Elvis is nearing the end of his 12th Las Vegas season in April 1975. He had been giving very good, enjoyable shows that were a huge step up from the September-October 1974 shows. He is musically better, and professionally a million times better. What a difference a few months can make! It is also worth noting that the newspaper reviews at the time were favorable, with the mention of Elvis in good spirits, but being a little thick around the middle.
Onto the show, C.C. Rider is a good version and Elvis does indeed sound in good spirits. I Got A Woman/Amen is pretty much what you would expect, nicely done. Love Me is the typical 1970's version we all now, and If You Love Me (Let Me Know) is performed well. And I Love You So is nice and better than the 1976 outings of the song. Elvis injects some energy into the show with a rockin' version of Big Boss Man, which is followed by a couple verses of The Wonder Of You, which gets only its second live version of 1975 here. Nice treat. In 1975, Elvis seemed to remember that he recorded the song Burning Love and brought it back into the show set list. Here, he gives a great version.
All too soon it seems, we get the band introductions and solos. We all know what to expect from these, so I'm not going to spend too much time on them. After David Briggs finishes with his Electric Piano solo, we are introduced to the song My Boy. This song gets a lot of flak, but I enjoy it on occasion and it is performed nicely this night..
I'll Remember You is passable, but it's pleasant enough. Let Me Be There is good, but Elvis would only keep it in his set-list for a little more than a year longer, eventually deciding one Olivia-Newton John cover was enough (If You Love Me (Let Me Know)). Elvis then introduces Hugh O' Brian from the crowd. Next, we get a particularly inspiring outing of the bombastic How Great Thou Art, which the audience loves.
A short Hound Dog follows, which is nothing special. Fairytale is performed after and it is a great version - Elvis is right into it and we even get the "and realize a good man is hard to find" line which in later versions was dropped. All too soon, the opening notes of Can't Help Falling In Love played and it signals the end of the show.
"In all, this is a pretty good show, a little ballad heavy. It doesn't drag along too much and Elvis is in good voice throughout. If you get a chance to listen to it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Douglas Hinkley
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