Elvis Presley: I’ll Remember You

After the worldwide success of the ALOHA TV SPECIAL Presley hit Las Vegas and the Hilton Hotel for a February tour resplendent in a plethora of showy jumpsuits including: The Orange Target suit which features on the cover, and inside of the CD. Many shows were cancelled due to illness (Elvis sometimes superhumanly performed 2 or 3 shows a day). However, the February 3, 1973, midnight show has been released by the FOLLOW THAT DREAM (FTD) collectors label and features very good sound with Presley at the peak of his stardom.

The show starts with the usual opener, “See See Rider” which is lively and easily on par with the ALOHA version. The Ray Charles classic “I Got A Women” is performed next and is the weakest song of the night with Elvis forgetting the lyrics. The soft ballad “Until It’s Time To Go” gets a standard run through with Elvis handing out scarves and kisses. Dusty Springfields’s famous hit,”You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” gets a good run through almost on par with Presley’s TTWII version, in fact this version is very good.

The blues is mined on James Taylor’s “Steamroller Blues” featuring a different drum intro, and Presley sings, “play the blues” before the guitar solo, an enjoyable tightly played version. The Marty Robbins classic,“You Gave Me A Mountain” has another great vocal performance with a good ending. The sultry “Fever” starts up and a female member of the audience shouts,”love you Elvis,” Elvis responds,”love you too baby,”it’s a good version and a barometer of Presley’s immense popularity at the time. His 1950s hit “Love Me” is performed well with the obligatory handing out of scarves and kisses for the audience. The crowd pleaser,“Blue Suede Shoes” is performed a la ALOHA only slightly better with Elvis obviously enjoying the performance.

The King’s first movie theme tune “Love Me Tender” is next and there’s no real surprises with his admission,”it’s a hazardous job up here man.” James Burton’s guitar gets a rocking workout on “Johnny B. Goode.” The Chuck Berry rocker sounds great. “Hound Dog” includes the much used Ed Sullivan intro plus a delicious wah-wah guitar sound from Burton and the song gets a good workout from the band. The ALOHA featured ballad “What Now My Love” is well sung and features a different ending (guitar & cymbal crash).

Elvis’s version of Suspicious Minds is very enjoyable although there’s no real surprises even repeating the line,”I hope this suit don’t tear up baby,” near the conclusion but this version just pips ALOHA with an obvious karate action ending and the visual treat with Elvis going through his karate moves would have thrilled the Hilton audience. The intros are next followed by “I Can’t Stop Loving You” which is more than passable and has a good vocal reach ending from the “King.”

“American Trilogy” was always a show stopper and this version is no exception with his voice featured to full effect on a powerhouse ending that sends shivers down your spine. Awesome!

The concert ends with faithful closer “I Can’t Help Falling In Love,”and the usual opera vocal reach on the closing lines, “ With you, yeah lord,” followed by the closing vamp which rocks. The CD includes two additional songs from the February 2, 1973, MS (“Sweet Caroline”), and “I’ll Remember You” from February 3 DS, and both are superb.

The CD sound is superb being a high quality soundboard (informal mono recording) making this ideal to play loud. The gig-fit TCB band are on top form and the chat is kept to a minimum. Elvis sings very well with an effortless, professional performances of most songs making this release very enjoyable and an absolutely quintessential 1973 Elvis Presley performance.