Elvis Presley - That's the Way It Is (Deluxe Edition) (1970)

Tracklist

CD1
01. I Just Can't Help Believin' (Live)
02. Twenty Days and Twenty Nights
03. How the Web Was Woven
04. Patch It Up
05. Mary In the Morning
06. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
07. You've Lost That Loving Feeling (Live at The International Hotel, Las Vegas)
08. I've Lost You
09. Just Pretend (Live)
10. Stranger In the Crowd
11. The Next Step Is Love
12. Bridge Over Troubled Water
13. I've Lost You (Single Version)
14. The Next Step Is Love (Single Version)
15. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me (Single Version)
16. Patch It Up (Single Version)
17. How the Web Was Woven (Take 1)
18. I've Lost You (Take 1)
19. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me (Take 2)
20. Patch It Up (Take 1)
21. Bridge over Troubled Water (Take 1)

CD2
01. That's All Right (Live)
02. Medley: Mystery Train / Tiger Man (Opening Night)
03. I Can't Stop Loving You (Opening Night)
04. Love Me Tender (Opening Night)
05. The Next Step Is Love (Opening Night)
06. Words (Opening Night)
07. I Just Can't Help Believin' (Opening Night)
08. Something (Opening Night)
09. Sweet Caroline (Opening Night)
10. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (Opening Night)
11. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me (Opening Night)
12. Polk Salad Annie (Opening Night)
13. Introductions (Opening Night)
14. I've Lost You (Opening Night)
15. Bridge over Troubled Water (Opening Night)
16. Patch It Up (Opening Night)
17. Can't Help Falling In Love (Opening Night)

CD3
01. That's All Right (Dinner Show)
02. I Got a Woman (Dinner Show)
03. Hound Dog (Dinner Show)
04. Heartbreak Hotel (Dinner Show)
05. Love Me Tender (Dinner Show)
06. I've Lost You (Dinner Show)
07. I Just Can't Help Believin' (Dinner Show)
08. Something (Dinner Show)
09. I Can't Stop Loving You (Dinner Show)
10. Sweet Caroline (Dinner Show)
11. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (Dinner Show)
12. Polk Salad Annie (Dinner Show)
13. Introductions (Dinner Show)
14. Bridge over Troubled Water (Dinner Show)
15. Suspicious Minds (Dinner Show)
16. Can't Help Falling in Love (Dinner Show)

CD4
01. That's All Right (Midnight Show)
02. I Got a Woman (Midnight Show)
03. Hound Dog (Midnight Show)
04. Love Me Tender (Midnight Show)
05. There Goes My Everything (Midnight Show)
06. Just Pretend (Midnight Show)
07. I Just Can't Help Believin' (Midnight Show)
08. Something (Midnight Show)
09. Men with Broken Hearts (Midnight Show)
10. Walk a Mile in My Shoes (Midnight Show)
11. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (Midnight Show)
12. Polk Salad Annie (Midnight Show)
13. One Night (Midnight Show)
14. Don't Be Cruel (Midnight Show)
15. Love Me (Midnight Show)
16. Instrumental Vamp (Midnight Show)
17. Heartbreak Hotel (Midnight Show)
18. Introductions (Midnight Show)
19. Bridge over Troubled Water (Midnight Show)
20. Suspicious Minds (Midnight Show)
21. Can't Help Falling in Love (Midnight Show)

CD5
01. That's All Right (August 12 - Dinner Show)
02. I Got a Woman (August 12 - Dinner Show)
03. Hound Dog (August 12 - Dinner Show)
04. Heartbreak Hotel (August 12 - Dinner Show)
05. Love Me Tender (August 12 - Dinner Show)
06. I've Lost You (August 12 - Dinner Show)
07. I Just Can't Help Believin' (August 12 - Dinner Show)
08. Patch It Up (August 12 - Dinner Show)
09. Twenty Days and Twenty Nights (August 12 - Dinner Show)
10. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (August 12 - Dinner Show)
11. Polk Salad Annie (August 12 - Dinner Show)
12. Introductions (August 12 - Dinner Show)
13. Blue Suede Shoes (August 12 - Dinner Show)
14. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me (August 12 - Dinner Show)
15. Bridge over Troubled Water (August 12 - Dinner Show)
16. Suspicious Minds (August 12 - Dinner Show)
17. Can't Help Falling in Love (August 12 - Dinner Show)

CD6
01. That's All Right (August 12 - Midnight Show)
02. Medley: Mystery Train / Tiger Man (August 12 - Midnight Show)
03. Hound Dog (August 12 - Midnight Show)
04. Love Me Tender (August 12 - Midnight Show)
05. Just Pretend (August 12 - Midnight Show)
06. Walk a Mile in My Shoes (August 12 - Midnight Show)
07. There Goes My Everything (August 12 - Midnight Show)
08. Words (August 12 - Midnight Show)
09. Sweet Caroline (August 12 - Midnight Show)
10. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (August 12 - Midnight Show)
11. Polk Salad Annie (August 12 - Midnight Show)
12. Introductions (August 12 - Midnight Show)
13. Heartbreak Hotel (August 12 - Midnight Show)
14. One Night (August 12 - Midnight Show)
15. Blue Suede Shoes (August 12 - Midnight Show)
16. All Shook Up (August 12 - Midnight Show)
17. Medley: Little Sister / Get Back (August 12 - Midnight Show)
18. I Was the One (August 12 - Midnight Show)
19. Love Me (August 12 - Midnight Show)
20. Are You Lonesome Tonight? (August 12 - Midnight Show)
21. Bridge over Troubled Water (August 12 - Midnight Show)
22. Suspicious Minds (August 12 - Midnight Show)
23. Can't Help Falling in Love (August 12 - Midnight Show)

CD7
01. That's All Right (August 13 - Dinner Show)
02. I Got a Woman (August 13 - Dinner Show)
03. Hound Dog (August 13 - Dinner Show)
04. Love Me Tender (August 13 - Dinner Show)
05. Don't Cry Daddy (August 13 - Dinner Show)
06. In the Ghetto (August 13 - Dinner Show)
07. I Just Can't Help Believin' (August 13 - Dinner Show)
08. Stranger in the Crowd (August 13 - Dinner Show)
09. Make the World Go Away (August 13 - Dinner Show)
10. Sweet Caroline (August 13 - Dinner Show)
11. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (August 13 - Dinner Show)
12. Polk Salad Annie (August 13 - Dinner Show)
13. Introductions (August 13 - Dinner Show)
14. The Wonder of You (August 13 - Dinner Show)
15. Heartbreak Hotel (August 13 - Dinner Show)
16. Blue Suede Shoes (August 13 - Dinner Show)
17. One Night (August 13 - Dinner Show)
18. All Shook Up (August 13 - Dinner Show)
19. Bridge over Troubled Water (August 13 - Dinner Show)
20. Suspicious Minds (August 13 - Dinner Show)
21. Can't Help Falling in Love (August 13 - Dinner Show)

CD8
01. Alla' En El "Rancho Grande" (Informal Rehearsal) (Live)
02. Ghost Riders In the Sky (MGM Rehearsal 2)
03. Cottonfields (Rehearsal)
04. Froggy Went a Courtin' (Live Rehearsal)
05. Baby, Let's Play House (Rehearsal)
06. I Was the One (Rehearsal)
07. Money Honey (Rehearsal)
08. Don't (Rehearsal)
09. (Now and Then There's) A Fool Such As I (Rehearsal)
10. Such a Night (Rehearsal)
11. It's Now or Never (Rehearsal)
12. What'd I Say (Rehearsal)
13. Yesterday (Rehearsal)
14. Medley: Little Sister / Get Back (Rehearsal)
15. Don't It Make You Wanna Go Home (Rehearsal)
16. I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water (Rehearsal)
17. Stranger in My Own Home Town (Rehearsal)
18. Farther Along (Rehearsal)
19. Santa Claus Is Back in Town (Rehearsal)
20. Oh Happy Day (Rehearsal)

That's the Way It Is is arguably where Elvis Presley's discography gets very confusing. Sharing a title with Denis Sanders' 1970 documentary of Elvis' return to the stage, That's the Way It Is in its original 1970 LP incarnation isn't precisely a soundtrack to the film. In fact, only a third of the album captures Presley live on-stage in Vegas, with the remainder of the record derived from sessions he recorded in Nashville just a few months prior to launching his long-standing gig at the International Hotel. Vegas looms large over Elvis' legend in the '70s and many of the clichés - the jumpsuits, the splashy arrangements of contemporary standards, the snazzy melodies of his old hits - were born on That's the Way It Is, either on film or on the record. In its original LP incarnation, this wasn't especially apparent due to the record's reliance on the Nashville sessions, where Elvis recorded a fair share of perfectly pleasant middle-of-the-road material pitched halfway between Hollywood and Music City. These tunes - "Twenty Days and Twenty Nights," "How the Web Was Woven," "Just Pretend," and "Stranger in the Crowd" - are easy to spot because they're by songwriters without marquee names (Colonel Tom Parker insisted Elvis take a larger percentage of publishing, which kept away many writers) and, more tellingly, on the 2014 expansions of the album - available in a double-disc set, which presents a remastered version of the original album supplemented by single versions of four tracks ("I've Lost You," "The Next Step Is Love," "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," "Patch It Up"), five outtakes of alternate tracks, then a full set from August 12; there is also a gigantic eight-CD/two-DVD box that replicates that expanded first disc and six full sets recorded during the filming of the documentary, plus a disc of rehearsals -- these are the songs that don't appear in the live set. They may not have been part of Presley's repertoire but they do indicate how he was shifting away from the soulful, funky sound inspired by his 1968 comeback into something that felt showbiz. The live recordings, though, show that he was still performing with passion, figuring out what worked on-stage and what didn't after his long hiatus from performing. Again, this isn't so apparent on the 1970 LP, which was basically a good studio album that essayed Elvis' new persona for the coming decade, but all the various expanded editions (which include a 2000 special edition that adds a hefty dose of live material) capture the King starting to relax and enjoy his reign yet again. Certainly, the eight-disc set illustrates this in spades, and while it's undoubtedly one for the devoted, it nevertheless isn't overkill because it captures a peerless performer putting his amazing band through the paces. It's wonderful music that actually is more valuable now than it was at the time: Elvis would record more great music in the next few years, but this record - especially in its 2014 expansion - captures him at a pivotal moment, when he retained the power of his 1968 comeback and had yet to succumb to all the glitz of Vegas.

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