On August 19th the king opened his "Elvis Summer Festival 1974" with a completely re-booted show. After more than three years he finally changed the format and focused on his current material. But instead of going ahead with the idea he went back to his old show on the very next day and wouldn't ever stray from the concept for the rest of his life. Fortunately this special concert was recorded through the mixing desk of the sound engineer.

As usual the original recording was issued first by Sony's own collector's label Follow That Dream Records, but since the copyright in Europe runs out after half a century, the Memphis Recording Service was free to release it again from 2025 onwards. According to their business model the original mono source was transformed into artificial stereo. The result doesn't match a professional multitrack recording, but it certainly sounds better than the previous incarnation of the show. The compact disc is housed in a small hardcover-book, which includes liner notes, photos and much more. In contrast to the "official" FTD releases, this one here can also be found on several streaming platforms. 

Of course the audience expects the show to be opened with the gandiouse "Also Sprach Zarathustra", but instead Ronnie Tutt starts to play a simple drum staccato. Elvis (dressed in his "Peacock Suit") enters the stage and ignores another standard by not receiving his guitar from Charlie Hodge. Instead the assistant hands him a microphone and the king starts to sing "Big Boss Man". The track itself has been released by him on a single back in 1967 and was added to the live set list in May. Now the r&b tune is used to open the show and serves the purpose well.

This song was laid to rest after the "Elvis Summer Festival 1972", but now it's back and presented with as much zest as on the album "Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden". In reference to his suit the king introduces himself as the NBC Peacock (the corporate logo of the network is a peacock) and jokes a bit with the audience.

Now Elvis jestingly claims to have recorded the next song when Charlie (Hodge) was a child. In fact it was released back in 1966 as a bonus song on the soundtrack album of the movie "Spinout". Compared to the rendition on the record Elvis sounds less boisterous tonight, but it's a good performance by any means. As it turned out, the king would never sing "Down In The Alley" again.

The same applies to "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues", a track from his current studio album "Good Times". Maybe the lyrics were a bit too close to his real life. After having sung the line "You play around, you loose your wife" he ad-libs "Already done that" and he follows "You play too long, you loose your life" with "Almost done that". Obviously the man is aware of his problems!

Just like "Proud Mary" this one was combed out after the "Elvis Summer Festival 1972". Here the king also uses the same arrangement as on the album "Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden" and presents a powerful rendition.

Now Elvis presents his forthcoming single "It's Midnight". The ballad fits him like a glove and the chorus offers him a nice opportunity to display his powerful voice.

Despite being the a-side of his current 45, the king forewent "If You Talk In Your Sleep" in his concerts and sang "Help Me", the flipside, instead. However, now he also presents the main track, a funky and modern popsong. It's far away from being a typical Presley tune, but he handles it well. Regarding the lyrics about cheating on his wife Elvis jokingly claims to have nothing to do with the song and mischievously adds "Charlie wrote it!".

The king asks his assistant what to do next. Obviously this is an open spot on the set list and Elvis can choose between "Fever", "I Just Can't Help Believin'" and "I'm Leavin'". He opts for the last mentioned one and delivers one of the best performances of the night. 

This country pop is one of the new (at least in the Presley incarnation) tunes on his current album "Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis", which was taped on March 20th in the singer's self-chosen hometown. Today's rendition is not bad at all, but the performance on the record has more zest.

If you attended the closing show of the "Elvis Summer Festival 1973", you witnessed a spontaneous rendition of this ballad. But now the king has worked out a proper arrangement and presents a professional performance of "Softly, As I Leave You". The lead vocals are handed over to Sherrill Nielsen while Elvis recites the lyrics in a very moving way. The only letdown is, that the spotlight is on Mr. Presley only and not on the guy, who does the vocalizing.

Elvis really must like the music of Olivia Newton-John, because after "Let Me Be There" he covers another one of her recent hits. It's anything but inventive, nevertheless one has to admit that country pop fits him well.

Now the king strays from the prepared setlist. Instead of "The Twelfth Of Never", another new song, he opts for the tried and tested "Love Me Tender". As usual he uses the tune as a tool to kiss some ladies. Artistically it is a bad barter, but he certainly wouldn't have gotten a similar reaction with a performance of the other song.

Elvis continues with another one of his standards. The previous years' concerts aside, "Polk Salad Annie" is part of the show ever since early 1970. Nowadays Mr. Presley moves less and somewhat slower, but still enough to turn 30+ ladies into teenagers.

To catch his breath the king takes a few minutes to introduce his musicians and singers. As usual he includes some funny remarks here and there.

Up next is the b-side of the forthcoming single. The rock'n'roll king doesn't rock as much as on the record, but still enough to deliver a more than solid performance. To be fair it has to be mentioned, that his studio recording easily can be considered to be the best version of this rock classic ever. After the applause has faded Elvis introduces the actor Telly Savalas, who has played Blofeld in the James Bond movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" in 1969 and is currently riding high on CBS as "Kojak".

The king's recent longplayer "Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis" includes the flipside of his second single release, the ballad "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You". While the version on the album sounds a bit impromptu at times, today's performance is well thought out and a good trade for "All Shook Up", "Teddy Bear" and all the other stuff performed to death. 

Elvis' cover version of Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" has been a highlight of the show since he started to present it in August 1970. Today's rendition is no different and offers a great opportunity for the king to show off his voice.

With "Fever" Elvis delivers one of the audience favorites. Everytime the singer moves a leg to the beat, the girls are beside themselves.

Once again the intro is enough to make the ladies scream. However, Elvis' performance doesn't justify these reactions at all. He repeats the same four lines over and over again and doesn't invest much energy. In a lot of ways stuff like "Fever" and "Hound Dog" destroy the show. However, the ladies are screaming and unfortunately convincing Presley to keep rubbish like this on the set list.

Charlie Hodge cues his boss with a song title (maybe "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"), but Elvis declines and closes the show with the usual "Can't Help Falling In Love". On the album the performance is quickly faded out, most likely it wasn't recorded in full.