Elvis On Tour

Saturday night I saw this 1972 documentary from Pierre Adidge and Robert Abel: 

Much to my delight, this was “in multiple screen.”

The second of the two Presley films I saw yesterday, this also was off the DVR-recorded just a few days earlier. While this is not as good as the special edition of Elvis: That's the Way It Is, that does not mean this is worthwhile for fans of The King or those simply interested in hearing some live songs from a legend.

This was filmed at various concerts during his 1972 tour. At this point he already started the Fat Elvis phase that was the last few years of his life. It is easy to be melancholy about his personal life & all the drama... him apparently taking a pharmacy's worth of drugs on a daily basis, his sometimes bizarre behavior, etc. Yet despite being more portly, he was still a hell of an entertainer and could still sing his ass off. Besides the performances there is behind the scenes and rehearsal footage. Not only does it humanize everyone involved in this production (Presley has his dad Vernon with him on the tour, after all) it shows how big an effort a concert tour is, how many people are involved and how tiring it can be for everyone involved.

Elvis on Tour shows the wide variety of artists he covered during his 70's concert tours; besides the old familiar songs that he never officially wrote anyway (no matter if he was inaccurately credited as a co-writer or not), what a mix of different talent and genres. This includes: Tony Joe White, Willie Nelson, John Fogerty, Hoyt Axton, Buffy Saint-Marie, Paul Simon, Ray Charles, Mac Davis and Marty Robbins. There's even some gospel tunes. What personally excited me was that there was plenty of split-screen effects and I'll always hope this trend makes a comeback, whether it be fictional or documentary. What a surprise in the end credits when the “montage supervisor” was listed and it was... SCORSESE. 

The split-screen effects did help show off all the screaming girls... or usually “screaming women” that were getting up there in age themselves. Anyhow, as I do enjoy the music of Presley, it was a sonic and aural delight to see him do his thing even if he was on the downswing of his life.