Various Artists - Elvis: The Tribute, Pyramid Arena, Memphis, TN, 10-8-1994

Here's another interesting tribute concert, with loads of big stars. All of the songs performed were made famous by Elvis Presley. 

This concert seems to have mostly disappeared down the memory hole. An album of highlights from the concert was released, called "It's Now Or Never: The Tribute To Elvis." However, it's only 45 minutes long, containing just 15 songs. But the full two plus hour long concert was broadcast on TV at the time, so excellent sounding video footage of it exists.

This concert took place in 1994 despite the lack of any big anniversary or other important timely reason for it. Instead, the Elvis Presley estate decided that Presley's music was being forgotten by younger generations, so the concert was meant to help bring his music back into the spotlight.

As you can see from the album cover or the song list, a great many music stars performed in this concert. A few more - Jon Bon Jovi, Jeff Beck, and Cher, at least - backed out at the last minute. I found that mentioned in a newspaper article, though it didn't give a reason why. 

I used two versions of the video files of this concert, converted them to audio format, and broke them into mp3s. During that process, I cut out some material. There were several sections of a few minutes each that consisted of short films highlight different aspects of Presley's life. I removed all of those, plus their intros, since they were meant mainly to be seen, not heard. I also edited out some more talk by the announcers. However, I kept all the intros relevant to the songs. Plus, of course, I kept all the music.

The concert was mostly hosted by Karen Duffy, an MTV DJ, and singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson. But actor John Stamos introduced a few acts, and TV host Phil Donohue introduced one, and sometimes one act introduced the next one.

Occasionally, I had a little trouble with the edits at the starts and ends of songs. For instance, there were quick cuts to or away from TV commercials, as well as the short films I mentioned above. I tried my best to smooth things out, but occasionally the transitions between tracks is abrupt.

Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana, James Burton, and the Jordanaires didn't have any performances on their own. However, all of them were key backing musicians or singers for Presley. From time to time, they backed up some of the other music acts. 

All of the performances were live from the concert, with two exceptions. I think "Too Much" by NRBQ actually took place before the TV broadcast began. But I slotted it into a logical spot in the concert. And U2 didn't show up for the concert, but sent video footage of their performance to be broadcast instead.

By the way, if you want to know more about the concert, I found a New York Times article of it from the time. Here's the link (I think you have to click on Option 2 to see it):

RemovePaywall | Free online paywall remover 

This album is two hours and three minutes long.

01 talk (Karen Duffy)
02 Good Rockin' Tonight (Sammy Hagar)
03 Too Much (NRBQ)
04 Baby, Let's Play House (Michael Hutchence & NRBQ)
05 talk (Kris Kristofferson & Karen Duffy)
06 talk (Chet Atkins)
07 How's the World Treating You (Chet Atkins)
08 talk (Karen Duffy)
09 Mystery Train (Dwight Yoakam)
10 talk (Kris Kristofferson)
11 Don't Be Cruel (Marty Stuart with the Jordanaires)
12 talk (Marty Stuart)
13 All Shook Up (Cheap Trick)
14 talk (John Stamos)
15 That's Alright Mama (Kris Kristofferson)
16 talk (Kris Kristofferson)
17 One Night (Billy Ray Cyrus with the Jordanaires)
18 talk (Karen Duffy)
19 Lawdy Miss Claudy (Travis Tritt)
20 talk (Karen Duffy)
21 Blue Moon [Edit] (Chris Isaak with Scotty Moore & D.J. Fontana)
22 Love Me (Mavericks)
23 talk (John Stamos)
24 talk (Carl Perkins)
25 Blue Suede Shoes (Carl Perkins with Scotty Moore & D.J. Fontana)
26 talk (Carl Perkins)
27 Rip It Up (Iggy Pop)
28 Memories (Mac Davis)
29 talk (Mac Davis)
30 talk (Bryan Adams)
31 Hound Dog (Bryan Adams with Scotty Moore & D.J. Fontana)
32 talk (Kris Kristofferson)
33 Always on My Mind (Sam Moore)
34 talk (Karen Duffy)
35 Heartbreak Hotel (John Cale)
36 talk (Karen Duffy)
37 I Want You, I Need You, I Love You (Ann Wilson)
38 talk (Karen Duffy)
39 Teddy Bear (Tanya Tucker)
40 talk (Kris Kristofferson)
41 Trouble (Paul Rodgers)
42 talk (Phil Donahue)
43 [Marie's the Name] His Latest Flame (Scorpions)
44 Can't Help Falling in Love (U2)
45 talk (Kris Kristofferson & Karen Duffy)
46 It's Now or Never (Wet Wet Wet)
47 talk (Mac Davis)
48 Love Me Tender (Tony Bennett)
49 talk (Mac Davis)
50 Young and Beautiful (Aaron Neville)
51 talk (Mac Davis)
52 Jailhouse Rock (Michael Bolton with Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana & Carl Perkins)
53 talk (Karen Duffy)
54 Tryin' to Get to You (Faith Hill)
55 talk (John Stamos)
56 See See Rider (Jerry Lee Lewis with James Burton & NRBQ)
57 Kentucky Rain - Suspicious Minds (Eddie Rabbitt & Mavis Staples)
58 talk (Karen Duffy)
59 Burning Love (Melissa Etheridge)
60 talk (John Stamos)
61 Amazing Grace (Billy Ray Cyrus & Everyone)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/GWnJSkKo

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/cqa2ziePj3VTmo8/file 

The cover image is a pretty weird one for this concert, but bear with me for the explanation. It depicts Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley (the daughter of Elvis Presley). They had recently gotten married at the time of this concert. (Their marriage only lasted from 1994 to 1996). The weird thing is that neither of them performed at this concert. However, they did attend it. At one point near the end, you can hear the announcer mention their names, along with those of Janet Jackson (Michael Jackson's sister) and Priscilla Presley (Lisa Marie Presley's mother). All four of them briefly stood up and waved to the crowd. 

The main reason I chose them for the cover is because this was the only decent photo from the concert that I could find. The mere fact they were at the concert made news, especially due to the fact that they had just been recently married. I think the image shows the two of them backstage before or after the concert. Even this picture was rather low-res and rough, but I used the Krea AI program to improve the image quality. 

George Benson, Chet Atkins & Earl Klugh - PBS Soundstage, WTTW Studios, Chicago, IL, 12-18-1978

Here is a very unusual episode of the "PBS Soundstage" TV show. Back in the 1970s especially, the show had some jazz-themed episodes. I don't plan on posting most of those, because I'm not much of a jazz fan (and most of them seem lost anyway). However, I'm making an exception for this one, because I am a fan of guitar playing, and this features three guitar masters who almost never performed together. In fact, for all I know, this might be the only time the did. I'm speaking of Chet Atkins, George Benson, and Earl Klugh.

Of the three, George Benson might be the most famous. Although a talented jazz guitarist, he is a talented singer and songwriter. He had a bunch of pop hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His 1976 album "Breezin'" sold over three million copies. However, for this concert, he focused almost entirely on his jazz guitar playing. He only sang one song, one of his biggest hits, "The Greatest Love of All." (Whitney Houston later had an even bigger hit with it.) In fact, that's the only song in this concert with lead vocals. 

Here's his Wikipedia page:

George Benson - Wikipedia

Chet Atkins is probably the second most famous of the three. He was significantly older than the other two, being born in 1920, making him about 58 years old at the time of this concert. Known as "Mr. Guitar," his fingerpicking style was formative in the development of country music. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him number 21 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.

Here's his Wikipedia page:

Chet Atkins - Wikipedia 

Earl Klugh is probably the least well known, because he didn't cross over from jazz to pop like Benson did. But he's still sold millions of albums. He's also the connection that made this trio work, since he had links to both Benson and Atkins. At first glance, Atkins was country and had little to do with jazz musicians Benson and Klugh. But Klugh got interested in playing guitar as a child after watching Atkins perform on TV. He ended up guesting on some of Atkins' albums, and Atkins guested on one of his. Later on, he also played on on of Benson's albums and was a member of his touring band for about a year. In 1987, they would release an album together, called "Collaboration."

Here's his Wikipedia page:

Earl Klugh - Wikipedia 

Basically, this concert alternated between Benson, Atkins, and Klugh performing together, and playing off each other, and short solo sets. All in all, Benson played three songs solo, Atkins played four songs solo, Klugh played three songs solo, and the three of them played four songs together. Unfortunately, the last song they played together, "Bluesette," fades out after less than two minutes because that's when the hour-long time slot for the show ended. I couldn't find any way to fill in the rest of the song since the three of these guys playing together was so unique. I just kept in as much as I could.

The video of this concert is available on YouTube, and I imagine it's been there for a long time. But this is probably the first time it has been converted to an audio bootleg. The conversion process was relatively easy for me, but I had to do some sleuthing to figure out the names of all of the songs. There's one song Benson did that I just call "Instrumental." I found lots of comments on YouTube asking about this song, and nobody knew the name. It could be an original that he never put on album. If anyone knows the name of it, please let me know.

This unreleased album is 59 minutes long.

01 Cherokee [Instrumental] [Edit] (George Benson, Chet Atkins & Earl Klugh)
02 Weekend in L.A. [Instrumental] (George Benson)
03 The Greatest Love of All (George Benson)
04 Instrumental (George Benson)
05 talk (George Benson)
06 Oh Lonesome Me [Instrumental] (George Benson, Chet Atkins & Earl Klugh)
07 Cascade [Instrumental] (Chet Atkins)
08 talk (Chet Atkins)
09 Don't Think Twice, It's Alright [Instrumental Version] (Chet Atkins)
10 Kentucky [Instrumental] (Chet Atkins)
11 talk (Chet Atkins)
12 The Stars and Stripes Forever [Instrumental] (Chet Atkins)
13 Manha de Carnaval [A Day in the Life of a Fool] [Instrumental] (George Benson, Chet Atkins & Earl Klugh)
14 Jolanta [Instrumental] (Earl Klugh)
15 Dr. Makumba [Instrumental] (Earl Klugh)
16 Cry a Little While [Instrumental] (Earl Klugh)
17 Bluesette [Instrumental] [Edit] (George Benson, Chet Atkins & Earl Klugh)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/Puu3KYoR

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/0hxXdy6JHydUfOo/file

I had a very difficult time making the cover image. It is a photo from this exact concert. I felt I had no choice since I couldn't find any other instances of these three people together. But the YouTube video I used as a source was very low-res. So I had to put it together in pieces. I took one screenshot of all three of them. Then I took screenshots to focus on their faces, to get more accuracy there. I used Photoshop to resize some pieces and put them all together. I also used Krea AI multiple times, adding detail to different parts too. 

By the way, from left to right, that's Chet Atkins, George Benson, and Earl Klugh.