Title: Charleston Rocks (released in 2003)

Label: Memory Records

Date: July 24, 1976, Charleston + bonuses (different dates, see below)

Sound Quality: * * * * - / * * * * * + (main concert)

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

Tracks: 1.2001 Theme 2.See See Rider 3.I Got A Woman / Amen 4.Love Me 5.If You Love Me (Let Me Know) 6.You Gave Me A Mountain 7.All Shook Up 8.Teddy bear / Don’t Be Cruel 9.And I Love You So 10.Jailhouse Rock 11.Fever (incomplete) 12.Electric Piano Solo 13.Love Letters 14.School Day (Hail Hail Rock ‘n’ Roll Theme) 15.Hurt # 1 16.Hurt # 2 17.Hound Dog 18.Funny How Time Slips Away 19.Can’t Help Falling In Love 20.Closing Vamp Bonus tracks: 21.Burning Love (Charlotte March 20, 1976, evening show) 22.Blue Suede Shoes (Greensboro, June 30, 1976) 23.Softly As I Leave You (Memphis, July 5,1976) 24.Return To Sender (Hampton Roads, August 1, 1976) 25.America The Beautiful (with reprise, Tuscaloosa. August 30,1976) 26.Until It's Time For You To Go (Johnson City, March 17, 1976) 27.My Way (Lake Tahoe, March 5,1976, midnight show) 28.Big Boss Man (Atlanta June 6, 1976) 29.Hurt (Largo, June 27, 1976, afternoon show) 30.I Just Can't Help Believin' (Las Vegas, December 2, 1976, opening show) (Duration: 78 min. 15 sec.)

Package: It's really nice, the inside liner notes are fine, the pictures are of high quality. All in all a fine job by the Czech label.

Elvis: He is in fine spirits, but the show is too common, the songs' selection is predictable, there are no surprises - all this summer 1976' concerts are common, they have a kind of the same feeling, with the only difference of Elvis either being in a very poor or simply poor shape. Fortunately he is above it this evening and it's a nice surprise to be honest.

Highlights: You Gave Me A Mountain is above everything this evening, while the bonus tracks are the real highlights of the CD, see below why.

Review: The never ending tour schedules in 1976 became the most apparent reason for decline of Elvis' performances. It was obvious from the very beginning of the year that he was facing troubles with his voice (as it often seemed weak and unbalanced), probably because often hitting the stage having just woken up or either because of the drug supplement (or maybe both).

This soundboard recording from July 24 has previously been released on an old CD called Hurt, but 11 years after it's release Memory Records offers a better mixed version of it. Better mixed doesn't mean good sounding, however, but it's fine, much better than the original.

The concert begins with an already standard opener (See See Rider) which is a surprisingly inspired rendition with Elvis changing the phrasing, better than usually that summer. A rather short "Well, well" intro of I Got A Woman precedes the song which is better than most often, but Elvis makes a mistake deciding to continue the Amen segment too long in our opinion. He greets the audience with some common stories for this summer, as follows: "Good evening. It is evening, isn't it? I did a show this afternoon, man, and it's weird, you know that? You get up and go to do a show in the sunlight, you come back...". When Elvis gets into singing Love Me, we hear some disinterest already. If You Love Me is unfortunately a rather weak rendition, Elvis' voice is uncontrolled here and the biggest highlight in this song is the kind of improvisation by Jerry Scheff after the refrain, his playing style sounds Jaco Pastorious -like this time. "This time, Lord," Elvis announces as the orchestra misses the first part of the intro giving the time for Tony Brown to shine in the beginning of the song. This concrete rendition features different phrasing making it pretty essential, Elvis' voice is much stronger than on the previous two songs and he is clearly enjoying the song.

After parodying a fan shouting "Elvis!" in a witch-kind of voice (a very funny moment by the way!) Elvis begins the throw-away medley, which is highlighted only by James Burton's different guitar licks on All Shook Up. On And I Love You So Elvis begins experiencing voice trouble, but manages to make it through the song. A decent rendition of Jailhouse Rock is followed by an incomplete Fever, as we quickly jump to the band intros and Elvis' performance of Love Letters, here his voice is uncontrolled and the rendition is not too good, but at least Elvis' energy is clear as he changes the words to the delight of the Sweet Inspirations' members. He then introduces Charlie Hodge as "the fellow that gives me my scarves and water and sings my guitar..." and then delivers two renditions of Hurt, both of which are much better than most versions that summer, as Elvis reaches the high notes very well at the end.

The concert is coming closer to an end as Elvis begins Hound Dog, which is also a little better than what we are used to, Elvis changes the phrasing in the beginning and James Burton changes his guitar licks at the end of the song. The following Funny How Time Slips Away features some power in Elvis' voice, but that's all as Can't Help Falling In Love ends the concert.

We get to hear some live rarities too as Memory Records added some thrilling material (familiar to those who are collecting bootleg CDs for a while): beginning with an interesting rendition of Burning Love - with Shane Keister on piano and Larry Londin on drums, making the performance interesting arrangement-wise. Blue Suede is not the kind of song that could be considered out of sight, but at least it's better than any of the oldies from the main show. Softly As I Leave You is most probably the only non-Vegas and non-Lake Tahoe version that Elvis ever performed, but this clearly is not the best versions of it. The following Return To Sender one of the few performed live versions of this song is a nice addition, but Elvis' voice is miserable here, he's clearly facing trouble and regarding the voice the main concert on this CD is much better. The very weak August 30-th concert is represented here with it's biggest and only highlight - America The Beautiful, rarely not a highlight. The March 17, 1976 rendition of Until It's Time For You To Go is here too, from the still expected to be released on soundboard concert, not serious as most often in case with this song.

My Way from Lake Tahoe is a very passionate rendition, slower and better arranged than the later versions from this year. Elvis' phrasing is closer to the Aloha period, only his voice is clearly stronger here, even the violin is present beginning from the second verse. On the other hand Elvis' voice might not be as strong as he could have expected during the following rendition of Big Boss Man from June 6 (if not to say it is weak) but the arrangement is very different from what we are used to, James' licks begin the song, which is clearly slower than the usual tempo, running for over 3 minutes - which is very strange for any oldie! Hurt from June 27 is taken from a tape running clearly too fast - it's hard to understand why the producers of this CD haven't taken the time to get it right as this is very easy with such programs as Cool Edit Pro, not mentioning the professional equipment they are working with. Also they have boasted that Elvis delivered two versions of it, but presented here is only one of them. An ultra rare rendition of I Just Can't Help Believing (a song Elvis hadn't performed since 1971!) closes the CD, and it's still a question why Elvis had thrown it out of the set list, as the performance is great and a very nice addition to the set.

Here we are coming to the hardest part of it all - making conclusions. The bonus tracks are clearly of much more interest than the concert itself, as they all are pretty essential - every one in it's own way. The concert is an above average for the summer of 1976, Elvis voice is better sounding, but unfortunately, still not great. The sound quality is not that great too. You're in the position of deciding - if you have missed the original releases with the bonus material or prefer to have every available soundboard CD - you have to get it, otherwise - skip it without regret. But personally we have enjoyed it as Elvis is in much better mood and voice than most of the summer of that year and also because it is a soundboard (a rare but enjoyable surprise from the MR!)

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