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ELVIS
IS STILL ACTIVE IN NORWAY  ELVIS PRESLEY THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM - BMG 82876 59845 2 [FTD] by
Oven Egeland
Many Elvis fans have been asking for a pre-1974 soundboard recording for
quite some time. FTD obliges giving us a complete concert (almost) from
January 28, 1971, adding several bonus tracks from other concerts at the
same time. During the years we have had three different bootleg releases
covering this era. Fortunately FTD focuses on a concert not already available
on either All Things Are Possible, Lean, Mean And Kickin' Butt or Snowbird.
This is certainly not my favorite Elvis; he sounds too uninspired and
bored thus fooling around and adlibbing too much for my liking. That said
The Impossible Dream is a good release. First of all, the sound quality
is much better than I had even hoped for. It is clearer than other bootlegs,
but lacks the punch found on All Things Are Possible. Still, it is obvious
that the tape FTD used is of better quality than what the bootleggers
had to work from.
That's All Right' is said to be from the opening show on January 26. It
is the same version as the one found on All Things Are Possible, though
that is said to be from the midnight show the day after. Elvis open the
song with wrong lyrics, but does so at the same time as a solid feedback
"hits him".
Elvis gives a "full" presentation of 'Love Me Tender', "...my
first movie song that I made in 1956." It's a decent version with
less fooling around, at least compared to August 1970. That said Elvis
focused more on the girls in the audience than he does the song.
FALSE STARTS
Sweet Caroline' is chosen by Elvis even though Charlie Hodge screams out
'There Goes My Everything'. Elvis stops after only a few seconds seemingly
without any reason. "This is the way we do things up here,"
he says before apologizing to James Burton. What follows is an everyday
performance. Just "halfway" in 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling'
Elvis announces that he wants to end the song, and then wraps it up after
less than 3 minutes.
By now Elvis has raised the tempo on 'Polk Salad Annie' significantly
and skipped the talking introduction. A bit later he would literally turbo-charge
the same song.
'Johnny B. Goode' comes from the opening night on January 26. You can
hear that it is taken from another show as the sound has slightly more
zest to it. 'Johnny B. Goode' is a rocking version, indeed! 'Something',
on the other hand, gives Elvis a good reason to present Kathy Westmoreland
as the girl "...with the beautiful high voice". He then suggests
'I Can't Stop Loving You', but choses 'Release Me' instead. Glen Hardin
manages to follow him on the piano intro. 'Release Me' is a lazy performance
with lots of lyrics change, most likely all with intention. "...to
live together is a sin..." is most interesting.
Instead of finishing 'Love Me', Elvis simply starts it a couple of times
and then just stops, commanding 'Blue Suede Shoes' as a replacement. A
whole lot-ta fun?! What follows in this "oldies" segment of
the show is a nice version of 'It's Now Or Never'. Elvis is almost 100
per cent focused, though certainly there are some lyric changes. 'Suspicious
Minds' has lost most of its charm already (to listen to, anyway), but
it lasts four long minutes. Elvis ends the show with 'The Impossible Dream'.
These 1971 versions are a lot slower then those performed in 1972. Personally
I like the version from February 1972 best.
BONUS
Under the heading "Extra songs", we get eight bonus tracks.
Every one of them already available on different bootlegs. However FTD's
source is slightly better than what DAE had to create All Things Are Possible
from and way better than what label 2001 used for their Snowbird. I especially
like the inclusion of 'Love Me'. Although 'Love Me' in general is not
labeled "BONUS", the version found here is really splendid!
It was not everyday Elvis treated this goodie with the respect it deserved.
Almost disrespectful, however is Elvis' presentation of 'How Great Thou
Art'. This is the first time Elvis sings a genuine Gospel tune in Las
Vegas, and perhaps he felt a bit uncomfortable doing it? Anyway, the fooling
around (almost) ruins the song. I would easily have excluded this version
from the bonus segment.
'Mystery Train/Tiger Man' is also the same version as found on All Things
Are Impossible. The difference in sound between this song and 'There Goes
My Everything' (from January 27 MS) suggests that FTD - and not DAE -
is correct when FTD says that it comes from the opening night show (together
with 'That's All Right').
To end the CD with 'Can't Help Falling In Love' is certainly a strange
thing to do... yes almost without proper respect! Elvis chosed to end
his shows with 'The Impossible Dream' during this season. The only reason
he sang 'Can't Help Falling In Love' was because Hal Wallis* was in the
audience on the opening show. It is performed quite early in the show,
and has nothing to do with closing a show at all. I cannot understand
why FTD even included this song. It is only a fair version, and there
are lots of tape errors during it. And without Elvis' presentation of
why he sings the song, 'Can't Help Falling In Love' is really misplaced
as the last song on a CD exclusively containing Elvis from Las Vegas,
January 1971! Bummer!
All that said, I find this to be one of the better soundboard releases
from FTD. The CD is released in a nice digi-pack; again FTD scores on
the artwork!
Note: * Hal Wallis produced the movie Blue Hawaii (among others)
© Oven Egeland, April 2004
For more... email singbigo@singnet.com.sg with the message, "Put me on your mailing list."
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