“A
live concert to me is exciting because of all the electricity that is generated
in the crowd and on stage..”
“..It’s my favorite part of the business..live
concerts”. (Elvis Presley)
“Few things glorify a great talent more than
surrounding it with other great talents. Elvis Presley worked with some of the
music industry’s finest singers
and instrumentalists, the same people who are now reunited for Elvis, The
Concert.”
The
astounding production
that reunites former Elvis bandmates live on stage with a state of the
art video-projected Elvis, continues its historic, and critically acclaimed
world tour, which began in America in 1998.
The
Concert, Memphis, Aug 16th, 2002 (1)
The
Concert, Memphis, Aug 16th, 2002 (2)
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In
his lifetime Elvis’ only concerts were five shows in three Canadian cities in
1957. A world tour was an unrequited dream for Elvis and for his international
fans. More than twenty years after Elvis’s death, the dream has come true.
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The
show’s concept is to present an authentic as possible Elvis Presley concert.
On stage a 16 piece orchestra and a group of original bandmates from the concert
era of his career perform live with the Elvis video. All music heard in
the concert production is performed live exept for Elvis’ voice. On either
side of the Elvis performance screen are screens that carry live action from
this stage. From the first song it’s magic. You’re at a real Elvis concert. |
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The footage is chosen from
Elvis’ finest concert performances that exist on film or videotape. The other
criterion is that |
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| James
Burton, lead guitar James Burton began his career at age 14, playing guitar in the house band for Shreveport’s famed Louisiana Hayride. While playing in Dale Hawkin’s band in 1955, he wrote the music for the hit song Susie-Q and recorded it with Hawkins. In 1957, he began a nineyear run as guitarist for Ricky Nelson and weekly appearances on the Nelson family’s classic television show “The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet”. Among the many artists he has recorded with over the years are; Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and many others. Elvis himself called James Burton and asked him to help put together a band for his 1969 engagement in Las Vegas. Burton was Elvis’ lead guitarist in concerts for Vegas and national tours, and on many recordings, from 1969 until Elvis’ death in 1977. |
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Glenn D. Hardin, Piano Glen D. Hardin grew up in Texas and
made his firts way to Los Angeles in the fall of 1961 after leaving the U.S.
Navy. By early 1962 he was playing piano at the Palomino Club and soon started
touring with the Crickets. Over the years he has worked as an arranger and
recording session pianist with artists such as Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris,
John Denver, Marty Robbins, Willie Nelson, Sammy Davis, Sonny & Cher, Roy
Orbison and so on. He worked with Elvis from 1970 to 1976, playing live concerts
with Elvis, creating some of his arrangements and being a part of numerous Elvis
recordings.
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Ronnie Tutt Ronnie Tutt is originally from Dallas,
Texas. He studied music at the University of North Texas, played gigs in the
Dallas/Fort Worth area, and held staff positions (drums and vocals) at two
“Jingle” studios. In 1963 he moved to Memphis and played with some of that
city’s great rhythm sections during an exciting time in Memphis music history.
In 1969 he auditioned for Elvis, who
was putting together a band for his Las Vegas engagement. He got the job. Beyond
talent as a drummer, what seemed to put him above the competition was his way of
connecting with Elvis..watching him, making eye contact, anticipating
where Elvis was going with a song. From 1969 to 1977 he was Elvis’
drummer on stage and on a number of recordings. For a long time Ronnie Tutt was
a studio musician in Los Angeles, later relocating to Nashville. |
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The Sweet Inspirations, vocals Estelle Brown, Portia Griffin, Sylvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith |
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| The Soulful harmonies of the Sweet
Inspirations have enriched recordings by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and
other legends. They have collaborated with writers and producers such as Carole
King, Burt Bacharach and Hal David. They’ve had success with R&B, gospel
and pop recordings of their own, most notably their first hit single Sweet
Inspiration, which gave the group their name in the late sixties and earned them
a Grammy Nomination. It was that song that caught the attention of Elvis Presley,
who signed them to provide backing vocals and be an opening act for his
record-breaking Las Vegas engagement, his official
return to the live concert stage after his triumphant ’68 special and
the end of his Hollywood movie contract obligations. No audition was required.
The Sweet Inspirations met him when they arrived for the first rehearsals for
the ’69 engagement. The
“Sweets” worked with Elvis in Las Vegas, on his national concert tours and
on recordings from 1969 to 1977. |
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The Imperials Sherman Andreus, Terry
Blackwood, Jim Murray Elvis loved gospel music, particularly
male gospel harmony, which was not only a major part of his gospel recordings,
but also an element in the sound of much of his pop, rock and country work. The
imperials first worked with Elvis doing some of the backing vocals in the 1966
sessions for his “How Great Thou art” album, whick won Elvis his first
Grammy award, Best Sacred Performance for 1967. The Imperials first worked on a
regular basis with Elvis on stage
and in the recording studio from 1969 until the latter half of 1971, beginning
with his triumphant 1969 Las Vegas engagement.
A major highlight of their
collaboration with him was the 1971 recording of He Touched Me (released in
1972) an album that earned Elvis
his second Grammy Award, Best Inspirational Performance for 1972. |
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As with so many enduring groups, there
have been personnel changes in The Imperials over the years. Terry Blackwood and
Jim Murray, Joe Moscheo and Roger Wiles who regularly participate in Elvis, The
Concert, were all members of The Imperials during the group’s tenure with
Elvis. Sherman Andrus joined The Imperials shortly after the group stopped
working with Elvis in 1971. He got to know Elvis because The Imperials remained
close to him and often sang together with him informally, while J.D. Sumner
& The Stamps took over the roleof onstage male backing vocalists.
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Millie
Kirkham, Soprano Millie Kirkham’s association with
Elvis began with a 1957 recording session, one that yielded, among other
classics, Blue Christmas, which features some of the most unique vocal
background work she and the
Jordanaires ever did with Elvis. Throughout the next twenty years Kirkham’s
strong, clear soprano could be heard on many of Elvis’ pop, rock, gospel and
country recordings such as “The Wonder Of You, Surrender, How Great Thou art,
Polk Salad Annie, How Great Thou art, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Don’t, Just
Pretend and many others. She also sang with Elvis on movie soundtracks and
appeared with him on stage in Las Vegas.
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| Jerry
Scheff, Bass Guitar Jerry Scheff grew up in the San
Francisco Bay area, started playing tuba in grammar school and, by seventh grade,
get into playing string bass. His musical bent was toward jazz and R&B. By
age fifteen he was playing in clubs in his new hometown of Sacramento and back
in San Francisco. As a high school senior Scheff joined the U.S. Navy and wound
up in the Navy’s school of music in Washington, D.C. taking a nine-month
course studying theory and harmony and getting to play with some great musicians.
After the course ended he stayed on to teach, moonlighting as a player in
jaz clubs, then the navy transferred him to San Diego. Over the years Scheff
recorded with Sammy Davis,Jr, Barbra Streisand, The Everly Brothers and so on.
By the late 60’s he crossed paths with guitarist James Burton, who remembered
Scheff’s work and called him when putting together the band for Elvis in 1969.
Scheff worked with Elvis from 1969 to 1973 and 1975 to 1977, on stage and on a
number of recordings. Reflecting on those years, Scheff says “Elvis had a big
impact on my career. It was like going to school.” |
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J.D. Sumner & The Stamps Ed Enoch, Ed Hill, Rick
Strickland, Tom Graham The lowest vocal bass note ever
recorded by the Guiness Book of World Records came from J.D. Sumner. It’s only
one of a long list of great moments in life of a musical legend. For much of his
career he headed up the Stamps Quartet, one of the greatest success stories in
the gospel music industry. The group has been nominated for Grammy, Dove and TNN
awards, and they have toured the world in concert. The Stamps worked with Elvis
from 1971 to 1977 as the male back-up group for his concerts in Las Vegas and on
national tour, and they worked with him on numerous recordings. The Stamps worked with Elvis Presley
from 1971 to 1977 as the male back-up group for his concerts in Las Vegas and on
national tour, and they worked with Elvis on numerous recordings. In the Elvis
tour days, other members at various times included Bill Baize, Donnie Sumner,
Larry Strickland, Dave Rowland, Tony Brown and Richard Sterban.
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J.D. Sumner |
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Joe
Guercio Joe Guercio has enjoyed a prolific
career, but he is probably best known and admired for his work with Elvis. He
was musical director and conductor for Elvis’ concert shows from the Summer of
1970 to August 1977 when Elvis made his last concert appearance. Elvis was known
for spontaneity and improvisation on stage and the cast had to be ready for
anything. Guercio remembers “He’d just
turn around and start a tune. The rhythm section knew him backwards and forwards,
but when you’re up there conducting a twenty-six-piece orchestra, what are you
gonna do?” In describing that experience, Joe once commented good-naturedly
that conducting for Elvis was “Like following a marble down concrete steps.”
This led to his being a target for a particular practical joker. Joe later found
his stage tux stuffed with marbles and a few hundreds more rolling around in his
dressing room. Along with the marbles was a note; “Follow the marble-E.P.”
It was Joe Guercio who suggested that Elvis’ shows open with theme from 2001
– A Space Odyssey (Also Sprach Zarathustra). The inspiration came when Guercio
and his late last wife saw the now-classic science fiction movie in a theatre,
for when the music began Mrs. Guercio whispered to her husband “you’d think Elvis was about to enter.” Joe
Guercio, Musical Director & Conductor
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The Elvis performance footage for
the concert is taken from the following programs; Elvis ’68 Comeback Special (1968),
Elvis Aloha From Hawaii, via
Satellite (1973) MGM Concert Films; Concert films. Elvis the Lost
Performances (1992 release).
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