Elvis in Concert
Elvis in Concert | |
---|---|
Written by | Annett Wolf |
Directed by | Dwight Hemion |
Starring | Elvis Presley |
Music by | Joe Guercio Felton Jarvis |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Dwight Hemion Gary Smith Rita Scott (associate producer) Bernard Sofronski (supervising producer) |
Editor | Andy Zall |
Running time | 50 minutes |
Original release | |
Release | October 3, 1977 |
Elvis In Concert is a
Description
On June 1, 1977, it was announced that Elvis Presley had signed a deal with CBS for a new television special. It was agreed that CBS would videotape concerts during the summer of 1977. The final special was culled from footage of two performances, on June 19, 1977, in Omaha, and June 21, 1977, in Rapid City, South Dakota; albeit much of the footage from Omaha was considered unusable due to sound and performance problems.[4] This concert has been heavily edited and bootlegs have appeared on auction web sites over the years. The show was shot on NTSC videotape although many film conversions have appeared over the years. The crew also filmed footage of Elvis at the airport in Indianapolis on June 26. This is the last known footage of Elvis ever filmed, and he can be seen wearing his favorite DEA jacket.
During the special, Presley performs a number of songs spanning his career. During one song, "
Presley also sings his much-performed "My Way", although he has to use a lyric sheet on this occasion, despite having performed the song through the 1970s without having to refer to a lyric sheet. Presley also left both of his then-current singles, “Moody Blue” and “Way Down”, off the setlist; earlier in the tour, Presley had forgotten the lyrics to "Moody Blue" when attempting to perform it in North Carolina on February 20. Due to multiple audience requests the following night (also in North Carolina), Presley performed "Moody Blue" once again for the first and last time live and complete, lyrics in hand, the only time he would do so in his lifetime.
According to Roy Carr and Mick Farren in Elvis: The Illustrated Record, CBS officials considered postponing broadcast of the special in hopes of obtaining better performance footage of Presley, but his death in August 1977 cancelled this plan.[6] Its broadcast received mixed reaction; Carr and Farren condemned it as a "travesty", adding, "Had it been shown during his lifetime, it would have caused more irrevocable damage to what was left of his career than almost a decade of starring in third-rate movies."[6]
A misconception regarding Elvis in Concert stems from a statement broadcast by Presley's father,
Reviews
AllMusic called it Presley's worst, saying, "it's hard to believe that CBS-TV actually would have aired the show if Presley hadn't died two months later, making it his final recorded performance (and making his records big sellers again)."[8] The fan site Elvis Information Network deemed the program "a challenging special to watch... The pudginess of his face and his substantial girth is a long way from the panther like sleekness exhibited in Elvis: That's the Way It Is, a documentary about Presley released in 1970."[3]
It was the highest rated prime time program of the week upon its airing, with a 33.0 Nielsen rating representing 24.1 million homes.[9]
Official release
This special has never been released on VHS, Betamax, LaserDisc, CED or DVD, and Elvis' estate has issued a statement saying that they have "no plans" to release the special, due to the fact that Elvis was visibly "far from his best in the way he looked and the way he performed".[2] The company is long-believed to have a policy that refuses to license any product that portrays Elvis as overweight.[10][page needed]
Footage from this special has, however, appeared elsewhere on home video: the performances of "Are You Lonesome Tonight", "Love Me" and "My Way" were used in 1981's This Is Elvis, and the performance of "Unchained Melody" (which was not featured on the original CBS telecast) appeared in the 1990 home video release The Great Performances, Volume One: Center Stage. And there has been no prohibition on the soundtrack being reissued over the years (see below). Some clips of the special were used as the basis of scenes in the movie Elvis directed by Baz Luhrmann.
List of songs / scenes
- Elvis fans' comments
- Footage of stage setup and pre-show souvenir sales
- Introduction ("Also sprach Zarathustra")
- "See See Rider"
- "That's All Right"
- "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" (combined with a fan's comment)
- "Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel"
- Elvis fans' comments
- "You Gave Me a Mountain"
- "Jailhouse Rock"
- Elvis fans' comments
- "How Great Thou Art"
- Elvis fans' comments
- "I Really Don't Want To Know"
- Elvis introduces his father, Vernon, and his girlfriend Ginger Alden
- "Hurt"
- "Hound Dog"
- "My Way"
- "Can't Help Falling in Love" (combined with Vernon's comment on Elvis' early career)
- Closing vamp
- Final message from Vernon Presley
Personnel
- Elvis Presley – vocals, acoustic guitar, piano
- James Burton – lead guitar
- John Wilkinson – rhythm guitar
- Charlie Hodge – acoustic guitar, vocals
- Jerry Scheff – bass
- Ronnie Tutt – drums
- Tony Brown – piano
- Stamps Quartet, Kathy Westmoreland – vocals
- Joe Guercio – orchestra
- Bobby Ogdin - electric piano and keyboard, clavinet
Soundtrack
RCA Records released a soundtrack album in conjunction with the television special's broadcast. The album augments the televised performances with a second album of additional recordings made during the Omaha and Rapid City concerts. The concert soundtrack album was released in October 1977 and reached #5 on the Billboard album charts. The album, however, omitted many of the features from the TV show; including some of the fans' comments, audio of the stage setup and souvenir sales, the fan's comment during "Are You Lonesome Tonight?", and Vernon Presley's comment during "Can't Help Falling in Love".
References
Notes
- ^ BBC Genome Project - Radio Times listings
- ^ a b c For Elvis Fans Only: Press Release From Presley Estate Archived 2009-05-04 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b Elvis Information Network: Elvis in Concert VCD Review Archived 2008-09-08 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Focus on Elvis: Elvis on Tour 1977". Archived from the original on 2006-01-04.
- ^ Memmer, Darrin (2001). Elvis Presley – The 1977 CBS Television Special. Morris Publishing.
- ^ a b Carr and Farren (1982), p. 166.
- ^ Carr and Farren (1982), p. 140.
- ^ allmusic.com, "Elvis in Concert". Accessed 11 December 2012.
- ^ (12 October 1977). ABC Retains Grip on Audience, Abilene Reporter-News (Associated Press story) ("CBS' "Elvis in Concert," taped highlights of two of Elvis Presley's last live shows, was the week's most watched program. Broadcast on the night of Oct. 3, it was seen in an estimated 24.1 million homes.")
- ^ Sean O'Neal, Elvis Inc.: The Fall and Rise of the Presley Empire (1997).
Bibliography
- Roy Carr and Mick Farren, Elvis: The Illustrated Record (Harmony Books, 1982).