"Elvis In Concert"

[zimmerman]

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=isLP_r111NY


It had been an increasingly uneasy period for Elvis, as he was still struggling to shake off his addiction to prescription drugs and was basically bored with life in general. His last album was recorded at Graceland, and even though Elvis liked the setup, one more session was produced at Graceland in the Fall of 1976 and his producer, Felton Jarvis, had to resort to going on tour to catch some song that Elvis never recorded.

Longtime body guards and close friends, brothers Red and Sonny West, had just recently left the Elvis entourage and had just released a tell-all book, "Elvis: What Happened?" which exposed to the world his dependence on prescription drugs.

Elvis managed to get a new girlfriend in the form of Ginger Alden (who makes a cameo appearance in the special) and almost got married. Record-wise, the only major success the King of Rock and Roll was having was in the country market. On top of all this, Colonel Parker continued to send his client on numerous tours across the counrtry, because the concerts brought in the money. It was this enviornment that festered Elvis' last TV special.

According to Jerry Hopkins' "Elvis: The Biography", Colonel Parker decided to go with CBS for this new special because he had "issues" with NBC with how they treated Elvis in his last two successful concert specials "Elvis ('68 Comeback)" and "Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii" Ernst Jorgenson, from page 405 of "elvis Presley: A Life in Music", "The Colonel knew, as Elvis would have if he could have admitted it, that the only motivation here was money. There was no reason for the deteriorating and increasingly erratic star to attempt the challenge of attracting a new audience, or even rallying the true believers, with another televised concert. But the deal was struck, and the footage for the special was filmed at two June shows in Omaha, Nebraska and Rapid City, South Dakota." The Omaha concert had a number of problems, but Elvis put extra attention and care into the Rapid City engagement because he never played in that city before. He even tried to lose some weight (as much as he could lose in two days) and could just barely fit into his white "Sundial" suit when it came for showtime. As you see Elvis and his entourage backstage as he gets ready, you can see him struggling to fit into his outfit.

To give a different vibe for an Elvis concert special, the shows producers, Gary Smith and Dwight Hemion, decided to include comments about Elvis from the fans attending the shows. In addition, to make up for the weak moments (and to create the illusion that Elvis did a 'perfect' concert) they incorporated stories from fans. During "Are You Lonesome Tonight", they inserted a story from a young lady who became an Elvis fan when she him kissing "The Polio Poster Child" on TV and always wanted to go to one of his concerts. She almost went to a show a few days after Christmas 1976, but had to have emergency surgery, and how she was not going to miss this concert, saying that Elvis is the only performer she would actually go to see in person. Also interviewed is a middle-aged couple who survived a tornado in Sioux City. They tell of how their kids were at their grandmothers and did not get injured, even though their rooms got majorly damaged, and how they saved their tickets and were still determined to go see Elvis. During the closing "Can't Help Falling In Love" we are treated to a rare interview with Elvis' father, Vernon Presley. Among the things he talks about was when Elvis' mothe Gladys died, Vernon eventually remarried and moved out of Graceland into his own house on the grounds.

Among the musical highlights of the program include the trademark opener, "See See Rider", with some interseting footwork from Elvis, perhaps the best latter-period version of "That's All Right", an intimate "jam session" version of "Early Morning Rain", and a great ballad version of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" which was the only performance from the Omaha show that was used in the special. Even though I never particuarly cared for the song, Elvis here delivers perhaps the best version of "You Gave Me A Mountain" EVER, using the pain of losing Priscilla to divorce a few years earlier, to bring a great dramatic edge to the second verse.

Another winning highlight of the special is his show-stopping version of "How Great Thou Art." I am not exactly sure where Elvis was spiritually at this late stage of his life, but he must have been trying to get back into the fold so to speak, because when I watched this segment for the first time on February 9th, 2011, Elvis was literally glowing as he turned his back to the audience, and delivered an amazing performace of the Stuart K. Hine hymn classic (even though we only see the back sides of JD Sumner and the Stamps as they are singing their solo) with Elvis hitting some amazing notes you never thought he would hit at this late stage of his career, and is by far the best performance in the whole special. Ironically, that "glow" still stayed with him for a few more minutes as he moved on to more secular numbers.

Even though this special turned out to be a chronicle of Elvis last days of live perfrorming, there are a couple of lighthearted moments. Twice during the concert,, as he was singing the "Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel" medley and "Hound Dog" , Elvis and Charlie Hodge throw numerous 'Elvis Scarves' for the ladies, and it is interesting to watch the range of women of all ages wanting a peice of the King. even the senior citizens! Unlike Aloha From Hawaii and even the concert films "that's The Way It Is" and "Elvis on Tour" we get a chance to see the crew setting up, testing equipment, and getting ready for the show. With Colonel Parker's circus background, it is interesting to see how he turned the Elvis shows into a carnival, complete with Cotton Candy and popcorn.

You also get to experience the Elvis souvenir concession stands, where you can get Elvis buttons, Elvis concert programs, Elvis belt-buckles, giant size oil-painting replica pprtrait posters of Elvis, and even Elvis necklaces for the ladies!
Surprisingly, no one was selling any of Elvis' records at the concession stands: you would think that a performer with the clout and magnitude of Elvis would have a vendor selling Elvis records at his own concerts!!

The end of the program has Vernon Presley at a room in Graceland surrounded by boxes and boxes of sympathy cards and letters thanking the people for their correspondance and is working their way at reading all of them, and telling the folks that "The Performance that you have just seen was Elvis' last live performance on stage" even though his final show was in Indianaplolis on June 25, a few days after this performance was filmed.


The first link had the first half of the special since YouTube suspended the account that I watched this on last year. Most of the footage, including some that did not make it to television, appears here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfVmXLDmzEU