Title: Aztec King (released in 2003)

Label: Memory Records

Date: March 27, 1975, Las Vegas, Nevada (midnight show) + Bonuses (different dates)

Sound Quality: * * - / * * * * * +

Concert Rating: * * * * + / * * * * * +

Tracks: 1.Theme / Intro 2.C.C. Rider 3.I Got A Woman (Elvis talks) 4.Love Me 5.If You Love Me 6.And I Love You So 7.Big Boss Man 8.It's Midnight 9.Burning Love 10.Fayritale 11.Introductions / Solos 12.Hail Hail Rock'n'roll 13.My Boy 14.Help Me 15.Let Me Be There 16.Until It's Time For You To Go 17.The Lord's Prayer (2 lines) / Heartbreak Hotel 18.Hound Dog 19.Bridge Over Troubled Water 20.Can't Help Falling In Love 21.Trouble / Raised On Rock 22.San Antonio Rose 23.I, John 24.I'm Leaving It All Up To You 25.Roses Are Red 26.You'll Never Walk Alone 27.Memphis Tennessee

Package: The cover is beautifully done, the inside notes are written in a classic Memory Records' way, it's very nice.

Elvis: This is one of the most calm Elvis' seasons in Vegas and he is clearly enjoying himself on stage.

Highlights: If You Love Me, Big Boss Man, It's Midnight and the biggest of them is Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Review: It was the first time Elvis was performing in Vegas in March (usually having had played in January/February and August/September). He had failed to open in late January because of health problems. In early March he recorded 10 new songs in Nashville to obligate his contract with RCA and now he was obligating his contract at the Hilton Hotel.

This is the midnight show of March 27. The sound quality on this release is not of high class - the tape seems to be overloaded a bit, this is a bit worse than an average audience recording.

The tape begins from the middle of Zarathustra (as if the person recording the concert awakes after a long dream to find himself sited in the middle of an Elvis Presley concert having a rare opportunity to record it) and it leads into the thundering sounds of Ronnie Tutt's drums. The audience then greets Elvis who starts with an already standard show opener - C.C. Rider. "Thank you, good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Elvis says. After the "well, well" routine of I Got A Woman the song itself starts, it sounds interesting because we got to hear David Briggs on electric clavinet, who had joined the TCB band for this season. Elvis himself delivers a very nice rendition, almost as if he digs singing the song. In the end part (right before the J.D.'s low note) Elvis does the "dance" probably for the one of the first times and to the delight of the audience asks "Where's my nurse?" when Ronnie stops playing. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen... Hey, honey, I love you too, come here, let's talk about it for a minute," Elvis says making his way into a two minutes conversation with the fans, it's great to hear Elvis in this good mood. Next is Love Me, and it's not better then some 400 other versions from the second half of the 70-s. Next is If You Love Me and it really moves, a nice rendition. With no introduction Elvis goes into And I Love You So. It's a very calm version, very close to master. Big Boss Man is next and it really rocks (as does David Briggs' electric clavinet). After the song Elvis receives a whistle from somebody in the audience and it leads into a little conversation. He, however, suddenly throws himself into a very emotional version of It's Midnight, and it's a great rendition. (Why on earth somebody is beating along with his/her fingers on the table where the tape machine is placed?!). Next is Burning Love, and for whatever reason it's just no the song that moves this evening - Elvis' voice seems to be a bit tired on this number, maybe the key is too high? Fairytale is next, not one of my favorite songs, but Elvis delivers a good version here.

After the band introductions Elvis begins My Boy - not a very good version this time, Elvis doesn't seem to be concentrated on the first part of the song, he becomes more focused on the second verse, however, which leads into a great second part of this song. Next is Help Me, a bit faster than the original version but still a great rendition. Let Me Be There follows and here I prefer the early 74 versions. Until It's Time For You To Go is next, it's a bit surprising to hear it, though this rendition is not very good. Strangely enough I don't remember Elvis ever taking this song seriously after recording it in the studio and it's really a pity, I should add. After a line of The Lord's Prayer Elvis switches to Heartbreak Hotel, nice to have this song here instead of Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel medley. Hound Dog sounds a bit funky in the beginning, thanks once again to David Briggs' electric clavinet. Responding to a request Elvis then goes into Bridge Over Troubled Water, a fantastic rendition leaving aside Duke's mistake nearer to the end of the song. The audience really goes wild after the song, not strange at all - this for sure had been the biggest highlight for the evening. Quickly Elvis brings the concert to an end with Can't Help Falling In Love.

This is not the end of the CD however, since the Memory Records label have brought some extra material for us. The Trouble / Raised On Rock is from the opening night in August 1973, the sound is not good here, but it's a big rarity. Right in the beginning of Raised Rock Elvis says: "My new single". San Antonio Rose is very short (almost a one liner). 1971' record of I, John is complete, very close to master, however it doesn't receive the reaction it deserves. I'm Leaving It All Up To You is next, we already had a rehearsal version released on No Fooling Around, now we also have a live 1972' rendition of it in a terrible sound quality. Roses Are Red is very short, while 75' rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone is absolutely fantastic. A complete 73' version of Memphis Tennessee ends the CD, a nice addition to any collection.

This CD features a very nice concert, in a less than average sounding audience recording and interesting bonuses, real rarities but in a poor sound quality. If you want to have one more audience recording of a very good concert in your collection or wish to have some rarely performed songs on one CD - you've got to get it, but this for sure is a "for serious collectors only" release (because of the sound quality)



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