International Earthquake – MEMORY 2022-2 (released 2002)
A classic bootleg review by Javilu
Las Vegas, February 5, 1970, Dinner Show
Playing time 56.05
This is one of the famous concerts recorded by Rick Rennie, which means better quality than average for an audience recording.
This concert was previously released as “CC Rider” (incomplete) and “Sheik of the Desert”, but the “Memory” edition has the best sound quality of them all and is complete along with the latter show.
In the booklet they claim to having remastered the concert professionally from the original master tape and the improvement in quality over the previous releases is noticeable.
For an early 1970 audience recording show, the sound is excellent, though not as good as Rick’s August recordings would be.
There’s a lot of noticeable overloading at the beginning of many songs on the CD but it gets better as the concert goes by, as if Rick had to adjust the settings on his tape machine, or he had to raise the volume between songs to capture Elvis speaking.
The booklet has liner notes written by Rennie himself and a couple of related pix.
The corny Vegas introduction music gives place to a powerful “All Shook Up”opener.
“I got a little bit of cold but I feel fine” Elvis sings during the song.
A rockin’ “I Got A Woman” follows and in case anyone doubts it’s a dinner show, fork and knife noises are heard while Elvis rocks his way through a song that would remain in his concerts ‘till the very last one.
After a brief talk about having the flu, “Proud Mary” follows. It’s a great version, not as rushed as the ones that would be performed in later years which gives the song a more soulful feeling. Sadly, this song suffers from a bit of overload in places, too.
“Don’t Cry Daddy” gets a fantastic rendition, not as rushed as the August versions and with no fooling around by Elvis. A flawless performance.
“Teddy Bear/Don’t Be Cruel” gets a focused Elvis who gladly concentrates on the song instead of giving away scarves like he would in later years.
A great version of “Love Me” follows. As most early 70’ live versions of this song, the tempo is close to the original and Elvis’ vocal is fantastic throughout the song.
A real pleasure hearing Elvis committed to the 50s songs!
“CC Rider” follows with no intro. Elvis just starts singing the song and the band follows. This version is great and James Burton really rocks during his solo.
“Let It Be Me” is performed more gentle and slower than the “On Stage” version and is a pleasure to hear. This is one of the highlights of the concert.
“I Can’t Stop Loving You” follows and it’s a standard version.
A short “Love Me Tender” is enjoyable because the kissing session doesn’t take as long as it would in August.
“In The Ghetto” is not different from the August renditions that would be recorded for “That’s The Way It Is” and Elvis performs a great version of the 1969 classic from the American Sound studio sessions.
“Sweet Caroline” is great with a totally committed Elvis.
“Polk Salad Annie” is another early version of a song that would be played a lot faster in later concerts. The flu Elvis has shows during one of the verses but it is a great performance of the Tony Joe White tune.
Elvis claims to have requests for several songs when a woman in the audience requests “Double Trouble”!! I wonder if Elvis heard that.
Band introductions are short and sweet as always in the early concert years.
A powerful “Suspicious Minds” gets the great early 1970 treatment and is shortened from the extended 1969 Vegas versions.
The concert comes to an end with a standard “Can’t Help Falling In Love”.
Bob Lanning’s drumming is fantastic throughout and he proved to be a fine replacement for Ronnie Tutt in this early 1970 Vegas season. All the TCB band does a solid, fine job backing Elvis.
As a bonus, you can hear Rick’s comments recorded prior to the concert and found on the same tape as the concert.
Rick complains that the performances he attended in 1969 were much more spectacular than the live album RCA released thus his intention of recording complete concerts.
If you’re after great audience recordings and a committed Elvis singing with passion and joy and very little fooling around, try to get a copy of “International Earthquake”, you will enjoy it.
Javilu 2009-04-19
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matthew hanhauser
said:
| Excellent review, sir. Your attention to detail is exceptional- please post more! | |
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charlierogers
said:
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Love the review. Just 'discovered' boolegs in Dec 08 - so lots of catching up to do. Can you provide more info re: Mr. Rennie? How did he get such great access to the shows and how many did he attend/record? |
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