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Review Kansas City '74 Revisited

By ElvisNews.com/ Lex, August 22, 2021 | Music

MBM (Millbranch Music) released a 3CD/DVD set with material of Elvis’ visit to the Municipal Auditorium on June 29, 1974. The discs contain audio and video of the afternoon and evening shows on that date.

Design

A very nice 3 panel package, with photos from the actual shows behind the disc holders. Also some other memorabilia like newspaper clippings and tickets are shown. One minor: the color of the text, which is often way too dark (on a black background) to be read by elderly people like myself. Not only websites need to be accessible!

Content

The first disc has the afternoon show in Kansas, nearly complete since the closing track is taken from the afternoon show in Fort Worth two weeks earlier in the same tour. The show is as one might expect from Elvis in the first half of 1974 by now. A solid show, with Elvis in a good mood. My personal highlights are Bridge, Big Boss Man and a little fast Steamroller Blues. The sound is a bit thin, with Elvis upfront and the musicians really in the background. You’ll get used to it quickly though and the result is a very enjoyable show.

The second disc, well at least audio disc, has the evening show. Like Fort Baxter’s own re-release of their original outing of the show on A Profile - The King On Stage Volume 1 (1995) on Kansas City Blues (2005) the show is ‘completed’ with tracks of another show. MBM chose to use the afternoon show in Omaha one day later. I do not hear a big difference with the latter Baxter release soundwise, so this one is pretty good too (and certainly better than the original Baxter). Elvis is fooling around a lot - certainly at the beginning of the show - and like the afternoon performance it is a solid show.

The DVD contains 8mm material of both shows and some extras. The main events in 1974 were filmed by Rex Martin and the quality is as good as you can expect from the source of this material. Personally I don’t really like those fragments put together, but in this case it is a nice addition to the audio discs. The inclusion of the Sean Shaver film in Kansas City (November 1971) is nice, but the 1977 material was skipped through at my place. We found it too painful to watch (especially after the 1971 material) and totally unenjoyable. One little remark: it is a bit odd that MBM didn’t manage to get their own logo sharp on the DVD.

Conclusion

A very nice package with two solid shows in pretty good sound quality. The DVD is a nice addition to get the image in your mind when listening to the shows.

Tracklist

CD 1: June 29, 1974 – AFTERNOON performance
01. See See Rider
02. I Got A Woman / Amen
03. Love Me
04. Trying To Get To You
05. All Shook Up
06. Love Me Tender
07. Hound Dog
08. Fever
09. Polk Salad Annie
10. Why Me Lord
11. Suspicious Minds
12. Band Introductions
13. I Can’t Stop Loving You
14. Help Me
15. Bridge Over Troubled Water
16. Let Me Be there
17. Funny How Times Slips Away
18. Big Boss Man
19. Steamroller Blues
20. Can’t Help Falling In Love
Track 20 is recorded at the Tarrant County Convention Center in Fort Worth (Afternoon show, June 15, 1974)

CD 2: June 29, 1974 – EVENING performance
01. See See Rider
02. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
03. Blue Christmas
04. I Got A Woman / Amen
05. Love Me
06. Trying To Get To You
07. All Shook Up
08. Love Me Tender
09. Fever
10. Polk Salad Annie
11. Why Me Lord
12. Suspicious Minds
13. Band Introductions
14. I Can’t Stop Loving You
15. Help Me
16. Bridge Over Troubled Water
17. Let Me Be There
18. Funny How Times Slips Away
19. Big Boss Man
20. Steamroller Blues
21. Can’t Help Falling in Love
22. Closing Vamp
Tracks 18 - 22 recorded at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha NE, June 30 1974 afternoon show

Content Disc 3 (DVD): A full documentary about Elvis on tour June 1974
Featuring facts, interviews, news footage and most of all great “8 mm” film-footage from
01. Philadelphia, June 23 1974: Evening Show
02. Kansas City, June 29, 1974: Afternoon Show
03. Kansas City, June 29, 1974: Evening Show
04. “In retrospect” -- Kansas City, November 15, 1971: 8:30 pm
05. “The final farewell” -- Kansas City, June 18, 1977: 8:30 pm