ELVIS - TODAY @50

Elvis Presley's last visit to a recording studio was in March 1975 where he recorded tracks that would find a release on the Elvis Today album. It is fifty years since these sessions and in this article I will be looking back at the recording sessions, the original album and single releases, chart success and the subsequent releases that have featured outtakes.

His last studio sessions were back in December 1973 at Stax in Memphis and the only recordings made during 1974 were the live recordings in Memphis and RCA were pressuring him for material for a new album and singles.

The RCA Studios on 6363 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood were booked from 10 March through to the 12 March. Elvis had previously worked there back in 1972 when he recorded material including Burning Love, Always On My Mind, Separate Ways, Fool and It's A Matter Of Time. It seemed the ideal choice to record there as he would also be rehearsing for his upcoming Las Vegas appearances.

At the 1972 sessions Elvis worked with his road band... James Burton (lead guitar), John Wilkinson (rhythm guitar), Emory Gordy (bass), Ronnie Tutt (drums) and Glen Hardin (piano), Charlie Hodge (guitar) and backing vocalists J. D. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet.

Backing him on the 1975 sessions were the same musicians except for Duke Bardwell who replaced Emory Gordy on bass. Bardwell joined Elvis in January 1974 and remained until April 1975 when Jerry Scheff returned. He can be heard on the Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis, but there seemed to be a personality clash between Elvis and Bardwell and, as we shall see, his playing can only be heard on one of the tracks on the Today album.

J. D. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet were also missing for these sessions and in their place were the vocal group that Elvis had put together, Voice, whose members were Donnie Sumner, Sherrill Nielsen, Tim Baty and Tommy Hensley.

The first day of recording, which were overseen by Felton Jarvis, started at 9pm on the 10 March and ran through to 7am the following morning and the first song recorded was Fairytale. Over the next few hours they worked on three more songs, Green, Green, Grass Of Home, I Can Help and And I Love You So.

The next night a 9pm start resulted in four more masters completed by the the following morning, Susan When She Tried, T-R-O-U-B-L-E, Woman Without Love and Shake A Hand. A break in the planned recordings saw the band kick off one of their warm-up routines on Tiger Man. Elvis immediately joined in, and fortunately engineer Rick Ruggieri hit the record button.

During this second day Elvis, on a whim, announced he wanted to record Country Bumpkin, a current number one hit for Cal Smith. It was a song which Jarvis couldn't understand Elvis wanting to record but sent out for a copy of the record so they could transcribe the lyrics. Fortunately, by the time Jarvis suggested they try the song Elvis was no longer interested and said, "Fuck the 'Country Bumkin'. I'm no country bumkin."

The final day of recording, once again starting at 9pm, produced only two masters, Bringing It Back and Pieces Of My Life. Notes on the session show that Greg Gordon, who had recently resigned as piano player with Voice, and his replacement Tony Brown both played on Bringing It Back.

The sessions were going well and Felton Jarvis had already contacted New York for more master numbers as he felt they could get more songs recorded. Unfortunately this was not to be. Brian Wilson was in another studio next door and he forced his way into the studio insisting on meeting Elvis. Never needing much of a distraction to stop recording this meeting of two music greats bought an abrupt end to the sessions.

Elvis and the band were really on fire during the sessions and not a single song took more than six takes to complete a satisfactory master. It is just a shame that the sessions fell apart as I am sure we would have had a few more great performances to enjoy.

Overdub sessions were held between 8-14 April at Quadrofonic Sound Studio in Nashville where additional guitar, fiddle, steel guitar, horns and strings were overdubbed. Female backing vocals were also added by Ginger Holladay, Mary Holladay, Lea Jane Berinati and Millie Kirkham.

It was also at these overdub sessions that Duke Bardwell's contribution to the recordings were erased, except for one track. Both Mike Leech and Norbert Putnam re-recorded all the bass parts after Elvis heard the first mix of the album and requested that Bardwell's bass parts be removed. The only song on which his bass can be heard is T-R-O-U-B-L-E which was released as a single before Elvis' request could be actioned. It is hard to comprehend why this happened, as when listening to the single there is nothing wrong with the bass playing and, as we shall see later, his original bass parts can be heard on all the original session mixes and outtakes that were released. At the time Bardwell had nothing but praise for Elvis' version commenting that, "...he was so good at that syncopated funky stuff."

Elvis Today (APL1-1039) was released on vinyl in May 1975 and was also available on cassette (APK1-1039), quadradisc (APD1-1039), Q8 (APT1-1039) and Stereo 8 (APS1-1039) formats.

Side One opens with the great rocker, T-R-O-U-B-L-E, a song written by Jerry Chesnut who took inspiration for the song from country music singer and pianist Little David Wilkins. While writing the song he thought of a woman walking through the door and causing trouble. The songs lyrics standout, not least for the idea to spell out some of the words, trouble, alone and looking which Chesnut realised actually rhymed when spelled out. A great opener on the album, a blistering performance from Elvis and, along with Burning Love and Promised Land, one of his best rock songs from the 1970s. 

Following the fast-tempo of the opening track Elvis slows things down with a beautiful and sincere cover of And I Love You So. Written by Don McLean, of American Pie and Vincent fame, it was first released on his 1970 debut album Tapestry. Three years later, in 1973, Perry Como took the song to number 3 in the UK charts where it remained for 35 weeks. Elvis would perform the song many times in his concerts from 1975 through to his final tour in June 1977.

Don Reid, original member and lead singer of country vocal group The Statler Brothers, wrote Susan When She Tried and they had recorded the song in May 1973 releasing it the following year as a single and on their album, Sons Of The Motherland. The identity of Susan has remained a mystery although it may have been someone that Reid knew. The song is similar in style to Jeannie C. Riley's Harper Valley P.T.A. with its name-checking of fictitious characters. A catchy song, with some great guitar playing by James Burton, that Elvis handles well resulting in an outstanding performance.

Woman Without Love follows and is the second song on the album written by Jerry Chesnut, it was first recorded back in 1968 by Bob Luman, best known for his 1960 novelty hit, Let's Talk About Living, and subsequently covered by Johnny Darrel and Brook Benton. Elvis turns in a reasonable performance but the lyrics haven't stood the test of time with the chauvinistic line, 'A man without love's only half of a man, but a woman is nothing at all.' Talking about this, Chesnut has commented, "This song is either loved or hated by women. Those that hate it do so because they resent hearing a man say a woman is nothing at all, under any circumstances." Fortunately he also stated that since writing the song he had changed the lyrics.

In 1953 gospel and rhythm & blues singer Faye Adams released the Joe Morris composition Shake A Hand which reached number one on the R&B chart and stayed there for ten weeks selling over a million copies. Morris was a bandleader who signed her to Herald Records and Shake A Hand was her first release on her new label. With its gospel feel it was an ideal choice for Elvis and he gives an outstanding performance which, for me, is one of the highlights on Today. The song closes side one of the album.

Opening side two is Pieces Of My Life, a poignant ballad written by Troy Seals in the mid-1960s and recorded in 1974 by Charlie Rich. It appeared on his 1974 album The Silver Fox and it is likely that this is where Elvis first heard the song. With it's lyrics telling of past choices, missed opportunities and remorse it was a song that appears to fit Elvis life at a time when he was facing personal and professional challenges. He turns in a heartfelt and emotionally charged performance and, of all the ballads featured on the album, this is the one that stands out.

Fairytale was a hit for The Pointer Sisters in 1974 and featured on their album That's A Plenty. Written by band members Anita and Bonnie Pointer and featuring a lead vocal by Anita, it is a break-up song that was written from her own personal experience. Another song well suited to Elvis and given a strong performance by him although at times he seems to struggle with the high notes and maybe should have taken it in a lower key. Like And I Love You So, it was a song that would feature regularly in Elvis' concerts and he would often introduce the song as being, "The story of my life."

Singer-songwriter Billy Swan is best known for his 1974 song I Can Help which became a crossover hit reaching the top spot on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Country Singles Charts. It was an ideal choice for Elvis to record and he stays faithful to the original, even including the slowed down, false ending. You can tell he is enjoying the song and you can here a laugh in his voice when singing the line, "If your child needs a daddy." Talking about Elvis' version Swan said, "I thought it was great." 

Bringin' It Back is the penultimate song on the album and was written by gospel and country singer, Greg Gordon. Both Brenda Lee and The Oakridge Boys had released the song in 1975 and it is possible Elvis had heard their version. He does his best with a song that can best be described as pedestrian.

Bringing the album to a close is a song that will always be associated with Tom Jones, and a song Elvis is reported to have really loved, Green, Green Grass Of Home. Written by Claude 'Curly' Putman Jr., it was first recorded by Johnny Darrell in 1965 and other artists who recorded the song included Porter Wagoner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Bare and most famously, Tom Jones, who had a worldwide number one hit with the song in 1966. It told the story of a man who returns to his childhood home and sweetheart and remembers all the good times. However, he wakes up surrounded by 'four grey walls' and realises it was just a dream and he is being accompanied by a guard and padre who are leading him to his execution. I prefer Tom Jones version but Elvis certainly comes close with his rendition.

The cover, which again showed little effort in the design, featured yet another live shot, this time from a concert on 3 July 1973 in Atlanta, Georgia and taken by Ed Bonja, with just the wording 'Elvis' and 'Today' superimposed on the cover.

The back cover included adverts for Elvis four previous albums, Promised Land (APL1-0873), Having Fun With Elvis On Stage (CPM1-0818), Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis (CPL1-0606) and Good Times (CPL1-06475).

Song titles were listed, minus any songwriter credits, along with credits for the vocal accompaniment and recording engineers. Elvis Presley was listed as 

'Executive Producer For This Recording Project'. As with previous releases no musicians are credited on the sleeve.

When you compare the Elvis album cover designs from this period with other artists on the RCA label it is further proof that The Colonel, Elvis and RCA were happy to just throw out cover after cover with just another live photo and little or no information. A complete lack of respect for the fans and the musicians who worked on the albums. Just check out albums by other RCA artists like Waylon Jennings or Jerry Reed and you will see the difference. It wouldn't have taken much effort for Elvis to have undertaken some photoshoots to produce portrait style images for his album and single covers. Problem was, nobody else in the business seemed to care either and their thoughts were... it's only Elvis and the fans will buy anything!

Despite being a very strong album, with some great songs and performances from Elvis, the album failed to achieve much chart success. On the Billboard Album Chart it peaked at #57 and spent just 9 weeks in the chart although it fared much better on the Country Charts reaching #4 and selling almost 400,000 copies.

In his review in the 3 July edition of Rolling Stone, Dave Marsh had this to say... "Elvis Presley is the greatest singer in the history of rock & roll. As each of his frustratingly mediocre albums appears, we are forcibly reminded of the fact. There is almost nothing on any of them to keep us listening. But I have never heard an Elvis record which didn't reveal something about the man and his capacities and therefore, somehow, about everyone's. Instinctively and accidentally, Presley teaches us what charisma means." He went on to say, "Today catalogues perfectly the undeniable stylistic and creative decline of every Sun artist, makes us realise how much more than a match Elvis was for them and how canny he has been in avoiding the burnout."

Two singles were released, T-R-O-U-B-L-E backed with Mr Songman (PB-10278), a track lifted from the Promised Land album and written by Voice member Donnie Sumner, and Bringing It Back coupled with Pieces Of My Life (PB-10401). The former was released in April just before the album while the latter was issued in September. 

The artwork for the covers showed as much effort as the album with a different shot from the same concert on the first single and the same image as the album on the second. Oh yes, and let's use the same 3-D 'ELVIS' wording, the fans won't mind.

Like the album, neither single fared well on the charts. In the United States T-R-O-U-B-L-E could only reach #35, spending 9 weeks in the Top 100 and selling just 200,000 copies. Bringing It Back was even more of a disappointment with it's highest placing of #65 and just 5 weeks in the chart.

In the United Kingdom things weren't that much better. Released in June, Today (RCA RS 1011) spent one week on the chart at #48 and re-entered the chart two weeks later also peaking at #48 with just two more weeks in the chart.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E backed with Mr Songman (RCA 2562) was released in May 1975 and during a chart run of just 4 weeks it climbed to #31. A second single was issued, with a different selection to the second US single. Green, Green Grass Of Home backed with another previously released song, Thinking About You (RCA 2635), written by Tim Baty, a member of the vocal group Voice. Released in November 1975 it managed to rise two places higher than the previous single peaking at #29 and spending 7 weeks in the chart.

These chart positions are a surprise considering the quality of the material and it is a shame that these recordings have never achieved the critical acclaim and chart success they deserved.

The first outtakes to appear from the 1975 sessions were Fairytale (take 2) and Green, Green Grass Of Home (take 1) which were included on the 1996 compilation, Great Country Songs.

The following year And I Love You So (take 1) was released on the Platinum: A Life In Music box set while Pieces Of My Life (take 1) featured on the Today, Tomorrow And Forever box set in 2002.

With the advent of the Follow That Dream (FTD) collectors label in 1999 it was the ideal opportunity for even more outtakes to appear and in 2001 they released 6363 Sunset. The CD featured studio outtakes and rehearsals from March 1972 along with six tracks from the 1975 sessions... Green, Green Grass Of Home (takes 2-false start and take 3), And I Love You So (take 2), Susan When She Tried (take 1-false start and take 2), T-R-O-U-B-L-E (take 1), Shake A Hand (take 2) and Bringing It Back (take 2-false start and take 3).

The early releases on the FTD label were single discs housed in 5-inch gatefold digi-packs with no booklets and little or no information other than the track listings. In 2003 they released the first in what would become the 'Classic Album' series. Mostly two-CDs they were housed in a 7-inch sleeve that opened out into three panels housing the CDs and a booklet containing liner notes, session details, images and rare memorabilia. The first releases in this format were the soundtracks, It Happened At The Worlds Fair, Fun In Acapulco and Girl Happy, definitely not classics but as time moved on the label would turn their attention to albums that were more deserving of the title 'Classic'. Among the first were Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis, Elvis Is Back and in 2005, Elvis Today, released to celebrate the albums thirtieth anniversary.

CD 1 contained the original album, the unreleased Tiger Man jam and a selection of previously unavailable outtakes/false starts including And I Love You So (take 1), Bringing It Back (take 1), Susan When She Tried (take 3), Shake A Hand (take 1) and several more.

The highlights on CD 2 were the original session mixes, which were minus many of the overdubs, which make for interesting listening and in some cases are as good if not better than the originals. The set was bought to a close with the material previously made available on the 6363 Sunset release.

The 12-page booklet gave details about the tracks, recording information a brief time line covering the period from December 1974 to September 1975 and illustrated throughout with photos, mainly live as there were none taken at the sessions, memorabilia and record company paperwork.

There are some great moments to enjoy. Both Lisa Marie and his current girlfriend Sheila Ryan had also attended the recording sessions and before the first take of And I Love You So Elvis says, "Step up here Sheila, let me sing to you baby." Take 1 of Fairytale is preceded by Elvis, in a high-pitched voice, joking, "Good luck everybody", and after the keyboard player makes a mistake at the start of Bringing It Back Elvis laughs and says, "Next piano player!" There are many more to enjoy and it shows how much fun Elvis was having during the recordings.

This release leaves just a handful of outtakes in the vaults, more than likely just false starts, which may see a release one day.

The set received some criticism on its release due to the sound quality of the original album tracks that open the set. The audio has been mastered too low and this is noticeable when, after Green, Green Grass Of Home, the volume increases on Tiger Man. One other mistake which should have been spotted before the packaging was printed is the spelling mistake on Susan When She Tried on the reproduced back cover... which changed the title to Susan When She Said! However, it was a welcome release bringing everything together in one place.

To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the albums release Sony Music released it as part of their 'Legacy Edition' series in 2015. With the idea to appeal to a wider audience than the FTD releases, which are aimed at the collector, there are no outtakes although the original session mixes were included. 

A second disc featured the 1975 live recording that had first appeared on the Silver box set back in 1980. For this release it has been remastered and reassembled from the original tapes and the audio is a vast improvement. Recorded during the May and June tour it includes a live version of the recently recorded T-R-O-U-B-L-E along with other concert favourites.

The 24-page booklet features an in-depth liner note written by musician, producer and broadcaster Stuart Colman along with track details and a wealth of live photos and paperwork.

FTD turned their attention to releasing vinyl albums alongside the regular CD releases and in 2016 they turned their attention to Today. Released as a double album, Elvis Today - The Original Session Mixes bought together all the original mixes and a selection of outtakes.

I have read several comments that the album should be issued as part of the FTD 'Sessions' releases but with so few outtakes left available I can't see this being a viable project for the label.

Despite my comments about the album cover and chart success, I do rate Today and it is among my favourite studio albums from the 1970s and, in my opinion, his last great album released in his lifetime.

ELVIS UK EXTENDED

Just published is a new book on the various Elvis Presley Extended Play albums released in the UK. In this article I will be reviewing the book but first a look back at the authors previous work. 

As far back as 1980 friends and co-writers John Townson and Gordon Minto had been writing about Elvis Presley, although it would be a few years before they would publish their first book in, what would become, the ELVIS UK series.

Published by Blandford Press in 1987, ELVIS UK - The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley's British Record Releases 1956-1986 was greeted with critical acclaim by not only Elvis fans but also music journalists and rightly deserved being referred to as 'the Bible' when it came to Elvis releases. Despite its retail price of £45 it soon became highly collectable and sought after.

Within its 570-pages the book covered, in detail, every UK record release (singles, extended play albums and long players) issued on the HMV, RCA Victor and third-party labels between the years 1956 and 1986. Listed in chronological order each release was covered with detailed track information, composers names, release dates and chart positions, with every release cross-referenced.

Additional sections looked in detail at label and sleeve variations, including dates, a various artist listing where Elvis was featured on one or more tracks, details of promotional records and introductory sections looking at the companies who issued the records, details that appeared on the labels and a look at how records were made/pressed.

The book was illustrated, in black and white, with hundreds of record labels, album covers, photos and much more.

A list of every song was included which showed where each appeared and referenced to the relevant page numbers of the book.

The pair were often asked when it would be made available again, but realising this would not be a financially viable option for either themselves or the publisher they chose a different route by making the original book available as a digital downloadable flipbook.

For those who don't know, a flipbook is an interactive digital publication that features a realistic page-flip effect. It looks just like a traditional printed book with pages that can be turned over but allows added interactive elements like page navigation and links. It is much easier to read and navigate than a basic pdf and is becoming a popular option for writers who are looking for a way to offer their books digitally.

Issued in 2021 the digital flipbook included an extra 60-pages which covered re-issues of LPs, a discussion about mastering, a section on the RCA 'Golden Grooves' label and a fascinating essay on the Making of ELVIS UK.

Once again, these additional pages were illustrated throughout with labels, sleeves and other images, mostly in colour.

Priced at just £20 the flipbook is available from their website www.elvisukbooks.co.uk

Meanwhile, back in 2002 they published their second book, ELVIS UK2 - The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley's British Record Releases 1986-2002, which overlapped and picked up the story from where the first book ended. 

Running to just over 370 pages  the book covers all the UK vinyl releases from 1985 through to 2002 with every single, extended play and LP album examined in detail. Like the previous book there are sections on promotional issues, rarities, releases that featured one or more Elvis tracks, a full song title index and interesting facts on industry background.

A welcome inclusion is an interview with Roger Semon who co-produces many of the Elvis releases throughout the world. 

Once again it was well received by fans and music historians alike. Originally only available in printed format, the book originally retailed at £35 though there are a very small number of copies available selling for just £11, once again from their website www.elvisukbooks.co.uk

It was several years before a third volume in the series was released, but in 2021 they announced the publication of ELVIS UK 3 - The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley's British CD Releases 1983-2005 which had taken almost six years to research and write. The book far exceeded the scope of the previous books and featured over 1,400 pages with more than one million words and 4,000 illustrations, mostly in full-colour.

Moving on from the vinyl releases covered in the first two books, this volume turns the attention to the compact discs released on the RCA, BMG and FTD labels in the UK between 1983 and 2005 while also being cross-referenced to other territories.

Like the previous books there are full track details and composers for every release along with relevant or interesting facts and images of front and back covers and the discs themselves. Live releases also include recording locations, dates and times.

Those interested in CD singles, promotional releases and in-house promos will find a wealth of information about these particular releases.

An extensive song title index lists every version of every song allowing the reader to search for their favourite track and all the relevant information.

Priced at £50, the downloadable flipbook is available from www.elvisukbooks.co.uk and when you order you can request a complimentary copy of a CD, ELVIS UK presents Beyond The Legend. This 23-track CD includes songs which charted in the UK and were not included on the first ever Elvis CD, The Legend and included extensive liner notes. Among the tracks are, Mystery Train, Paralyzed, Young And Beautiful, Hard Headed Woman, I Feel So Bad and many more great tracks. Also included is a 10-minute interview from 1956. 

A change of direction came in 2022 with the publication, in flipbook format only, of ELVIS UK - Cover Story - The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley's EP & LP Sleeves 1956-1977.

Within the 286-pages of this book the authors take a comprehensive look at the covers of the extended play and albums released between 1956 and 1977 in the UK. It makes the perfect companion to ELVIS UK, complementing and extending the information included in their first book.

Illustrated in full colour, it not only features the original front and back covers but also the photos used on the covers along with many alternate images. There are also loads of original adverts to study.

The wealth of information includes printing companies, sleeve notes, details of sleeve designs unique to the UK and a list of all the releases with details of who took the photos, the date and where it was taken.

Other sections cover inserts, record shops, sleeve manufacture and stickers. Everything you need to know about the sleeves, their design and production is covered here.

Once again it was welcomed by fans and music historians. Currently only available in flipbook format, the book retails at £15 and can be ordered from www.elvisukbooks.co.uk

It was only a year before the authors published their fifth book, at the time another digital flip book, in the series, ELVIS UK - Beyond RCA - The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley's British Non-RCA LPs 1974-1997. However, that is now available as a soft-backed print copy priced at £45 which includes post and packing in the UK.

As the title suggests this 377-page volume takes a detailed look at those Elvis albums released in the UK on labels other than RCA, including Arcade, K-Tel, Readers Digest, Charly and many others.

The book deals with the albums individually in a detailed way with illustrations of covers, labels, adverts and newspaper articles/reviews. The accompanying text provides extensive background information and previously unpublished information from the various record company files.

Each entry starts with a header detailing information about the material featured including the songs and/or spoken word content and composers.

Like previous books there is a detailed index of the songs with recording dates listed along with which album the songs appear on and details of outtakes where applicable. A nice addition is the index of the spoken word entries showing where and when they were recorded.

Unlike the previous books this one, another only available in print form, is available exclusively through the excellent Now Dig This and Elvis The Man And His Music magazine and website www.nowdigthis.co.uk priced at £45 including postage in the UK, with additional postage for overseas customers.

This bring us to the latest book in the series.

I always loved the extended play format and had several in my collection including Love Me Tender, Jailhouse Rock, In A Tender Mood and Elvis Sails. The latest book brings back many memories of owning these releases.

ELVIS UK - Extended - The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley's British EP Releases 1957-2001 has just been made available and, unlike earlier titles, this book is only available in printed form.

Running to 502-pages it is the ultimate guide to the extended play albums released in the UK between 1957 and 2001 and complements the earlier books. The amount of work that has gone into this volume can be judged when you realise that the section covering extended players in the 1987 book ELVIS UK covered just 46-pages.

Every release is covered in great details and follows the style and layout of earlier books with a header giving information on the songs or spoken word included on the release, composer credits and release dates.

Front and back covers are shown along with the labels. There is an incredible amount of detail about the various label differences that occurred over the years when they were re-issued.

There is a wealth of other illustrative material with newspaper articles, reviews and record company ads.

The book not only covers the extended plays released between 1957 (Love Me Tender) and 1967 (Easy Come, Easy Go) but also the 1982 release of The E.P. Collection which included ten EPs with the original artwork. These included Elvis Presley, Heartbreak Hotel, Such A Night, Kid Galahad and a special bonus... G. I. Blues The Alternate Takes which featured four previously unreleased alternate versions of songs from the original film soundtrack album. The booklet that accompanied the set only had four-pages but contained more information than many other collections.

A few months later a second set was issued with, among other originals, Peace In The Valley, A Touch Of Gold (three volumes), Flaming Star and Love In Las Vegas. Like the first set there was another disc of G. I. Blues Outtakes and Collectors Gold, with four 1961 studio outtakes.

Besides the detailed look at each release there are sections on the history of the format, their popularity and decline along with unpublished record company information, technical details about manufacture, tax code and pricing details, significant events of the period, demo extended plays and how to spot fakes.

This book contains contributions by Roger Semon, Bob Jones and Mike Walker whose work included the two EP Collections and which make for interesting reading.

As with previous books in the series this one includes a song index giving the reader all the information they would need about recording dates, where each song appeared and when it was recorded.

As with ELVIS UK - Beyond RCA - The Ultimate Guide To Elvis Presley's British Non-RCA LPs 1974-1997, this volume is only available from www.nowdigthis.co.uk priced at £58 including post and packing.

These books are the last words on their subjects and every Elvis fan should have them in their collection. They are a great and invaluable reference source for Elvis releases and I refer to them regularly when working on any Elvis articles for my blog.

I'm not sure what plans John and Gordon have for future projects but I am sure there will be more volumes and essential purchases for the Elvis collector... I can't wait.

MEMPHIS HOMECOMING

On 1st March 1974 Elvis Presley hit the road for his longest concert tour since the mid-1950s. The tour, which ran from the 1st to the 20th of March, would see Elvis play twenty-one concerts across the southern states with sold-out shows in Tulsa (Oklahoma), Houston (Texas), Monroe (Louisiana), Auburn (Alabama), Montgomery (Alabama), Charlotte (North Carolina), Roanoke (Virginia), Hampton Roads (Virginia), Richmond (Virginia), Greensboro (North Carolina), Murfreesboro (Tennessee), Knoxville (Tennessee) and Memphis (Tennessee).

At Houston, Charlotte and Knoxville, Elvis would play afternoon and evening shows while in Tulsa, at the opening of the tour, he played shows on two consecutive days. The first concert in Monroe sold out so fast that two additional shows, a few days later, were added. It was a similar story in Richmond and Murfreesboro where a second date was scheduled.

This brings us to Memphis and Elvis' first appearances in his hometown since the charity show held at the Ellis Auditorium back in 1961.

Originally only four shows were scheduled, on the 16th and 17th March, at the Mid-South Coliseum with performances at 2.30 and 8.30 each day. Due to the demand for tickets an extra show was added at the end of the tour.

It is the concerts in Memphis, and in particular the final show that was recorded by RCA, that we concentrate on in this article.

It is reported that the attendance at each of the five Memphis concerts was 12,300 and that the total concert gross was around $555,000 with the Mid-South Coliseum receiving $50,000.

Although it would have made more sense for Elvis to have stayed at Graceland during the run of Memphis concerts he actually booked rooms at both the Holiday Inn and Howard Johnson Motel.

In her review of one of the concerts on the 16th Jane Sanderson, of the Memphis Press-Scimitar, wrote, "Like a streak of white lightning, Presley darts on stage. He is dramatically clad in all-white which sparkles with jewels and nail-heads with a jacket slit to the waist and a diamond cross hanging from his neck. He nods his approval to the hometown reception, and he begins to sing." She went on to say, "He laughs in the middle of a song, at himself and at the audience, but he drops his head to gain repose. He rolls his eyes, jerks his head, thrusts his shoulder forward, points to pretty girls, slaps his guitar, and, of course, shakes his hips." Talking about the reaction of the fans she noted, "They scream, yell, cry, clap and do their best to drown out what they came to hear."

Before looking at the various album and CD releases we take a look at the actual 20th March concert at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.

Following the 2001 theme, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Elvis opened the show with See See Rider and I Got A Woman/Amen, with the awful J. D. Sumner dive-bomber routine which, unfortunately, Elvis made him do twice.

Strong versions of Love Me and Trying To Get To You followed then a rushed All Shook Up before one of the highlights of the show, James Taylor's Steamroller Blues, a far superior version than that which appeared on the Aloha From Hawaii concert and album. James Burton's guitar playing on the track is outstanding and the reason he was always in demand for studio and live work.

Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel is rushed but far better than later performances of the songs while Love Me Tender is treated with more respect.

A medley of Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On/Your Mama Don't Dance/Flip Flop And Fly/Jailhouse Rock/Hound Dog follows and has received mixed opinions over the years. However, it does show Elvis putting a bit more effort into his hits and the hits of other artists than he would in the years that followed. The few lines of the Loggins & Messina hit Your Mama Don't Dance showed that Elvis had not lost touch with the current music scene. Jim Messina recalled how he felt about Elvis' performance, "I was thrilled Elvis covered one of our songs. I could tell he had the passion for it and the audience really reacted well when he sang that part of the song. For me, the ultimate compliment that an artist can pay another artist is to record one of their songs."

Elvis' live versions of Fever never matched his 1960 studio cut that appeared on Elvis Is Back and you can tell Elvis is just having fun during his performance in Memphis.

As always Elvis puts a lot of energy into Polk Salad Annie, a concert favourite for the past few years. The only slight disappointment here is that bass player Duke Bardwell doesn't manage the excellent bass lines that Jerry Scheff could do. It is still a great performance though.

Two gospel songs follow, Why Me Lord, which is mainly J. D. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet, with Elvis just joining in on the chorus, and a rousing version of How Great Thou Art, another highlight from the show and one that received recognition as we shall see later.

Soon to be dropped as a regular in his set list, Suspicious Minds is as good as ever and then introduces those on stage with him... James Burton (guitar), John Wilkinson (guitar), Duke Bardwell (bass), Ronnie Tutt (drums), Glen D. Hardin (piano), Charlie Hodge (guitar and vocals), The Joe Guercio Orchestra, The Sweet Inspirations (vocals), J. D. Sumner & The Stamps (vocals) and a new group, Voice (vocals). He also gives name-checks to his sound engineers Bruce Jackson and Bill Porter, the tour promoters Jerry Weintraub and Tom Hulett, Ed Bonja, Tom Diskin, record producer Felton Jarvis and last but not least, the audience.

Introducing I Can't Stop Loving You with, "You know what I can't do", he throws the band off by then launching into the Fats Domino hit Blueberry Hill instead. Just a few throw-away lines before returning to an energetic version of I Can't Stop Loving You. He even throws in a small change of lyric for the occasion, "I've made up my mind, to live in Tennessee/memory for such a long lonely time."

He introduced Help Me as his new single and following a brief false start he performed a version that was as good as the recently recorded studio version.

An American Trilogy receives a thunderous reception and is as good, if not better than any of his earlier live performances on record. The song would have meant more to a southern audience than those in Hawaii and this is evident in the crowds reaction when Elvis sings lines including, 'For Dixieland where I was born'.

Let Me Be There is a John Rostill song that had been a hit for Olivia Newton-John and is another great performance by Elvis.

The show draws to a close with My Baby Left Me, a song seldom performed by Elvis in his concerts, Lawdy Miss Clawdy and Funny How Time Slips Away. During My Baby Left Me it seems like the band are not sure which song they are doing as, at times, there are close similarities to That's All Right, prompting Elvis to sing, "The band I knew is gone."

Before ending the show with Can't Help Falling In Love, Elvis told the audience, "It's always been said that a person cannot return to their home town, but you have disproven that theory completely and really made it worth while."

The usual announcement, "Elvis has left the building" was changed to "Elvis has left for Graceland."

Throughout the show there is a lot of interaction between Elvis and the audience and also Elvis and the band. At the start of I Got A Woman Elvis jokes with the audience, commenting, "Honey you have got bad laryngitis" and "She's louder than I am, but I've got the microphone." Before singing Love Me he says, "Those binoculars look like a bunch of frogs up there." During the introductions he jokes with John Wilkinson and Glen D. Hardin. It is obvious Elvis is having a good time on stage.

RCA were at the show to record it for future release. They rented recording equipment, apparently at a cost of around $100,000, to capture the event and with microphones placed around the auditorium, they captured the crazy reaction of the crowd who were seeing him perform in their hometown.

The day after the final concert James Kingsley, writing about the live recording in The Commercial Appeal, said, "Elvis Presley ended his 15-city tour with a hometown performance recorded before 12,300 fans at The Mid-South Coliseum last night. The recording is to be used for an album to be distributed by RCA Victor." Apparently Elvis had turned down requests from other cities on the tour to record a show in order to wait to record for his hometown fans. Kingsley then went on to say, "The album, which will be released in early June, will have the songs, screams, and cheers that were hallmarks at each of Presley's five Memphis concerts."

Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis (RCA CPL1/APL1 0606) was released in July 1974. The album, which had a running time of approximately 42 minutes, featured fifteen tracks and nine of the songs performed at the show were omitted. 

For those interested in details the album title on the cover was Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis whereas the label copy read As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis. There were other differences on song titles, the songwriters and there are too many to include here so I'd point you in the direction of the excellent series of ELVIS UK books written/compiled by John Towson and Gordon Minto. The album was re-released on vinyl in 1977 and 1981.

The songs left off the album were All Shook Up, Steamroller Blues, Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel, Love Me Tender, Fever, Polk Salad Annie, Suspicious Minds, Funny How Time Slips Away and the band introductions.

As all of these had appeared within the past couple of years on the previous live albums, Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden (released in 1972) and Aloha From Hawaii (released in 1973) this decision did make sense.

Although nobody realised at the time, the album had been subjected to some overdubbing, with extra crowd noise added to the original recordings made on the evening of the show. This was to add more excitement to the album, but was unnecessary.

The album cover featured a photo of Graceland, taken on 27 March 1974 by photographer Ed Bonja, while the back showed the gates of Graceland with the song titles, credits and other information printed over the image.

After all the studio albums released over the past few years, and in the years that followed, all featuring a live photo, totally irrelevant to the material on the albums, it seemed strange that an image of Graceland was used instead of a live photo from the actual show. We are, of course, talking about RCA and The Colonel so this is no real surprise!

It could have been different though, as photographer Ed Bonja recalled in the liner notes to the Legacy Edition of the album, "The Colonel was friends with the editor of one of the Memphis newspapers. His son was taking photography at the University and asked if he could take some photos of Elvis. The Colonel said 'Yes, and if I like them I'll put them on the cover of the live album.' A few days later after the tour ended, I'm at our office in L.A. when The Colonel receives the package with the photos. All of a sudden he screams out in a loud voice, 'Eddie, come in here! I can't use any of these pictures, they're terrible. I want you to get on a plane tonight to Memphis and get some shots of the front of Graceland, we need them for the album cover.' I took a few photos of the front gates, took photos of the front of the house and also took additional photos of the grounds. The exterior photo of Graceland made the cover and my image of the gates landed on the back cover."

Elvis is listed as Executive Producer on the back cover along with Mike Moran, Gus Mossler, Ronnie Olson and Larry Schnapf all credited as Recording Engineers.

The album reached #33 on the Billboard Album Charts, #2 on the Billboard Country Album Charts and #1 on the Cashbox Country Album Chart. In the UK it only managed one week on the charts peaking at a disappointing #44. It would be twenty-five years after the albums original release that the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) would award it a gold disc for sales of 500,000 copies.

Although Elvis received several Grammy nominations throughout his career he only ever won three and they were all in the gospel categories. His first win was for 'Best Sacred Performance' with the title track from his 1967 album How Great Thou Art. In 1972 He Touched Me won the 'Best Inspirational Performance' and his 1974 powerful live version of How Great Thou Art gave Elvis his third Grammy Award in the same category.

Billboard reviewing the album in their 'Spotlight' section had nothing but good things to say, "The last time Elvis cut a live set, it sold more than a million units. With this collection, Presley again demonstrates the charismatic performance and magnetism that have made him the all time King of Rock. Perhaps more than any other LP, we see a more personal side of Elvis as he banters back and forth with the audience, particularly his conversations with one girl who has a different request between every song." Going on to talk about the music he wrote, "As for the music, his voice sounds much stronger than it has on recent studio product as he puts together a mix of country, religious, current rock, blues and his own vintage hits. Back-up vocals of J. D. Sumner & The Stamps, The Sweet Inspirations and Kathy Westmoreland is excellent." He summed up how great he thought the album was in his final sentence, "Best Presley we've heard in a long time."

Robert Matthew-Walker, author of the book Elvis Presley - A Study In Music published in 1979, was particularly harsh in his opinion of the album. He wrote, "This album is the most superfluous of Presley's career. Every title had been recorded by him at least once before, in performances which are invariably better. These here are often below Presley's best, the band is not 'tight', many words are slurred, with scant regard for sense or atmosphere, and the audience constantly interrupts. The performances say nothing new." He did, however, make one valid point, "... the record is packaged with the most inept sleeve in a succession of generally mediocre packaging's."

The album made its first appearance on CD in Europe and the USA in February 1994, although it had been available since 1986 in Japan. The track listing was identical to the vinyl release although there had been discussions with co-producers Roger Semon and Ernst Jorgensen about adding the missing songs. This plan was scrapped when those higher up at RCA decided that to include the extra tracks would not only involve extra payments for copyright but also additional payments to all the musicians and vocalists.

The accompanying eight-page booklet featured liner notes about the 1974 Memphis concert and earlier appearances in the city, musician and other credits, track listing, a complete list of his 1974 concerts and a black & white image from the show that hadn't been included on the original vinyl issue.

The CD, identical to the 1994 release, was included as part of The Original Elvis Presley Collection, a 60-CD set released in June 1997 with each CD housed in a card sleeve featuring the original artwork.

The vinyl album was deleted from the catalogue in 1986 and the CD was available until 2003.

With the introduction of the Follow That Dream label and the 'Classic Albums' series it wasn't long before they turned their attention to Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis. Released in April 2004 to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the concert it would be the first time the whole concert would be released. However, as we will see, everything was not perfect.

As mentioned above the nine missing tracks were added, although Steamroller Blues had already found a release back in 1997 on the 4-CD Platinum set, released to commemorate twenty years since Elvis died.

In their pre-release press announcement they said, "It will include the songs that were left out of the original album and consequently the whole show has to be remixed. The package will be in the 7" format including a booklet with pictures and information about the show." Unfortunately the resulting CD was not as perfect as the press release made it sound.

Unfortunately they omitted the false start to Help Me and also left off some of the dialogue. Only a small matter but when you advertise the set as the complete concert then why leave out certain bits. The running time was expanded from 42 minutes to 69 minutes so there was still room for the minute or two that would have been required to make the show complete.

Now sound is very subjective and what works for one listener may not appeal to another. When released by FTD the tracks were mixed by Chris Theis and mastered by Lene Reidel. The overdubbed audience was removed and extra reverb added. It wasn't long before the comments about too much reverb started to appear and I must admit I do agree.

The CD was packaged in a three-panel sleeve which featured the original album cover, the original back cover, two photos from the show and the album title/track listing.

The 12-page booklet featured a live photo from the show and looked really good. Inside were eight photos of Elvis on stage along with the track listing, credits, a review from The Commercial Appeal and a list of the March 1974 tour dates. 

It followed the style of other FTD 'Classic Album' releases but one is left feeling it could have been so much better. Many of the photos are blurred and there is little information about the show. It would have benefited from comprehensive liner-notes and more images, memorabilia, paperwork etc. Fortunately this would be forthcoming on the albums next appearance on CD.

The Follow That Dream label started re-releasing their previous releases on 180gram vinyl and in September 2013 they added the Memphis live album to their list with the 2-LP set Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis.

The albums were housed in an attractive gatefold sleeve with some great live shots and brief liner notes. The cover would have made a better choice had RCA put more thought back in 1974.

In 2014, in celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the concert, Sony Music re-issued the album as part of their Legacy Edition series in what can be considered the definitive version.

This time it would contain the complete concert, including the false start and dialogue that was omitted from the FTD version. Remixed by Steve Rosenthal and Rob Santos and mastered by Vic Anesini in New York, the sound is superior to any previous release with more emphasis on the band and Elvis' vocals standing out.

The set also featured a second disc, the Richmond show from 18th March, that was recorded as a test recording or back-up and released a few years earlier on the FTD label as Forty Eight Hours From Memphis, albeit only in mono. There were also five songs from an August 1974 rehearsal which are unrelated to the rest of the set.

Packaging on the Legacy Edition was superb with the two CDs housed in a 5" three-panel sleeve with original front and back cover, a list of all his 1974 concerts including those in Las Vegas, a map of the USA with cities played marked on it and a photo of Elvis on stage in Amarillo on 19th June. The back listed all the tracks, a brief text about what was included in the set and a photo from the Memphis show.

There were comprehensive and informative liner notes written by Ken Sharp that detailed the March tour and the Memphis show in particular. There are photos from various shows on the tour and a two-page spread of memorabilia, company paperwork and reviews which make interesting reading. This is how the FTD booklet should have looked. Furthermore, for those that shelled out for both the Memphis and Richmond shows on FTD, they had every right to feel cheated when both shows were available on Legacy for a fraction of the price.

I'll end this article with my own thoughts on the album and the various reissues. I bought this album the week it was released here in the UK and over the following few weeks it was seldom off the turntable. Despite my earlier comments about some of the material it remains one of my favourite live albums released by Elvis Presley during his lifetime, far superior to the Aloha From Hawaii set.  Yes, some of his early hits are not given the treatment they deserved, although a lot better than in the years that followed, and I know I might be in the minority but I do enjoy the medley. Yes the songs in the medley are rushed but at least a bit of thought and effort was taken with the choice of material that included both Flip, Flop And Fly and Your Mama Don't Dance.

I enjoyed the FTD release in 2004 because of the extra tracks and improvements over the original sound, however, my go to copy of the album has to be the Legacy Edition which, to my ears, has the best sound and is also the first time the complete show made it onto CD. It also has a much better booklet than the FTD version.

I am surprised Sony or FTD haven't released a fiftieth anniversary set, remixed by Matt-Ross Spang and featuring a more comprehensive booklet, but then again, how many more copies do we really need. Of course, with FTDs recent track record they could be planning a fiftieth anniversary edition to be released next year on the fifty-first anniversary!

------------------

During the research and writing of this article I referenced several books and sources including: Elvis The Man And His Music (Now Dig This), Did Elvis Sing In Your Hometown, Too (Lee Cotton), Elvis UK and Elvis UK 3 (John Townson & Gordon Minto) and the booklets that accompanied the FTD and Legacy Editions of As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis.