A Minnesota Moment - A Pretty Good Show

If the box set A Golden Celebration from 1984 had included a 1976 soundboard concert like the one recorded on October 17 in Minneapolis I would've been excited, to say the least. When released as A Minnesota Moment 26 years later it's just another one in a row of soundboards from 1976 made available by FTD.

Or maybe not. Comparing it to the concert featured on New Haven '76 from July 30, is like night and day. On the latter Elvis sounds painfully exhausted and out of breath, while on A Minnesota Moment we get to listen to an Elvis that is there to sing and entertain, not just to go through the motions.

In fact, it's a pretty good show. Elvis seems to be in a good mood, sings well and gives some solid performances. During this particular tour he used "Steamroller Blues" once again, and in Minneapolis he delivers a great version. Elvis is clearly having fun with "One Night" and "It's Now Or Never" is another enjoyable performance.

I must also mention two of the bonus songs (An Elvis album without bonus songs? Come on!), featuring Elvis on guitar. "Blue Christmas" is a bluesy rendition, recorded in Dayton, Ohio, on October 26. The last track on the album, "That's All Right," is from the same show, delivered at a supercharged pace after a request for "Lonesome Cowboy!"

All in all, Joan Deary (Elvis' record producer at the time) could've done worse that included a show like the one recorded live on October 17, 1976 at The Metropolitan Sports Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota on the A Golden Celebration box set. Why she didn't is anybodies guess.

PS: I just have to mention the terrible photoshop job done on the cover around Elvis' left arm. Is that sloppy, or what?

"Thankyouverymuch"

One week after the concert in London, the thing I remember the most about Elvis Presley In Concert was the incredible response from the audience. This was especially true during the second act when show stoppers such as "Suspicious Minds" and "An American Trilogy" earned standing ovations from every single soul in the arena, yours truly included.

Another moment that comes to mind was the bald guy two rows in front of me wearing one of those shirts Elvis fancied during rehearsals for his August 1970 Las Vegas engagement. When Elvis sang the part about "gazed at your bald head and wished you had hair" on the big screen, his buddies seated beside him pointed at his head and all of them had a great laugh.

I also remembered feeling incredible good, thinking once again, how lucky I am being a fan and what Elvis means to me. And, judging by the people all around me, I wasn't the only one having those kind of thoughts.

As for the show itself, I felt it was more "in sync" than when I saw it the last time, in 2000. Elvis' voice and the musicians sounded very coordinated and never out of time. In other words, the illusion that Elvis sang "live" was a very real one.

But maybe this should come as no big surprise. The concert was part of the sixth tour of Europe, so the band should feel very much at ease with the concept by now. Which leads me to the only bit of criticism I have about the whole show: the song lineup. Although a very strong one, it differs little from the one used during earlier tours.

Granted, there's only a few movies and television specials to choose from, but they include a lot of material (released and unreleased) that hasn't been used. I for one would love to see "I Just Can't Help Believin'," "Patch It Up," and "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" from That's The Way It Is. And why isn't more footage from Elvis On Tour than "How Great Thou Art" and "Sweet, Sweet Spirit" adapted to the show? And while I'll at it, wouldn't it be cool if Act 1 was the Aloha show and Act 2 a concert from August 1970?

Those thoughts aside, Elvis Presley In Concert is an incredible experience. I think the introductory text in the tour programme says it all:

"Who but the legendary Elvis Presley, his outstanding bandmates and his incomparable fans could make such an amazing thing happen? Elvis was the best. He surrounded himself with the best singers and players. Together, they performed for the best fans anyone could ever dream of having. Elvis said it then and it's still true today: "You're a fantastic audience. Thankyouverymuch."


Movie showing the last minute of "Suspicious Minds."

The Concert That Almost Never Was (For Me)

We planned it carefully: Bought our tickets months ahead, booked the flight well in advance and left our hotel in central London two hours before the concert was to begin in the Wembley Arena. Despite all this me and my wife almost missed Elvis Presley In Concert thanks to the city's public transportation system.

Not only was the underground station where we were supposed to take "the tube" to the arena closed due to an emergency (we never found out what the emergency was). For whatever reason the fastest line to Wembley was also out of order that evening. And on top of that, the replacement buses didn't arrive.

But thanks to a guy dressed like Elvis that we talked to on the street (wasn't that hard guessing where he was heading) we soon found ourselves in a taxi together with Gary Aron – The Scottish Voice of Elvis, his fiancée, and another couple that, hearing we had come all the way from Sweden, "apologized, on behalf of England."

Funny how Elvis can bring together people that way. Despite being in a hurry, we had a pleasant drive to the arena, chatting about things having to do with the King, if we had been to Graceland and if we'd seen the show before, things like that. But even though the cab driver pushed the pedal to the metal, we arrived about a quarter of an hour late to the arena.

So from the taxi we ran, and were shown to our seats as Elvis belted out "Steamroller Blues" on the big screen. I looked around me, amazed by the number of people in the audience, then turned my attention to the stage and enjoyed the show. More about that in my next post.

From Gothenburg To London

"I'm so excited I could just ... Oh, I can't wait." That fan comment from the 1977 television special Elvis In Concert came to mind today as I realized it's only five days to go before I'm sitting in the Wembley Arena in London watching Elvis Presley In Concert.

Having read reports from both Elvis Unlimited and ElvisMatters it looks like I'm in for a good time. The opening is different from the one I experienced in 1999 and 2000, featuring the alternate 2001 theme known from Elvis On Tour while on the big screen the audience is transported "Google Earth style" to the arena. Then the real 2001 kicks in as Elvis walks towards the stage and the curtain falls away.

However great this will be, at the same time I can't help feeling a bit envious of those lucky enough to have experienced the real thing. Of course I'm looking forward to see "Elvis live on screen" but I'm not smiling from ear to ear like the lady does in Elvis In Concert while, looking to be in heaven, she exclaims, "I'm so excited I could just ... Oh, I can't wait."

On the other hand, Elvis Presley In Concert is the next best thing. More than 30 years after Elvis passed away I'm going to share an incredible experience with thousands of other fans in that arena in London, listening to Elvis' music at full blast. I guess I'm starting to feel a bit excited, after all.

Elvis Now And Then

Turned out I was wrong. The next release from FTD isn't going to be Promised Land or Jailhouse Rock Vol. 2. Nope, the next one to get the classic album treatment is Elvis Now. I think my brother sums it up well on ElvisNews.com:

Elvis Now looks OK, although I had hoped for a "fake" 1971 album with all 1971 pop songs. (Standing Room Only was a good way to collect all new tracks from 1972, although it was an album that never came out). It's strange that Don't Think Twice is here, but not the "Elvis at the piano" selections from the same "Elvis (Fool)" album. I also miss the duet version of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, released on the Rough Cut Diamonds bootleg in the mid 80's. And I would have preferred the religious song as bonus songs on a He Touched Me FTD CD ... Anyhow, I will definitely buy it.

I couldn't help smiling when I noticed that the press release called the original album "great" while Ernst Jorgensen in his Recording Sessions book wrote: "Elvis Now must definitely rank as one of the most misleading titles ever to grace an Elvis album cover ... the album overall represented another major step backward."

One thing is for sure, though. Elvis Now would've been a stronger album had it included "I'm Leavin'," "It's Only Love" and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and omitted "Hey Jude."

Speaking of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," I too miss the duet version, and find it hard to believe that the reason for its omission might be a legal one. On the other hand, I suspect the budget FTD has to play with isn't that big, so maybe it's the real answer after all.

Any Day Now

Some periods are certainly slower Elvis wise than others. They are to me, anyway. And right now I'm right in the middle of one of them.

For starters, no exciting news has been announced in about a month, not since Elvis Presley Enterprises told us Elvis On Tour is coming to DVD. FTD promised more information about future releases by the end of January, but not very surprisingly, not a word has been heard from that direction.

More seriously is I'm having problems with my steroe equipment. One moment, the sound is so low I can hardly hear what song is playing. The next, without me touching the volume control, it's so high I'm afraid my ears will be permanently damaged.

But who am I to complain? Last year FTD brought the fans no less than 11 new releases (10 if you don't count the re-release of Rockin' Across Texas without the book). And if you're into bootleggs there was a steady stream of them as well (The Final Homecoming being one of the highlights).

And any day now I'll bet Ernst Jorgerensen will announce that the next classic albums will be Promised Land and Jailhouse Rock Vol. 2. Guess it's time to rush to the store to buy a new stereo.

A Minnesota Moment In A Minute

Last year, FTD's 2 CD set Dixieland Delight was supposed to be released in cooperation with a multi-media box set with the same title by Praytome Publishing & Bud Glass Productions (including 2 books and a DVD). In fact, the box set was announced inside the cover of the CD album, but to this day there has been no trace of it.

I was reminded of this when MRS announced a book called In A Minnesota Minute, to be released on exactly the same date as the upcoming FTD soundboard A Minnesota Moment, on February 15. Not only that, but the book contains photographs from the same concert as the one included on the CD, from October 17, 1976.

Also, the photographs featured in the book are the work of Tim Healy, as is the photo gracing the cover on the CD set. And the layout of the book is very similiar to the one used on the CD set. But neither MRS nor FTD has said anything about this being done "in cooperation" as was the case with Dixieland Delight.

So will this end just like Dixieland Delight, with only the FTD album becoming a reality? That doesn't seem to be the case, as sample images from the book are available. My guess is Ernst Jorgensen somehow got in touch with Tim Healy, offering to buy some photos he could use for the cover of A Minnesota Moment. Maybe Tim Healy then put forward the idea of doing a combo book/CD, like Live In L.A.

When Ernst Jorgensen then told him, for whatever reason, that no plans for future combined FTD books and CD releases exist, Tim Healy looked elsewhere. Somehow he got in contact with the people running MRS, offering them the pictures, the result of that approach being In A Minnesota Minute. Other theories, anyone?