'Words'

[wecanmakethemorning]

'Words' was originally written and recorded by the Bee Gees on 10-3-67 (10 years to the day that 'Elvis in Concert' was screened in the US). The song was released in early 1968 and became a hit, although only a Top 20 hit in the US.

Elvis introduced the track for his Las Vegas comeback season in August 1969. It appears as though it made it's debut on 8-23-69 DS (although as not all shows are available it may have appeared earlier).

According to http://www.elvisconcerts.com, It was sung a total of 5 times:

8-23-69 DS
8-24-69 MS
8-25-69 DS
8-25-69 MS
8-26-69 DS

However a check of Keith Flynn's website reveals it was sung only three times:

8-24-69 MS
8-25-69 DS
8-25-69 MS

Elvis re-introduced the track for TTWII, his 3rd season in Las Vegas. It appears as though it was only sung twice:

8-10-70 OS
8-12-70 MS

You can hear Elvis rehearsing the song in TTWII, talking specifically how he wanted to improve the ending.

The rehearsals for 'Words' captured for the movie were mostly recorded....

7-14-70 (Culver City)
7-24-70 (Hollywood)
8-4-70 (Las Vegas)
8-6-70 (Las Vegas) (not recorded)
8-7-70 (Las Vegas)

Amazingly of the 5 times that Elvis sung the song live, RCA were present to record every version.

With the amount of rehearsal time this song attracted, I was surprised that Elvis dropped it after just two attempts. I thought the song worked well and showed off his new 'contemporary' style and should have remained a mainstay throughout the year 1970.

[promiseland]

Check out this neat topic!
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=89578

[Ciscoking]

'Words' was originally written and recorded by the Bee Gees on 10-3-67 (10 years to the day that 'Elvis in Concert' was screened in the US). The song was released in early 1968 and became a hit, although only a Top 20 hit in the US.

Elvis introduced the track for his Las Vegas comeback season in August 1969. It appears as though it made it's debut on 8-23-69 DS (although as not all shows are available it may have appeared earlier).

According to http://www.elvisconcerts.com, It was sung a total of 5 times:

8-23-69 DS
8-24-69 MS
8-25-69 DS
8-25-69 MS
8-26-69 DS

However a check of Keith Flynn's website reveals it was sung only three times:

8-24-69 MS
8-25-69 DS
8-25-69 MS

Elvis re-introduced the track for TTWII, his 3rd season in Las Vegas. It appears as though it was only sung twice:

8-10-70 OS
8-12-70 MS

You can hear Elvis rehearsing the song in TTWII, talking specifically how he wanted to improve the ending.

The rehearsals for 'Words' captured for the movie were mostly recorded....

7-14-70 (Culver City)
7-24-70 (Hollywood)
8-4-70 (Las Vegas)
8-6-70 (Las Vegas) (not recorded)
8-7-70 (Las Vegas)

Amazingly of the 5 times that Elvis sung the song live, RCA were present to record every version.

With the amount of rehearsal time this song attracted, I was surprised that Elvis dropped it after just two attempts. I thought the song worked well and showed off his new 'contemporary' style and should have remained a mainstay throughout the year 1970.

Keiths site has it all right.

[drjohncarpenter]

With the amount of rehearsal time this song attracted, I was surprised that Elvis dropped it after just two attempts. I thought the song worked well and showed off his new 'contemporary' style and should have remained a mainstay throughout the year 1970.

Elvis delivered about 60 shows at the International in the summer of 1970. We have recordings of about 22 of them. One cannot say with certainty that "Words" isn't in any of the unknown 38 or so appearances. The same applies to the rest of the unknown gigs from 1969 and 1970.

[wecanmakethemorning]

Check out this neat topic!
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=89578

Thanks promiseland - must have missed it first time around!