A pair of Elvis Presley box sets are on their way celebrating the 50th anniversary of the music he made in Las Vegas and Memphis in 1969. Live 1969 and American Sound 1969 are due out Aug. 9 and Aug. 23, respectively.
First chronicled in part on the album Elvis In Person At The International Hotel 50 years ago, Live 1969 showcases this incredibly, important phase in Elvis’ career in definitive detail – his first live shows following his triumphant, 1968 comeback for NBC after an 8 year absence from playing live. This box set features 11 complete sets from the first of his many engagements at The International Hotel (several of which are released in full for the first time, with one show entirely unreleased), allowing fans a more definitive picture of The King’s glorious return to the concert stage. In addition to a 52-page book which includes rare photos, memorabilia and an oral history by Ken Sharp curated from historic interviews with Elvis, Colonel Tom Parker, Tom Jones, Jerry Schilling, James Burton, Cissy Houston, Terry Blackwood, George Klein, Fats Domino and more.
Also, being released August 9, 2019 is the Graceland exclusive colored vinyl Elvis Presley: Live At The International Hotel, Las Vegas NV-August 26, 1969 Vinyl LP Set. “I was missing the contact with a live audience,” Elvis says in this show, and at every show during his first engagement at The International Hotel in Las Vegas. Apart from two shows in 1961 and the recent TV show, Elvis hadn’t performed on stage for 11 years. After years of increasingly worse movies and diminishing record sales, Elvis had just managed to turn his career around with his 1968 TV special. The show had aired on December 3, 1968, and it was a surprising reminder to the world of just how magnetic a performer Elvis Presley still was. Just weeks later Elvis recorded more than 30 songs in Memphis, some of the best work of his career, and the return to live performances on July 31, 1969 was the third step of his resurrection as an artist.
You can check them out here.
American Sound 1969, meanwhile, will comprise 90 tracks of rare and unreleased material that Elvis recorded during the American Studio sessions that produced his acclaimed record, From Elvis in Memphis. That set is available to pre-order and will only be available digitally.
Live 1969 Track List
Disc 1 – August 21, 1969, Midnight show
01) “Blue Suede Shoes”*
02) “I Got A Woman”
03) “All Shook Up”
04) “Love Me Tender”
05) “Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel”
06) “Heartbreak Hotel”
07) “Hound Dog”
08) “Memories”
09) “Mystery Train/Tiger Man”
10) Monologue*
11) “Baby, What You Want Me To Do”
12) “Runaway”
13) “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
14) “Yesterday/Hey Jude”
15) Introductions, including “Happy Birthday” sung to James Burton
16) “In The Ghetto (Scott “Mac” Davis)
17) “Suspicious Minds”
18) “What’d I Say”
19) “Can’t Help Falling In Love”
Disc 2 — August 22, 1969, Dinner show
1) “Blue Suede Shoes”
2) “I Got A Woman”
3) “All Shook Up”
4) “Love Me Tender”
5) “Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel”
6) “Heartbreak Hotel”
7) “Hound Dog”
8) “Memories”
9) “Mystery Train/Tiger Man”
10) Monologue
11) “Baby, What You Want Me To Do”
12) “Runaway”
13) “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
14) “Yesterday/Hey Jude”
15) Introductions
16) “In The Ghetto”
17) “Suspicious Minds”
18) “What’d I Say”
19) “Can’t Help Falling In Love”
Disc 3 — August 22, 1969, Midnight show
1) “Blue Suede Shoes”*
2) “I Got A Woman” *
3) “All Shook Up” *
4) “Love Me Tender”
5) “Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel”
6) “Heartbreak Hotel”*
7) “Hound Dog”*
8) “Memories” *
9) “My Babe”
10) “Mystery Train/Tiger Man”
11) Monologue*
12) “Baby, What You Want Me To Do”
13) “Funny How Time Slips Away”
14) “Runaway”
15) “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”*
16) “Yesterday/Hey Jude”*
17) Introductions*
18) “In The Ghetto”*
19) “Suspicious Minds”*
20) “What’d I Say”
21) “Can’t Help Falling In Love”*
Disc 4 — August 23, 1969, Dinner show
01) “Blue Suede Shoes”
02) “I Got A Woman”
03) “All Shook Up”
04) “Love Me Tender”
05) “Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel”
06) “Heartbreak Hotel”
07) “Hound Dog”
08) “Memories”
09) “Mystery Train/Tiger Man”
10) Monologue
11) “Baby, What You Want Me To Do”
12) “Runaway”
13) “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
14) “Yesterday/Hey Jude”
15) Introductions
16) “In The Ghetto”
17) “Suspicious Minds”
18) “What’d I Say”
19) “Can’t Help Falling In Love”
Disc 5 — August 23, 1969, Midnight show
01) “Blue Suede Shoes”
02) “I Got A Woman”
03) “All Shook Up”
04) “Love Me Tender”
05) “Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel”
06) “Heartbreak Hotel”
07) “Hound Dog”
08) “Memories”
09) “Mystery Train/Tiger Man”
10) Monologue
11) “Baby, What You Want Me To Do”
12) “Runaway”
13) “Reconsider Baby”
14) “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
15) “Yesterday/Hey Jude”
16) Introductions
17) “In The Ghetto”
18) “Suspicious Minds”
19) “What’d I Say”
20) “Can’t Help Falling In Love”
Disc 6 — August 24, 1969, Dinner show
01) “Blue Suede Shoes”
02) “I Got A Woman”
03) “All Shook Up”
04) “Love Me Tender”
05) “Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel”
06) “Heartbreak Hotel”
07) “Hound Dog”
08) “I Can’t Stop Loving You”
09) “Johnny B. Goode”
10) Monologue
11) “Baby, What You Want Me To Do”
12) “Runaway”
13) “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
14 “Yesterday/Hey Jude”
15) Introductions
16) “In The Ghetto”
17) “Suspicious Minds”)
18) “What’d I Say”
19) “Can’t Help Falling In Love”
Disc 7 — August 24, 1969, Midnight show (Complete show previously unreleased)
01) “Blue Suede Shoes”
02) “I Got A Woman”
03) “All Shook Up”
04) “Love Me Tender”
05) “Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel”
06) “Heartbreak Hotel”
07) “Hound Dog”
08) “I Can’t Stop Loving You”*
09) “Johnny B. Goode”
10) Monologue*
11) “Baby, What You Want Me To Do”
12) “Runaway”*
13) “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
14) “Words (Robin, Barry & Maurice Gibb)
15) “Yesterday/Hey Jude”
16) Introductions*
17) “In The Ghetto”
18) “Suspicious Minds”
19) “Can’t Help Falling In Love”
Disc 8 — August 25, 1969, Dinner show (Complete show previously unreleased)
01) “Blue Suede Shoes”
02) “I Got A Woman”
03) “All Shook Up”*
04) “Love Me Tender”*
05) “Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel”*
06) “Heartbreak Hotel”*
07) “Hound Dog”*
08) “Memories”
09) “Mystery Train/Tiger Man”*
10) Monologue*
11) “Baby, What You Want Me To Do”*
12) “Funny How Time Slips Away”
13) “Runaway”
14) “Words”
15) “Yesterday/Hey Jude”
16) Introductions*
17) “In The Ghetto”
18) “Suspicious Minds”*
19) “What’d I Say”*
20) “Can’t Help Falling In Love”*
Disc 9 — August 25, Midnight show
01) “Blue Suede Shoes”
02) “I Got A Woman”
03) “All Shook Up”
04) “Love Me Tender”
05) “Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel”
06) “Heartbreak Hotel”
07) “Hound Dog”
08) “I Can’t Stop Loving You”
09) “My Babe”
10) “Mystery Train/Tiger Man”
11) Monologue
12) “Baby, What You Want Me To Do”
13) “Runaway”
14) “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
15) “Words”
16) “Yesterday/Hey Jude”
17) Introductions
18) “In The Ghetto”
19) “Suspicious Minds”
20) “What’d I Say”
21) “Can’t Help Falling In Love”
Disc 10 — August 26, 1969, Dinner show
01) “Blue Suede Shoes”
02) “I Got A Woman”
03) “All Shook Up”
04) “Love Me Tender”
05) “Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel”
06) “Heartbreak Hotel”
07) “Hound Dog”
08) “Memories”
09) “My Babe”
10) “Mystery Train/Tiger Man”
11) Monologue
12) “Baby, What You Want Me To Do”
13) “Runaway”
14) “Inherit The Wind”
15) “Yesterday/Hey Jude”
16) Introductions
17) “In The Ghetto”
18) “Suspicious Minds”)
19) “Can’t Help Falling In Love”
Disc 11 — August 26, 1969, Midnight show
01) “Blue Suede Shoes”
02) “I Got A Woman”
03) “All Shook Up”
04) “Love Me Tender”
05) “Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel”
06) “Heartbreak Hotel”
07) “Hound Dog”
08) “I Can’t Stop Loving You”
09) “Mystery Train/Tiger Man”
10) Monologue
11) “Baby, What You Want Me To Do”
12) “Runaway”
13) “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” (Laughing version)
14) “Rubberneckin’”
15) “Yesterday/Hey Jude”
16) Introductions
17) “In The Ghetto”
18) “This Is The Story”
19) “Suspicious Minds”
20) “Can’t Help Falling In Love”
*Previously unreleased