Holding Down the Fort (CD - Madison, 2006)

Title:

Holding Down the Fort

Label:

Madison [CWP 15]

Format:

Double CD

Number of tracks:

42

Running time:

102:00

Type of album:

Concert

Linked to:

Unofficial discography

Year:

2006

Recorded:

June 3, 1976

Released:

2006

Singles:

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Holding Down the Fort was a bootleg CD released by Madison in 2006. It covers the June 3, 1976 show in Fort Worth, Texas - including its pre-show. The work is currently out of print.

1976 had been a year of more ups than downs and Elvis was happy with how things were going. His desire to record was still low, but the sessions at Graceland's Jungle Room in February were fun and very productive. He no longer seemed interested in Las Vegas—and Vegas was reciprocal—making the Colonel cast him for just one season from December 2 to 12 at the Hilton; this, as we know today, would be the last of his career in the city.

By April, it didn't look like Elvis had returned to his old form or that that was possible. His performances were still erratic, and he would be slow and sometimes confused at the start of the concerts, though nothing like the terrible performances of August 1975 in Las Vegas. In fact, the singer would greatly improve his performance starting in June, culminating in the great show of December 31, 1976 in Pittsburgh, but it was clear that he no longer had that flame that burned in his core.

A true sign of the times in 1976 was that from the April to August tour, Elvis basically wore his "Bicentennial Suit" to every show, certainly signaling a bored artist. The "New Haven '76" FTD with the July 30th performance is one such case in point. Released because of the excellent audio quality, Elvis sounds bored, medicated and lethargic, and overall it's a painful listening experience.

Back in May, instead of the dry air of the Nevada desert, the King of Rock chose to do just one more season in Lake Tahoe, where he had last performed two years earlier, between April 30 and May 9, 1976. As with everything about Elvis, there are always contradictions, changes and sometimes a light at the end of the tunnel. Even with the threat of "Elvis: What Happened?" in the horizon, there was a definite and positive change in the month leading up to the Lake Tahoe season.

In this work,Madison covers the June 3, 1976 concert from the following tour, which started in Bloomington, Indianapolis, on May 27. For 11 days, Elvis and his crew would perform throughout the Northeast United States, finishing the tour with three sold-out concerts in Atlanta, Georgia. This show in Houston, Texas, had been partially released before on Madison's  "Cajun Tornado" in 2001, but here it appears almost in full and with its pre-show.

Below is our review of this work.

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CD 1 - THE PRE-SHOW

The Joe Guercio Orchestra

1. SWAT Theme / Love Me Tender

JD Sumner & The Stamps

2. Your First Day in Heaven

3. You'll Never Walk Alone

4. Operator

5. When the Saints Go Marchin' in

The Sweet Inspirations

6. Philadelphia Freedom

7. Lady Marmalade

8. Introductions of Musicians

9. Stevie Wonder Medley

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CD 2 - THE CONCERT

- 1. Also Sprach Zarathustra: As usual, the fanfare excites the audience. The sound is extremely good for a bootleg, although it feels dry in parts.

- 2. See See Rider: Elvis sounds tired, but sings fine. What bothers here is the constant feedback from the microphone.

- 3. I Got a Woman / Amen: For some reason, the feedback is overwhelming here. Elvis promptly asks the engineers to taka care of it: "Watch the feedback."

After the "well, well, well" routine, the rendition is average and Elvis is clearly slurring and out of breath throughout. "Amen" goes as usual and features Elvis asking the band to watch the chord change.

The ending has the usual jokes about the "average" dive bomb from JD. The sound distorts a lot at the end.

- 4. Love Me: "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It's a pleasure to be back here in Dallas." Elvis quickly remarks that he's just joking, and not "out of himself" as many thought he was by that time. After a lot of interactions with the audience, the King of Rock does a middling version of his 1956 hit while kissing and distributing scarves to his fans.

- 5. If You Love Me (Let Me Know): "Okay. This is a song by Olivia Newton-John, 'Let Me Be There'. No, no, no! No, wrong song. 'If You Love Me (Let Me Know)'." Of course Elvis jokingly blames Charlie Hodge for his mistake. For a song that Elvis loved to do, this is average.

- 6. You Gave Me a Mountain: Elvis unfortunately isn't focused enough for this showstopper tonight.

- 7. All Shook Up: Focusing on his fans, Elvis makes an average version where he sings but a few lines and slurs a lot.

- 8. Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel: Average, with Elvis sounding bored as hell.

- 9. Heartbreak Hotel: Elvis starts to sound a little more awake. This is a good rendition and Elvis even laughs when a fan screams her lungs out for a scarf.

- 10. Help Me: The Gospel songs always made Elvis wake up for the show, but even this isn't helping much here. The version is good and we get to hear the excellent job by Tony Brown at the piano,  but there's no real commitment with the song as we'd usually hear.

- 11. Jailhouse Rock: Due to tape issues, the version used here comes from July 3, 1976 at the same venue. This is the usual quick, average version to keep interacting with fans.

- 12. Fever: The song starts, but the annoying feedback makes Elvis lash at his sound engineer Bruce Jackson: "It's your birthday, Bruce. Do you want to eat this microphone?"

After forgetting in which key he was supposed to sing, Elvis restarts it and mostly has fun with the audience throughout the rendition.

- 13. Polk Salad Annie: Not the best rendition, but Jerry Scheff, James Burton and Ronnie Tutt work really good. Even Elvis risks some elaborated karate moves.

- 14. Introductions by Elvis of  Vocalists, Band: After a long interaction with the audience, the band intros follow as usual. The Sweet Inspirations, JD Sumner and The Stamps (individually), Kathy Westmoreland and Sherrill Nielsen are first.

- 15. Early Morning Rain: John Wilkinson does his solo and Elvis sings along.

- 16. What'd I Say: James Burton does his usual solo...

 - 17. Johnny B. Goode: ... followed by Chuck Berry's hit.

- 18. Drum Solo: Ronnie Tutt does his part.

- 19. Bass Solo: Jerry Scheff plays the Blues.

- 20. Piano Solo: Elvis introduces Tony Brown as Shane Keister (who substituted Glen Hardin in early 1976). Tony does his solo while Elvis laughs.

- 21. Electric Piano Solo: David Briggs (introduced as Floyd Cramer) does his psychodelic solo.

- 22. Love Letters: No news, it's a slow and sincere version.

- 23. Introductions by Elvis of  Vocalists, Orchestra: Elvis introduces Charlie Hodge, Joe Guercio and his orchestra.

- 24. School Days: The orchestra does its usual solo.

- 25. Happy Birthday to Bruce Jackson: After having threatened Bruce earlier because of the feedback, Elvis and the band sing "Happy Birthday" to him.

- 26. Hurt: The audience freaks out when Elvis announces the song. His rendition is romantic, although somewhat average.

- 27. Hurt: The effusive applause from the audience asks for another rendition. The singer tries to be more energetic, but ends up losing the tempo. Overall, a good rendition.

- 28. Hound Dog: Again, the source for the next 4 tracks is the July 3, 1976  concert. A short but good rendition.

- 29. Funny How Time Slips Away: "Ladies and gentlemen, now that you've seen us, I'd like to turn the house lights up so we can taka a look at you." After reading a sign which says "Come back to Asheville", the singer says, "Okay, in 77" (this show unfortunately never happened, as it was scheduled for August 26, 1977).

The version is good, but Elvis is more interested in his fans.

- 30. Can't Help Falling in Love: Elvis interects some more with his fans before performing his 1961 hit to end the show. The piano is exquisitely good here.

- 31. Closing Vamp and Announcement: The final fanfare and the usual announcements are heard.

BONUS

- 32. Jailhouse Rock (Incomplete): The last two tracks on CD 2 come from the June 3, 1976 concert and are incomplete.

- 33. Hound Dog (Incomplete): They were added just as a bonus and to showcase the bad state of the tape, which made Madison decide to use another concert as source.