Elvis Presley - Memories - The Live Comparison Series - Volume Forty Four

Recorded in accordance with the 'Singer Presents...Elvis', or the 68 Comeback Special as it is more commonly known, at Western Recorders on 23 June 1968 it was originally sung at the end of both 'Sit Down' shows and was included towards the end the aired show. On returning to live performing just over a year later it was naturally included in his set list but appears to have not made into the opening show and found itself being sung at every second show, ie the Dinner shows for the next week or so. It's first time performed seems to have been his second show, 1 August Dinner Show, but no recording of this show has yet surfaced. Later in the season it would also be introduced by Elvis with "A song which I did on my recent TV show which was pretty bad.......but you can't win them all!" After Elvis' first season in Las Vegas finished 'Memories' would be dropped from the set list and Elvis would never sing it live on stage again. As the season progressed this song would become an opportunity for Elvis to engage in some 'fan interaction' akin to 'Love Me Tender' in subsequent tours and seasons. 00:00 Version One – 3 August Dinner Show Although this is credited as being from the 3 August 1969 Dinner Show there is still some doubt as to the actual date of this entire show. The official release of the show in 2014 by Sony on the 'FTD' label, titled 'Return To Vegas', does not include any recording dates on the album art but it is widely accepted as being the show from the aforementioned date. 03:03 Version Two - 6 August Dinner Show The first of audience recorded versions included in this compilation. First released in 1991 on "The Return of the Tiger Man", this is taken from the 2010 release "Vegas Variety - Volume 3". 05:54 Version Three - 7 August Dinner Show Taken from the 2010 Universum release "Live In Las Vegas". 08:45 Version Four - 8 August Midnight Show The first midnight show version comes from the Straight Arrow's "Strike Like Lightening" which was released in 2019. The Straight Arrow label is probably the finest of the unofficial labels which have released audience recordings of Elvis shows. They take great care in their production and consistently release previously unheard concerts or in vastly improved sound. 11:33 Version Five - 12 August Dinner Show Taken from the 2012 release on the Convair label "Bright Light City", this show had previously been released in "Vegas Memories" in 1993 . 14:21 Version Six - 14 August Dinner Show Taken from the 2012 release on the Convair label "Raising His own Bar". This was the first complete release of this show as a previous release titled "The Winner Back In Vegas" featured much of this show but gaps were filled by inserts from other shows. 17:00 Version Seven - 15 August Midnight Show Although the audience recorded CD "Rock is Back" contains the 15 August midnight show, "Memories" is actually missing and instead the producers have inserted the version from the previous evening dinner show. This therefore, is the taken from Volume One of "The Concert Series" set of CDr's. 19:45 Version Eight - 16 August Midnight Show This audience recorded version was found on Such Night released in 2013. 22:50 Version Nine - 18 August Dinner Show A mis-type in the caption suggests that this is the same version as #8 but closer inspection reveals the true date on the cover of the CDR of the show, This was titled "Back on Track" and was released by PA, probably the most prolific publisher of such titles. Part Two - The Professional RCA mult-track recordings. All to be found on the 2019 Sony release "Live 1969". 24:26 Version Ten - 21 August Midnight Show From the first of the shows recorded by RCA, this concert was first released in 2007 on the 2 CD set "Viva Las Vegas". 27:21 Version Eleven - 22 August Dinner Show This show was first released in it's entirety when Sony's Elvis collector label released it as part of the "In Person" album. This was another entry in their classic album series, the first disc contained an expanded version of the original album. 30:05 Version Twelve - 22 August Midnight Show 32:45 Version Thirteen - 23 August Dinner Show 35:33 Version Fourteen - 23 August Midnight Show 38:25 Version Fifteen – 25 August Dinner Show This was the first official live version released of 'Memories', in 1991 on Disc 3 (Live In Las Vegas) of the 3CD Collectors Gold boxset. In that version the 'interaction' can be heard with Elvis remarking mid-song 'Can I Hold Her Hand' and 'Good Evening Ladies' together with the usual screams and kissing. Whilst this rendition of the song is also excellent, earlier versions are perhaps slightly better due to the lack of the 'interaction' with the audience. 41:07 Version Sixteen - 26 August Dinner Show As with all of these videos, to get the most out of the re-edited audio, I highly recommend you use ear /headphones and turn the volume up as much as you dare!