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Rebooked At The International

By ElvisNews.com/ Lex, September 27, 2011 | Music

The new label Backdraft kicked of with a 4CD release of Elvis’ 2nd Vegas engagement. Is it a worthy addition or replacement of what we already have?

Design

Labour of love: a lot of known pictures in perfect quality, but also quite some stunning new ones. That’s about all I can say about it, only the 100 page presentation is worth buying the set.

Content

Of course we all know a lot of the material that came to us before in several outings, being official or unofficial. It’s simply Elvis at his best, certainly live!

The CD with the opening show has the same overloaded mike as on the original Fort Baxter release, but overall the sound is way better. Madison tried to repair this overload, with a more or less negative influence on the sound in general, but for listening pleasure I prefer the Madison outing.

The 2nd “rough mix” CD is of perfect quality. It’s definitely not the same mix as on Good Times Never Seem So Good, it’s less polished and because of that closer to a live experience.

CD #3 is by far my favourite of this set some unreleased versions, mixed with known material in perfect sound quality. As a matter of fact in my ears it sounds better than the same tracks on FTD’s Polk Salad Annie (as far as these tracks are on PSA). Unfortunately the bonus material (mainly rehearsals) sounds a little less, but still very good.

The CD with the closing show sounds clear, with a little reverb compared to the Madison version of it. Normally I don’t like reverb at all, but here it’s done with taste, just a little bit.

Conclusion

If not for the artwork I still think the set is worth its money. Especially CD three is marvellous. A true collector’s item and perfect debut of Backdraft!

Tracklisting

CD 1 Opening Show - January 26, 1970 - International Hotel - Las Vegas, Nevada

Sammy Shore (Comedy Act)* Unreleased
Opening Vamp
All Shook Up
That´s All Right
Elvis talks
Proud Mary
Don´t Cry Daddy
Teddy Bear/Don´t Be Cruel
Long Tall Sally
Let It Be Me
I Can´t Stop Loving You
Walk A Mile In My Shoes/In The Ghetto
True Love Travels On A Gravel Road
Sweet Caroline
Polk Salad Annie
Introductions
Kentucky Rain
Suspicious Minds
Can´t Help Falling In Love

CD 2 (Unreleased in its original form) On Stage - The Felton Jarvis Rough Mix

See See Rider (Feb. 18; DS)
Elvis talks (Feb. 18; MS)
Release Me (Feb. 18; MS)
Sweet Caroline (Feb. 16; DS)
Elvis talks (Feb. 18; DS)
The Wonder Of You (Feb. 18; DS)
Polk Salad Annie (Feb. 18; MS)
Elvis talks (Feb. 16; DS)
Proud Mary (Feb. 16; DS)
Walk A Mile In My Shoes (Feb. 19; MS)
Let It Be Me (Feb. 17; MS)
I Can´t Stop Loving You (Feb. 19; MS)

CD 3 (* Denotes as unreleased)

February 18, 1970 - Dinner Show
Long Tall Sally* (incl. false start)
Elvis talks*
Don´t Cry Daddy
The Wonder Of You
Walk A Mile In My Shoes*
Release Me*
Polk Salad Annie*

February 19, 1970 - Dinner Show
Elvis talks
Proud Mary (incl. false start)
Elvis talks
Don´t Cry Daddy*
Elvis talks*
Kentucky Rain*
Let It Be Me*
I Can´t Stop Loving You*
Walk A Mile In My Shoes*
Elvis talks (0:43)
Release Me
See See Rider

Bonus Tracks
Hound Dog (Feb. 15, MS)
Love Me Tender (Feb. 15, MS)
Walk A Mile In My Shoes/In The Ghetto (Feb. 15, MS)
Kentucky Rain (Feb. 16, DS)
The Wonder Of You (Feb. 18, Rehearsal, Version 1)
The Wonder Of You (Feb. 18, Rehearsal, Version 2)
The Wonder Of You (Feb. 18, Rehearsal, Version 3)
Release Me (Feb. 18, Rehearsal)
See See Rider (Feb. 18, Rehearsal)
Walk A Mile In My Shoes (Acetate - Feb. 18, Rehearsal)

CD 4 - Closing Show - February 23, 1970

Opening Vamp
All Shook Up
I Got A Woman
Long Tall Sally
Elvis talks
Don´t Cry Daddy
Elvis talks
Hound Dog
Love Me Tender
Kentucky Rain
Let It Be Me
I Can´t Stop Loving You
See See Rider
Sweet Caroline
Polk Salad Annie
Elvis taking a break
Introductions
Blueberry Hill (Elvis at the piano)
Lawdy Miss Clawdy
Heartbreak Hotel
Elvis talks
One Night
It´s Now Or Never
Suspicious Minds
Elvis talks
Can´t Help Falling In Love
Announcement
 

 

Jerome wrote on September 27, 2011
I am so glad to have obtained this release. Despite that I had to sell my wife and dog for it!..
John Burrows wrote on September 27, 2011
This is probably one of the best imports ever for prime Elvis. FTD could never do anything like this. I tried to get another copy for a friend but from my understanding, there is not a single copy left in the whole wide world.
lray wrote on September 27, 2011
For John Burrows. Just saw one on e-bay for the same high price that you probably paid, from Germany.
drjohncarpenter0117 wrote on September 27, 2011
As a import release it does show just what can be done when packaging,book(lets),and disc's are top notch and easily compares with a lot of the official similar style outtings we have had from Sony over the years.
benny scott wrote on September 27, 2011
A real beauty and indeed a true collector's item. Glad I could get a copy ! John, On Tour and drjohn : I'm with you !Always El.
Tony C wrote on September 28, 2011
We need to be careful when connecting bootleg releases to companies or individuals. The gentleman behind the MRS releases has already crossed swords with EPE over a previous release and this has cost him dearly. I have no knowledge of who is behind this release, but I would think that MRS are the least likely candidates to be behind any underground releases.
Natha wrote on September 28, 2011
Let's not speculate here. lest we want to shoot in our own foot (collection)!
Pedro Nuno wrote on September 28, 2011
Fantastic release in fact. And, also a fact, FTD could never do anything like this, as john says. Only because FTD has to pay royalties, from pictures and sound, and Backdraft for sure did'n paid nothing! But as a colector and fan, i have to say it's a fantastic piece of Rock history we have here.
benny scott wrote on September 28, 2011
TonyC, Natha, you're right. That's why I wrote "probably", so everything's possible . Agreed it's better not to dig further! The future will probably tell. Always El.
John Burrows wrote on September 29, 2011
yes saw that Iray, thank you
Lefty wrote on September 30, 2011
I was going to pass this one by because I'm totally happy with On Stage. After reading all the positive comments I decided to try it out for myself. My order is in the mail as this is being written. I'm sure that I won't be disappointed.
paisley wrote on October 04, 2011
Great! To my ears, the sound is better than on previous releases and the packaging is very good and tasty. Have seen most of the pictures, but to have them presented in a very nice way is another (pleasent!) thing. Elvis at his best, and it´s very intersting to hear him sing a lot of songs for the very very time ever on stage! There´s a lot of energy and nervosity in the opening show- compare it to the closing show. In my opinion, this set is a real winner!
Orion wrote on October 18, 2011
Was this set a little pricey to get to the good ol' USA ? Yep ! Was it worth it ? You betcha ! I simply cannot find fault with anything that this release has to offer. From its detailed liner notes (with a throught-provoking reference to the infamous tablecloth being the shroud of Elvis - with a not so slight nod to the shroud of Turin), to the choice of cuts to include, to the sound (My Boy My Boy) - this set is spectacular. It's incredible the difference between the Aug. '69 shows and this engagement. As the book says, "the new decade would have belonged to him..." I can't end this post without saying how A M A Z I N G the sound on the undubbed "On Stage" recording sound. They have simply got to be heard to believe. This fan has been re-born. Thank you Backdraft for making me a fan of the man from Tennessee once again.
Greg Nolan wrote on December 26, 2011
The label should "give the people" what they want and stop the artificial shortage of this title, single disc version not withstanding.The price the box sold for was over-the-top and its alleged scarcity of what was actually released in the market just drives a lot of us to say "bring it on, FTD." I'm normally a big booster of the better import labels (including "new" labels like this one), but such tactics , well, "bring out the beast in me." A lot of us just don't have the patience for over-priced , all-but-impossible to find titles and find ourselves saying " the 'classic album series' of FTD will have to suffice." Whether it proves as nice is besides the point as I freely admit FTD is sometimes out-classed by the import world. But frankly they more than get the job done.