february 20 2004 |
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Sale of Rick Rennie's collection We've lost one of the greatest Elvis fans and one of the nicest man in the world
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Rick started recording
Elvis Shows with a smal taperecorder on august 2 1969,
unfortunaly his tape
In August 1970 Rick recorded all the Las Vegas shows from the 19th untill the 21th.
On
November
11 1970 Rick recorded
the show in Portland (Main) near his hometown.
He
also
managed
to tape
another
Portland
show on april 27th
1973.
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Las Vegas August 1970 Of
my Vegas visit from August 19-21, 1970 two shows stand out above the six I
went to, although all were great. The two were the first show and this one
from the 21st where Elvis sang "Cryin' Time", but for very
different reasons. The first was because it was the only time I ever saw
Elvis booed by his audience to get on with the show. This one was mainly
because I was seated at a table with some very lively young girls who
contributed to the overall excitement of the show. Elvis
was also particularly good that night and did a fairly long show. He was
wearing the white jumpsuit with round metal discs and a few tassels
hanging from his belt that he wore often in TTWII. In the show from the
19th he wore a black jumpsuit and he also comments about that during the
show. During the six shows I saw, Elvis began "You've Lost That Lovin'
Feelin'" wearing a gorilla mask twice, but on this night he did not.
But he did clear his throat and begin again. The girls at my table
commented that he was trying to sing like Bill Medley of The Righteous
Brothers. They also recognized James Burton as the former lead guitarist
for Ricky Nelson and said they had seen some of the group near the
swimming pool earlier that day. Two
of them sent me checks for copies. Elvis was at his best physically and
performance-wise and at that time I had no thoughts that he ever would be
any different. As an after thought, I can now tell he was under the
influence of something on the 19th when he was booed, but at that time,
those kind of thoughts never crossed my mind and even though he may have
been "drugged", he put on a fabulous show both nights and for
all of the shows in-between. He was more polished than he was the year
before, or even the previous February, which I also attended and taped. I
had no idea that MGM had just filmed shows for TTWII a few days earlier,
but when I saw the new version, it immediately reminded me of my three day
stay in August of 1970.
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My tape recorder was confiscated until after the Elvis concerts in Vegas
on august 10 1969, The first time
I saw Elvis, I’m still searching for
tapes of those shows this day. Then, I just wanted tapes of my experience and to have something personal
instead on what's on records. But by
February I had seen how RCA had
butchered Elvis‘ live concert for their live album released a few months
earlier and I had more purpose in mind. I wanted a fair and adequate representation of the live performances. My recorder was not as good as the
one I would have a few months later for his August engagement but it
seemed to turn out acceptable and I was happy with what I got when I was
there in February 2nd, Elvis performed several of his old hits
, beginning with “All Shook Up” but also his latest hits and some
covers of other songs he had done before. His show
seemed a bit more
polished than his august 1969 show was.
He seemed more confident. His
outfits where beginning to show more design. On This Night he wore the
famous “pearl”suit that can be seen on the cover of his RCA album
“On Stage” and most of the newest songs can be found there too. A bonus
for me was the laughing
version of “Kentucky Rain” his then current hit single. You are probably familiar with the new songs he
added to his repertoire this season. My favorite was “Polk salad Annie”
witch I had seen Tony Joe White perform this summer before on Dick Clark’s
American Bandstand. I was seated in a front section at a table with a family led by an older
dairy farmer . There was a dairy farmer
convention going on in Vegas at that time. That dairy farmer is the
loud, obnoxius man you constantly hear on my tape . I was angry with him. On
the tape you hear him say ”are you getting that Rick ?” and I said ”I’m
sure getting a lot of you”.
I took in a few other shows this time while I was in
Vegas before
returning for Elvis’ dinner show 2 nights later. I had taken the bus this time through
snowy weather for the 1200 mile trip, they seemed to take forever, topping to deliver mail along the way. In 1969 it
was only a 15 hour drive for me. This trip took 24 hours just to get there.
Bur it was certainly worth the trip
Rick Taken from the linernotes of the
"International Earthquake " of the memory label |
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03 Feb'70 DS “C.C. Rider” (Elvis Presley Live Collection EPL 011 CD) “Sheik Of The Desert“ (Krystal Records) “Have Some Fun Tonight“ (Memory Records CD MR 2026-2) 05 Feb'70 DS “International Earthquake” (Memory Records CD MR 2022-2) 19 Aug'70 DS “Double Dynamite” (Rock Legends 1009-1/ CD 1)
19 Aug'70 MS “Double Dynamite” (Rock Legends
1009-2/ CD 2) “A Dinner Date With Elvis” (Presto Records CD 1021) (2nd release) “A Dinner Bell In Vegas” (Memory Records MR CD 2036-2)
20 Aug'70 MS “Midnight Inspirations – A Night
To Remember” (Groti Records GR-R 102) 21 Aug'70 DS “From Vegas To Macon” (Rock Legends CD 1008-1/ CD 1) 21 Aug'70 MS “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin” (Audionics 2001-01) 11 Nov'70 “One Night In Portland” (Live Archives CD 1010) 27 Apr'73 “Back In Portland” (Live Archives CD 1012) 13 May'73 3am “Live In Lake Tahoe” (PEAF CD 1990) “A Perfect Gift” (Triangle TP 03001) “The Man In White Vol. 4 – Night Time Is The Right Time” (Lone Star)
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