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On Tour February 12 - February 21, 1977



The first tour of the New Year started on 12th February in Hollywood and Elvis went on stage in the Indian Feather suit looking very heavy and overweight but gave one of the best performances of the year singing excerpts of hits such as My Boy, Return To Sender and Wooden Heart. The highlights of the show were Help Me, Funny How Time Slips Away and Unchained Melody. The next stop on the tour was in West Palm Beach with Elvis singing a rare for the period Blue Suede Shoes and wearing the Rainfall Suit for the show.

The next stop of the tour was in Petersburg with Elvis looking a lot different from just two days earlier wearing the same suit and singing a bit of the 1962 song Guadalajara and one of the final performances of Blueberry Hill after telling Tony Brown that he was a fantastic piano player but was warped. On the 15th the band and Elvis were in Orlando singing in front of a packed out small Sports stadium, wearing the same suit for the third time and treating them to the last live version of All Shook Up and a very good version of My Way including a reprise.

Elvis was in Montgomery on the 16th wearing the Rainfall suit again and sounding a bit out of breath for most of the show but the highlight of the whole show was the one time only performance of the gospel song Where No One Stands Alone which is one of the performances of the year.

The 17th February was a special show as it was the first time in over 2 years that Elvis wore the soon to be overused Mexican Sundial jumpsuit was worn on stage in Savannah with the highlight of that show being one of his latest records Hurt receiving a full reprise which raised the roof. The 18th saw Elvis in Columbia wearing the Indian Feather suit for the fourth time on this tour. This show featured another excerpt of the song Guadalajara a good version of Are You Lonesome Tonight? And a very rare performance of the song Release Me.

Elvis was in Johnson City's Freedom Hall on the 19th wearing the Ace of Spades suit and singing no unusual songs during this show but the crowd was more frantic than usual at this show. On the 20th Elvis again wore the Mexican Sundial suit in Charlotte and seemed out of breath during most of the show but the 12,000 sell-out crowd seemed to love it all the same. He also tried performing his latest hit Moody Blue but was unsuccessful and tore the lyric sheet up before the band word out how to play it.

For the last show of the tour Elvis was again in Charlotte this time wearing the Indian Feather suit for the last time on stage and the fifth time this tour and the difference between his appearance at this show and the Opening Show of the tour was drastic and Elvis gave a very good performance singing final versions of Reconsider Baby and finally learned his latest release and performed the only live version of Moody Blue. Elvis closed this show with a slight change of lyrics to Cant Help Falling in Love to Wise Men Know When Its Time to go...

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Amateur footage.


On Tour, March 23 - April 3, 1977



After his first tour of the year, Elvis headed to Hawaii for a very well deserved rest at the beginning of March, along with friends Dr. Nick, Larry Geller & his girlfriend & her sister. After he went back to Memphis, he had a tour scheduled to start on the 23rd March in Tempe, Arizona.

He walked on stage looking very tired around the eyes, wearing the Mexican Sundial suit which he would alternate wearing with the King Of Spades suit at all shows during this tour. The show was a standard for the period, with no real highlights or unusual songs. The next night was in Amarillo but we have nearly no information on this show as no photographs or a recording of this show as of yet.

The 25th was in Norman, OK, and featured an unusual placing of Funny How Time Slips Away with it being just after I Got A Woman-Amen, but it was another run-of-the-mill show. The second night in Norman, on the 26th, was different with an excerpt of Rip It Up, and rare-for-the-period versions of Help Me, Blue Suede Shoes, That's All Right & Blue Christmas.

The show on the 27th was in Abilene's Taylor County Coliseum and it was the most unusual setlist of the tour so-far. After a usual start of the show, Tryin' to Get to You had its only performance of the tour, My Way its final performance of the tour and Lawdy Miss Clawdy was never performed on stage after this show. One of the best shows of the tour!

The tour then moved on to Austin on the 28th, and, wearing the King Of Spades suit, Elvis performed the final ever version of Steamroller Blues the crowd would hear him sing. Help Me was also performed during this show. When he started Can't Help Falling In Love he used the "wise me know, when it's time to go..." line he'd used a couple of times over the past few months.

The show on the 29th featured a fantastic, impromptu, version of the gospel songs Bossom Of Abraham-You Better Run with Elvis playing along on the piano himself. The other two highlights of this show were Blueberry Hill & Why Me Lord, although the latter featured more of the Stamps than the versions when it was performed regularly.

On the 30th, in Alexandria, the 15,000 crowd heard the final versions of Blueberry Hill & Love Letters. Elvis again sang the "Wise men know, when it's time to go..." line to Can't Help Falling In Love in what would become - although unknown to nearly everybody - the last show of this tour. Elvis was scheduled to play four more shows during this tour, but he cancelled them and, on the 31st March, checked into the Baptist Memorial Hospital with reports stating he'd suffered from intestinal flu and fatigue. The four shows would be rearranged to the end of the following tour.

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On Tour April 21 - May 3, 1977



The third tour in four months started on April 21st in Greensboro with a solid show with a few surprises including Little Sister, Fever & Little Darlin'. This tour saw a change in the personnel with Joe Guercio being replaced as the orchestra conductor by Marty Harrell & his orchestra. The next night the crew were in Detroit with a show that wasn't as good as the previous night's, but still a strong performance with the highlight being Hurt with a reprised ending.

The show then moved onto Toledo's University and the show was one of the highlights of the tour. A partial soundboard from this show was released and on it you can hear great versions of And I Love You So, Polk Salad Annie, My Way & Hurt. This was the last time Elvis would perform Fever on stage.

On the 24th Elvis decided to not wear the Mexican Sundial Suit which he'd worn the previous three nights and chose to wear the King Of Spades suit in stead, which was a bit tighter than the Sundial suit, but he still gave a stellar show with Unchained Melody and a final performance of Little Darlin' being released later on in the year by RCA on Elvis' last album before his death - Moody Blue. Other highlights of a great show were Tryin' To Get To You, Help Me, My Way & an excerpt of Blue Hawaii.

Elvis stayed with the King Of Spades suit the next night, and treated the audience to a rare-for-the-period version of Heartbreak Hotel. On the 26th, in Kalamazoo, Elvis again wore the Sundial suit and gave another great show. He attempted singing Fairytale but couldn't get past the intro so sang If You Love Me (Let Me Know) instead and that version was released on RCA's album Moody Blue. Elvis didn't sing Hurt during this show, as he seemed to have lost steam after the band intros so asked Kathy & Sherrill to sing a couple of songs (My Heavenly Father by Kathy & Danny Boy & Walk With Me by Sherrill) and then finished the show off with Hound Dog & Can't Help Falling In Love.

Elvis seemed to have got some steam back for the next night in Milwaukie with the highlight being an energetic version of Polk Salad Annie which included him stretching in a karate stance during the finale of the song (see photo section for this date).

In Green Bay on the 28th Elvis looked a little bloated but he still gave a solid performance with a varied setlist, which followed onto the next night in Duluth with him singing a very rare (for 1977) version of Bridge Over Troubled Water and Big Boss Man. On the 30th in St Paul the audience were treated to an extremely rare version of The Wonder Of You which hadn't been a regular since 1970.

The next two nights were in Chicago and these are regarded as highlight shows of the year, with Elvis sounding very happy to be on stage and singing songs such as Fairytale, And I Love You So, Little Sister & great versions of Hurt each night. On the second night Elvis did a roll on the stage during the finale of Hurt, seemingly to get the power from deep down inside him.

The last stop on this tour was in Saginaw with a fantastic performance starting with That's All Right as the opener, then a verse of the 1958 song Trouble, and a great final version of Mystery Train-Tiger Man. He told the audience that he was "here, healthy, happy and singing".

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Amateur footage.



On Tour May 20 - June 2, 1977



The penultimate tour of Elvis' long career kicked off on 20th May in Knoxville, with a good, but run-of-the-mill, show which included a brilliant version of How Great Thou Art. The tour then moved onto Louisville with a more-or-less identical show to the previous night's but tonight's show featured his first single - That's All Right - in between two other old classics - I Got A Woman-Amen & Love Me.

Night three of the tour was in Largo, and this was a bad show for the period, and even the usual highlight of the show not being performed, Hurt. Things picked up on the 23rd with not only Hurt back in the setlist but another highlight of the show, My Way, also having its tour-premiere at the show.

Elvis had worn the Mexican Sundial suit at every show of the tour so far, and he would use it at every show this tour which led to rumours that there were, in fact, two identical suits which he alternated between each night, but the maker of the suits for him has confirmed that only one Sundial suit was made, and Elvis wore it nearly non-stop during most of 1977!

It was onto Augusta on the 24th and this show is one of the best of the tour. There are no real surprise songs in the show, other than an excerpt of Never Been To Spain, but all the songs are performed well for the period, and Elvis even introduced his record producer Felton Javis to the stage, and he made him stay on stage while he sung If You Love Me (Let Me Know). The 25th was, like the previous night, another good show with Tryin' to Get To You getting its first, of two, performance of the tour.

The tour then moved to Binghamton for two shows on the 26th & 27th, with the highlights of both shows being a rare version of Why Me Lord on the first night & rare versions of Heartbreak Hotel & Bridge Over Troubled Water on the second night. The real highlight, though, was a fantastic version of Unchained Melody just before closing on the second night. It was then onto Philadelphia for the next show, and the only surprise was a very exciting version of Polk Salad Annie before the band intros.

The next night is a very interesting show among fans. It was in Baltimore, and, looking at the setlist, it's a fantastic show with a lot of rare songs performed, including That's All Right & Blue Christmas very early in the show, and Help Me, Blue Suede Shoes, a verse of The Wonder Of You & One Night being performed near the end of the show. But it's what happened in between these two sections that's become the focal point of fans' interest. After You Gave Me a Mountain Elvis asked Sherrill Nielsen to sing a couple of songs. Elvis then sang Teddy Bear-Don't Be Cruel, and then he left the stage, leaving the Stamps & then Kathy to keep the audience entertained, after which Charlie did the band introductions which, in total, lasted nearly 30 minutes. After the band intros Elvis reappeared to finish School Day, and stating that "natured called". Things got back to normal after this, but reports have been that fans were crying and leaving the auditorium while he was gone. What was really the problem we may never know!

The tour should have ended at the last show but, because he'd cancelled the last four shows of his previous tour, they were rearranged to the end of this tour. So, Jacksonville was the next night with another run-of-the-mill show, but I Really Don't Want to Know To Know getting its first ever performance, 6 years after he'd recorded it. Although it wasn't a complete version, with the bridge missing, it became one of the highlights of the show, with his delicate reading of the lyrics.

The next rearranged show was in Baton Rogue on the 31st May, with no real unusual songs, or highlights such as My Way or Hurt even been performed. It was then onto Macon for the penultimate show of the penultimate tour, with My Way back in the show, but no Hurt performance. The other highlights of the show were Fairytale & Big Boss Man just before closing with the usual Can't Help Falling In Love.

The last show had a few unusual songs performed. Help Me, An American Trilogy & Polk Salad Annie all performed just before the band introductions, with the latter two them being the final ever versions of the songs in front of an audience. The other highlight of the show was the house-raising performance of Unchained Melody.

In under a month Elvis would be doing his final ever performance on stage!

Video Information

Amateur footage.


On Tour June 17 - June 26, 1977



The June 1977 tour would become known as Elvis' Final Farewell to his beloved fans as it would be the last tour he would ever perform.

The 9 day tour started on 17th June in Springfield with Elvis wearing the usual Mexican Sundial jumpsuit for the show and looked very overweight but smiling. The next stop was in Kansas City's Kemper Arena wearing the Ace of Spades suit for the final time and again looking very puffy and he sounded very out of breath for most of the show and also mentioned that he had trouble getting into the suit. He did perform an unusual final version of Blue Christmas and Big Boss Man had its final performance at this show.

The next show was in Omaha in front of the CBS cameras who were recording for the up-coming CBS TV special: Elvis in Concert. Elvis again wore the Mexican Sundial suit and this was the worst show of the whole tour as Elvis sounded very drowsy and couldn't speak well but performed a fantastic final version of the gospel song How Great Thou Art and a fun Fairytale and lovely version of And I love You So.

On the 20th Elvis was in Lincoln's Pershing Municipal Auditorium in front of a small 7,500 crowd but the show was the best so far of this tour and Elvis again wore the Sundial suit and performed a powerful Help Me.

Elvis was in front of the CBS cameras again on the 21st June in Rapid City with him opening the arena and was much more awake at this show and it was possibly the 2nd best show of the tour performing in the now usual Sundial suit and singing his first hit That's All Right and the infamous version of Are You Lonesome Tonight?. The 2 highlights of the whole show were a fantastic moving Unchained Melody and My Way.

On the 22nd Elvis was in Sioux Falls in the Mexican Sundial Suit which he would wear at every concert for the remainder of this tour. On the 23rd Elvis gave a very good performance in Des Moines' Memorial Auditorium and performed good versions of Little Sister and gave a final performance of the hits Blue Suede Shoes and Help Me. It was also the last time Ronnie Tutt would perform with Elvis.

Elvis was in Madison on the 24th performing in front of a 10,000 sell out crowd with the drummer for The Sweet Inspiration's drummer Jerome Stump Monroe filling in for Ronnie Tutt who was taken ill. This was the third and final time he would play drums for Elvis. Elvis gave good final versions of the classics One Night and Love Me Tender but he complained of stomach pain during this show and it is reported that he nearly passes out after the show.

Elvis gave his penultimate performance in Cincinnati on 25th June and it was a very good show for the period performing final versions of If You Love Me, And I Love You So, and My Way & Unchained Melody. He also introduced many people before finishing the show including his father, Vernon, Girlfriend, Ginger and the British Fan Club Members who went over to see the final two shows of that tour.

The 26th June 1977 was the last time Elvis would walk on stage and perform in front of his fans and this show is possibly the best of the whole year as he sung rare songs such as Release Me, I Cant Stop Lovin' You & Bridge over Troubled Water. He was in high spirits for the show and like the night before he introduced his father who he was glad was able to be on tour with him after being ill. After the show many of the band members became ill and were hospitalised overnight.

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