TUCSON '72 () (Released 2005)
Content: 4 Sound: 2- Artwork: 3+
1. Review by Mike Sanders |
Tucson, November 9 1972 (8:30pm)
Also Sprach Zarathustra
See See Rider
I Got A Woman
Until It's Time For You To Go
You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
You Gave Me A Mountain
Polk Salad Annie
Love Me
All Shook Up
Heartbreak Hotel
Blue Suede Shoes
The Wonder Of You
Love Me Tender
One Night
Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel
Little Sister/Get Back
Hound Dog
I'll Remember You
How Great Thou Art
Suspicious Minds
Band Introductions
For The Good Times
A Big Hunk O'Love
Fever
I Can't Stop Loving You
Johnny B. Goode
Can't Help Falling In Love
Closing Vamp
Lawdy, Miss Clawdy (Abilene, March 27 1977) |
Review by Mike Sanders
This CD contains an audience recording of Elvis's 8.30pm show at the Community Arena in Tuscon on 9th November 1972.
The artwork is attractively presented with various concert photo's from this period, possibly even from this particular show but there are no liner notes to confirm this.
The show itself is good, with both Elvis and the crowd in a good mood. Unfortunately the sound from the audience recording is not very good, with individual instruments and some of the dialogue being difficult to hear. It is for example, nowhere near as clear as on the show A New Live Experience which was recorded 6 days later on this tour. However, the show itself is every bit as good and benefits from 5 extra songs, although 'Burning Love' was not sung today, as it was at Long Beach on the 15th.
The first 45 seconds of this CD are not promising, as we hear distortion due to tape damage during the '2001' opening theme. Happily the sound improves and remains constant throughout the rest of the show, which starts with the usual 'See See Rider'. 'I Got a Woman' is sung with the Amen Chorus. (Interestingly 6 days later it was performed as one song with no 'Amen'). 'Until It’s Time for You to Go', 'You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me' and 'You Gave Me a Mountain' are fine versions. An energetic 'Polk Salad Annie' is rewarded with rapturous applause at the end. During the break, whilst he is recovering, he says "We’re gonna do all the songs you want to hear – we'll do as many as we can – really!" And this evening he really means it as he performs a total of 25 songs! The 50's hits that follow are performed without a break, one after the other and are particularly enthusiastically received this evening. 'Hound Dog' is introduced in the usual teasing style after "You Ain’t" he says, "You don’t know what I'm going to do yet" and follows with one line of 'Old Shep', "When I was a lad…" And later, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head". A two speed version of 'Hound Dog' follows this. All the songs afterwards are performed well enough, with 'For The Good Times' featuring the lyric change, "Hold Your Warm and Sweaty Body Close to Mine", to much approval from female fans in the audience. 'Fever' is given more atmosphere by the crowd who can clearly be heard clapping along to the beat. After an energetic 'Johnny B Goode', Elvis asks for the house lights to be turned on so he can see his audience. "Hello there" he says, "Glad to see you", he then follows with the usual 'Can't Help Falling in Love'.
However, this is not the end of this CD, as it contains a track not listed anywhere on the cover. It features a superb 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy' recorded from the audience in Abilene on the 27th March 1977, which was apparently the last time this song was performed live. We have heard this track before in sound board quality on the FTD release Spring Tours, but I have to say I prefer this recording, as it is very clear and perfectly captures the atmosphere of the occasion. This is a good example of how an audience recording can sometimes give a superior experience of a live recording – you can simply feel the electricity in the arena. Certainly if this concert is released complete in this quality, it will be a must have in my view. Suffice to say that on hearing this track, I played it 3 times over. It is without doubt, the stand out track on this CD and yet unlisted! Why?
In conclusion, this concert is an enjoyable focused performance, but with nothing special to set it apart from other shows on this tour. Unfortunately the sound quality also detracts, so for collectors wishing to have one show from every tour /engagement, I would definitely recommend "A New Live Experience" over this release, for its far superior sound. That said, I cannot recommend the bonus Lawdy Miss Clawdy highly enough, so some might consider this reason enough to collect this one as well.
Show rating: 4
Sound Quality: 2-
Artwork: 3+
©
, United Kingdom, December 2005
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