The well known Import label “AudiRec” is back with a very nice and special 4 CD box, titled “THE ASHEVILLE MARATHON” (AudiRec AR 197507234-2). Hear three of the most unusual Elvis Presley Shows of the 1970´s! When Elvis came to Asheville, NC in late July of 1975 to play the final shows of his running tour, he was indeed in a “giving” mood. Elvis delivered a whole bunch of rarely performed song material and handled a big part of them in a kind of “Elvis By Request” style. Since his Record Company RCA was not on hand to record these shows professionally, we can be thankful that fans did record the shows at least with private (non-professional) equipment. One thing is clear: It would have been a big pity if none of those three shows would have been recorded and therefore been “lost” forever. In July 1975, Elvis played 21 shows in 11 different cities. This tour was rated as being one of the very best in Elvis' last years. His powerful vocal delivery, his entertaining mood and his willingness to improvise various unusual songs are what make this tour such a stand-out, and the final 3 shows in Asheville, NC were simply stunning! In Asheville Elvis also played the longest shows of the tour and performed many rarely sung songs. He was kind of promoting his new album “ELVIS TODAY” with “Shake A Hand”, “Fairytale”, “T.R.O.U.B.L.E.” and “Pieces Of My Life”. More than any time before he was interacting with his audience, singing songs by request. For example “Memphis Tennessee”, “An American Trilogy”, “Heartbreak Hotel”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “Something”, “Return To Sender” or “Wooden Heart”.
Elvis was in a hilarious mood. He gave away several golden rings and a fan in the first row - Mike Harris from Asheville - was lucky to get Elvis’ Gibson Ebony Dove guitar! It was the famous guitar which Elvis used in Aloha From Hawaii. Later in the show, Mike Harris thought Elvis was gonna ask for the guitar back, but Elvis leaned down and said: “'No that's yours. I gave that to you for a reason, and it's gonna help you out some day.” These shows were previously released, but all original releases are very hard to find now. Instead of doing a simple “copy & paste” job, we have asked our friends from SA to help us to enhance the sound from scratch, so we are sure that those shows never sounded better! The release is presented in a strong and stable 25 x 14 cm de-luxe 4 CD Long-Box accompanied by a 16-page booklet, filled with a great collection of photos taken in Asheville and press reviews. To make our release even more attractive for serious collectors, we present it in 3 different variations. It means 3 different covers and each cover´s got its own disc labels, too! The content of the CD´s does of course NOT vary! Choose the one version you like most or “collect all three”! In any case do not miss the opportunity to own your copy / copies of “THE ASHEVILLE MARATHON“! It’s the ultimate release of Elvis' magical July 1975 Asheville shows!
Tracks:
CD1:
Asheville, NC, 22.07.1975
01. Also Sprach Zarathustra - 02. C. C. Rider - 03. I Got A Woman / Amen (medley) - 04. Big Boss Man (with reprise) - 05. Why Me Lord (Elvis solo) - 06. Love Me - 07. If You Love Me (Let Me Know) - 08. Shake A Hand (performed 1st time, with 6 false starts) - 09. All Shook Up - 10. Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel (medley) - 11. Hound Dog - 12. The Wonder Of You - 13. Dialogue - 14. Memphis Tennessee (with false start) - 15. Funny How Time Slips Away (with reprise) - 16. Polk Salad Annie - 17. Band Introductions by J. D. Sumner - 18. Johnny B. Goode (instrumental, James Burton) - 19. Drum Solo (Ronnie Tutt) - 20. Bass Solo (Blues - Jerry Scheff) - 21. Piano Solo (Glen D. Hardin) - 22. School Days
CD2:
Asheville, NC, 22.07.1975
01. T.R.O.U.B.L.E. - 02. It's Now Or Never - 03. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me (performed last time) - 04. How Great Thou Art (with reprise) - 05. Burning Love - 06. Let Me Be There - 07. Heartbreak Hotel - 08. Little Darlin' - 09. Mystery Train / Tiger Man (medley) - 10. Monologue - 11. Can't Help Falling In Love - 12. Closing Vamp
Asheville, NC, 23.07.1975
13. Also Sprach Zarathustra - 14. C. C. Rider - 15. I Got A Woman / Amen (medley) - 16. BigBoss Man - 17. Love Me - 18. If You Love Me (Let Me Know) - 19. It's Midnight - 20. All Shook Up - 21. Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel (medley) - 22. Hound Dog - 23. The Wonder Of You - 24. Turn Around, Look At Me - 25. Polk Salad Annie
CD3:
Asheville, NC, 23.07.1975
01. Band Introductions - 02. Johnny B. Goode - 03. Drum Solo (Ronnie Tutt) - 04. Bass Solo (Blues - Jerry Scheff) - 05. Piano Solo (Glen D. Hardin) - 06. School Day - 07. T.R.O.U.B.L.E. - 08. Why Me Lord (funny version) - 09. How Great Thou Art - 10. Let Me Be There (with reprise) - 11. Shake A Hand - 12. Fairytale - 13. Introduction of Vernon Presley - 14. Little Darlin' - 15. Mystery Train / Tiger Man (medley) - 16. Dialogue - 17. Funny How Time Slips Away (with reprise) - 18. It's Now Or Never - 19, Promised Land (performed last time) - 20. Can't Help Falling In Love - 21. Closing Vamp / Announcements.
CD4:
Asheville, NC, 24.07.1975 01. Also Sprach Zarathustra - 02. That's All Right - 03. I Got A Woman (with false start) / Amen (medley) - 04. Big Boss Man - 05. Love Me - 06. If You Love Me (Let Me Know) - 07. All Shook Up - 08. Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel (medley) - 09. Hound Dog - 10. An American Trilogy (by request) - 11. Heartbreak Hotel (by request) - 12. Jailhouse Rock (by request) - 13. Something (by request, performed last time) - 14. Return To Sender (by request, performed 1st time) - 15. Wooden Heart (by request) - 16. Hawaiian Wedding Song (with reprise, by request) - 17. Bridge Over Troubled Water - 18. Polk Salad Annie - 19. Band Introductions - 20. Johnny B. Goode - 21. Drum Solo (Ronnie Tutt) - 22. Bass Solo (Blues - Jerry Scheff) - 23. Piano Solo (Glen D. Hardin) - 24. School Day - 25. T.R.O.U.B.L.E. - 26. Shake A Hand (one to last performance) - 27. Introduction of Vernon Presley and Dr. Nick - 28. Pieces Of My Life (only live version) - 29. How Great Thou Art (with reprise) - 30. Can't Help Falling In Love - 31. Closing Vamp / Announcements