Run On

Back in 1998 the Presley fans were quite surprised when a new label named Front Row Productions released a soundboard recording of the king's concert on December 7, 1976. Up to that point it wasn't known, that any of the shows of Elvis' second "Pre-Holiday Jubilee" had been taped through the mixing desk of the sound engineer.

The cover features photos from the actual concert and shows a tired and sick looking performer. The audio quality isn't all that great considering the source, but still sounds better than most audience recordings.

The introduction "Also Sprach Zarathustra" was not taped by the engineer, so the recording starts with the "Opening Riff" to which the king enters the stage. Dressed in his "Indian Chief Suit" he walks to Charlie Hodge, collects his guitar and sings "See See Rider". It's an acceptable rendition, afterwards Elvis excuses himself for being late and tells the crowd about his injury and the pain in his leg.

As usual the singer fools around with the word "well" and admits to have 17 frogs in his throat. The old Ray Charles hit is presented in the usual style, during the "Amen" tag Elvis asks the people to sing along. Of course he also spoofs some of his old moves, but today he comments "All the action...with just one leg". After JD Sumner has demonstrated his bass voice, the king reprises "I Got A Woman" and throws his guitar back to his assistant. He greets the fans with "Good morning" and gives his guitar pick to a lucky lady in the front row.

During "Love Me" Elvis throws a few scarfs into the audience and jokingly has his harmony singers holding the final "Oh Yeah" as long as they can stand it.

The next song is announced as "If you love me, let me know...and if you don't: Hit it!". Elvis sings the country pop well enough, but the spark and vitality of his previous renditions is missing.

Now Elvis says "You're a really good audience...mountain". The final word is a que for the band to start "You Gave Me A Mountain". Once again he tries to inject some energy, but simply sounds tired. In mid-performace a loud noise booms through the showroom, which causes some amusement.

In the background we hear Charlie suggesting to do "Jailhouse Rock", but his boss wants to sing "It's Now Or Never" instead. Before he does so, Sherrill Nielsen performs "O Sole Mio", the Italian classic the king's hit is based on. As expected Elvis isn't bursting of energy, but he's in good voice and presents the song well enough.

To relieve his leg joint Elvis now sits down on a chair. Charlie Hodge hands him his guitar and holds a microphone close to the instrument. Remember, it was more or less a prop and therefore not connected to the sound system. The Xmas tune is delivered well.

Now the king wants to present a song from his beginnings, which were -as he jokingly adds- at least four years ago. He also tells the crowd, that the lyrics are complete non-sense and thanks the people for coming to see his show. Referring to his injury he says, that he would get out on stage on a wheelchair if neccessary. Then he finally performs "That's All Right". For this season Elvis has returned to the original arrangement, but his vocals are much less driving.

Despite his injury and low energy level the man obviously is in good mood. He tells the crowd, that he released a song called "Are You Lonesome Tonight" back in 1960 and mischievously adds, that it doesn't mean, that he wants to sing it now. Of course he does, but not in a serious way. Mr. Hodge pretetends to be the target of the romantic ballad and acts "gay", the king repeats his old jest and continues the line "Do the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare" with "do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair". While Elvis' ad-lib is reasonably funny, Charlie's "homosexual" behavior is not. However, back in the 70s of the previous century such brainless trash caused some amusement.

Thankfully the singer gets serious again. He recites the lyrics while Sherrill Nielsen sings them. Both men duet on the last line. The result is nothing but stunning and the best performance so far. Afterwards Elvis gets up form his chair and accepts a gift from a lady at the edge of the stage. Due to her accent he suspects, that she's from France, but she soon proofs him wrong by asking "Du sprichst deutsch, nicht?". Obviously she overrates her idol, since he simply repeats the question phonetically and kisses her. He may have been stationed in Germany a long time ago, but that doesn't mean that he knows the language.

Despite his injury Elvis moves his legs to the beat and drives the ladies over the edge.

His rendition of the hit medley is not much better, but at least he beefs it up by handing out scarfs. Apparently nobody is here for the music, each and everyone is falling all over themselves for one of those scarfs. Even Elvis himselvis cannot believe it and asks "Did you come for that? A towel?"

Now the man from Memphis takes a break...a long break...and introduces his musicians. Each and everyone plays a solo and all the members of his harmony groups are mentioned by name. OK, he's not in good health and even tells the crowd that "sickness sucks", but he started to extend the intros two years ago and now has reached the point of ridiculousness.

The next song is announced with "Our latest record...as far as I know". It's a bit strange that an artist is unaware of his own releases, but maybe he simply is too lazy to learn "Moody Blue". However, not even "Hurt" is performed as well as on the record. Elvis is in good voice, but he lacks the energy it needs to belt out the lines in his usual, impressive style.

Faking spontaneity the king asks the audience, if it wants to hear "Hound Dog". He almost always sings the rock'n'roll classic right after "Hurt". Unfortunately he has stopped to care for the song a long time ago and so he once again just mumbles the same four lines over and over again.

Up next is a tune from his blockbuster movie "Blue Hawaii". In contrast to "Hound Dog" this one isn't presented every night and therefore it's something special to hear Elvis singing it. He does it very well and delivers a beautiful performance.

Now the king wants to go a step further an announces a program item he hasn't presented ever before. Well, that's not true since he has sung that medley on July 19, 1975 in Uniondale/New York and would do it again on March 29, 1977 in Alexandria/Louisiana. But of course it's a rare item and something special. Charlie Hodge plays piano and also sings lead. Elvis acts as bass singer and The Stamps provide the harmonies. "Bosom Of Abraham" is started twice, because Charlie played too fast according to his boss' taste. After the short gospel session Elvis once again thanks the crowd for their patience and apologizes for the effects of his injury.

As usual the king closes his show with "Can't Help Falling In Love", but today he barely sings along. He hands out a few more scarfs and finally disappears behind the golden curtain.

Verdict

The producers obviously had to work with the umpteenth analogue copy, so the sound isn't all that great. Unfortunately Elvis' performance matches the audio quality. He's in reasonable voice and at times he even tries, but he is too sick, too tired and too much sedated to deliver a good show.