Elvis On Tour - A 6 CD/1 Blu Ray 50th Anniversary Set Legacy Recordings

Released on januari 20, 2023 : this fantastic "Elvis On Tour - A 6 CD/1 Blu Ray 50th Anniversary Set on the acclaimed Legacy label. A completely new compilation set with recordings from the Elvis On Tour archives, recorded in the spring of 1972 for the very successful MGM documentary. Multiple shows and rehearsals were filmed by Pierre Adidge and Robert Abel to compose this documentary. Only 90 minutes of footage was used for the On Tour film that went on to win the Golden Globe Award in 1972. Of all this footage, no less than six (!) audio CD's are compiled for this brand new set. In addition to these CD's, the documentary is also included on Blu-Ray. This is the official announcement of Legacy :

A seven-disc set, with the audio selections available in digital and physical configurations, the Elvis On Tour box set includes six audio discs (premiering previously unreleased Elvis concert performances and studio rehearsals) and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s Blu-ray edition of the MGM Film, “Elvis On Tour,” winner of Best Documentary Film at the 30th Golden Globes Awards in 1973 and the last feature film starring Elvis Presley to be released during the artist’s lifetime.

RCA/Legacy’s Elvis On Tour box set is produced by Ernst Mikael Jørgensen and mixed by Grammy Award®-winning Memphis-based producer Matt Ross-Spang. The original recordings were made by Felton Jarvis and Al Pachucki.

Disc 1 was recorded live on April 9, 1972, at Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia, and contains all previously unreleased material.

Disc 2 was recorded live on April 10, 1972, at Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia, and contains all previously unreleased material.

Disc 3 was recorded live on April 14, 1972, at Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina, and contains all previously unreleased material.

Disc 4 was recorded live on April 18, 1972, at Convention Center Arena, San Antonio, Texas, and includes previously released material (from 2003’s Elvis: Close-Up box set), remixed for this release.

Disc 5 features the tour rehearsals, recorded live at RCA Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, on March 30 and 31, 1972. The disc is comprised primarily of previously unreleased tracks in addition to performances previously available on the official Elvis Presley collector’s releases Elvis On Tour – The Rehearsals (Follow That Dream CD 2004) and 6363 Sunset Boulevard(Follow That Dream CD 2001) as well as The Great Performances (RCA 1990).

Disc 6 completes Elvis’ rehearsals with his band at RCA Recordings Studios with performances recorded March 31, 1972. The disc includes previously unreleased takes on Kris Kristofferson’s “For The Good Times” as well as performances previously available only on 6363 Sunset Boulevard, Elvis On Tour – The Rehearsals and Amazing Grace (RCA 2CD 1994).

As Elvis Presley’s national tour played to sold-out secondary markets across the country in 1972, Elvis was enjoying himself on-stage and finding electrifying new ways of connecting to audiences at every show. Working with a band and set lists of his choosing, Elvis was channeling the music he loved most–from pop and gospel and traditional country to blues and rock and contemporary hits–while transforming his own greatest hits with fresh arrangements, turning nostalgia into an unforgettable concert experience packed with immediacy. 

Award-winning filmmakers Pierre Adidge and Robert Abel (Mad Dogs & Englishmen) went on the road with Elvis Presley and his band with all-access passes, cameras and crew to chronicle the King of Rock & Roll at his on-stage peak in MGM’s Elvis On Tour documentary film. The film captures Elvis, the human being driving the myth, behind-the-scenes backstage with his eyes open and his defenses down.  According to MGM’s original press release, the Elvis On Tour film “offers the first intimate look at the enigmatic country boy who became the world’s most celebrated musician.”  Both documentary and concert film, Elvis On Tourfeatures montage sequences supervised by Martin Scorsese. The film was released on November 1, 1972. 

The Elvis On Tour box set includes fascinating behind-the-scenes liner notes by Jerry Schilling, a longtime personal friend and member of Elvis’ inner circle. 

The set also features an illuminating essay by rock historian/musician Warren Zanes, founding member of The Del Fuegos and Professor at New York University. According to Zanes: “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.”

Disc 1