Mostly TV performances. There's some Louisiana Hayride recordings but no full concerts as far as I'm aware.
I like this 4 CD Boxset from the early 2000s. It has a 1969 show, a 1970 show and a partial 1956 show with some odds and end from the mid 1970s in excellent sound quality.
There are very few live Elvis recordings from the 1950s, and of those, few were professionally recorded. The Louisana Hayride performances which are 1954-1956, mostly short radio show performances in front of a live audience at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, are great and, in my opinion, essential.
Lots of great suggestions here for the '70s concerts. He was never better than the sit-down shows from the Comeback Special. The August 1969 concerts are all pretty great. The box set, IMO, is too much of a good thing, and I generally prefer the mix in the FTDs. In the FTD world, for the 1969 run I lean toward Hot August Night and Live in Vegas, I guess. If you can't resist the siren song of FTD, I've had decent luck on eBay, though winning bids lately have been in the $40-$50 range. Patience and diligence are your friend.
I would say MSQ and Memhis 1974. On both releases, the band is on fire. I do sense kinda extra motivation in Elvis’ performances. 1972, could be the venue that triggered him. Memphis…….it speaks for itself.
It's kind of strange, the self deprecation wears thin, but, it's also a small insight to him being insecure when he shouldn't be.
Another great one; "Showroom Internationale" which presents the complete dinner show on August 12th. 1970 in Las Vegas. And if you want another complete 1974 concert besides the Memphis, March 20th 1974 concert you can get the deluxe or Legacy release of Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis which also contains the pro recorded concert from Richmond, March 18th 1974. Trond
It's a superb concert. Had it been recorded with better sound it would be a contender for Elvis's best live album. But even the FTD release couldn't work miracles with the audio quality. The best official live album released during Elvis's lifetime would be In Person At The International Hotel. You can't go wrong with other releases of his '69 concerts either. Elvis's best semi-live album would be the '68 Comeback Special, in whatever configuration. During these years Elvis had the most to prove and the most energy to prove it with. The 1970 live albums, such as On Stage and the FTDs from that year, are next in quality and vitality. I find Aloha From Hawaii overrated--some of the ballads are performed in a grandiose, impressive style but the rock'n'roll parts of the show suffer. Elvis was not at full-power. And while one can find moments of transcendence even in Elvis's final live performances, it's fair to say that no concert from 1971-77 can match his earlier ones as a whole.
Sadly, no one at RCA Victor thought ti record Elvis live in the fifties although we have the TV soundtracks and amateur recordings. Again , no one thougt to record Elvis’s 1960 Memphis benefit concert and no one filmed his 1969 International shows which I understand were pretty wild with Elvis moving and leaping all over the stage.
These are my pics: Pearl Harbor also is a must, but dunno where best version is. I still go to the one on Elvis Aron Presley box set.
Of the original RCA releases, In Person is arguably the best official live album. The best posthumous live albums include: Hot August Night (FTD) Live In Vegas (FTD) The Wonder of You (FTD) Also, the 8/12/70 midnight show from Las Vegas is fantastic, but it is only available as part of two box sets, so it isn't exactly a live album.
For people who haven't heard it and can't afford to pick up one of the FTD copies, here's the show: (Even in this audio quality it's still a contender for Elvis' best live album.)
The radio broadcast from Robinson Memorial Auditorium in Little Rock (5/16/56) from the Today, Tomorrow & Forever box set is another essential 1950's recording.
I have a different perspective of the Live In Las Vegas box set. At the time of release, I found it to be the most disappointing Elvis box set ever released. It held so much promise, and really failed to deliver on so many fronts. The 1969 concert, the first ever released in its entirety, contained a recording where Larry Muhoberac's keyboard work was recorded low in the mix, plus the mid-concert monologue was excised from its historically accurate place in the concert and placed at the end. The 1970 concert, was worth the price of admission, arguably containing Dennis Ferrante's best mixing work. It has since been superseded. The third disc was an abomination, a straight-up recycling of previously released live recordings from 1970/1972. The primary consumer for this box set was the serious fan and collector, so it made no sense that some alternates from the 1970/1972 live tapes were not issued. Then there was the fourth disc, a somewhat misdirected collection of odds and ends, containing nothing from the 1971-1973 period, plus the third or fourth recycling of the 1956 set from Vegas.
Agreed. I saw it more or less as some sort of missed opportunity myself. Never liked this recycling policy. To get a complete (more or less) show from the 1970 Summer Festival in Vegas was great though. Trond
Has anyone here Cherry Picked off their favorite live versions of the songs from the various album's? If so an you be so kind to share with us?
You have to look at what we ( the fans) got in our shelves by 2001. The first two discs containing lots of unreleased material. While disc four gives a good insight on the diversity of Elvis’ choice of songs performing in Las Vegas, August 1974 and March/December 1975 (also 1956 included). In all, a nice set to have.
I know what you´re talking about, and I mostly agree with what you say. I guess much of the reason for our disappointments with the box set came as a direct result of the many bootlegs we got during the "golden era" of lables like Fort Baxter, Diamond, Rock Legend and so forth. So, it was a nice set for the mainstream market, but as for us the fans...kinda missed opportunity. Though, one of the best things that ever happened to us Elvis fans (and perhaps the Elvis legacy) was that Ernst M. Joergensen came in and was given responsibility for the Elvis catalogue. FTD has been a wonderful journey Trond
Im very surprised that so many of you says Aloha is the best live show release. I for one cant stand it due to Elvis` voice that sound strange,weak or tied…not sure what the problem is. And the sound mix is not something I like.I never listen to Aloha audio unless im watching the show…but not often that happens. My favorite multitrack recorded show is definately 12 august 1970 MS show,released 2 times officially….in 2000 and 2014. Also two of the shows from 1969 released on the FTD label is great.And I have a soft spot for all the multitrack shows/recordings from february/august 1970.
Nervousness for one. And I think that perhaps the tight diet he went through to get in shape (or whatever) before this event may have caused some of the loss in strenght/energy/attack in his voice. At least at the start of the main concert (January 14th.) I remember I used to hold the dress rehearsal concert (January 12th) as being the better of the two, but that has definately changed. Regarding the main concert, he sounds a bit out of it at the beginning of See See Rider, though he sounds pretty good at the end of the song. Burning Love is okay, while Steamroller Blues starts off a bit weak again but he nails it after the guitar solo IMO. He seems to loosen up as the concert heads forward and when he´s relaxed he delivers some truly great singing; It´s Over, What Now My Love, I Can´t Stop Loving You, I´m So Lonesome I Could Cry, An American Trilogy, I´ll Remember You (perhaps the ultimate version) and even A Big Hunk O´Love is performed very well. The downpoint for me during the concert is Suspicious Minds, a song I really don´t care that much for after 1970. No need to talk about Hound Dog either which was always a throwaway after 1970. I do enjoy the bluesy wha wha versions from 1972 though. Aloha From Hawaii was more of an event than a rock concert, and it was "Elvis In Person" anno 1973. He performed his best concerts of 1973 on the road in April and in June/July. Too bad none of those concerts have surfaced in soundboard quality. Trond
I've trimmed the tracks on In Person and got rid of the Rupert Pupkinesque chatter in between songs: that makes it a perfect Elvis live album, in my view. And I've swapped the version of Are You Lonesome Tonight for the laughing version, as I'm not completely humourless.
I have the similar issue with his voice heard a few weeks later thru some soundboard recordings. Nervousness shouldnt be a issue in Vegas in late jan/early feb 73.
8/11/70 midnight show. A very good show. The sound quality was superseded by the 2014 TTWII box, mixed by Steve Rosenthal and mastered by Vic Anesini.
I like this set, too — warts and all. (Particularly the first two discs.) Yes, the 1969 gig sounds like it's been mixed by a mechanic rather than a connoisseur. A "fine-art-style" audio masterpiece? Nope. But... that's part of the fun of real rock 'n' roll, isn't it? It's supposed to have some ****ing impact and attitude to it. It brings to mind the early Elvis recordings... where nobody even cared too much about mixing niceties (because we understood that's not what it was all about). You bet I understand the value of a "delicate" mix. But I think there's also a place for lobbing a bundle of dynamite — and that's what this mix is all about. You can listen to these recordings and feel the thrill of experiencing an actual live show, in all its messiness — with the King of Rock 'n' Roll leaping about the stage a mere 20 feet away. There's a palpable sense of danger to it. (It's the sort of mix I can imagine Neil Young turning in, when he's in a fired-up, bullish mood.) And Ferrante captures the body and guts of Elvis's vocals better than most others, too. So I think the 1969 mixes on Live In Las Vegas represents the sheer energy better than the FTDs; which are exquisitely mixed in the vintage style... But also sometimes sound like lessons in ancient history — with all the sonic impact of an over-boiled cabbage. You want Vic Anesini to drop out his monocle and spike up his hair, for a second. (And there's a reason why sound engineers gave up panning the drums hard-left, about 3000 years ago.) Other thoughts: If you can get past the added "Sun"-style echo on Elvis's vocal, the Live 1969 box set is good fun — a little more refined than Live In Las Vegas, Elvis's vocal not as mighty, but still sounding very much like it was mixed by somebody with a pulse. (By contrast, Prince From Another Planet pursues the live sound so aggressively that it sprints off a cliff.). I wasn't much impressed by the 1970 mixes on the That's The Way It Is 2014 box set. Elvis's vocals sound thin and recessed, it's all a bit "2D" sounding, and although the earlier Ferrante 1970 mixes aren't perfect, they're still superior. The deluxe 2-DVD mix of Aloha From Hawaii was the most enjoyable representation of that gig, for many years. Superseded by the new FTD? Dunno, as I haven't heard it yet. I think one of the best sounding Elvis live records is the FTD of Memphis 1974. But don't get me started on the lifeless, "recorded in a vacuum" Legacy edition! GRRR!
