Elvis Presley

LAS VEGAS HILTON CLOSING NIGHT 1972

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MEMPHIS RECORDING SERVICE

Recorded on 4 September 1972, the same day that Elvis and Colonel Parker staged their press conference to announce the landmark Honolulu concert in January 1973 that would be broadcast globally via satellite, Presley’s final performance from a run of 60 shows in just a single month at the Las Vegas Hilton, finds The King in well-drilled form.

Breakneck opener See See Rider, featuring a slick guitar solo from James Burton, is followed by an equally high-octane cover of Johnny B. Goode as Elvis and band sprint out of the starting blocks.

The King goes for the jugular on an emotive You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, while lilting backing vocals lift Until It’s Time For You To Go.

Polk Salad Annie seems juiced up from previous incarnations with Jerry Scheff’s bass part brought forward in the mix to give it more of a bottomheavy thump. An early years medley is informal and a little throwaway, although Burton’s wah wah guitar accompaniment drags Hound Dog into the 70s rather nicely.

Also indicative of the band’s flexibility is the seamless way they morph the chugging rhythms of Little Sister into a cover version of The Beatles’

Get Back. Meanwhile, Walk That Lonesome Road is an entertaining showcase for JD Sumner’s extraordinary bass voice.

And, of course, no Elvis concert is complete without typically grandiose closers. In this instance it’s You Gave Me A Mountain and Can’t Help Falling In Love to round things off.

A second disc of rehearsal tracks taken from a cassette original is, as expected, a little boomy and echoey. There’s nothing here that makes for essential listening although for Presley completists it gives some insight into various works-in-progress as Elvis and the band fine-tune arrangements. SH