April Fool's Dinner

 
Digipak

Press note:
The upcoming CD-release by the Southern Comfort / Audionics "team-up" is entitled "APRIL FOOL'S DINNER", and it contains the excellent April 1st, 1975 dinner show. Import collectors first heard this recording via the 1980 vinyl release "Rockin' with Elvis April Fool's Day." This was later dubbed directly from vinyl for its 1992 CD debut, complete with pops and clicks. This new release marks the first time since the original LP that the original audience master tape has been used - and naturally it has received a significant upgrade using topnotch industry equipment. This stellar show is also now complete: "Can't Help Falling In Love" and "Closing Vamp" from this show were actually on the original tape. These were restored to the best of our abilities, and are now included, warts and all. On the original LP and CD, these songs were borrowed from RCA's 1974 "Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis" album. The April Fool’s Day performance shows Elvis at his best – a far cry from the problematic October ’74 shows – he’s in excellent voice, and he performs a solid mix of classic songs and recent additions. Elvis is both entertaining and witty, and actually sounds like a seasoned Vegas pro. April 1st also marked the final day for bass player Duke Bardwell, who in all did 181 shows with Elvis, despite the fact that their relationship often was a bit strained. Duke had experienced some great highs and some terrible lows with Elvis, but at this stage he was fed up with it all and relieved that it would soon be over.

The first two Midnight Show bonus tracks are from a booth tape and the other 4 tracks (first heard on "Rocking With the King April's Fool Day" Vol. 2.) are from a decent quality audience tape. The prior release of the closing show was de-noised in a rather destructive way, and has been restored to optimal quality for the Elvis connoisseur.

All accompanying photographs were taken in March - May 1975 at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel and on the subsequent concert tour. The CD will be presented in a beautiful 3-panel digipack and is scheduled for late February '09.