Another volume in the Standing Room Only Tapes on the Madison label just fell in my mailbox. This time it’s a re-release of the poorest of the old Vicky outings, Carry Me Back To Old Virginia. Madison gave it the title Red-Hot In Richmond, is it Red-Hot?
Design
It gets boring, but once again Madison delivered a top notch product. The booklet carries only pictures of the actual show, okay, next to one of the Richmond Coliseum. The liner notes are a perfect review by themselves. It is hard not just to copy them.
Content
You can’t even compare it to the Vicky release of the show. It is way better in sound quality and far more complete. Compared to the recent A Greensboro Revolution I can’t be that positive. Don’t get me wrong, it is still a damn fine recording, but the balance is just less than on volume 1 in this series. Elvis is a bit too upfront to me. Well, the fact that I am playing it for the third time in a row now may underline that I am supposedly exaggerating a bit.
Looking at the set list there are not too many surprises in this show. There are some marvelous versions of Proud Mary, Polk Salad, Suspicious Minds (great horn in the first part!) and It’s Over, the known throwaway versions of the oldies (although Heartbreak Hotel is above par, and Hound Dog gets the bluesy treatment).
I found out that the wrestling with his necklace is more fun on screen than on CD (Until It’s Time) and unfortunately he is fooling around a bit in the beginning of Bridge, but he makes up for that more than enough later in the song. I Can't Stop Loving You is very strong, Trilogy gets one of the better treatments and Lawdy Miss Clawdy does not get the treatment the other oldies get. It is a great relaxed version which carried me away (but not over that big scary water). Unfortunately we miss a few bars of it. The country tunes For The Good Times and Funny How Time Slips Away belong to the top segment of the show.
Conclusion
Especially the booklet is Red-Hot both thanks to the designer and the jumpsuit, and the show... well, actually it is pretty Red-Hot too. I expect Madison to release all shows of this tour in this quality, bring them on!
Tracklisting
01. Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra 1:17
02. C.C. Rider 2:59
03. Proud Mary 2:43
04. Never Been To Spain 3:36
05. You Gave Me A Mountain 3:13
06. Until It's Time For You To Go 2:31
07. Polk Salad Annie 3:14
08. Love Me 1:37
09. All Shook Up 0:58
10. Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 1:49
11. Heartbreak Hotel 2:04
12. Hound Dog 1:21
13. Bridge Over Troubled Water 4:11
14. Love Me Tender 1:43
15. It's Over 2:15
16. Suspicious Minds 4:52
17. Introduction of Vocalists, Musicians, Orchestra 1:50
18. For The Good Times 3:07
19. I Can't Stop Loving You 2:21
20. An American Trilogy 4:15
21. Lawdy Miss Clawdy (incomplete, the kick-off is missing)* 2:40
22. Funny How Time Slips Away 2:49
23. Can't Help Falling In Love / Closing Vamp 2:02
'I Can Stop Loving You'?!?!?!
Yes, easily :-). Sorry, typo... or is it another newly discovered song?
At least Harvery did read the whole review :-)
Lex, don't you just love being "bored" by a top notch product? :-) Is there any solid news about a Volume 3? I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a complete release of the Hampton Roads Concert in Madison quality. As far as the label goes, I don't know how Madison has managed to produce such great stuff, but I'm glad that they do.
This is a import? you would never know it,shows what can happen when you dedicate thought into a product!
I think I have to admit....a milestone....
This is where FTD are missing a trick. This is the sort of stuff they should be looking at. I get more excited about the Madison releases than the official label. Pure class in comparison.
This morning I got a copy in my mailbox. Is it okay or was it wrong delivered? Design: From experts I heard that Elvis was actually throwing his guitar at the soundmen. Nice shot, but did he had a right to? Content: After the first song he says 'thank you, good evening, hope you have a nice time'. Before doing Hound Dog he warns 'this is my message song for tonight'. After the great introductions Elvis asks for the houselights to be turned on, goose bumps all over. And probably the highlight: "be careful driving home, till we meet you again'. Essential stuff. For song references please check similar shows. Conclusion: for 25, 30 dollars you have a nice booklet and red figures considering your financial situation..
Jerome, any chance you could post your message again, only this time in English?
Jerome, you used an awful lot of words to say absolutely nothing...
I received my copy a couple of days ago, and I'm very impressed. The artwork and essay in the full color booklet live up to Madison's high reputation. The pic on the back cover of the booklet is especially cool! The overall sound is great, though I agree with Lex that the balance is a little off. I think some of balance issues can be attributed to Elvis' high energy performance. At times he either had the mic too close to his mouth, or not close enough, depending on what he was doing. But alas, this is an audiophile's nit-picking. In truth, sound variations on a live CD add to the authenticity of the recording. The best thing about this CD is Elvis himself. Yes, he clowns around a little bit here and there, but even with that, each song is handled very well. His good mood makes the show all the more enjoyable. Plus, Elvis was in very good voice. He confidently changes his phrasing in spots, and he goes totally nuts on the high notes! Simply fantastic! Another highlight of the show is the audience reaction to Trilogy. I've never heard applause go for almost the entirety of the song, but the fans in Virginia just couldn't resist going crazy. No doubt that Elvis was inspired by such a great crowd. Another winner from Madison!
This is a stellar follow-up volume in the terrific "Standing Room Only tapes" series...! These titles are total gems and discussion is not really warrented! Madison pulled out out the stops and any minor gripes about sound are small when compared to the huge improvements and overall best ever-package! I wouldn't steer you wrong, folks - run don't walk!
What we cant talk about this now? i got this release today,artwork is stunning,nice to see someone put some effort into a project!
Sound is great for a bootleg cd, but not even close to the official releases like it was mentioned in some reviews. In my modest opinion, great show, great art work by Madison, the sound is a little bit muddy, but you can't win them all. A must have!
I agree,maybe Madison should do the artwork and Ftd do the sound,no wait Ftd might or might not choose the right person to mix the cd.These shows should have already been dont by the main label or a Ftd set and with a booklet,yes i said a booklet,just say no to the digi pack ernst!
Thanks Greg and Lefty for sharing your positive and good reviews with us all re this fantastic CD
No, we haven't heard it yet, but will from now on also (like Mature EP Pals) listen or read those opinion BEFORE we buy those. Having said this, we agree that Madison should be doing some work for FTD and Ernst; then we will get better quality material and nicer too (plus booklet with color prints, not in B/W guys...that is cheap) You see, as John wrote, we fear that many fans get more excited about the upcoming/future Madison releases than the FTDs and that means LESS sales for BMG...Ernst and Roger: please take note ! By the way, they should use those fantastic colored photos that were shot by Bob Heis or Keith Alverson or Ed Bonja/Ed Hill...Great unpublished material that should be in those digipack booklets. Too bad Dude, the America CD is not released in digipack format with plenty of those great unpublished pics !
