Should Elvis have kept the new setlist in August 74?

[Diane]

My feeling is that he should have kept the setlist and slowly introduced new songs into future ones little by little. It might have helped his boredom.

Diane

[tony70]

yes that to is a great idea i agree

[Unchained Melody]

By this time in elvis' life what he needed was alot more than just a new setlist. He didn't step in the studio a-tall in 1974.

[monk37]

I think Elvis should have mixed up the songs a lot more

While I don't think it would have necessarily kept him more interested in the shows, at least there'd be a lot of variety of soundboards and songs we had live versions of.

I think it was the playing sets in Vegas and touring that wasn't challenging for him anymore

and I don't think a Europe or Asia tour would have been any different after a short while either for him


I just don't know where you go to the next career high after hit movies, hit tc specials, hit records and hit concert tours

what do you do to top the Aloha historic event?


Pehaps more challenging studio work with Chips or other unfamiliar and safe territory would have kept Elvis challenged

whenever he got into a rut - even a successful rut - he got bored

Perhaps he shoulda done a broadway musical play? or beat Dolly to having a personal theme park?

[epmoodyblue]

74 set list was okay... had he lived.. i wonder what song list elvis had lined up for the august 77 tour...heard he was going to do some new songs for that tour...

[elvispresleytheking]

With a few minor tweaks, definitely

[EnigmaticSun]

It would have been good for him - as an artist. Perhaps it was the wrong environment to try such a thing? Prior to this he had admitted wanting to do more relaxed shows as well, but you know how much of a 50's rock 'n roll act they reckoned him to be..

[debtdbruno]

We went to see a Tribute artist the other night and he asked the audience if they had any requests and all we heard from them was "All Shook Up" and Hound Dog". Some people are still stuck with the 50's Elvis and have not learned to appreciate how much he evolved and improved. They actually miss the best of Elvis!Diane

Oh how they miss so much...........his voice matured into something so much more than the 50's stuff. Iconic it may well be.


There is something so powerful, soulful and rich that isn't there when he was younger

[EnigmaticSun]

There is something so powerful, soulful and rich that isn't there when he was younger

Perhaps due to - or rather thanks to - his life experiences? It's not just technical ability you point at?

Yes, it would have been something had he kept a song such as good time charlie's got the blues in the setlist!

[debtdbruno]

I think it's a combination of life experience, and that his vocals matured

[KPM]

Oh how they miss so much...........his voice matured into something so much more than the 50's stuff. Iconic it may well be.


There is something so powerful, soulful and rich that isn't there when he was younger

The vocal cords are like any muscle in the body-they need to be exercised regularly and with each exercise they stretch and develope.
In the 50s Elvis vocals were very raw "primal" IMO -but each year they stretched more as he sang and worked at differing styles of music.
I think the fact that he loved all types of music helped because he tried to sing all types and this educated his vocal chords.
I think of Elvis as a Renaissance Man of Music-he explored it all and gave new birth to each style when he sang it.

[debtdbruno]

agree Ken, hasn't it been said Charlie helped with his vocals in the army?

[Diane]

In his book Charlie does mention that he helped Elvis exercise his vocal chords. Elvis would do those exercises sometimes while driving around...would have loved to have seen that.

Diane

[EnigmaticSun]

In his book Charlie does mention that he helped Elvis exercise his vocal chords. Elvis would do those exercises sometimes while driving around...

Was he lonesome tonight while doing it? if I recall this correctly Charlie introduced the sort of exercise that aids one to phrase or in other words to work on articulation: how to make use of your lips and tongue to improve the overall sound.

Before his army period Elvis had plenty of power, but did have more difficulty to reach the higher notes correctly. Not only did this aspect improve, it's obvious Elvis developed control of more subtle notes and his dynamic range seemed to have improved significantly which also showed on less-operatic ballads.

In the 70's Elvis lost some flexibility compared to the early 60's, which he did make up for with a broad range and expression which cannnot be explained if his life experiences are to be left out of consideration.

[monk37]

agree Ken, hasn't it been said Charlie helped with his vocals in the army?

yeah, said by Charlie

I didn't believe him.

[monk37]

Perhaps due to - or rather thanks to - his life experiences? It's not just technical ability you point at?

Yes, it would have been something had he kept a song such as good time charlie's got the blues in the setlist!

I agree

life experiences do give you the emotion to put into the song


the Patsy Cline Faded Love - that little gasp breath she does to the end - it rips your heart out - she packed more emotion and meaning into that breath than most singers can pack into an entire album.

Elvis was the same

[EnigmaticSun]

..she packed more emotion and meaning into that breath than most singers can pack into an entire album.

Technique without that life experience is cold and hollow. Life experience without the technique isn't perfect - from a rational point of view - but it's what made artists (among others) such as Hank Williams sr. and the Sun generation survive the decades.

Yes, I do believe Charlie helped Elvis to perfect his vocals. Although his voice wasn't too special - purely concernig the sound - his advice is supposed to have done Elvis a lot of good and the interaction between the two was fun-all-the-way!

[dicke.katze]

Elvis shouldn't have kept the August '74 setlist as such but rather should have sung some of the songs more often, i.e. he should have sung all the songs from his gigantic repertoire more randomly.
The 2001/ C.C. Rider opening was perfect, but instead of I Got A Woman he could have used Burning Love (like in Aloha) and also done some of the old ones more randomly. One Night instead of All Shook Up, Heartbreak Hotel instead of Teddy Bear etc. Just offering a bigger variation.
On the other hand it was good that he didn't keep In The Ghetto, cos neither lyrics nor "message" fit the glamorous star he had become in the later years. But Kentucky Rain or Don't Cry Daddy, Memories would have been great.
Apart from the '74 setlist he also should have introduced For The Heart - a cool rocker... Just "Something old, something new and something that you like".
C.Hodge - well - they surely sang a lot during their army-time and sometimes pretty well (listen to some of the homerecordings and the 68 comeback) but over the years Charlie's singing became worse and worse, I'm afraid. Listen to some of the bootlegs on which his voice is more in the foreground and it sounds aweful - and least not like a proper second voice!!!!

But nevertheless, like J.Joplin once said: "Elvis is my man!"

TCB,

Thomas

[BBB]

IMO he should have kept it. that list was full great songs and songs that touched people in many ways. isn't that what makes the songs great?