Elvis Presley - I Just Can’t Help Believing - 11 Aug 1970, Dinner Show - Re-edited with Stereo audio

If Elvis had decided to make a studio recording of this song, in Nashville during June 1970 for example, would it have been any better than this performance which became the RCA master? Personally I have my doubts since to me this is beyond perfection and as such I must nail my colours to the mast and admit that this is my all time favourite Elvis recording. To create a musical masterpiece within the studio environment, Suspicious Minds for example, is one thing when you have a top rate producer (Chips Moman) a single minded determined artist (Elvis) and the best possible material and tools (the song and band) where you can take as many takes as necessary. To make a classic like this in one take in a live environment is something most singers can only aspire to. If there is one line to sum up this song (and Bridge Over Troubled Water from the same show) and Elvis Presley in August 1970 in particular it is this - Many can sing but only few can perform!! Released by B.J. Thomas earlier the same year this version shows Elvis at his very, very best as the vocal is relaxed yet powerful, both band and orchestra are virtually flawless. Elvis’ singing of the word ’girl’ at the end of the first verse is almost unbelievable! This version, from 11 August Dinner Show, was selected both for the movie and to open the original TTWII 1970 album and due to public demand was released as a single in the UK reaching #6. In August 2014 Sony Legacy released a new 8CD/2DVD box set of TWIII. This contained the original album (plus bonus tracks), the six shows used for TWIII and an eighth CD (all remastered) of rehearsals plus 2 DVD’s containg the original 1970 movie and the 2001 re-edit. Of the six concerts four had already been released. The opening show was FTD - One NIght In Vegas, the third show was Disc 2 from the box set Live In Las Vegas, Show 5 was Disc 2 of TTWII (Special Edition) and Show 6 was FTD - The Wonder of You. This however presented a problem to Sony when it came to packaging all six shows in one single release because all four were remastered differently and didn’t even sound as if they were recorded at the same venue never mind on consecutive nights!!! Sony’s solution was to put their head engineer Vic Anesini in charge of the remastering project in New York as previously he had done an amazing job on the Complete Masters set. Now it is almost impossible to distinguish one show from another sound wise! Listening to I Just Can’t Help Believing from the original album and then to this new remastered audio(bearing in mind that they are both the same recording) then some subtle differences make them sound almost completely different and for the better. As with all of these videos, to get the most out of the re-edited audio, I highly recommend you use ear /headphones and turn the volume up as much as you dare!