Title: A Profile -The King On Stage II (4 CD box set)

Label: Fort Baxter

CD 1: May 27, 1974, special 3 A.M. closing show; Sahara Tahoe Hotel, Stateline, Nevada

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

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

Tracks: 1. See See Rider 2.I Got A Woman / Amen 3.Love Me 4.Trying To Get To You 5.All Shook Up 6.Love me Tender 7.You Don't Have To Say You Love me 8.Hound Dog (with two reprises) 9.Fever 10.Polk Salad Annie 11.Why Me Lord? (with reprise) 12.Suspicious Minds 13.Band Introductions 14.I Can't Stop loving You 15.Help me 16.Bridge Over Troubled Water (with reprise) 17.Let Me be There 18.The Wonder Of You 19.Big Boss Man 20.The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 21.An American Trilogy 22.It's Now Or Never 23.Can't Help Falling In Love 24.Closing Vamp

CD 2: September 28, 1974; College Park, Maryland

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

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

Tracks: 1.See See Rider 2.Dialogue 3.I Got A Woman / Amen 4.Love Me 5.If You Love Me (Let Me Know) 6.It's Midnight 7.Big Boss Man 8.Fever 9.Dialogue 10.Love Me Tender 11.Hound Dog 12.Band Introductions 13.Blue Christmas 14.All Shook Up 15.Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 16.Trying To Get To You 17.Killing Me Softly (by Voice) 18.When It's My Time (by The Stamps Quartet) 19.Heartbreak Hotel 20.Let Me Be There (with reprise) 21.How Great Thou Art 22.Hawaiian Wedding Song 23.Blue Suede Shoes 24.Dialogue 25.Can't Help Falling In Love 26.Closing Vamp

CD 3: October 6, 1974, matinee show; Dayton, Ohio

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

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

Tracks: 1. See See Rider 2. I Got A Woman / Amen 3. Love Me 4. If You Love Me, Let Me Know (with reprise) 5. It's Midnight 6. Big Boss Man 7. Fever 8. Love Me Tender 9. Hound Dog (with reprise) 10. Band Introductions 11. Lawdy Miss Clawdy 12. Band Introductions 13. All Shook Up 14. Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 15. Heartbreak Hotel 16. Why Me Lord? 17. Promised Land 18. You Gave Me A Mountain 19. Let Me Be There (with reprise) 20. Hawaiian Wedding Song (with reprise) 21. Can't Help Falling In Love 26. Closing Vamp

CD 4: March 22, 1975, midnight show; Las Vegas, Hilton

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

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

Tracks: 1. Also Sprach Zarathustra 2. See See Rider 3. I Got A Woman / Amen 4. Love Me 5. If You Love Me, Let Me Know 6. And I Love You So 7. Big Boss Man 8. It's Midnight 9. Promised Land 10. Green Green Grass Of Home 11. Fairytale 12. Band Introductions 13. My Boy 14. I'll Remember You 15. Let Me Be There (with reprise) 16. Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 17. Hound Dog 18. You're The Reason I'm Living 19. Can't Help Falling In Love 20. Closing Vamp. + BONUS: How the Web Was Woven, I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen (July 16, 1970)

Review of CD 1: This show is one of the best from Sahara Tahoe Spring 1974 engagement. And The King On Dessert is a good show too, but this is super. First of all, I have to say that this is a 3 A.M. closing show. Elvis says: "Good morning! Sounds funny - Good morning?!" The audience is screaming and shouting like this is not a deep night, but the beginning of the day. The concert program is fantastic, not to say that the show is incomplete and the last 4 tracks were added from an unknown dinner show from May 1974.

Fair versions of See See Rider and I Got A Woman are followed by poor Trying To Get To You and All Shook Up, after this the endless highlights begin. Love Me Tender is very nice welcomed by the audience, Elvis offers his scarf, belt and suit. This is not a fast short version, it is indeed tender and very powerful. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me featuring Kathy Westmoreland is very close to the 1970' versions. Two reprises of Hound Dog are really rocking, like back in 50's. There are 3 different reprises in this show - Hound Dog (2 times), Why Me Lord? and Bridge Over Troubled Water.

In Fever, after the words: "When you call my name", Elvis screams: "Elvis!!!!!!" so loud, that it seems like he was scared how loud it was done. Polk Salad Annie is a usual 1974 version, with a little bluesy rendition. Suspicious Minds is mostly sung by Charlie Hodge, which brings nothing to this song, you know. Help Me and Bridge are the real highlights of the show. The audience went crazy, it was almost 4 A.M. they might want to sleep a while, but Elvis is on stage and sings Bridge! Where we all were when this all happened? Why were not we there? Well, since we were not, all we have to do is listening. Yes, one more reprise, Elvis!

The Wonder Of You is great and Big Boss Man - FANTASTIC! While listening to The First Time, Ever I Saw Your Face I remember the December 29, 1976 show in Birmingham when the last version of this song was performed. Before the last song, Elvis tried to joke about the eagle, which was on his suit during the Aloha performance, but it was not very funny. He felt this because he could not hear any laugh in the audience and he gave out the next joke, this time really funny: "We would stay longer, but really J.D.'s got big grand father and he got to put him in the bed between the shows, you know, so until we meet you again - drive carefully going home".

Review of CD 2: The second CD of the set continues the story of Desert Storm. Elvis talks a lot, his voice is strange. The whole concert is strange. Just like in case of Desert Storm, some people say that he is drugged. And most likely he is.

This CD starts directly from See See rider, which is weak - El doesn't reach the notes and is out of beat. After that Elvis asks J.D. Sumner tell the audience that they "are fantastic", what he does. "You know, I love what I do, - Elvis says,- I love show buindes...biusnends... business, no I do man, I dig it. Lots of singers say "Man, I gotta wake, what a hell", but not me, goddamn I love it!". I Got A Woman is weak too, and sometimes he's out of beat again. After Amen Elvis begins to sings Blue Moon of Kentucky, but he has got to finish I got a Woman first. He says :"I'll do it later on. I should try to do every song...". Before Love Me Elvis says the standard dialogue, and asks not to throw requests, 'cause he'd get to them anyway. If you Love me is a little different from other 1974 versions and I like it very much. Before It's Midnight, The King says: "This next song is a new song, we have coming up soon in the next couple of weeks. I hope you like it. It's brand new, it's called It's midnight". The intro is two and a half times longer than it should be. But that can't overshadow the fact that this version is outstanding (at least, for such a weak concert).

Big Boss Man is similar to the version of Desert Storm, but here he's out of beat during the intro and can't match a few notes. The intro is also longer. What comes next is a good version Fever, in the intro Elvis says "It's a sexy song so I gotta get ready. If I will fall down of the stage, you guys catch me and put back". After the line "...when you call my name" Elvis adds with a high falsetto voice "Elvis!". After singing "She said "Daddy, don't you dare", he sings "You're just a monkey" after that he says "Act right, act right!!!" and after "We give you Fever he shouts "C'mon get, c'mon get... quit, quit, quit, quit, quit, I have told you to quit!!!" probably to the bass player. .

Then he talks about Karate, to the girl, thanking her for a gift, he said he would give to his daughter. Then he does a full Love me tender, which is really rare for that period. Hound Dog begins with an intro: "you ain't, you ain't, you just think you are..." He does a better version version than many others, with an additional verse "You are white trash!", etc.

What comes next are the introductions. When he starts it he says: "The guys who opened the show, they shouldn't have...". After introduction of the Sweet Inspirations he says: "Don't give them so many applauses, they will ask for a raise!". After introducing Glen D. Harden he asks him to play "Something beautiful and classical and out of sight". Glen continues playing Comin' Home Baby a little slower, but Elvis insists in doing something else. So Glen does. It is an improvisation, as I guess.

After the intros Elvis says that he knows Blue Christmas and asks if the people want to hear it. People say that they want and he does a rare live performance of it. After that he says: "All shook up". He really is... Of course I (like many other people, who like Elvis' live concert) have grown tired of these as we call them "oldies", but at least sometimes Elvis gives decent performances of these songs, and here it is one of these times. After All Shook Up he begins singing Teddy bear/ Don't be cruel, changing the words: "... put a scarf around my neck...". After the song (which is "standard version") he says: "I'll tell you what I'm going to try to do. I'm going to try to do one of the first records I ever recorded, and it is hard to do the same. Son, I don't know Jailhouse Rock, I swear to God. I know it but we have never rehearsed Jailhouse Rock....". (During all the concert a woman shouts "Jailhouse Rock" and even this words didn't stop her, she continued to shout Jailhouse Rock all the way through the concert :-)) What Elvis does is great version of Trying to get to you. The end part is also very interesting, because the group forgets the end, so Elvis sings it as if he would continue the song... Really GREAT!!!

After that Elvis asks the Voice to sing Killing me softly. I like this song, Voice do it great. Then Elvis asks the audience to listen to the Stamps. They do their part very good (the song is called When It's My Time). I like it as much as Sweet Sweet Spirit, featured in Elvis on Tour. After the end the King says that he hates Bill, and asks him to sing the end one more time. The man "shouts" fantastic!

What comes next is a great version of Heartbreak Hotel, which is incomplete and El forgets the words. It's very sad. Then he sings a new song, which had been released a few months before in the live album "Elvis as recorded live in Memphis" - Let Me Be There. This version is near to the "original" version. It doesn't contain the shouts, which could be heard in Desert Storm and others. What follows is How Great Thou Art. Elvis says that Ed Inok sings it better than anybody else, but he "prefers" to sing it himself. And they begin the song, which is very good and powerful. Elvis sang it good even in the last years of his life and even in the worst conditions. After the standard question ("How many of you people saw the movie Blue Hawaii?") he does a good calm version of the Hawaiian Wedding Song, though he sounds a bit tired. Somebody throws a request of Blue Suede Shoes, and they do a fast version, which can be compared to the versions of the 72-73 period. After that Elvis talks for a while, about his love to the live audience, about the Movie magazines, rumors, and says that he is a narcotics agent organization, "...you can take my word or of the goddamn movie magazines...", about the airplanes, about his show, and says the great phrase: "I want the people to get the best!", after saying that they have the most expensive equipment in the world. He ends the concert with a standard version of Can't help Falling in Love, and a very long closing vamp (apr. 5 minutes long).

This CD gives us a chance to hear a strange Elvis. Drugged or not, his voice is weak on one parts and great on the others. Nearer to the end of the concert, he begun feeling himself better. Personally I like it more than the regular concerts.

Review of CD 3: First of all, the sound quality of this one is far better than of the evening show. When it was released in 1996 no one could even guess that after 4 years the evening show will be released as well. I' m not going to compare Madison's release with Fort Baxter's, but this show is closer to me. Of course, Breathing Out Fire is an important document, but it's sound quality is worse.

Elvis seems to be strung out and this is more evident than in the evening show. The energy of the show goes through your mind while listening. Non-standard jokes and one song after another brings us to the first highlight - If You Love Me, Let Me Know. Elvis performs it with the reprise, enjoying the main part: "Yeah, if you love me, let me know, and if you don't let me go." He says, that they have made a mistake in the ending, but this is not true. Everything was done correctly, it was a small lie for the audience.

It's Midnight is the second hit of the show (not sung in evening show). This tender version is very close to studio version and the chorus is great. Among other songs, which were not included in the evening show: a good rocking version of Promised Land and a sensitive You Gave Me A Mountain.

While doing Fever, Elvis says: "Come on do it with me", and the audience begins to clap in the rhythm of the song. "My first movie was Love me tender, so let me sing a bit of it for you," - says Elvis very quickly. He is not interested in singing, this time he needs rockabilly songs. Hound Dog is GREAT, the band had rehearsed the final part recently and Elvis decided to give a reprise of it.

Band Introductions are standard, but done in high-rhythm to get to the next song. Ronnie Tutt's solo is fantastic as usual. Elvis sings: "Un, cha cha" during the band solos. Glenn D. Hardin starts Lawdy Miss Clawdy right away, but Elvis asks him to do a solo first, like they have rehearsed it in 1942. But it seems that Glenn can't play anything except this song.

A great bluesy version of Heartbreak Hotel with the same old joke: "You'd be so sweaty I could die".

I can't find the words for Promised Land, just listen to understand. Who could do it better? I guess it was Elvis's personal wish to sing You Gave Me A Mountain, because it was not expected by anyone. Let Me Be There is standard

Second small lie by Elvis is that Hawaiian Wedding Song was the most requested song for this show. However, this version is great and very romantic, making you to sing it to someone you love. And After Kathy can't help laughing, Elvis can't help falling in love (fallin' in shit as he mentioned).

Review of CD 4: On this CD we have the midnight show from March 22, which is a high class concert.

As the usual 2001 theme comes to a close, Ronnie's thundering opening vamp starts and Elvis hits the stage with See See Rider, which is a strong version. "Thank you, good evening... Well, well, ok" he says and goes into I Got A Woman, which sounds better than often, but not more than that. There is a restart right in the middle of the song, because Elvis forgets the words to the song. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. You remember me(?)... I'm older.. No anyway, now just got... both of 'em. Both of us?" Elvis jokes. Love Me is throwaway. If You Love Me is next. Elvis seems especially inspired on this number and sounds great. "Thank you very much", Elvis says and strictly goes into a beautiful slow version of And I Love You So. "Quick! Do the next song!" Elvis almost shouts, probably wanting to get out of the mood. Next is Big Boss Man which sounds very powerful, though all this live versions lack the great Jerry Reed's guitar rhythm. Next is It's Midnight, which sounds different from 1974 live version, and I have to add that it sounds great! Promised Land is next and it sounds closer to the master with David Briggs' electric piano intro, though Elvis sounds a bit tired on this number. After the James Burton's solo, Joe Guercio's orchestra comes in, making the song sound very different. "Let's do Green Grass of Home" Elvis says, and James begins the solo. "Thank you! This next song that we've been doing a little bit, it was recorded by a group called The Pointer Sisters and it's called Fairytale", Elvis says. The rendition of this song is very good, Elvis' voice doesn't fail him and he sounds great. "I'd like to introduce you to the members of my group before we go any further", Elvis says. "'Cause I've only got, let's see, I'm allowed to be onstage from 56 minutes to one hour. That's what they say... (applause and shouts from the audience) I say about 35 minutes! So anyway, we've got only 6 more songs to do..." "Where are you from?" Elvis asks The Sweet Inspirations. And they answer singing "In the ghetto" After being introduced, James Burton plays a melody similar to What'd I Say? And Elvis sings it. Duke Bardwell's solo shows us why Elvis didn't like him as a bass player. His playing is very primitive.

Next is a great live rendition of My Boy which sounds different from the original because of the piano / orchestra intro. I'll Remember You is next. It is beautiful. "I'll let you be there", Elvis says before the group launches into Let Me Be There. This version is not great and Elvis seems a bit out of breath. The two oldies can easily be skipped from this review - they are not worth to be mentioned, though they really do sound better than usually. "Honey, I'll be there...", Elvis says and begins singing the first two lines of the song, while Glen is trying to find the key. "Give me C, give me C chord", Elvis quickly says and begins singing You're The Reason I'm Living. This beautiful bluesy song could have been a nice addition to the live repertory and even a candidate for an album cut, it is really strange that it has never found it's way into the regular show. After the song Elvis says that the song was completely unrehearsed and also Elvis tells about his father's state of health, before wishing everybody a happy Easter and launching into Can't Help Falling In Love.

The sound on this release is a bit unbalanced, but still very good and when you get into the great mood of this concert you will not notice the sound problems. It is a great show, really worth listening, Elvis seems relaxed and on the other hand he is completely into the show, his voice is powerful and the song list is great! Can we ask for more?

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