Review by Piers Beagley & Geoffrey McDonnell
Following on from the 1976 double Elvis in Alabama: The Last Double Date, the latest soundboard release by FTD is Elvis: The West Coast Tour ‘76.
This double 1976 live performance FTD was released in early March, delayed slightly by the addition of five new bonus tracks from the same tour, three from Eugene on November 25, and two from Eugene on November 27 1976.
By late November 1976, Elvis had become involved with his new love, Ginger Alden, who was only twenty-years old. As fans are well aware, Elvis’ final 1976 tour of December is well known for having the most energetic and exciting concerts from this otherwise tiring and lacklustre year. However, back in November, Elvis was already more energised, losing weight and excited to be with Ginger. You can glimpse some of Elvis’ new found happiness in these concerts it would be due to Ginger being in the audience, and seeing Elvis in action for her second and third time since she first caught his Memphis show back on July 5.
The double digi-pack features five photos, four from Anaheim, November 30 1976, in his Indian Feather jumpsuit and one from San Francisco, wearing his Blue Rainbow jumpsuit a day earlier. There are no liner notes, apart from track listings on the back cover. So it is minimalistic packaging but, after all, it’s the content that matters. Also, neither show is complete - both are missing ‘2001’ and the opening vamp.
Back in 1975, as Glen Hardin was threatening to leave the TCB band, some soundboards were recorded as binaural with solo piano on one track. This meant that future pianists could easily rehearse the show by listening to these tapes. By November 1976, pianist Tony Brown had been with the group for eight months and would stay with Elvis’ band until the final concert, yet for some reason these concerts were also recorded “split-track” with solo piano. FTD audio engineer, Jean-Marc Juilland, has mixed the concerts to stereo. However, the only stereo component is still the piano and so it does dominate the mix.
Disc 1: San Francisco - November 29 1976
Immediately, you will notice the sound for the San Francisco show is left channel heavy - with slight distortion present at times. However, in general, taken from reel-to-reel tapes, they are good quality with good bass sound, and a good mix of the orchestra, making them a pleasure to listen to.
Press reviews of this show were rather harsh, yet in some videos you can see that Elvis looks quite ok performing the ‘Mystery Train’/’Tiger Man’ medley - which is, in fact, missing from this end of the incompletely recorded concert.
LA Times Journalist, Robert Hillburn, however, said he noticed a slimmer Elvis since he saw him in April in Long Beach:
“Not only did the weight loss make Presley more animated on stage - there was even a rare these days karate kick during ‘Polk Salad Annie’ - but it also enabled him, crucially, to better fulfil visually the requirements associated with the celebration of his past that is very much at the heart of his concerts.”
During the opening numbers, I got my ears to adjust to the sound and found that I am enjoying this mix. Also some reviewers said Elvis didn’t move around much - well, if they last saw him in this venue in November 1970, then I would agree!
There is a bit of distortion present during the opening number, as they sort out the sound levels, but Elvis does sound pretty all right and more energetic on ‘C.C. Rider’ than on earlier performances in 1976. The set-list is all too familiar though and, yes, J.D. Sumner does repeat the low-flying bomber routine both nights.
Elvis had played San Francisco the previous night also at Cow Palace, holding over fourteen thousand adoring fans. ‘Love Me’ is ok before Elvis gets concerned about kids hurting themselves rushing forward in the audience, “The only thing we are concerned about is you falling down and getting hurt, have a good time but just be careful.”
Whilst both shows are pretty much identical up until ‘Bridge’, songs such as ‘It’s Now Or Never’ (luckily with no Sherrill Nielsen solo), ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ and even ‘Fever’, are nicely performed.
I can also imagine that having Elvis singing his “standards” (introduced as “some of my old and established songs”) as less than exciting for regular fans present - although some band members found Elvis’ description hilarious!
“Last night we performed ‘Jailhouse Rock’, so tonight let’s do ‘Blue Suede Shoes’”, Elvis comments before the audience-pleasing number. The song sounds very different - being piano led - rather than guitar driven!
‘And I Love You So’ was a regular on the set-list but tonight’s version is somewhat spoilt by intense fan screams which caused Elvis to get distracted mid-verse.
‘Fever’ seems ok though, and afterwards Elvis performs ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ for only the second time this year (since May 6). He would perform it only three times in the whole of 1976 and has to ask for the lyrics as well as checking first that the band know it.
“We haven’t rehearsed this so if we make some mistakes, you know… Take it from the top, I’ll ad-lib!”
With Elvis singing delicately a capella, with Tony Brown on solo piano for the first section, it is a nice addition, although not outstanding as it has some bad peak distortion towards the ending. The audience go crazy though, which Elvis acknowledges.
The Introductions running for sixteen minutes are lengthy as always. It does, however, amuse me when we get to David Briggs’ and his instrumental as it sounds quite similar to incidental music in the TV series The Streets Of San Francisco. Similarly, ‘Love Letters’ is ok, as is ‘Early Mornin‘ Rain’. The rest of the introductions, however, are highly boring and tedious.
“Our latest record is called ‘Hurt’, so I’d like to ‘Hurt’ for you” Elvis announces, and it is not bad tonight with a slightly longer and “up higher” ending - but with no reprise. It was the show's performance piece - and another crowd pleaser.
The all too routine ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ follow, before the tape runs out. ‘Mystery Train’/’Tiger Man’, ‘Hawaiian Wedding Song’ and ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ are all missing.
The big pleasure, however, is in having five great quality sounding “bonus songs” from two shows recorded at Eugene, Oregon, earlier in the month (November 25 and 27).
‘It’s Now Or Never’ is delightfully sung and ‘America’ is sincere and ok. Elvis was performing ‘America’ at every show earlier in the year, but started leaving it out on this November tour.
‘Steamroller Blues’ - only performed once on this short tour - is of course another highlight and is a strong version for 1976 with Elvis really digging into the band solos.
‘Love Me Tender’, again only performed once on this short tour, just seems a throw-away addition, but there is a strong finish with the medley of ‘Mystery Train’/’Tiger Man’ (missing from the end of the concert on November 29). The sound quality for the bonus tracks is very good.
Overall, Elvis' show at Cow Palace comes across as a passable show in great sound - and with nice bonus tracks.
As FTD have released what they had from November 29, it nicely complements what the bootleggers released as the partial November 28 Recorded Live at Cow Palace show in 1997, and again in 2011, where Elvis looks fine and is enjoying himself.
Disc 2: Anaheim - November 30 1976
Anaheim was the closing concert of this short seven-date tour. As soon as the performance starts, straight away it is quite an up-beat and fast ‘C.C. Rider’ with a very noticeable strong piano sound in the left channel, which is more annoying than the overall better sounding San Francisco show - although the audio quality is very fine here and there’s no peak distortion tonight.
‘I Got A Woman’ features yet more annoying piano and, of course, Elvis insists J.D. does his ending twice. Thankfully tonight’s is distortion free, though.
A routine ‘Love Me’ features more “worst ever” piano before ‘If You Love Me (Let Me Know)’. Elvis jokes: “Let me know or, if you don’t, then forget it”.
By the time we get into ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ I get the impression a sluggish sounding Elvis has now woken up and the concert continues with a not too bad version of ‘Jailhouse Rock’ (at least for ‘76). ‘It’s Now Or Never’ receives a nice intro and is a touching version - and by now the Piano seems better in the overall mix.
The required “oldies” - ‘All Shook Up’ and ‘(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear’ / ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ are passable, scarf-throwing fare.
‘And I Love You So’ is a very nice, sincere version tonight, and at the end Elvis notes, “Oh yeah”, while ‘Fever’ really shows up Scheff’s Bass in the mix. Also Elvis injects the amusing lyric change “when her daddy tried to milk him”. It’s not a bad version.
Elvis next selects ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ again, noting, “I’m going to look at you for the words, Ok?” and performed for the second time here since May 6 1976. There is something interesting about hearing how Elvis performs this classic 1970 song later in his career, and tonight it is a very passable version - as well as being a change from singing ‘America’. However, the start is interesting since it is affected and delayed by a female fan running into Elvis across the stage.
This means Tony Brown has to keep repeating the piano intro until everything is sorted out, and also it causes Elvis to chuckle on the very first line. Annoyingly, Elvis also stops the song halfway through himself, claiming he mistakenly caused a microphone pop - as if his adoring fans would care! This is a real pity as otherwise there are some nice asides / falsetto and it is a lovely gentle song of love performed here tonight.
Elvis would only perform ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ a handful more times in his career, including his final concert. The best version of the year, however, was his fourth attempt in Las Vegas on Opening Night December 2 1976.
Tonight another bonus for the crowd was the addition of some ‘Polk Salad Annie’, only performed twice this short tour, which lacks any bite compared to his 1970 versions, but gets a good workout towards the extended ending, and was certainly a crowd-pleaser. (though there is some unfortunate tape-damage at the end).
As always, the Introductions are the long, boring fifteen-minute 1976 ones with only a bit of interest, like when Elvis introduces Ed Enoch as having “a powerful voice and a weak mind”!
The tape cuts before the end of ‘Early Mornin’ Rain‘ and starts again for ‘What’d I Say’. Next is ‘Johnny B. Goode’ and the drum solo suffers an amplifier “buzz” and by the time we get to David Briggs he is off on his Streets Of San Francisco-styled electric keyboard solo.
‘Love Letters’, performed next, is again quite nice before Marty Harrell is introduced as conducting the Joe Guercio Orchestra.
FTD collectors may remember that ‘School Days’, ‘Hurt’, ‘Hawaiian Wedding Song’, ‘Blue Christmas’ and ‘That's All Right’ were all dated incorrectly (at the time the tape was noted as being Dayton in October) on the FTD A Minnesota Moment released some six years ago. Back then, a mastering error resulted in 'Hawaiian Wedding Song', 'Blue Christmas' and 'That's All Right' each having a thin, out-of-phase image. Thankfully with this release, now the sound is consistent throughout the Anaheim show.
‘Hurt’ again has a very lengthy and surprisingly good power-ending - but with no reprise - before we get a complete throw-away version of ‘Hound Dog’.
However, ‘Hawaiian Wedding Song’ is beautifully sung though the ending seems to fade away.
After Elvis has asked for the lights to be brought up and just as he is preparing to perform ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’, a fan requests ‘Blue Christmas’. He does, and he sings it well. Elvis says he’s going to play guitar, "Is the guitar in tune?" There’s a lovely point where Elvis says in a deep voice and it all has a nice slow country feel to it.
Another treat is ‘That’s All Right’ which sounds fine for 1976 although perhaps taken too fast a tempo. Elvis, however, sounds pumped-up as he kicks the band along, "Walk on, Walk on.." (incidentally, someone in the audience suggested the movie song ‘Lonesome Cowboy’! Elvis reacts with shock and the band even begins playing a few bars of the song!)
Elvis then notes, “All kidding aside, you’ve been a pleasure to work for and anytime you want us back just let us know and we’ll come back here. Until we meet again..” As we know, Elvis would never get the chance to return to the West Coast.
‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ seems ok tonight and then it’s a full two-minute-thirty of closing vamp and final announcements featuring Jerry Scheff playing the hell out of his bass.
Overall this closing show of the tour was a good solid show and quite enjoyable throughout. It was not like the usual short summer shows of 1976, featuring only ‘Hurt’, ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ after the introductions. Instead, this final show of the tour featured the additional ‘Polk Salad Annie’ before the introductions, plus another three songs afterwards, running a full seventy-six minutes, even with the ‘2001’ theme tune missing.
Overall Verdict
We get a double-pack for the price of a single CD, which offers a fine representation to cover this period of 1976. It’s a welcome release even if it includes a few tracks that have already been released before - Thanks once again to the team at FTD.
As there are no FTD recordings from Elvis’ December 1976 shows in Las Vegas, it is nice to get some recordings in stereo / binaural from the last tour, just before Elvis kicked off his final Vegas season.
