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Hi to all Elvis friends and fans alike . I'd like to take this time to write about a tour that I feel has been mistakingly regarded in general as a ' bad ' tour by Elvis . I've read in alot of articles after the performances of certain shows ( Portland , Seattle , Oklahoma City ) about Elvis ' setlists , his vulnerability to do more " clowing " than singing , his show time being no more than 40 mins . to an hour , his reportoire of more " cover " songs than original songs and as I've read through these articles , it somewhat bothered me in many ways and here's why - To me , this November 1970 tour was an IMPORTANT tour , and probably one of the most uncelebrated , one of the most criticized as any in the career of Elvis Presley . I'm very optomistic about this particular tour and here's my reasoning for why it was important :

Elvis had came back to performing his live concerts in July of ' 69 in Las Vegas and got some great reviews . Some his best performances were " In the Ghetto " , " Words " , and " Suspicious Minds " to name a few but nothing out of the ordinary . Then , he went home and returned to Nevada in Jan . into Feb . of 1970 and put on an even better show ! with lots of rarites and lots of cover songs ! But , 2 days after he left Las Vegas , he went to Houston for 6 concerts , putting on pretty much the same Vegas show , but only in a bigger venue . Those were exciting as many of those songs would NEVER be performed again ( Kentucky Rain , Let It Be Me ) and while some of the others wouldn't be done outside of the confines of Las Vegas ( Walk A Mile In My Shoes , Don't Cry Daddy ).

Then , Elvis does his 3d Vegas run in Aug . into Sept . and 2 days after closing there , heads out on tour in 6 scattered - selected cities pretty much doing his Vegas show songs as well . So , to bring this point into view , the November 1970 tour is / was his 1st actual tour since 1957 , having not going out @ the finish of a Las Vegas run . I'm not saying that the Vegas shows in 1970 were anything bad or the 14 concerts Elvis gave after those engagements , but what I am saying is that for the 1st time ever , Elvis did a tour without having to do it after a Vegas run and had nearly 2 months off from Sept. 15 - Nov . 9 , to relax a little and get his mind in the right frame of setting before going back out . The while the Houston shows were stellar , and the short Sept. tour shows were just as good and getting his feet wet in being back on the road again after 13 years , the Nov. tour was certainly an opening of what was to come on later tours : For instance , Elvis had some ' down-time ' between tours to be himself with those close to him , then prepare himself for the upcoming task / tour @ hand .

November 15, 1970 (8:30 pm) San Diego, CA.

Ok , now , the song - selections :

The Houston shows , the Sept . shows were merely an ' extension ' of the Las Vegas show and although while the setlists were terrific , they'd been well - rehearsed and to me , they were good in Vegas but in Houston and on the Sept. tour , there seemed to be something missing from it all .. Elvis was excited about going out , but nothing like he was in Nov. and that is why he got to acting up with his band and his audiences . Ok , he did more ' cover ' songs than anything ! That can be a blessing and a curse . Most of his new songs , were terrific ! Not much can beat those sessions of ' 69 - ' 71 , but even though he was doing " Proud Mary " , " Sweet Caroline " , " You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin ' " and so many other un - original songs , he put so much enthusiasm into those and they should be appreciated . There were other articles out @ that time that the fans wanted the ' hits ' instead of the newer material , so he gave them a taste of those early songs with " One Night " and " Tryin' to Get to You " as well as the best of the golden oldies like " Heartbreak Hotel " and '" Blue Suede Shoes " . But still , the importance of this tour goes on : Elvis loved his religious music and for the 1st time on tour , or anytime since doing " Peace In the Valley " on Ed Sullivan in ' 57 , Elvis performed his signature religious song " How Great Thou Art " and it went over extremely well . And , for the 1st time ever , he did his signature Christmas song " Blue Christmas " as well . Even though most acts of the day were onstage for 90 mins. to 2 hrs. , Elvis' 40 + mins. were graced with time being with his ' family / friends ' ( which meant his audiences ! ) in a more of a ' reunion ' style to his pressence of letting the world know that " ELVIS PRESLEY IS TRULY BACK ! " and will be around for awhile !

November 12, 1970 (8:30 pm) Seattle, WA.

So , before anyone wants to slam - dunk that very important 1st tour away from Vegas in the fall of 1970 , take these points of view into consideration . Elvis was enjoying himself , FINALLY !! No movies to make , no staying locked up in a Vegas hotel room for 22 hrs. out of the day , he was getting out and being with his audiences . In Los Angeles , he even got Priscilla involved in his clowning around ! Lots of great perfor- mances came out of this tour and that's why I feel this was one of the most important tours of all as it was away from Las Vegas , alot looser than most of his tours later on and I wished I had been available to see these !! Feel free to comment / send replies to : memphistime27@yahoo.com

God Bless ,
Jacob Brewster