Just Pretend is a song which despite it’s status as a mere album track, and without a single release, has become a firm favourite with Elvis’ extensive fanbase and the appearance of a filmed live version in 1992 was a definite highlight of “The Lost Performances” ‘Just Pretend’ was a song which was had long been synonymous with TTWII, since the studio master was on the original 1970 album. It would always be difficult to replicate the magnificent controlled vocal on stage particularly with the constant changes between verse and chorus. However, Elvis still does a wonderful job but this version is slightly eclipsed by the version twenty four hours later, where a slight tweak in the mix gives a little more prominence to the french horn and Millie Kirkhham’s soprano. This version featuring Ms. Kirkham, is of course the version included in both “Lost Performances” and the 2001 re-edited That’s The Way It Is movie. Strangely, however, the producers of the re-edited movie decided to edit out Elvis’ introduction to “Just Pretend” and replace it with the spoken introduction to “There Goes My Everything”!! During the six shows filmed by MGM, Elvis performed the song twice and both versions at successive midnight shows on the 11th and 12th of August 1970. The song itself would be one of the few songs recorded in Nashville in June 1970 to survive the setlist deep into the seventies. Although others from these sessions would be visited through the years only ‘You Don’t have To Say You Love Me’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ would endure as long with the latter surviving until the very end. It must be said though that of the three mentioned ‘Just Pretend’ was largely ignored from March 71 through until December 75 with the exception being the surprise inclusion in his show in Hawaii on 18 November 1972. During Elvis’ Vegas engagement of December 1975, an engagement arranged in response to the abandoned August stint, the song had a renaissance with Elvis performing it in the majority of those shows. The final version from the closing show of that engagement shows Elvis in good voice, and is very similar to those first two August 1970 renditions, but with the soprano provided by Kathy Westmoreland in that instance whereas on 11 and 12 Aug 70 it had been Millie Kirkham. 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!
