Title: All Things Are Possible (released in 1995)
Label: DAE
Date: International Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, January 27, 1971, midnight show + January 26, 1971 (opening show)
Sound Quality: * * * * - / * * * * * +
Concert Rating: * * * * / * * * * * +
Tracks: 1.2001 2.That's All Right 3.You Don't Have To Say You Love Me 4.Love Me Tender 5.There Goes My Everything 6.Sweet Caroline 7.You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 8.Polk Salad Annie 9.Only Believe 10.How Great Thou Art 11.Introductions 12.Johnny B. Goode 13.The Wonder Of You 14.Something 15.Make The World Go Away 16.Love Me 17.One Night 18.Blue Suede Shoes 19.Hound Dog 20.Mystery Train / Tiger Man 21.Love Me Tender 22.Can't Help Falling In Love
Elvis: He is very energetic but clearly uninspired.
Songs: It's very upsetting that Elvis ruins How Great Thou Art - this is not common, and it's funny sometimes to hear a loose version of Are You Lonesome Tonight or even Mountain, but this was one of the few songs that were not intended to be ruined. Otherwise, he delivers fine versions of all the songs, nice to have a live rendition Only Believe.
Review: When revisiting our collection, we found this nice bootleg we haven't previously reviewed for some reason. It features a short 1971 performance in Vegas, a very energetic, but uninspired. This was probably the start of what is known as the "Vegas boredom". The sound on this release reminds us much of Lean Mean And Kicking Butt, maybe it is just a little more overloaded at some points on this CD.
It is during this season that Joe Guercio starts using Also Sprach Zarathustra as the opening theme. After the fantastic drum roll a very energetic That's All Right Mama follows, Elvis throws himself into each line of it. "You don't have to say you love me," Elvis shortly announces. This rendition is very touching and Elvis' voice is very nice, as if it was 1970 again. "Thank you. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the international. My name is Frankie Avalon," Elvis announces and goes into Love Me Tender, which reminds of the On Tour version, but is more passionate this evening. Elvis tells that his favorite joke about the flu, and after saying that he has a country album out, throws himself into a very beautiful (even if sometimes laughing) rendition of There Goes My Everything. He even says "You gotta watch me, Tutt" at one point. A strong Sweet Caroline follows. Next is a complete rendition of You've Lost That Loving Feelin', including the later omitted for this season bridge. Elvis is completely into it and his voice is much better than what it would become later during the year. Polk Salad Annie is wild and Elvis throws some shouts during the Jerry Scheff solo, which is not long enough and not too much expressive at this point, but would become better and better later on. "If you have a weight problem, just do that a couple of times at night," Elvis takes his breath back and gives a rare rendition of Only Believe. Never considered a gospel classic in Elvis' repertoire, this song, however, is very nice and Elvis is great on this rendition. The gospel segment continues with a ruined rendition of How Great Thou Art, this time the song is simply bad, Elvis only manages to take the situation under control closer to the end of the song.
Elvis takes the time to introduce the members of the group then, and he forgets to mention The Sweet Inspirations which is strange since he seems to be in fine mind shape! Introducing James Burton Elvis has him play Johnny B. Goode - a very energetic performance, but the 1969 versions are better. The Wonder Of You is next - Elvis' voice is fine again, but he cuts the song short, clearly intentionally. Sometimes mentioned as the most boring part of the Aloha Special Something is next. This early renditions of the song feature a better vocal job from Elvis, and this version is no exception. Elvis takes the time to point at Kathy's great vocal after the song. Make The World Go Away is next - another pretty rarely performed song this version even seems to beat the live rendition from August 1970. Elvis teases James at one point during the solo when he makes a pretty fast lick - great stuff! Love Me is a bit rushed already - it sounded more bluesy the previous year - but Elvis on other hand has a fine voice, and this version reminds of 1970 anyway. One Night doesn't reach the level of the previous year and Blue Suede Shoes is a already cut short. Hound Dog is better than the versions from the later years - the energy is still there.
The three bonus tracks come from the opening night - recently released - as well as a big part from this CD - on FTD's The Impossible Dream, and feature among them a very tender version of Can't Help Falling In Love, on the other hand, the inclusion of another version of Love Me Tender is doubtful in our view.
If you have the FTD CD from this season - you may ask yourself a question whether to get a copy of this CD or not. It might be hard to find these days so the price may be high as well. In the light of this, and knowing that the rarest songs from this show are available officially - we doubt that you won't live fine without it. On the other hand, if you are a true soundboard collector - this show could be recommended as this is the beginning of Elvis' end and he still sounds fine on this concert.
March 2007
A bootleg index
