february 20  2004

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Sale of Rick Rennie's collection

 

We've lost one of the greatest Elvis fans and one of the nicest man in the world


Last Wednesday Rick Rennie died at the age of 58.
 

Our thoughts are with his family!

 
The funeral is next weekend in Longview Washington

 


Please have a look here for some very important information on the passing of Rick Rennie.

Rick started recording Elvis Shows with a smal  taperecorder on august 2 1969, unfortunaly his tape
w
as taken away by the security of the International Hotel.
February 1970 Rick was back
at the international Hotel and he managed to record the 2 shows from the 3th and the 5th.

 

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.
The last show that Rick recorded was the
mothersday show in Lake Tahoe on may 13th 1973. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

When Elvis was jokingly speaking about using a very tiny guitar and a little shakey leg when he first started out, one of the girls yelled out "little bitty king" and I immediately thought that would be a good title for this show. I told the girls at my table that Elvis usually kissed women from the audience during "Love Me Tender" and they all lined up for them during the song. One hesitated, thinking it might make her boyfriend jealous, but eventually, she also went down for a kiss. They all could see that I was recording the show and gave me their home addresses to get copies later.

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.

                                                                                                                                                                                    Rick


Taken from the linernotes  of the "You've Lost That Loving Feeling "  cd

 

 

 

 


Las Vegas February 5 1970

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. It was his hit then.

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
 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 


The shows, recorded by Rick Rennie, appeared on the following CDs:

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)
20 Aug'70 DS               “A Dinner Date With Elvis” (Live Archives EPE 1011) (1st release)

                                   “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)
                                   “A Bright Midnight With Elvis” (Memory Records MR CD 2037-2)

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)

  

Listen to the Rick Rennie comments on the Thursday concert on February 5th 1970 approx. at 8.30 in the evening just prior to the concert!