Afternoon in the Garden

AN AFTERNOON IN THE GARDEN features the entirety of Elvis' afternoon performance on June 10, 1972 at Madison Square Garden, in the middle of a three-day stand that marked his first-ever concerts in New York City. The evening show from June 10 was released in 1972 as ELVIS AS RECORDED AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN.
Personnel includes: Elvis Presley, Kathy Westmoreland, The Sweet Inspirations, J.D. Sumner & The Stamps (vocals); Charlie Hodge (guitar, vocals); James Burton, John Wilkinson (guitar); Glen D. Hardin (piano); Jerry Scheff (bass).
Producers: Ernst Mikael Jorgensen, Roger Semon.
Recorded live at Madison Square Garden, New York, New York on June 10, 1972. Includes liner notes by Colin Escott.
Personnel: Charlie Hodge (vocals, guitar); J.D. Sumner & the Stamps, Kathy Westmoreland (vocals); John Wilkinson, James Burton (guitar); Glen D. Hardin (piano).
Audio Mixer: Dennis Ferrante.
Liner Note Author: Colin Escott.
Recording information: Madison Square Garden (06/10/1972).
In June 1972, Elvis Presley returned to New York City for his first performances there since an Ed Sullivan Show appearance in late 1956. His shows at Madison Square Garden were, in fact, his first full concerts in New York: During previous visits to the Big Apple, Presley had only performed a few numbers in television studios. Accordingly, Presley's four shows at Madison Square Garden were the subject of mammoth hype, with a live album to be released one week after the stint ended.
That album, ELVIS AS RECORDED AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, was recorded during the evening show on Saturday, June 10. Earlier that day Presley performed a matinee, which RCA also recorded; that show was not released until 1997, as AN AFTERNOON AT THE GARDEN (although three songs from this performance appear on ELVIS-A LEGENDARY PERFORMER VOL. 4). The matinee, like the evening show, features a mix of Elvis hits and songs first popularized by other artists, such as "For the Good Times" (Ray Price, Kris Kristofferson) and "Proud Mary" (Creedence Clearwater Revival). In fact, the lineup of songs on the two albums is nearly identical: the performances vary only slightly.