Only a short time ago we were surprised by the announcement of a new Praytome Publishing DVD release. Since this company is known for high quality and in-depth releases I could hardly wait to get the chance to see the material. Being an Elvis-addict, just like you are, I took the afternoon off when my wife called and told me the DVD had arrived. My boss didn’t like it that much, but hey, he’s one head smaller than I am !! As usual I started skipping around the DVD and soon found out this was a silly thing to do. Again it seemed that the guys behind Praytome Publishing put some brainwork behind the sequence of the material presented on this pretty looking DVD.

As we could expect from the previous Praytome Publishing releases, this DVD is different! Before getting to the concert footage you'll get to see a nearly 30 minutes long, narrated documentary. Subtitled in the interactive DVD-menu as "Elvis '70 - The historic context", this is exactly what the documentary is and does. It takes you exactly to the point in Elvis' career where the concert footage was filmed. August 1970, shortly after filming That's The Way It Is.

The Documentary

Starting with Elvis as an actor in the 60s, you’re taken to the historical ’68 Comeback show. This makes you clear that Elvis was born to rock and not born to act! Sure, Elvis was a very successful actor, all his movies were watched by millions and made big profits. He certainly enjoyed making them -in the beginning-, but after watching the '68 Comeback performances there can be no doubt about what he liked the most .... performing to a live audience!!

After this comeback it was time to do some serious studio recordings and put out an album. We now got to see and hear Elvis during the recording sessions in the American Sound Studios in Memphis. I think this is the right place to mention that there seems to be a "soundtrack", made especially for this documentary. It's not only narrated, but the background noises also fit the context. Like in this situation. You're told about the recording sessions and what do you hear in the background? Exactly .... Elvis in the American Sound Studios ! Okay, there's no music because that's not allowed due to copyright laws. But you can hear a lot of talking during the session and it really makes you feel you're right there. If you'll look at this documentary again -and you'll certainly do that a couple of times-, pay attention to these background noises. It's very interesting!

From this legendary 1969 Memphis sessions you’ll be taken to Elvis’ return to live performances in Las Vegas. Again this all was preceeded by lots of interesting information. For example, you’ll get to see how the International Hotel was build, you’ll see Elvis signing his contract and you’ll fly over Las Vegas just to show you what it looked like in those days. You’re told why Barabara Streisand was the first person to perform at the International and not Elvis. You'll even get to see footage of Streisands Las Vegas International performance.

And than suddenly, out of the blue, a mouthful of coke flies towards the television! Can this be true .....? Is someone trying to tease me .....? Am I dreaming .....? Or even worse Am I going nuts .....?!?!?! A picture is shown of Elvis while going on stage during his 1969 Las Vegas comeback engagement. Suddenly this picture starts to move and we’re treated to more than 30 seconds of footage. The quality is more than stunning, it’s unbelievable. Where in the world does this come from!! Who had this material and didn’t share it with us!!

After viewing it a couple of times I started to wonder if maybe this DVD was subtitled “Viagra”. But it wasn’t !!

Now, if you’re talking about adrenaline, you’ll get a whole bucket full when looking at this footage!!After my private blond nurse gave me some oxigen and relieved me from this “shock”, it was time to hit the play-button again for more facts, pictures and footage (does this never stop?)

As for the complete documentary, you’re bombed with detailed information, pictures and footage. When you look and listen carefully, you’ll notice that there are some hidden messages in this documentary.I’ll give you just one example:

You are told what Elvis was paid for his Vegas performances and that it took a common household 125 years to earn what Elvis got in 8 weeks. Consider than that Elvis’ popularity only grew over the years to come (and so did his earnings). If you also consider that this sum of money is just the smallest part of Elvis’ earnings, it must make you laugh when looking at all those internet discussions about Elvis being broke and that he had to perform because he had financial problems! Hey guys !! Stop telling/reading that “Goldman”-crap and start using your own brains. Elvis was broke …… yeah sure and the Atlantic Ocean will be a desert by the end of the week !!

There are 2 more things I'd like to point out. First, it's said that Elvis sold 14 million records in 1970. That's only true when you look at the the records that came out in 1970 and don't include the backcatalog. Secondly it's said that TTWII sold 500.000 copies which is also true for the first run in the USA alone, it doesn't represent the sales untill today worldwide. The next very special feature in this documentary is Elvis’ monolog from Aug. 23 1969 at the Las Vegas Hilton. During this monolog Elvis states that it’s about time to tell his side of the story and that’s exactly what he does. He tells how his career started and developed from his point of view. Yes, I know that all hardcore fans know this monologue, but because it is underlined with pictures and/or footage this time, the complete monologue is taken to another dimension. You hear Elvis and you see what he’s talking about, it’s simply marvelous. The documentary ends with some early pictures of Elvis. It first seemed to make little sense to me, but then I noticed something in Elvis' face. It reminded me of pictures I saw from Elvis in 1975! I can't say if this was done on purpose, but it's a nice way to end the documentary. Linking the early and the latter years through Elvis' face. Just look and tell me that I'm wrong. To recap this documentary: First of all it’s rather unusual to find a documentary on this kind of DVD, normally you would expect to start and end with only the concert footage. The next thing is, that the information presented to us is not only very detailed but also accompanied by pictures and/or footage. As said before there are many hints in this documentary that should make you re-think the things you "knew" about Elvis. Last but not least this documentary sets you in the right mood to really appreciate the concert footage.

The Footage

After looking at the introduction you’re ready to go for the 1970’s footage. The footage is 40 minutes long, which is almost the complete concert!! The quality is again unbelievable. It was filmed by the French mega-collector Jean-Marc Garguilo. Some of us have seen this footage on VHS cassettes. The tapes that have been circulating vary from extremely bad quality to even worse. This time the original reel was digitally remastered. Please read again: original reel, digitally remastered !! I’m sure that even Jean-Marc never saw his footage that good! You can see some very interesting details, not only from Elvis but also from the band. It’s very interesting to compare this concert with the concerts we know from TTWII.

It’s hard to go into details about the footage, because I would simply run out of words to describe what I see. Just have a look at it and you’ll know what I mean.

Pay attention to the musicians, for example the percussion guys, I think it's funny to watch them chat with eachother and have a good time.

There's plenty to see, take your time and go for the details. The footage is silent, which some consider as something bad. I can't follow that, first of all this footage was filmed in 1970 and the first 8mm film with sound came around 1974.

Second, it's not allowed -for copyright reasons- to use the sound on this kind of footage. That's the reason you'll probably never get an official fanrelease with sound.
I personally don’t like footage with sound that much, simply because it starts and ends so abrupt. I'm also not too fond of putting other Elvis music to the footage. I hate to see and hear Elvis when it doesn't fit together.

Praytome Publishing didn’t use the usual ringingtone mp3’s for the footage but they've used real songs. To be honest with you I must say I did like the music, but that’s just a matter of taste.

To recap the footage: 40 minutes of footage from the same show, digitally remastered from the original reels in a professional studio. END OF DISCUSSION !!

The DVD ends with some bonusmaterial: trailers for other Praytome Publishing products and a “making of” documentary of this DVD.

If you haven't seen the trailers before, have a look at it and ask yourself if you ever saw a trailer for a book before. If you did, was it as bombastic as the one for "Born to Rock"

The “making of” documentary, subtitled: Creation of Dreams, is very, very interesting. I never knew how a reel was digitally transferred and remastered, now I had the chance to see it with my own eyes. It was a real surprise to find out that the remastering was done at the famous German Bavaria studios. These are real professionals! If you look and listen closely you’ll notice that the remastered reel has sound.

Didn't I just tell you there was no sound on 8mm films untill about 1974? I guess I did.
The reason you hear a sound during this "Making of" documentary is simple. Jean-Marc Garguilo manually added a soundtrack to his 8mm reels, because he didn't only want to hear a fan and the clicking of the reel when looking at this footage.

It's not the actual concert that was put under the footage, in fact Jean-Marc can't even remember when this footage was shot.


All in all this DVD is an incredible piece of art which fits perfectly to the other Praytome Publishing items. This DVD has been made with love, care, devotion and knowledge.

The contents of this DVD is presented to you just like "That's The Way It Is". The colors and end-credits look exactly the same. Which is a nice touch and makes this DVD a companion release to TTWII.
The footage has been professionally remastered. This whole project seems to be a very costly one. We must consider us very lucky to be able to see this kind of footage in such a great quality. It’s worth every cent (and more) you pay for it. It’s a priceless piece of history!!

By the way, all pictures used here are screenshots from the DVD.Nice to know there are still fans who care about fellow fans !! Thanks guys !!

Nofrad 2004.


Text and Pictures were taken from the Elvisbay Website
Review © 2004 www.elvisbay.com