Memphis Recording Service in association with JAT Productions will release the next Elvis Presley title ‘Such A Night in Pearl Harbor’ in March 2012. It will contain a completely new re-mastered CD of Elvis’ performance of the benefit concert recorded at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on March 25th 1961 to aid of the USS Arizona Memorial Fund.
The quality is of this concert is far superior than anything of this ever released before and will now be considered, one of the best Elvis concert recordings up until that time. Amazing samples of this will be available in the coming week.
Elvis performs 15 songs and sings every one as if it were the first time he had ever presented them to an audience. This includes many #1 hits and includes classics that were never performed previously or again such as ‘A Fool Such As I’, ‘I Need Your Love Tonight’ and more.
Also included for the first time ever, is the 30 minute radio broadcast from Hawaii a week before Elvis’ arrival. It promoted the concert for the memorial fund, playing selected tracks from Elvis’ Christmas and ‘His Hand in Mine’ album, released at that time including words by Elvis Presley.
As a bonus, the CD is accompanied by a 100 page hard back book that contains many rare photographs with extensive and informative linear notes detailing Elvis’ arrival and performance in Hawaii.
Hawaii: For God And Country
A couple of hours later we received news that the unknown label 3764 BLVD Publishing will release the same material with the title Hawaii: For God And Country on March 26.
Their press-release:
The complete benefit show for the Arizona Memorial fund plus the radio broadcast from Uncle Tom’s Cabin a few days earlier to promote the Elvis Show.
This historical show is the only one available of the only 3 shows given in the 60’s before Elvis disappeared from the stage for 8 years. Only 3 days later he started filming “Blue Hawaii”.
The audio is remastered and optimized for maximum listing pleasure; priority has been given to historical value. Nevertheless it will be a thrill to discover the excitement of the only Elvis Show in 1961 recorded to date. The sound on this release is a significant improvement over earlier versions.
A 24 page booklet accompanies the CD (with more than 74 minutes running time), to give detailed background info + many rare photos in b&w and in color. Also included are clippings, articles and items from the show and the fund raising.
THE FIRST 1000 copies will just like in 1961 be numbered
THE ELVIS SHOW
01 Introduction
02 Heartbreak Hotel
03 All Shook Up
04 A Fool Such As I
05 I Got A Woman
06 Love Me
07 Band Introductions
08 Such A Night
09 Reconsider Baby
10 I Need Your Love Tonight
11 That's All Right
12 Don't Be Cruel
13 One Night
14 Are You Lonesome Tonight ?
15 It's Now Or Never
16 Swing Down Sweet Chariot
17 Hound Dog
THE SPECIAL RADIO BROADCAST
Elvis and the Colonel pay tribute to the victims of Pearl Habor 1941 presented by Tom Moffat in a special radio broadcast from Honolulu, Sunday ,March 19, 1961
18 Introduction and promotion for the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial benefit Elvis
Show on Saturday 25th.
19 Take My hand Precious Lord
20 Tom/ EJ Solomons (US. Navy Admiral )
21 I Believe In The Man In The Sky
22 Dialogue/ Neal Shaw Blaisdell (Mayor of Honolulu)
23 It’s No Secret
24 Tom/ Mr. H.Tucker Gratz (Chairman of War Memorial Commision).
25 Milky White Way
26 Tom/George Chaplin* (Editor of Honolulu advertiser)
27 He Knows Just What I Need
28 Tom / William F .Quinn (Governor of Hawaii)
29 I Believe
30 Tom/ Morley Theaker (Sears manager, In charge of the Ticket sales)
31 Tom /Calls Elvis from his ”Uncle Tom’s Gabin” in Hawaii, they talk about a
special broadcast for the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial benefit.
32 The Last Post / Tom
33 Peace In The Valley
34 Tom /Credits.
Well this sounds like waiting for a bus then 2 come along?......i know which one i will be getting?...of course the MRS version as this will be the better of the 2 value-wise. We all know what to expect from MRS and have no reason to believe this will be no different.
I see, we have MRS, it pissed off a bootlegger so then the import label announces it. Well i think its obvious which version I will be getting. MRS have never let me down. And it seems like the same content.
Great news. MRS means quality. An unknown bootleg with ? quality. No hard choice.
Even MRS for the title alone. I mean 'God and Country', come on, how boring. Although it was a benefit show, it was probably the best concert ever so why such a boring title and bring religion into it. I think it should have been called 'Elvis Rocks Pearl Harbor' cos that's exactly what he did.
Was the Benefit concert Elvis did in Memphis that same year ever recorded?
I'm just wondering if MRS have again produced something that FTD may have had plans for??........
These are both not bootlegs, in Europe the recordings will be free on March 26.
Great cover and title + great concert and 100 pages booklet! I will definitely get this new MRS release!
Without a doubt, MRS will do this concert proud. I still have my vinyl of this show from back in the Vic Colona days. It was a gatefold LP with a multi-page section of photos and reprints of newspaper clippings. I remember being duly impressed at the time, but here we are 30 + years into the future, and I am sure I am about to be impressed again with a release of this show. Great follow-up to the Hayride disc. First, Cafe Europa, then Hayride, and now Hawaii '61. MRS seems to be beating and besting FTD at their own game.
I wonder if it's possible to get a better sounding master, from this show? Its a great concert, however.
Does anyone know why this was not released last December - the 70th Anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and the 50th year of the concert? It would have been a fitting tribute all round.
The recording was still in copyright last December.
Not true. MRS is not the bootleg but the other one is. MRS still have to pay publishing royalties whereas the other does not.
The MRS version will be the one to buy, no doubt! I'll snag it up the minute it goes on pre-sale. Glad to finally see something other than the seemingly endless string of rehashed audience recordings!
JeanMarie : this is NOT an FTD release. The MRS version will sell for around £12, I guess, which is less than $20. The quality and content of their releases have been consistently superb.
J.M.... here we go again ! MRS' "Hayride...." was sold for around £12. So I guess this forthcoming release will probably be in the same price-category . Is there any chance you know the difference between MRS, FTD, RCA, BMG, Sony, EPE, etc... etc...? Always El.
The MRS packages have been fairly priced such as the Hayride, and the Army recordings. This appears to be the same type and style of package. Once again JM, research before you post nonsense.
Looks like another winner from MRS. Anyone know where they got the source from? It's probably not very likely there are two recordings of the concert, so I guess this comes from the same tape as used previously. Not a lot to work on, but MRS did wonders with the Hirsch Coliseum final Hayride show, so I look forward to hearing this. I have actually been inside the Bloch arena & it's still pretty much the same as it was in 1961, with long wooden bench seats in rows painted red, white & blue, with very large white canvas flaps surrounding the building. It's now used as a sports facility, mainly basketball, for the Pearl Harbour MWR (Navy Morale, Welfare & Recreation)
Can't wait for this. MRS are excellent and i expect this to be another winner. Leaving FTD way behind now in terms of quality and value for money.
As I mentioned earlier, these recordings were still in copyright last December so they were unavailable for release then. I do remember the constant bleating from one direction about how the CD should have been released then to cash in on the anniversary of the day 2402 people were killed. Sick or what? As for the comment about it costing around the $100 mark, this just proves that despite always having so much to say, this certain person has never bought any of the MRS releases. Previous releases have cost around the £12 mark.
As mentioned, MRS is paying royalties. If so, I wonder why MRS can come up with great products while FTD products are so meager.
does anybody know if that show was ever filmed??
I think the point is, all MRS products come as deluxe products. The CD's are always accompanied with pages of information and photographs at almost half the price of an FTD. MRS could easily sell it for more if they wanted to. FTD is a rip off in comparison. Thanks guys, please keep em coming
About the copyrights. Someone wrote on an earlier subject that the 50 years were from when it was released, not recorded. If I remember correctly I bought the silver box around 1980. Not that it matters much to me, but it is interesting anyway to know if this is true.
When items started going out of copyright, there was confusion over whether the fifty years started upon recording or release. There was a challenge over "My Happiness", because although it was recorded in 1953, it was not released until 1990. It was decided that the clock did start ticking in 1953, but in the particular case of "My Happiness", people could not use it unless they took their recording from the original acetate. Copying the recording from "The Great Performances" was not allowed. From "That's All Right" onwards, it was very different because people had a multitude of vintage vinyl releases to dub their CDs from. In the case of this new CD, MRS have to use the original tape, or a copy. They are not allowed to dub from the "Elvis Aron Presley" version. It is a very complicated situation, but one that has clear defined rules.
Regarding film of the show, sadly no footage or evidence of filming has ever emerged.
See ? The Colonel wasnt so smart after all. He knew the movie contracts were going to tie Elvis up for years so a recording or film of these 1961 shows would have been a natural for prosperity. He just wasnt into the art/culture aspect of what Elvis meant to the world ,just what he meant to his wallet. So we have to to rely on crap sounding tapes and home made films. Thanks!
Have to agree snowplow - that has to be one of the best set lists ever.
samples are upon Amazon uk, sounds great congratulations. Love the sound on fool such as I.
I have just given the samples a listen, they sound great. To find them all, put the date of the concert (25th March 1961) into the search box and you will find them.
I will get the MRS release since I like the packaging better. And yes, what a great show it is! In the FTD release 'Elvis sings Memphis Tennessee' it is mentionned that Elvis was going on a small concert tour in 1963. We can only imagine the songlist, with Elvis singing his latest hits: Devil in disguise, His latest flame, Good luck charm, Surrender, Return to sender, etc... Unfortunately, that tour was cancelled in the planning stage, what a shame! I still don't understand why there are no recordings of his 2 Memphis benefit shows in 1961. But at least we have this show. - TCB
its on Amazon uk now for £13.50
Too bad this band arrangement and style did not prevail in the 1969-1977 Vegas/Concert years!
