Elvis in Concert (1977)

Wonderfully offbeat film!

one of my absolute favorites!

It is a performances centric movie

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

I rate Elvis in Concert a 10 for the simple fact that, by complete accident, it captured the single greatest entertainer in music history in his final concert tour. The footage has thus achieved a resonance and importance it didn't really deserve. Indeed, if the rumours are right, the producers of the TV special had decided in early August 1977 to shelve the material and wait for a better concert. Of course, there were no more concerts, so a compilation of two shows from the June 1977 tour were shown on CBS in October of that year as the last testament of Elvis Aron Presley.To this day, EIC remains the only official Presley product to not have been released on VHS or DVD in its' complete form. Why? Well, the reason is painfully obvious to those of us who have seen off-air recordings of the special, or the various DVD/VCD bootlegs. Years of drug abuse and an appalling diet largely consisting of junk food had, by, mid-77, wrought havoc on Presley's system, and it shows in the TV special. The once-stunning rock god, handsomer than a Greek statue and capable of belting out 90 minutes of stage magic without breaking a sweat, was by the time of EIC an overweight, chronically stoned parody of himself. Presley is more or less out on his feet for the special. His voice remains powerful, though it is no longer daring, but the man himself is virtually immobile for the duration. Static, somnolent, sometimes literally clinging to the mike, sweat running off his bloated face in sheets, Presley in EIC is ripped out of his mind and terribly ill. Lyrics are slurred, stage movements are beyond minimal, and the rambling conversations with the audience and band (seen in outtakes, but cut from the special for the most part) got longer and more disjointed as the final end approached. All but one performance in the special is taken from the June 21st gig in Rapid City, with 'My Way' edited in from a show two days earlier in Omaha. Neither show is good, and it is baffling why the oft-bootlegged and easily superior June 26 tour-closer concert in Indianapolis was not filmed.Even though the Rapid City show is at best lacklustre, it was a towering triumph compared to Omaha. The bootleg of the uncut Omaha show is painful to watch - the man is clearly blasted out of his mind on Dilaudid and Seconal, disoriented, immobile, barely conscious. The sole highlight of this show, chosen for the special, has seen release on official products - and I am curious as to why everyone seems to think that showing a live take of Presley delivering a song he'd been singing for years *with the lyric sheet held in front of him* was a good move.Anyway, the special itself. The June 21st show is a fair example of his final tour, Elvis delivering sometimes good but mostly cookie-cutter versions of his old and new favourites, taking time out to wander slowly around the stage to do the inevitable scarf-dispensing. Albert Goldman and others have heaped scorn on EIC, describing how poor Presley looks and how wasted he seems. I have no reason to stand up for Elvis, not any desire to do so, but come onnnnnnnn, he's NOWHERE NEAR as bad physically and musically as those hacks would have you believe. But that is not to say that EIC is some kind of neglected gem. The man is very obviously in poor shape, the singing and stage presence are not remotely close to his usual standard, and it is only on tracks like Hurt, the gospel tracks (E dearly loved the old religious tunes, and it shows) and Unchained Melody that we get anything approaching the old magic. The man *did* had magic, once; in fact, he still had it not so long before this special. John Lennon was right in saying that before Presley, there was nothing. And now, in the last weeks of his life, the tank has, regrettably, almost run dry. We see in EIC the last flicker before the death on the toilet and the return to that nothing that preceded him. And in the case of Unchained Melody, it is quite sad to see a sweat-drenched Presley crouched at the piano, using the very last of his fading strength to belt out the lyrics. You don't feel like laughing at 'Fat Elvis' when you watch EIC, or at least you don't if you have any human feelings. You feel what I felt - sympathy. For God's sake, E, take a year off, get clean from the pills, and just REST.A strange experience, Elvis In Concert. A must for the fans, a curio for those fascinated by the late 70s music scene. This is the end, dear friends. And just as a closer, I am not a fan of his music. At all.

CBS filmed two shows (19th and 21st June). The first was not very good, caused by drugs and stage fright. On the second night, Elvis pulled himself together and delivered a great show, or as great as he could in 1977. The final TV Special was only 50 minutes long, contained a lot of fan footage and Vernon Presley talking about Elvis both before and after his death. Only few songs are actually shown and it becomes clear, that the producers tried to avoid showing too many close-up shots of Elvis's face, which was bloated, tired and sweating. My thoughts are: - it is sad to see Elvis so close to death, and he really looked a dying man - he can't walk very well, so he just stands there, all of the 1969 energy gone - yet he puts so much into his singing, just check out "Tryin to get to you" - Let's hope for an official release of all the material shot (a box set similar to the other TV shows) - there are bootleg editions of Elvis in Concert which are edited together from all material available - the original TV special is definitely too short, it will leave you craving for more.Conclusion: everybody should be able to see it. Depending on the mood you're in, you will either start crying over seeing a dying man or you will marvel at Elvis's voice, still that strong and his sense of humor which keep the audience and the band members so fascinated.

This is last TV special of three Elvis Presley ever made. '68 Comeback Special was perfect rock 'n' roll concert, Aloha from Hawaii was concert with all kind of songs and perfect, and this is sad image of a man who started it all but who had to die young because of it.The King sings great songs from early days, including Jailhouse Rock and Hound Dog. He still rock, but doesn't look that good than he did few years ago.After all, this is great concert, and good testament to you all from the King of music.10/10

This was far cry from the Elvis Presley from years earlier. In fact, this was a far cry from the Elvis from six months earlier that gave five exciting concerts in December 1976. The saddest thing about the show is that if it had been filmed in December, instead of June, many non-Elvis fans would have seen how great Elvis still was.Instead, CBS choose to record Elvis on June 19 and June 21 of 1977. Neither one of these concerts could be considered good, especially if you knew Elvis gave his best concerts in 1977 just four days later on June 25 (and June 26), 1977. What makes the special worse is the bad editing by CBS.I have seen `pre-stock' footage of both June 19 and June 21 concerts, before CBS butchered them and while Elvis was in bad shape, CBS made it worse with their editing. It is hard to explain to people who have only heard of this concert very briefly, that CBS' attempt to keep Elvis clean actually made him look worse. This can be seen especially on SEE SEE RIDER, where Elvis huffs and puffs. The entire footage from both days have better scenes of Elvis playing guitar, and they pick out the bad part.To this date, this concert is basically been blackballed by EPE (Elvis Presley Enterprises) and I can't blame them in one way. The editing by CBS wasn't the only reason this special was banned. Elvis Presley was dying from self-indulgence, caused by his abuse of food, drugs, and his lack of being an artist. Elvis was so over, that he could fart on stage and fans would go nuts. A cuss word from Elvis make fans pee in their pants. He was so over with the fans that he self-destructed.I have heard tapes and 8mm footage from 1977 that proved Elvis still had it, barely, but Elvis In Concert barely proves it.