Southern nights opinion

[Robert]

Just want to give an opinion on this latest release..

It's a good one, but don't expect surprises, sound wise..
First, priority has been given to historic content.
Whats the historic content of a semiprofessional soundboard recording?
Does that sentence justify the lack of sound improvement?
We are not dealing with the masters of Hound dog or Heartbreak Hotel here..
Whats wrong with upgrading the sound as good as possible?
These recordings were not intended for release anyway!

The label that did upgrade the sound on recordings like this, produced some of the finest soundboard releases ever! (Diamond Anniversary)
Most of you will probably agree.

About the content, the May recordings are, as usual, very unbalanced.
Without bass or drums on these tapes, this seems like "Glenn Hardin in concert"
(Dixieland Rocks was a great exception, thank god)

The ''June tour" recordings are fine, with all instruments in the right spot.
Highlights to me are Thats All Right, Steamroller, Polk salad and the short version of Trouble.. Blue suede, believe it or not, is also a nice version.

Christopher Brown will be satisfied with the Huntsville recordings!

Enjoy!

RJ

[Matthew]

The annoying thing for me with the DAE/Luxor releases is the added reverb... it sounds very fake and has a stereo effect to it which is rediculous in my opinion when dealing with mono sound sourches. Better to have used a mono reverb I feel to make the sound more true to the recording.

That said, the sound quality is amazing on the DAE/Luxor stuff despite this.

[Keith Richards, Jr.]

Thanks for your comments, Robert. I agree about the sound. There is nothing sacred about these recordings, and therefore they can be messed with a litte. The releases from DAE may have artificial sound but I'm sure they sound more like the real thing than any other soundboard recording ever released. I don't think anyone will ever release a sounboard in such an unbelievable quality as, say, "Old Times They Are Not Forgotten". God bless the DAE guys.

Keith Richards, Jr.

[Bill]

With all the June tour soundboards we have, I will not be buying this one.

[YDKM]

i just listened to 'steamroller' on my audience recording from Atlanta 2.5.75 and Piano sound features VERY HEAVILY in that recording too...so maybe the mix didn't get better until later in the tour? however because the very start is missing it's announcement on my tape @ 3' long the pre-song dialogue would explain the FTD running time. Thankfully it's good version with strong vocals from Elvis!. I agree anyone getting virtually ALL the highlights/rare songs from 4 choice Huntsville shows should be thoroughly satisfied with this release...you could almost call it the Cream of Huntsville!!!!

[Axeman]

First, priority has been given to historic content.
Whats the historic content of a semiprofessional soundboard recording?
Does that sentence justify the lack of sound improvement?
We are not dealing with the masters of Hound dog or Heartbreak Hotel here..
Whats wrong with upgrading the sound as good as possible?
These recordings were not intended for release anyway!

The last sentence actually answers your question, I think. I have not received this CD yet but should within the week. Generally, "priority has been given to historic content" means that the recordings don't sound perfect as they were not intended for commercial release, not that they don't try to make it sound as good as they can.
The historic content refers to the fact that it's a tape of Elvis in concert, and in some cases, the relative rarity of a song in the setlist takes precedence over sound quality on the source tape.
This is not just done on Elvis releases...

Axe

[YDKM]

I still belive that FTD missing out a performance of HOW GREAT THOU ART on this release was an 'oversight' clearly the missed chance of a song representing these tours NOT already on 'Dixieland Rocks'.

[3577]

With all the June tour soundboards we have, I will not be buying this one.

Then you'll be missing a great cd. I had my doubts about this one. We can moan about ''mixes'' this and ''mixes'' that. Its said before, these recordings arent made for release in the first place. In fact, its not that bad.(only '''Promised Land''-soundwise) The high-light for me is ''Trouble''. All the song are very well performed, the man was in a good mood. This one will be in my cd-player for a while.

[YDKM]

well with 48% Hunstville it simply cannot be bad!!!!

[ritchie valens]

why did they not just release a completely unreleased show not on bootleg ?

[JEFF d]

I think they wanted to try something just a little different, to see how it was accpeted... sort of a "best of" CD and leave out the oldies that Elvis typicly throws away at these shows. JMO

JEFF d
Elvis fan

[Rob]

With all the June tour soundboards we have, I will not be buying this one.

Then you'll be missing a great cd. I had my doubts about this one. We can moan about ''mixes'' this and ''mixes'' that. Its said before, these recordings arent made for release in the first place. This one will be in my cd-player for a while.

Totally agree.

I have asked the question all along...... Isn't it better to have these recordings in sub-par sound to never have heard them at all?

I have to say, without a doubt....YES.

When these were recorded 31 years ago, they were never at anytime intended for the public to hear. Thanks to Ernst and company, we are able to hear them now. Enjoy them for what they are. If you want better sound, stick to the mainstream BMG releases.

It wasn't too long ago that in order to listen to an unreleased Elvis concert, you had to put in an audience recorded cassette tape. I'll take these crappy sounding soundboard shows anytime. Just keep 'em coming!

[FVH]

If they left these recordings alone technical-wise (i.e. not trying to improve them digitally) for this release, my prayers have been heard.
In my opinion, there just is no way of improving them, and they will ALWAYS sound their best by being presented as they are. It is just not possible for anyone to go into the recording and enhance certain instruments. For that you need a MULTI-track recording, whereas this is tapped from the mixing-console in one mono-blend of all sound coming from the stage. It puzzles me that some here don't understand this.
If the drums are far back in the mix of a soundboard recording, that's where they'll stay. There is no way to remedy that.

For multi-track recordings the matter is another, and sub-par technical efforts with that material are more righteous to attack.

Another thing that puzzles me is how much the standard seem to have been upped among Elvis fans regarding sound quality. Back in the eighties when I was collecting vinyl-bootlegs, we were "content" with getting a horrendous audience recording of a show. That was excitement! One of my poorest was one of my most thrilling; "Changing Pants", an absolutely dismal recording of Pontiac 12/31/75. It is almost impossible to hear what song is being played. This was what we had back then. When Just Pretend came out as (I believe) the first Ft. Baxter release we were completely dumbfounded. I just could not believe that an unofficial recording could sound THAT good. I'd heard it before on the silver 8-LP set, but I didn't realize that there were more of those recordings. So when I read for the first time in the Tunzi Sessions book about all the shows that had been recorded, I thought that nothing was better than this. A big part of his shows existed in at least a fair quality somewhere.
I remember reading about the closing show in Vegas in sept. -74 in the late eighties, and settled with the possibility that I probably never would be able to hear what they wrote about, but we all know that the performance now is available in all its "glory" in a more than fair quality.

So I say: I'll appreciate every soundboard-recording coming my way, and please, don't try to improve them by running them through all sorts of processors. They'll only sound more inferior than they did in the first place.

[Keith Richards, Jr.]

So I say: I'll appreciate every soundboard-recording coming my way, and please, don't try to improve them by running them through all sorts of processors. They'll only sound more inferior than they did in the first place.

But... don't you think the DAE releases (which have been messed with) sound better than, say, "El Goes El Paso" (which has not been messed with)? I realize you can't re-mix these tapes but you can improve the sound quality.

You're right about one thing, though. Every soundboard that comes our way is a blessing.

Keith Richards, Jr.

[Renan]

I still belive that FTD missing out a performance of HOW GREAT THOU ART on this release was an 'oversight' clearly the missed chance of a song representing these tours NOT already on 'Dixieland Rocks'.

FTD really missed this one!

[Ton Bruins]

I think they wanted to try something just a little different, to see how it was accpeted... sort of a "best of" CD and leave out the oldies that Elvis typicly throws away at these shows. JMO

JEFF d
Elvis fan

Yes Jeff I think you're right and I must say I like it...! No more Hound Dog, Teddy Bear and Don't Be Cruel, etc. Just the highlights of a certain Tour...good concept to me !

[FVH]

So I say: I'll appreciate every soundboard-recording coming my way, and please, don't try to improve them by running them through all sorts of processors. They'll only sound more inferior than they did in the first place.

But... don't you think the DAE releases (which have been messed with) sound better than, say, "El Goes El Paso" (which has not been messed with)? I realize you can't re-mix these tapes but you can improve the sound quality.

You're right about one thing, though. Every soundboard that comes our way is a blessing.

Keith Richards, Jr.

I think that no matter what you do, it'll turn out wrong. If you try to brighten up a dull recording by adding high end presence, you'll at the same time enhance tape hiss. If you try to put more bass on it, you'll drag everything with you. Every thing you do seem to come back and bite you in the backside, if you will. I also believe that the DAE releases wouldn't sound as good if the sources weren't that good. This comes down to the type of tapes that were used (i.e. maybe chrome tapes, that were known for having a better sound/distortion ratio), or reel-to-reel tapes.
We also know that some of the original sources from '76 sound unbelieveably good, so I still believe that thoy'll sound best without any processing.

[Ton Bruins]

With all the June tour soundboards we have, I will not be buying this one.

Then you'll be missing a great cd. I had my doubts about this one. We can moan about ''mixes'' this and ''mixes'' that. Its said before, these recordings arent made for release in the first place. This one will be in my cd-player for a while.

Totally agree.

I have asked the question all along...... Isn't it better to have these recordings in sub-par sound to never have heard them at all?

I have to say, without a doubt....YES.

When these were recorded 31 years ago, they were never at anytime intended for the public to hear. Thanks to Ernst and company, we are able to hear them now. Enjoy them for what they are. If you want better sound, stick to the mainstream BMG releases.

It wasn't too long ago that in order to listen to an unreleased Elvis concert, you had to put in an audience recorded cassette tape. I'll take these crappy sounding soundboard shows anytime. Just keep 'em coming!

You are right Rob. Everybody is free of not buying a certain soundboard, but we must be happy to have them at all. I also remember the time with those crappy cassette tape, what a drama!
I remember the day that I first listened to the soundboard bootleg "Just Pretend" from Baxter..wow...great !!!
Keep them coming and make your own choices. Of course Elvis was not always singing good every show and sang the same songs night after night especially in certain tours in Vegas, but we can't blame the FTD label for that fact, can we ?

[Larry Dickman.]

I agree with FVH, i think the DAE guys had better source tapes.......

[Robert]

DAE/Luxor had great source tapes..
But still.. compare the Greensboro'76 release to Memphis'76.
Memphis, has in my opinion is great sound, but could have been even better.

Claiming a mono soundboard tape cannot be upgraded is silly..
It cannot be mixed, but previous releases prove a lot is possible!
(Ever heard Cincinnati'76?)

I guess it's just a matter of taste..

Cheers, RJ

[Ciscoking]

Just the highlights of a certain Tour...good concept to me !

Please spin that wheel further on...what should be the next release of this kind..??
Just curious...

[Gregory Nolan Jr.]

"FVH" wrote:

Another thing that puzzles me is how much the standard seem to have been upped among Elvis fans regarding sound quality. Back in the eighties when I was collecting vinyl-bootlegs, we were "content" with getting a horrendous audience recording of a show. That was excitement! One of my poorest was one of my most thrilling; "Changing Pants", an absolutely dismal recording of Pontiac 12/31/75. It is almost impossible to hear what song is being played...

Great point. I missed that bootleg era - I'd taken a long break from collecting Elvis records because I thought RCA had "no more to give" so I appreciate what FTD is doing. I love the audiophile approach to things but sometimes all perspective is lost.

At this time, it's "all gravy. "

[Axeman]

If they left these recordings alone technical-wise (i.e. not trying to improve them digitally) for this release, my prayers have been heard.
In my opinion, there just is no way of improving them, and they will ALWAYS sound their best by being presented as they are. It is just not possible for anyone to go into the recording and enhance certain instruments. For that you need a MULTI-track recording, whereas this is tapped from the mixing-console in one mono-blend of all sound coming from the stage. It puzzles me that some here don't understand this.
If the drums are far back in the mix of a soundboard recording, that's where they'll stay. There is no way to remedy that.

That's not true. Compression can sometimes remedy that to a degree. Remastering a mono or two track recording CAN improve the sound somewhat, if it's done right.

Axe

[Juan Luis]

It would be interesting to read what process does FTD engineer(s) use for the soundboards to master them. If any.

[YDKM]

see the 'review section!'