Review by Piers Beagley & Geoffrey McDonnell - Elvis Information Network
Released at the end of last year this four CD set contains three Elvis performances from July 1976 and Tour 19. For Elvis fans it is very frustrating that as Elvis’ career slowly declined the audio quality of the soundboard recordings vastly improved. FTD have previously released two concerts from this tour, Fort Worth July 3 (Rockin' Across Texas) and Tulsa July 4th 2.30pm (The Bicentennial Show)
The Package
A huge 5-panel digipack (FTD’s very first) features photos on the cover and behind every disc of Elvis in his Blue Bicentennial Suit.
Photos are by George Hill & Russ Howe.
Sadly Elvis never looked the best in this bizarre jumpsuit and there is no doubt that he was overweight and bloated at times. In fact the front cover has been strangely photo-shopped to improve Elvis' over-weight look.
A few other candid photos of Elvis are also included, along with some ticket stubs.
The track listings are on the back cover. Once again the FTD quality department has not checked the track numbering. The numbers go out of sequence towards the end of CD1, and CD4 appears to have 25 tracks when it only has 15. This has happened a few times before, so why is this not checked for each release?
Forgiving Elvis’ Blue Bicentennial Suit look this is otherwise a classy product in appearance and with a great sound mix for every concert and, what’s more, this was a ‘’Good’’ 1976 tour.
Audio Quality:
The sound was mastered by Jan Eliasson and it is excellent for soundboard tapes, with a nice mix and a good amount of audience excitement and feedback. At times there is some bass distortion on the tape – but at least you can really hear Jerry Scheff’s bass.
The sound on the bootlegs of Goodbye Memphis was always good quality and here the FTD has a little less hiss but with more bass - it sounds very fine albeit with no massive upgrade in quality. One real disappointment is that the final Memphis announcement of “Elvis has left the building” (which was on the bootleg, along with final "super-souvenirs") has been edited out on this FTD version. This was Elvis’ last ever performance in Memphis and FTD deliberately missed this final sign-off! It beggars belief.
The Music
Disc 1 Hirsch Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana July 1, 1976 - 68 minutes
The ninth show of this eleven city tour. The atmosphere is nicely set with a great sounding ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ intro before Elvis kicks off with ‘C.C. Rider’ sounding ‘up beat’ and, awake while throwing in a few “ah yeahs” as he closes it out. Elvis teases Ronnie Tutt several times with counts “three”, “three”, “three” and the drums sound excellent tonight.
Next Elvis jokes, “You stood in line and paid to see me do this!” before a smooth version of ’I Got a Woman’ / ‘Amen’ with thankfully a one off J.D. dive-bomber ending.
Elvis notes, “It’s a pleasure to be back in Shreveport” and explains that the band aids on his hands are “to stop the rings coming off too easy”.
‘Love Me’ is routine but enables a first greeting from Elvis to his many admirers! Elvis adds that “I am only just getting started and I’ll be over in a minute with a whole bunch of things".
‘If You Love Me (Let Me Know)’ is well sung - until Elvis gets attacked by a “son of a bitch!” female! Laughing, and obviously in a good mood, Elvis notes that “I can’t sing and kiss at the same time - no way!”
While the concert is “Elvis in 1976” it’s certainly a performance that fans would have been very happy to witness and be part of.
‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ is strong and, for 1976, a very committed performance from Elvis.
The “fifties oldies” ‘All Shook Up’ / ‘(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear’ / ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ are all '‘throwaway'’ performances but still sung decently enough.
‘And I Love You So’ slows down the pace, Elvis for some reason ad libs "something’s wrong with James’ hand” and it is a gentle, if routine performance. Elvis notes, “oh yeah” obviously enjoying the vibe.
Straight into ‘Jailhouse Rock’ is faster and upbeat for 1976 before Elvis then asks “Can you hear ok ladies & gentleman?” and jokes over a “God Bless you” moment with a loving fan.
‘Fever’ which causes plenty of screams is '‘mediocre'’ due to all the distraction from his loving fans.
‘America’ is pretty routine but luckily with no stumbling tonight and a cool power-ending.
‘Polk Salad Annie’ at last rocks up the pace and sounds fantastic with Jerry Scheff’s bass nice and clear “Hey, Jerry!” Elvis puts in some energy and adds some low leg-squats and obvious one waist high karate kick ending. “Whoo.. Wow!” notes Elvis - It would have been fine to be there.
The Introductions, running 15 minutes, are typically 1976 too long. Elvis introduces Ed Hill “as opposed to Blueberry”. Both ‘Early Mornin' Rain’ and ‘What’d I Say’ are brief. However tonight ‘Johnny B. Goode’ has to be special because James is asked to play the guitar on the back of his head “Because it’s your hometown” and Elvis sings along-nice!, “All right, yeah fantastic”. Elvis then mentions working in the early years at the Louisiana Hayride and Shreveport - a nice touch again!
The usual lengthy band solos follow before ‘Love Letters’ which must be the slowest and painful version I have ever heard.
“A new record I’d like to sing for you” ‘Hurt’ is a superb version on the complete reprise - up higher and ‘held’ - after a rather average first run-through. Perhaps Elvis realised that he could do better.
‘Hound Dog’ is rushed and a total '‘throwaway'’.
Elvis asks for the lights to be turned up and says “Good golly, Miss Molly. It’s nice to see you”.
‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ is a regular version even though you can hear the screams and adoration from the crowd.
Elvis sings a spontaneous and lovely “Happy Birthday to Bridget” before Elvis then sings “one of my favourite songs” ‘It’s Now Or Never’ – fairly rare for mid-1976 - which is another nice touch included in this good concert.
Elvis says the Shreveport audience ‘'You’ve been a fantastic and anytime you want us back just let us know..”
‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ is ok and a nice ending. The Closing Vamp is thunderous and a good concert is over.
Sadly Elvis would never make it back to Shreveport.
The Press reported that the Hirsch Coliseum tickets were oversold by 1,000 fans and that, had it been a Political convention, Presley would have been easily elected. For fans it’s great to hear the acknowledgement James Burton gets from Elvis in Shreveport!
DISC 2 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana July 2, 1976 - 60 minutes
‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ once again in excellent sound and a great build-up, particularly the drums. It was the tenth show of the tour and ‘C.C. Rider’ is “ok” with Elvis putting in some energy.
Elvis then notes, “ah well” as if resigned to just another show!
‘I Got a Woman’ / ‘Amen’ is however a fun start during the “well, well, wells” - “by God that’s it!” and gathers pace before then sing-along ‘Amen’. Elvis laughingly kids, “my body is awake whilst my mouth went to sleep”. J.D gets asked to do his ending twice as “J.D. didn’t get no sleep last night or time to get drunk yet!”
Elvis then asks if it was two years since he was last there and receives a red rose from a loving fan. Elvis says he will do lots of song “old ones, new ones”.
‘Love Me’ next is ‘routine’. ‘Fairytale’- possibly only Elvis’ 2nd performance since 1975 “let’s see if I can remember the lyrics”- is better because Elvis adds some real ‘'grunt'’ and enjoyment in singing it, despite messing up the ending - “whoaa, I forgot it”.
‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ is a strong and ‘ok’ version.
The oldies next are, of course, completely ‘routine’ while once again ‘And I Love You So’ is a nice version and adds interest.
‘Jailhouse Rock’ is fast and rocks immediately afterwards.
‘Fever’ is a “give me acne” changed words, if average version. Hearing the screams from the crowd you can see why Elvis could get away with whatever he wanted to do and his fans would love him no matter what.
Straight to ‘America’ “because it’s our Bicentennial year” follows and it is a very powerful version, treated with respect including a cute ‘'Majesty'’ pronunciation!
‘Polk Salad Annie’ is odd with Elvis “shift gears, double clutching” and with a different ending to the previous night which doesn’t work quite as well. It does genuinely sound like Elvis wears himself out with karate kicks and afterwards notes he would “Like to lay down for a while”.
Once again 14 minutes of ‘Introductions’ and band solos follow. ‘Early Mornin’ Rain’ is short, ‘What’d I Say / Johnny B. Goode’ (too much Charlie Hodge) are routine and ‘Love Letters’ again taken too slow.
Kicking off the final run there are only two songs tonight before Elvis heads home and the overall performance has that low-battery feel.
‘Hurt’ is a lesser attempt and with “let’s just do the last line again” Elvis knows that he isn’t up to the energy of the previous night’s show.
Elvis has the house lights turned up – but without any genuine audience interaction - for ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ which is again routine, with Elvis’ voice sounding a little wobbly.
Obviously time to get out, there’s noticeably no thanks to the audience of any kind tonight and it’s straight into ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ + the Closing Vamp.
Compared to the previous Shreveport 1st July show this routine performance is hastily ended and rather disappointing with the real ‘quick close’ syndrome post the intros.
It is notable that even during a "good" 1976 tour like this one, Elvis tended to be better on alternate nights such as 1st, 3rd + 5th July and a bit ‘flat’ during the in-between performances - or during an Afternoon Show such as on 4th July.
With Elvis bored and not in good health, surely a day off between shows instead of dashing from city to city would have not only been better for his health but also better value to his fans. Damn that Col Parker.
DISC 3 / 4 - Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, July 5, 1976, Total time 90 minutes
Elvis departed Tulsa at 4.30pm to arrive in Memphis for his final tour show.
This all-important concert – Elvis’ very last in his hometown - has been available on bootlegs for decades. Elvis was up for a great show knowing that it was not only the end of the tour but also that he would be sleeping in his own bed that night. This was the longest concert in the tour and everyone was up for a good time this special Memphis night.
If there was any 1976 performance in the FTD vaults that needed releasing officially this is the concert.
Once again a great sound and a complete ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ build up with some nice screams from the audience to build up anticipation.
‘C.C. Rider’ kicks off with Elvis sounding bright, wide-awake, full of energy and in fantastic form - emphasizing “going away baby… oh Lord I won’t be back ‘til fall” and sounding like a younger Elvis onstage from a few years previously. It was a great opening for Memphis this night.
Afterwards as he gazes out to the screaming crowd Elvis notes, “Never ceases to amaze me, you know.”
Elvis continue putting far more energy than usual into ‘I Got A Woman’ / ‘Amen’ and while “warming up” and swinging his hips jokes, “I’m having a fit and people are laughing at me!” Elvis decides J.D’s first low-bass ending “is wrong! I’m sorry Ladies and Gentlemen” and asks for it a second time.
Being Memphis he notes, “It’s a pleasure to be back working here… just enjoy yourselves, that’s what the whole thing is about” – Elvis has more interaction than usual with his loving fans
‘Love Me’ is scarf-throwing routine before things picks up with ’Fairytale’ which was only his third live version since 1975.
‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ is again sincerely sung and strong version throughout.
The crowd-pleasing fifties throwaways are the usual routine scarf-giving-out songs.
‘And I Love You So’ is another delight and heartfelt – the great audio quality makes it a treat.
‘Jailhouse Rock’ is once again surprisingly ‘alive’ tonight and ‘Fever’ that follows (great Jerry Scheff bass and drum sound) is a real crowd pleaser played for fun.
‘America’ is another fine version receives a loud applause from the Memphis crowd.
‘One Night’ is a Closing Night treat and Elvis sings it surprisingly well. Another real rarity for 1976
Before the next song - while Charlie Hodge arranges Elvis’ acoustic guitar - Elvis explains “The first record that I did here in Memphis was ‘That’s All Right, Mama’ and I’ve heard a couple of people say that I can’t do that anymore - but by God just watch me!”
This was only Elvis’ live version for 1976 and ‘That’s All Right’ is spirited with Elvis joking, “I feel like Johnny Cash!” throwing in some strong “Da da da, dee dee dees” and getting into this classic – a real treat for Memphis, the only time Elvis would perform it in his hometown since his Return to Splendour
‘Blue Christmas’ is similarly a closing night treat, “I’ll have a Blue Christmas without you – in July!” - if rather pedestrian.
Elvis then notes, “I’ll try and get to all the songs you want to hear as this is the end of the tour and I’ve got as long as you have!” with Elvis then saying "Hello, how you doing?” to his friend Gary Pepper in the front row.
The Introductions are more upbeat than usual although, with the band solos, being too long as always running to over 16 minutes. At one point Elvis neatly jokes, “You guys are playing louder than I am talking, hold it down. What you think this is, a jam session at Sun Records?”
A delightful and obviously extended version ‘Early Mornin' Rain’ is sadly incomplete as it was on previous bootlegs. ‘What’d I Say’ and ‘Johnny B. Goode’ both feature too much Charlie Hodge.
‘Love Letters’ which mercifully tonight doesn’t seem to ‘drag’ so much.
Showing Elvis’ good mood, “I have a new record out” ‘Hurt’ is sung through in full twice with the reprise being better and with a stronger, power-ending. - The RCA single was in fact released 4 months previously!
At this point in Elvis’ Baton Rouge, July 2 performance (on Disc 2) Elvis only sang two more songs before getting off stage, but tonight there were eight more to come!
‘Hound Dog' is however the regular throwaway crowd-pleaser, before Elvis has the lights turned up to check out the crowd noting, “Whoo, good grief. It’s nice to see you ladies and gentlemen!”
A relaxed kiss-the-girls ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ features Elvis noting “Never know when I’ll be back in town… I am back in town, hallelujah!” and also getting JD to repeat the last line.
‘Help Me’ (also sung the previous night in Tulsa) is introduced as coming from the album ‘'Elvis in the Gutter'’ (at least one person laughed at this, probably Charlie Hodge). The song gets a nice applause from the audience and sounds very fine in this quality sound. Afterwards he thanks Sherrill Neilson for the harmony
Elvis notes, “I’d like to do a gospel song that we get such a lot of requests for” ‘How Great Thou Art’ – another real treat for this Closing night. It is sung extremely carefully and sincerely with a double “how great” ending. A real highlight of this concert.
Elvis comments, “I’d like to do something a little bit different tonight, I’d like to relate to you a story I have heard.. ” and then performs a very fine ‘Softly As I Leave You’. This would be Elvis' only performance of this song “on tour” and outside the usual casino seasons. I know of no other version outside Las Vegas or Tahoe. Another Memphis treat and it is really well-received by the audience.
In another personal Memphis aside Elvis tells fans that “I was in hospital for a couple of things, nothing really serious, but I am glad to be out working again”. Unlike all too many of the tired and exhausted 1976 performances Elvis does sound healthy and that he really means it.
He then introduces his father to nice applause “He was sick, but he’s doing fine” and thanks “all you guys on stage” and also his fans coming out to see him.
He mentions that the next tour starts July 23rd - but the crowd thinks he’s coming back to Memphis!
Hardly ever performed this late in the set-list Elvis then decides to do ‘Polk Salad Annie’ as a treat, throwing in some extra karate action, “yoah baby, take it!” - again showing what good form he was on.
Whilst Elvis gets his breath back, the band plays an instrumental version of ‘Jambalaya’ with Elvis singing the first line!
The final Memphis treat is a nice ‘It’s Now Or Never’ – interestingly it was the only time Elvis ever performed this classic number one in his hometown.
A final “Thank you very much” followed by the regular ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ brings Elvis’ final performance in Memphis to a close.
The Closing Vamp is included but fades out early, ridiculously missing the “Elvis has left the building” announcements!
This was just about as good an end-of-tour 1976 performance that Elvis could have given to his hometown and the newspaper reviews liked it as well. “22 years later and Elvis can still rock when he wants to.”
Worth noting is that while Elvis comes across sounding energetic and happy the Joe Tunzi book of concert photos shows Elvis with a puffy and rather ‘'loaded'’ look. The more sympathetic images have obviously been used in this FTD set.
After the concert there was a brief party back at Graceland and then Elvis escaped to Palm Springs on 7 July. A week later his dad would sack the three bodyguards including Red West. Dr Nick would also no longer travel with the group and Elvis’ next two tours are significantly worse.
Overall Verdict:
There are plenty of Elvis collectors who feel that they have already bought enough FTD 1976 soundboards and to be honest this 4-cd set is not cheap. However this is a surprisingly enjoyable three concert set and the soundboard quality is excellent. For collectors the previously unreleased Shreveport July 1 soundboard is a real bonus and Elvis’ final show in Memphis should be in everyone’s collection. Fans who already own Goodbye Memphis or The Final Homecoming need to weigh up whether they need to purchase it once again, but FTD certainly needed to release this show officially and this June / July 1976 tour was definitely one of the best from a rather lacklustre year.
