BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM
The King once again reigned supreme when Baz Luhrmann's fantastical biopic Elvis hit cinemas this summer and cruised to $138 million (and counting) in domestic grosses. Luhrmann deftly blended Presley's original vocals with that of star Austin Butler, and in at least in one crucial moment in the film, the actual Elvis took the screen in lieu of the young actor. Now, RCA Records and Legacy Recordings are celebrating 50 years of an earlier film: Elvis On Tour, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's dynamic 1972 concert film/documentary capturing the artist during his exciting rebirth as a live performer. The new box set due on January 27, 2023 offers six CDs of concerts and rehearsals, all freshly mixed by Matt Ross-Spang, plus a Blu-ray of the original MGM film.
1972's Elvis On Tour was originally planned to capture Elvis' incendiary shows at Las Vegas' International Hotel, but the concept soon changed to a chronicle of the artist's time on the road. Presley was undertaking a 15-city tour, and the film crew led by directors Pierre Adidge and Robert Abel (Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen) would capture four of those shows in Hampton, Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; Greensboro, North Carolina; and San Antonio, Texas. (Presley was also filmed backstage at his Jacksonville, Florida show, and that footage would be used for the movie's final scene.) The footage was then edited by Ken Zemke, assisted by the young Martin Scorsese; the latter made innovative use of split screens, much as he had in Michael Wadleigh's Woodstock film.
Elvis On Tour was released on November 1, 1972 and took in nearly $500,000.00 in domestic box office receipts within its first three days of release in 187 theaters. It was first aired on television in 1976, and released on home video in 1982. A revised version arrived on video in 1997; in 2003, the complete San Antonio show was issued. In 2010, Elvis On Tour was re-released in cinemas and earned almost $600,000.00 in its limited release. This edition, which replaced the original opening of "Johnny B. Goode" with "Don't Be Cruel," was released to DVD and Blu-ray and is included on Legacy's upcoming box set.
The first CD was recorded on April 9, 1972, at Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia. The second CD was captured on April 10, at Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia, and CD 3 preserves the April 14 show in Greensboro, North Carolina. All three discs are previously unreleased. CD 4 was recorded live on April 18 at Convention Center Arena, San Antonio, Texas, and includes previously released material from 2003's Elvis: Close-Up box set, though Matt Ross-Spang has remixed it for this release.
The box then rewinds to Presley's rehearsals at RCA Studios in Hollywood on March 30-31, 1972. Some of this material has been surveyed on past releases, though it's all been remixed for this outing. Most notably, the collector-oriented Follow That Dream label released a 19-song compilation of rehearsals in 2004 as Elvis On Tour - The Rehearsals. Other rehearsal cuts appeared on RCA's earlier The Great Performances (1990) and Amazing Grace (1994), and FTD's 6363 Sunset Boulevard (2001).
The Elvis On Tour box set has been produced by Ernest Mikael Jorgensen and includes new liner notes by Presley's longtime friend Jerry Schilling as well as an essay from Warren Zanes of The Del Fuegos. The latter writes, in part, "The set lists and the performances of the Elvis On Tour period bring a rare thing: a fifties legend working in the early seventies who was still taking his audiences to new places....The core band, including Ronnie Tutt, James Burton, Glen D. Hardin, Jerry Scheff, John Wilkinson, Charlie Hodge, the Sweet Inspirations, J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet, and an orchestra led by Joe Guercio, had gotten to a place at which Elvis could inject spontaneity, allowing the arena shows to have a measure of the unexpected.... 1972 was a year of one-hundred-sixty-five performances. In Jorgensen's words, it was a 'climax of his career.' While the '68 Comeback Special marked the significant point at which Presley returned to live performance, 1972 was the year in which the artist revealed most completely what he wanted to do with the creative energy such a return kicked off."
As an official soundtrack album for Elvis On Tour was never issued at the time of the movie's original release, the upcoming box fills in a major gap in the Presley discography. Look for it on January 27, 2023 from RCA/Legacy. You'll find the track listing and pre-order links below.
Elvis Presley, Elvis On Tour (RCA/Legacy, 2022) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
CD 1: April 9, 1972 - Hampton Roads
- Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme From 2001: A Space Odyssey) 1:20
- See See Rider 3:12
- I Got A Woman / Amen 2:59
- Never Been To Spain 3:34
- You Gave Me A Mountain 3:14
- Until It's Time For You To Go 2:30
- Polk Salad Annie 3:03
- Love Me 1:38
- All Shook Up 1:06
- (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 2:11
- Are You Lonesome Tonight? 2:42
- I Can't Stop Loving You 2:26
- Hound Dog 1:29
- Bridge Over Troubled Water 4:08
- Suspicious Minds 5:19
- For The Good Times 3:08
- Introductions 1:29
- American Trilogy 4:54
- Love Me Tender 2:41
- A Big Hunk O' Love 2:05
- How Great Thou Art 2:54
- Sweet, Sweet Spirit 2:46
- Lawdy, Miss Clawdy 2:11
- Can't Help Falling In Love 1:42
- Closing Vamp 1:46
CD 2: April 10, 1972 - Richmond
- Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) 1:17
- See See Rider 3:00
- Proud Mary 2:44
- Never Been To Spain 3:37
- You Gave Me A Mountain 3:14
- Until It's Time For You To Go 2:32
- Polk Salad Annie 2:51
- Love Me 2:00
- All Shook Up 1:01
- (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 1:49
- Heartbreak Hotel 2:05
- Hound Dog 1:21
- Bridge Over Troubled Water 4:12
- Love Me Tender 1:43
- It's Over 2:18
- Suspicious Minds 4:47
- Introductions 1:59
- For The Good Times 3:06
- I Can't Stop Loving You 2:24
- American Trilogy 4:17
- Lawdy, Miss Clawdy 2:41
- Funny How Time Slips Away 2:41
- Can't Help Falling In Love 1:41
- Closing Vamp 1:50
CD 3: April 14, 1972 - Greensboro
- Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) 1:14
- See See Rider 3:09
- Proud Mary 2:44
- Never Been To Spain 3:37
- You Gave Me A Mountain 3:15
- Until It's Time For You To Go 2:37
- Polk Salad Annie 3:15
- Love Me 1:36
- All Shook Up 1:01
- (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 2:27
- Hound Dog 1:31
- Heartbreak Hotel 1:50
- A Big Hunk O' Love 2:00
- Bridge Over Troubled Water 4:14
- Suspicious Minds 4:46
- Love Me Tender 1:38
- Introductions 1:23
- For The Good Times 3:05
- American Trilogy 4:45
- Burning Love 2:46
- Release Me (And Let Me Love Again) 3:04
- Funny How Time Slips Away 2:50
- Can't Help Falling In Love 1:40
- Closing Vamp 1:49
CD 4: April 18, 1972 - San Antonio
- Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) 1:20
- See See Rider 2:52
- Proud Mary 2:32
- Never Been To Spain 3:36
- You Gave Me A Mountain 3:13
- Until It's Time For You To Go 2:29
- Polk Salad Annie 3:05
- Love Me 1:38
- All Shook Up 1:01
- (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 1:46
- Heartbreak Hotel 1:45
- Hound Dog 1:25
- How Great Thou Art 2:54
- I Can't Stop Loving You 2:28
- Love Me Tender 1:39
- Suspicious Minds 4:21
- Introductions 1:17
- For The Good Times 3:23
- Burning Love 2:02
- American Trilogy 4:44
- Funny How Time Slips Away 3:09
- Can't Help Falling In Love 1:46
- Closing Vamp 1:22
CD 5: March 30 & 31, 1972. Rehearsals at RCA's studio
- Burning Love (incomplete) 2:14
- Burning Love 3:34
- Burning Love 3:36
- For The Good Times (incomplete) 1:12
- For The Good Times (incomplete) 3:00
- For The Good Times 4:39
- For The Good Times 4:03
- For The Good Times 4:34
- El Paso (fragment) 0:52
- For The Good Times (incomplete) 3:04
- For The Good Times 3:29
- Johnny B. Goode 4:56
- Always On My Mind (incomplete) 1:46
- Always On My Mind (incomplete) 2:15
- Always On My Mind 4:25
- Separate Ways 3:26
- Separate Ways 4:34
- Proud Mary 2:52
- Never Been To Spain 3:57
- You Gave Me A Mountain (incomplete) 1:21
- Until It's Time For Me To Go 3:59
- Polk Salad Annie 2:51
- Love Me 2:37
CD 6: March 31, 1972. Rehearsals at RCA's studio
- All Shook Up 1:12
- Heartbreak Hotel 2:13
- (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel 1:57
- Hound Dog 1:26
- The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 5:27
- A Big Hunk O'Love 2:09
- A Big Hunk O'Love 2:30
- See See Rider 3:03
- For The Good Times 3:22
- For The Good Times (incomplete) 1:30
- For The Good Times 3:37
- Funny How Time Slips Away 3:41
- Burning Love 6:11
- Help Me Make It Through The Night 2:57
- Can't Help Falling In Love 2:08
- Young And Beautiful 3:16
- Lawdy, Miss Clawdy 2:28
- Release Me (And Let Me Love Again) 2:38
- See See Rider 2:31
- Proud Mary 2:45
- Never Been To Spain 3:46
- I, John 2:22
- Bosom Of Abraham 0:53
- You Better Run 2:06
- Lead Me, Guide Me 2:39
- Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus/Nearer My God To Thee 3:59
Blu-ray Disc:
- Elvis On Tour (1972)
Release Round-Up: Week of August 9
The Weekend Stream's Christmas Cornucopia 2023
Review: Elvis Presley, "Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite: 50th Anniversary Edition"
Idiocy that there is no additional film footage included. There must be hours of it in the vault. Why is this the case?
Warner Bros. (successor to MGM) owns the film footage, not RCA/Sony. It’s a minor miracle that the Blu-ray of the film is included at all, though given the success of the ELVIS biopic, I think it’s more likely than ever that WB could choose to revisit ELVIS ON TOUR (again). Fingers crossed.
Hello Joe,
A quick question for you. In your article about the upcoming "Elvis On Tour" box set, you mentioned that a revised version of the film came out in 1987. I'm curious as to what this revision was that you are referring to.
The correct date was 1997 for the home video version, and the typo has been fixed. Thanks for writing.
Lo que siempre espere y creo que nunca sucederá ver versiones completas en video de suspicious minds tanto en VHS con el Elvis on tour como el lanzamiento en blue Rey hacernos años no traían la versión completa, por cierto el inicio del o tro con dont be cruel mal editado como echo al vapor está 100 veces mejor el intro original con Jhonny be good
Please tell me this comes in a vinyl box set. And if not, why not? Thank you for your great article and excellent writing.
This is great, about time. But so many of us fans want the entire on tour film concerts and rehearsals re-masterd and released. We know there's so much gold wating in those vaults. How much longer do we have to wait Warner Bros...for God's sake get it sorted!
what a god awful cover. it lools like a cheapie rca budget lp.
It’s a copied artwork of the so-called original “b movie poster” from the 1972 release.
thanks for that info still = AWFUL
The recording of "An American Trilogy" from Disc 1 - Hampton Roads, Virginia has been previously released with film scoring overdubs on the soundtrack to the 1981 film "This Is Elvis." It has also appeared elsewhere since then.
I have the boot from my city. (Richmond) Looking coward to a legit release. My mom and grandma were at that show.
Please put a real photo of Elvis on the box set, the one you have is an insult
Its taken 50 years to finally release the other concerts i hope they are all multitrack and in stereo and better mixed than their first attempt with San Antonio in 2993. Where is the Buffalo concert? Concerning the DVD it is only a re release of 2010 Blu-ray where they could have finally teleased some of the hours of unseen footage of the film again some of us have been waiting 50 years to see
2993 ? yes there will still be new releases but who will care ?
Hope the concerts are in stereo and mult track versions and not soundboard
Please god, get rid of that cover photo! Cheap and tacky!. Dont try and take us fans for idiots!. I've got Elvis On Tour on Blu ray and it was only 15 pound to buy brand new. So we are basically paying an extra 90-100 pound for the music and rehearsals!! Alot of these song versions, rehearsals etc... I already have on various Elvis box sets.. i might just give this boxset a miss in all honesty. Sounds more like a cheap cash in on the fans to part with thier money.
Elvis é uma fonte inesgotável de joias. Viveu 42 anos e nos deixou um legado que é impossível saborear em apenas uma vida.
At a supposed £100.00 per set it would seem that fans are being ripped off once again, this is becoming more and more common as the years go on, the estate must think elvis fans have an unlimited supply of funds available, if I go back to work I will think about purchasing this when the price is more realistic.
You can play it on Spotify. I’m listening to it now for FREE!!!!!
When they do the Blu-ray you'll see certain parts of this show where it's perfect and then other parts where it's awful glossy hope they redo it and actually put some work into it instead of just trying to cash in on it as far as the music goes a lot has been released some has not been released so looking forward to the unreleased stuff but come on guys I'm not getting any younger by time you guys get around to issuing everything I might be at an Elvis concert