The Mystery Train 1.0

A selection of my writings from the original run of The Mystery Train, published online between 2010 and 2014, preserved as part of the site’s early history.

Amarillo ’77 for completists only

/ TY

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 intentionally 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.

Back In Richmond

/ TY

An Elvis Presley concert recorded in Richmond, Virginia, will soon 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 that same year. 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 glad that they gave this CD a creative title, rather than just slapping a song name on it. 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 Elvis 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. I have intentionally avoided the bootleg versions of concerts like this for years in hopes of someday enjoying official releases. 48 Hours To Memphis will be a very special way to think of what might have been. Thank you, FTD.

“I told the Colonel to stay off the stage”

/ TY / 17 Comments

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.

New 1950s radio book includes Elvis photos

/ TY / 10 Comments

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.

Thomas triumphs over Elvis Trivialities #3

/ TY / 12 Comments

Thomas correctly answered Elvis Trivialities #3. With a response time of five hours and twenty-six minutes, he becomes the latest member of The Mystery Train’s Night Riders and the proud new owner of a set of bragging rights.

And the answer is…

Having Fun With Elvis On Stage is the RCA album released during his lifetime on which Elvis quotes legendary Looney Tunes character Porky Pig (“…that’s all folks”).

RCA released this “talking album only” in October of 1974. Some people consider it to be Elvis’ worst album. These people obviously have never heard Roustabout.

Congratulations to Thomas!

The Mystery Train’s Night Riders

  • July 9, 2011: Thomas (5:26)
  • June 23, 2011: Fred Wolfe (0:18)
  • June 22, 2011: [Ty stumps the train]

Elvis Trivialities #3

/ TY / 2 Comments

Welcome to a new installment of Elvis Trivialities. Your question is:

On what RCA album released during his lifetime does Elvis quote legendary Looney Tunes character Porky Pig?

I have another mint in package set of bragging rights to the first person to post the correct answer in the comments below.

You’ll never guess who put this Elvis career retrospective together

/ TY / 6 Comments

With literally thousands of performances from which to choose, it is difficult to distill Elvis’ entire career down into a single disc.

One of Sony’s most recent attempt to do just that was the release Elvis 75, from 2010.

Here’s another list of songs chosen by someone else, many years before the Elvis 75 release:

  • That’s All Right
  • Tryin’ To Get To You
  • I Got A Woman
  • Hound Dog
  • Don’t Be Cruel
  • Love Me
  • Teddy Bear
  • Jailhouse Rock
  • It’s Now Or Never
  • Are You Lonesome Tonight
  • Hawaiian Wedding Song
  • Can’t Help Falling In Love
  • Little Sister
  • What’d I Say
  • How Great Thou Art
  • Johnny B. Goode
  • See See Rider
  • I Really Don’t Want To Know
  • Early Morning Rain
  • You Gave Me A Mountain
  • My Way
  • Fairytale
  • And I Love You So
  • Hurt
  • If You Love Me

Other than one or two out-of-place songs, this is a single-disc retrospective I could get behind. I like the way it incorporates well-known hits with some rarities (to the mainstream, general public, that is).

Take another look at this list. It should be familiar to most of you.

These songs have indeed appeared together on an album. Way back in 1977. It was the first album released after Elvis passed away.

That’s right, you are looking at the songs from Elvis In Concert, which compiled two shows from Elvis’ final tour.

Elvis receives a lot of criticism from fans for his concert set lists, particularly in later years.

Sometimes, looking at something in a different way – or sequence – can shed new light on a subject.

We can debate the quality of his performances, but the songs Elvis selected during those two nights represented a look back at his entire career. Sadly, they also became a final farewell.