Elvis Presley - You Gave Me a Mountain - The Live Comparison Series -Volume Twenty Five

A song that Elvis introduced to his setlist in early 1972 was 'You Gave Me A Mountain', a song which would evolve from being not just an integral part of the Elvis Presley show, but to being a poignant almost autobiographical number especially in hindsight in the final couple of years. Despite being written by Marty Robbins, Elvis introduces the song as by Frankie Laine and uses the same lyrics as the latter. Marty Robbins wrote the lyrics in the first verse as 'despised and disliked by my father' and Frankie Laine asked Robbins' permission to change the line to that subsequently used by Elvis which was of course 'deprived of the love of a father'. 00:00 Version One - 26 January 1972, Opening Show - Las Vegas - First Live Rendition Wearing his new 'white pyramid' jumpsuit and gold attendance belt as featured on the MSG album cover. Elvis opened his sixth Las Vegas season on 26 January 1972 and the setlist included five new songs and an oldie which would receive it's first 70's live performance. The second of those six songs was 'You Gave Me A Mountain' and listen to the wonderful use of the harp during the intro just before Elvis begins to sing. 03:30 Version Two - 15 November 1972 - Long Beach, California 06:50 Version Three - 3 July 1973 - The Omni Atlanta - The Spoken Verses Version 09:57 Version Four - 2 September 1974, Closing Show - Las Vegas - The "Desert Storm" Version 13:37 Version Five - 13 December 1975, Midnight Show - Las Vegas 17:06 Version Six - 14 October 1976 - The Chicago Stadium 20:18 Version Seven - 29 December 1976 - Birmingham, Alabama 23:26 Version Eight - 21 June 1977 - Rapid City - The "Elvis In Concert" Version Included in the TV broadcast of Elvis In Concert this is an excellent version with Elvis making good use of the power in his voice during the choruses. Version Nine - 26 June 1977 - Indianapolis - The Final Live Rendition 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!