'Another Saturday Night'

Mid 1975 found Elvis back in good form and having fun on stage. The Dallas June 6th show was in fact the first official soundboard release, featured in the Elvis Aron Presley silver box-set. Slimmed down and looking great in his new Indian Feather Jumpsuit jump-suit, Elvis seemed rejuvenated and happy to be back on stage. As the Memphis Commercial Appeal commented … "It didn't seem to matter what Elvis sang, the audience went wild every time he moved and he made if clear he knew what was turning them on." Elvis soundboard super-collector Geoffrey McDonnell checks out whether this previously UNRELEASED concert offers anything new for Elvis collectors....

'Another Saturday Night Elvis Shreveport 7.6.75 E/S FTD review by Geoffrey Mc Donnell with added comments by Piers Beagley.

Mid 1975 has always been a popular period with Elvis fans with Elvis back in fine form and having fun on stage. It was a positive comeback from the emotional roller-coaster of 1974 and before the slide of 1976.

The Dallas June 6th show was the first official soundboard release for fans, featured in the E.A.P silver box-set, while ‘Dixieland Rocks’ from the end of Elvis’ April tour in Murfreesboro was one of the first FTD issued concerts. Since then we have also had 'Dixieland Delight' focusing on Elvis' Huntsville shows and the alternate 'Southern Nights' FTD compilation from this period.

As the Memphis Commercial Appeal noted at the time about the final show…

"It didn't seem to matter what Elvis sang, the audience went wild every time he moved and he made if clear he knew what was turning them on."

Well about 37 years after the concert my FTD arrives and how is it? Through the years we have had 2 FTD compilations of Southern Nights and Dixieland Delight, so what does a near complete previously unreleased concert offer us we didn’t already have?

Opening the CD case an 8-page booklet is included, featuring photos from this June tour. As a presentation it is ‘ok’ but nothing more than ‘ok’. A positive however is that the double-page spread of photos - shown below - are actually from the concert itself – which were apparently hard to find.

The cover photo (above) appears to be from Elvis wearing my favourite Jump-Suit the Indian Feather Jumpsuit from the actual show, other photos inside also come from the E/S in Mobile, Alabama on 2nd June, with 1 photo booklet inside page 4 from the A/S in Shreveport. Photos are however a bit small.
The Bonus tracks are well chosen as highlights from other June shows.

Prior to this FTD release this Shreveport performance was the only show from this 12 day tour that we had never heard via soundboard or audience recording. Now all but the opening and Shreveport A/S have been released on soundboard and all the concerts represent a quality tour with no ‘bad shows’.

With the Shreveport soundboard recording missing the concert's start, the opening songs ‘C.C.Rider’ and ‘I Got A Women/Amen’ all come in great sound from the Memphis show of June 10th .

The Memphis June 10th closing show concert has been released on bootleg many times before (see EIN's review of 'Bringing It All Back Home' ) but this is the first time that 3 tracks from this great show have been released officially.

Being an evening concert Elvis doesn't need to 'wake-up' and an energetic 'See See Rider' with its playful, soulful ending shows him firing from the start. 'I Got A Woman/Amen' is again the punchy short version and Elvis is having fun.

The CD cuts into the Shreveport show right after ‘Amen’ when Elvis remarks that "we blew a speaker".

The soundboard quality is fine and there is hardly any change in the sound quality from ‘very good indeed’ Memphis show audio to more ‘very good indeed!’ There is a beautifully balanced sound on this release, balancing the band and orchestra and show-casing the sheer warmth of Elvis - a Joy to listen to indeed.

Elvis clearly knows exactly where he is and what it means to his career. He is obviously in a good mood, chatty and relating very well with his adoring fans and there is no slur in his voice at all tonight. Elvis acknowledges, "It’s a pleasure to be back in Shreveport. Because as you know my first job was in Shreveport." The recording demonstrates Elvis in great humour throughout and really enjoying being on stage before his adoring fans.

The crowd is excited and he teases a fan he kissed, "Anything else you want while I’m down here baby? You’re gonna’ have to work for it baby, I ain’t giving it away for nothing!" This has the crowd screaming in delight.

The first part of the show is, as always, the kiss-the-girls and expected crowd pleasers. ‘Love Me’ is purely routine scarf giving out, before a ‘solid’ ‘If You Love Me (Let Me Know)’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘All Shook Up’ and ‘Teddy Bear/Don’t Be Cruel’ are all ‘routine’ but still sung properly. ‘Hound Dog’ seems to be sung because it is expected from Elvis and extremely ‘routine’.

‘The Wonder Of You’ is a very nice version with a gutsy ending and shows us Elvis is in fine form this evening. As often in these shows once Elvis has got warmed up and "the oldies" out of the way his enthusiasm and his energy level cranks up.

So the following ‘Burning Love’ might be noted as the first true highlight of the concert and it is a very good version indeed. It has a real punch to it with Elvis really pushing the band along all the way. It’s a faster & more rockin’ version than the Huntsville FTD release.
It is interesting to note that Elvis never performed this classic rocker in 1974 at all, completely dropping it off his setlist from January 1973 until bringing it back in March 1975. It was however a regular on this tour.

The intros are (thankfully) NOT too long and James Burton gets a ‘special’ mention being from Shreveport. Elvis notes, "This is James’ home-town and I did my first job here. It’s strange how things work out." A decent ‘Johnny B.Goode’ follows with James playing a longer solo than usual.

After the odd ‘joke’ about regular conductor Joe Guercio being away keeping the flies off "a Bride at a Polish wedding", we are treated to one of the absolute VERY BEST versions of ‘T.R.O.U.B.L.E.’ I have ever heard.

Taken at a perfect tempo and with not one blown lyric, Elvis rocks out ‘T.R.O.U.B.L.E.’ his new single. Check out the great ending with Elvis getting down with The Sweets call & response - another highlight.

‘Why Me Lord’ serves the purpose of Elvis trying to break J.D up laughing but still sounding very committed and singing along prominently in the choruses.

‘How Great Thou Art’ next is very well performed and another highlight. Before the reprise Elvis notes, "I can do it a little bit better" and produces a stunning power-ending with the crowd going wild in admiration.

‘Let Me Be There’ is good, yet sounds a little routine as ‘always’ with the regular double-ending.

In some ways ‘An American Trilogy’ is annoying since if it wasn’t for the "Disneyland" and joke of telling The Stamps they are in Dixie in the first section, it would be a fantastic version. However the southern audience do cheer at the Dixieland reference and the atmousphere is stunning with an impassioned ‘All My Trials’ section. With a fabulous Falsetto ending and Elvis noting "Take It" @3.10, this has the near strength of an early 1972 version.   (Right: FTD booklet cover)

Elvis has the house-lights turned up and notes, "I see you. We got people hanging from the rafters" before a standard kiss-the-girls ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’. Elvis however does get the giggles and you can feel his sheer happiness of being on stage.

It's worth noting that before ‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ Elvis CLEARLY acknowledges a hand shake with a fan saying, “Hi how are you doing?” and it is moments like this that convey the Warmth and Personal touch Elvis has with his fans this tour - reason enough alone to buy this release. Author Christopher Brown mentions a similar incident from the Shreveport afternoon concert in his book 'On Tour with Elvis'. (see Christopher Brown's story below)

‘Little Darlin’ is fun and fairly routine, before a Rocking ‘Mystery Train/Tiger Man’. "One of my first records" Elvis tells the crowd and enthusiastically rocks along to James Brton’s solos. You can hear the crowd shriek as he tries out some karate moves.

"God Bless you and be careful going home" takes us to the closing ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’.

Bonus tracks have a different sound image but are a good selection. ‘I’ll Remember You’ is a nice version from Mobile 2/6/75 A/S By now Elvis has almost dropped this delightful song from his setlist entirely and would only perform it a handful more times in his last 2 years on tour. He only sang it 4 times on this tour. ‘The Hawaian Wedding Song’ is a good version. This was another surprisingly rare song for his 1975 setlist. Sung only 3 times on this tour and probably only one more time in the rest of 1975. Both this and ‘Bridge’ that follows are in good sound from the Tuscaloosa 3/6/75 evening show. ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ was sung less than ten times in the whole of 1975 is particularly good version with a tender pacing. Only sung twice on this tour this is a lovely 1975 version with Elvis giving his all at the end. "Whoo" notes Elvis, "Thank you very much."

The whole CD runs for 77 minutes and is ‘extremely listenable’ due to its excellent sound balance, solid performance and enjoyable feeling apparent throughout.

Yes there are also the typical June 1975 comments about the ‘Creeping Crud’ ("That’s next to the Jungle Rot or Heebie-Jeebies!") as well as kissing a 13 year old fan, "She’s gotta start somewhere folks" Elvis teases - but they all add to the fun.

And while Elvis continued his ‘jokes’ about the Flies the next day in Jackson, clearly there are NO FLIES on Elvis in this good performance, sounding just as strong and in great sound as the Dallas and Memphis shows from this great 1975 tour.

It is also great to see concert expert 'Ciscoking' (aka Joachim Bernecker as credited in the sleeve notes) working with FTD on which soundboards should be released. This one was a very fine choice.

Verdict: This mid-1975 period was a positive return for Elvis and found him looking and sounding healthy and happy. Being a popular period perhaps the set-list is a little familiar and FTD collectors will no doubt have heard a few similar 1975 shows before. However Elvis’ good mood throughout is truly infectious and along with his well-sung and committed performances they all go to making this concert well worth listening to. I would think the audience went home VERY happy this Saturday night.

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