www.elvis-presley.website

The ultimate site about the king of the analogue age

 

In March 2020, thirteen years after the book/cd combo "Elvis Presley Live In LA", Follow That Dream Records released another two shows from Elvis' short 1974 tour of California. This time Sony's own collector's label offered the final concerts, which took place on April 12th and 13th at the Selland Arena in Fresno and at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernadino. The compact discs are housed in a 5" digipak, that is nicely designed with photos from the tour and a ticket stub for the king's show in Fresno. Because the tape of the Fresno show was FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Repair), the final four tracks were taken from the recording of the first show in San Bernadino on April 10th. The opening theme "Also Sprach Zarathustra" was neither taped in Fresno, nor in San Bernadino. In Fresno the engineer even didn't bother to start the recording equipment before the middle of "See See Rider". In San Bernadino the last part of "Can't Help Falling In Love" wasn't taped, too. For me the loss isn't all that great, because these elements are part of almost all Presley shows from 1972 to 1977. It is said, that both recordings are running a little too slow, but if that's the case, I cannot make it out.

CD 1 (April 12, 1974: Fresno)    CD 2 (April 13, 1974: San Bernadino)

 

Verdict

The king invests a little less energy in his shows than he had in March, but he's in fine voice and good mood. The set list of the concerts is a nice mix of older and newer material.

 (C) Follow That Dream Records / Sony Music Entertainment