In November 1972 Elvis had performed in Long Beach/California. On April 25, 1976 he returned to the Long Beach Arena for another two shows and each of them was sold out with 14,000 fans. I guess many of them asked themselves, what might have happened to their idol within the last four years. Elvis was utterly out of shape, had gained at least 40 pounds and obviously hadn't seen the sunlight for quite some time. In 2009 the czech label Memory Records presented a good sounding audience recording of the evening show. The album was called "California Wave" and the cover shows a smiling, but out of shape looking Elvis. The artwork was done by Geert Hof, the recording was mastered by Otto Meszaros. As a bonus the disc also includes five bonus tracks, that were recorded on March 17, 1976 in Johnson City/Tennessee.

Just like back in 1972, the orchestra plays "Also Sprach Zarathustra", the band takes over with the "Opening Riff" and Elvis appears on stage. Much slower and much heavier than four years earlier. He's wearing the "Blue Egyptian Bird Suit". Charlie Hodge hands him his guitar and the show is underway.

The old r&b song is performed well.

After having toyed around with the word "well" the king segues into "I Got A Woman". The old Ray Charles hit is also delivered with zest, Elvis obviously has fun. Of course the singer also includes the usual "Amen", presents a coupple of his old moves and gives JD Sumner an opportunity to demonstrate his bass voice. Finally Elvis reprises "I Got A Woman" and throws his guitar back to Charlie.

Jokingly the king introduces himself as Wayne Newton and sings "Love Me". Of course he uses the ballad to make contact with the fans and to hand out the first few scarfs.

Now Elvis announces a song by Olivia Newton-John and performs her top5 hit "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)". He doesn't reveal, that Olivia is in the audience tonight. At the time she didn't know, that her song was in the show since 1974 and so she was taken aback by the rendition. The country-pop is also presented in a lively way.

Due to a feedback the king starts the song twice. He cuts some lines short, but still belts out the chorus in impressive style.

The oldie from 1957 doesn't get the treatment it deserves, but nevertheless Elvis invests a little more effort than usual.

The same applies to this medley. Today Elvis continues the line "Please let's forget the past" with "...before I kick your ass". It's an old joke, but of course also an indication of the king's mood.

This is an oldie Elvis never gets tired of. He uses his voice to its full extent and sounds mighty impressive. It's a pity, that he doesn't treat all of his hits and classics with the same respect.

Since 1973 the king has more or less ignored the Sinatra classic, but for this tour it was revived. It's a good performance and another opportinity to show off his voice.

Elvis picks up the tempo and presents "Polk Salad Annie". Of course he isn't in the condition to move as he did a few years before, but he does the best he can and the fans love it. The recording is not complete, because the fan had to turn over the cassette tape.

Mabe the fan, who taped the show, didn't want to waste tape for the long and somewhat boring introductions. We get to hear very little of the procedure, which is no loss at all.

His latest single "Hurt" is sung with a lot of care and a lot of power. This time Elvis does without the usual repetition of the finale or the whole song.

The ballad was released the previous year on the album "Elvis Today". It's also sung very well, but at one point the king noticably has to restrain his laughter.

Due to the 200th anniversary of the USA Elvis performs "America, The Beautiful". The inofficial anthem offers another opportinity to display his voice and the king really delivers!

At the beginning Elvis mixes up the words, but then he gets into the song and rocks the house like only he can do.

The king announces "We did a song a couple of years ago, called HELP ME". Erroneously he sings "Lord, help me smile another smile" (the second verse) instead of "Lord, help me walk another mile". This wouldn't be a problem, if Sherrill Nielsen wasn't singing harmony. So Elvis stops the performance and starts over again. During the second try he makes fun of his mistake, which obviously amuses Mr. Nielsen. Otherwise it's a serious and worthwhile rendition.

The pseudo-gospel is followed by a real gospel hymn. Vocally the king can't compete with his Grammy winning performance from the album "Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis", but it's still an impressive rendition.

Now Elvis presents his best selling record. He belts out the chorus in dramatic style and does justice to his sales monster (the single "It's Now Or Never" / "A Mess Of Blues" turned out to be the best selling single of the whole decade).

To take a look at his fans, the king has the houselights switched on. Now he reveals, that the singer Olivia Newton-John and the band The Eagles are in the audience tonight. Maybe this is the explaination for his comparatively long and motivated performance. The country ballad "Funny How Time Slips Away" is sung in the usual way, of course Elvis offers Mr. Sumner another opportunity to show off his bass voice.

The rock'n'roll classic is a shadow of its former self. Elvis repeates the same lines over and over again and shakes to the brass sounds of the orchestra. However, today he puts a little more effort in the procedure.

As some kind of bonus the king offers a short, but solid version of another rock classic.

Now it's time to say goodbye. Before he sings "Can't Help Falling In Love", Elvis also mentiones the news report, according to which he recently had married. The usual closer is sung the usual way. The band takes over with the "Closing Riff", the king shakes a few hands, gives away his last scarf and vanishes into the dark of the backstage area.

Elvis comes in too late on purpose, which amuses himself and the band. It's a good performance, but not as energetic as in the summer of 1975.

Here the king surpasses his single from 1973 and injects more power than he did during the "Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite" telecast.

While Elvis doesn't care too much for most of his oldies, he still likes his first number one hit. Jokingly he changes the line "You're so lonely, you could die" to "You're so sweaty, you could die".

By 1976 Elvis rarely performed the title song of his first movie. In Johnson City it was part of the show and the king is busy kissing the ladies and giving away scarfs.

Maybe because the rendition in Long Beach wasn't recorded in its entirety, the producers offer another version of the song. By the way: The picture on the back cover of this album was shot during the king's performance of "Polk Salad Annie".