Another Straight Arrow release finally reached me. This time it brings “a two mike ambiance live recording” of the show on February 14, 1973 in Las Vegas.
Design
As usual the design of the fold out case is tasteful, with pictures of the king on stage and some background information.
Content
The show is an audience recording, as said in the intro, with two mikes. I can easily conclude that the people on the right shouted louder than the people on the left! To me the result is an average sounding audience recording, with the instruments (especially the guitar) very clear and Elvis a bit too far in the background.
The show on the other hand is one of the better of the engagement with as highlight to me a Steamroller in overdrive. Also Heartbreak Hotel gets a good treatment, which is quite remarkable for an oldie. Like the front cover promised What Now My Love is a great version too and Suspicious Minds gets the usual showstopper treatment.
Even with the bonus track the CD is only 50+ minutes, which is very short. This is due to Elvis’ health problems at that moment.
Conclusion
Merely for collectors: the show is not really special and the sound quality is not among the best.
Trackslisting
01. Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 02. C. C. Rider - 03. I Got A Woman / Amen - 04. Love Me Tender - 05. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me - 06. Steamroller Blues - 07. You Gave Me A Mountain - 08. Fever - 09. Love Me - 10. Blue Suede Shoes - 11. Heartbreak Hotel - 12. Johnny B. Goode - 13. Hound Dog - 14. What Now My Love - 15. Suspicious Minds - 16. Band Introductions - 17. I Can't Stop Loving You - 18. An American Trilogy - 19. Can't Help Falling In Love - 20. Closing Vamp / Announcements.
Bonus: 21. What Now My Love (with false start and reprise, recorded at the February 21, 1973 Dinner Show).
Nothing wrong with the cd soundwise this label gave us what was promised
why is it titled ' You don't have to say you love me?' ..
Because he rarely did this song in 1973 that's why the cd is called : You don't Have To Say You Love Me"
Well,i have this CD and i have to say that the sound is far from great. Elvis is barely audible. This is an Elvis-show without Elvis. The show is very short and boring,without any highlights. Even the package is very average. Straight Arrow didn't even bother to give us a booklet. Just a simple digipak,nothing else. From a booth recording i expected much better sound,from Straight Arrow i expected much better package. All in all an average release. Not bad,but not good either. For completists only. Love,Erika
I so do not agree with you Erika Freiburger, this a great cd,if you don't like it don't buy it..simple.
but how can you find out by not buying it?
Well simply because of just reading the review or other reviews about this cd and then decide if you want it or?,and saying there are no highlights on this cd? what about '' I Can't Stop Loving You''? and ""What Now My Love"? to name just a few ,and Elvis is not so much on the background like mentioned, the sound is stereo and clear and for an audience recording it's very good, so really no complaints from my side,artwork is also very beautiful
Jerome, if you do your homework and wait for cd to be released before buying you can then decide if it's for you or not,as you know there are some real good www to get as much info etc,i don't see why the usual contributors slate Elvis cd's after they have brought it.I have long suspected that a lot of so called negative contributors still buy what they are slating anyway........
Maybe I am just terrribly outdated, but I must say that I do enjoy listening to sound boards just when I did in the seventies. At rare occasions I could buy them and it had that magic touch. It has never failed to give me that touch, even though with the cds of high standard are abundant in my collection. And whenever Elvis had a little less performance, most of the crowd enjoyed his presence. I feel lucky that I can share that sentiment of that moment. Knowing that I also have had my off days and did all I can to please the people, I appreciate that Elvis gave whatever he had to his fans. Don't slate. If you don't like it, don't buy or give it away to those who cannot afford buying.
Great posting Natha ! Very well written ! Always El.
"Merely for collectors" is a strange statement. Who in the hell buys bootlegs other than collectors? Whatever this show has or does not have to offer, it feeds our need to have a bit of good Elvis music that isn't available to the public at large. Keep 'em coming!
I agree with Lex's review. This release is "nothing special". Average show,average sound,short running time and no booklet. Maybe i had too high expectations... You know it's a Straight Arrow release after all. Good label anyway. Still i'm far from satisfied. At least a booklet should have been welcome. I didn't regret buying it but i definitely won't listen to it again anytime soon. Without doubt it's the weakest Straight Arrow release so far.
100% spot on,Lefty. This CD is good enough to make the collection more complete. But other than that,it's a very unremarkable release and i see no reason to buy it. Bad sound,cheapo digipak,average cover and a bored Elvis from february 1973,Las Vegas. After ALoha it wasn't the best thing to return to Vegas... Poor Elvis,he deserved better.
Natha,let's put things straight. You're talking about soundboards but it's an AUDIENCE RECORDING. And not even a good sounding one. I also like soundboards and i buy them all. Audience recordings fall into another category. Usually i buy only the good sounding ones. And this one is not among them. I think for those who still hesitating buying it or not,it's useful to give them an advise and report the sound quality,package etc. Then reading these things they can decide if they are willing to buy it or not. It's up to them what they are willing to do. But don't shoot the messenger please. Everyone has the right to express his/her opinion here,positive or negative,it doesn't matter. Honest opinions are always welcome in my opinion.
Fly-Trouble is right of course. This is just another boring Vegas show in 1973 from a boring Elvis. Those shows are not meant for listening to in the first place. Otherwhise it defenitely would be great to be a member of the audience that night. Get the difference ?
FLY-TROUBLE, I can understand very well what Natha is trying to say : it's the feeling that touches the heart when our man is "on mike" !, be it soundboard or audience or DVD or... you name it. Agreed that it's better to hear him on a audio-bearer with good sound, but there are soundboards that sound worse than some audience recordings, and vice -versa ! Supporting Natha's feelings a 100% ! Always El.
Me supporting Natha's statement as well, and also keep in mind that this show was unreleased i can not hear the bad sound at all or see the cheapo quality of the cover which isn't present,this is not Straight Arrow's weakest release there are indeed soundboards that sound worse,i also don't miss a booklet on this,because there's enough info of this concert on this release,and this concert boring? well that's not what i hear listening to this concert,and ok Elvis wasn't feeling at his best ,but still putting down a show like this makes my admiration for Elvis even bigger then it allready was,so i agree with lefty, Natha, drjohncarpenter0117 and benny scott .This release is far from cheapo or bad,and like a few other fans allready said on this topic.. you don't like it? you don't buy it.
Yes and in those days the white albums were really white. Or a bad photocopy on front just to let you know whose on it. Talking about cheapos. And I paid 40 - 60 US$ for those! The sounds were dreadful and I paid more for it than cds like this. I admit that most of these bad lps are no more in my collection as they got damaged (!) by playing them just to get that 'feel'. And Lefty you are right about these cds being for collectors. I cannot imagine any average listener appreciate these cds. And Fly Trouble, thank you for correcting it being an audience recording.
Being 26 years old,i don't really care what was the price and how was the sound quality of a bootleg LP in the 70's and 80's. This is off-topic in this thread,Natha. As for this release,i received it yesterday and i think it's an acceptable release but the sound is not as good as i longed for. I have other booth recordings and they all sound much better.
I don't think you really understand what Natha was trying to say,nor is her statement far from off topic,And as far this release is concerned i heard much worse booth recordings,this release certainly isn't one of them.
Well,i have many 1973 booth recordings. Just to name a few: Midnight Special, A Profile The King On Stage Vol. 1 CD1, Kicking & Rolling, Faded Love, Getting Down To Business, High Spirits In Las Vegas etc. They all sound much-much better.
If you like this type of recording you must jhave it....the show is o.k..and the sound is, too.. There re better ones sound wise..no question..but it is o.k..if you don`t like AR`s..don`t discuss here..go to the SB section..;-)
