 |
 |
The fascination fans have with Elvis’ final year is quite bizarre. By 1977 Elvis was running on low, his set-list had become stagnant and his shows were often perfunctory at best. Elvis’ concerts were low-energy and fans were lucky to hear Elvis perform any rare song in his predictable set-list. This 4-sided Digi Pack includes six concerts from the 8 concerts that Elvis performed on this planned 12 date second tour of March 1977. Elvis would have to cancel the final four dates and was hospitalised in Memphis in the early hours of April 1. This FTD set was released at the end of December 2024. The following concerts are featured in this The Last Tours Vol.2 release All soundboards previously unreleased except for March 30 Alexandria.
This second tour marked a decline in Elvis’ repertoire as both Polk Salad Annie and Unchained Melody were never performed, presumably because Elvis didn’t feel up to doing the PSA moves or any demanding vocals. However wanting to add something memorable for his loving fans at a lot of shows Elvis decided to get “back to basics” and perform some songs, kicking off with ‘That’s All Right’ jamming on his acoustic guitar. The only real rarities performed in the whole tour were ‘Bosom of Abraham / You Better Run’ in Alexandria March 29. Elvis would also sing ‘Steamroller Blues’ in Austin March 28, the only time he would perform the fan-favourite in the whole of 1977. Felton Jarvis was desperate for extra material to fill out Elvis’ next LP so he recorded some material onto a basic 4-track tape machine from multiple shows from 26 March through to 3 May. Some of these recording were compiled for the ‘Spring Tours 77’ FTD release back in 2002. As in the previous tour it appears that the soundboard recordings were only started after Elvis’ always-the-same-routine concert start and often stopped during the lengthy and repetitive introductions and solos. The introductions in Abilene were however recorded. The Sherrill Nielsen solos have been omitted. The March 23rd Tempe, Arizona Opening Show is not included so the soundboard is presumably lost while FTD have previously released the 24 March Amarillo concert on 'Amarillo '77' back in 2011. There seems little reason to repeat it here especially as it was a rather poor show including an incredibly embarrassing version of ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’. The following highlights from this tour were included as ‘Bonus Songs’ on the FTD ‘Amarillo 77’ Trying To Get To You (Abilene March 27) None of the ‘multi-track’ recordings from these same shows are included, which makes fans wonder how FTD will decide to release all those particular recordings in the future. Elvis’ next tour April 21st - May 3rd 1977 is known for its Felton Jarvis multi-track recordings (see FTD 2002 release ‘Spring Tours 77’) including at the well-respected show in Ann Arbor so that perhaps give us something to look forward to. After Elvis' first February tour finished new pianist Bobby Ogden replaced David Briggs so the previously regular solo of ‘Love Letters’ was dropped. David Briggs left when, at the last show on the tour, Elvis found out David was now dating his ex-girlfriend Linda Thompson. This tour was in trouble from the start when cousin Billy Smith found that he could hardly wake Elvis to get him onto the plane for the first date of the tour. He wrote, “Elvis sat slumped with his hat over his eyes, he was slurring his words” and that Dr Nick also had to use IV drips to help Elvis wake up. Perhaps this second tour of 1977 is best summed up by a quote from the 1978 Ed Parker book ‘Inside Elvis’ “Elvis was like an old battery that could no longer hold its charge” There is however one positive in that Elvis didn’t sound as ‘Nasal’ as during the previous tour when he was suffering with cold and throat issues.
Audio Quality: Luckily for us the quality of the soundboards are all very good, the mix of instruments, backing-vocals and orchestra is fine, as is the clarity. Sadly, of course, the quality of the soundboards improved over the years while Elvis’ performances got worse! The sound quality only dips on the first Norman show which has a hissy, quieter sound quality, although it does improve as the show goes on. During ‘Love Me Tender’ at the last Alexandria show a 2-second drop-out is heard, this was edited out of the previous 'Amarillo' FTD and bootleg releases.
Ticket stubs are included and the tracklist is on the back cover. The presentation, which is very similar to FTD’s ‘Last Tours Vol 1’, is good. It's a shame that FTD spelt Oklahoma incorrectly and once again spelt Sherrill Nielsen’s name wrong – as they did with the last 1977 set.
DISC 1: Norman, Oklahoma 25 & 26 March 1977 - r/t 63 mins Norman, Oklahoma, March 25, 1977 Kicking off with ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ Elvis sounds tired and lacklustre and it shows with a rather weak ending. ‘Love Me’ sounds weak and ‘Jailhouse Rock’ very routine. On this tour Elvis repeats the usual Sherrill Nielsen coupling ‘O Sole Mio / It’s Now or Never' but tonight Elvis’ voices wavers and he lacks the power to impress – although no doubt the crowd lapped it up. Afterwards Elvis says he would like to perform “some medleys which you have heard before but you’re going to hear them again!” ‘Little Sister’ / ‘Teddy Bear / Don’t Be Cruel’ are again crowd-pleasers but low-energy and completely forgettable. Elvis then says he would like to do ‘My Way’ “I have to read it as I don’t know the words to it” but then comments “In fact I can’t read it”. Oh, it’s all so disappointing. ‘My Way’ ends up being a concert highlight as it is not too bad a version, the sad lyrics emphasised by Elvis’ wavering vibrato. “And now the end is near” indeed. ‘Fever’ is low-energy and forgettable although the crowd screams with delight. At this point the Introductions and band solos would last about 13 minutes in a concert than only ran 65 minutes in total. Every night was all-too-similar and so it hardly matters that they are missing here. Similarly to his first 77 tour, after the respite of “Band Introductions” Elvis would perform ‘Hurt’ and then one more song inevitably ‘Hound Dog’ before wrapping up with CHFIL. It showed that Elvis was tired. If Elvis performed anything extra you were lucky. Tonight ‘Hurt’ - with an interrupted mumble of “umm, a record that’s called Hurt” - has Elvis’ pushing himself to try and prove that he ‘still had it’ but like most of the show he still sounds exhausted and gives up on the final note. ‘Hound Dog’ is a throwaway before Elvis says “You are a fantastic audience” and “I think we’re going to be here tomorrow night” but even then doesn’t sound certain. A poor ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ wraps up a very disappointing show. It was said that Elvis had hardly had any sleep before this performance and it sure sounds like it.
Norman, Oklahoma, March 26, 1977 The tape missed the first two songs but Elvis thankfully sounds better and jokes, ”Just relax and enjoy the show... It’s Saturday night and I just got paid, gonna fool with all my money”. ‘Love Me’ is routine but you can hear Elvis laughing, feeling in better spirits, and enjoying himself this night. ‘Help Me’, not often performed in 1977, is a nice addition and not too badly performed although Elvis does sing it better two nights later. ‘If You Love Me (Let Me Know)’ is quite well sung again showing that Elvis had more energy this night. ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ is similarly better than the previous night Next up is the set of crowd-pleasing oldies. An easy-going ‘Love Me Tender’ “so I can walk around” has Elvis amusingly changing a line to ‘take me to your leader’. ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ - “not Jailhouse Rock tonight” Elvis comments - is ok, as is “smart Alec” ‘O Sole Mio / It’s Now or Never’ and also ‘Fever’. Elvis decides to impress his fans, “I’d like to play the guitar and do a couple of songs” - note that this following part of his performance has been previously released by FTD on the “multitrack” 'Spring Tours' compile. ‘That’s All Right’ is performed with some energy tonight and while the usual 1977 jokey ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ does have a few missed words it’s a ‘passable’ performance and way better than the disastrous Amarillo 24 March version. Elvis notes, “I know it’s a strange time of year” but ‘Blue Christmas’ that follows is also OK. It was the only performance this tour and his first outing since Las Vegas Christmas season 1976. Before ‘My Way’ Elvis says, “It’s cold up here JD, it’s cold up here son” whether Elvis was meaning ‘vocally cold’ and he felt alone or just the venue’s temperature I do not know. For once Elvis doesn’t mention needing the lyric sheet but then misses out verses 3 & 4 “Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew”. Someone must have glanced at Elvis because he says “sorry” after he suddenly realises that he has started the final verse too early. Being only a 2 minute version it’s a disappointment, especially considering that it was a concert highlight. At this point Elvis started the Band Introductions and the soundboard tape was stopped. We really miss nothing as Hurt and Hound Dog were the only songs performed before closing the show. At least Elvis sounded stronger tonight and put on a better performance. FTD must have thought the same since they chose That’s All Right / Are You Lonesome Tonight / Blue Christmas and Blue Suede Shoes for release on their multi-track ‘Spring Tours 77’ release.
DISC 2: Abilene, Texas, March 27 & Austin Tx March 28 - r/t 75 minutes Abilene, Texas, March 27, 1977 Elvis is up for ‘Jailhouse Rock’ tonight and it’s not bad for 77. Then the usual “smart Alec” annoying-wailing-trumpet ‘O Sole Mio / It’s Now Or Never’ which is actually ok and would have been impressive had you been in the audience. Elvis decides against ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ and instead does “a special request from Super-Baby” ‘Trying to Get to You’ , “a song we recorded about 18 years ago”. ‘Trying to Get to You’ was not a set-list regular in 1977 so it’s a bit of a treat and while quite a laid-back version, with some nice James Burton guitar, it’s a highlight. It was the only time Elvis would play it on this tour. It was also included on the FTD ‘Amarillo 77’ release. Before the next song Elvis says “I’m gonna play this guitar and do the first song that I ever recorded because I played this town so many times when I first started” (EIN note: Elvis played Abilene Fair Park Auditorium five times in 1955) ‘That’s All Right’ is fine (for 77) despite Elvis restarting after the first chorus when he notes to the band “Listen, you’re losing the feel” and then gets them to follow his acoustic lead. James Burton plays a good solo break and there’s no doubt that Elvis is really enjoying the jam going for “one-more-time” at the end. Afterwards Elvis says “Yes, I am lonesome tonight, every night… This is a very serious song and I have to concentrate.” Of course ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ is the usual clowning with Charlie-Hodge version. Elvis sings “Does your memory stray to a dark cloudy day” and he laughs throughout. It’s just about passable as Elvis doesn’t actually lose his way and the crowd love it. ‘My Way’ “I don’t know the words so I’ll have to read it” is a very good tender ’77 version with 3 lines charmingly ‘spoken’ in the second verse. It works as it’s not so O-T-T as in previous years, a real concert highlight, including a lovely high ending. Afterwards Elvis exclaims “Whoo” knowing he’s got it just right. ‘Fever’ is an ‘ok’ crowd pleaser tonight with plenty of screams coming from his loving fans. Elvis must have been feeling good as he now suggests ‘How Great Thou Art’ which was quite a rarity in 1977. It is an excellent version, Elvis really sings with power and includes two “how great” exclamations at the end. Another concert highlight. During the ‘Introductions’ Elvis says he has “some new people for you to meet” and intros all the singers. ‘Early Morning Rain’ is a shorter version similar to ‘in concert 77’ but nice. ‘What’d I Say’ and ‘Johnny B. Goode’, ‘School Day’ are all OK, if routine. The complete Abilene ‘Introductions and Band Solos’ were included on FTD’s ‘Amarillo 77’ but here the solos are edited out, presumably as there was not enough space on the disc, which thankfully speeds up the show. ‘Hurt’ is certainly ok and a crowd-pleaser although doesn’t include the usual Elvis power-ending. ‘Hound Dog’ is the regular throwaway. At this point Elvis decided to add to the show by asking Sherrill Nielsen to sing ‘Danny Boy’ and ‘Walk With Me.’ This would be the point the soundboard tape was stopped. Which is actually a shame since Elvis then decided to end the concert with two rockers ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ and ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy’. Right from the start this show is easily the best performance from this tour and it was also to a relatively small venue. On the day there were still good seats available, which is surprising as it was a Sunday. It’s a possibility local fans had been disappointed by Elvis’ last concert of October 1974 (see note below). Fans that were there however got a strong show, a surprise ‘off the cuff’ ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy’, ‘Trying To Get To You’ plus highlights of ‘My Way’ (part spoken) and ‘How Great Thou Art’. Unfortunately 9 songs weren’t recorded but Elvis was back on good form, at 75-minutes this was the longest show of the tour and undoubtedly the best concert of the tour. As stated, the complete Introductions, including a great solo from Ronnie Tutt, were on the Amarillo FTD while ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy’ is the missed and unexpected closing highlight. It’s a shame that ‘Lawdy, Miss Clawdy’ which was recorded on multitrack (‘Spring Tours 77’) couldn’t have been added as a final bonus track as a collectors’ treat. To understand the overall impact of this 1977 performance it is interesting to listen to the complete AUDIENCE recording of the show that was released in 1994 on the bootleg ‘King Time in Abilene’.
Austin, Texas, March 28, 1977 A well-sung ‘If You Love Me (Let Me Know)’ has the funny intro, with Elvis joking that it’s called “If you love me let me know and if you don’t then get the f..! That’s the way it goes.” Elvis then shows off his energy and commitment with a fine ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’. ‘Jailhouse Rock’ is ‘ok’ and loved by the crowd, while ‘O Sole Mio / It’s Now or Never’ is the regular crowd-pleasing “smart Alec” ’77 version. Elvis introduces his oldies medley as “Starting with little sister and ending with the bigger sister!” ‘Little Sister’ / ‘Teddy Bear / Don’t Be Cruel’ are passable and get the fans screaming. I’m sure they sounded great if you were there. Once again Elvis suggests “I’d like to play the guitar, believe it or not I know two chords” Tonight ‘That’s All Right’ again suffers from a false start and then after the restart Elvis fluffs the second verse and then notes, “I broke a string”. Not quite the historic moment you hoped for. And a reason that ‘Lonesome Tonight’ was dropped at this show. Luckily Elvis chooses the true 77 rarity ‘Steamroller Blues’ to get everything back on track and it’s pretty good considering that it had not been performed since the previous December with Elvis adding some real energy “I’m a napalm bomb” Whoo! A very gentle ‘Help Me’ follows with Elvis duetting closely with Sherrill Nielsen who he thanks afterwards. (Help Me and Steamroller were both included on ‘Amarillo77’) ‘Fever’ is ok and gets a huge ovation from the crowd. It is also the last track before the Introductions which are omitted here. There are no real extras after the Introductions and it seems obvious that Elvis had had enough. ‘Hurt’ is very routine while ‘Hound Dog’ is the usual throwaway. Elvis says a quick thank you, “Until we meet you again, here’s looking at you kid’’ before a “wise men know when it’s time to go” Can’t Help Falling in Love. Additional notes: Overall it’s a passable show with Elvis showing some energy at times but running only an hour including the lengthy introductions fans got very little real Elvis for their ticket price.
DISC 3: Alexandria, Louisiana, March 29 & 30, 1977 – R/T 68 Mins Alexandria, Louisiana, March 29, 1977 ‘If You Love Me (Let Me Know)’ kicks off the cd and you can immediately notice Elvis on low-energy compared to the last two shows. Whenever Elvis talks to the band or audience he sounds very tired. In fact he hardly reacts with the Alexandria audience at all and a lot of Elvis’ singing is extremely quiet and subdued. ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ is however better with Elvis imparting some energy to the choruses. The oldies are all routine low-energy crowd-pleasers. ‘Jailhouse Rock’ is average for ’77 as are ‘Little Sister’, ‘Teddy Bear / Don’t Be Cruel’ (with a grumpy Elvis false-start), ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ and ‘Fever’. The only thing of note is that during “smart Alec” ‘O Sole Mio / It’s Now or Never’ Elvis laughs when Sherrill Nielsen drops his microphone, “I thought it was a gunshot” he notes. This incident has Elvis make him start again from the beginning so you get two ‘O Sole Mio’s for the price of one - almost as enjoyable as the double J.D. ‘Amen’ dive-bomber trick! The lengthy Introductions follow ‘Fever’ and are omitted here. Afterwards Elvis must have felt better as instead of ‘Hurt’ he gets a flash of inspiration and asks for ‘Why Me Lord’ – a true rarity in 1977 only performed a total of four times. The following section, the highlight of this tour, was all previously released on ‘Amarillo 77’ ‘Why Me Lord’ is ok, even if it features Elvis joking around and cracking J.D. up. Elvis’ mood must have improved as he then suggests, “Let’s call The Stamps out here and do some old gospel songs.” Elvis performed ‘Bosom Of Abraham / You Better Run’ only three times live on stage, once on July 19 1975 in Nassau, December 7 1976 in Vegas and this one time in 1977. ‘Bosom Of Abraham / You Better Run’ is a nice addition, a real treat for the crowd, if not quite as good as in previous years. This is the only live version that has been officially released. ‘How Great Thou Art’ follows and is rather good and again includes the double ‘How Great’ at the ending. The audience rightly give them a lengthy ovation. After all that Elvis knows his work is done, a throwaway ‘Hound Dog’ a super-quick “Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen”, ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ and Elvis was outta there. Alexandria, Louisiana, March 30, 1977 Kicking off with ‘Love Me’ the audience is extremely vocal and Elvis sounds more awake ‘If You Love Me (Let Me Know)’ and ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ – with a restart due to feedback - are both sung well and Elvis has more power in his voice than the previous night. Sadly there would be no “gospel treats” tonight and there would also be a couple of feedback / sound problems. The routine ‘77 oldies follow, ‘Jailhouse Rock’, “smart Alec” wailing-trumpet ‘O Sole Mio / It’s Now Or Never’, ‘Little Sister’, and ‘Teddy Bear / Don’t Be Cruel’. The next three songs, some of the best performed this night, were also included on ‘Amarillo 77’. Elvis only performed ‘And I Love you So’ a couple of times on his first 1977 tours but tonight is slightly spoilt by Elvis changing the lines to “how bad the sound has been - just kidding” but is otherwise a nice treat. Interestingly on this release FTD have edited out the part beforehand where Elvis was disgruntled with his audio engineers Bruce Jackson and Felton Jarvis who he gets to come up on stage with him to check out why the sound was so bad. This section was included on 'Amarillo '77' ‘Fever’ is a surprisingly well sung and focused tonight – the crowd claps along - and it’s a very decent version. But we already knew this as it was featured on both Amarillo and multi-track on ‘Spring Tours ‘77’ ‘Love Me Tender’ is longer than usual and is fine, having that feel of ‘TTWII’ as Elvis interacts with his loving fans. (It has a 2 second sound drop out @1.39 included here which was edited out on the Amarillo release). The Introductions that followed were not recorded and this is a shame as a near complete version of Early Morning Rain was performed during these introductions. ‘Hurt’ “one of our latest records” is fair, while ‘Hound Dog’ is the usual ’77 throwaway. At this point in the show Elvis asked Sherrill Nielsen to sing a couple of songs ‘Danny Boy / Walk With Me’ but these are not included although they are on the bootlegs. ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ also included on ‘Amarillo’ is ok for 1977 with Elvis putting in more energy than sometimes. A very, very perfunctory “Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen” followed by another ominous “wise men know when it’s time to go” ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ and Elvis was headed home. This was an average concert with a few nice performances but once again Elvis hardly spoke to the crowd. The group then flew to the next date Baton Rouge but the following night Elvis was so sick he couldn’t leave his bedroom, even though the show had already started. Tour manager Tom Hulett was called to Elvis’ bedroom by the team, “Their faces were all white and they didn’t know what to do.” To stop local doctors getting involved Hulett had Elvis flown home and admitted to Baptist Memorial hospital for a 5-day stay. The official reason given was that Elvis had “intestinal Flu” but everyone suspected it was due to Elvis’ argument with Ginger Alden and that she had refused to join him on this tour.
EIN NOTE: How much do you enjoy Elvis’ performances in 1977? On this tour Elvis’ batteries were running low and most of these concerts sound all too similar. FTD obviously compiled the highlights from all these shows on their ‘Amarillo’ release. There really is little else to discover here except that the unreleased Abilene performance was the best of the tour. Overall Verdict: Undoubtedly this second tour of 1977 was worse than the previous tour. Elvis was not a well man and was not getting the support he needed from Ginger Alden. Thankfully the next tour would be slightly better when Ginger agreed to back out on tour, with Elvis even flying out her Mother and sister Rosemary to keep her happy. Perhaps hearing Elvis in 1977 saddens you, in which case this set is not for you. But if you are a collector who appreciates Elvis in 1977, and you want to hear how his health and disposition changed at each performance, then this set is certainly worth a listen.
EIN recommends the ‘Elvis in Norway’ website to check out what has been previously released and where. We wait with interest to see what FTD does to represent Elvis’ third tour on 1977 along with all the RCA multi-tracks recordings. Review by Geoffrey McDonnell / Piers Beagley. Click here to comment on this article
EIN Website content © Copyright the Elvis Information Network.
Elvis Presley, Elvis and Graceland are trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises. The Elvis Information Network has been running since 1986 and is an EPE officially recognised Elvis fan club.
|
|
