Title: Fly T-R-O-U-B-L-E (released 2004)

Label: Madison SWP-07 MS

Date: June 8, 1975 Afternoon show State Fair Coliseum, Jackson MS

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

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

Tracks: 1.I Got A Woman / Amen (incomplete) 2.Love Me 3.If You Love Me (Let Me Know) 4.Love Me Tender 5.All Shook Up 6.Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 7.Hound Dog 8.The Wonder Of You 9.Burning Love 10.Introductions by Elvis of vocalists, band 11.Johnny B. Goode (James Burton) 12.Drum solo (Ronnie Tutt) 13.Bass solo (Jerry Scheff) 14.Piano solo (Glen D. Hardin) 15.Introductions by Elvis of vocalists, orchestra 16.School Day (Joe Guercio Orchestra) 17.T-R-O-U-B-L-E 18.Why Me Lord? 19.How Great Thou Art (with two reprises) 20.Let Me Be There 21.Funny How Time Slips Away (with reprise) 22.Little Darlin' 23.Mystery Train / Tiger Man 24.Fever (two false starts only) 25.Can't Help Falling In Love / Closing Vamp (partial) (Duration: 56 min 50 sec)

Package: This time Madison label gave us a follow up of their previous release - The Capital Performance (Madison CWP-06). The package was created the same style as usual very good and high quality photos used from the actual event and from the May 5, 1975 when Elvis also performed a benefit show in State Fair Coliseum.

Elvis: He gives out good but standard show and always talks about the flies, which where simply annoying. Standard joke about Creeping Crud is on its place. If you're a fan of Elvis jokes, soundboards and late 70-s shows this CD is for you.

Highlights: The climax of the show is How Great Thou Art. Elvis sings TWO reprises.

Review by Christopher Brown (witness of the show). The review is taken from his book On Tour With Elvis: I went inside the coliseum well before show time this afternoon --always anxious to 'get inside.' The souvenir stands were doing a brisk business, and the fans, as usual, seemed quite excited. I could hear the opening acts perform as I walked, and waited in the corridor. Peering down some of the entrance ramps into the arena, I could see the stage, and the performers.

Finally, intermission is announced, and the souvenir stands are busier than ever. The stage hands adjust the platform set-up, and Elvis' musicians finally walk out on stage, to prepare for THE show.

Walking down to my seat near the stage, I am quite pleased to find how good it is! But today, there is someone in my seat. Since I have missed the opening act (as usual), someone has taken my seat in the hopes that the person (me) will not show up. However, with the evidence of my ticket, the person quietly leaves to return to their seat.

As I sit, waiting for the houselights to come down, I feel the same (though perhaps to a slightly lesser degree) anticipation as those around me. I can't wait to see Elvis, and I've already seen him thirteen times in the last nine days.

The houselights finally dim, and Elvis enters the coliseum following the introductory music of ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA. Coming up the half flight of the stairs to the stage, Elvis crosses the stage several times? acknowledging and saluting the fans.

Elvis is wearing the white jumpsuit with black eagle again. A white scarf, as usual, is neatly tucked into the V-neck of the suit -- but only for a few songs. This suit is identical to the one first worn in Huntsville, except for the belt. The buckle this afternoon features two circular emblems.

Walking over to Charlie, he takes the guitar offered him, puts the strap of the guitar around his neck, and steps up to the microphone.

With one hand holding the microphone, and the other used to punctuate the lyrics and drumming in the air, the guitar is simply left hanging and unplayed. Though he pretends to play it during the instrumental break, Elvis' guitar playing is never heard.

Elvis performs a great version of SEE SEE RIDER. He really seems to be up for this show. As the song slows down, Elvis thrusts out his right leg, and then his left, snapping his head to the pounding of Ronnie's drums, saying "... two, two, three, three, four, see, see see rider ..." Elvis thrusts his guitar into the air to conduct the conclusion of the song.

"Thank you very much. Good evening. Afternoon? Whatever it is. What is it? Afternoon? Feels like morning to me. Well, now. I'd like to ask you a question. How many of you people were here the last time I was here?" to which they respond loudly. "Looks like we've got to change the whole show, baby ..." Elvis says to Charlie. "Yeah, I only know about six hundred songs. Well!" he sings.

"Well, well well well well well well, well well well well well, well well, well well ..." and with J.D. joining in, "... well. Oh, thank you very much ..." Elvis says, as if that was the end of the show. But quickly, he sings, "... I said I GOT A WOMAN ..."

'I Got A Woman' segues into AMEN. Elvis stops the verse on the last 'Amen,' looks behind him to Joe, and says, "... I see that Joe Guercio is back in town ...," referring to his absence yesterday. "I'm just testing ..." Elvis says as he begins to shake his leg. After a bit more shaking, Elvis looks at J.D., and says, "... go get it, J.D." J.D. performs his building shattering slide down the musical scale. Looking at J.D. again, Elvis says, "... he did it ...," and then concludes the tag ending of 'I Got A Woman.'

"Thank you. O.K., I'm sorry. No, I can't get down there. We hope you have a good time this afternoon. We're gonna do a lot, we're gonna do a lot of songs, some old ones, new ones, and we hope we do something that you like." Elvis kids with the audience for a few minutes, and then begins LOVE ME.

As Elvis gets close to the audience at the edge of the stage, his singing is almost drowned out by the screams. The lyrics are mixed with some comments to the fans, which unfortunately are too difficult to decipher. While kneeling on the stage floor, Elvis is given a beautiful, multi-coloured lei, which he wears for a while.

Elvis assists the back-up singers by singing "... boomp boomp boomp

Thank you very much. Ladles and Gentlemen. Ah, last night I was were we Last night? Shreveport, right'. So I kissed somebody and I caught the Creeping Crud ..." Elvis kids the ladies with whom he has just kissed. The comment, "... you wanna get serious, or do you just wanna fool around ..." receives a good response from the females. Elvis spends several minutes bestowing a few more kisses and scarves on waiting fans. "What do you want, honey? What do you want?" This question receives lots of screams and applause. "I should never ask them what they want ..." Elvis says.

Finally, it's back to the music, and Elvis performs a great version of IF YOU LOVE ME, LET ME KNOW. Elvis fills in with "... cha cha cha ..." to the drumming of Ronnie during the short instrumental break. As Elvis sings this, he seems to be bothered by flies, as he waves his hand in the air, trying to move them away from his face. Just before the last line of the song, Elvis says, "I'm going to get a fly swatter ..."

"Thank you. My first movie was 'Love Me Tender,' and so I'd like to sing a little bit of that for you." Elvis says something about the troublesome flies over the introduction music of LOVE ME TENDER. He performs a standard version, enjoying the opportunity to kiss a few more ladies, and hand out several more scarves.

Elvis is given what looks like a Hilton Hotel "Elvis Now" hat. This hat, apparently made of straw, has his name splattered over it several times in red, a couple of photos of him, plus the phrase, printed in two lines, 'Welcome Now,' 'Elvis.' Elvis puts the hat on, and wears it for a few seconds.

The applause barely starts when Elvis begins a short version of ALL SHOOK UP, which lasts less than a minute.

As the song ends, Elvis comments about getting a mouthful of flies while he was singing. He then ad-libs in the medley of TEDDY BEAR/DON'T BE CRUEL, with, "... put a fly around my neck ..." and then laughs through the next several lines. Obviously annoyed, Elvis still manages to make fun out of the situation. At the instrumental break, just before the last few lines of 'Don't Be Cruel,* Elvis again comments about the flies.

As the applause for the previous medley diminishes, Elvis mentions the flies affecting the horn section. He then spends nearly three minutes accommodating the wishes of fans near the stage. "O.K., stay here ..." he says to one fan. "I'll get you a scarf, O.K. Come here with some scarves ..." he says to Charlie. "What's wrong with that person! That woman is about to scare me to death."

To another fan, he asks, "... O.K., can you jump up any higher?" Without warning, Elvis breaks into a frantic, short version of "... you ain't ... you ain't nothin' but a HOUND DOG ...," featuring the extended ending -- but with limited 'chanting' by Elvis.

From the audio tape available from this show, Elvis' talking is too difficult to make out again, although he spends several minutes interacting with the fans. However, he does introduce the next song as follows: "... this is a song we did about two, three years ago, called, ah, THE WONDER OF YOU, you'all. Listen, I wanna tell you guys something. We played here a long time ago in Shreveport." Elvis then goes on to mention Dallas and Texas, apparently not knowing his geography too well -- but, it is too difficult to transcribe the words.

Finally, Elvis begins the song he introduced several minutes ago. At the instrumental break, Elvis looks at James, and says, "... play it, J.B. ..." and then proceeds to hum along.

Hitting the last high note, Elvis doesn't permit much applause when he says, "... thank you. Take it on!" beginning Elvis' best known song of the '70's, BURNING LOVE. This live version really drives, and the band is cooking as Elvis pushes this classic along at full tilt. The "-- hunka hunka burnin' love ..." is repeated over and over, as Elvis is swinging his arm and hips to the music.

"Thank you very much. O.K. Charlie. C'mon. I love you too! Oh. I'd like to introduce you to the members of my group before I go any further. Not that I feel like it, but I'm going to do it anyway."

"Ah first of ail, ah, these girls have been out in the sun too long, you can tell, sitting under the lights all the time, ah. No, I really think they're fantastic. The Sweet Inspirations. You got a fly in your hair ..." Elvis says to them, as they buz2 around their heads. "No, really, you got a fly in your hair. O.K. Flip Wilson ..." he says, joking with the one he constantly refers to as Flip.

"The gentlemen back there, are one of the finest gospel quartets in the nation, J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet." Walking over to J.D., he says, ",.. let me see your left hand ..." As Elvis shows J.D.'s hand off, adorned with rings, he says, "... he's got three, four. Four rings, more than mine. I'd like to introduce these fellas to you individually, but it's not really worth the time."

"The little girl that, ah, came out with the fly swatter earlier, water ..." Elvis says, wanting a glass of water from Charlie. Drinking it, Elvis goes on, "... ah she's from Los Angeles, her name is Kathy Westmoreland."

"Ah, on the rhythm guitar from Springfield, Missouri is John Wilkinson. On the lead guitar, from Shreveport, Louisiana is James Burton. Play something." James plays JOHNNY B. GOODE, and Elvis really joins in on this version, although off-mic, and therefore very difficult to hear. "James Burton ..." Elvis announces again, as the 'solo' ends.

"From down in Dallas, Texas is hard-working Ronnie Tutt ..." which prompts Ronnie to begin his demonstration on the art of drumming. Always a crowd pleaser. Super!

"On the fender bass, from up in Canada, is Jerry Scheff." Jerry performs a slow solo, which receives mild applause. "Thank you. Jerry."

"On the piano from Lubbock, Texas is Glenn Hardin." Elvis draws out Glenn's name very distinctly, almost as if he's considering using his middle initial, 'D.* Elvis 'joins' in by humming and injecting some "yeah's," telling Glenn to "... play it again ..."

"The fella that gives me my water and scarves and sings harmony with i he's from Decatur, Alabama, his name is Charlie Hodge." Lots of applause for Charlie.

"The fellas that opened our show tonight, they're from Nashville ... I call them Voice."

"Our conductor, is from Las Vegas, is Mr. Joe Guercio. Fantastic Joe' Guercio Orchestra." Elvis joins in on a rousing version of HAIL HAIL* ROCK AND ROLL. Unfortunately, it's far too short!

"Thank you. Thank you. We have a new record out, how lung's the -» record been out? How long? It's been out that long? It's called

T-R-0-U-B-L-E ..." which is followed immediately by Glenn's lengthy piano intro, and finally Ronnie's drumming.

Elvis gets a little lost on the lyrics, as he laughs through the last verse a little. He picks the pace up a bit on the "... hey hey, hey hey ..." ending.

"Yeah, thank you very much." Elvis attempts to accommodate fans at the front of the stage, and receives a loud round of applause from the crowd for his successful efforts. "Thank you ..." Elvis says, as he's handed another of the many gifts he would receive today. A kiss later, Elvis receives another gift.

"I'd like to ask the Stamps to do a gospel song for me ... tell you what, come here. WHY ME, LORD?" Elvis finally says, continuing his request to the Stamps.

Elvis kids J.D. with the response of "... not enough ..." to J.D.'s 'what did I ever do.' Putting a scarf over his head following the first chorus, Elvis quips J.D. in his high Geraldine voice, "... sing it, J.D."

Elvis says several things to J.D., including another "... sing it, J.D." in his high, almost falsetto voice, in an effort to break J.D. up. J.D. laughs through the last line of the song, as he cannot compose himself and Elvis succeeds in 'breaking him up.' Elvis joins in on the chorus, and along with Stamps, they sing it beautifully.

"Thank you very much. I'd like to do a serious gospel song, HOW GREAT THOU ART ..." which is greeted with immediate applause. Elvis sings the first verse, and stepping slightly back out of the spotlight/ quietly tells the Stamps to "... sing it ..."

Finishing their portion of the song, Elvis returns to center stage, to sing, "... then I shall bow in humble adoration, and there proclaim OH MY GOOOOODDDD HOW GREAT thou art ..." The tempo of the song picks up noticably, and Elvis leads the singers to a truly outstanding climax.

Tremendous, lengthy applause ensues. "Thank you ..." Elvis says, apparently thinking what he should do next. "Thank you." Fortunately, he repeats the chorus again, but only from the line, "... then sings my soul ..." Good, but it would have been better had he backed up a few more lines, and repeated the spine-tingling line where he almost screams out, 'oh my God how great thou art.'

Applause erupts again as Elvis sings the finale. "Thank you ..." he says, and then he notices that one of the security guards at the front of the stage is trying to get his attention. Elvis goes over to the man, and they talk for a few seconds. The man is nearly in tears, as he has obviously been moved by Elvis' soul-stirring performance. Elvis asks, "... you want to hear it again? O.K."

Elvis then proceeds to repeat the chorus of HOW GREAT THOU ART again from the line, "... then sings my soul ..." Beautiful. I have never seen anything like this before, nor have I ever heard of Elvis repeating the end of this song twice. Great

Permitting little applause, Elvis says, "... thank you, take it on ...," and quickly he's into a spirited version of LET ME BE THERE. On the repeat of the chorus, Elvis really belts out the lines, "... let me change whatever is wrong, and make it right, YEAH LET ME TAKE YOU TO THAT WONDERLAND WHERE only two can share, YEAH ALL I ASK IS YOU, OH LORD, is ..." At this point, the tempo really picks up, with the drumming almost at double time.

And scarves out -- including a scarf to a little boy who is lifted up onto the stage. "O.K. What? ..." Elvis almost screams, apparently catching a fan off-guard as he grants her request. "It's funny, I really can't see anything. I'm almost blind ..."

After many minutes with the fans, Elvis performs FUNNY HOW TIME SLIPS AWAY. On the line, "... never know when I'll be back in town ..." Elvis quips, "... tonight, you fool ..." Elvis slides up beautifully on the line, "... ah but I remember, what I told y-o-u ..." with his falsetto. "Ain't it funny ..." pause, "... how time ..." pause, "... slips right on ..." pause, "... slips slips slips slips ..." pause, "... slips right on ..." pause, "... aaaa ..." pause, "... wayyy ..." Elvis really draws this out, and seems to have a lot of fun as James Burton's guitar accentuates the slide down the scale.

"I wanna do just the last line of that song again, and listen to the bass singer. He goes down to a low ... D below C, which is very low. It's about three keys from the bottom of the piano."

Elvis is constantly bombarded by screams from those sitting behind him, and begins the last line with, "... ain't it funny ..." and in his high, Geraldine voice» screams "... very funny ... how time ..." pause, "... slips right on ..." pause, "... slips right on ..." pause, "... aaaa ..." short pause, "... waayyyy ..." J.D. takes the last note down again, and Elvis is obviously pleased.

Quickly Elvis begins a great version of LITTLE DARLIN'. Elvis sings this fairly straight, but uses the deepest voice he can muster on the spoken part, which along with his antics as he sways back and forth, betrays the sincerity heard through the speakers.

THE medley follows, of MYSTERY TRAIN and TIGER ÌÀN. Oh, what a treat, to have this performed regularly during the tour. One of the highlights of any Elvis show.

Preparing to end the show, fans scream frantically for attention and also request particular songs to be sung. Elvis hears FEVER requested, so he tries to sing it. After a few seconds, he stops, and has the band try it again. Not quite getting it right, Elvis stops, and tells the fan to come back tonight, as he'll do it then.

Elvis thanks the audience, and performs the final song of the afternoon, CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE. "Don't get hurt ..." Elvis warns, which he repeats again just before he sings the last few lines. The crowd is pushing and shoving, trying to reach Elvis, to receive a scarf, and Elvis manages to do the best he can by throwing out scarves as quickly as Charlie puts them around his neck.

As the drums kick in for the CLOSING VAMP, Elvis parades around the stage, allowing the fans one last close (closer) look at him. Returning to center stage, Elvis waves goodbye and is quickly gone.

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