ELVIS PRESLEY - "MILWAUKEE SPECIAL" - April 27th, 1977 (2 Bootleg CDs)

Questo "speciale" - recensione inclusa - l'avevo già in serbo. Ecco spiegato il brevissimo lasso di tempo intercorso tra il post precedente e questo (oggi mi sento particolarmente munifico: sarà la voglia di restituire al blog i due anni in cui l'ho abbandonato a se stesso e lasciato in una sorta di limbo?).

Here's to you two CDs of the same show: "And I Love You So - The King Rocks Milwaukee" & "Elvis Presley - Sundial Sunshine" (Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin - April 27th, 1977).

Vi chiederete perché ho scritto la recensione in inglese. Forse perché ritengo che sia la lingua del Rock & Roll, o forse, più prosaicamente, per accaparrarmi un maggior numero di lettori (pur non guadagnandoci nulla...). Anyway...


"And I Love You So - The King Rocks Milwaukee"

"On April 27th, 1977 Elvis visited the Milwaukee Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What we've got here is an audience recording of that show. Although two women talk, laugh, scream and sing all throughout the concert, the audio quality varies from GOOD to VERY GOOD. Moreover, the two ladies don't ruin The King's performance: on the contrary - but this is just my point of view - they make you feel all the excitement of the Arena. Through their eyes (and ears) we comprehend how must it have been magical seeing the world's greatest entertainer on stage, no matter what shape he was in. In one word, it's like to be present at the Elvis' gig.
After the "2001 Theme", Elvis gives us a rocking C.C. Rider and on the final of the medley "I Got A Woman - Amen" he hits very high notes. Another highlight of the first half of the concert is a very inspired rendition of "You Gave Me A Mountain", albeit after a false start. "It's Now or Never", thanks to Mexican sounding trumpet, has a great Latin feeling, and Elvis' voice is very powerful (what a killer ending!). "My Way" is simply thundering, and who cares if the "Tupelo Flash" had to read the words on a lyrics sheet? (This is what Damien Jaques, the original reviewer of the concert from "The Milwaukee Journal", blamed Elvis for: "The greatest superstar doesn't get lost in the middle of a song and have the bandstart over. He doesn't carry sheets of paper on stage because he doesn't know the lyrics to a song, and the ask the audience to forgive him if he makes a mistake."). To confirm the evidence of this story, there's the back cover of the CD, with a pic of Elvis holding a sheet. "Polk Salad Annie" represents the "dirty" number of the ES. It's very enjoyable, not only due to Elvis's interpretation, but also for the excellent arrangement. This track can also be found on the FTD official release "Elvis - Spring Tours 77" (I've added it as a bonus track into the WinRAR archive. Obviously the sound is far superior to the one contained here, but it is not taken from soundboard, rather from a 4-track recording equipment set up by Felton Jarvis in the hope of taping something worth releasing). We don't have to forget that behind The King there was a KILLER BAND. Just listen to the Ronnie Tutt's Drum Solo! One of the coolest I've ever heard. Unfortunately, the worst part of the show is constituted by Elvis' big 50s hits (like "Jailhouse Rock" or "Hound Dog"). What The King once proudly introduced as "Oldies but Goodies", now have sadly become typical throw-away versions from the late Seventies.

This concert is the same you will find on the second folder of the archive ("Elvis Presley - Sundial Sunshine"), but it sounds better because it's encoded at 224 Kbps and not at 128 as the other. Anyway there are some gaps between the tracks: you can use an mp3 editor to remove them.

Enjoy!

Corbaccio

P.S. As always, comments are welcome!

"And I Love You So - The King Rocks Milwaukee" + "Elvis Presley - Sundial Sunshine"