Title: Now - Or Never! (released in 2004)

Label: Memory Records

Date: December 3, 1976, Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nevada (dinner show) + bonuses December 4, 1976, Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nevada (midnight show)

Sound Quality (Concert): * * - / * * * * * +

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

Tracks: 1.Also Sprach Zarathustra 2.C.C. Rider 3.I Got A Woman / Amen 4.Love Me 5.If You Love Me (medley) 6.You Gave Me A Mountain 7.It's Now Or Never 8.One Night (by request) 9.All Shook Up 10.Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 11.And I Love You So 12.Fever 13.Polk Salad Annie 14.Band Introductions 15.Early Morning Rain (incomplete) 16.What'd I Say (incomplete) 17.Drums Solo 18.Bass Solo 19.Piano Solo 20.Electric Piano Solo 21.Love Letters 22.School Days 23.Hurt 24.Hound Dog (with funny intro) 25.Blue Christmas (with Elvis on acoustic guitar 26.Can't Help Falling In Love 27.Closing Vamp Bonus: 28.Fairytale 29.You Gave Me A Mountain 30.O Sole Mio (first live version, Sherill Neilson) / It's Now Or Never 31.Lawdy, Miss Clawdy (Duration: 76 min. 44 sec.)

Package: The background is very amateurish, and some of the text is hard to read on this background. But the liner notes are fine as always. There are photographs of Elvis from at least three shows, with no date notes, which is a pity. Too bad that Memory Records stopped making beautifully packaged CDs. However, the Music is the most important.

Elvis: He is calm and delivers a fine show, with some low points, but in other terms it is unexplainably appealing.

Highlights: No question why Memory Records named this CD Now - Or Never!, the title song seems to be one of the finest versions of it.

Review: Having toured all through the year, Elvis was back in the already common Vegas routine on December 2, to complete what would become his last Las Vegas engagement. The season was marked with both inspirational moments (Black Diamond, Love Letters From Nevada) and some risky ones too (Run On).

Memory records switches our attention to the second show of the season on this release. As they state on the cover, this is a 2-nd generation copy of the original audience recorded stereo tape. The sound is a little worse than an average sounding audience recording, the tape (at least the one that the label had to work with) is not of high quality.

After the the usual 2001 theme Elvis goes into the standard opener - C.C. Rider, which is a fine rendition, Elvis' voice doesn't sound tired, at least, the sound quality doesn't let us feel it. Having the song finished Elvis surprisingly excuses for "being that late, but, uh, I had a hard time getting, uh, the suit cleaned," and after a few more seconds of chatter adds "but I'll try to make it up for you," to the delight of the audience. On I Got A Woman Elvis' voice is clearly weaker, but at least he puts a little effort on it during the first few notes, improvising with them a little bit. After greeting the audience and entertaining them for a while Elvis goes into Love Me, which sounds beautiful because of David Briggs' electric clavinet. On If You Love Me Elvis' voice is not very well controlled, while You Gave Me A Mountain is a very good rendition. Later Elvis teases the audience naming Jailhouse Rock and Love Me Tender among the candidates for being performed, but suddenly switches his mind into a very well performed It's Now Or Never, Elvis' phrasing is outstanding on this version. Elvis submits the request of One Night, a rare song for 1976, and surprisingly, Elvis' voice is fine here. All Shook Up and Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel are throwaways, And I Love You So is a calm version, but there's nothing outstanding in it, unfortunately. Elvis really drives the crowd crazy during Fever, "It's the longest intro in history," he declares and begins the song. Jerry's bass guitar is wonderful on this version. Polk Salad Annie is a typical late 70-s version, and having the song completed Elvis makes a nice comment: "Before I do anything else, I'd like to introduce you to the members of my group on stage, because I think I have some of the finest musicians and singers in the world, I really do".

Both the following Early Morning Rain and What'd I Say are incomplete and Elvis surprisingly tells James that "I'm not going to ask you to do the other thing". Jerry Scheff's bass guitar sounds strange during his solo, probably because of a certain effect pedal he is using. Love Letters somehow just doesn't sound well onstage, Elvis' voice is for whatever reason uncontrolled but the audience seems to like it. Then we jump directly from the introduction of Charlie Hodge into Hail Hail Rock'n'roll. "My latest record, as far as I know, is called Hurt," Elvis says and delivers an average version of Hurt, followed by a honestly weak Hound Dog. Elvis is almost ready to finish the concert, but decides to deliver a version of Blue Christmas, preceding by saying that "there are people who think that I can play guitar very well and they're right! I know three chords and that's all you need". The song is just a run through and Can't Help Falling In Love ends the concert.

Four bonus tracks from the following day's midnight concert are added. On Fairytale Elvis' voice control is magnificent, You Gave Me A Mountain is a partly spoken version, while the refrain is really outstanding. It's Now Or Never Or Never is the first version containing Shaun Neilson' O Sole Mio intro. Lawdy Miss Clawdy seems totally unrehearsed, Elvis doesn't even remember the words to it, so he is forced to repeat the first verse time after time until he finally confuses his band, but this rendition is a real treasure.

The spirit of this show is unique, Elvis may not be on top form, but his jokes are fresh and he is certainly enjoying his work. An ordinary concert with an extraordinary spirit. Too bad that the sound quality doesn't let us fully enjoy it.

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