Elvis in Concert (1977)

Why so much hype?

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

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 1977 TV programed is an emotional ride for any Elvis fan. It is disturbing & very sad. It is almost a parody of Elvis! It is however required viewing to understand the final moments of the legend that was ELVIS. Colonel Parker should have had Elvis in hospital, not on a dreadful treadmill of continuous concerts. Talk about flogging a dead horse! This concert is only available on bootleg at the moment, but it is the last 'major' unreleased Elvis material that (money-making) EPE owns. So I am sure it will be released at some point - possibly after August 2007, Elvis' 30th anniversary. There is always a heated debate within the Elvis community about whether this performance should get an official release. Should we accept Elvis for all his faults and his painful last concerts, or should we accept EPE's policy of glorifying the god-like Elvis mega-star and deny that anything changed after 'Aloha' and 1973? I hope that this show will be released but through the 'Elvis Fan Club' label "Follow That Dream", so that the tabloids don't start on that 'drugged/fat Elvis' rubbish all over again. IF it is newly released to the general public then this CBS concert ought to be upgraded to show Elvis in a better light than the original rush-released and very dated 1977 TV version.Non Elvis fans should stick to 'That's The way It Is' or 'Aloha' instead. Interested Elvis fans can find lots more info and a review of the bootleg version by checking out sites like the Elvis Information Network website or others. In some ways there should be a warning on this release as it is definitely NOT Elvis at his best. Far from it.

The CBS Special stands as a piece of history which I think has not received the care and respect it deserves from EPE. The badly-edited footage (you have to see the unedited footage to really appreciate Elvis' work) has been relegated to the Graceland attic and that's a shame.The emotional punch this production packs should be enough to warrant an official DVD release. I think that to any Elvis fan, Elvis remained Elvis. EPE seems to think that it's OK to write off the last three years of his life, which to me are as important as any other.The Elvis that appears in the CBS Special, is, and this has been said ad nauseam, in bad shape physically, sometimes slightly incoherent but he is possibly the most "human" Elvis ever caught on film. He is flawed, he is shy, he is hokey at times (in the way that a teenager would find his/her dad hokey) but he is humble, and remarkably likable.Being an E fan, I enjoy watching his concert documentaries and I must say that I much prefer 1977 Elvis to his previous incarnations. Of course, as a showman, he was truly dynamic and possibly at his best in the 68 Special and "That's the way it is", but in 1977, he had lost this arrogance that characterized his late 60s/early 70s persona and was obviously comfortable sharing himself, as he was, with his audience.His voice is as powerful as ever (perhaps more), he enjoys his audience. You can plainly see and hear that he is bored with some of his older songs (I can't blame him - how many years can you sing Hound Dog at every single concert without getting absolutely sick of it), but watch how his face lights up when he sings "Hurt". Through the first two lines of the song, he's looking back at the band and grinning with joy. Same thing for the extremely moving "Unchained Melody" (which was inexplicably NOT included in the final CBS footage but is available in the unedited concert footage). He ends the song with a final flourish and you can just see how pleased he is, grinning, loving what he is doing.EPE is doing the world of Elvis fans a great disservice by refusing to re-release this amazing production. It has much more "meat" to it than the blah Aloha Special where Elvis, while looking superbly iconic and in fine voice, is wooden and emotionally removed from the whole thing.One final word: if you watch the CBS Special, you will notice that the use of the word "fat" is unwarranted and incorrect. Elvis was certainly bigger by then, and he has the typical middle-aged sedentary guy "spare tire", but he is otherwise not particularly big. His face is not as much fat as it is bloated. But if you watch the Unchained Melody footage, make sure to catch that brief moment, about halfway through the song, where he pauses for a second, turns to the audience and smiles. In that one instant, you can plainly see Elvis from 10 years before, and, in this context, it'll both break your heart - knowing that he has such little time left - and make you love him.What a great guy. I still miss him.