⚡ ELVIS LIVE - September 4th, 1971 ⚡

[SpyGuyUK]

....ELVIS IN CONCERT....ELVIS IN CONCERT....ELVIS IN CONCERT....ELVIS IN CONCERT....

ELVIS LIVE - September 4th, 1971

Hey Guys,

I can think of worse ways to spend 7 minutes of time than watching Elvis in Concert in 1971! Let's face it we didn't get too much from what would have been a great year to see him perform.

This is quite enjoyable and even though the audio isn't too great at least it isn't too choppy like some Super 8 footage can be. Good upload Jessi Mallory!

[jomies]

Very good 8mm to look at indeed.
The sound isn't really good, but I think it's okay.
Thanks for this, always good to see Elvis in 1971!

Michel.

[drjohncarpenter]

....ELVIS IN CONCERT....ELVIS IN CONCERT....ELVIS IN CONCERT....ELVIS IN CONCERT....

ELVIS LIVE - September 4th, 1971

Hey Guys,

I can think of worse ways to spend 7 minutes of time than watching Elvis in Concert in 1971! Let's face it we didn't get too much from what would have been a great year to see him perform.

This is quite enjoyable and even though the audio isn't too great at least it isn't too choppy like some Super 8 footage can be. Good upload Jessi Mallory!

This is the 9-04-1971 DS to be exact. Think it's on one of the Sold Out DVDs.

It was Presley's 52nd (FIFTY-SECOND) performance since August 9th. This followed 28 shows in Lake Tahoe. Lord, what a fricking grind. You can see hints of the routine starting to bore him.

As I watched I imagined the excitement a tour of Europe or elsewhere that summer would have caused for all concerned.

But especially for Elvis. What could have been.

Such a shame.

[CoyotaBlues]

Somewhere in Hell Colonel Parker spins on the grill every time another note of I Got a Woman is sung to the blue-haired ladies of Las Vegas.

[Markus K.]

....ELVIS IN CONCERT....ELVIS IN CONCERT....ELVIS IN CONCERT....ELVIS IN CONCERT....

ELVIS LIVE - September 4th, 1971

Hey Guys,

I can think of worse ways to spend 7 minutes of time than watching Elvis in Concert in 1971! Let's face it we didn't get too much from what would have been a great year to see him perform.

This is quite enjoyable and even though the audio isn't too great at least it isn't too choppy like some Super 8 footage can be. Good upload Jessi Mallory!

This is the 9-04-1971 DS to be exact. Think it's on one of the Sold Out DVDs.

It was Presley's 52nd (FIFTY-SECOND) performance since August 9th. This followed 28 shows in Lake Tahoe. Lord, what a fricking grind. You can see hints of the routine starting to bore him.

As I watched I imagined the excitement a tour of Europe or elsewhere that summer would have caused for all concerned.

But especially for Elvis. What could have been.

Such a shame.

You're right on the money, Doc: the footage is from the "Sold out" series. For some reason it was not only featured once, not twice but three times on different releases from that series (Volumes 2, 5 and 19). Personally I think it is the poorest in regards of video quality we have from that season, where we got treated with some really good footage, especially from the earlier shows in August.
And just like you I also do think it was high time that Elvis was doing a visit overseas in Europe, Japan or Australia at that point in his career - it would have been so much more rewarding for him than to be on that same Vegas stage yet again. Just imagine the fresh input such a trip could have brought to him. But we all know that this was not meant to be.

[jurasic1968]

Peter Guralnick in Careless Love wrote that Elvis was bored with Vegas as early as August 1970.

[Markus K.]

Peter Guralnick in Careless Love wrote that Elvis was bored with Vegas as early as August 1970.

I feel that with MGM leaving the scene there is a slow but steady decline as the season progresses. It starts with some of his finest shows we know of but around the time Rick Rennie starts recording six consecutive shows one can easily see the boredom creeping in as Elvis more and more tries to break out of his own set routine. At the end of the season it was mostly clowning and a bit of serious performing. He should have not returned to that stage for 1971 to clear his mind and get some fresh input out in the open.

[Greystoke]

Peter Guralnick in Careless Love wrote that Elvis was bored with Vegas as early as August 1970.

I feel that with MGM leaving the scene there is a slow but steady decline as the season progresses. It starts with some of his finest shows we know of but around the time Rick Rennie starts recording six consecutive shows one can easily see the boredom creeping in as Elvis more and more tries to break out of his own set routine. At the end of the season it was mostly clowning and a bit of serious performing. He should have not returned to that stage for 1971 to clear his mind and get some fresh input out in the open.

I think it might have been more a sense of relief at his job being done with regards to MGM, that allowed Elvis to lose an element of discipline in his performances. Which negatively affected his shows in any regard. The job was done in spite of the remainder of his commitment for another season in Las Vegas. Boredom was coming. But a lack of better discipline was an issue, too, in my opinion.

This also highlights something I've commented on before, in that Elvis wasn't an especially durable performer. The more he performed. The more it became routine. The more his standards dropped. And I think this is quite evident here, too. And over the coming years.

[vinelvis]

Peter Guralnick in Careless Love wrote that Elvis was bored with Vegas as early as August 1970.

I feel that with MGM leaving the scene there is a slow but steady decline as the season progresses. It starts with some of his finest shows we know of but around the time Rick Rennie starts recording six consecutive shows one can easily see the boredom creeping in as Elvis more and more tries to break out of his own set routine. At the end of the season it was mostly clowning and a bit of serious performing. He should have not returned to that stage for 1971 to clear his mind and get some fresh input out in the open.

I think it might have been more a sense of relief at his job being done with regards to MGM, that allowed Elvis to lose an element of discipline in his performances. Which negatively affected his shows in any regard. The job was done in spite of the remainder of his commitment for another season in Las Vegas. Boredom was coming. But a lack of better discipline was an issue, too, in my opinion.

This also highlights something I've commented on before, in that Elvis wasn't an especially durable performer. The more he performed. The more it became routine. The more his standards dropped. And I think this is quite evident here, too. And over the coming years.

Well put. I share your opinion. Elvis seems to get bored easily, and when he got bored, his standard dropped. This happened with the movies, the soundtracks, Vegas, and eventually even touring and the normal sessions. Elvis seemed to me like to kind of guy who needs a new challenge every two or three years. He didn't have the discipline to keep having a high standard when bored, only when he was challenged.

[jurasic1968]

Vegas was too much for Elvis. He performed 837 shows in the same arena between July 31 1969 and December 12 1976.

[Sillyme]

Elvis did some really good shows this season. I wonder if Elvis had a cold towards the end. He brought down That's Alright a few keys. So he may not have been in top shape that last week.

[drjohncarpenter]

Peter Guralnick in Careless Love wrote that Elvis was bored with Vegas as early as August 1970.

I feel that with MGM leaving the scene there is a slow but steady decline as the season progresses. It starts with some of his finest shows we know of but around the time Rick Rennie starts recording six consecutive shows one can easily see the boredom creeping in as Elvis more and more tries to break out of his own set routine. At the end of the season it was mostly clowning and a bit of serious performing. He should have not returned to that stage for 1971 to clear his mind and get some fresh input out in the open.

Elvis was a creative artist. Playing Las Vegas is the antithesis of that. It's a dead zone.

I've been there, seen dynamic artists play near my home and in Sin City and it's a world of difference. There are people who attend Vegas shows from all over, and many don't know how to react, to applaud, to interact. It's a dead zone.

Guralnick was correct about the summer 1970 season and we have enough audience tapes to prove his interest diminished within a week or so of the MGM project leaving town. They'd been in his business for a full month, from rehearsals to shows. The relief must've been palpable.

But it turned into silly and uncommitted shows by the end of the one-month booking. At least one reviewer noted he seemed "drunk" at the show they saw. Talk about foreshadowing.

All said, though, the Rick Rennie tapes from August 19 to 21, 1970 (six shows) are a revelation on many levels, and without them we would not have a true Sun Records mystery on our hands. I'm grateful, and I told him so.

[SpyGuyUK]

Peter Guralnick in Careless Love wrote that Elvis was bored with Vegas as early as August 1970.

I feel that with MGM leaving the scene there is a slow but steady decline as the season progresses. It starts with some of his finest shows we know of but around the time Rick Rennie starts recording six consecutive shows one can easily see the boredom creeping in as Elvis more and more tries to break out of his own set routine. At the end of the season it was mostly clowning and a bit of serious performing. He should have not returned to that stage for 1971 to clear his mind and get some fresh input out in the open.

I think it might have been more a sense of relief at his job being done with regards to MGM, that allowed Elvis to lose an element of discipline in his performances. Which negatively affected his shows in any regard. The job was done in spite of the remainder of his commitment for another season in Las Vegas. Boredom was coming. But a lack of better discipline was an issue, too, in my opinion.

This also highlights something I've commented on before, in that Elvis wasn't an especially durable performer. The more he performed. The more it became routine. The more his standards dropped. And I think this is quite evident here, too. And over the coming years.

You hit the nail on the head there Greystoke. Discipline & Boredom - there are other some might say lesser reasons too. Elvis's lack of understanding of the business side of things. No fault of Elvis that though. Some may even say Astrology affected things too. Capricorns being so loyal. I wonder how many times The Colonel used the line to Elvis "I promised your mother I'd look after you". Or words to that effect. That's if he did say that. I may have read this somewhere or I may be imagining something like that being said to Elvis by The Colonel.

Yes, jurasic1968. I also heard somewhere that there may have been a bit of boredom may be even as early as August 1970. Let's face it he had now returned to live performing for over a year at this point and had done quite a lot of shows even by then.

However the simple line in the film 'This Is Elvis' comes to mind:

"If Only I Could've Seen What Was Happening I might Have Done Something About It."

[drjohncarpenter]

You hit the nail on the head there Greystoke. Discipline & Boredom - there are other some might say lesser reasons too. Elvis's lack of understanding of the business side of things. No fault of Elvis that though. Some may even say Astrology affected things too. Capricorns being so loyal. I wonder how many times The Colonel used the line to Elvis "I promised your mother I'd look after you". Or words to that effect. That's if he did say that. I may have read this somewhere or I may be imagining something like that being said to Elvis by The Colonel.

Yes, jurasic1968. I also heard somewhere that there may have been a bit of boredom may be even as early as August 1970. Let's face it he had now returned to live performing for over a year at this point and had done quite a lot of shows even by then.

However the simple line in the film 'This Is Elvis' comes to mind:

"If Only I Could've Seen What Was Happening I might Have Done Something About It."

That moment in 1981's "This Is Elvis" was cringe-worthy, but meant to propel the story as it neared the end.

What Ral Donner said in the film was a just little different, though. Here's the whole bit:

[ riding in limo after 1972 concert in Jacksonville ]


If only I could have seen what was happening to me, I might have done something about it. My marriage was falling apart. Priscilla and I were hardly ever together, and even when we were, things weren't the same.

And one day while I was playing Vegas, Priscilla came to tell me she wanted a divorce.

At first, I was angry and hurt. It took a long time for me to accept it, but losing her really got to me. After all the years together, we just couldn't make things work out.


[ segue into "Always On My Mind" sequence ]

[YDKM]

Yes Elvis was bored with Vegas as early as 1970, but that 4th Sept 1971 show is still a passable show.

[Sillyme]

I think the Rick Rennie recordings are very enjoyable shows. Elvis is more relaxed, sings better because he'd been singing the repertoire for 10 days, and his banter is funny, a lot better than a year back when it was quite cringe worthy (the hound dog monologue). What you can hear in august 71 and also as early as in the later february engagement is a clear difference in vocal engagement. He doesn't get into full gear immediately, but rather builds it up. Listen to That's Alright in August 70 or the september or November tour in 70 and the same song in Boston. Back to back you'd think he wasn't well in Boston. But then he picks his moments where all of a sudden he gets into the old intensity and you know he's alright.