Elvis; Closing Night in Las Vegas, September 2nd, 1974
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- čas přidán 4. 09. 2024
- On September 2nd, 1974, Elvis played the closing show of his Las Vegas season, the 29th performance since August 19th. This soundboard recording picks up the action just a few minutes into the show, after the overture and See See Rider, and provides a record of possibly one of the most interesting shows of the 70s. Musically it is certainly right up there with the best of the period, with a good setlist and Elvis working hard and making a big effort, in fact overdoing it a bit in some places, and rewarded by a great response from the audience.
The show ran significantly overtime, but this was due largely to what was happening in between songs. Students of Elvis history will be aware that this is the show during which he let forth his famous rant about show-business and gossip magazines, and hotel staff violating his privacy by briefing reporters with untruths about aspects of his personal life and habits.
Priscilla, who was in the audience with Lisa-Marie, was also subjected to some attention, possibly not all of it welcome, given a couple of references to Mike Stone and a not altogether sensitive mention of a paternity lawsuit that Elvis had successfully contested. During the course of the show, there was quite a bit of detailed discussion about karate, marital and divorce matters, medical procedures and expensive presents, all of which the Las Vegas audience seemed to enjoy.
Elvis' tirade about privacy violations is close to the end of the recording, but his natural showmanship soon took over and he recovered quickly. The evening (or early morning) finished up with a very warm vibe, as Elvis explained to the audience why he was talking in such detail about his personalised jewellery; “Because you helped pay for it!”
A soundboard of opening night (August 19th) can be found here;
• Elvis; Live in Las Veg...
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(For the sake of completeness, copyright material has been retained. Any ad revenues are therefore directed to the music and spoken word rights holders)
#elvis #elvissoundboard #elvislasvegas #elvis1974 #elvislive #elvisconcerts
@GeorgeFairbrother Love your insights and the nonjudgemental humanity you bring to your comments. I, too, feel ZERO need to judge his private life. I just love the music and the personality that gave so much and asked so little. Liked and subbed. Keep up the great work!
One of the comments talks about a live version of You'll Never Walk Alone. Unsure which one they are referencing but this is a fine one (with lots of harmonized notes) from July of '75. czcams.com/video/WU4QUWtO1Ec/video.html
People seem very unclear on what they want (ed) from this man. Guralnik drones on for two volumes only to say, ''I think the life of Elvis Presley is one of the saddest stories I know.'' SAY WHAT?! Does he feel he needed to say that for the sake of literature? What pretense (though, in general, I liked the biography). For decades I heard about the ''disastrous'' College Park, Maryland show. Several years ago (with all the expensive FTD material now available for free on YT), I listened to it while I cleaned up my place. It certainly wasn't a high point, but I could (aurally) detect no ''disaster'' (maybe visually, I'd have been more concerned). I've personally seen Aerosmith blow it FAR worse. Elvis has paid the price for the ultimate fame. He is everywhere and everyone feels they are an expert and have the right to pontificate. And their expectations are sky high. I just know, his music always makes my worst days better and his personal example made me live up to my highest ideals of generosity and graciousness during the (very!) short time that I was a successful entertainer. Best wishes, friend!
Thank you for your thoughts, and for your kind words. You make some great points - I also enjoyed Peter Guralnick's bios and have referred to them a lot over the years because I think his research is as detailed and as thorough as anybody's - I initially read them in the late 90s before the bootlegs were widely available (I don't think he had access to all that many either, so therefore had to rely largely on press reviews.). I had exactly the same reaction as you when I began to hear some of the shows and even entire tours that he had kind of dismissed or described as lacklustre or leaving fans disappointed - I had wondered when I first read it how the Elvis show could continue to sell out the arenas and Vegas year in, year out - even booked for a big prestige Vegas engagement in late 1977 - if things were that bad. Clearly they weren't, as you point out. There are also instances where Guralnick quoted selectively from some press reviews, giving the impression that they were wholly negative, but reading the entire review gives a different impression. Having said that, I think we have to concede that on some nights Elvis did let everyone, including himself, down, and his lack of rehearsal for new material must have been a little frustrating sometimes, but once again you make a great point about other artists. I actually love an imperfect concert free of Autotune; the Beach Boys in the late 70s could be a little ragged, The Band sometimes seemed to spend as much time tinkering and tuning as playing, the Stones at the time had the odd off-night as well. Who hasn't taken to the stage medicated to the eyeballs at one time or another? Elvis' shows were tight, his band was always on form even if he wasn't, but I agree that Elvis was generally held to a different standard. I think one of the big problems for his professional legacy is the television special filmed over a couple of shows early in his final tour - Omaha Nebraska was not a great night, Elvis himself was struggling and there were technical issues with a malfunctioning mic - I often think that if the film crew had still been filming for the final night in Indianapolis, which even Peter Guralnick acknowledged as one of his best performances of the period, the whole narrative of his final years might be different. Thanks once again, and for the link, I hadn't heard that before. I'm glad you had your moment of success as well. All the very best to you.
@@GeorgeFairbrother Your comment made my day! Thanks. I think you have nailed it on the problem of Guralnik's limited access to the recordings and over reliance on (parts of) the reviews. Your points about other Rock bands are all well taken. Esp. in the 70's, I saw uneven shows from most of the big acts (although, unlike Elvis, their shows typically went on for hours, so...) Somehow, Elvis only gets compared to HIMSELF, and at his greatest moments. That is a brutal ''measuring stick''! Intriguing point about how the whole ''narrative'' of his final years might have been different but for the failure to catch the Indianapolis show. I agree with Bono that the late period Elvis (LPs) are wildly under rated and NOT because of the pathos of say, his CBS Special version of My Way. On Moody Blue alone, he just casually gets up off the couch in the Jungle Room and tears the heads off of George Jones and Gentleman Jim Reeves on (arguably) their two greatest songs! Elvis Today and Promised Land were great and stylistically unified and I've always been pleased that his last single was a return to small band, Hard Rock (Way Down). I'll also admit that while I was all torn up about his appearance in Oct. 77 (when the CBS Special Aired), that with each successive decade of my own losing battle against age and weight, that (now) he looks pretty darn good! His voice had certainly lost nothing.
He paid the cost to be the Boss and he is STILL paying it! When the first Rolling Stone Record Guide came out in about '79, Dave Marsh was at pains to point out that the ratings of the Elvis catalog were all INTERNAL rankings, and NOT (as is normally the case) comparisons against other Rock performers. I think that says it all!
@@meetontheledge1380 Thank you, and likewise. Great points again, and I was interested in your observations about the Jungle Room sessions - It seems to me that the raw versions we can hear now online, before they were overdubbed to death by RCA, give a very different impression of the sessions - it seems to me that the life was engineered out of most of the tracks on the From Elvis Presley Boulevard album ( I actually think the live Aloha album was the same, although not everyone agrees.). Moody Blue for me is another Suspicious Minds or If I Can Dream, an era defining tune. Unfortunately he never quite nailed it live, once again the lack of rehearsal, and I often wonder how it would have been received in the longer term had it not been on his final album and kind of immortalised because of that. Dave Marsh's work has been interesting over the years, he wrote that the Aloha rehearsal show was just about the best (1970s) Elvis concert ever recorded, wasn't quite as keen on the American domestic TV presentation - He also famously referred to Queen as 'fascist', so not afraid to express an opinion 😅. I really enjoyed reading your comments and they've got me thinking, thanks once again for taking the time to share your thoughts.
It’s a crime that not all Elvis’ performances weren’t videotaped for posterity of the life of The King of Rock and Roll !!!
You're so right, it's incredible to think that there is so little official, broadcast quality footage of Elvis available. I guess we need to take into account the times and the technology, but if not for the bootleggers so much history would be lost. Thank you for commenting.
Basically the big companies where dumb thinking Elvis was not great so they didn't film every concerts, Parker that A hole illegal Pr**K only cared for his pleasure, money eating 50% of everything,never bothered for keeping Elvis fans at ease with leaving many fans with many filmed concerts.
You are damn right. Now we can only see clips in poor, short quality but still better than nothing.
@@exciting6428 I was thinking about this some more, and I wonder if it might have gone a little too far the other way now - So many people posting concert vision online, sometimes the sound reproduction is not great and affected by audience noise - even ACDC and in particularly Brian Johnson are copping a bit of a pasting in some of the CZcams comments regarding their current tour, although from those actually at the shows the reaction seems to be generally positive. In Elvis' case in the 70s, the press reviews were often unfairly negative, and hard to reconcile with the bootleg recordings we now have. I wonder if some of the amatueur concert vision now is actually doing more harm than good, generally speaking, to the artists' reputations, in the same way that press reviews kind of became a slanted narrative of Elvis in his final years on the road. Having said that, I love watching them...
Fully agree buddy !!! Nobody of Mgmt thought of tomorrow..
All dumb wild Tupelo low class boys and one hell of a Carny Colonel...greedy & abnoxius !!!
Those who judge Elvis have no clue what it was like living his life. No greater arrogance than to point fingers. Elvis never hurt anyone or put people down. Elvis simply expressed his talent as an imperfect human being as we all are. Living in an imperfect world as we all do, His critics probably don’t look at their own flaws first. If they did, they’d shut up. What someone has to say about me is none of my business. I hope Elvis had some sense of that attitude.
I tend to think that in some ways he was a lot more resilient that he was often given credit for.
You know that they hated seeing Elvis leave Vegas. He brought in so much business and people spent a fortune gambling. That's why Parker wanted Elvis there. Doing two, sometimes three shows a night is crazy. I don't know how Elvis did it for eight years. No matter where the King went to preform he was loved. The man's voice was an instrument on it's own. I listen to his music everyday.
Part of the reason why he sounded so good was because he was doing so many shows.. his vocal chops were at their peak.
Well said
The king of rock and roll there will never be anybody else that will ever fill his shoes
No one can fill his shoes.
If you weren't sitting in the audience, his interaction with his audience sounds like stream of consciousness, but the audience was with him. He sounds like he's getting things off his chest--tabloid rumors and such--in the presence of those he knew cared about him--his fans. He always maintained a grueling concert schedule. After hundreds of Vegas shows, no one can expect them all to be perfect. He paid deep respect to his band and background singers, which was nice.
Very well put, and thanks for commenting.
Only those tabloid rumors were true, and he had a really bad set of shows at College Park , Maryland this same year where he was fighting off an overdose. Only people with a guilty conscience lash out, and Elvis knew he was in trouble, but too proud to ask for help, so he continued to bullshit himself, like all addicts do. Including from the stage. He was, however, *screaming* for help, with the songs he was choosing to record in this time period, except, no one saw that for what it was. It was a tragedy, but without that tragedy, there's no way he could have sung like he had.
Finger pointers get no validity for their opinions.
@@soniaevans-ty7gz Profound.
Just to see elvis up close and personal in the flesh would have been incredible let alone to see and hear him speak but to hear him sing wow I’m not going to lie would have had me crying like a baby
Hello "🌞George 🌞" There will never be another " King👑like Elvis Presley 👑! "
He is , and will always be the one and only King Of Rock & Roll of all times !
Thanks for sharing👏 . Sincerely , Carole
Hi Carole, thank you for commenting, I'm very glad you enjoyed it.
Our Elvis gave us fans, off his! All his love, his concern, & he kept on being depenable 4 us fans! until he , Our Elvis! passed away! I know i just miss n love, Our Elvis 4 ever! N Ever! 💕💋💋💯% ! XXX OOO!
I loved when Elvis got crazy 😜
I wonder what it felt like in the audience - probably laughing but squirming a little at times...😅
Elvis has the greatest, sexiest voice ever whether talking or singing. ❤️🔥💥❤️🔥
He was certainly in cracking form this particular night - thanks for commenting. 😀
I found that whole performance to be insightful, enthralling and highly entertaining..
Elvis clearly was not in a good frame of mind, for many reasons which I think he was perfectly entitled to be , he should not have to justify himself to anyone.
The choice of songs I felt showed how he was very much still hurting over his recent divorce, he did still love Priscilla very much.
Vocally at times very much on point, occasionally not quite his usual capability of level, but it was the closing night of yet another gruelling energy sapping Vegas residency. By now the monotony of Vegas, ithe disillusionment and the boredom had set in, he needed another challenge.
He also needed a new manager, Parker was doing nothing to fulfil him careerwise, his personal life was in a turmoil and his physical heath was deteriorating, all the catalyst for disaster.
As always his gratitude to his fans never failed .
Thanks for commenting. Some great points.
Excellent show, I love hearing Elvis opine... we're not paying big bucks to hear him perform songs we've heard a million times. Be thankful you have this.
It's an excellent point, looking back, on stage is the only place we can hear him talk given the absence of interviews in the last few years,
Ein fantastischer und sympatischer Sänger mit so herrlichen Songs.👏👏👏👏
Love Elvis's incredible voice.
He was making a big effort, in between letting everyone know what was on his mind. 😅. Very glad you enjoyed it and thanks for commenting.
OMGOSH starting @ 8:45 point, I've never laughed my ass off sor hard. ELVIS, you we're the bomb!!
She took my reasen for LIVING!!!!
Als je luisterd naar de song lijst...denk je dat elk nummer een bepaalde reden heeft! 😂
Yes Elvis Presley Is The King Of Music In My World Now And Forever
Everything He Recorded Or Sing Is Great
He Go To History As A Great Man Great Singer Everything He Do Is Great ❤️
My birthday show. I dont care how loose he was getting. The guy could party. Thats not really even the whole story. He had to feel like he was who people expected him to be. Greatest musician ever. Nice dynamic record too.
You certainly get the idea that the audience was right behind him. I don't think he would have been quite so forthcoming at an arena show on tour, rather than to a late night Vegas adult audience. I guess there was absolutely no thought to the fact that we would still be talking about it and analysing it nearly 50 years later. When you look at the schedules and demands in Las Vegas, it's a wonder that anyone held onto their sanity by the end of an engagement.
@Rob Joshy Thanks, Rob. Likewise. :)
This is my birthday too Sept 2nd
Elvis needed to see a therapist to sort out his mind and try to get off the medication he was on , he clearly was sick of Vegas and needed new challenges and was just clowning around to entertain himself he was also frustrated still by his break up with Pricilla the fact she left him hurt his ego bad but it was too late by this stage he was on a down ward spiral .... Great upload bravo George!!!
Thanks for commenting. He did come back very strongly in '75, and seemed to be in a much better frame of mind generally, but you're right, the matters of his mental health and wellbeing, and struggles with addiction were never really addressed, sadly, despite one or two attempts. I agree about the challenges, he always responded very well when working with tough outside professionals, like Marty Pasetta who produced and directed Aloha, for instance. Unfortunately these collaborations seemed to be a one-off.
I’ve thought the same. Therapy back then was not mainstream as it has become. Love Elvis. Always have and always will. I hope he had some peace and happiness. I ignore all criticism of Elvis. They don’t have or ever have a clue about him. No one wil ever come close to walking in his shoes to have an inkling to criticize.
The sound on this is incredible! Thank you!
Very glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for commenting. 😀
Fantastic performance power!!! Elvis fantastic MEN aylawiu forever love hello Ladies Poland 💋💔💖💋❣️💝💕💘🌹♥️
This was both entertaining yet embarrassing in some ways, insightful yet too overboard too. 73-74 really brought out different aspects of the drug use, either too low key or way overboard. It's a fascinating in some of the shows were great, yet some were train wrecks that you still are fascinated by
I think you've put that extremely well, I totally agree. It's all part of a fascinating history, we're so lucky to have these bootlegs otherwise all this would be lost. Thank you for commenting.
Elvis w as on Joe's shoe when he was a kid..I watched Joe give Elvis's hairs from his GI HAIRCUT to a friend, here in this apartment...what a singer he truly was
The best
Joe FRANKLIN and Elvis were both called KING🤗
What show was in Vegas when Elvis sang I'm Leaving? It's the version when he was talking about Lisa.
There is a version of I'm Leaving from opening night, czcams.com/video/NmbU2uEzJWw/video.html, about the 21 minute mark, but there's no introduction or other context surrounding the song. It might have been from later in the engagement because he was talking about all kinds of personal stuff as time went on. Someone will hopefully be able to tell us.
@@GeorgeFairbrother Thank you for your help. Iv'e went through all the engagements almost and came up empty. I found the version on his Live from vegas box set where hes talking about Lisa Marie and then he sings I'm leaving. I just dont know what month or day he did that version
Très bon concert jvoi pas ce que l ont peut dire d autres Elvis était très fatigué mais il fesait toujours pour nous l impossible. Après ya les si et ça des mecs qui seraient même pas capable de faire ce qu' il et la il est de bonne humeur et il donne merci Elvis pour tout . Après il y a Joe guercio qui joue pour fairent des notes modernes qui m horripile et qui en vérité énervait Elvis.
Nice surprise. Why was Cilla in audience?
I tend to delve very little into Elvis' private life unless it has a direct bearing on a show or a tour - I guess she was invited, with Lisa Marie, to the closing night - I can't imagine she would have been feeling all that comfortable given the direction that Elvis' monologues seemed to be going. It's a fascinating part of the history. Thank you for commenting.
How come Olivia N John NEVER WENT TO SEE HIS SHOW IN VEGAS ???? EP Doing every night 2 of her songs there...very
UNPOLITE of Olivia...
HOW COME ?.???
She had lots of money living next door (not so far on Canoga Road in L.A. hills where my uncle also lived on samecstreet with horses in ...backyard/garden)!!!!
Same goes for Karty Robbins who also did NEVER CLME TO SEE EP SHOW AT VEGAS HILTON..!! WHY ?? JEALOUSY ?????
This is embarrassing to my ears.... This is a great man unravelling.. due to seeing no way out of his indulgent lifestyle and unchallenging repetitive schedule - resulting in bingeing on pills to overcome the sleepers that then make him so hyper lit-up and confused that he babbles completely unnecessarily about personal matters. Thankfully his band had his back as best as any group could.
Yes, it's not an easy listen at times. It certainly was a difficult period, the next stadium tour started disastrously but improved as it went along. He had a few months off after October 74, then came back in a much better frame of mind early the following year.
Relax. Hes dead. It doesnt matter anymore.....smh..
Show some respect to my idol for 50 years!
I don't know why some of you always have to be so cruel and judgemental those pills were prescribed medication he took to keep hiself up for his fans and let's get something straight he was tired and sick as well and he took prescribed medication for that as well I wasn't born in his era or in the time when he passed away but instead of being judgemental remember at the end of the day he was a human being all of you who criticize and say horrible things about him aren't so perfect yourselves think about what your life would have been like if you were in his shoes.
@@aintnothingliketheoldskoolDon't know either, perhaps only today's frequently seen attitude to look for negativity😔.
I feel people commenting like this haven't understood the BIGGER picture of who Elvis was and still is, will be forever, and they miss a lot.
This show, if painful to listen in parts, gives us another chance to study him, try to understand him, and, imho, what loyal fan doesn't love him even more after listening to this. If possible, that is🌹.
Elvis gave Sheila a FREE ROLLS ROYCE car as..present ???
Solo James' FUNKY guitar LICKS are very good...,hy djdnt pianoplayer startedxwith intro Lawdy Ms. CLAWDY ????
M I S S E D OPPORTUNITY BABY
Sure, Presley talks soooo highlyvof Police force...sure fhey prootect him...but most xave a PERSONALITY ORCEGO PROBLEM MOMENT THEY PUT ON THEIR UNIFOFM...sometimes they're BRUTAL.....yes Sir....no thrills, no fairytales....low cnass people most of them
19:22 "you dirty little ******"?
The colonel should have been fired some nights he did 3 shows.
What show is next
Something from March '77 next. Then probably Memphis in 74. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks
I love Elvis but I'm sorry this is not a really good show. His singing is average at best and he's slurring his words. I understand he had to work out the stress of constant performances but doing it on stage is not the right way. I can even understand his rant at the end about the drug rumors, but they weren't rumors they were reality. Elvis was getting mad because someone was finally speaking the truth about him. Luckily in early 75 he got his act together and put on some fantastic shows.
I'm a fan of the shows in 75 as well - there seemed to be a return to a more rock oriented set list, and he was certainly in a much better frame of mind generally, which, as you mentioned, reflected in the performances. I guess we can only gauge so much from the audio - it would be fascinating to know what the vibe was like in the showroom for this closing night.
Weak Glen D on piano...Elvis wanted mire, stronger, better...but Glen was only AVERAGE...tonite, most nights....
Most of 1974 was not a good year for him. Heavily drugged and very tired could pretty much sum up most of that year.
Yes, '74 got off to a great start with the Houston Rodeo and the Memphis shows, but you're right, things got a little rough after that. I don't find this show a particularly easy listen, although it's fascinating as part of the history. I think he lost a little of his personal likeability during this time as well, and was unfairly rough on Jerry Scheff's replacement, Duke Bardwell. He came back strongly in early '75, was sounding better and seemed to have regained his warmth and self-deprecating sense of humour, so It's nice to think he was feeling better. Thank you for commenting.
@GeorgeFairbrother Totally agree, although funny hus outbursts in Vegas both happened closing show Sept 73 and closing show Sept 74, different reasons but unsettling and fascinating at the same time.
1975 was return of more rock n roll Elvis, Burning Love, T-R-O-U-B-L-E, Promised Land
@@vintvarner16 Unsettling and fascinating is a perfect description of this period I think. I agree that the return to a more rock and roll focused setlist worked really well in '75, the summer tour especially with some great shows in places like Jackson and Tuscaloosa. Uniondale NY was also one of my favourites from this period, unfortunately I think only available in an audience recording. I always thought that one would have made a great live album.
@GeorgeFairbrother The evening show where he did "You'll Never Walk Alone " is haunting and beautiful. No matter how big of a orchestra, band, backup singers, sometimes just Elvis and the piano or guitar is enough
@@vintvarner16 I don't think I've heard that version of You'll Never Walk Alone, thank you for that, I'll try and find it. He just about blew the roof off the arena in Pittsburgh over New Year 76-77 with Rags to Riches - once again, just him at the piano.
STUPID SUIT with a TIGER on it....why ??
Dumb, not good. Below wanted to make more profit on the expensive suits he made for EP ..SO HE MADE CHEAPER SUITS FOR EP.....$28,000 EACH..andEP paid always upfront.
This show sounds bizarre. Elvis didn’t sound right.
Amen to that. He was high on His drugs gosh, starter to talk openly about His personal life on stage, so crazy 😮 He did not even sing Good here very bad and sad 😢
@@tcb1017see these are the exact comments I'm talking about this man has been deceased for so long and you continue to say horrible things like this you can't be fans and be judgemental and criticize at the same time. That shows a lot about some of you some of you only care and remember Elvis as the entertainer and only cares about his music but yet you guys judge him because of what he went through and how he was in the last few days of his life and the only thing he took was prescribed medication to keep himself up for you guys in that time and for different sicknesses.
Sounds like he is killing time, he also sounds bored...
His temper had certainly had become a little more erratic as the engagement went on - the next tour started a little roughly but improved, but he really came back in a much better frame of mind early in '75. Thanks for commenting.
Yeah sorry but he was getting bored in Vegas..he should perhaps tried BRANSON orATLANTIC CITY HOTELS or More Lakeshore.??
Nice version by Sherill NOTCEP of Bringing you back song; not otherc less known song..
People came yo hear Elvis sing !!!! Nobody else....sorry....