Sunday, November 16, 2008

THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM


Tonight I am going to talk about the FTD, The Impossible Dream. This CD contains a concert from Elvis in vegas in Vegas in 1971. I had been wanting this release for a long time and finally got it this past August. I had heard mixed reviews of it but still felt the need to have it. I do not have many live recordings from 71 and needed to hear some. First of all it was clear that by this time Elvis was already tired of the Vegas thing. I already knew that this was the case, but hearing this was just more proof. He has been told to make his shows go by faster, something else that must have pissed him off and in turn effected his shows. This show does not come close to the Vegas stuff from 70 or some of the stuff from the tours in 72. Though some nice things can be found on this recording. It's Now Or Never is heard one here and is one of the first times Elvis sings this in concert in the 70's. I prefer to hear the original studio version any day but it is neat to hear it here live for possibly for the first time. I will have to say the version of The Impossible Dream is freaking awesome. I love this song and Elvis does it beautifully on here. The other songs are fine and I enjoy listening to this CD but it is not Elvis at his best. I wouldn't consider this even close to one of the ten best Elvis shows on CD from the 70's. The songs seem to be rushed but Elvis does seem to be in a good frame of mind and is doing the best he can under the circumstances. This is probably not a release for casual fans but real Elvis fans should enjoy this anyway even if it does not rank up there with On Stage or An Afternoon In The Garden or any other of the great live shows I have been privileged to listen to.

3 comments:

Keith said...

I always liked The Impossible Dream. That's a cool pic of Elvis up here. So what's the best live album that Elvis ever did if someone wanted to get it?

Mike Edwards said...

Man that's really hard for me to say but some really good ones are That's The Way It Is(Vegas 70), Aloha From Hawaii(73), On Stage(Vegas 70) or The Memphis Concert from 74. That's The Way It Is can't be touched really. It is solid from start to finish. The DVD is worth watching as well, it was filmed over several shows. Some of those can be hard to find. If you ever decide to get some and can't seem to find any let me know. I can maybe point you in the right direction or if need be send you some copies.

Keith said...

Thanks. I appreciate the recommendations. I'll have to check those out. I've been wanting to get some Elvis live music. I just wasn't sure where to turn. I wanted to make sure I got one that was really good. Have a great week.