Elvis Presley - And I Love You So - The Live Comparison Series - Volume Forty Three

Elvis laid down the studio master of 'And I Love You So' at RCA Studio C in Hollywood, California on 11 March 1975, the second day of recording and became the fourth master achieved at these sessions and would become the second track on the 'Today' album.
Exactly one week later Elvis began his twelfth season in Las Vegas and this song was included in the set list and would become a virtual permanent feature in the Elvis show until it's final appearance during Elvis' penultimate live appearance in Cincinnati, Ohio on 25 June 1977.

00:00 Version One – 18 March 1975, Opening Show – Las Vegas
Recorded just eight days earlier and immediately inserted onto his set list, it was one of three songs from that recording session to be included on opening night.

Version Two – 1 April 1975, Dinner Show – Las Vegas
Just a fortnight after introducing it, this soundboard recording gives a better impression of the arrangement. It has lovely orchestral backing and the wonderful Kathy Westmoreland soprano.

Version Three – 20 August 1975, Dinner Show – Las Vegas
Despite performing the song at virtually every show throughout the Spring Las Vegas engagement, Elvis dropped it for the subsequent Spring and Summer tours. Instead, he introduced two other songs recorded at the same session in what was essentially the only time he seemed to actively promote any studio album. For his August 1975 Las Vegas run, this was the only time he performed the song, although one should bear in mind that he abandoned the engagement after just five shows.

Version Four – 12 December 1975, 10pm Show – Las Vegas
Sung at almost every show throughout this superb, rescheduled December 1975 Las Vegas run, and shows Elvis in superb vocal form.

Version Five – 31 December 1975 – Pontiac Silverdome
The first time that Elvis performed the song outside of Las Vegas was during his New Years Eve show in 1975 in the Pontiac Silverdome. With a crowd of 60,500, it was the largest audience of his career.

Version Six – 17 March 1976, Tour Opening Show – Phoenix
From this point onwards it would become an almost ever present on his set list. This version is interesting because Elvis stops the song midway through because of apparent sound glitches and restarts where he left off.

Version Seven – 14 October 1976, Tour Opening Show – Chicago

Version Eight – 6 December 1976, 10pm Show – Las Vegas

Version Nine – 19 June 1977, Omaha – The CBS TV Special Rendition
This version comes from the third show of Elvis’ final tour, which took place in The Omaha Civic Center, Omaha, Nebraska on 19 June. This show was the first of the two concerts filmed by CBS for the TV Special “Elvis In Concert”.
Whilst the song did not make it into the final edit it did close the double LP album which accompanied the TV Special, being placed as it was as the final song on Side 2 of the album’s second LP.

Version Ten – 25 June 1977, Cincinnati

As with all of these videos, to get the most out of the audio, I highly recommend you use ear /headphones and turn the volume up as much as you dare!