Monthly Archives: July 2011

Take a detour with Wordy Rambler

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Troy Yeary

To better reflect a wide variety of interests, I have retired The Film Frontier blog and replaced it with a new one.

Wordy Rambler: The Unfocused Blog will mostly cover non-Elvis topics. While Elvis will usually be in the background on Wordy Rambler, he will continue to be the focus here on The Mystery Train.

Thank you to those of you who read or otherwise support The Mystery Train. This train’s journey is far from over. If, like me, you have other interests besides Elvis, please be sure to check out Wordy Rambler.

May 13, 2013, Update: The Film Frontier/Wordy Rambler has relaunched as Pastimescapes.

Categories: Site Info, The Mystery Train Elvis Blog | Tags: , | 5 Comments

Preview Fashion For A King, the jumpsuit encyclopedia

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Troy Yeary
Fashion For A King

Fashion For A King

“If the songs don’t go over, we can do a medley of costumes.”–Elvis Presley, August 10, 1970

In my excitement over Follow That Dream’s forthcoming Richmond Coliseum concert, I neglected to mention the other new Sony FTD releases.

Coming next month, Fashion For A King is a 512-page hardcover encyclopedia that examines Elvis’ stage attire from 1968 through 1977.

Fashion For A King also includes two CDs, containing previously unreleased concerts (Omaha, July 1, 1974, and Las Vegas, December 14, 1975).

Check out Elvis Australia for a preview of Fashion For A King.

Scheduled for release by the collectors label in September, at the same time as the 48 Hours To Memphis Richmond concert, is the Classic Album edition of He Touched Me.

When first released in 1972, this album won Elvis his second Grammy. Thomas over at Elvis Today Blog has some thoughts on the He Touched Me release – including his own version, based on currently available tracks.

Also coming in September is the vinyl version of Elvis Sings Guitar Man.

Categories: In A Flash, Music, The Mystery Train Elvis Blog | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amarillo ’77 for completists only

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Troy Yeary

Amarillo '77I originally planned to write a full review of Follow That Dream’s Amarillo ’77, but I just don’t have the heart to do it. I enjoy much of the 1977 material on Elvis In Concert, Spring Tours 77, and Unchained Melody, so I was looking forward to this release.

I’ve played it twice now, and I’m going to have to put it away for awhile. It pains me to write this, but Amarillo ’77 is the worst Elvis concert album I’ve ever heard. I don’t own every FTD release, so perhaps there are some worse ones out there. If so, I don’t need to hear them. I have never felt like this after listening to an Elvis album. Unless this is the last CD you need to complete your collection, I can’t recommend Amarillo ’77.

Despite its misleading title, Amarillo ’77 is actually a compilation of songs from five different concerts. While it could be said that the performances on Spring Tours 77 were cherry-picked to cover only highlights, I believe the opposite is true of Amarillo ’77.

This is one of only four official albums ever released that is devoted to 1977 material. Given how rarely this Elvis year is visited, why were these particular performances chosen? Rather than picking cherries, I believe someone plucked a bunch of sour grapes this time.

I don’t believe in kicking a man while he is down, even if it is 34 years after the fact, so I’m just going to leave my thoughts on this depressing disc at the above.

I can really use a good laugh right now, so I’m going to pull out FTD’s All Shook Up, which covers Elvis’ August 26, 1969, Midnight Show at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. It features Elvis in good spirits and at the top of his game.

Categories: Music, Reviews, The Mystery Train Elvis Blog | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Back In Richmond

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Troy Yeary

At long last, an Elvis concert recorded in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia, will become an official album. In September, Sony’s Follow That Dream collectors label will release 48 Hours To Memphis, a CD that captures Elvis’ March 18, 1974, concert at the Richmond Coliseum.

In the 1970s, Elvis performed live on four dates at the Richmond Coliseum. The March 18 concert was only six days after his March 12 appearance there. The tour swung back through Richmond due to a rapid sell out of the earlier show. An audience sign in 1972′s Elvis On Tour modified the state tourism slogan to say, “Virginia Is For Elvis Lovers.” This clearly was still the case two years later.

I’m also glad that they gave this CD a creative title, rather than just slapping a song name on it. As any native should be able to tell you, Richmond is about 13 hours from Memphis by car – and much shorter, obviously, by plane. The 48 Hours To Memphis title reflects that Elvis closed out the tour two days later with a concert in Memphis on March 20. An edited version of the Memphis show became the July 1974 album As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis.

To the point of sounding like a broken record, I’ve noted several times here that I missed out on seeing Elvis perform live due to being only two years old when he passed away. Like all Richmond shows, I have intentionally avoided the bootleg version of this concert for years in hopes of someday enjoying an official release. I have been waiting to hear an Elvis concert in Richmond for nearly my entire life. 48 Hours To Memphis will be a very special way to think of what might have been. Thank you, FTD.

Categories: Music, The Mystery Train Elvis Blog | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

REVIEW: Stage Rehearsal CD

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Troy Yeary
Stage Rehearsal (2011)

Stage Rehearsal (2011)

August 10, 1970. The MGM camera crew has been following Elvis around for almost a month now. This afternoon, it’s time for one final rehearsal before the opening show later tonight. No camera crew allowed this time, but RCA is rolling tape in preparation for the concert recordings. Follow That Dream Records’ latest release, Stage Rehearsal, takes us behind the scenes of this event.

One of the things I’d been wondering about this release was how FTD would deal with the fact that most of the songs from this rehearsal were incomplete, due to having a “late start.” The first several seconds of these songs were not recorded. After all, RCA never intended this rehearsal for release.

The way I saw it, FTD had at least three options:

1.) Leave the recordings alone and let them start in progress — a bit jarring, but historically accurate
2.) Fade the songs up slightly as they start in progress — a little less jarring
3.) Repair the beginnings using recordings from other summer 1970 rehearsals — requires more work and is not historically accurate

Read my full review of Stage Rehearsal over on Elvis Australia.

Categories: Music, Reviews, The Mystery Train Elvis Blog | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“I told the Colonel to stay off the stage”

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Troy Yeary

Found this video of Elvis live in 1974 on YouTube. I normally don’t link to this kind of thing, but this is the best footage of this nature I have ever seen. Unbelievable.

It doesn’t seem that impressive at first, but wait until 25 seconds in. It is totally captivating after that.

Looks like a fun time. Sure wish I could’ve been there. I had trouble getting tickets, you see, because I wasn’t born yet.

Categories: Pot Luck | Tags: , , , , | 17 Comments

New 1950s radio book includes Elvis photos

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Troy Yeary

Ben Marks over at Collectors Weekly posted a terrific article last week about 1950s Radio in Color: The Lost Photographs of Deejay Tommy Edwards, a new book by Christopher Kennedy.

“The book reproduces color slides that Edwards took of all the music and movie stars who passed through the studios of WERE-AM in Cleveland from 1955-1960. Edwards would project his slides on the walls of high school gyms, where he produced record hops and live shows,” says Marks.

“For many of the kids in those gyms, this was the first time they had seen, for example, that famous photo of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley taken in 1955,” he says.

You can check out what is probably the best quality version I’ve ever seen of that photo over at Marks’ article:

Found Photos: When Rock Lost Its Innocence — Collectors Weekly

“Today that photo is a classic that we take for granted. Back then it made people gasp,” says Marks.

Looks like an incredible book to me. This one’s definitely hitting the wish list! Thanks to Ben Marks for sending this information along.

Categories: Books, The Mystery Train Elvis Blog | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

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