On Stage: February 1970 [LIVE]

Elvis Presley

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 27, 1991)
• Original Release Date: June 1970
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002WFI
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #348,368 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Elvis really didn't make any great albums in the 1970s; he made one or two good ones as well as some great singles and individual album tracks, which is why the '70s box set Walk a Mile in My Shoes is as good a buy as the '50s and '60s compilations. He also made a slew of live albums--so which ones to pick? Obviously, the 1968 NBC "comeback" special was special, and various recordings exist; still, it's better viewed as a video. The 1972 Madison Square Garden recordings and 1973's Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite often seem zombie-like, and it's basically downhill from there. Thus, it's a toss-up between In Person at the International Hotel, his rockin' first Vegas appearance following his "comeback" TV special, and the Vegas appearance on this CD, recorded a year later--and offering more unique musical fruits. It's Elvis doing songs associated with others (Engelbert Humperdinck, Neil Diamond, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Beatles), though "The Wonder of You" became a hit single. The band is hot! Just listen to James Burton's scorching guitar solo on the cover of Del Shannon's "Runaway." The background vocalists are sensational (they help make Elvis's cover of "Let It Be Me" the definitive version), and the whole thing sounds Phil Spector-esque. In fact, "The Wonder of You" sounds so angelic, it's hard to believe it's live. His best Vegas recording. --Bill Holdship

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Presley's Best Live 1970s Album, June 14, 2000

By	Johnny Savage (Berkeley CA) - See all my reviews

Currently the single best "mature" live Presley album, this would be rated five stars if it simply drew from tunes recorded at his Memphis '69 sessions or more of Elvis's own classic back catalog. Despite the preponderance of covers from this Jan/Feb'70 session in Vegas (just Presley's second visit, I might add), his vocals and the band's performance are both superb. The is the last time Presley would sing with the "fire" in his voice first heard in his 1968 TV Special rebirth. At this point in his career he is a valid and creative artist, just coming off of a number one single and an amazing album release of his 1969 Memphis sessions, 'From Elvis In Memphis.' And, as bodyguard Sonny West notes, he's "thinner than a rake and handsomer than ten movie stars." The decline wouldn't set in for a few more years, and this is how I want to remember Elvis in the 1970's.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Performance, Some Quirky Material Selections, December 6, 2004

By	Robert I. Hedges - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This album was recorded live in February, 1970 at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. This version of the CD is the originally released version, and you should consider buying the newer CD with added tracks which wouldn't fit on an LP (hence the original configuration.) Most of the songs are performed with energy, but some of the songs Elvis chose to perform left me scratching my head, especially "Yesterday," the loathsome "Sweet Caroline," and "Proud Mary" all hits for others that would have better been left alone by Elvis. The highlight of the CD is without question "Release Me." I think this is the strongest performance of this song that I have ever heard. Also strong are "C.C. Rider" and the amusing food-inspired "Polk Salad Annie," a song which is simultaneously funny yet cantankerous.

On balance, I think "Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite" is a better Elvis live album, but this one is worth listening to, especially for the unbelievably powerful version of "Release Me."

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Nice, Inconsequential mid-Comeback album., March 30, 2000

By	plsilverman (USA) - See all my reviews

I bought the original vinyl of this l.p. back in '70 and in '00 (via CD) it still holds alot of enjoyment - it was and still is fun to hear Elvis in kind of "non-Presley" territory, material-wise. Naturally, Elvis makes contemporary pop such as "Proud Mary", "Walk A Mile..", "Polk Salad Annie", etc. his own, validating the presumed album concept of presenting a forward-thinking superstar, in touch with the times and not an "Oldie But Goodie" (which would have been OK with me - the previously unreleased "Long Tall Sally" from 1956 and "See See Rider", probably from around 1856!, are the highlights). This approach yielded okay but decidedly secondary treatments of "Sweet Caroline" and "Runaway" back in '70 and now the unearthed "In The Ghetto", "Don't Cry Daddy", and "Kentucky Rain", all big hits for Elvis at the time and presumeably not used originally because of the tacit theme, have a let's-get-'em-out-of-the-way feel. The prev. unrel. "I Can't Stop Loving You" is excellent but too similiar to El's '69 live track to warrant reflection on its useability on the original "On Stage". Another entry understandably left off the first issue is the brief bit with Elvis explaining to a fan why he can't do all the songs he's requested to do, etc. RCA does have a habit of providing, in these high-minded high-tech. extended reissues, spontaneous studio and concert dialogue which benefit only those who must have every recorded Elvis utterance. (For me, it's gotta be his every recorded utterance just from 1953 to 1960). So for the student of his Memphis-Vegas era wants to hear knockout Elvis, stick with FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS and parts of many other albums, including THAT'S THE WAY IT IS.