Following the July CD release, the Millbranch import record label released a colorful double LP version of ‘New Script, Same Stage’.
Is it the same script, the same experience or are we in for something new?
Design
Growing up in the CD-era, I still enjoy adding vinyl to my collection, and packages like this are the reason why. Size does matter.
Based on the 1971 single ‘Until It’s Time For You To Go’, the design is both authentic and modern.
Where the CD version was illustrated with “just” tape-boxes, this double LP is the complete shebang! Opening up the LP we get some great shots of our man and a review of the January 26, 1972 Opening Show from the Commercial Appeal. But the real surprise is hidden inside the gatefold cover, beautifully printed inner-sleeves with more reviews and an interview with Elvis, holding magenta colored discs, what a beautiful color!
Tucked in with the LP is a 20-page booklet, designed as a Vegas menu. The full-color booklet covers the concept behind the album, the historical context, including Elvis’ the impact of Elvis’ marriage falling apart, the Vegas season and the rehearsals, and each song in detail. All beautifully illustrated with pictures and memorabilia and articles. This is taking it one step further than the alluring Follow That Dream LP’s as designed by Jimmy Carpenter.
I would have to make a remark regarding the design, it would be that I would have preferred that the opening of the printed inner-sleeves would be at the top, that way the records not on the open side when you take out these nice looking sleeves. But hey, that is nitpicking!
Content
The content of the LP is the same as that of the CD, so here is that section from the CD review:
The first months of 1972 can be characterized by heartburn and hard work for Elvis. Heartburn as his marriage with Priscilla was falling apart, and hard work in the studio recording and rehearsing to prepare for a revamped concert series with an updated setlist. On this set, you hear both: 7 studio recordings and 19 live performances.
The heartbreak is all too audible with songs like ‘The Impossible Dream,’ ‘Until It's Time For You To Go,’ ‘It's Over,’ ‘You Gave Me A Mountain,’ ‘It's Impossible,’ ‘Where Do I Go From Here’, ‘For The Good Times,’ ‘Fool,’ ‘Separate Ways,’ ‘Always On My Mind,’ and ‘I'll Remember You’ as a perfectly chosen closing song for this compilation. Even the slowed-down ‘Hound Dog’ fits in here. ‘(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear’ and the recent hit ‘Burning Love’ (Take 2) almost fall out of place here, but his last No. 1 hit can’t be omitted, of course.
The positive side of Elvis’ sadness is that he channels it through his performances, using his personal pain and turmoil to emotionally charge his performance, both live and in the studio. This still resonates with his audience today, making him the great artist he still is. There isn’t a bad song or performance on this set, although ‘All Shook Up’ is sung a bit too fast and during ‘Hawaiian Closing Theme’ Elvis takes his time saying his goodbyes to the celebrities in the audience instead of properly singing this song, so that one could have been omitted. ‘I'll Remember You’ is a fitting closing song for a tear-jerking compilation like this.
Elvis returned to RCA Studio C. in Hollywood in March 1972 to record new material and rehearse for his live tour, which were to be recorded for the ‘On Tour’ documentary. Looking back now, it is hard to understand how RCA handled these great songs from the March 27th to 29th recording sessions. Some of them became pillars under Elvis’ catalog: ‘Separate Ways,’ ‘For The Good Times,’ ‘Where Do I Go From Here,’ ‘Burning Love,’ ‘Fool,’ ‘Always On My Mind,’ and ‘It’s A Matter Of Time.’ But most of these were scattered away on singles - including my all-time favorite coupling of ‘Always On My Mind’ and ‘Separate Ways,’ which should have been two separate singles! - or on Camden budget releases like ‘Burning Love and Hits From His Movies.’ These recordings, together with a hit like ‘Burning Love’ could have, and should have, been released as an album. What a smash record that could have been!
Recording a contemporary hit like ‘Burning Love’ illustrated that Elvis was still relevant in a changing musical world with artists like the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, and Joni Mitchell exploring new musical directions. The fact that some of them attended his 1972 Madison Square Garden shows a few months later is a clear illustration of Elvis’ fame and position as an artist.
So even with new musical trends changing the sound of popular music, our man made his stand with his ability to unite different genres and appeal to a broad audience.
Fortunately, the people from Millbranch stepped in to create this “album that never was” with some great live and studio recordings from early 1972. Thank you, guys!
The concert standards ‘Polk Salad Annie,’ ‘Never Been To Spain,’ ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ ‘Little Sister / Get Back,’ ‘An American Trilogy,’ and of course some of the early fifties hits complete this compilation. Listening to the live performances, you hear that Elvis succeeded in presenting his audience a more serious and solid show, with less chatting. Although he still makes some jokes and makes fun of poor Charlie Hodge in ‘Never Been to Spain,’ “it sounds funny all by himself.”
Looking at the tape-box on the back of the LP it appears that the producers were able to work with a transfer of the original binaural tape of the January 26th Opening Show, mixed to stereo as prepared for a possible release Joan Deary was working on in 1979. According to the tape Dick Bogert was the engineer. The content of this tape, featuring accounts for one-third of this album. The other performances seem to have been added to complete the 1972 compilation.
In the mix Elvis takes center stage, the band backs him there, with the piano a tad to the left, the orchestra further to the left and the backing vocalists on the right side. The bass and drums are very prominent in the mix, more than you would expect, but for me it works in the overall audio-presentation.
With this selection of songs the producers showed that they know their Elvis and his catalogue. They have chosen and mixed the songs cleverly. The live songs have a good 'concert flow, using the applause, the transitions were edited very well.
Deary was working on several projects, the book 'De Musik, Der Mensch, Der Mythos' by Marc Hendrickx shows another 1979 tape-box with binaural mixes, engineered by Dick Bogert from the RCA 'Tape Legends' archive (page 219).
The LP was mastered - by Petrushka at Planet of Sound Mastering - a bit louder, to create a more dynamic sound and it works. These performances sound richer than the FTD release of these performances on the 'Opening Night' CD from the 2001 import record label (1994) and FTD's ‘An American Trilogy’ (2007). The concert was also released by the Memphis Recording Service as 'Elvis: Opening Night 1972' and as 'Las Vegas 1970 And 1973' on the Homespun record label in 2023.
The mix has much detail, you even hear the drumming on the hi-hat. And listen to that 'Trilogy', shivers run down my spine when he sings “hush now baby, your daddy is bound to die.” Overall, the audio on this set, sourced from various concert dates, studio, and overdub sessions, sounds pretty much like a whole, with the live performances nicely flowing from song to song, almost creating a fantasy concert.
‘The Impossible Dream’ sounded a little sharp to my ears; the other tracks sounded great. Good to have the orchestra version of ‘Separate Ways,’ ‘It's A Matter Of Time,’ and ‘Always On My Mind’ together on this set as these were originally done four weeks after the original recording in an overdub session, led by Glenn D. Hardin using a fifteen-piece orchestra consisting of two cellos, six violins, two violas, and four trumpets. They complete the (original) picture.
The orchestral version of ‘Always On My Mind’ would remain officially unreleased until 1985 when it would become the title track of an early RCA Elvis CD release. It hit the charts in 1997 when it was used in a British Airways commercial. ‘For The Good Times’ found a place on the ‘Essential Seventies’ box, but this version of ‘Separate Ways’ still has to be released officially. It has seen various bootleg releases, most recently on the Venus label CD ‘Unedited Masters - Nashville 1970 Revisited’ (2013).
The Vinyl
The magenta colored vinyl looks simply stunning! The LPs are flat and play flawlessly although they were a little static when taken out of the sleeves for the first time, but a soft brush does wonders. The sound is so much fuller and richer (in detail) than the CD, which surprised me a bit as I thought that the silver disc sounded good. So compliments to the audio engineer for the voluminous audio presentation.
Conclusion
Opening a package like this is what makes it fun to be an Elvis fan and collector. A great design, much eye for detail and a strong compilation in a rich audio presentation. The LP is a real upgrade from the CD, so no, it is not simply the same script, the same experience.
In the review for the CD I wrote: “If this compilation was meant to be played, the producers succeeded. It has been in my CD player for a few days now!”. For this LP edition I can only add that these shiny transparent magenta records will make a few more spins before they are returned to their sleeves.
