Audience cheering on official releases

[Squire Smart]

Does anyone know if the overdubbed audience cheers that feature on some of elvis' 1969/1970 live songs are actually from his concerts? I.e the overdubbed cheers/whistles at the start of IJCHB or the cheers when James Burton does his solos on the Elvis In Person lp. They sound a bit generic to me.

[JimmyCool]

Lord, I hope so...

[drjohncarpenter]

Does anyone know if the overdubbed audience cheers that feature on some of elvis' 1969/1970 live songs are actually from his concerts? I.e the overdubbed cheers/whistles at the start of IJCHB or the cheers when James Burton does his solos on the Elvis In Person lp. They sound a bit generic to me.

IIRC, the first two live releases did careful edits to include some actual audience interaction, but no overdubbing. The 1974 Memphis LP is the one live disc that definitely overdubbed audience response, although it was well-done.

[Tony..]

The applause at the beginning of IJCHB was dubbed on. We still await the 'clean' version as it was originally recorded to mater tape. Maybe it appears on the new TTWII version remastered from the concert master reel for the first time.
There is also some fake overdubbed applause added at certain points on the new FTD CD "the return to Vegas".

[Matthew]

IIRC, the first two live releases did careful edits to include some actual audience interaction, but no overdubbing. The 1974 Memphis LP is the one live disc that definitely overdubbed audience response, although it was well-done.

The following life-time releases feature canned applause:

In Person at the International Hotel
February 1970, On Stage
That's The Way It Is
As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis

The question posed being whether the canned applause was stock applause at RCA, or created from the various tapes captured at Elvis shows.

I've always felt the canned applause loops were created from reactions captured at Elvis' concerts. Here and there are brief "thank you very much" with a "very much" echo.

In the case of the Vegas albums the dubbed applause generally appears to segue edits from one song to the next, along with sweetening audience reactions in key moments in songs. The endings of Yesterday and Walk A Mile In My Shoes are key examples of this, where both were originally parts of medleys.

I Just Can't Help Believin' is an obvious example, the intro starts cold, with no audience applause, something known since the original movie came out. Then, when Elvis' does a little laugh while singing the first verse, canned applause is faded over the actual crowd reaction to make it sound like a "bigger moment" than it actually was.

The absolute worst job was done on the My Way single from 1977, with an obvious, and very jarring sounding crowd loop placed at the conclusion of the song. Very cheap, and very lazy.

Crowd sweetening has been an industry practice on live recordings for decades, and continues to this day. Many of the most popular live albums have enhancements here and there. Johnny Cash's famous At Folsom Prison has a laughably reversed loop, such that the hand claps sound like "fwap, fwap, fwap, fwap", whenever it is blended into the show. Even the famous holler from the crowd when he sings the line "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die!", is an enhancement dub, not even from the crowd as I recall.

In a way, ignorance is bliss. Many decades later all these behind the scenes elements are known, and can, I suppose, rob one of the experience once enjoyed.

And that ultimately is what they were originally intended for, to translate the live atmosphere as much as possible onto record.

[poormadpeter]

IIRC, the first two live releases did careful edits to include some actual audience interaction, but no overdubbing. The 1974 Memphis LP is the one live disc that definitely overdubbed audience response, although it was well-done.

The following life-time releases feature canned applause:

In Person at the International Hotel
February 1970, On Stage
That's The Way It Is
As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis

The question posed being whether the canned applause was stock applause at RCA, or created from the various tapes captured at Elvis shows.

I've always felt the canned applause loops were created from reactions captured at Elvis' concerts. Here and there are brief "thank you very much" with a "very much" echo.

In the case of the Vegas albums the dubbed applause generally appears to segue edits from one song to the next, along with sweetening audience reactions in key moments in songs. The endings of Yesterday and Walk A Mile In My Shoes are key examples of this, where both were originally parts of medleys.

I Just Can't Help Believin' is an obvious example, the intro starts cold, with no audience applause, something known since the original movie came out. Then, when Elvis' does a little laugh while singing the first verse, canned applause is faded over the actual crowd reaction to make it sound like a "bigger moment" than it actually was.

The absolute worst job was done on the My Way single from 1977, with an obvious, and very jarring sounding crowd loop placed at the conclusion of the song. Very cheap, and very lazy.

Crowd sweetening has been an industry practice on live recordings for decades, and continues to this day. Many of the most popular live albums have enhancements here and there. Johnny Cash's famous At Folsom Prison has a laughably reversed loop, such that the hand claps sound like "fwap, fwap, fwap, fwap", whenever it is blended into the show. Even the famous holler from the crowd when he sings the line "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die!", is an enhancement dub, not even from the crowd as I recall.

In a way, ignorance is bliss. Many decades later all these behind the scenes elements are known, and can, I suppose, rob one of the experience once enjoyed.

And that ultimately is what they were originally intended for, to translate the live atmosphere as much as possible onto record.

Isn't it on the single version of Unchained Melody that the same whistle from the crowd is heard over and over at the end? That was appalling.

I agree that ignorance is bliss, not just for applause either. Sometimes I think we judge a recording not by the performance itself but the extraneous information we have about how it was recorded, what mood Elvis was in, etc. The extra information is fascinating, but sometimes forces us to make a certain judgement on something. I'm sure if you gave two people off the street a copy of Raised on Rock, one with a liner note giving the true facts of the session, and the other stating that Elvis was in a really good mood, healthy and desperate to get back in the studio, BOTH people would see those reflected in the recording!

[Matthew]

Isn't it on the single version of Unchained Melody that the same whistle from the crowd is heard over and over at the end? That was appalling.

You could be right. I recall this loop appearing on more than one recording of the time.

I agree that ignorance is bliss, not just for applause either. Sometimes I think we judge a recording not by the performance itself but the extraneous information we have about how it was recorded, what mood Elvis was in, etc. The extra information is fascinating, but sometimes forces us to make a certain judgement on something. I'm sure if you gave two people off the street a copy of Raised on Rock, one with a liner note giving the true facts of the session, and the other stating that Elvis was in a really good mood, healthy and desperate to get back in the studio, BOTH people would see those reflected in the recording!

To an extent I would agree, though with certain recordings it is easy to tell something's amiss.

Sometimes I long for my early fan days when knowledge of a lot of the background was limited.

[drjohncarpenter]

IIRC, the first two live releases did careful edits to include some actual audience interaction, but no overdubbing. The 1974 Memphis LP is the one live disc that definitely overdubbed audience response, although it was well-done.

The following life-time releases feature canned applause:

In Person at the International Hotel
February 1970, On Stage
That's The Way It Is
As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis

The question posed being whether the canned applause was stock applause at RCA, or created from the various tapes captured at Elvis shows.

I've always felt the canned applause loops were created from reactions captured at Elvis' concerts. Here and there are brief "thank you very much" with a "very much" echo.

In the case of the Vegas albums the dubbed applause generally appears to segue edits from one song to the next, along with sweetening audience reactions in key moments in songs. The endings of Yesterday and Walk A Mile In My Shoes are key examples of this, where both were originally parts of medleys.

I Just Can't Help Believin' is an obvious example, the intro starts cold, with no audience applause, something known since the original movie came out. Then, when Elvis' does a little laugh while singing the first verse, canned applause is faded over the actual crowd reaction to make it sound like a "bigger moment" than it actually was.

The absolute worst job was done on the My Way single from 1977, with an obvious, and very jarring sounding crowd loop placed at the conclusion of the song. Very cheap, and very lazy.

Crowd sweetening has been an industry practice on live recordings for decades, and continues to this day. Many of the most popular live albums have enhancements here and there. Johnny Cash's famous At Folsom Prison has a laughably reversed loop, such that the hand claps sound like "fwap, fwap, fwap, fwap", whenever it is blended into the show. Even the famous holler from the crowd when he sings the line "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die!", is an enhancement dub, not even from the crowd as I recall.

In a way, ignorance is bliss. Many decades later all these behind the scenes elements are known, and can, I suppose, rob one of the experience once enjoyed.

And that ultimately is what they were originally intended for, to translate the live atmosphere as much as possible onto record.

Don't hear "canned applause" on those.

[Matthew]

In Person such elements can be heard on the truncated intro riff to Blue Suede Shoes, James Burton's guitar solo in Johnny B. Goode, and blended over to mask edit transition between songs. Listen out for the faint "thank you very mu(very much)" that appears more than once (can't remember where precise off the top of my head.)

Some crowd elements are also flown in, for example the guy/gal loop just before I Can't Stop Loving You ("in dreams of yester...") concludes.

When we listen to the later releases shows from this engagement I can see why some sweetening was deemed helpful (beyond covering edits), there isn't a ton of crowd track to play with on the 8-track elements.

[Matthew]

On Stage it's mainly on between track transitions. Some comparisons can be done with the "undubbed" remix version of the album from 2000.

Both albums being compiles of songs and dialogue from various shows I can see why this occurred in 1969 and 1970. Generally the execution is pretty good, considering the limitations of the day.

[poormadpeter]

Arguably, the album that really needed some extra audience interaction is Aloha. The audience behave so well, they could have been listening to opera. There's certainly no hint that you're listening to a concert by a rock 'n' roll/popular music singer.

[When In Rome]

Fake applause is just a load of old clap...
No.., not funny?
Okay, I'll...er, .. get my coat...

[luckyjackson1]

IIRC, the first two live releases did careful edits to include some actual audience interaction, but no overdubbing. The 1974 Memphis LP is the one live disc that definitely overdubbed audience response, although it was well-done.

The following life-time releases feature canned applause:

In Person at the International Hotel
February 1970, On Stage
That's The Way It Is
As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis

The question posed being whether the canned applause was stock applause at RCA, or created from the various tapes captured at Elvis shows.

I've always felt the canned applause loops were created from reactions captured at Elvis' concerts. Here and there are brief "thank you very much" with a "very much" echo.

In the case of the Vegas albums the dubbed applause generally appears to segue edits from one song to the next, along with sweetening audience reactions in key moments in songs. The endings of Yesterday and Walk A Mile In My Shoes are key examples of this, where both were originally parts of medleys.

I Just Can't Help Believin' is an obvious example, the intro starts cold, with no audience applause, something known since the original movie came out. Then, when Elvis' does a little laugh while singing the first verse, canned applause is faded over the actual crowd reaction to make it sound like a "bigger moment" than it actually was.

The absolute worst job was done on the My Way single from 1977, with an obvious, and very jarring sounding crowd loop placed at the conclusion of the song. Very cheap, and very lazy.

Crowd sweetening has been an industry practice on live recordings for decades, and continues to this day. Many of the most popular live albums have enhancements here and there. Johnny Cash's famous At Folsom Prison has a laughably reversed loop, such that the hand claps sound like "fwap, fwap, fwap, fwap", whenever it is blended into the show. Even the famous holler from the crowd when he sings the line "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die!", is an enhancement dub, not even from the crowd as I recall.

In a way, ignorance is bliss. Many decades later all these behind the scenes elements are known, and can, I suppose, rob one of the experience once enjoyed.

And that ultimately is what they were originally intended for, to translate the live atmosphere as much as possible onto record.

Even worse with the single version of "Unchained Melody". The "Elvis In Concert" album in general as they used the same loop over and over (very obvious also on the ending of "And I Love You So").

[300Deluxe]

The following life-time releases feature canned applause:

In Person at the International Hotel
February 1970, On Stage
That's The Way It Is
As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis

The question posed being whether the canned applause was stock applause at RCA, or created from the various tapes captured at Elvis shows.

I've always felt the canned applause loops were created from reactions captured at Elvis' concerts. Here and there are brief "thank you very much" with a "very much" echo.

In the case of the Vegas albums the dubbed applause generally appears to segue edits from one song to the next, along with sweetening audience reactions in key moments in songs. The endings of Yesterday and Walk A Mile In My Shoes are key examples of this, where both were originally parts of medleys.

I Just Can't Help Believin' is an obvious example, the intro starts cold, with no audience applause, something known since the original movie came out. Then, when Elvis' does a little laugh while singing the first verse, canned applause is faded over the actual crowd reaction to make it sound like a "bigger moment" than it actually was.

The absolute worst job was done on the My Way single from 1977, with an obvious, and very jarring sounding crowd loop placed at the conclusion of the song. Very cheap, and very lazy.

Crowd sweetening has been an industry practice on live recordings for decades, and continues to this day. Many of the most popular live albums have enhancements here and there. Johnny Cash's famous At Folsom Prison has a laughably reversed loop, such that the hand claps sound like "fwap, fwap, fwap, fwap", whenever it is blended into the show. Even the famous holler from the crowd when he sings the line "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die!", is an enhancement dub, not even from the crowd as I recall.

In a way, ignorance is bliss. Many decades later all these behind the scenes elements are known, and can, I suppose, rob one of the experience once enjoyed.

And that ultimately is what they were originally intended for, to translate the live atmosphere as much as possible onto record.

Thanks for the insight. My suspicions were confirmed when the Legacy Edition of Memphis '74 was released. Prior to the discussion here, I suspected some overdubbing, but didn't know for certain. This piqued my interest about other releases. I've always thought that a couple of the albums you mentioned had a few un-natural sounding moments.

I've never been crazy about the fade out of James' guitar riff while the applause fades in at the end of 'Walk a Mile' on Elvis On Stage. Was there a goof that Felton & Co. was covering up?

[Juan Luis]

I like the overdubs on "Polk Salad Annie" ON STAGE. Makes it more exciting.

[Matthew]

I've never been crazy about the fade out of James' guitar riff while the applause fades in at the end of 'Walk a Mile' on Elvis On Stage. Was there a goof that Felton & Co. was covering up?

No goof. Walk A Mile In My Shoes transitioned right into In The Ghetto for the Winter 1970 engagement.

[Jim Dandy]

How about the constant whistle during the opening vamp and That's All Right from the deluxe version of TTWII from 12 August 1970 m/s: real or overdub for effect?

[Ciscoking]

That reminds me of the audience recording of Feb 20, 1977 ES in Charlotte where a male fan is constantly screaming "Mr. Presley" ...so funny..don`t know what this poor lad wants, though..

[YDKM]

on audience recorded shows screaming fans can get annoying, but applause usually stops after start of a song. i remember most that 'fake' applause on the Original T.T.W.I.I. album on Bridge over Troubled water.... to try to make the listener (think) it was a 'live' version-which is silly considering they recorded plenty of 'live versions' So generally i dislike 'fake' applause.

[Ciscoking]

on audience recorded shows screaming fans can get annoying,

I love it....this makes a live appearance..

[norrie]

Crowd sweetening has been an industry practice on live recordings for decades, and continues to this day. Many of the most popular live albums have enhancements here and there. Johnny Cash's famous At Folsom Prison has a laughably reversed loop, such that the hand claps sound like "fwap, fwap, fwap, fwap", whenever it is blended into the show. Even the famous holler from the crowd when he sings the line "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die!", is an enhancement dub, not even from the crowd as I recall.

In a way, ignorance is bliss. Many decades later all these behind the scenes elements are known, and can, I suppose, rob one of the experience once enjoyed.

And that ultimately is what they were originally intended for, to translate the live atmosphere as much as possible onto record.

Ignorance was a bliss.Thank you very much

[Christopher Brown]

I cannot believe that someone really thinks the overdubs on the 1974 live album were well-done. Is there anyone else that REMOTELY believes that? The show was good, cutting out repetitive material recently heard on other live albums was good (though I wish a few were left), but that applause. From DAY 1 in 1974, I hated what they did with the applause on that album. I was hoping, for example, for LAWDY MISS CLAWDY to be as good as Elvis On Tour, and then to have the instrumental breaks drowned out by someone turning up the applause was virtually criminal, or virtually any other instrumental break was nothing like I heard in person.

A travesty finally put right decades later.

[joshferrell]

IIRC, the first two live releases did careful edits to include some actual audience interaction, but no overdubbing. The 1974 Memphis LP is the one live disc that definitely overdubbed audience response, although it was well-done.

The following life-time releases feature canned applause:

In Person at the International Hotel
February 1970, On Stage
That's The Way It Is
As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis

The question posed being whether the canned applause was stock applause at RCA, or created from the various tapes captured at Elvis shows.

I've always felt the canned applause loops were created from reactions captured at Elvis' concerts. Here and there are brief "thank you very much" with a "very much" echo.

In the case of the Vegas albums the dubbed applause generally appears to segue edits from one song to the next, along with sweetening audience reactions in key moments in songs. The endings of Yesterday and Walk A Mile In My Shoes are key examples of this, where both were originally parts of medleys.

I Just Can't Help Believin' is an obvious example, the intro starts cold, with no audience applause, something known since the original movie came out. Then, when Elvis' does a little laugh while singing the first verse, canned applause is faded over the actual crowd reaction to make it sound like a "bigger moment" than it actually was.

The absolute worst job was done on the My Way single from 1977, with an obvious, and very jarring sounding crowd loop placed at the conclusion of the song. Very cheap, and very lazy.

Crowd sweetening has been an industry practice on live recordings for decades, and continues to this day. Many of the most popular live albums have enhancements here and there. Johnny Cash's famous At Folsom Prison has a laughably reversed loop, such that the hand claps sound like "fwap, fwap, fwap, fwap", whenever it is blended into the show. Even the famous holler from the crowd when he sings the line "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die!", is an enhancement dub, not even from the crowd as I recall.

In a way, ignorance is bliss. Many decades later all these behind the scenes elements are known, and can, I suppose, rob one of the experience once enjoyed.

And that ultimately is what they were originally intended for, to translate the live atmosphere as much as possible onto record.

Even worse with the single version of "Unchained Melody". The "Elvis In Concert" album in general as they used the same loop over and over (very obvious also on the ending of "And I Love You So").

I noticed that... it sounded like Felton wanted it to sound like he was getting a standing ovation or something..lol..yes the whistling on the loop is annoying, it sounds more like something off of Revolution #9...

[Squire Smart]

Does anyone know if the overdubbed audience cheers that feature on some of elvis' 1969/1970 live songs are actually from his concerts? I.e the overdubbed cheers/whistles at the start of IJCHB or the cheers when James Burton does his solos on the Elvis In Person lp. They sound a bit generic to me.

IIRC, the first two live releases did careful edits to include some actual audience interaction, but no overdubbing. The 1974 Memphis LP is the one live disc that definitely overdubbed audience response, although it was well-done.

Hi Doc and everyone else, thank you for your responses and alpologies for the delay in acknowledging your help (i forgot I made this post)! The audience cheers have always intrigued me so its good to get some insight, opinions and confirmation of their use. Thanks once again.

[Juan Luis]

There were some girls cheering on "Polk Salad Annie" from "On Stage". Worked great in the sense of more excitement.