Southern Gypsy Magic

Out shortly will be Straight Arrow's double-digipak release "SOUTHERN GYSPY MAGIC", featuring the wild July 23, 1975 Asheville show, plus bonus rarities from July 22 and 24. The show was originally issued on a 1997 CD called "GYRATING ASHEVILLE." But recently, Straight Arrow obtained a superior tape source, one too good to be kept in the vaults: a recorder equipped with two microphones, so there is noticeable "ambience," due to the channel separation. And, for the first time, the show is presented complete, with no edits.

As spring turned to summer in 1975, Elvis spent June and July touring America's southeastern states, giving fans a memorable series of up-tempo performances, night after night. It would be the last time he would do so with any consistency. Asheville was the final city on his July 1975 tour, with three consecutive nights sold out at the newly-built Civic Center. The middle show on July 23, which makes up the core of this release, offers a number of unexpected inclusions like "Turn Around, Look At Me," "Shake A Hand" and "Promised Land," the Chuck Berry classic released on single the previous fall. Bonus selections include a July 22 performance of "You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me" (possibly for the last time) and a rare version of "Memphis, Tennessee."

From July 24 is the only known live performance of "Pieces Of My Life." Yes, the complete July 24 show appeared on our 2005 debut, PIECES OF MY LIFE. However, instead of simply copying tracks from that disc, we chose to rework the first-generation tape from scratch, with even better results than eight years ago! The package is topped off with many beautiful images from July 23, plus a photo each from July 22 and 24. If you liked our other July 1975 tour outings, "PIECES OF MY LIFE" and "YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE", you will love this new 2CD-set, too. Do not miss the opportunity to own the ultimate release of Elvis' magical July 23, 1975 Asheville show.