Go to main content

What Now My Love

December 05, 2005 | Music
Released on the X-entertainment label is the CD "What Now My Love" with the unreleased performance of February 23, 1973, Closing Night.

Design

Words that come to mind are "what now my designer?" ... this CD doesn't have a design. Just a not flattering picture of Elvis on the cover and a slightly better looking Elvis on the back. No liner notes, no nothing ...

Content

The design didn't give us much hope on the content, but an unreleased performance is an unreleased performance and we gave it a try. The CD contains an average audience recording.

Closing Night, February 23, 1973, wasn't one of Elvis best shows. He talks a lot, does throwaway versions and isn't concentrated at all. The first few songs are very messy, probably doing the rounds during "Love Me Tender". Fun for him, not for us. No power in "Steamroller", and that is the only thing that song needs.

"Blue Suede Shoes" wasn't done in a throwaway version, it got kicked out. The same goes for "Hound Dog", we didn't get a kick out of these (so called) performances. Elvis continues this line on the title track of this release "What Now My Love". He tries to speak the lines, but doesn't follow the melody. The finale is fair, but we won't settle for half a minute of good performance of a song. And why the reprise, messed up, just perform the song like it is supposed to be performed. After "Suspicious Minds" we loved the band introductions best, he didn't mess this up. And that says something. He says hi to a lot of people, including the sound engineer and Buzz Aldrin, who gets a big applause, George Hamilton and one special girlfriend named ... Ann Margret.

"I Can't Stop Loving You" is the best performance from the evening, but he does want to finish it too big, thereby loosing the continuity of the song, it kind of breaks up. The fore last performance is "An American Trilogy", being a southern boy, he doesn't mess that song up. But two minutes later it is all over ... fortunately.

What happened to the man who conquered the world by Satellite only six weeks earlier?

Conclusion

Get this one only when you want to have them all on CD ...
Ton Bruins wrote on December 06, 2005
I tell you what happened to him after the Aloha show. He was sick and tired of Las Vegas. Those long weeks in Vegas were no longer a challenge to him. we all know that, don't we ? Not saying that after this show he hasn't done some pretty good ones, but he was sick of Las vegas. I am sure about that.
EspenK wrote on December 08, 2005
It would be nice if the reviews included some words about the sound quality and source of the recording (audience/soundboard). I would not neccesarily mind if the performance itself is poor, that may be a study in itself. But the sound quality is ALWAYS important info.
Ciscoking wrote on December 25, 2005
In my opinion just for the collector who needs anything. Not essential. There are already a few imports out that cover this Las Vegas season...better shows in even better sound quality.