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| Live Recordings for RCA August 21-26, 1969: The International Hotel, Las Vegas Before assembling in Las Vegas for rehearsals, Elvis and Charlie Hodge worked overtime trying to settle on the best songs for the show. Altough he had no official title, Charlie would be Elvis's right-hand man onstage for the rest of his live performances, singing harmony, holding sheet music should Elvis get lost, cueing the band members, later passing Elvis the scarves the star gave away to the audience. He was essentially a stage manager, and though Elvis's customary introduction ("the guy who gives me water and my scarves") may have had a belittling edge to it, that kind of biling masked Charlie's important role in other aspects of the show. In the Sweet Inspirations Elvis had a vocal group that could pour soulfulness and gospel flavor over anything he wanted just by opening their mouths. Elvis had also hired on his favorite soprano singer, Millie Kirkham, as the only musician from his Nashville band to join him in Las Vegas, and for her he came up with a high, wordless countervocal for "Are You Lonesome Tonight?," her voice soaring high above Elvis's own like a tormented soul crying out an unbearable loneliness. For those closest to Elvis, that first night's performance was almost as much a revelation as it was to the audience. Felton Jarvis described it years later as "He was like a wild man, he was all over the stage. I mean, he almost hurt himself, he was doing flips and cartwheels and all kinds of stuff." As the engagement wore on, Elvis' mood continued to loosen up, and with it onstage demeanor. The monologue grew more and more zany, to the point that it sometimes seemed almost surreal. As the women in the audience grew increasingly demonstrative (they started throwing bras, panties, and half-slips, almost from the first show), he began to give out kisses, randomly at first, and then as a regular part of the performance. He first split his pants about two weeks into the engagement, and soon that too, became a kind of ritual, with "Memories" sung one time from behind the curtain as he changed his trousers. One night he dissolved in hysterical laughter at Sweet Inspiration Cissy Houston's soprano obbligator during "Are You Lonesome Tonight?," and he could never get back to singing the song. And yet the show never lost its edge. Elvis was never anything less than fully engaged, the music remained for the most part crisp and taut----it was simply that the atmosphere became more genial, as was only natural for an entertainer who was beginning to feel more and more at home. (The Complete Recording Sessions by Ernst Jorgensen) (Careless Love by Peter Guralnick) The released version in this case was taped at an 8/26/69 International show and included in a November '69 LP set. This one's a real collectors' item with Elvis totally breaking up. |
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| Are You Lonesome Tonight? (Laughing Version) |
| Are you lonesome tonight,do you miss me tonight? Are you sorry we drifted apart? Does your memory stray to a brighter sunny day When I kissed you and called you sweetheart? Do the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare? Do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair? Is your heart (laughing) filled with pain, shall I come back (laughing)? Tell me dear, are you lonesome (laughing) oh Lord, Lord I wonder (laughing) You know someone said that the world's a stage And each must play a part (laughing) Act(laughing) oh God, oh man I tell you Laughing And I had no cause to doubt you. (laughing) ooohhhhhh sing it baby (laughing) Shall I come back again Tell me dear, are you lonesome to... (laughing) Is your heart filled with pain shall I come back again Tell me dear,(laughing) are you lonesome tonight (that's it man, 14 years right down the drain.... boy I tell you, 14 year just shot right there man, I tell you) Laughing Version by Elvis Presley Words & music: Roy Turk/ Lou Handman |
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