Gravel Road Music released another “oldie”, this time the January 29, 1971 Dinner Show, previously released on the 2001 label. Is it an improvement?
Design
We are used to it now, the great packages that Gravel Road delivers. This release is no exception on that rule. The 3 panel digipack is decorated with the man in his fringe suit, marvellous! The rainbow backside of Elvis Now is imitated on both the CD and some of the panels. The booklet has good information and has some great shots, mainly from early 1971 and some memorabilia.
Content
The sound is definitely improved compared to the original release. Still it is not perfect, unfortunately this great show has no better source. Elvis in a good mood, doing more great songs than mediocre treatments of oldies (as a matter of fact most of them get a good treatment too)… give it anytime in this quality, it is so much more enjoyable than a poor 1976 (or 1977) show in perfect sound(board) quality!
The extras are not really my piece of cake, but to each his or hers own. Snowbird never was one of my favourites and to have it so many times in a row is too much of the same and a telephone conversation… duh, it was more or less funny when I heard it for the first time on the Moody Blue & other great performances CD, but I certainly didn’t need it again. Gladly there is the option of stopping the CD after the show :-).
Conclusion
A perfect show in the best possible sound quality with for some people a nice bonus. I would say it is worth the upgrade and if you missed the original, I certainly hope you grabbed your chance!
Great review...you summed it up perfectly !
I'm happy I ordered a copy and reading this release (indeed a well balanced and on the right spot detached) I am happy I did. Thanks.
Yep, credit where credit is due : good review indeed. My copy should be there tomorrow. As I missed the original, happy to have this release. Always El.
Well I got my copy yesterday, played it once with headphones and then put in the back of the cupboard and gone back to the original 2001 label release. To me it sounded too distorted at the higher end, which I didn't like. Any way, what confidence can you have in a label that says track 15 is "Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel", when in fact it is only "Teddy Bear".
They've listed Don't Be Cruel but it's not there!!! As crimes go, they don't come much worse than this. My confidence is well and truly shattered.
Whetherman, I thought there was something wrong with my ears. I missed Don't Be Cruel too. You and Viva helped me understand my perplexed state of mind. I don't have the earlier release so I cannot compare.
I have the previous release - this is better - for the vastly improved packaging alone. The cover on the earlier one has to be one of the worst covers ever. ( BTW, my previous post was meant to be tongue in cheek).
Great layout. Must say the show is not the best and a little rushed...
Hi Natha, on the earlier elease , "Don't Be Cruel" is not on it either because DBC simply wasn't performed that night. So nothing wrong with the content of this Gravel Road release , just a printer error on the backside and, imho, no reason for losing confidence in the label like wetherman was asking himself. Gravel Road released some great stuff in the past. Always El.
Benny, as a matter of fact I was just fooling around. I listened to the cd and was really thrilled by he content. Only after ripping the cd to my computer I noticed while typing (hey, I didn't hear DBC) and didn't care at all. Also the whole design and not in the least the fantastic front made the whole cd more than worthwhile the money. GRM has a good reputation and another 'renowned' label is notorious for having errors! So again, I gave my respons with a big smile. The music is all that counts. By the way, the Snowbird part is also fun as I like to experience the development of a recording. And the live part was quite a surprise too. I'm pretty sure you too enjoyed the cd.
Yep Natha, I sure did ! Just like you I had that other 'renowned' label in mind, but, like you wrote, the music is the most important thing. Always El.
First: Take 3 of Snowbird is still not on here. This proofs to me that this label definitely has no tapes. They just take old tapes or CDs and try to push the quality up a little. And second: The tape glitch on the live-version is still there, as are the drop outs on "Impossible Dream". Years ago bootleggers had different sources. Early generations of tapes or later ones with plenty of hiss. Today I believe they have a stock of these old tapes they use again and again .. with different stages of PC-Button-Pushing. I think the leaks of yesteryears, that brought us so many great bootleg-labels, are plugged.
