Sunday, January 06, 2013

January 06 - Elvis ... The End Of A Long Cold Winter

For 22 years Darwin Lamm published a quarterly magazine devoted to Elvis that focused on his music, his images and his legacy. After moving to a twice-a-year format for the past two years, Lamm, 71, is now closing "Elvis ... The Magazine." 

A year and a half ago, Lamm semiretired and moved to Palm Springs. Lamm saw Elvis perform several times, said he never actually met Elvis and he blew a chance to meet him in 1971. Lamm was in Las Vegas with some friends and was offered a chance to meet Elvis at a show but passed because all his friends wanted to tag along and it was a hassle. Lamm is working on a new series of books called "Memories of Elvis," which he said would include interviews with Elvis' friends and fellow performers.


Hot Love In A Long, Cold Winter

Out shortly is the new Straight Arrow release “Hot Love In A Long, Cold Winter”, which contains the St. Petersburg and Columbia 1977 concerts from which the Straight Arrow import label obtained the original audience recorded cassettes.

From the press-release:
The Elvis tour in February of that year was affected in various ways by the weather conditions, which sometimes resulted in delays at airports and illness among the musicians and crew members. Presley himself was in less than stellar condition, and complained of a sore throat on some nights. Elvis gained some weight since the last tour, and the manic feel of those final December nights was now gone, but from February 14, he was in good voice for all remaining shows of his tour, and he even included rarities like ‘Release Me’ and ‘Blueberry Hill’.
A large chunk of the February 14 show and 2 tracks from February 18 were released from a soundboard sources, but we feel that these audience recorded tapes makes for a more entertaining and exciting listening experience. Note: The February 18, 1977 show was released in 1992 ("Elvis Release Me In Concert") by the Peaf label, which was taken from an inferior source. If you liked our previous outing, „Chicago Double-Strike“, you will enjoy this new release, too.

Tracklist:
CD 1 / Monday, February 14, 1977, St. Petersburg.
01. Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 02. C. C. Rider - 03. I Got A Woman / Amen - 04. Love Me - 05. If You Love Me (Let Me Know) - 06. You Gave Me A Mountain - 07. O Sole Mio (Sherrill Nielsen) / It's Now Or Never - 08. Guadalajara (one liner) / All Shook Up - 09. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel - 10. And I Love You So - 11. Fever - 12. My Way - 13. Introduction of vocalists, musicians - 14. Early Mornin' Rain 15. What'd I Say - 16. Drum Solo (Ronnie Tutt) - 17. Bass Solo (Blues, Jerry Scheff) - 18. Piano Solo (Tony Brown) - 19. Blueberry Hill (with 2 false starts) - 20. Love Letters - 21. School Day - 22. Hurt - 23. Hound Dog - 24. Can't Help Falling In Love - 25. Closing Vamp / Announcements. Approx. running time: 66:41.

CD 2 / Friday, February 18, 1977, Columbia.
01. Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 02. C. C. Rider - 03. I Got A Woman / Amen - 04. Love Me - 05. Fairytale - 06. You Gave Me A Mountain - 07. Jailhouse Rock - 08. O Sole Mio (Sherrill Nielsen) / It's Now Or Never - 09. Tryin' To Get To You - 10. Little Sister - 11. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel - 12. Are You Lonesome Tonight - 13. That's All Right, Mama - 14. My Way (with break) - 15. Release Me - 16. Introduction of vocalists, musicians - 17. Early Mornin' Rain - 18. What'd I Say - 19. Johnny B. Goode - 20. Drum Solo (Ronnie Tutt) - 21. Bass Solo #1 (Blues, Jerry Scheff) - 22. Bass Solo #2 (Battle Of New Orleans theme, Jerry Scheff) - 23. Piano Solo (Tony Brown) - 24. Love Letters - 25. School Day - 26. Hurt (with reprise) - 27. Introduction of Billy Smith and Jo Smith - 28. Can't Help Falling In Love - 29. Closing Vamp / Announcements. Approx. running time: 74:57.

Collector's Edition From Sony And RCA

On Amazon two new titles from RCA / Sony Legacy appeared; the maxi vinyl release "Don't Be Cruel / Hound Dog" in a Collector's Edition and "Threads And  Grooves", also a Collector's Edition". 

(Source: ElvisMatters / FECC / Amazon)