Elvis Presley - Elvis in Concert (Remastered) (CD)

Re: The final elvis tour

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Dec 12, 2000 | 2 out of 2 found this Elvis in Concert (Remastered) review helpful

This is a sad recording... yet, like a car accident, it is oddly compelling.Anyone who remembers the initial airing of the television special in October of 1977 recalls the horror of what was transpiring in front of the cameras. Why wasn't this guy ...in a hospital?Still, Presley's voice is surprisingly strong for a guy who was clearly dying, and the fact that he was onstage trying to compete with a titanic orchestra and kick-ass combo says a lot about his courage as an artist.Highlights include "See See Rider", the opening track. Elvis' voice is strong and he clearly wants to make a good first impression. It's unfortunate that it falls apart quickly with weak versions of "That's All Right" and horrific renditions of "Teddy Bear" and "Don't Be Cruel". Elvis was meandaring the stage at this point, and obviously couldn't hear himself in the monitors... otherwise he would have, well, died ON-THE-SPOT.The second half of the record is below par, although "How Great Thou Art" is majestic and, given Presley's physical decline, of special significance.The second portion of the set is better. "I Got A Woman" is as bluesy as it gets and it's followed by a down, dark and low version of "Love Me"... (check out the funky lounge piano).Elvis salvages some of his dignity with a powerful rendition of "It's Now Or Never", although Sherill Nielson does some doubling here, and "Trying To Get To You" ends the set with one of the best live recordings Elvis ever made. It's too bad this material didn't highlight the television show.Elvis should have been allowed to end his career with something more dignified, but there is a strange type but there is a strange form of dignity here. Elvis is TRYING. He could just as easily have been at home, shooting flashbulbs out of the Graceland swimming pool while maintaining a nice, Percodan buzz.There truly IS good music here... it's just dificult to hear above the death rattle.-Mark Spangler Read more Less