As I have noted before several times over many years, The concept of On Stage - it is a "concept album" - was to have an album of songs new to Elvis, recorded live. It is exactly what it was intended to be. The Colonel's joke of On Stage is that Elvis' name did not appear on the front or back cover of the original LP, although it was on the spine of the LP. Various "reissues" with bonus tracks change or damage that concept. For its concept it is a perfect album. I've loved it since the summer of 1970, and I remember when and where I got it.
There's only one other life-time album that I can recall that also doesn't have Elvis' name on it. Anyone know it without having to look at them all?
Right, clearly the scope changed at some point, they attempted to capture multiple performances of Don’t Cry Daddy, Kentucky Rain, and Long Tall Sally, for example. The first two ought to have gone on there at least.
Full or mostly complete concerts were recorded. The concept of the On Stage LP was only songs new to Elvis. It was not meant to be "Elvis Live In Concert", since that was mostly covered with the Live At The International Hotel disc of From Memphis To Vegas, six months earlier. It was meant to be "Elvis' New Album of new songs, this time the gimmick concept is it is all recorded live". And it included hit single of The Wonder Of You. (Fifty one years later sigh)
It was also one of the very first catalogue titles that I purchased when I really got into Elvis in the mid 70's. I was just blown away by what great sound this live album had for its day. The song selection was really cool as well, and certainly early Elvis biographer Jerry Hopkins noticed the great Las Vegas crowd reaction to his live cover versions of Polk Salad Annie, Walk A Mile In My Shoes and Sweet Caroline in his book. Maybe this too was noted by someone at RCA or by Felton Jarvis, hence the metamorphous of the concept for a live covers album. I just noticed that the very gifted conductor for Elvis's On Stage album, as well as the very first arranger for his return to Las Vegas in 1969, Bobby Morris, passed away in San Diego on Saturday at the ripe old age of 93. Bobby was an incredible musician, who earned his reputation as a world class drummer with Louis Prima and Keely Smith in the 1950's. He came up with an unusual backbeat known as The Morris Shuffle, Lol. Elvis really got along well with Bobby, but due to some union politics with the musicians that were affiliated with the hotel orchestra, the relationship ended prematurely. Bobby was still drumming when the International Hotel called him up in a panic because the legendary big band leader, Harry James, suddenly dropped out of his duties as the prospective in house conductor for all their resident headliners at the brand new hotel in 1969. Bobby quickly took some conducting classes at a local college (apparently drumming and conducting involve a very similar set of skills), and the next thing Bobby knew was that he was on his way to Los Angeles to meet with Elvis and go over a proper setlist. Bobby Morris, drummer to the Vegas greats, dies at 93 - Las ... www.reviewjournal.com
I never really thought of this as a concept album. It was for me a hook album, one of the first that got me into Elvis. Showed me he was a hell of a performer and musician. Much more than the stereotype.
There were some very good renditions of Kentucky Rain, and it was a recent hit from January/February 1970, so a live version on a full-length commercial album six months later would have made sense, much like RCA issuing a stellar live version of Suspicious Minds on From Memphis to Vegas/From Vegas to Memphis just a couple of months after the hit single was issued.
Back to live 1969. Why no 3rd August (issued by FTD as Return to Vegas) on the live Sony 69 box? Also any reason to keep the 2cd Viva Las Vegas with the live 21st August midnight show which is in live 69 box? Why are the 7 tracks listed on Keith Flynn's site from the 21st August dinner show not released anywhere? Thanks trying to sort out my live Elvis 69 stuff.
Until 1972, Elvis' concerts were not a recurring greatest hits show, but real shows with a lot of room for improvisation, so different setlists. But you can already see from 1971 that Elvis will be performing more and more ballads. To get rid of Rock n Roll image in this way, in the coming years.
Why no 3rd August (issued by FTD as Return to Vegas) on the live Sony 69 box? Maybe the producers didn't want to scare people off with the jarring sound quality and the fact it fades in and out as if on an LP album. I agree though it could've been included as a 'last disc curio' with a full explanation. Also any reason to keep the 2cd Viva Las Vegas with the live 21st August midnight show which is in live 69 box? Different mix, I suppose? Also, the first song is spliced with another version to avoid the 'slander my @ss all over the place' ad-lib, so the novelty value. Ah, keep it; it'll save trying to re-buy it somewhere down the line for a potentially extortionate price... Why are the 7 tracks listed on Keith Flynn's site from the 21st August dinner show not released anywhere? Apparently, if you look at the 'Notes box' just under that entry, it's because it is merely a sound test of bit 'n' bobs or such-like...
The August 3rd show (if indeed that’s the correct date) isn’t a multitrack recording. It’s not actually clear what it is, soundboard or otherwise. The August 21st recordings, if they still exist, are apparently just test recordings of snippets of songs in preparation for recording the next show. Regarding keeping Viva Las Vegas, that would come down to preferences on sound and mixing.
For the most part, even in 1969-1971, the set-lists left little room for improvisation. There was the occasional rarity included (and when RCA was recording, or MGM filming, additional material was attempted), but Elvis' concert formula was fairly regimented.
The mix and mastering of the 21st August midnight show on the 2cd "Viva Las Vegas" live set is vastly superior to the loud, compressed and drum centric mix on the 69 box.
@Spencer R has already challenged the perception many times in previous posts, so I don't want to drag that dead horse again, but Elvis's 70's setlists were not anymore static then a lot of very current rock stars and groups of his time. As Spencer has said previously, Elvis never imagined that all these soundboards would be released one day by his very own boutique record label, Lol. He knew many fans would only have one chance to see him live in concert in their lifetime, so naturally he was almost always going to cover certain iconic hit songs. Elvis mixed up his show pretty dramatically for Aloha From Hawaii in 1973 (My Way, Steamroller Blues, Welcome To My World, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Fever, I'll Remember You, etc,), and he was reliably putting in his newer hit singles into his concert setlist's in 1974 and 1975 (It's Midnight, Promised Land, If You Talk In Your Sleep, Help Me, T-R-O-U-B-L-E, etc.) I am not really sure that it was a conscious decision by Elvis to shred his "Rock n Roll Image" as much as it was the fact that he had been drawn to ballads since the very beginning of his career, and he did want to be known as a truly great singer. Elvis was very competitive in that sense as Dave Marsh essayed in the liner notes for the 70's box set. I think Elvis enjoyed his Rock 'n' Roll image, and he still sang some rock based material until his very last days, whether it was his updated cover of Chuck Berry's Promised Land, or an original like T-R-O-U-B-L-E or Way Down. Elvis's problem was that he was being cut off from access to potentially great rock material and other artists through Tom Parker's stranglehold on the artist.
I don't agree. You can clearly see a difference between Las Vegas 1969 and Las Vegas January/February 1970. While 1969 covers most of his own hits, 1970 features more songs from other singer/songwriters. Don't forget the songs that were sometimes done but to a lesser extent.
Almost every major rock act’s setlist of this era was highly regimented. Look at the Stones’ setlist on their 1972 tour, it almost never changed. People can repeat whatever they want about Elvis’s static setlists, but it’s simply not true. There was a huge turnover of songs between 1969, spring 1970, and summer 1970, and then significant new material was added in 1972, 1973, and 1974.
That doesn't mean the 1969/1970 period invited improvisation. 1974 differed from 1975, and so on. But Elvis had a concert formula and he rarely deviated from it. Each respective touring year was different to some degree, but for each respective year, he would largely stay faithful to that particular year's set-list, only interchanging a song or two here and there.
There is a big difference between the Elvis from the first concert years, being more motivated, if not healthier. As the years went on, both these issues slipped into a downfall. Boredom took control. That “The Wonder of You”, for example, was added in 1975 is just another tune from years earlier. Of course during these concerts years, setlists did change. But not as significant as in the first years.
Set lists staying relatively consistent during a given tour shouldn’t IMO be considered a bad thing - this is par for the course of almost any musical act (be it pop, rock, blues, classical, country etc.) performing to large crowds of the era. And really almost any era. Stands to reason, especially for larger bands where parts need to be worked out in advance as well as stage lighting, the timing of the show and a laundry list of other reasons. It shouldn’t be looked at negatively in Elvis’ situation.
The setlist rot began to set in when See See Rider became the defacto set opener for every show, year after year. 1972 is very much a transitional year if you think about it, the last consistent year of dedicated, higher energy performances, whilst also the first year he starts opening his shows with a non-Elvis related song. After the June tour it would become the song he'd open virtually every show with for the rest of his life. This is when the format basically locked in with little deviation thereafter.
As for the mix -- I just did a quick comparison of the Viva Disc 2 and the Live 69 sets. The song "Memories" for example, was quite different. There's no background vocals on the Viva disc. It's like they were mixed out -- or it was from a soundboard. Personally, I preferred the Live 69 set. Viva is softer, singer-focused, and more of a traditional 90s-sounding Elvis CD. Live '69 has that drier (yet with more reverb?), crisper, clean and energetic sound of a modern remix -- but avoids the hollowness often found on remixes. Elvis isn't over-powered like on the Memphis '74 remix -- but the band definitely has more presence. Probably compressed... but I like it on a live record.
Thanks to you both the 2cd will be staying at chez torch! I never really played through the whole 69 box but thought Vic had done it and that they just used the most recent masterings. Ah well back to the drawing board. Oh thanks to all for comments on sound quality re 69 box etc. Always a great thread to follow.
Although latter era (1969-1977 )soundboard recordings (such as the 8/3/69 show) are a staple of the FTD label, Sony has avoided using them in any so-called "mainstream" US releases. The biggest exceptions that pop into mind would be the hybrid 1975 show on the "Elvis Aron Presley" box, and the 1974 Richmond show on the expanded, 2-disc version of "As Recorded Live On Stage in Memphis...what else? A few bonus tracks on the "Live In Las Vegas" box?
