Search - Elvis Presley :: On Stage February, 1970

The King On Stage!

R. Spencer | London, England | 01/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the mid-1980s, during my childhood, I saw Kurt Russell star in the movie "Elvis - True Story". I liked the music so much I wanted to buy a soundtrack album. However, my Granddad had a copy of "Elvis: 40 Greatest," so I borrowed that instead.



Reading the sleevenotes of that album and listening to that album, I was blown away. I had enjoyed great Country Music and the hit's of The Beatles before that, but this was different. I felt i had travelled back in time to the 1950s and 60s and was sitting in an American diner listening to the great Elvis hit's on a jukebox, as hit followed hit.



Pretty soon I saved up my pocket money and bought "The Sun Sessions", "20 Rock N Roll Greats" and then the "On Stage" collections. This was all before Compact Discs, so there was vinyl and tape.



This album originally continue no tracks for the concert that were on previous Elvis albums. They were all new songs or covers from the show that hadn't appeared on any of his previous work (unlike much later live albums which contained alot of the hit's).



Nowadays, in the CD age, this CD contains several bonus tracks, which feature some of the hit's Elvis sang at that concert ("In The Ghetto", "Kentucky Rain", "Long Tall Sally", etc, etc).



The opening track called "C.C. Rider" on the original LP (or "See See Rider" as it is credited as here) is a song Elvis sand at many concerts and it's just a good as opening as any album ever recorded.



Elvis then treats us to a version of Englebert Humperdincks "Release Me" (better than the original!) and then pays tribute to Neil Diamond with "Sweet Caroline (good times never seemed so good)". He does justice to Del Shannon's "Runaway" (a song in the style of many of Elvis' early rockers).



My favourite song on the album has to be "The Wonder Of You" a tender love song, sung as only Presley can, that was released as a single.



"Polk Salad Annie" is a great song with a novelty element. About a no good lying and stealing family, who have nothing better to do that steal watermelons. (lol)



Elvis then disproves any claim he hated the Beatles with a wonderful tribute to them, his version of "Yesterday". Not as good as Paul McCartney's original, but better than most of the other 50,000 cover versions!



On the CD Elvis then goes into a brief version of another Beatles classic "Hey Jude" (that was edited off the original album). It's a shame he didn't sing the whole song as he was doing such a great job!



Country music is where Presley's roots are and that's why songs like "Proud Mary", "Let it be me", "Kentucky Rain" (a pure classic!) and "Walk a mile in my shoes" (another pure classic!)

fit so well on this collection.



The versions of "long tall sally" and "in the ghetto", included a bonus tracks on this CD are just as good as the ones on the original studio albums by Presley.



"On Stage" was recorded at the beginning of the 1970s, a decade which saw many live albums by him. It ranks as one of the best."

The King Rules!

Richard B. Luhrs | Jackson Heights, NY United States | 12/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bolstered by a half-dozen bonus tracks which focus heavily on Elvis' famed 1969 American Studios sessions, this expanded edition of ON STAGE is an essential link between the King's late sixties comeback and his sumptuously orchestrated pop outings of the early seventies. It's also a hell of a show, even if it is assembled from numerous performances recorded over a period of half a year.

The focus here (and henceforth) is on "new" material, rather than the rock & roll songs that made Elvis a star, with big but remarkably supple arrangements backing the finest set of vocal cords ever recorded. Elvis tackles a range of eras and styles, finding new things to do with CCR's "Proud Mary," Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," Del Shannon's "Runaway" and a saccharine staple like "Let It Be Me" literally without missing a beat. But it's the additional cuts that really make this set. "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" is in itself worth the price of the disc, but hearing the band slow its groove down in the closing moments and effortlessly turn it into "In the Ghetto" is a bit of concert magic on a par with anything anyone else was doing in 1970, and that's saying a lot. Even the schmaltzy "Don't Cry Daddy" gains a certain magic in this context, paving the way for a show-stopping workout on "Kentucky Rain" that manages, against all odds, to equal if not better the stellar original version. "Suspicious Minds" is given a similarly mammoth treatment, though perhaps less so than would be the case a few months later in the THAT'S THE WAY IT IS period. Only on "Yesterday" (a song I've never much cared for) does the King stumble a bit, fudging the lyrics before putting things right with a bit of the coda from "Hey Jude."

In short, ON STAGE is a fine way to hear rock's most important figure at the height of his powers, covering a broad spectrum of excellent material with outstanding support from his band. Not to be missed!"