Graceland Records releases the legendary vinyl bootleg The Hillbilly Cat Live on CD. Hopefully this CD will be as legendary as the vinyl version.
Press-release
Graceland Records is planning a new CD release, a digipack with gorgeous photos and liner notes plus technical information. It features one of the best shows from his August Las Vegas engagement, namely the August 23rd, 1970 dinner show, taken from the original unspoiled – a tremendous audience recording! This recording was partly released in 1970 on vinyl as "The Hillbilly cat, Live", but it was a combined version of 2 different shows, August 23rd dinner and 24th Midnight show. The sound quality was great for the time the time. Rumors were that a professional recording (soundboard) was used. This is not the case; a stereo tape recorder was used directly in front of the center stage. Graceland Records was lucky enough to work with the original audiocassette. These days the possibilities to improve an audience tape are far greater than they were in 1970, so this recording now sounds significantly better than it did on the 1970 vinyl bootleg.
Now Finally for the first time ever on CD.
One of the first bootlegs ever, "THE HILLBILLY CAT LIVE" A much sought-after double album from Canada, released back in 1970 with a mix of two shows, edited to create one powerhouse performance.
Now for the first time the complete tape recording of the first of these 2 shows: the August 23rd 1970 dinner show, which was only partly released on the double album and now in full, with only the last part of "Suspicious Minds" & "Can't help falling In Love" repaired with audio from the August 24th midnight show. Due to a little mistake the tape was turned off too fast, but he wrote down the set list.
This show is hilarious, wild and loose: Elvis was in great spirits & the Hollywood cameras were gone. The many false starts indicates that he was fooling around and having a great time doing it.. With probably the craziest intro ever to "Hound Dog", a wild and rocking version. With great renditions of "Tiger Man" "That's all Right" and "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" All phenomenal performances..
A fantastic and entertaining show where he combines humor and true entertainment. A sparkling show with no weak spots. Elvis was on top of his game ! This is definitively one of the finest performances of this season.
Do not miss your chance to obtain another winner from Graceland records!
Tracks:
01. That's All Right 02. I Got A Woman / Ave Maria (excerpt) 03. Tiger Man 04. Monologue 05. Love Me Tender (with false start) 06. I've Lost You 07. I Just Can't Help Believing 08. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 09. Polk Salad Annie 10. Band Introductions 11. Johnny B. Goode 12. Band Introductions 13. The Wonder Of You 14. Heartbreak Hotel (with 2 false starts) 15. One Night (with 2 false starts) 16. All Shook Up (false start only) / Blue Suede Shoes (with false start) / Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On / Blue Suede Shoes 17. All Shook Up (false start only) / Hound Dog 18. Bridge Over Troubled Water 19. Suspicious Minds 20. Can't Help Falling In Love.
As an extra we added a complete set to our wallpaper section: 1600x1200, 1280x1024 and a special iPhone wallpaper:
When was the source of this recording ever rumoured to be a soundboard? We always knew it was an average quality audience recorder, as they say, reasonably good for the day. The rumour was started right here, in the press release. I'm not trying to put down releases such as this, it just annoys me when they add so much hype.
Elvis on stage from the "That's The Way It Is" era is well documented on professionally recorded and readily available CD's and DVD's. There's obviously a number of offerings from FTD/Sony/BMG and even more from import labels such as Audionics. With all those great recordings in perfect sound, is this audience recording needed by anyone other than the the dire-hard collectors looking to satiate their desire to own all 1100 performances Elvis did from 1969 - 1977?
I cannot agree with what you are saying. The August 1970 shows all have something special. Along with 1969, winter 1970 and 1975 they belong to the best shows ever our man gave in Vegas. We have wondweeful songs as I Just Can`t Help Believing, Tiger Man, I`ve Lost You or The Wonder Of you which were new in Elvis setlists and he also treated his older songs with more passion than he did just a year later. The shows were full of dynamics and Elvis was on top physically.
So don`t tell me we have enough of them. I`d rather listen to 20 more shows of this kind than one more bad summer 1976 or 1977 show. And it is the first time that this concert is released in this form. The whole tape was used including songs which were NOT on the LP. Any new show from this time on silver disc is most welcome by me, anyway. For collectors a must have and a nice addition to any other collection, too. Let`s hope that the sound is decent, too...
Great old boot and great new boot !
The name sticks in my craw. I traded 2 mint maroon ep's for the original boot Hillybilly Cat. Worst deal I ever made.
The double LP was trading for huge money back in the early 70's. Supposedly the first pressing was limited to 200 copies. I had one, it was the worst sounding concert ever, virtually unlistenable. Played it once. A second pressing came out (same bad sound) and drove the price down on the originals. I sold mine for a measly amount. Oldscudder, I feel for you giving up valuable pieces for this.
This new release sounds great compared to the old vinyl..unbelievable what they made out of it..
Cisco, don't get me wrong, just asking! How come you already know the quality of the sound ? Always El.
I'm happy for every collector that wants to buy this release. I hope that it's awesome, in spite of the track record (pun intended) of the original vinyl LP. That being said, I'm sticking to my original opinion. There's already so much out there that's better than this! Why forego the money? I agree that every performance is different, but they are not all unique! Line up every show from this era, and you'll find virtually the same song set, show after show, with little variation. Yup, Elvis was on top and in great form, but I already have bunches and bunches of TTWII shows in perfect stereo sound, plus the Feb 1970 releases, a whole slew of the '69 shows, oodles and oodles of concerts from 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, etc. etc. all the way through 1977. For me, enough has finally become enough! The only show I still want to see on the official label is Hampton Roads, 1972. Of course I have the excellent Triangle release, so even that won't be a big deal.
Lefty,..if you don`t want audience recording any more..skip them and don`t take part in such discussions any more, easy.. I love them.. and I won`t give any of my over 650 shows away...it is a piece of Elvis Presley history for me..
benny..I was lucky enough to hear a short sound sample ..it sounded fine..not top notch..but decent..
Thanks for the info Cisco ! Always El.
Graceland Record is reliable import label, they did a great work with "Elvis At The Forum" cd. I don't doubt they have been able to improve the sound using the original tape. Welcome addition to August 1970 shows on silver disc.
Cisco,...No offense, but I'll continue to chime in on such discussions now and then. Contrary opinions are welcome here! And I really meant what I said...I hope that everyone enjoys this release!
No problem,..Lefty..perhaps I was a bit harsh..please excuse me..
For me like other fans this release will fill a gap when collecting AR/soundboards etc, for other fans well maybe they feel that have enough of that period of Elvis's live performances and will be surplus to requirements....nothing wrong with that what so ever but why oh why don't we all make comments on the sound 'AFTER' the bloody thing has come out?.As i always say do some homework on this release past and present and make your own mind up.?....surely by now in this day and age fans have the www to do this and know where and what to look for.
DrJohn, I agee with comments on quality before release. Yet sometimes one has no time to wait before deciding (or making up one's mind to purchase or not), as there are limited numbers. So I appreciated CiscoKing's response.
Natha,
CiscoKing's comments are as good as they get ...(but don't tell him...lol)......appreciate ypur comments as usual and i am pretty sure you will be able to get this one pretty soon.
drcarpenter..what do you mean..by.. "....are as good as they get.." my English is not good enough ....
CiscoKing, 'as good as they get' in this case means your advice is based on someone who knows what they are talking about.
Thank you..much appreciated.
Got it today and I just gave it a complete spin..it holds what I expected...a good and funny show ..the sound doesn`t match top notch ARs..but it is fine..considering the source... and a remarkably improvement compared with what we had on LP..back in 1970..and..most important for me as a collector..first release on silver disc
