiastic noting, “Woo Lord! Play it son,” during the solo.
Two brand new songs feature on this FTD from the end of the same Jacksonville show and interestingly the performances of ‘That’s All Right’ and ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ are with a bit more gusto.
On ‘That’s All Right’ Elvis sounds enthused at last, perhaps due to the chance to get away from his regular set list. This was the first time Elvis had performed the song since October 1974 - and he laps it up. At last James Burton’s guitar is in the mix and Elvis sings along during the solo. Elvis only performed this classic number a handful of times in both 1974 and 1975 before re-introducing it to his regular set-list in 1976.
‘Heartbreak Hotel’ this was only Elvis’ fifth performance of this song this year and Elvis approaches it with more enthusiasm.
The final two tracks have previously been released on a bootleg from the end section of the Lakeland April 28 1975 show, but both ‘Hawaiian Wedding Song’ and ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’ sound better here and are also acceptable and enjoyable performances.
Overall Verdict
FTD have given us twenty-five tracks from the beginning of the April tour in a cohesive and well sung show, which I have enjoyed playing several times already because Elvis sounds together on stage and is putting out a decent / solid performance.
‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’ for example, is vastly superior to Elvis’ later 1976 performances! This is a well-chosen release which, despite being an unbalanced sound recording, is a pleasure to listen to and includes a selection of rarer performances.
Combined with the larger seven-inch, well- assembled booklet, the package is a quality look at Elvis’ April 1975 performances.
Well done FTD. More content like this please!
